new things - more steps

Violet is changing so fast. I can almost see a difference from day to day. It just seemed like one day she started screaming loudly for fun, squealing about anything that peaks her interest...like a rack of stuffed animals on a store shelf. She is obsessed with putting things in things. Like, her bath toys for instance. She'll take the three little floaty toys and put them in the purple cup I use to rinse her hair out, dump them out, and put them all back in, repeatedly. I don't think (at least now!) that she could get sick of it. Those pop-together plastic toys that Grandma Jo got for her are fun too. I string a bunch of them together, and she likes to grab one off the end, one by one - and she seems so proud when she pulls them apart. She also took 7 steps today. She took 6 steps on her own a couple weeks ago and I thought for sure she'd be walking all over by now, but she really prefers to crawl around...its easier and much faster. Sounds like a mommy trait. Doing things the quicker way! Sometimes she gets into a "walking" mood. If we try get her up on her feet and she doesn't want to stand, she'll crumble to the floor and start crawling...but sometimes I guess she just feels like standing and walking...and she'll just take off until she reaches me or Dave and fall over and giggle. She still says 'Aabbuuhhh" for Abby. Its all she'll say if we ask her to repeat mama or dada...she'll blurt out "abuhh". Hhmm. How we rate?! hehe She'll be 11 months old next week. Wow. Violet's first Christmas is right around the corner! We'll be in Berwyn with Grandma Martha for the holidays.

she is waving

I just taught Violet to wave hi when we were in the bathroom together. I gave her an opportunity to go potty earlier in the day but she decided she didn't have to go, so I started waving "hi and bye" and she copied me. Just a few minutes ago, I asked Dave if he wanted to put her down for bed and he said OK, so I handed Violet to him and I said "bye Violet!" and waved my hand. She looked at me, raised her hand and started waving it in the air. I love how she's catching on to so many things lately.

kissy lips and first intentional word!?

Today Violet was so cute when I put her down for her first nap. She recently learned how to smack her lips to make a kissy noise. I went into her room and shut the door, and she put her head down on my shoulder like she usually does before a nap. I started rocking her and she started smacking her lips. She lifted her head to look at me, made the kissy lips noise, then laid her head back on my shoulder and smacked her lips again. Ahh it was so sweet. I love the way her cheeks suck in when she's trying to make the noise too. :) Oh, and I'm pretty sure she can say the word Abby. Abby is our dog's name...and every time we are in the bathroom sitting on the potty, I call Abby over to sit with us. Just yesterday and today she starts to say "buhbee!" and today she said "Aaabeee" when Abby comes over. Adorable.

Violet took her first steps on Nov. 28, 06

Just a week past 10 months, Violet took her first steps. She walked 6 steps toward me and Dave caught it all on video tape. Yay! It was so cute. :)

Today Violet is 10 months old

Violet has figured out how to stand on her own now. All that experimenting with letting go while holding onto things is paying off. This is a picture of her doing it for practically the first time. She is 10 months old today. She just cut one of her top teeth last week, its coming in pretty far, with the other top three just behind. She's been so cranky and difficult this week. She is showing a preference for her dad lately. I know its just a phase she's going through. I can't put her down for a nap or at night without her screaming...but she lays her head down comfortably on Dave's shoulder. I'm glad he's around to do that for me because its easier on everyone in the house. She has no fear of Abby, our dog. She just started laying her head down on Abby's back like she's cuddling up to her...its so cute. Abby is at best tolerating it. She sometimes will get up in a huff and go lay down somewhere else so Violet won't bother her.

She also just started climbing up the stairs a couple weeks ago. It doesn't take her long to get up all 14 steps.

Violet's first "Halloween" outfit

This is Violet's first "Halloween" outfit, althought we're not really doing anything to celebrate it. No trick or treating, nothing...its just too cold, and she's too young to do anything. Dave and I could use the excuse though to get a bunch of free candy! It says "The littlest pumpkins have the biggest grins!" Dave got Violet to smile for this picture by holding up a stuffed animal behind Maria with the camera, making it act like it was jumping around and making noises. She just thinks that is so silly and funny!I remember my mom doing the same thing with a Raggedy Andy doll. We were a bit older though, but one of my most fun memories is riding in the car and giggling out of control at my mom making us laugh with these dolls. Violet is growing in strength and agility every day. She can speed-crawl across the room and stand up next to anything, and "cruise" along the futon or a wall, meaning she can walk along it but holding on at the same time. She is 30 1/2 in. long and 21.5 lbs. The time change really threw things off Saturday night. She got off her schedule on Sunday (Sunday mornings are never what they should be!) and going out to eat with my parents was fun, but a bad idea because Violet was so cranky and loud. Dave eventually walked around and got her to go to sleep. Dave's mom, Martha was visiting for the weekend to see us and also sample Montage's winter seasonal pasta dish. She's taking more of an interest in food too. Yesterday she had a bowl of baby cereal, an entire container of baby sweet potatoes and some cut up pieces of toast. She's still nursing a lot. I'm trying to get out of the habit of nursing her to sleep for her naps and going to bed, especially since she's got 2 teeth, and its not healthy for her teeth to have milk sitting in her mouth when she goes to sleep because it can cause decay. So after her last feeding of the night, I take her little finger toothbrush (which she loves to play with her index finger) and brush off her two teeth before going to bed. She seems to go down easier with Dave than with me...because she's old enough to know that I can feed her and Dave can't. I guess that's a good excuse to have him put her down at nighttime! :)

6 little practice steps

Violet took her first steps behind the little walker toy we got her. I set her infront of it after not seeing it for awhile, and she took 6 steps. Yay! I posted a pic of Dave helping her. Also I must share a funny story. I was holding her today and she noticed my earring. I am wearing the diamond studs that my parents got me for UNI gradution. She points to the little diamond and wiggles it back and forth. Then she takes her hand, pushes my cheek and face over so she can see the other ear, and proceeds to play and poke the other earring. I thought the fact that she was pushing my face over to see the other earring was so hilarious. What a goof Violet is!  

Violet at 9 months

 

my first post

I've always wanted to keep a journal of the first year of motherhood...but I'm 9 months late. Right now Violet is next to me on the floor throwing around a cardboard box that one of those cheap electronic keyboards came in. She likes to listen to the music and rock back and forth...hit the keys and make noises. Tomorrow Violet will be 9 months old .... and that time span is exactly how long I was pregnant with her. Well, not exactly...she was 2 weeks late so I guess thats wrong. She's been crawling for 2 months now and is pulling up to stand on everything. The chair, my leg, the wall, the futon, anything. She'll crawl along the floor but replace her knees with her feet and it looks so goofy. I'll be she'll be walking before Thanksgiving. She has recently been repeating things after us. A few weeks ago we could babble first "ba ba ba" and she would babble the same thing back. We would make the noise "mmm mmm mmmmmm" and she would repeat it back. Now she can say "mamamamama" but I don't know if she knows that's me!! Also, she likes to growl. I don't know where it came from...I guess its normal...but she'll just be crawling around and be growling really low. Its hilarious. I tied a rubber band (my version of childproofing a low cabinet door) around the built-in china cabinet, and she is constantly pulling up to stand next to it and strum the rubber band with her little fingers. I goes doink and plink and she likes the noises. We also got her one of those walking toys, where she could stand up behind it and push as it rolls along. Once she gets the hang of it (she hasn't done it yet)...it can turn into a little thing to sit on and propel with her legs. Its cute! She likes it a lot so far...but all she's done with it is pull and spin the toys and knock it over to check out every possible angle of it. About a week ago she developed the ability to grasp a little cheerio between her thumb and first finger and get it to her mouth. She loves to sit in her chair hooked to the kitchen counter with a pile of cheerios in front of her and eat them 1 by 1. Now all her pee smells like is cheerios! LOL She's still nursing almost 100%. I started her on the grain cereal for babies and some mushy baby food. She really liked the cereal for the first month (around 6 months) but started refusing it. She liked sweet potatoes and squash, and has has a few bites of the green beans, but I can't get her to eat more than 8 or 9 good bites. Some days I don't even deal with food, and just nurse her because she loves it and its very easy for me! Her two little bottom teeth are so cute....but are so darn sharp if she bites down. She doesn't really bite when she nurses...but sometimes when she's really hungry and latches onto me she clamps down pretty hard. Her absolute favorite place to be is in the guest bedroom/office where Dave works. He usually plays fun music while he's working and not on the phone, so she excitedly crawls over to the door and pounds her hand on it. If it ever opens, she's there in a split second. She likes that room a lot! Maybe because there is a big picture of me and Violet on Dave's computer screen. She likes to stare at pictures of herself. The place on the wall where the phone plugs into it is a "no-no" area. If she ever touches the plug she gets told "no" and a slap on the hand. We've been working on this for awhile. She knows the word and if she goes up to it and touches it, and we say "no"...she starts crying anticipating the snip on the hand. I guess these things take awhile to sink in.