Hadley

My sweet, charming Hadley girl,

Today you are 11 months old. In one very short month you will have your first birthday and, while I love watching you grow, it will be a bittersweet month. You are the most precious baby girl and we love you so much!

This month you did a lot!

You finally learned how to sit down by yourself from standing (that was a long time coming but at least you quit standing up so often in your bed prior to learning how to get yourself down).

You really started vocalizing. You will almost always respond with a very southern “Hey” when you see someone or want their attention. You have sometimes sounded like you were saying other words but nothing concrete.

You got two more teeth (both top center ones) and while they weren’t fun to get, you are so adorable with them!

You started swimming lessons last week and are doing great. You float all by yourself and can get yourself to a back float no matter what way Ms. Caroline puts you in the water. You are still whimpering throughout the lesson but are quick to calm down when you get out of the pool and today even seemed proud of yourself so I think you’re getting more comfortable with it.

Your schedule is still much the same but occasionally I’ll drop one of the mid-day feedings to prepare you to start weaning. You aren’t phased one bit if you miss one of those feedings so I think that process will, hopefully, go fairly smoothly. You take two naps (9-11 and 1-3:30) and sleep from about 7:30 – 7. You nurse four times a day (7, 11, 3:30, 7) and eat baby food three times.

Speaking of baby food, you won’t touch table foot with a ten foot pole. Well, you’ll eat crackers and cheerio’s but that’s it. Blueberry muffins? Wrinkle up your nose and let it fall out of your mouth if I put it in there. Pancakes? Will pick around them to get the puffs out without touching a single bite. We’re pretty baffled, especially James. Tonight at dinner he threw his hands up in the air and said, “Who wouldn’t eat pancakes and blueberry muffins??!?!” I know you’ll get used to it but you need to pick up your eating habits and soon!

You are an incredibly happy baby. Other than swimming lessons you rarely ever cry unless your brother is trying to “play” with you and, thus, pushing you down or something. You give lots of smiles and giggles. There has only been one occasion when you cried hysterically when I gave you to anyone else and that was after your first day of swimming lessons so it was probably deserved. You have started crying when we leave you at Sunday School but I knew that was coming. You’re always happy when we pick you up after the service. Your sweet spirit endears you to everyone who comes across you and we are so thankful for that!

You are a growing girl. Nine month clothes fit you well these days and you can wear most 12 month clothes as well. You’re still in size 3 diapers and your Easter sandals were size 1’s. I can especially tell that you are growing in weight when I wear you in the Baby Bjorn. It is significantly harder to carry you for long periods in that than it used to be.

We love you so much Hadley and are loving getting to see the girl that you are becoming. We pray that you always seek God’s wisdom and that you always know that he made you the exact way that you are for a purpose. God specially chose every one of your features and he couldn’t have done a better job if you asked me.

I love you baby girl!

Mommy

Hadley-girl,

I know I say this every month but I don’t know how you are already 10 months old. This year has flown by and we are now at two months until you turn a year. One year old!?!? You’ll practically be an adult then! Despite the fact that time is racing by and you are growing each and every second, we are so thankful that you are our sweet baby girl. So, what are you up to this month?

Pulling up on EVERYTHING. Your favorite standing toy is now the chest next to the couch that we keep James’ trains and cars and other toys in. As soon as we set you down anywhere in that vicinity you immediately beeline to it and start opening drawers and standing up pulling things out. You occasionally get your arms stuck as you accidentally push a drawer in while trying to reach for something but for the most part you’re content to just hang out there and play with things that you’re not supposed to. You also go the hang of pulling up on your crib this month which drove us to desperation. You would get yourself up multiple times each nap but couldn’t get yourself back down and would stand there and cry. I think (knock on wood) that you’ve finally tired of that game and have been either getting yourself back down without me knowing or not standing up for the past few days. I surely hope that that phase is behind us because it is no fun for anyone.

You have two teeth now and are working on number three. We thought your top one was going to come through last week because you were pretty miserable but it hasn’t made an appearance yet. Your two bottom teeth are so cute though and you can really see them now!

Even though you have some teeth,  you aren’t really interested in real food. You’ll down baby food, puffs, yogurt melts and the like as if we never feed you, but if I give you  a small piece of bread or fruit you’ll leave it sitting on the table in front of you. If you do get it in your mouth you make the worst face imaginable as if we are torturing you by feeding you a bite of buttermilk pancakes. It baffles me but I remember James being like this too so I figure you’ll eat real food eventually.

You are growing and definitely getting heavier. Your six months clothes are too small so you’re in 9 month outfits as well as some smaller 12 month right now. Still in a size three diaper. You’re taking two naps a day (9-11 and 1:15-3:30) and sleep from 7:15-7. You nurse four times a day (7, 11, 3:30, 7) and eat baby food three times (after breakfast, after lunch, and with us at dinner).

You are incredibly happy and so sweet. You give us lots of giggles and huge grins. You especially love it when Sissy gets in the car after school and you can see someone from your rear-facing perch. Occasionally it sounds like you are saying Mama and one night we promise that you signed “All Done” and said it back to me when I asked if you were all done but that was a one time experience. KayKay attests though that you are saying her name (as NayNay) and I’m pretty sure I heard it yesterday too so maybe those verbal skills are about to take off!

We love you so much sweetheart and enjoy every second with you. We pray that as you grow in stature you’ll also grow in God and know that his love for you (and ours) knows no bounds and is forever.

We love you every second, of every minute, of every day,

Mommy