Alaina’s 15-month-ish update January 23, 2012

I’m obviously terribly behind on blogging. Life has just been…life. So, please ignore the fact that Alaina is mere days from turning 16 months and I’m just now posting her 15-month update.

Alaina is changing so much these days- it’s so exciting to watch! At her 15-month checkup, she was 30.5 inches long (46th percentile) and 22 lbs 14 oz (27th percentile), so she’s an averaged sized kid (which I was surprised at since she’s still sporting quite the baby belly). Here are some other newish things about her-

-She’s quite the chatterbox and can say a lot of words now. They include: apple, socks, Jayhawk (jay-jah), doggie, that (dat), more, duck, watch, hi, help (elp), up, hat, and Santa. An eclectic list! She’s constantly pointing at things and asking us to name them by saying “dat”.

-She loves to climb! Unfortunately, it gets her into trouble. This weekend, she had climbed on top of the ottoman to then climb on top of the end table, which is where I discovered her. She has a special mischevious grin that she saves for moments like this. :)

-Alaina is definitely testing boundaries and learning how to deal with frustrations in acceptable ways, i.e. not hitting.

-She’s had one ear infection since her surgery. After reading some research suggesting a link between pacifier use and a higher incidence of ear infections, we broke her of her pacifier habit last weekend so we’re hoping she will be infection-free.

-She now has 12 teeth since all 4 of her first-year molars have come through.

-She still loves to read books and anything that plays music.

-Alaina is now more interested in playing with stuffed animals and giving them hugs. And now if she wants to give you a kiss, she sticks her bottom lip and goes “mmm”. It’s ridiculously cute.

-After a few rough weeks of transition, she loves her new class at daycare and has won over all her teachers. She makes a craft almost every day so our fridge is covered in Alaina’s artwork. They do a good job of keeping the kids busy, so she’s worn out by the end of the day and we can barely keep her awake through dinner.

Halloween 2011 November 28, 2011

I realized this weekend that I hadn’t posted any pics from Halloween. And we just celebrated Thanksgiving. But, hey- at least it’s not December yet!

I love her facial expression in this one. I imagine she’s thinking “Mama, why am I wearing this??”

November 8, 2011

This is Alaina’s new face that she likes to make. We call it her “surprise face” and make gasping/shocked noises whenever she does it. But she really looks like she forgot to put her dentures back in and it cracks us up every time.

She’s finally saying “mamamama”! I’m so excited, except she’s usually saying it while whining.

This weekend, she suddenly entered a phase where she wants to be held all the time and throws a fit (i.e. cries out and lays on the floor) if we try to put her down. Where did my sweet baby go? Who is this new whiny, demanding kid?

She’s discovering all sorts of new things now that she’s getting taller and can reach things, like the joy of pulling out toilet paper. And she really likes to climb now so the stairs are always gated and she’ll climb up on the fireplace any chance she gets.

Good thing she’s cute and makes funny faces to get us through the frustrations of parenthood! (And check out that belly!!)

2011 Walk to Defeat ALS October 15, 2011

It seemed serendipitous that our area ALS walk was the same weekend the Caseys were in town. Their dog, Lincoln, filled in for Frank since he ended up having to work. We enjoyed the sunny day- at least until the hungry baby had a meltdown. :)

Pumpkin Patch October 13, 2011

While the Caseys were in town we also visited a pumpkin patch. The kids pet some farm animals, competed in duck races, and then we all went on a hayride out to the pumpkin patch. It was a cold, windy day, but we still enjoyed ourselves.