9 months!

As you can see, blogging has fallen by the wayside lately due to an incredibly busy time around the holidays and my 30th birthday.  My mom has been staying with us ever since Christmas, and we've had lots of family in and out ever since then. It's been so fun to have everyone here but also so busy that there hasn't been time for much else! I will do my best to get caught up, but in the meantime...

Juliet is now 9 months old!

At her well check today she 

weighed in at 20.5 lbs (75%) and 

measured 30 1/4 in (98%)

She is hitting all of the developmental milestones she's supposed to be hitting and then some. She is a VERY active baby and has mastered crawling and pulling herself up. She basically does not sit still. She learned how to stand in her crib a few weeks ago, but didn't know how to sit back down. It took about a week for her to figure that out, but now she's up and down no problem. She quit nursing (her choice, not mine) a few weeks ago so she is exclusively on formula now, having 4 bottles a day, and eating 3 meals. The girl is insatiable and pretty much eats all day long. She has mastered the pincer grasp and self feeds everything but yogurt or oatmeal. We introduced the snack catcher the other day and she figured it out within minutes, and she can also handle the pouch snacks herself. She is wearing mostly 12 month clothes, size 3 diapers and size 3 shoes. She still only has her 2 bottom teeth but I'm guessing those top two are not too far away. Her hair is pretty light at this point - light enough that I would call it blonde at this point. It looks like it will come in a little darker than Laila's, but it's definitely blonde. She loves to wave and clap and high-five as well as make a clicking sound with her mouth. We are working on teaching her a few signs (more, all done, please, thank you) but she's not quite responding yet. Over the last month she had her first ear infection, was RSV+ and had roseola all within one week. That was a tough time for everyone. She was such a sick and sad little girl! We are so grateful her RSV was not bad enough to warrant a breathing machine. She was a tough cookie and made it through...poor girl. She loves sitting in the cozy coupe and being pushed around, and she loves "getting cozy" with daddy (i.e. snuggling on daddy's shoulder). She's just full of smiles and melts our hearts daily. We love her so much and are so happy God blessed us with her.

8 Months!

Juliet is 8 months old!

 She is learning new things everyday. Literally. Within three days she pulled to stand, officially started crawling, and started clapping. 

Juliet clapping from Heather Vataha on Vimeo.

Juliet pulling to stand from Heather Vataha on Vimeo.

Juliet crawling from Heather Vataha on Vimeo.

We can now get little giggles if we try REALLY hard...she doesn't give them up easily. She is about 20 pounds, consistently sleeping through the night 7-7, and napping 2 times a day from 9-11 and then 2-4 or 5. She wears 9-12 month clothes, size 3 diapers and size 3 shoes. She is nursing 2 times a day and getting 2 formula bottles, and eating three meals a day. Thanks to second child syndrome she already eats almost everything that Laila eats. She's had eggs, peanut butter, macaroni and cheese, pb&j, pizza, etc. Thankfully no allergies so far. She has her 2 bottom teeth, still has very blue eyes, and her hair is getting lighter every day. She babbles and squeals quite a bit. Before writing this, I went back to Laila's 8 month post and found everything Juliet is doing to be almost exactly the same as what Laila was doing at that age. She loves watching her big sister and trying to play with her. Laila is very patient and loving with her, for the most part.  She continues to be the happiest baby and is ALWAYS smiling. It's not very hard to get a smiling picture of her :)

She also got her first haircut this month because her hair was a disaster.

before:

 

during:

 after:

same dress

same dress. Baby J is about a month older...

More of J:

our little christmas photoshoot

photos by lovejoy photography

Happy December!

7 Months.

Little J is 7 months old today! 

She is growing like a weed and learning new things every day.  She cut her first (bottom front) tooth this week, and has started rocking on all fours getting ready to crawl. She doesn't generally get herself into that position, but if I place her that way she will stay up for quite a while, rocking, whining, and trying to figure out her next move. She is very sturdy sitting now and can often get herself from a sitting position to her stomach in a controlled manner. She has a constant smile on her face and FINALLY we have gotten a few little giggles out of her!  Still no legit belly laughs, but a few giggles here and there. We'll take what we can get! She is only nursing 2x a day now and taking a bottle for her other feeds as she is just too distracted. I have to be in a perfectly quiet room with nothing going on, and that's just impossible to do every time she wants to eat, especially with a 2 year old who thinks it's time to play "jump on mama" every time I try to nurse :) For the last week now (knock on wood), I have not gone in to feed or soothe her and she's made it through the night on her own. The first few nights she woke about 3 times but cried for less than 5 minutes each time.  Last night she didn't wake/cry at all! Hoping this continues! She is wearing anything from 6-12 month clothes, size 2 shoes and size 3 diapers. She is taking 2 naps a day (9:30-11:00 and 2:00-4:30). She is eating solids 2-3 times a day and I honestly haven't even kept track of what she's tried (2nd child syndrome), but it's been a lot of things...black beans, egg yolk, yogurt, banana, carrot, parsnip, green beans, peas, bread, puffs, strawberry, blueberry, plus anything Laila has slipped her that I don't necessarily know about :) She is already more fond of eating finger foods than being spoon fed. Often I think she's eating a ton and then I take her out of her high chair and the seat is filled with food. Clearly she needs to keep working on her aim. She still takes a paci but generally only when she's sleeping and sometimes in the car. She has about 5 of them in her crib which she will find on her own throughout her nap/bedtime and put back in her mouth. It's fun to watch that process on the video monitor. She has her pink Little Giraffe lovey too that is a comfort for sleep. She loves the water and either takes baths with Laila or in the kitchen sink. She is learning she can splash and make a mess and will stay in the water until I make her get out.

She is still a mama's girl and definitely notices and cries if I leave the room, and always gets a huge grin when she sees me. Nothing can make a mama's heart melt faster. She is definitely getting a personality and sense of humor. Today at Costco she was completely instigating Laila and knew exactly what she was doing...they were in the cart next to each other and Laila was playing with my phone. Juliet kept reaching over and trying to grab it, and while Laila was very patient with her, I would "scold" Juju and tell her no and pull her hand off of Laila or the phone. She would just look at me with a huge grin and immediately reach back over for the phone...she knew it was a game of sorts and it was so funny to watch, I was literally laughing out loud and wishing I could've videotaped the interaction, but Laila had my phone! I am thankful that Laila is very patient and gentle with her (for now!)

I basically instagram everything now so here's the best of J's 7 month instagrams - 

plus a few other randoms thrown in there...

Here is a link to Laila's 7 month post. It's so funny how everything is so similar between them!