ONE YEAR OLD!

Can you believe it?  This month has just flown by.  As her first birthday neared, I kind of just wanted to stop time.  I wanted to keep our baby, a baby!  And then suddenly, she's a toddler!  She took her first steps this last month, sometimes taking up to 10-11 at once!  Her preferred mode of transportation is still scooting/funky crawling, but she really loves walking back and forth between mom and dad.  It's her little game.  She's also able to recognize some basic body parts (ear, nose, hair) in both English and Mandarin, and while her mandarin will be pretty basic, we're pretty impressed.

Around mid-month, she also had a febrile seizure.  It was seven incredibly scary minutes.  She had been acting fine all day, outside of a fever, but randomly, her fever spiked, and the next thing I knew, her eyes rolled back, and she was limp in my arms, seizing.  Thankfully, I knew what to do.  We did take her to get checked out after since it was her first one, and the Dr. found the same - nothing wrong outside of the fever.  She was incredibly tired after that, but was fever-less and completely herself the next day.  We were glad about that.  I hope it never happens again.

She grew two new teeth and took her first steps nearer to her birthday.  She's just gotten so big.  She still enjoys reading immensely, and is increasingly a mommy's girl.  Lately, she's been letting me pull her hair up into a little pony on the top of her head (something she never let me do before), so her hair isn't always in her eyes.  She's got a few words (mama, dada, bye) and she knows exactly what she wants without having a way to ask for it, so we're coming up on the fussy stage - hopefully she'll grasp language early like her brothers, so that will shorten this stage a bit!  All that aside, she is SO fun. 

We just love her more than words.  Happy First Birthday Ev-Bug!

 

Eleven Months

Our little bug was busy this past month.  Growing, not so gracefully, four more teeth (for a grand total of 6!), exploring her world (she's starting to get sassy with her brothers, grabbing at their faces when they get too close), and even eating dog food!  Her personality is really sort of sassy, sweet, and awesome!  Her first Christmas was so special for us.  It was our first Christmas as a family of five, and she was happy to oblige with ripping up paper!

She is increasingly interested in reading books.  She's especially fond of peek-a-boo, or touch and feel style books, but also really loves books about colors and the book, "Ladybug, Girl." Her favorite mode of transportation is scooting on her butt, and if she ever flops over onto her back, she's pretty much stranded and will just protest until someone rescues her.  We've been working on teaching her how to get out of that predicament, but it's easier for her to protest because he brothers are quick to come to her rescue.  When she's scooting, she's quick to go over to something so she can pull herself up and stand.  She loves standing.  No steps yet, but we're close, I think!  Excited to see what the next month will bring for her - she'll be ONE YEAR OLD!  Time is so precious, and some days it's so hard to remember to soak in all these fleeting moments!

Oops, here she is on her back, and protesting to be helped!

Ten Months

Can you believe it?  Ten whole months have gone by since we welcomed our little girl. 

She's a spunky, sweetheart.  She's not into baby food at all, so she eats mostly table food with the rest of us.  She loves pears, cheese, and her oatmeal.  Crawling is just not her cup of tea, but I'll take the mini-scoot little girl for awhile.  Kids grow up too fast the way it is.  She does, however, like to stand when she's able.  Her activity table is growing on her quickly.  She never has to do much for herself because her big brothers always seem to be running to her rescue, especially O.  He just adores her.  If she tumbles over, he's the first one there trying to help her up.

A few days after turning ten months old, FOUR top teeth broke through (her front teeth and one tooth on either side of them).  She was miserable with her sleep for a few weeks before that, so we were so happy to see them arrive!

 
Hubs and I both agree that as she gets older, she's going to be a huge troublemaker, of the quiet variety.  Daddy also jokes that she's going to try to get by on her looks her whole life. Ha!   We are going to have our hands full!  We love her more than words can say. It's amazing what children bring to our lives!

Happy Ten Months, Bug!

9 months

A couple of weeks ago, our little girl turned NINE MONTHS OLD! 

She's such a happy baby - loves table food (forget the purees that I made for her!), laughs a lot, enjoys baths, scoots little by little, will reach for things but doesn't crawl, and loves dancing, singing!  On her nine-month birthday, October 28, she learned how to feed herself!

A little peanut, she weighs just about 17 pounds.  But she's got all of us wrapped around her fingers.  Even the brothers.  She knows she doesn't need to crawl because her brothers grab anything they see her trying to reach.  We've got two little bottom teeth, the biggest grin, and the best open-mouthed baby kisses anyone could ask for. 

Love her, and so thankful we have been blessed with her in our lives!

Five Years

My first-born turned FIVE yesterday.  And all of a sudden, I feel infinitely older.  How can he be FIVE?  Wasn't it just yesterday that I was still trying to figure out how to be a mom?  He has taught me many lessons in life.  He helps me notice all of the little things I've overlooked.  I know more about the ocean than I ever have, I'm learning about bugs, and all kinds of things that interest him.  He is really into nature.  Loves it.  I think he'll be my science guy. 

In the past year, he's grown 3.5 inches, but only weighs i at 36 lbs.  Tall and skinny like Dad.  Most people say he's the spitting image of his Dad.  Well, he's got a wonderful person to be taking after then.

He's very particular and will often get incredibly upset if things don't go just the way he planned them, but despite all that, Isaac has a heart of gold. He is very caring for his siblings and friends.  He won't ever leave them behind.  He loves to include them (even when they don't play his way).  I admire his curiosity about the world and I hope that never changes.  Incredibly bright, we opted to home school him this year after touring a couple of local preschools and not finding a program that we felt would challenge him.  We're currently working through kindergarten curricula with no problems at all.  I couldn't be more proud of this little boy.  I hope he always holds on to this sense of wonderment with everything around him (he'll spot a bug, on the sidewalk, while riding his bike!), and that he always asks questions.  I pray he holds on tight to this all-accepting love he has for everyone and everything, and does not become too quick to judge those that he meets in life.  Yes, he's five, and in the past five years, I've learned more about life than I ever know I could.  Thanks for making me a Mom, Isaac.  Love you to the moon and back.

Eight months

This happy girl turned 8 months on September 28!  She had a busy month.  Most notably, she grew TWO teeth.  We had a few restless nights, but she's such a trooper.  We have been working on teaching her to roll over, and she's pretty much got the concept now.  She can hold herself up on all fours for about five seconds.  She enjoys babbling, eating "grown up" style foods (purees are barely tolerable!), reading "Noah's Crew Came Two by Two" and "Peekaboo Zoo," giggles and tickles, and ripping up paper and chewing on her crinkle cupcake or anything else that she can get into her mouth.  Standing is her favorite.  If she can stand and bounce, her day has been made.  Because of that, the jumper/bouncer is one of her favorite places to be!  I think having the "stuff" around her so that her brothers don't directly bump into her is a bonus as well.  Speaking of her brothers, she really soaks in *everything* that they do. It worries me a little for when she can keep up with them!  On the plus side, she thinks they are HILARIOUS.  There is no shortage of laughter in this household.

While the diva moments are present, our little bug is, for the most part, so easy going and just sweet.  For some reason, I swear she knows when any of us need a hug or a cuddle.  She'll nuzzle her face into our necks and just make all of our cares melt away.  We are so, so, so blessed and we love E more than we can put into words.