Anna at 11 Months

Things Anna is doing...

-Clapping (she's figured out how to logistically, but not yet put it with being happy).

-"Dancing" to fast paced music (bobbing her head and body)

-Pointing

-Shaking her head "no"-- then Ryan and I shake our heads "yes" and then she laughs and keeps shaking her head "no".

-Getting up at least once at night... our parent's as teachers representative told us that at her age, she doesn't have to eat at night... so we are starting another round of sleep training.  She also said that now is a good time to try to break the finger-sucking-for-comfort habit (and that it will only get harder to change it later).

-Crawling!  We installed the outlet protectors and the top-of-the-stairs baby gait in a hurry.  She is also easily pulling herself up on everything, and is occasionally climbing up onto a raised surface (fireplace, etc).  It is endearing that she chooses to crawl to you, now that she has a choice.

-With her new mobility, she can now better choose how she would like to sleep... a lot of times it is on her stomach with her bottom stuck up in the air. :)

-Eating most solid foods-- her favorites are currently blueberries and pasta, and would like to eat a lot more of them than is healthy, probably.

 

How Anna now chooses to sleep...

 

 

 

These growth photos are getting a little harder all of the time, lol :)

 

Anna at 10 Months

Information about Anna:

-Tooth count= still just two

-She is transitioning to two naps per day (from three).

-When Anna is upset about something, she now shakes her head "no" repeatedly as she cries... "No, i don't want to eat, no I don't want my face wiped, no I don't want to take a nap".  We didn't teach her that shaking your head "no" means " no"... I'm pretty sure this is in-born.
-Anna is now arching her back and flailing herself backwards when she is mad (beginnings of tantrums, maybe?).  This has resulted in her accidently hitting her head on different objects, and almost getting dropped a few times

-She's crawling!  She woke up one morning, 4 days after she turned 10 months old, and took off crawling!  It's a whole new world to her now :)

-Anna is occasionally pulling herself up to standing.

-Anna loves her outdoor swing.

-Anna loves going to the pool-- she'll splash around, float on her back with help, and wear herself out!

-Anna now enjoys being read to... This is basically the only time when she will consistently sit very still, and not say anything.

-We have started giving her table food to feed herself, and she's loving it.... Some of her current favorites are pasta with red sauce and bread.  This has allowed Ryan and I to get to eat a more relaxed dinner, as Anna is now keeping herself very busy :)

-Anna is getting really good at drinking from a straw.  Although, you want to get her her own drink (don't share), because she back-washes :)



Anna is tired after an hour of swimming.

Mother's Day Week-end

Mother's Day Week-end

First Mother's Day



Anna at 9 Months

Anna's stats:

Height= 27 3/4 inches;  65th percentile

Weight= 19 lbs, 8 oz;  70th percentile

Head circumference= 44.3cm;  55th percentile

Motor Skill Information:

-Anna can pull herself from a sitting position up on to her knees, if she has something to grab hold of.

-She can transition from sitting up, almost onto all fours (to crawl), but one of her legs gets in the way.

-Anna enjoys trying to stand, while holding an adult's hands, although still is pretty wobbly.

-Anna has just discovered how to get herself from laying down to sitting up... this has been adversely affecting her sleeping (especially naptime). She doesn't know how to purposely lay back down from sitting yet, so sometimes I go in and lay her back down (from sitting) approximately 10 times, to begin one nap.

 

 

 Other Information:

-In general, Anna has been sleeping an average of 11 to 12 hours per night this month, wooh-hooh!

-Anna has always been a pretty "talkative" baby, but now she is starting to sound more like she's trying to make up words, saying things like "blah-blah-blah-blah", and babbling in general.  She is now using her tongue to try to make different sounds

-Anna has started biting while nursing... usually just when she is not focused on eating and ready to play. 

-Someone described the shrieking noise that Anna enjoys experimenting with nowadays as a baby pterodactyl, although who knows what they actually sounded like, lol.
-Anna enjoys actually having short books read to her (as opposed to just trying to eat them).

-Anna is keeping a leery eye on me when I have my hair in a ponytail (my hair is just recently long enough to be able to do this).  She is not quite sure what to make of me... sounds like mom, smells like mom, and kind of looks like mom, but she's still skeptical.  You can tell her little wheels are turning, trying to figure it out.

Anna gets pretty excited about bathtime!

Anna enjoyed her first ride on the Katy Trail!

It's hard to take a nap when you keep getting stuck sitting up!

Before...

After...  Poor Jillian!  Anna is approx 1 to 3 months older than
most of her baby friends, and seems in general to be scary to them.

Anna at her 9 month check-up.

She still is maintaining her same go-to position for relaxing.

That little leg seems to get in the way of crawling at this point.

After a long morning of shopping...

Anna likes to practice standing, nowadays.

 

 

Anna at 8 Months

Unoffical weight (on our home scale)= 19.2 lbs

Tooth count= 2 (on the bottom)!!  One day when Anna was fussy due to one of her teeth coming in, I tried to put some baby teeth numbing gel on her gums.  That was easier said than done, and it ended up on her lips and tongue as well.  About 10 minutes later, I noticed Anna stick her two fingers in her mouth (like always), and then pull them out to look at them.  Then she stuck the two fingers back in her mouth, then pulled them back out to look at them, this time feeling her two fingers with her other hand.  You could see that her little "wheels were turning" as she tried to figure out why she couldn't taste/feel her fingers with her mouth, lol!

Things Anna enjoys:

-Patting things (this activity usually includes both hands).

-Watching her daddy clap.

-Being able to shake a rattle.

-Being tickled under her chin and neck.

-Giggling at people wiggling their eyebrows up and down.

-Dropping toys over the edge of her high chair.

-Feeding herself Little Puffs.

-Sitting up on her own-- she has now become pretty steady, and doesn't topple over very often.

-Sitting up in her small bathtub, splashing, and playing with aquatic animal bath toys.

-Rolling, twisting, and kicking herself in a circle to get to where she wants (usually to a cell phone, Ipad, TV remote, etc.)-- but only when it is barely out of reach.

-Being held and carried around... she will only tolerate playing without being held for ~10 minutes at a time, before getting very upset (even if you are 3 feet from her).  The lady from Parents As Teachers said that this is a form of separation anxiety, and it is okay to hold her.

-Even though she wants to be held (and is generally quiet and content when being carried around), she is continually pushing away (so I'm always re-positioning her in my arms).  She knows she wants to go places (crawl/walk), but doesn't quite know how to make it happen yet.

-Anna enjoys saying her first consonant sound... ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma!  I'm not convinced yet that she is associating it with me, but it is still heart-warming :)  We've been working on teaching her "da-da".

 

We attended the MU vs AR basketball game in Arkansas..

On our way back from Arkansas.  Anna is very proud to be in the drivers' seat (only while we stopped!).

Ryan trying to coax Anna to crawl



Anna with her friend Ayla

Anna trying to feel her friend Ayla's face.

Anna is very proud to be sitting up on her own.

Anna at 7 Months

Things About Anna at 7 Months:

-Anna enjoys being bounced on a adult's knee... flapping her arms and legs furiously, with a serious and intense look of concentration on her face.

-Anna has seemed to be recognizing familiar faces (family members, etc) for a while, but now she is starting to get excited to see people--smiling, squealing and laughing.

-Anna has now re-discovered her tongue and lips.  She likes to stick her tongue out often, and as far as she possibly can-- when she's laughing, when she's crying, when she's "talking", etc.  This is resulting in a lot more drool.  She also enjoys slurping and sucking on her lips, and also sucking on her own tongue, if that's even possible.

-Anna now likes frozen teething toys, and is getting better at grasping them.

-Anna's decided in the last 2 weeks that she will no longer eat from a bottle (which is how she's been eating on Tuesdays for 4 months). This has been hard on her and her Grandma both, as you might suspect. I've been trying to work with her to take a bottle also, without success thus far... any suggestions?

-Anna is enjoying trying new foods (that we mix in with her baby cereal)... pureed mango seems to be her new favorite.

-Anna is very interested in whatever is behind her-- no matter which way is facing, she thinks she is missing something in back of her, and is always craning her head around to see whatever that is . One challenge caused by this is when changing her diaper, because she is always twisting to try to get the things behind/ above her head.  She has therefore been given the job of holding the wet wipes package during diaper changes, to keep her occupied ;)

-Anna's becoming increasingly interested in her surroundings.  This time trying to take her "7 month old" picture next to the same bear and sign, was a bit more challenging due to her developing awareness of her surroundings.  Anna was very interested in feeling the bear and grabbing the sign.

  

Things are getting quite a bit messier around here.

Just chillin' with her tongue out.

Anna is getting really good at grabbing earrings...