ALMOST ONE

Makayla is ten months old today! Only two more months and my baby girl will be one year old. I'm feeling better about her getting older than I was before. At first I wanted her to stay a little baby forever but I'm looking forward to all of the fun things we can do as she gets older.

These days, Mak is able to get around just about anywhere she wants to go. She loves to stand up and play with her toys. She has pretty good balance as long as she's holding on to something. She starts to cry if she loses her balance, even if she doesn't fall. She sometimes gets a little too brave and tries to walk from one toy to another and of course, she falls down! She has mastered pulling up on just about anything. She loves to walk up and down the couch, too. She is pulling up on the couch to help me type as we speak! Her favorite toy is the computer! She just deleted the last sentence that I had typed. She also loves the remote control. Daddy gave her an old remote that she can play with and chew on but of course she still wants ours.

Makayla now has 3 teeth! Two on the bottom and one on the top. She loves to eat real people food now. It's hard to take her to a restaurant these days because she loves to scream when she wants another bite...I'm just not fast enough for her. She will eat just about anything! And she thinks that if you're eating, she is supposed to be eating, even if she has aleady eaten! She still eats her baby food but I have been trying to introduce her to other foods such as mashed potatoes, carrots, apples, and bananas.

She has also started trying to say words instead of just squealing all of the time. She says ba-ba most of the time. It's so cute! I can't wait for her to start talking.
Nap time has become an issue within the past week. She has decided that she doesn't need to take naps. She gets so tired and just crawls around crying but she will not take a nap. Every time I put her in her bed, she just stands up and cries until I come to get her. Yesterday, she was so tired, she fell asleep in her exersaucer. Even though naps aren't that good for us anymore, she still sleeps all night...thank goodness!

I have enjoyed being home with Mak for the past month! I love watching her grow and discover new things every day. I wish I could stay home with her forever, but I also love to teach and must begin working in my classroom next week.

Here are some videos of Mak playing and walking up and down the couch.

On the go! from Amy Herbert on Vimeo.

Just playing! from Amy Herbert on Vimeo.

Family, friends and fun in Alabama

Makayla and I took a trip to Alabama to visit family and friends. Jeff's dad and grandparents came out to Texas to visit us for a week. We had a wonderful time! Since they drove the motorhome out here, Makayla and I decided to ride back to Alabama with them. We left Saturday morning (July 11th). The drive took about 12 1/2 hours. Makayla did such a good job. She had to stay in her carseat unless we were stopped. When we stopped, she was able to get out and crawl around for a few minutes. She was SO GOOD. She hardly cried at all and just slept most of the time. We were so tired when we got there. We stayed at Jeff's dad's house that night and went to meet my sister the next day. We were able to see baby Hayden for the first time. She is so tiny and so sweet. She really looked little next to Makayla! We spent a lot of time hanging out at Nana's house so that all of the kids could play together. Jordan and Abby had such a good time playing with Mak. Abby especially loved to "mother" her. She's such a good helper. Mak loved having them around to play with. We were also able to get together with some of my friends from college that have never met Makayla. One of my friends, Jennifer, has a 1 yr old daughter so they played. We met them at the Summit to eat lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen, which was yummy!! Then, we went to Jennifer's house so that the girls could play and we could catch up. The girls had fun playing and we had a great time too!
One afternoon, we went over to Alison's house to visit. Alison was able to practice her mommy skills since she's due in March! We decided to go for a swim since it was such a nice day!
We had a WONDERFUL time visitig our famiy and friends! We took a lot of pictures so here's a slideshow! Enjoy!

Happy 9 months old...already!

I know, I'm a little behind but I've been so busy with school. My little baby girl is growing up! These past 9 months have gone by so fast but I've had so much fun watching her grow. She weighed in at 16lbs, 4.7oz at her check-up the other day. She did such a good job letting the doctor check her...she usually cries but not this time! They even pricked her finger to check her blood and she just sat there and laughed and played the whole time. She's such a happy baby....MOST of the time! Makayla is the most amazing little girl. I'm so blessed to have her in my life! I think about how little she was and how much she has grown and learned so many new things. She is not even a little bit delayed like I thought she might be after being born so early.
Here are her new developments:
She is now "crawling" all over the house! She doesn't crawl using her knees for some reason but she uses her hands and pulls herself and uses her feet to push. I don't know what kind of crawling it is but she sure knows how to get around! I have to chase her all over the place. She is also learning how to pull up and stand. She pulls up on the couch and just stands there. The other day, she crawled into the kitchen where I was doing the dishes and pulled up on the dishwasher. I guess she was trying to help me. She always finds her way to whatever she wants. She's so smart! I had her exersaucer blocking her from the kitchen so she decided to crawl through it to get to the kitchen. I think I'm going to have my hands full with this little munchkin. She has also learned how to make lots of noises with her mouth. She thinks it's so funny. My favorite thing that she has started doing is sleeping in HER bed ALL night long! I put her in her bed at 9:00 every night and she sleeps all night. I love it!
Here are some pictures of my girl!