Sunday, June 19, 2011

10 month Videos-Crawl, laugh, and slobber

Her second time crawling (no camera the first time) with the help of Uncle John-John snatching her toy away).


She now loves to babble. She's got kind of a soft voice. She loves to say "da da da da." Scott's parents insist that she said "da da" when she saw Scott on the computer screen. But they said then she said "da da" again when Scott's sister was on the computer screen. Maybe "da da" is her word for the computer?



and now, the grand-daddy of them all. The cutest video I've yet to take. Slugger and her cousin. We met up at the beach but we also hung out with them in Kona a few hours before our plane took off. Slugger was just fascinated with Zylin, she is amazed by other kids. And Zylin decided to share a little love for his cousin. I think he thought I was saying "kiss her." So he did=)!!!

Kind of.

Warning: This might be the cutest video you have ever seen.

10 month update-Big Island Trip


Slugger:
Real Age: 10 months and 2 weeks
Adj. Age: 7 months and 2 weeks
Weight: ~17 pounds
Height: ?

Milestones:
-can sit unassisted for short periods of time (not a lot of improvement there)
-passes toys and objects from one hand to to the other
-is starting to prefer her parents (FINALLY!)
-loves to talk in long run-on sentences "da da da da da da da da"
-crawls
-attempting to climb the stairs in our house
-is pulling herself up on lower things (only to faceplant)
-first tinge of stranger anxiety, looks like it's in our near future
-eating 2-3 baby food meals a day in addition to all the bottles

Happy Father's Day, Scott!!! You are such an amazing man in all you do. I am in love with the son you are to your parents, the friend you are to others (and myself), the husband I have, and the father you are to Slugger (and Allie and Rory). I wish I had the chance to take some father/daughter pictures this past week to go with this post. But I'm so happy we finally get to celebrate our first father's day together and we are so blessed to have many more for years to come.

This is our regular appointments
Speech Therapist-once a month
Physical Therapist- every other week
Public Nurse- once a month
Pediatrician-every 3 months
And we'll having a retina check-up in the next month.

Of all those, I really love her physical therapy. It has helped Slugger catch on to new skills much more quickly. Just 8 days ago, Slugger learned to crawl. She couldn't do it at all before. She planted her hands like they were stuck in concrete and kicked those legs...did pushups...did handstands...but those hands never moved. Last Saturday, one of her favorite uncles, John-John, came to visit and was trying to tempt her with a stuffed animal and she picked up a hand...put it down and then I think she realized how it worked. She crawled across the room to the toy. No problem!!! And that was that. She suddenly became very mobile in five minutes.

I had this misconception that I would have time...there would be a gradual learning process. That she would crawl 1 foot. The next day, maybe a foot and a half. Nope. Once she picked up how to move her hands, she was crawling everywhere. The next day, she crawled to our living room stairs and began tackling that first step. We found her behind our TV. One time, I got distracted and when I looked around, she had disappeared. I was mystified until I saw two little pale feet kicking out the bathroom door and there she was rolling herself in the bathroom mat. In the past week, she's completely mastered crawling and now she's not happy unless intent on standing up. Everything becomes a makeshift crutch to pull herself up to her feet with. One big problem is that she thinks she can stand on her own so she doesn't bother to hold onto anything and topples over straight as a board.

This past month, we took advantage of memorial day weekend and our days off to take her on her first trip ever. We went to the Big Island so my brother and sister could meet her for the first time. And my brother and his girlfriend had their baby boy on July 4th, just 3 weeks before the girls were born. I've never seen my nephew and I was so excited. It was an amazing trip. One thing we've learned this past year is that life is short and you never know when you have to say good-bye. My perception of what's important really has changed and I hope for the better. It was very important for us that Slugger sees her family and I wanted my siblings to see that's she's fine...she's great and they don't have to worry. I know it was so hard for them to not be here for everything.

The trip did have some hilarious highlights, that are so fun that I'm probably going to blog about them on my photography website soon. Look for that. A rodeo and the signs that tell you that you're on the Big Island. But the second day of our trip, my sister, Genesis, took us to lunch at her working place, Merriman's Restaurant in Waikoloa. She's been telling her coworkers all about Slugger and so she wanted them to be able to meet her too. Slugger was a little celebrity as Genesis took her around to meet all of the staff.


Then we drove to "69s" beach to meet my brother and his family. I don't think I need to explain how the beach got its name. It is pretty much what you think it might be=). Slugger went in the water for the third time in her life. She loved it but the sound of the waves along shore really spooked her. Check out her face!


Happy Father's Day, Scottie!!! We were a little short on chairs (which Jordan thoughtfully brought) so Scottie had to hold all the towels for everyone.


Here's Slugger getting ready for her swim. That bathing suit used to be her cousin, Lauren's bathing suit. It's neat to see things getting passed down.


And here is Slugger meeting her handsome cousin, Zylin. They must be family, they both love sticking their tongues out at each other. Oh, no, already the antics begin!

First time I got to see my first and only nephew, and I am in love. He's such a happy and content baby.



And this sight warms my heart. My baby brother holding my baby girl. Oh, I think Zylin is getting a little jealous. I don't think he knew what to make of Slugger.





He burst out laughing when she lost her balance and tipped over. Aunty Genesis was so quick to catch her though.

Cousins!!! I can't wait to see them grow up and become friends!

Jordan, Carolin, Zylin, and Slugger.

Scottie and I taking our turns with the babies.

Genesis, me, Jordan, Slugger, and Zylin.(just missing our older sister and we would have had a little reunion)





Check out the latest post of three recent videos. Crawling, jibber-jabbering, and getting a surprise.