Lyric: 9 Months

9 Months...where is the time going?!  Lyric is changing so much every week.  We can hardly keep up with her cuteness!  Biggest change is that she really comprehends what you're saying by showing you she understands (with her voice and actions).

Lyric is wearing 12 month size clothing.  Summer has arrived, so her rolls are always exposed on her sweet, chubby legs.

Lyric enjoys most foods and wants anything that you are having.  No more baby food.  She prefers "big girl" selections.

There is no sneaking snacks with this little girl around...she can hear chewing from several crawl steps away.

Yes...crawling.  Folks, we have a mover!  A really fast mover.  Seems like we have been waiting for this one for a while.  I love seeing her move her body around and be so independent.  She also is a great vacuum cleaner.  (Don't worry, I don't let her eat ALL the crumbs.)  Her preferred method of moving is to walk as long as a piece of furniture is nearby to hold onto.

Helping Daddy build a gate

Napping is still 2 a day and pretty consistent.  She rarely falls asleep in arms anymore and she really loves her crib.  Before she falls asleep, she stands up and paces up and down the front of the crib for a little while and down she goes.  She sleeps pretty hard.  One problem: she thinks the ledge of the crib is pretty tasty.  It looks like a little mouse has nibbled all over it.

One of Lyric's many poses while sleeping

Lyric had a great time celebrating her Aunt Sarah's wedding at the end of May!  She finally got to meet so many of her aunties and cousins.  I think she still has bruises from all the love squeezes.

After some late night dancing, she couldn't find the energy to wake up the next morning.

Bryan and I celebrated our 4-year wedding anniversary this month.  Why does this relate to Lyric?  Well, this was her longest time away from Mommy.  Okay, so it mostly relates to me.  Ha!  How could she think about missing me when she got to spend one whole day with Gimmee, G-pa, and Auntie Demi AND THEN another whole day with CeCe and Pops?!  Who knows how much soda and candy they gave her... :)

She had her first swim in the pool!  With her pink swimsuit and crooked swim hat, she was the coolest kid in the water.

Father's Day was fun!  She got to spend some time with Daddy after a great weekend service.

Oh yeah, and her grandparents love to play with her!

Some new accomplishments and fun facts as a 9 Month Old include:

She can make the clapping sound with her hands.

Also trying to snap her fingers.

She had her first swing.

Both top teeth are in.

Stuffed animals get plenty of hugs and kisses from little Love Bug.

Enjoying her first fruit pouch.

Watermelon is her new favorite snack.

Giving high-fives!

Obsessed with saying, "Dada!"

If you ask her where the fan is, she will look up and point at one.

Drinking from a straw.

She has a seriously awesome fake laugh.

Looking forward to leaving for Hawaii next month!  Yes, her first big vacation is to the islands of paradise.  Big thanks to Gimmee and G-pa for making it happen.  Aloha!

Big Aloha Love to Uncle Rocky...

We love you Mary, Malia, and Roxanna.

Lyric: 8 Months

Our little 8 Monther is continuing her journey at being the cutest and best baby in the whole world.  Lyric is making many memories with her strides in interaction and communication.  It is such a joy to sit and visit with her...and she really enjoys everyone's company too.

Lyric is 28.5 inches long and weighs 19 1/2 pounds.  She still hasn't hit that 20 pound mark yet, even though she looks much heavier.  (Don't tell Lyric we talk about her weight like this.)  WE LOVE THE CHUB!  Everyone's first comment when seeing her always has something to do with her chubby fluffy and very healthy body.

Lyric watching the waterfalls

She builds her own forts!

She is wearing size 3 diapers and is moving into 12 month size clothes.

This month has had the most successful nap schedule yet.  90% of the time she takes a morning nap for an hour and an afternoon nap for around an hour and a half.  We usually have to wake her from each one.  She has realized she can move around in her crib...which has made for some very comical photos.  She also sleeps in some pretty cute positions.  When it's time for a nap or bedtime, she is usually ready to sleep. Therefore, when you give her her blanket she lights up, turns to her side, and snuggles against its softness.

We celebrated Mother's Day by spending time with the best mother's we know...Cary (CeCe) on Saturday and my mom (Gimmee) on Sunday.  It was such a joy to have my sweet girl with me as I celebrated my first Mother's Day.  She challenges me to be the best mother I can be everyday.  God has promoted me to the best job yet!

Unfortunately, Lyric's body faced a virus after Mother's Day.  She had a pretty strong temperature for a few days, but was mostly in high spirits.  No signs of being sick except a bit more fussy at times.  When I took her to the doctor, she was the only baby singing in the waiting room...and she continued her joyful anthem waiting for the doctor as we listened to screaming and crying occurring all around us. Ha!

(She ended up with a rash called Roseola after her fever went away.)

Some new accomplishments and fun facts as a 8 Month Old include:

Lyric's biggest milestone is understanding cause and effect.  "If I do this, something else happens."  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat.

She likes to put things in your mouth for you.

Tooth number 4 came in.

She is soooo close to crawling!  She has the strength, she just needs a bit of courage.

Copying your actions and sounds.

Saying "Banana" and "Dada".

Sometimes, she can pull herself up to stand without help.  (On the coffee table or her crib)

"Mamamamamama" (This is her word for "Mom" and her phrase for requesting help)

She loves watching a music show called "Classical Baby".  When it comes on she sings and moves her arms up and down.

Looking forward to watching this little monster start crawling all over the place.  Let's get those legs movin'!

Lyric: 7 Months

7 Months...Hello!  This little monster is becoming more fun everyday!  The ability to interact and play has made her company fun for all.  She is becoming more and more of an individual.  Her personality continues to bloom with each new skill, sound, and recognition.

Lyric is over 27 inches long and weighs around 19 pounds.  She looks much heavier...it's more of a buoyancy that her body has.  Still in the 75th to 90th percentile.  Her last doctor's visit went great!  Dr. Hodap explained that we're doing everything right so far as parents...Phew!  Our biggest questions this time had to do with solid foods.  He told us to "Go for it" with anything we would want her to try (excluding honey and peanut butter).  

Lyric "Going for It"

This big gal likes EVERYTHING to eat.  No complaining from her end.   It's been nice being able to give her more "human" food like whole peas, cheese, meat, fruits, and veggies.  She still has baby food type of meals most of the time.  She just has formula in her bottles now.  No more nursing.

Sitting in her high chair...eatin' some peas.

She wears size 9 month clothing, size 2 shoes (when she isn't pulling them off and putting them in her mouth), and size 3 diapers.  Outfits are getting so much cuter now!

Lyric continues to wake up around 8:30 a.m. (black-out curtains have helped since she has the brightest room in the house) and goes to bed between 9:00, 9:30 p.m.  She takes 2 naps and has officially cut out her catnap in the evening.  Sleeping now no longer requires a swaddle...FINALLY!!!

For Easter, we spent time with family as Lyric opened her first Easter baskets.  She got some cute new toys and clothes.  Best part of the holiday?  Well check out this little Easter bunny...

Sweet little lady loves to be around where all the action is.  Once all of her independent time is used up, she craves to be where all the people are.  Her intensity in watching how people act, move, talk, etc. is funny to watch.  She is soaking up EVERY LITTLE THING.


Some new accomplishments and fun facts as a 7 Month Old include:

Lyric's favorite thing to do: STAND.  Of course she needs your help.  If you sit next to her she will either try to climb you or find your hands to help her up (and she basically does all the work herself).  This will always make her happy, ALWAYS.

Creating mountains for her to climb

The stroller is one of favorite things.

Recognizing songs and words.

Loves being tickled.

She has a major staring problem.

Flipping to her belly.

Picking up small objects like Puffs and peas.

She is great in the car now.  She gets excited when the engine turns off because she knows you're coming to get her.

She finds a new voice, volume, or sound every week that she can make with her voice.  (Currently working on her L's)

Separation anxiety from Mommy. (I am secretly loving this for now.)

Loves touching peoples hats.

Sitting up in the big bath.

Saying "Mamamama" when she needs help.  (Looooove it.)

Claps your hands for you.

Little Miss Sunshine in the morning.

Looking forward to crawling.  She is really close!  Loving every minute of this little girl.  She is pure joy!  

Lyric: 6 Months

Lyric is half way to ONE!  Everyone said the 6 month mark brings on a whole new level of ease and excitement.  She is changing so quickly, it's hard to keep up with all of her new accomplishments!

She loves people around her all the time, especially enjoys people watching.  You can act as silly as can be and she will just stare at you without a change in her face.  (Are we that lame at entertaining?)  After she has evaluated the situation, she will smile and let out some loud happy noises!  Lyric is safe and social combined.  Hmmm...does this sound like a perfect mix from her parents?

This big girl is wearing size 9 month clothing now, but can still squeeze into some 6 month choices.  Therefore, we could guess that Lyric is around 18-20 pounds and 28 inches long.  

Lyric continues to do great with her 4 hour schedule.  Since sleeping at night is very consistent (11-12 hours), her naps are still trying to find their balance.   Nap One: 1 1/2 hours.  Nap Two: 30 minutes (95% of the time).  She may take another catnap later if she feels like she needs a bit more beauty rest.

Lately if I can, I have let her rest with me after she wakes up from her second nap since it's so short.  This girl does NOT want to be alone in her bed when she wakes up.  She will lay with me and talk up a storm.  Then (if I'm lucky!) she will fall back to sleep by cuddling against me so close that we both wake up in a pool of sweat.

Still swaddled at night, but not trying to escape as much.  We just started NOT swaddling her for naps.  It took 4 days to get her Nap #1 back to it's normal length.  Nap #2...yeah still 30 minutes.  

(At least she always wakes up happy!)

This month Lyric has gone on more outings since she is getting easier to take out.  Less spitting up and more interest in what's going on around her allow us to have very wonderful adventures out and about.

She visited the Bellagio one afternoon.

She enjoyed a track meet watching her very talented Auntie Demi.

She sat in the grass at Sunset Park.

Another big change has been her eating routine!  I gave her a formula bottle for the first time and she completely denied it.  She was unhappy with the idea of something other than Mommy's milk.  So, her bottles consist of a mix of the two.  The ratio is slowly becoming formula dominant.  Now, she nurses just once in the mornings.  She eats her solids at the start of each meal.  Some favorite foods include: bananas (absolute favorite!), oatmeal, peas, sweet potatoes, squash...basically anything you give her. She tried Puffs (puffy cereal bites) for the first time too...still just trying to swallow them whole.

Lyric now has 3 teeth. She looks so cute when she smiles!
                                                         

Some new accomplishments and fun facts as a 6 Month Old include:

She loves singing in her stroller.

She can stand at the edge of her crib and while holding onto something the right height. She stands SOOO proud!

This girl loves a good leg tickle.  (Just like Mommy!)

She loves to throw her body back and be upside-down.

Bedtime stories bring on a very high level of excitement.

Touching faces is extremely interesting.

Sitting and playing more independently.  (She still has no desire to move yet.)

Loves to help you "Clap, clap, clap your hands.  Clap your hands together!"

Talk, talk, talk... (REALLY close to Mamamamama...)  She said it for ONE day.

She can hold her bottle the whole time she eats.

Words she always recognizes: "Mama", "Dada", "kisses", "milk", "clap", "Lyric", "more"

Looking forward to watching her move her chunky healthy body around.  Or will we?  

Until then, "Kisses!" from Lyric.

Lyric: 5 Months

5 Months...Little Miss Lyric is getting so big!

Lyric is 26 inches long and weighs 16 pounds.  (Add a couple centimeters and ounces since these were her measurements a couple weeks ago.)  Her height and weight are in the 90th percentile.  You go girl!

She wears size 2 diapers and is still in 6 month clothes.  She no longer wears her 3 month choices.  I cleaned out her closet and dresser the other day and now it seems like all her clothes are gone!  Good thing she has grandmas who like to shop for a chunky little lady.  Clothes look so big until you put them on her.  For Lyric, all of her pants are "skinny" jeans.

This 5 month old is officially on a 4 hour eating schedule!  (We were anticipating this one to come in order to free up some time and have her day more evenly spread out.)  She wakes up at 8:30 a.m. for a bottle and has her last bottle at 8:30 p.m.  (With her 2 other bottles between that time of course!)  An hour later she is in Snoozeville.  Yes, Lyric sleeps around 11 hours. (Big smiles!)  When she wakes up early, she entertains herself for longer stretches of time without calling for us.  We watch her on the monitor while she lifts her legs up and stares at her feet.  Naps (about 1.5 hours) include one in the morning and afternoon with a possible catnap (about 30 minutes) before her last feeding.

We found a great swaddle...finally!  (Geesh!  We may have the spokes-baby for swaddling.)  It's more of a strap that wraps her up.  She's only escaped a handful of times, which is SOOOO much better than old times.

Superbowl Sunday was "super" fun with family.  She rocked her Witten jersey!

Lyric's first Valentine's was very mellow.  She got to wear her Minnie Mouse outfit from Cary (CeCe) and Darryl (Pop) and spend some time with them that night while Mommy and Daddy went to dinner.

Some new accomplishments and fun facts as a 5 Month Old include:

She loves touching your face and opening her mouth for kisses.

Lyric loves music (she has to with a name like hers!)  She will immediately cheer up when you sing, "La, la, la, la.  La, la, la, la...Elmo's World!"  Or "Shake, shake, shake.  Shake, shake, shake.  Shake your booty!"  

Turning pages of books.

Belly laughing (She did this for the first time at 4 months, but on occasion we can get her to laugh hard now...Daddy is the best at it.)

Sitting up with the Boppy AND shortly on her own without any help.

(Why does she have pajama pants on while in a grocery store, you ask?  Spitting up and diaper explosions left her with only one option while we were out.)

She takes a bath in a real bath now where she loves to kick and splash!  After the bath is over, she breathes hard from all the water aerobics.

Playing with her feet and putting her toes in her mouth.

She is immediately calm and happy when you take her outside.

When on her tummy, she will push her body up with straight arms.

For a week or so she found a new screaming voice that she shared with everyone.

Since she has less feedings, that means more milk at a time.  So, she has a "Big Girl" bottle now.

Speaking of feeding...this girl eats some banana everyday.  Equivalent to one bite of a banana for us grown-ups, she likes gets super excited and overly enthusiastic with her little snack at night.

Looking forward to more talking, smiles, and laughter this month.