margo: eight months

Today Margo is eight months old and Alex is 28, what a fun day! We went to the doctor yesterday for her flu shot and she weighed in at 18.5lbs (60th %ile) and 25 inches long (4th %ile).

Margo is growing right before my eyes! She rolls across the room to get to whatever she wants and would love to be crawling, but hasn't quite figured it out. She finally has two little teeth and worked hard to get them! She babbles up a storm and giggles all the time. She loves her daddy and lights up every time he walks in the room. She tries to "pet" Moose but he's too fast for her, whenever she does get him she pulls chunks of hair out and tries to eat it...someday they'll be best friends, just not quite yet.

Her favorite toy is a toss up between an old parmesan cheese container that I've filled with ribbons tied together that she pulls out and her Little People Nativity. She reads books with me every day and we love our trips to the library. Our evening walk is one of my favorite times of the day since she coo's and chats the whole way, Alex and I get to catch up and Moose tries to catch all the squirrels we see.

She has started to enjoy food (finally) and is eating a variety of vegetables, fruit, yogurt, cottage cheese and chicken. So far I've made all of her baby food and we're both enjoying it. It's forcing me to make things I've never made or tasted, so we're branching out! Her daily schedule is still the same as last month, so we're pretty predictable.

We love this girl so much and we love getting to be her parents. I'd be lying if I said there weren't challenging days, but I know this stage of life is fleeting so I'm trying to enjoy every second.

bath time babe

happy after nap time

Margo on the first cool day this fall

hanging out with the pumpkins at the Vintage Market in Chesterfield 

a family that wears robes together, stays (warm) together

she woke up as happy as a clam

happy 28th birthday alex

That stud up there is 28 years old today! He is the most kind, generous, hard working, adventurous, loving, silly and loyal man I know and I am so glad that he's mine! Margo is one lucky lady to have him for a dad. I am so thankful for how he leads our family and pushes me toward Christ.  I can only hope that this year is as good as the last!

Happy Birthday Alex!! 

margo: seven months

It seems like over night my itty bitty baby has turned into a sitting, rolling, giggling little girl! We weighed her on the bathroom scale last night and she topped out at 17.5 pounds and she has the rolls to prove it!

Margo is now sitting independently, contemplating crawling, rolling over to sleep at night, blowing raspberries all the time, eating some solids and playing for longer stretches of time. She is starting to show more of her personality and has some cute little quirks...just like her mama and daddy. 

Starting to eat solids has proven to be more of a challenge than I thought it would, but we are trying to be patient. She usually leaves the highchair wearing more of the food than eating it but, in time she'll get the hang of it and we'll forget this season as we move on to the next one. She enjoys bananas and sweet potatoes, tolerates avocado and was not a fan of peas or carrots. We'll try them again, but in the mean time I bought a butternut squash so we'll see how that goes. 

Her daily schedule has changed a bit with the addition of solids. She still wakes up at 7am and nurses, then has solids at around 8 and then naps from 9-11am. She nurses at 11am and then plays until nap time at 1pm. She sleeps until 3pm and nurses again and we play until dinner time. I usually work on dinner while Alex feeds her another solid around 5pm and then she nurses at 7pm and goes straight to bed.  

Sleep has been better this month and I think it's because she figured out how to roll over and soothe herself back to sleep. The cry it out method is hard (on me) but ultimately I want her to learn to sleep on her own and not with my help. 

We are both loving the cooler temperatures which make being outside so much more fun! She loves watching me blow bubbles, going for walks and just hanging out outside. She has discovered Moose's tail, balloons and that I have feet too...she tries to suck on my toes, but I've drawn a line. It feels like this year is flying by and I want to remember every little detail about her right now, because she is just the sweetest. 

Big smiles after breakfast 

Riding in the cart at Target for the first time 

Hanging out with cousin Eli at Studio 50 for cousin Scout's 7th birthday

I snuck a picture at nap time...she's just so stinkin' sweet!

Playing outside before the mosquito's tried to get us

Dinner at Bread Co. with Daddy

We went to the zoo with Uncle Greg and stopped by Art Hill for the Flags of Valor memorial on 9/11

twenty seven

I have officially left mid twenties and entered my late twenties. That's crazy!! I still have to ask Alex how old I am because I forget and tell people I'm 24. I don't think anything crazy or majorly notable happened when I was 24, but it was just a good age.

As my Grandpa got older he would say that it doesn't matter how old you are, but how old you feel. He was in his late 70's or early 80's when he told me that and I remember asking him how old he felt and without blinking an eye, he said 21.

Grandpa was the liveliest, most adventurous man I knew and I hope I can be just like him. So this year, my 27th year, I hope to be as adventurous, spontaneous and as lively as my Grandpa was in his last years.

Happy Birthday to me!