They always reel you back in

So I have been writing a "woe is me" post in my head for several days. Sleeping (more to the point, getting to sleep and then staying asleep) in our house is NOT going well and I am starting to lose patience. Tonight I was just trying to get K down and get a little bit of time for myself, when she decided to initiate peek-a-boo. She kept pulling her towel over her head and then would wait until I said "where is Keira" before pulling it off triumphantly and cackling. She hasn't done this before - we always have to get things started and guide the game a bit.

So of course my heart melted and I silently swore I would rock her to sleep for hours and hours all the days of her life if she would only stay my smart sassy lovely baby forever. Sigh, they certainly have killer timing.

She has also started resting her head on my shoulder when she is scared, tired or upset. While she is very affectionate with kisses and chatting, she has never been much of a cuddler, so I treasure any opportunity to hold her like that. Bliss!

And a few new photos from the fall; if you have me on FB you may have already seen these. Hope you don't mind the double posting!





Keira is 10 months, 2 weeks and 3 days old

So not Ready for a Toddler

Last week at the mall K refused (as usual) to sit in her stroller, so while I was picking out sleepers at Children's Place, I let her crawl around it. Of course she promptly pulled up and attempted to use it as a walker. Naturally she took a tumble (the girl has inherited my clumsy gene, lucky thing) and BIT HER TONGUE on the fall.
I don't think I have ever been as terrified as I watched my child spit blood in the middle of the store.

10 minutes later she was happy as a clam, but I am still beating myself up about not paying closer attention. Since she started taking steps the blows to the head have increased tenfold.
If she makes it to 1, let alone adulthood it will be a miracle.

the good news is she has 3 new adorable sleepers with zippers. Oh and googling "how to remove blood stains" was rather enlightening.

Keira is 10 months and 4 days old

10 months old!

where in the heck does the time go?
Baby bean is already 10 months old, and I can feel the seconds ticking down on my mat leave :(

K can now:
take a few wobbly steps between mommy and daddy
says hi (actually its more like he-ey), Sis (whats this), and Ka/Sa (cat/simon), plus sometimes momma and dadda.
waves, gives high fives, claps
started dancing by bopping up and down in place and shaking her head back and forth.

She is currently cutting her 5th and 6th teeth.
I did an estimated weigh in yesterday and she came in around 19 1/2 lbs and just shy of 30 in. long.

Our neighbours just had a baby girl and I said to them I can't remember K ever being that small, not moving, not babbling constantly, not lighting up every day with her awe and wonderment.

here is her 10 month shot. Let's call it her "whazzup" pose, shall we?


Keira is 10 months and 2 days old

the monster of all updates

is due I know. 3 1/2 months is an eternity on the internet.

I bet you thought I had disappeared into the ether of the blogging world? But no, I  just descended into a haze of milestones, teething, travel and no sleep. A haze I am hoping to resurface from.

Let's start with the big one. K took a few tottering steps yesterday! dun dun dun. Gram came over for a quick visit and thought she would try to entice K by standing a few feet from me and letting go of her hands. K immediately launched for my open arms, but she had to work for them, and took 3 fast, faltering, anxious steps to me sans a helping hand.

Hoping to practice some more with Regan this weekend, and maybe even get some video of it to share!

I am hoping to return with a proper update of all she has accomplished (and resisted!) in the past 3 months. For now I will say that life is a constant roller coaster; one I am very glad to be on. K is pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. 

And I will leave you with a few of my favourite shots from the summer:

boat ride on a swamp in South Carolina, sporting yet another sunscreen fauxhawk

learning the finer art of golf from Daddy

chillaxing on the seashore with her cousin

Keira is 9 months, 3 weeks and 6 days old

6 months old!

I honestly cannot believe I am the momma to a 6 month old.

K is growing by leaps and bounds. She has mastered sitting unassisted for long stretches, rolling both ways and babbles constantly. We have heard the occasional dada or baba, but they don't seem to be associated with anything yet. She likes to turn the pages of the books as we read before bed, explore people's mouths with her fingers, watch Sesame Street with daddy in the morning and still spends most of the day sticking her tongue out. She also likes to "walk" around by holding our hands - her steps seem pretty deliberate, moving towards people, items or cats so I don't think this is just reflex.

She still isn't too interested in crawling. As soon as she gets on her stomach, she immediately rolls to her back or starts crying.
She has also picked up the lovely habit of rolling onto her stomach in bed and getting stuck. She will wail until we come rescue her. FYI for those keeping score, this is not so adorable at 3am (and 4am and 5am...)

Her official monthly weight is 15lb 3oz, so she has slowed some in the past month. The dr. isn't concerned at all, so I won't be either.

And it turns out photoshoots with enticing paper objects are much more difficult then before. This is literally the best we got:

Keira is 6 months and 2 days old

This and That

K has broken her first teeth this week! After months of teething it came out of nowhere. She had stopped drooling as much and hasn't been fussing for no reason.

We are also trying our hand at sleep training, following the methods of the Baby Whisperer. This is essentially a daytime routine of Eat, Activity, then Sleep. The goal here is the baby gets used to a predictable pattern of activities and doesn't associate sucking with falling asleep. It also works to teach babies to fall asleep on their own, in their crib, so they are not reliant on mom or dad. I am hoping to avoid utilizing a CIO (cry it out) method. Turns out this method involves a lot of crying, but we are in the room with her the entire time, trying to help her learn to self soothe. Fingers crossed we get some more sleep in the near future!

Keira is 5 months, 2 weeks and 3 days old.

Evolution of Baby

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have an upright baby!
This is the beginning of the end in terms of a baby I can just place down and walk away isn't it?

Keira is 5 months 2 weeks and 2 days old.