Sarah is 22 Months

It's going to be fun keeping up on both Sarah and Will's monthly updates since they are just two days apart. Hmmm. We'll see how long I keep them both up :)

Sarah is a great big sister. She LOVES giving Daddy, Mommy & William kisses all the time. Most routinely is when Daddy goes to work or when Sarah goes to bed. But sometimes she'll just come over to William and kiss him on the head and then go back to doing whatever she was doing before. Super cute.


Some of Sarah's most noticeable achievements this month are her putting together words to get what she wants, such as "wansome" ie. "I want some" and "notherun" ie. "another one." Of course, there is also her ever useful "Nar, Nar" (more).

Sarah asks for yogurt at least once a day. She also LOVES pizza and most fruits. Daddy's Juice is also near the top of the list. Candy has recently come to the for-front as well.


Sarah is also addicted to Mooo-ies. She LOVES "Bears" (Care Bears). We recently picked up the Classic Claymation Christmas movies so she's been watching Rudolph, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Frosty the Snowman. While I don't want to have her too addicted to watching movies, it's been so nice lately. It's getting pretty cold and I don't have quite the motivation to get out more than once a day. (Once-a-day is what I shoot for, but lately it's been more like once every other day.)

She is also getting quite good at her CHEERLEADER routine with Daddy. Look at these awesome spirit fingers and claps. Good thing her nickname is Rah-Rah. (I think Sammy Jo gets first credit for this one, but it is also her official Aunt Katie nickname.)

16 Months

How did she get this old? I just took her to her 15-month appointment on Tuesday :) - Oh that's right, I was a month late. Here are her stats:

Height: 31" (50-75 percentile)
Weight: 22lbs 5.5 oz (25-50 percentile)
Head: 48.3 cm (97th percentile)

Yes, our child is top-heavy. (The better to hold all her brains, right?) I'm hoping #2 has a little smaller head. (The easier to push him/her out, right?)

* Sarah now has 7.5 teeth (the 8th one has poked through but is still pretty tiny.

* She can imitate animal sounds. Her favorite being a doggie. "uff uff" Today she distinguished between "duck" and "dog." I think being at the Palace of Fine Arts and seeing the ducks helped on this one. But you have to admit that duck and dog are similar sounding words. Here are a few others: The Horse says, "Meigh." The Sheep says "Baa," the Cow says, "mmmm."

* She is also adding to her "human vocabulary." Yesterday she pointed to a bus and said, "bas," however, when I tried to reinforce it "Sarah say bus" all I got was "sssss." Here's her up-to-date list:
**Da-da, da-dee, dad (that's right, he's still favorite and they all refer to Roger.)
**Ba-ba is not bottle but mama.
**Boppa is President Carter (who really loves hearing her say his "name")
**Wow (with arms up means "all done"
**uh-oh (not always used for accidents - sometimes she throws things on the ground and looks at me to say "uh-oh."
**Hi (if she's really excited it's Ha-eee Ha-eee Ha-eee Ha-eee.)
**Noway & doit (Now, we don't really think she means what she's saying here, but it totally sounds like NO WAY and Do It!)

* Non-verbal communication includes:
**More
**Bye Bye
**Please
**Kisses
**High Fives
**The Hulk
(We really should video tape all of the above!)

* Sarah is getting fewer bonks on her head (knock on wood) as she is getting more proficient on two feet.

* Sarah LOVES going to the park to go down the slide, but she's not a fan of the swings or sandbox.

* She loves being with kids and doggies. (Being with the cousins and Ollie the dog in Las Vegas was a dream come true for her!)

* She's down to one nap. I'm scrambling to find great morning activities :) Any suggestions are welcome.

* Sarah is getting to be quite the climber. Her legs are now long enough and her arms strong enough to pull herself up on couches and chairs. (I'm just glad she hasn't figured out the table climb yet!)

The First Year

Our little baby is all grown up. She's definitely graduating into the toddling world of one-year-olds. This year has been quite the ride and we've enjoyed the ups and downs.

Sarah's Favorites


Daddy - Yes. Daddy is one of her most favorites. Who's surprised? Sarah LOVES to wrestle with Daddy. Whenever he comes home from work she gives him the biggest smiles. (She gets that from Mommy - I always have huge smiles for daddy when he comes home from work!) Sarah and Daddy love to do chores together. Sarah is always willing to walk to the store or take out the garbage or check the building with Daddy. They are inseparable when he's home! Oh and Daddy loves to take pictures of Sarah (many of the pictures in this post are of her one-year-old photo shoot.)


Mommy - I share top favorite with Daddy. I'm usually the favorite when she bonks her head or is super tired or hungry or both. But Sarah also loves to play, sing, dance, shop and laugh with Mommy. We have the best time together.


Walking - She does it all on her own now. She will walk from couch to couch and from couch to gate. It's the cutest thing. She still will crawl super fast whenever she hears the shower going or the front door open. But she is slowly replacing her crawls with steps. Yippee for clean hands and knees!


Favorite foods - Sarah definitely lives in the city. Her refined tastes include seaweed, ginger, hummus and bread dipped in oil and vinegar. She will, however, subject herself to "ordinary foods" as well.


Still towards the top on Sarah's food lists are avocado, peas, banana, corn, rice, mashed potatoes, pasta, eggs ... and birthday cake.


She also likes to chomp on foam hearts and cardboard books. Lucky us. What she doesn't care for anymore is formula or pureed baby food. Hallelujah! She LOVES whole milk in her sippy cup. I just stopped giving her bottles one day and she didn't go back. In fact, when I tried to give her formula from a sippy cup about three days into the transition - she wouldn't take it.


Talking - Sarah continues to expand her vocabulary. Her favorite words are "Uh-Oh" and "Wow." She's also pretty good about parroting sounds. We've heard "dadada" and "mammmm." The last couple of days she has also added "ball" to her repertoire.

Playgroup - What's not to love about getting together with your friends each week? Sarah loves her friends and playing with toys. (Mommy loves it too!) We also love the Friday excursions - can't wait until the weather is nice EVERY Friday. And we're on the 6 month countdown for when she gets to play with these kids in nursery each Sunday as well!


Reading - Sarah LOVES to read. When she wakes up in the morning she heads straight for the bookcase. She moves the toys out of the way and proceeds to unload the bottom shelf that is full of books. She will stop and open one and "read." I love catching her babbling as she turns the pages. It's ADORABLE.



Life with a one-year-old is super fun. Stay tuned for Sarah's one-year stats. We go to the doctor next week.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Sarah literally just took her first series of steps completely on her own. She saw the phone on the ground near the couch, let go of the couch and took FIVE steps before plopping down to pick up her prize. You better believe I was clapping and praising her! Wahoo! This girl is definitely a mover. Watch out world - Sarah Jane will be off and running before you know it.

11 Months

This little sailor is 11 months old. I just can't believe it. Just one more month and we can say we "survived" the first year! (And I will just say right now thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone that inspired me to start and keep up this blog. I can't imagine trying to remember it all without this history! I'm sure Sarah will thank you as well.)

Sarah continues to be the cutest thing on the planet. All I have to do is look at her and my heart melts with her smiles, her babbles, and ... well ... everything she does! Sarah has been especially busy this month - she learns so much every day.



At 11 Months Sarah is:

* Standing up all by herself. She can do this for several seconds at a time.

* Taking her first steps. She doesn't get too far without support, but she will take a couple of steps on her own before she drops to her knees and takes off crawling. Mommy and Sarah practice walking/running around the apartment. I take her hands in mine and off we go. She's quite good at this game. I'm taking advantage of being the walking helper - I know it's only a matter of time before she decides she doesn't need mommy to help her.

* Playing what we call "take out" - Sarah plays this by "taking out" the tupperware in the cupboard, plastic baggies in the drawer, papers in the recycling bin, socks in mommy's sock drawer ... We're working on the "in" game, but it's not as popular. (We are working to make our home more baby-proof.)

* Babbling - A Lot. She talks so much that I'm a little worried for when she starts to really get the whole communicating thing. She's pretty good at being a parrot and copying sounds we make. My favorite is when she pulls out books and starts to "read" them. She makes a few babbling sounds, turns the page, makes a few more sounds, turns another page, and so on. Can we say CUTE!

* Weaned. Sarah holds her own bottle like a pro. I miss the closeness, but Sarah was getting way too distracted to nurse anymore anyway. And I have to say, it's given me such a sense of freedom. I admit I don't like washing the bottles - thank heaven we have a dishwasher - but I am coping. I will be excited to be "all done" with formula next month. Sarah has taken to her sippy cups as well. Hopefully she'll be drinking milk from cups soon.

* Eating everything - well anything she sees Mommy and Daddy eat. Sarah is much more likely to eat something she has seen us eat. For example, if I wash some blueberries and put them on her tray she will just kinda play with them, but if I eat one right in front of her before putting them on her tray she immediately puts them in her mouth. The same goes for eggs, pancakes, peas, bananas, etc. There are only a couple of foods she will eat without me eating one of them first - sliced avocado and goldfish crackers.

Stairs

Sarah has found the stairs. And has even figured out how to make it to the top of them. (As long as they aren't too many steps.) She does get a little "Fweaked Out" when she looks down the stairs once she's crawled up that high. A couple of HELP ME, HELP ME MOMMYs (aka whimper, whimper, whine...) and she gets rescued. It is fun to see her grow!



(Sorry for the blurry photos. Camera phones aren't what they are all cracked up to be .)

9 Months

Can you believe it's already half-way through November? Where has this year gone? It's gone WAY TOO FAST. Sarah has been taking advantage of every day - learning and growing. At her 8 month post, Sarah was able to get on her hands and knees, but not do much more than that. She is now full-on crawling. I have to say, I loved the army crawl/reach stage. It was super cute. Sarah continues to add upon the things she has learned. Here are a few more things she is doing:

* Eating real-people food. She will still eat baby food, but she has been eyeing Roger's and my food for quite some time. She now has eaten bite-size pieces/servings of tortillas, green beans, peas, pears, bagels, toast, clementines, noodles, mashed potatoes and - her favorite - avocado. (Oh and bananas and Cheerios, of course.) She LOVES sitting at the table with us. She seems to feel so grown up.

* Taking a step or two forward while holding onto my fingers. This is ADORABLE. I'm sure she's still a few months away from actually walking, but she definitely is interested. She loves to be vertical - whether in her jumper, the exersaucer or just pulling herself up on the couch or bookshelf.

* Looking for and going after us when we leave the room. It's still surreal that I put her in one place in the room and when I come back a minute or two later she's somewhere else. She will now turn the corner and follow my voice as well.

* Playing with Alphabet Letters. (Thanks for helping us discover this one Natalie!) Sarah would play with Natalie's letter sets for hours and not get sick of them. I've added letters to her gift list. The Word Whammer is so clever.

Oops! I almost forgot Sarah's 9 Month Checkup Stats:

* Height: 50% at 27 1/2 in.
* Weight: 25% at 17 lbs. 7 oz.
* Head: 75% at 44 cm.

Sarah, you are growing up and keeping Mommy and Daddy on their toes. You are so fun to be with. We sure love you!

6 Months Old

In the past six months our little Sarah has demonstrated her phenomenal talents. Here are a few of her accomplishments:

SARAH

* Loves to kick. (I tried to do the video again, but alas this is all I can get to work.)


* Loves to smile. She can smile and kick at the same time. We think her legs are connected to her mouth muscles.


* Has flown in an airplane round-trip five times.


* Eats solids - Sand on the beach counts, right?


* Sleeps through the night. She loves having a crib in her own closet.


* Has visited four states: Utah, Illinois, Nevada and California




* Has gone golfing


* Can roll over


* Has gone swimming but doesn't like wading in the ocean.


* Has gone sailing and boating in the San Francisco Bay.


* Is very social - even when tired she will smile with the best of them.


We sure love our little princess. These past 6 months have FLOWN by. We feel so blessed to have her in our family.

(This post was inspired by Heidi McClellan's weekly accomplishment posts.)