Hadley is Ten Months Old!

I'm posting this a few days late, as we were in NJ visiting friends last week, but better late than never! This has been a big month for Hadley. She is now walking and even said her first words: "kittycat" and "Bode." She is quite the animal lover! She spent our entire weekend in New Jersey chasing the "kittycat" around our friend's house. 

Hadley's Ten Month Stats:

Sleeps: 7pm-6:30am, then two naps

Favorite foods: cheese, green beans, ravioli, black beans

Teeth: four on top, two on the bottom

Nicknames: Mary Sunshine, Hurricane Hadley, Baby T-Rex 

Likes:

animals

going through cabinets and drawers

baths

flipping the dogs' water bowl

climbing

playing with other kids, especially if they're older

going to the church nursery

"lift the flap" books

playing outside

Dislikes:

having her nose wiped

diaper changes

traveling

This passed weekend Hadley went into NYC and rode the subway, a train, and four airplanes. We had a great time visiting college friends.

Hadley did her civic duty and helped mommy vote last week.

In her spare time, Hadley loves to empty drawers, baskets and bags all over the floor.

She's been throwing some impressive tantrums lately. 

As always, she loves story hour....

And gymnastics.

Her 2,4,6,8, and 10 month photos:

   

Cookie Monster

Today was Veteran's Day, and  Hadley and I started off the day at gymnastics and met up with one of her good friends.

After a long nap, we baked some red, white, and blue cookies for the veterans in our neighborhood. 

I think everyone who has had a child knows how this story ends, but as a first-time mother I really thought my child would carefully shake some sprinkles onto the cookies and it would be a delightful experience. 

As soon as I held her up to the cookies, she dropped the sprinkles on the floor and started shoving cookies in her mouth. I quickly put her in her play pen while I salvaged the rest of the cookies.

When I came back she was happily licking her fingers clean of icing and had a HUGE smile on her face. I thought her first taste of a dessert would be at her first birthday, but it seems we are ahead of the game. 

To get the icing off of her hands, face, neck, feet and teeth, Hadley got a bath and her teeth brushed.... 

...and then went with mommy and daddy to deliver cookies.

Happy Veteran's Day!

Girl's Best Friend

Brett and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching Hadley and Bode's relationship blossom. When we first brought Hadley home from the hospital, Bode would cry and shake when Hadley cried. Now, Hadley spends her free time crawling all over Bode, sometimes pulling his ears and grabbing his jowls. He is so patient and gentle with her....and he is not like that with anyone else!

This week I've noticed that every time Hadley goes down for a nap, Bode sits on the stairs outside her room and sulks. When Hadley wakes up, he gets so excited that he grabs a toy and runs around wiggling his tail. 

Bode is and has always been a handful, and his personality works perfectly with Hadley's! Words can't express how much I love these two. 

Happy Halloween!

Last night we took Hadley trick or treating in our neighborhood. She had a great time! I made her "Happy Ghost"costume with a onsie, felt, googly eyes, ribbon, and lots of glittery tulle. Daddy's clothes, beard, and our entire downstairs is sprinkled with glitter.  

Before we went trick or treating, Hadley's BFF, Grace stopped by. Grace was an adorable monkey and Hadley could not keep her fingers out of Grace's mouth. 

Since the babies go to bed at 7, we hurried out the door at 6 to get our trick or treating done!

Hadley fell asleep as soon as we got home. We had a fun first Halloween as a family! 

Gymnastics

Hadley's new phase is climbing on anything and everything. This morning she spent so much time trying to climb our stairs and furniture, I decided it was time to try the open gym at our local gymnastics academy. Thanks to a special Halloween gift from Mommom, we were able to stop by Carolina Gymnastics for a morning workout. 

We had so much fun! Afterwards we refueled using Papa Don's Halloween gift of a lunch date at Subway. 

Thanks to ALL of our family who keep Hadley in your thoughts throughout the year! Although we don't see you often, it means so much to us that she has so any people who care about her. 

Hadley's Busy Month

Hadley's had an eventful month! Shes attended birthday parties, Halloween parties, and even took her first steps! I will post a video as soon as I get a good one!

Today she went to the dentist with me  and the dentist counted and brushed her teeth. She was a pretty good sport about it. I think she enjoyed the taste of the toothpaste. When we came home she went into my purse and got out the toothbrush the dentist gave her and 'brushed' her teeth. 

Hadley also took quite a tumble a few days ago. She somersaulted over her toy bin while she was digging through it, and landed face first on the floor. She had a red, scraped nose and a bruised forehead afterwards. She looked like a tough little cookie! 

To cheer her up after her fall, I set her up in her high chair with some flour mixed with water to play with. I'd read on a website that this provides a great sensory  experience. That proved to be true as she tried to eat the paste and smeared it all over the high chair, her hair and the floor. Mommy learned her lesson with that one...no more messy activities inside! 

And just for fun, here are some silly moments we've had since I last posted:

Wearing her polar bear jacket, chewing on a rubber banana:

Pulling up on daddy's beer. You've only got 20 years and 3 months to wait, Hadley! 

After splashing in the dogs' water bowl countless times I set her up with a clean bowl of water to play in so I could check my email. She pushed the bowl away from the towels and poured it all over the rug within 10 seconds. I guess mommy did not learn her lesson! 

This picture is a bit blurry since her bedroom was dark, but here she is napping with her face smooshed into the crib rails. 

And last but not least, showing off a crazy post-nap hairdo! 

Hadley is Nine Months Old!

Hadley is now nine months old and she is eager to prove she's not a baby anymore! She is extremely independent and confident. Sometimes I feel a bit sad when I see the other cuddly babies cling to their moms at story hour, as Hadley charges right out into the sea of kids (and bubbles) without looking back. 

But then Brett reassures me that she does this because she knows I'm there and that it's a good sign she's so self-assured. Today a big kid at story hour (about 5 years old) came over to her and screamed, "ROAR!" in her face to scare her. I ran to her rescue, but Hadley just giggled with delight.

Hadley is as always, moving all of the time. The only time she's still is when she's sleeping. For example, earlier this week she came down with a stomach bug and we tried everything, even watching TV to keep her still and it wouldn't work.  This leads me to Hadley's 9 month pediatrician visit today, where we learned Hadley has grown an inch and a half but has not gained any weight since August. She went from being in the 89% for weight at 3 months to the 27% at 9 months. The pediatrician attributed this to her constantly moving around. We're supposed to start supplementing her meals with some high-calorie healthy snacks such as avocado. 

After interacting with Hadley throughout the appointment, the pediatrician said Hadley is very socially advanced for nine months. I hope this means she'll be a great leader when she's in school and not get into trouble for non-stop socializing like mommy did!

Hadley's Nine Month Stats:

Height: 27.5 inches...49 percentile
Weight: 17 pounds, 8oz...27 percentile
Sleeps: THROUGH THE NIGHT....FINALLY!!! 7pm to 6:30am, plus two 1-hour naps during the day.
Teeth: four on the top, two on the bottom
Favorite Foods: cheddar cheese, Gerber cheese puffs, green beans, whole-wheat toast with butter
Least Favorite Foods: watermelon...for some reason she makes a sour face when she eats it.

Likes:

dancing to music
walking using her walker
climbing on stairs
crawling into small spaces (see pictures below)
books
animals, especially dogs and cats
laughing when other people laugh

Dislikes:

her pacifier, she has made it clear she's done with it
baths, especially having water poured over her hair
diaper changes
getting dressed
wearing socks


Here are some pictures taken over the last month:

My attempt at making her enjoy grocery shopping. It worked for about 10 minutes! :)

She LOVES to crawl into tiny spaces.

 

She also loves climbing on stairs, tables, chairs, you name it!

Hadley and Bode are closer than ever. It warms my heart to see them play and snuggle every day.

And...a little line up of her 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 month pictures!