Almost there

I haven't posted much about this pregnancy, and now it's almost done. Here I was at 26 weeks:

 

And here's 36 weeks ( a week and a half ago.) What a difference 10 weeks makes, eh? And in another 10 weeks I'll have a sweet little 6 week old baby!

 

I'm getting more and more excited about this little boy. We still don't have a name picked out, but hopefully we'll know when we see him. I'm pretty much ready as far as preparing for the little guy goes, and I'm definitely ready to stop being pregnant! I dream about labor almost every night and wake up disappointed that it's still weeks away. But in the meantime, I'm trying to focus on my other baby

Daphne will be 17 months old this week. She is such a joy and a treasure (mostly.) In the last few weeks she got 5 new teeth all at once, and we finally weened her from the bottle. She has been such a fun little companion as she learns new words, forms opinions and asserts her personality.

 She started our her life as the most un-cuddly, un-affectionate child, but she's growing into those characteristics more and more every day. At night and naptimes she likes a good snuggle before I lay her down, she works so hard to arrange herself around my huge tummy and then hold on for dear life. It's pretty funny. She also likes to pat my tummy and poke my belly button, but I'm afraid the poor dear has no idea what she's in for.

 She loves to put on her coat and get in the car. She likes to take everything out of mommy's wallet and pretend to talk on the phone. Her favorite toy is whatever item I happen to be using. She likes to brush her hair and mine with whatever she can find that resembles a hairbrush, i.e. doll brush, bottle brush, toilet brush. And yes, she is getting some hair. But only in one strip right on top of her head. Mohawk? Yep.

Planning a career in bank robbery to help pay off dad's student loans.

 She loves babies and I'm so excited for her to be a big sister. I just hope and pray that I will be able to give her everything she needs while I'm juggling a newborn. Bryce has been so amazing getting up with her early in the morning and taking over when he gets home, not to mention listening to me complain about various aches, heartburn, hormones, etc. I constantly remind him that he has no idea what it's like to be pregnant and he should count himself lucky to be male. But the truth is, I definitely wouldn't put up with me, or someone acting like me for so long. My kids have the best dad!

Bath time is her favorite. It's only my favorite when she doesn't poop.

She's a big girl now!

 Sweet little Daphne turned the big 1 a week ago. She is officially a big girl now, walking and eating all grown up food. She is very proud of her four teeth. At 20 lbs. 4 oz., and somewhere around 30 inches tall she would look like quite the child if she only had some hair. As it is, she's still pretty bald and kind of looks like an infant when she's being held.

 

We had a little party with some ward friends on the 17th, her actual birthday. She was one spoiled (but adorable birthday girl.

She didn't quite get what to do with the cake. Luckily she had a friend to help her out.

 Then this past weekend we had a BUG themed party with her two buddies Luke and Max. You can read  Kim's cute post about it here. We made bug antennas for all the kids, did a pinata, a bug hunt and playdough. We had cute themed food. And I have to say, I am a big fan of splitting up the party prep three ways. I think I will spend the rest of Daphne's life looking for other kids with close birthdays to be her friends.

some of the party guests wearing their antenna and ready for the bug hunt.

All the birthday babies, with their matching bald heads. So cute!

 

 

 We love our little birthday girl so much. Happy birthday Daf!

11 months

Our little bug is 11 months old. Almost a year!
She's such a big girl these days.
She can wave, clap, stand unassisted for about 8 seconds and walk along edges.
She finally takes a bottle, won't eat baby food, but will eat anything else and likes to feed herself.
Still a mama's girl with some major separation anxiety, but loving her daddy more these days. Loves other kids, dogs and anything that's not a toy.
She's a good sleeper as long as she's at home in her crib, still likes to be swaddled at night and likes climbing out of the bath tub more than sitting in it.
Two bottom teeth, still not much hair to speak of but lots of personality.

We can't get enough of this darling, happy girl. She makes us happy in every way and it breaks my heart that she is almost a year old. She's more fun everyday but I don't want her to grow anymore. Any tips for that?

9 months

It's hard to believe this little stinker has been alive for ONLY nine months. It almost feels like time started when she came into being.

She is 19 lbs, 2 oz.
Still no teeth.
She can crawl, but prefers to army crawl.
She waves and claps and gives kisses.
She climbs the stairs (Yikes!)
She's bound to start getting hair any time now, right?
She can pull herself to a standing position and walk along furniture.
She can climb out of the bathtub, (oops)
Loves dogs
She is a major Mamma's girl!
She sleeps from 7-7 every night.
Takes two good long naps a day
She's always happier when there are kids around.
She hates being read to.
She doesn't like to cuddle.
I think she has a good sense of humor.
And I just can't help it, I think she's amazing.

7 months

Our princess is 7-months-old and exhibiting plenty of personality.

She sits as long as you help her get up.
she rolls and army crawlsSleeps 12 hours at night, takes 45 min. naps
Still no teeth and no hair.
She just started reaching up when she wants to be held.
Eats solid food but still loves to nurse

Daf loves to be around other kids and she's getting fast with her worm wriggling method of moving around.
Still loves the dogs.
We've taken her swimming a couple of times. She tolerates is, but is not really over the moon about it.

Favorite things to eat: any kind of paper or tissue.
Such a doll, we enjoy her so much.

6 months

I can't believe how much fun it is to be this girl's mom. It just gets better and easier every day!

At her checkup today, her stats were:
27 inches, 90th %
16 lbs. 14oz, 50th %
Looks like someone is going to take after her daddy.

She is a good sleeper, wants to eat everything she sees and can sit up for a couple of seconds before toppling. We really enjoy watching her roll over and over to get around the house.

Her favorite toys are a stuffed kitty, a pink dragon and all of her hair flowers. She thinks Hazel and Buster are hilarious. No teeth yet, no hair either. If you look really closely you can see tiny blonde hairs but not many. Luckily, she has a perfectly round, beautiful head. She could totally rock the bald look if she wants to when she's older. In fact, she may have to.

This last month Little Missy had her first cold, strep throat and got to visit some of her cousins in Utah, so it was a pretty big month.

That's our girl!

It's a girl thing

Have I ever mentioned that I love having a little girl? I mean, I'm sure I'd be crazy about a boy if I'd had one. But you can't (or at least shouldn't) do this with a boy...

manicuresMascara
So fun. And she's not even 6 months yet. I've got years of girl fun ahead of me!

5 months

My special someone hit 5 months last week. She is more fun than ever. Now she has mastered the art of rolling and can almost sit up on her own. She sleeps pretty well, but still insists on being swaddles. She's also in what we call her "zombie stage." When she sees something she wants, she reaches out for it with two hands, drools a little bit and grunts until she gets it.

Daphne loves to watch other kids and also loves to watch tv. She thinks our dogs are the funniest things in the world. We've started feeding her solid foods and she seems to enjoy 'em.

Daffy usually takes two two hour naps every day. It's so nice to have my hands and attention free during those time, but I have to say that I look forward to her waking up because I just can't get enough of the girl!

4 Months

Daphne turned 4 months old yesterday. She is such a joy and a treasure!

She weighed in at 14 lbs, 8 oz and 25 inches long. 95th percentile for height, she's her daddy's girl

Daphne likes to wiggle and stand up when she's being held. She can roll from her tummy to her back and also from her back to her tummy, but only when she's sleeping.

She spends a lot of time hanging out in the bumbo and the excersaucer. She isn't very interested in toys yet, but she loves to chew on her fingers and on burp cloths.

She is very particular about how she sleeps; only when swaddled and only in a crib. But she has slept 8-10 hours through the last several nights, so hopefully we have that figured out.

Baby cereal is now on the menu. She loves to giggle and smile and chew on our faces. Still not a hair to be found on her head, but those big blue eyes have us taken in!

I love being home to spend the day with her and get to know her sweet little personality.

Best thing that ever happened!

Animal

Sometimes I feel like my baby is not quite human.

She grunts like a pig when hungry
Mews like a kitten in her sleep
and has Canine powers of scent.No kidding, She can smell the mama's milk from a mile away.

Example A: If she wakes up early from a nap and I try to rock her back to sleep, no way. She is up and hungry and mad. If Bryce rocks her back to sleep we can get a little more nap time in.

Example B: The other night Bryce had taken his scouts on a camp out, so I decided to just let Daph sleep in my bed. Worst idea ever. She woke up every hour and a half sniffing and snorting and sticking her tongue out trying to find something to eat. She usually sleeps 7 1/2 hours at a stretch at night.

Example C: All I have to do is tiptoe in and stand a few feet away from her crib at night and she starts rooting and sniffing around and grunting for a midnight snack. There's no way I made noise, or that she could have heard me over her noise machine if I did .

Because I am inexperienced, I don't know if she's just a normal baby using all of her senses to their greatest ability or if her furry four-legged siblings are wearing off on her.

Or maybe I need to shower more often?

Blessing Day

Today we blessed Miss Daphne at church. Here she is on her special day