10 months old

I haven't had much time to post for the last couple of weeks.  I have been really busy running after Clover.  A friend of mine told me that the time a baby is between 9 and 12 months are the most fun.  I think she is right.  Clover is trying hard to stand and say new words.  Today she tried very hard to say 'horse'.  She could make her lips move, but couldn't figure out how to make the sound yet. 

Last weekend, she was in her playpen singing to herself.  She had both arms out, like she sees if we watch an opera and when her dad sings to her.  She was letting out long high pitched sounds and holding it until she would lose her voice. 

She has also gotten much more affectionate.  She likes being held and cuddled more and loves to be tickled.  She will say "tickle tickle tickle" and tickle herself.  I told her to tickle grandma and she was happy to do so.

The day Clover turned 10 months, I got some good pictures of her trying to stand in her crib. 

More of Clover getting around the living room.

Clover also had her first real bath in the tub.  She just started sitting up really good and I finally decided to let her give it a try.  She loved it so much that when I took her out, she was very upset and cried real tears.  She quickly made the hand sign for "more" and then pointed to the bathroom.  I couldn't wait to get her back into the tub the next night.  She loved it even more and was scooting around in the tub from one end to the other.  she even tried to put her face in and she turned on her stomach and started crawling in the tub.  I hope she loves bath time for a very long time.

Grandma King's Birthday

Sunday was Grandma King's birthday.   Also, Clover's Uncle Tommy's birthday was the same day.  We decided to have a little get together at my house on Sunday for Grandma.  Uncle Sean and family, Uncle Michael and family, my mom and dad and us (me, Johnny and Clover) all had dinner and cake.  It was a nice get together and we all had a really good time.  Of course, Clover loves to see everyone, especially her cousins.

We had another pretty busy week.  Clover is using her flashcards, slideshows and books more than she is playing with her toys.  Today she saw a picture of baby food and said the word "eat".  She is crawling all over, sitting up in her crib and playpen and on the floor.  If you help her stand up, she will try to walk without even thinking about it.  With my help, she took a few steps holding on the the sectional couch.  I bet she will be doing it all by herself soon. 

Clover spends most of the day in a wonderful mood.  The only time she is cranky is when she is tired.  She moves and twists around too much when I try to change her diapers and does not liked to be told 'no' when I am doing it.  She also doesn't like to wear a bib and is starting to draw with her finger on her highchair tabletop with food from her mouth.  She also loves to gargle with her milk, juice or water. 

We took her out with us to Longhorn Steakhouse.  She had already been fed, but I learned fast that I should have brought her snacks.  She was not very happy about not having a plate of food, so we gave her some sweet potato.  She enjoyed watching the others in the restaurant. She heard a baby crying, so she decided to make some noise herself.  It used to be so easy just to take her in her car seat and everyone would tell us what a beautiful, sweet baby we have.  I guess from now on, we will get mean glances and rolled eyes from other patrons and offers from the waitress of chocolate milk to keep her quiet.  Of course, we could get a babysitter, but it is more fun to have her with us.

Is this the little girl I carried?

This morning I was awakened by Clover calling out, "Mommy!...Mommy!..........Daddy!!".  She was ready for someone to come get her.  Later today, while I was at the gym, my mom was babysitting.  My mom put Clover down for her nap and went back to check on her a few minutes later.  She had pulled herself up and was almost standing straight up.  I'm not ready for her to grow up yet.  At least she doesn't have any teeth yet.

New Places and New Experiences

This week Clover continued with swimming lessons, practiced standing up, read lots of books,  traveled to another state, slept in a heavenly crib, met some more relation, danced (and slept) on a rooftop, went to brunch and got to sit in a big girl high chair, and danced in her car seat on the way back home from Atlanta.

Clover is really enjoying going to her lessons.  When she sees the pool, she almost bounces out of my arms.  She kicks and moves so hard in the water.  She is used to going under now and getting more comfortable on her back, but I'm not ready to let go of her yet.  She is so tired after the lessons, that one day she took a 4 hour nap and another day, she went for a late nap and then slept all night.

Clover is also enjoying reading books to herself.  It sounds like she is reading to someone like we read to her.  She also points at the pictures and if she knows what it is, she will say the word and gets excited.  She did that with "banana" and "duck".  For the words that she can't say yet, she is trying really hard to get it.  I can see her concentrating, thinking about how to make it happen.  Johnny was showing her pictures this weekend and when he pointed at my mom, she said, "gangy".  That's a new one.

This weekend, we drove to Atlanta for the wedding reception of my cousin Justin and his new wife Triona.  This was our first overnight trip with Clover.  We stayed in a Westin hotel and they provided us with a crib they call "heavenly crib".  It is a small crib with a comfy mattress.  Clover seemed to like laying in it.  Clover has been sleeping alone in her room since she was 3 weeks old, so it was nice to have her next to me for a change.

with Grandma and Grandpa King

We went to the reception on Saturday night.  It was on the roof of a loft building downtown.  The view was beautiful and they had a Beatles tribute band called The Buggs.  Clover may have recognized some of the songs, because we had been listening to Paul McCartney that morning before we left Decatur.  She moved her legs to the music and watched the band.  We were taking lots of pictures of her and I think she may have gotten a little tired of the pictures, but she loved sitting with Grandma King and watching the people.  Clover napped some during the party.  The party was moved inside later when it was time to cut the cake.  Many people asked about Clover's "hair style".  They liked the way it was long in the front and kind of stuck up in the back.  They thought I had it cut that way! We enjoyed more music from family members inside the loft.  Uncle Sean played guitar for my Aunt Barbara, my cousin played his keyboard a bit and my dad played on of the songs he wrote.  Clover loves to watch live music.

We were one of the first people to leave, but we got back to the hotel pretty late and we played with Clover a bit before putting her to bed.  The next day we took her to Caribou Coffee. Our first visit to one.  It wasn't really baby friendly as far as space to put a baby seat, but we made do and when I finished my hot coffee, she sat in my lap and we people watched.  The coffee was very good and so was my cranberry orange scone.

When we got back to the hotel, we packed up and checked out.  We met my Aunt Barbara and cousin Justin and his new wife, Triona for brunch at Brick Tops.  This was a probably the nicest restaurant that Clover has been to so far.  This was also the first time she sat in a regular high chair.  She did have a few moments of tiredness from keeping her balance and her head would fall forward. After we ate, we held her in our laps.  We had a great time at brunch and then headed back to Alabama.  I sat in the back seat with Clover while Johnny drove.  We had fun listening to music and when there was a good beat, Clover would bounce to the music.  She slept some, but not for long. When we got home, we played some more and she went to bed and slept for 12 hours. 

Splish Splash

It has been a busy and fun week.  Clover had her 9 month doctor's visit and weighs 18.1 pounds.  She has added a few words to her vocabulary, started swimming lessons, and developing so much that we are having a hard time documenting everything before she is on to something else.

This weekend, we went to Guntersville for her cousin Ace's 9th birthday party.  She really enjoyed seeing all of her cousins, aunts and uncles and MeMe and PaPa.  She had a great time getting to know everyone more.  We went swimming while we were there and she was very comfortable in the water. 

Sunday, the Fourth of July, we didn't do anything to celebrate.  We spent most of the day child proofing and playing with Clover at home.  Around 9 pm, Clover was startled by neighborhood fireworks.  I went outside to look and it seemed we had our own personal fireworks display.  Clover did not like the noise and was pretty upset.  We took her outside to watch the fireworks and she started to enjoy herself.  After we came back in, she was in her room cheering when she would hear another firework exploding. 

Monday, she had her first swimming lesson.  The main 3 things she is supposed to practice now is blowing bubbles in the water, going under and floating on her back.  I could not dunk her myself the first time.  I asked the instuctor to do it.  It just seemed too cruel, but on Tuesday's lesson, I dunked her about 6 times.  She is getting more comfortable with going under.  She loves the interaction with all the people where we go for the lessons.  She was completely exhausted after class today.

Johnny and I (mostly Johnny) made Clover a slide show of people and words.  The idea was to make flash cards that are useful to her at different stages in her development.  She see pictures of all of her aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and mommy and daddy.  We tell her who everyone is and she will sometimes repeat the names.  Also,  we have some animals, toys and other other items in the mix. She has learned dog and cat and said those yesterday.  We are also continuing to show her signs.  Johnny noticed in some videos that we have taken, that she has been signing to us and we didn't realize it at the time.  She was doing the sign for more when we were feeding her, but I thought she was just clapping.  She was asking for more. 

Also, this week, she was trying to stand up in her crib.  Johnny went in after her nap and she was on her knees, sitting up and her hands on the rails trying hard to pull herself completely upright.  Johnny immediately took out the bumper and positioned the mattress in the lowest position. She can stand completely upright on her feet and put all of her weight down.  I am sure she will be taking her first steps very soon.  She hasn't gotten her first tooth and she still mostly crawls with her stomach on the ground, but she'll be walking before you know it.

Our summer seems to be flying by so fast already.  I am going to do my best to help her learn as much as she can take in while she is having fun.  I am also in the beginning stages of planning her birthday party.  We would love for this to be a good opportunity for her to meet more relatives, especially Johnny's aunts, uncles and cousins that have not gotten to meet her yet because of the distance.  The party will be on Saturday, September 19 in Decatur.  Details and invitations will follow in the next month, but please let people know to save the date.