9 Months

Again, I am late with the monthly post. Life is getting in the way of my blogging - life, trying to give my daughter a mohawk, and streaming Netflix videos. Did you know you can watch entire seasons of old shows? So, needless to say, my blogging has been put on the back burner so I can watch awful old TV shows Nate dislikes.

Kendall has a lot going on these days, but I will try to go back to 2 weeks ago to give a picture of Kendall at 9 months. We can save the new developments for future posts (that I need to get around to writing).

Nate and I can't believe it has already been 9 months. Seriously? At this pace she will be in college next week. Better start saving those pennies. We have tons of pictures and video - this kid has a very well documented existence.

Kendall at 8 Months
Weight - 19.2 lbs (75th percentile)
Height - 28 inches (75 percentile)
Sounds Like - a Beach Boy's record. Ba-ba-ba ba-ba-barbaran. She is quite the talker, but she only says one consonant, so we don't get much information.
Likes - Jumping, still. Sammy the Snail - mom and dad are not so fond of Sammy. Destroying block towers. Swimming - swim lessons are so much fun! The Hokey-poky, especially if you do the dance for her.
Dislikes - Plain yogurt. With all the foods she has eaten, we have not gotten such a reaction (video below - and that was mild, she won't perform on camera). We have since moved to flavored yogurt, and that is delicious. Naps - still for sucks.
Things she can do - She is learning to use her sippy cup and feed herself puffs - and she is really excited about it. She can crawl, pull herself up, fall back down, sit, turn around. She is a mover and shaker, and she is now able to start actually getting somewhere. Everyday she is moving faster and farther. Pretty soon she will want the keys to the car.

Kendall at 9 Months
Weight - 20 pounds (this is a guess - haven't weighed her lately)
Height - 28 inches (this is again an estimate - she sure looks taller, the tape measure says she is the same)
Sounds Like - From time to time it sounds like she is calling for mommy and daddy. When we leave the room, the 'ba-ba-ba' becomes 'MA-MA-MAAAA' or 'DA-DA-DAAA'. Sometimes I am convinced she is asking me where daddy is, and I answer, at work.

Likes - The word 'No'. Isn't it funny when mom or dad say 'No'? Giving a big smile and then continuing to try eat mom's flip flops is definitely funny. Kendall likes her cookie jar. Most likes to take the shapes out and watch us put them back in. And mom's teeth. She likes to examine my teeth. Maybe she will be a dentist.

Dislikes - Teething. Naps. Being stopped from doing what she wants. The typical. Oh, and she is in a fussy eating phase, one day she loves squash, next day EWWWW SQUASH. If only she could tell us what she wants to eat for lunch, I could avoid having peas spit at me.

Things she can do - Getting pretty good with the sippy cup. Crawling is a breeze, she follows us from room-to-room, right on our heels. And Kendall is even working on walking - still early stages, but she makes great strides in this daily.

Giada

Some children like fairies

Some children like princesses

And some children like trains

Or furry happy monsters

Or, if you are Kendall, Giada De Laurentis. Of Food Network fame.

Kendall just loves Giada. She is on Food Network and the new Cooking Channel multiple times a day, and every time, Kendall's face lights up and she watches intently. I don't know if it is the Italian cuisine, or Giada herself.

I am currently leaning toward Giada herself. Kendall and I were recently perusing the Target, as we do every Friday, and came across a display for the new line of cooking implements. With a giant picture of Giada, big as life. Kendall got super excited, started bouncing up and down in the cart, and would not take her eyes off the poster. If she could have, she would have spun her head around backwards to keep staring at the picture. Quite a reaction for an 8 month old.

Only thing that makes the show better for Kendall is when Giada has her daughter Jade on

Excited does not start to describe it. Kendall loves other kids, and add in Giada with it - whoa!

I would blame this on my obsessive Food Network viewing while pregnant (and after). Problem with this is that I have a job, and I do not watch Food Network during the day, I am more of a cake challenge at night kind of girl. So I have no idea where she gets this from.

Maybe we have a tiny chef in the making.

The Garden

Nate recently rebuilt our balcony, which allows us to spend time out there. Prior to his rebuild, the balcony was very rickety and very scary to stand on. We had a garden the first year year we lived here, but with the rickety balcony, I decided to pass last year while pregnant.

Now with the newly improved balcony, we decided to put together a scaled back version of the balcony garden with mostly herbs and vegetables. And a few flowers thrown in.

Chives, flat leaf parseley, basil, and tomatoes.

Kendall's yellow flowers, daisies.

Hibiscus.

Kendall loves the garden, and everyday we go out to check it out and look at 'her flowers'. The yellow flowers in the hanging basket are her favorite, and therefore they are her flowers. Kendall likes to survey the garden, and pet the yellow flowers. When she is fussy, we will step outside and check it out. Big smiles and happiness follows.

And when we don't make it outside?

Momma's new favorite PJs

I don't know what it is, but baby PJs are adorable. Now that Kendall has grown out of the old favorite PJs, I have found a new pair to fawn over.

I love these PJs. Makes my morning. And she is just so cute crawling away.

Bruise or Food?

Kendall has been quite active, and as a result has several bruises at all times. Since she learned to pull herself up, Kendall has been convinced that she can stand on her own and walk. She stays vertical for about 2 seconds, and then falls over, bumping her head on the way down.

The weekend before Kendall's 8 month appointment, she tried one of these maneuvers, and hit her head on the Rubbermaid bin waiting to take her outgrown items down to storage. This resulted in a nice bruise above her left eye. A few days later when we went to the doctor, the bruise had faded and all but gone away.

In the course of the exam, the doctor asked about what Kendall had been up to (crawling, pulling up, drinking out of the sippy cup, etc), and said she was doing really well. Then he was looking her over, looked at me and said "Food or bruise?", while pointing to the bruise on her head. I responded "Um, bruise", then explained what happened since it feels like you need to explain yourself at the doctor.

The bruise had faded and was almost a mustard yellow. I suppose it could have been food, if she ate Chicago style hot dogs for breakfast. And I didn't specifically clean the baby before taking her to the doctor.

I came home to tell Nate about it, and he started laughing hysterically. Because it was pretty funny, and also I had come home with a similar expression from Seattle. Mouth or Bottom. There is a noise, and you need to guess if it is from mouth or bottom, and if you are right, the other person says "You're RIGHT!". Not sure how you can get it wrong, but it was so funny we started using it. Now we are applying the 'Food or Bruise' and 'Mouth or Bottom' to just about everything. I'll leave that to your imagination.

8 Months

I'm a couple weeks late with this post, but Kendall is 8 months! We have been super busy with all the crawling, new teeth (she is working on teeth 3 - 6, all on the top), and mom and dad working, and the blog has fallen behind as a result. Finally have some time to get the posts rattling around in my head typed up, so this is the first of several posts.

Kendall is up to all sorts of new things, from climbing the walls to "talking" up a storm. The kid is non-stop! And we are loving every second. Here is the monthly round-up, even if she is almost 9 months now.

Kendall at 7 Months

Weight - 19 lbs (give or take)
Height - 27 1/2 inches (again, give or take)
Sounds Like - Usually loud. "Singing", "Talking" YELLING. Banging everything she can get her hands on. This kid likes it loud and ruckus. I'm thinking there is a lot of rock music in our future.
Likes - The jumperoo (Nate and I have the songs memorized. "One Little Horsey plays peek-a-boo..."). Eating - loves just about any food you give to her. She is currently digging puffs, which are cereal like finger foods that dissolve in baby's mouth. Fun to watch her pick them up. Sleeping on her belly, and she will flip from any position you have her in to sleep on the belly.
Dislikes - Naps - these are for sucks. Too much going on to nap. Staying asleep. Kendall wants you to hang with her while she sleeps - we are not as fond of that program.Clearly we are currently working on sleep.
Things she can do - Roll front-to-back as well as back-to-front. Sit up from a lying position (even though she protests). Scoot around (more to come on that), which is almost crawling. Pull herself up to stand, and even stand on her own for a couple of seconds.

Kendall at 8 Months


Weight - 19.2 lbs (75th percentile)
Height - 28 inches (75 percentile)
Sounds Like - a Beach Boy's record. Ba-ba-ba ba-ba-barbaran. She is quite the talker, but she only says one consonant, so we don't get much information.
Likes - Jumping, still. Sammy the Snail - mom and dad are not so fond of Sammy. Destroying block towers. Swimming - swim lessons are so much fun! The Hokey-poky, especially if you do the dance for her.
Dislikes - Plain yogurt. With all the foods she has eaten, we have not gotten such a reaction (video below - and that was mild, she won't perform on camera). We have since moved to flavored yogurt, and that is delicious. Naps - still for sucks.
Things she can do - She is learning to use her sippy cup and feed herself puffs - and she is really excited about it. She can crawl, pull herself up, fall back down, sit, turn around. She is a mover and shaker, and she is now able to start actually getting somewhere. Everyday she is moving faster and farther. Pretty soon she will want the keys to the car.

Memorial Day

Hope the everyone had a wonderful and relaxing Memorial Day weekend. After running around on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we decided to hang around the house and just relax. We didn't go out at all, grilled up some burgers (on the stove - thanks for being nosy about our grill, neighbors. Apparently there is a law that you cannot grill on a balcony in Arligton Heights. Old people like to enforce laws.), napped, and played.

Kendall had a great time crawling around, pulling herself up, and working on crusing on the furniture. She even figured out that sippy cup (tip - you have to tilt it up). Oh, and Kendall was doling out the kisses by rubbing noses. The progress she has made in the span of a week is crazy! We were happy to get a good chunk of uninterrupt time to enjoy her.

It was a lovely day.