June Update (part 5, last part, promise)

(warning: this series of posts goes drastically against our usual blogging "rules" for readdaddyread. This post has way too much text, and five parts is way past the allotted frequency. I just wanted to note that I know I'm breaking the rules :) )

As I’m typing this, I checked the video monitor and saw Grayson sitting up in her bed instead of lying down to take a nap. She finally figured it out. She’s been doing the army crawl scoot for weeks now, and has been sitting up on her own for long time, but she hadn’t quite mastered how to sit back up from her belly until late yesterday afternoon. It’s crazy to me how one day these little ones don’t know a skill, and the next day, they have it mastered. It’s such a testimony to our Creator. Here’s the (trying to be short but not really working) recount of what she was up to in June...

• She laughs when we laugh.
• If we click our tongues, she clicks her tongue back.
• She used her first sign (and now uses it consistently), “all done” when she’s finished with her food.
• She’s said “mama” a time or two when I’ve woken her up in the morning and she’s hungry. It’s not consistent, but I’ll take it anyways!
• She says “dadadada”, but not quite aimed consistently at Justin yet.
• If she’s in the right mood, she’ll mimic a few words we say. It all started at meal time. Justin said “amen” after praying, and she looked at us and said “a-mn”, two syllables. We looked at each other, but thought it was a fluke. But then when she did it at the next meal, we cheered like she had made the winning basket for the state championship game. She got tickled, and proceeded to say it for the following five or so meals. I also told Justin jokingly to ‘be nice”, and she followed with “niccccccce”. Funny babe. “Nana” also appears sometimes when we break out a banana.
• Speaking of meals, her new favorites are cottage cheese, yogurt and deli turkey. She’s not huge on finger foods, but she’ll taste chunks from a spoon or from our fingers. Prunes, applesauce, and the occasional banana slice are still the favorite fruits but veggies are a challenge.
• She outgrew her infant car seat at her 9 month check up since she was in the 95th percentile for height. Still in the 50th for weight. She loves her new big girl car seat where she can really see out the side windows.
• The army crawl is hilarious. She can move fast too on our hardwood floors. And she picks up every stray dog hair in site, no matter how many times I vacuum or swiffer. I think I’m going to sew a swiffer cloth onesie for her to wear around the house. She pulls mostly with her left arm (hence the scratches and occasional rug burn there) and pushes mostly with her right big toe (hence the blister forming there, note picture below). Neither ailment seems to slow her down.
• She loves to stand, but hasn’t mastered pulling up yet. She also hasn’t figured out that she’ll fall if she lets go, so we still have to be there as backup.
• Favorite toys to play with include: buckets in the kitchen full of spatulas and Tupperware, sand bucket with sand toys, and baskets of books. She will pull out books from the baskets in her room for over thirty minutes. If she is in the kitchen and remembers them, she will make a beeline for her room in seconds.
• She squeals when she sees pictures of babies or real-life babies.
• If we hold her hands, she takes steps and walks.
• She had her first fever and was pitiful (yes, I know, it’s amazing that this was her first at 9 months plus).
• Her hair keeps growing.
• She loves to chew on shoes, even when they are attached to feet.
• She loves the water. She has a new inflatable tub that sits in our big tub, she loves the baby pool, the big pool, and the ocean. She still hasn’t swum at the lake yet, but it’s next on the list.
• She loves to sleep with her pink blanket (“woobi” in our house), and she likes to snuggle and suck her thumb (mostly with me though, she thinks daddy is more for play time and fun).
• June was also filled with lots of fun family time. She got to meet her aunt Libba with new-baby-girl-cousin-on-the-way for the first time. Avery, Jackson, and aunt Ali came for a visit, and we had fun times at MayMay and Peeps house. Grammashu is on summer break, so she’s been over for lots of playtime. Even great Mamaw came for a day in June too.
  

This turned into a novel length post. I’ll try to keep more updated for the rest of the summer! Pictures below from June…