Newsletter-- 11 Months

Dear Lylah, 

You are 11 months old. Yes, 11. That is almost 1 year old! 1 year? What?! This has been the fastest, craziest, best year of our lives. 

You love to cuddle. You give great snuggles. As evidenced below....

You love that Uncle Adam!

Gramps and Gigi were here some this month, and of course we took lots of pictures! I can't resist you in that owl hat. 

Still crazy about your baths. You prefer for Daddy to bathe you. You hand him toys and say "Dere" ("here") and he signs/says "Thank you" back. It's one of your absolute favorite games. Daddy takes his time bathing you. I am quick. Maybe that's why you prefer him to do it!

But it works out cause I can take pictures.... These will look great in your Senior slide show at church one day! :)

You still love books. You could turn pages in a book all day. That is your toy of choice. If we give you a book, you can entertain yourself for a loooong time.

Your skills are....crawling on knees and hands (bear crawl), pulling up, standing without pulling up, bending over and picking something up, then standing back up, and taking about 3-4 steps. You love pushing the cart. 

Here you are watching your first Olympic games! This is during the opening ceremonies. 

Very interested. 

And then you decided to start your training for the 2020 Olympics. 

You can take about 3-4 steps before you dive into one of our arms. You are so proud of yourself when you do it. You will definitely be walking by one year! Ahhh!! 

You are just a bundle of fun. You have gotten a little clingy in the past month, but as soon as I leave, apparently you are fine. You just cry for a minute. You love other kids and try to touch their faces. It's cute/terrifying. I don't want to you poke someone in the eye! 

We just love you so much. You make our lives so full of fun. We can't believe you are almost a year old. We wouldn't change one thing about the past year. You are the best little girl we know! We love you!

Love, 

Mom and Dad

Newsletter--10 months

Dear Lylah,

 I know, I know. I say this every month. But HOW? How are you 10 months old? In my mind you are like 6 months old. But people ask how old you are and I have to say 10 months. People guess a year all the time, because you are not small. You are adorably chunky. I don't mind if people say chunky, but chubby bothers me. You are just healthy! Breastfed babies are just chunky. And healthy. :)

Somewhere along the line, I became this tree-hugger, natural parent. Did not see that coming. I hate disposable diapers. Hate them with all my heart. It physically hurts me to put you in one. I can't stop thinking about the chemicals in them. And how that diaper will sit in a landfill for 500+ years just because I didn't walk down the hall and grab a fresh one out of the dryer. But that's a whole other post. And I am big on breastfeeding. Want everyone to do it. And I cannot decide when to stop. At least 1 year, if not 18 months. I just think it is so important. And you have not been sick ONCE.

Okay back to you.

You are so fun. You are a social butterfly. You love the nursery at church. Any place where you are free to roam, crawl, and cruise, you are a happy girl.

You say Da-da, ma-ma, ba-ba, ly-la (la-la), book, yes (it sounds like yaoass), and...hmm...other gyberish. You say "keko" and "de-go, de-go..." so cute. It's your own little language. You just babble to yourself and it just warms my heart.

Every day you wake up between 7-8. 8:15 at the latest. You nurse, then have your independent play time in your pack n' play. I used to do it after your solid breakfast, but then I discovered you do better before. This is great because I can take a minute to wake up and get ready a little. Ha, who are we kidding. I only get ready if we are going somewhere.

Then you eat. For breakfast you have cereal or oatmeal, apple sauce and a piece of bread cut up. And water and maybe a little juice. After breakfast, you play with me, or we go out. We make sure we are home before 10am, which is your nap time. I usually clean, edit pictures or watch TV during your nap. After your nap, which can be 45 min-1.5 hours you eat again. For lunch you have fruits and maybe veggies. Then we play somemore, then you nap again at 2pm. That nap usually is 1-2 hours. 2.5 if I really wear you out. Then for dinner it's veggies and whatever else we have. :) You go down for the night between 7-8 depending on your nap.

You go down fairly easy. We still let you cry. I am big on being consistent. I don't want you to think that sometimes I'll come if you cry hard enough. Not that I let you scream for hours. If you cry for 20 minutes, I go get you. But usually you conk out pretty quickly. But lately, you just give a few little cries and you are out. You've started sleeping with your bum in the air, which I think is too cute.

I can't believe I am planning your birthday party. Where did the time go?

Peek-a-boo!

Favorite Things:

The dogs

Your book Mimi gave you

Anything shiny

Baths

Yogurt buttons

Daddy in the mornings

Books

We love you, Peanut Butter!

Mom

Newsletter--9 months

Dear Lylah, 

This has been by far the craziest month we've had yet! We went to Australia to see Gramps and Gigi. You were such a trooper! You were the best travel baby. I will post more about Australia later. But just know this, you had a great time. You loved hanging out on the plane, meeting people and seeing Gramps and Gigi of course. 

Jet lag induced here...

You had a little trouble adjusting to time back in the states. You have been standing up in your bed for a few days, and you have forgotten how to put yourself to sleep. Daddy discovered a magic method of keeping you in your crib and patting you. You fall right to sleep. Oh Daddy. 

Sleepy eyes

Still loving your baths. You are all over the tub and Daddy freaks out. Mommy lets you crawl...I figure you will learn. You just love the letters in the bath and splashing. And screaming. You also love books. Oh do you love books. That would be your toy of choice, definitely. 

Bath time 

Your Daddi graduated at the end of last month and got his masters. You were pretty good. I had to walk around with you for a while. It was too long for you. And me. :) 

During Daddy's Graduation

You are so curious. You are everywhere. You don't mind playing by yourself. You find everything. I will hide something behind my back, and you will start playing with something else....then somehow you find whatever I hid. You are TOO smart!

We got your a swing for our backyard time. At the new house our backyard is awesome, and the dogs love it. We go outside in the evenings and throw the balls for the dogs. You sit and watch and squeal. 

Loving your new swing

Love your Great-grands!

In Australia....hiking in the Daintree Rainforest. You are so happy in your carrier!

You are standing by yourself. What? I don't know how you pick this stuff up so quick. You can easily manuever yourself around any room. You crawl on your knees and then if there is tile and you have nothing on your knees, you switch to this cute crab crawl. So smart. If you REALLY want something, you do this hop crawl. You are just so cute!

You have 4 teeth now. Teething on our trip was interesting, but you did well. 

Feeding yourself

Your new trick is clapping! It's so fun. The "Oh!" I make at the end is cause you make a big toot. 

People ask me all the time why you are so happy! I love that. You love people. You smile at everyone. You still wave at people and you will go to anyone. I just took you to check the mail in the stroller and you waved at every car that went by. I couldn't make this stuff up!

We love you so much Peanut. You add so much to our lives. We miss you when you sleep. We love you so much!!

Love, 

Mom

Newsletter-- 7 months

Dear Lylah,

What a crazy month! We moved. Eek. We made it, though. We lived with Memaw for a bit in Ponca City and then we finally settled into Stillwater, OK. Aka Podunk. Where there is a lot of orange. Which is very hard on this Sooner-lovin' Momma. But you don't care. You're too cute for it to matter right now.

As I say every month, how can you be 7 months? Every morning, as I make coffee, I look up and see this beautiful little girl wanting to eat oatmeal....How did you get so big? And how are you ours? We love you so deeply. We spend the evenings watching you army crawl and laughing at you.

You are such a good girl! Cashiers always comment on how good you are. We just started putting you in the cart instead of your carrier, and you think it is a ride at Disneyworld! You just smile and laugh and wave at people. That's one of your new things...waving. I can't wait till you can say Hi! with your wave. It's coming, I can tell. 

You are always up for a photoshoot. You don't mind it at all. You love being outside, so it's perfect for us both. I snap pictures with you look around, grab rocks and just smile. You are so fun! 

You still love baths and love to talk. You have a new love...HATS!
My Mom, your Mimi took a picture of you in a hat and.... it's so weird...This picture could be from my babybook! CRAZY.

You got your first tooth at the end of March...18th? And your next tooth promptly followed. See below. You haven't bit us yet. But you love to eat, so these teeth help!

Right now you eat three times a day. In the morning you have oatmeal and apple sauce. For lunch you have your veggies. You eat some oatmeal and usually some avocado. Today you are trying winter squash! If I can figure out how to use the food processor. For dinner you have Sweet potatoes, and some barley. You also eat bananas, but just every few days. 

You are definitely a Harms! You sleep 12-14 hours a night! Whoa! The Kellys do not sleep. So you are definitely sleeping like a Harms, which I am very thankful for. You are such a sweet girl. We love you so so so so so much! I have lots of cute Easter pictures, that I will post soon!

Your favorite things: 

1. Hippo squeeky toy

2. watching the puppies or Daddy in the backyard

3. eating

4. being outside

5. meeting people

6. riding in the car

We love you!!

Mom and Dad

Newsletter: 6 months

Dear Lylah,

We moved right after your turned 6 months, so this post is a little late. We are living in Ponca City with Memaw right now until our house in Stillwater is ready. You were such a trooper during the move. You have adjusted to sleeping in the pack'n play, and you are loving it at Memaw's house. We can't wait till she gets home from Australia so we can play!

You are getting so big! We think your cheeks grow by the day. People always comment on your chubby cheeks and thighs. And we have been told a few times you could be a Gerber baby! We completely agree. I don't think there has ever been a cuter baby.

This month you went on your first plane ride! You did so well. I was super nervous. We used our awesome Beco Gemini carrier and it was a life saver. They didn't make me take you out to go through security. It was so much easier than I thought. On the way there Gigi was on our flight and the nice man next to us switched her seats so she could sit with us. You were so good on the plane! You slept or ate during most of the flight. Aside from a code brown situation, you were a good girl. On the way home the lady in front of us said you were very good and quiet! This was a nice little warm up for our 16 hour flight to Australia in May. :) 

We had so much fun on our trip! Here you are with Daddy before he hit the slopes. Your ski suit from Gramps and Gigi was just about the cutest thing I have ever seen. And the sunglasses....AHH! Love it. You were too cute. 

With Gigi in the snow!

Such a fun trip! First time in the snow. You were a little too young to fully appreciate it, but we loved it! It was so gorgeous in Steamboat. We're so glad we went! Thanks, Gramps and Gigi!

You are getting more active and mobile day by day. You can sit unsupported pretty well, but you wobble a little. You have started pushing up to a push-up position, and are slowly getting to your knees. It's so crazy watching you learn and figure out these things.

 

We started solids on February 4th. You have been eating well! You like oatmeal a lot. Bananas are another favorite. You like rice cereal okay, but you seem to make a face like you keep hoping it will taste better with each bite, but it doesn't. This week we are trying avacado, and next week is sweet potatoes. 

You still love bathtime. Last week when Daddy was gone on business I gave you your first bath without Daddy. You swallowed a little water, but other than that, it went well. Since we don't have your tub with us in Ponca, we use a foam bath cradle, which actually works better. You were getting hard to bathe in the tub because you arch your back and would slide down into the water. You haven't gone under yet!

You are such a cuddle bug. You love to sit in our laps and just chill. You also love a good book. You love patting the books, turning the pages (especially before we are done reading that page) and chewing on the corners. 

You have also started shaking toys a lot. I think it is the cutest thing! You are also very interested in our phones. We don't let you play with them, but you sure try to get them. You make this adorable face with an open mouth and reach to try to get them. And the remotes. You are such a child of the digital age. Right now you are staring at me typing this! :) 

With Coach and Mimi

You have been sleeping pretty well. You are just not too consistent. One night you will sleep 11 hours, and the next you will sleep 5, eat and then go back to sleep for 5. I prefer the 11 hour nights, so if you could keep those coming, that would be awesome. 

With Gramps. You love his beard!

 You are still not a great napper. You will take one hour naps, but you wake up super happy, so I don't mind. I am trying to transition you to a four hour schedule so that you can transition to three naps instead of four. I'm hoping your naps will be a little over an hour if there are fewer naps, but so far you are still taking one hour naps. That's okay though. You go down for your naps so well! I zip you in your woombie, give you your paci and you are out. Sometimes you give a few cries or fusses, but you usually just turn your head and go to sleep. To go down for the night though, you are really funny. You just play in your bed for a bit. You just raspberry, roll over, sing and talk until you conk out. You sleep with your arms out (in a sleep sack) at night, and you love being able to chew your hands and roll around. The other day I came in to find you trying to eat the netting on the side of the pack'n play. You are such a funny girl.

We love you, Peanut Butter!

Mom