New discoveries around the house

The cabinets are locked and the plugs are covered. Now on to discovering new and fun things around the house and hopefully avoiding injury.

May the birthday planning begin...

I have been itching to go to Party City to see what kinds of first birthday decor they have. There were lots of choices. From Baby Elmo to Pooh to Abby Cadaby (who I don't think I've heard of before). Although her party will be very small with just close friends and family, we had to do something special to celebrate our one-year-old. Here's what I got...
I just love having a little girl. After Party City we went to the infamous local Target to get the child-proofing stuff, and Millie pointed and gasped at everything, even the passersby.

Slowly but surely, she's crawling

So Millie and I were hanging out with some of her neighborhood buddies about an hour ago and wouldn't you know it, she crawled from the living room to the foyer. I was astonished! I never thought it would happen but she did it. She crawled. She even met us in the kitchen to see what we were up to. Of course, she has been rolling to get where she wants to go but eventually would roll her way into a corner or between the coffee table and sofa and there she would be, stuck. Now, we definitely have to child-proof our house. oh man!

Snow Part 2: No Work, All Play

Matt came home early because work was canceled so when Millie woke up from her nap we frolicked in the snow some more.

Snow!

...and it's still falling! We've already gotten over 4"! Millie's reaction to the snow was calm yet uncomfortable. She pretty much kept her eyes closed the whole time to avoid the bombardment of snowflakes. It's snowing pretty fierce out there and being a Florida girl, I was a little reluctant to take her out, but we had to take some photos even if her snow excursion only lasted a minute or so.

Oh, and I did post a couple of more at www.youtube.com/brookedm23. One from this morning and one from the 17th of her dancing while standing.

On Santa's Lap

I got this in the mail today from Disney World. This photo was taken at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas around 9:30 pm. Millie was half asleep but still as cute as a button.

Tipping the scale

Millie weighs 17 lbs, 8.8 oz. Thanks to the United States Postal Service!

Strike a pose! Vogue!

Up and Down, Up and Down

Millie knows how to get down once she pulls herself up but for some reason she forgot that skill this afternoon. I watched her on the video monitor standing in her crib when she was supposed to be taking a nap. She finally dozed off and fell back into the crib. She would have been fine and continued on sleeping except her leg got stuck in the crib bars. Boy, was that a different type of cry. Glad I saw it though. Mom to the rescue! I don't even think she knew I was there. Her eyes were closed. Too funny!

Millie at 10 months old

Wow, another month has flown by. Millie is 10 months old today. I'm going to the post office tomorrow to weigh her :) I think she weighs about 18 lbs. She is reaching 29" long. She's reached some milestones just within the last week.
-Yesterday she stood without support for about 10 seconds.
-She is getting the hang of her push n' stroll lion toy.
-She can get to a sitting position without assistance and back to lying if she chooses which has become troublesome around naptime. Yesterday, she took some of her nap sitting up in her crib. She was adamant not to lie down and let mommy win. I had to hold her down and sing to her for about 45 minutes while she smiled and talked to me and then finally fell back asleep. Like anyone, once you learn a new skill you want to do it all the time. I was like that with archery. Just kidding.
-She's becoming less dependent on me. I'm a little sad about it but it does come with some newfound freedoms. Millie isn't crying at the church nursery. She'll let other people hold her. She's talking and playing with other kiddos and wants to be a big kid too.
-She's weaning on her own. I plan to nurse her for about a year. Millie's down to 3-4 feedings a day which allows me to finally go to the dentist or get my hair done.
-As I've said before, she's not crawling but pulls herself up on everything and cruise alongside furniture like she's a big girl. I do think she's almost able to crawl, though, as she gets on all fours and rocks back and forth like she wants to go somewhere. Then she resorts to laying down and rolling until she gets to her destination.
-She signs "all done."
-Her favorite food is CHEERIOS, hands down. I think she could be a spokesbaby for CHEERIOS. She goes nuts and starts dancing anytime she sees the yellow box.

This month I'll be planning her BIG FIRST BIRTHDAY celebration! I'm looking for a great photographer who can take some fancy photos of Millie in February so if you know of anyone in Fayetteville preferably please let me know!

All I want since Christmas is...

a good night's rest! I thought that our Disney trip and Millie's sudden wakening in the night were related. Maybe there was some relation but the real culprit are what my dentist calls all four incisors. Unfortunately, only yesterday did I notice that she is TEETHING. We can see the top two and bottom two making way through her gum. Poor thing! I've been so neglectful... I mean, when was Disney? Almost a month ago?! And to think she's been in pain all through the night all this time! Oh the horror! I'm hoping they'll make an appearance this weekend. Matt brought his dental camera home so we can get some good pics of those pearly whites.

Comfortable on her feet and Kisses

Millie's got some new tricks up her sleeves.
She's getting real comfortable on her feet. I have posted a video of her motoring around from her toy station to her toy box. Later on, she went from her toy box to her exersaucer to her toy station and back and forth and back and forth.



I posted another video of her kissing Matt tonight. It's the sweetest thing. I bet you all will be standing in line for some sugar next time you see her!

Matt played guitar for her again tonight, which is a usual occurrence and I snapped this shot. Too cute!

First Three Days of 2009

This New Year's eve was so wild! Are you ready? We stayed home while the Millie Moo snoozed all snuggly-like. I tried hard to stay awake, but even Time Square party-goers had a rough time keeping up the cheer in the frigid 2 degree weather. I don't recall what we did to bring in 2008. I'm sure I didn't fall asleep on the couch though.

Millie's now pulling up on everything. I even saw her pulling up on our armoire and her toy box. Apparently her new found skill has rendered new found curiosity. She found the moss in our artificial planters. I thought she had been a little quiet for a little too long and this is how I found her.

Today we took a trip up to Raleigh to visit their fabulous mall and eat lunch at PF Chang's. For our return trip home we picked up some Dunkin Donuts. Millie had her first bite of a donut. Can you believe she liked it? haha. Only this time, she didn't pitch a royal fit when the donut was "all done."

I'd like to take this final moment give a shout out to my sister-in-law, Leigh, for all the hand-me-downs. She gave Millie all of the books her kids have outgrown. Now I am really in need of a bookshelf. If anyone has a bookshelf/toy storage combo they really like. please let me know. I love all the clothes, books, toys, and feeding stuff she has given us. It's like she's my very own "Once apon a child" store but without the price tag. Thanks, Leigh!