10 months 1 week

The boo boo is another month closer to one year of life. She is more fun than ever and we just can't get enough of her. She is all over the place and even walking behind her little walker/cart/play toy. It is so cute how proud she gets when she goes a really long distance. Another tooth has popped up on the bottom and the two top front just started cutting. This has made for some sleepless nights lately, but let's get real, that isn't all that new to us. Violet just has never been a good sleeper. We've tried it all, and yes, we have a day and night routine that has been in place for almost 6 months now. She is a feisty one and can keep going long after you think she should have just crashed. She has now (almost) fully made the transition to finger/table foods. I have been so proud of her for trying so many new things and actually liking them. Her favorites right now are green beans, cuties, sweet potato, and toast. 

Violet is our little share-bear. She wants to share everything with everyone. Her food, pacifier, books, and toys are always being extended in our direction. I think it's just the sweetest. Her favorite is to hand her pacifier to me and wants me to put it in my mouth, and when I actually do it, she thinks it is the funniest thing she has ever seen. My favorite is when she crosses the living room to grab a book, brings it back, hands it to me, and grunts so I will read it to her. It can't just be read once either. A minimum of about 10 times through is required before she will move on to another (if at all). This past month we have discovered she loves to problem solve. We will give her all kinds of different tubs, bowls, and cups that have corresponding lids. She will sit there and figure out which one goes to which and actually puts the lids back onto them. I know it sounds super simple or we probably should've started doing this with her months ago, but I think she is absolutely brilliant when she does it. I can't even count how many times a day I say how smart she is. Proud mama right here.  

Violet's first Christmas is just days away and we couldn't be more excited. She is going to love every second of it, especially ripping up all of the paper. The holidays are just that much more fun now that she is here. She brings so much joy into our and our family's lives. We are so thankful for the gift of our little girl.

9 months

Violet turned 9 months and not a whole lot has changed since 8 months. She is a super quick crawler. I look away for a second and she is out of sight. We try to walk with her while standing over her and holding her hands, but she doesn't want much to do with it. She starts kicking her legs wanting to get down and just crawl. She is getting another bottom tooth which is making for some cranky days and multiple rocking sessions in the middle of the night.

She loves giving kisses to everyone and everything (except me...still). I will catch her kissing the people in her books, her stuffed animals, and herself. Anytime we see a mirror it has to be kissed. She now knows how to do touchdown. She  has it backwards though and instead of us saying "touchdown" to cue her to do it, she throws her arms in the air and waits for us to say "Touchdown Sooners!" The other night while we were out to eat she would put her head down and want us to say "Where's Violet?" then she would pop her head up with a big smile wanting us to say "There she is!" It was so funny to see her start being silly with no prompt from us.

Violet had her first Thanksgiving this past week. She got to spend lots of time with her Uncle Tony, Aunt Natalie and her cousins Jude and Lilly while they were here visiting from Texas. We went to the Zoo(where we snapped the above pictures), had 2 family Thanksgiving dinners, and cousin bath times. She had so much fun playing with her big cousin and giving her little cousin the sweetest kisses.

I can't believe in just 3 months she will be a year old. It seems impossible that it has almost been a year since this wonderful little being came into our lives. She is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. I am forever grateful and thankful that I get to be her mama.

8 months

Violet is 8 (and a half) months old! October has been extremely busy, hectic, and all of the above for us. We just now snapped these pictures of her in her hat on Halloween. We thought it would be extra cute because she was, of course, a cupcake for her first Halloween. Violet and I have been sick the past week, so we didn't get to partake in any festivities and we decided we shouldn't even pass out candy just to make sure we didn't pass this darn bug to anyone. 

Well, she is officially crawling. About a week before she turned 8 months she decided to get her crawl on. She is super fast. She can already go up the step that goes into our living room. She is pulling up on everything and trying to climb up onto the couch and coffee table. The same night she legitimately crawled for the first time she also learned how to clap. Now, all we have to say is, "Yay Violet!" and she starts clapping. I fell like a ton of development happened within a few days. She also knows how to give kisses now. She loves to kiss Robby and any of her soft toy animals, but won't really kiss me unless I keep on and on (I'm even the one who taught her how!).  She says "dada" constantly and is starting to really associate it with Robby. She only really says "mama" if she is crying or whining for me, so it's more of a "maaaaaammmaaa."

This month brought on her first time of getting sick. I was completely shocked because in my mind I didn't think she would have a stomach bug type thing until she was much older. After she woke up from a nap last week she started throwing up and didn't stop for about 5 hours. I felt so bad for her, but she kept on playing and laughing like nothing was going on. I ended up getting it (way worse than she did) and we are just now getting back to normal.

This stage has been so much fun for us, and even though I have been really missing those teeny tiny baby days, I can't wait to see what's next!

Violet's day in Photos (and one video)

I have seen lots of "picture an hour", "day in photos", and posts of that sort around blogland, so I thought I would jump on board. I especially enjoy reading Jame's a day in pictures and bits + pieces. It is probably weird, but I just love getting a look into someone else's life for a day.  Here are a couple more post like this I have enjoyed here and here.

8:00 am - Good Morning! This morning was the first time I found her sitting up in her crib, it gets lowered tonight! (sorry for the terrible iphone quality picture)

9:00 am - doing her favorite things; reading, clapping, and getting into places she shouldn't

10:00 am - clapping for Kathy Lee and Hoda and nap (not pictured)

11:00 am - Wake up and watch Rachel Ray (she loves cooking shows for some reason)

12:00 pm - Sweet Potato Puff snack, "snaking" face, and lunch on the back porch

1:00 pm - crawling

2:00 pm - Lunch at Freddy's with Poppie, Pop, and Uncle Randy

6:00 pm - Dinner, a walk, and swinging at the park 

7:00 pm - Sunset at the park 

8:00 pm - Bath time and welcoming daddy home

9:00 pm - Lowering the crib and reading Goodnight Moon and Counting Kisses before bed

Oh, the chubbiness

Starting the weekend off with some chubby baby goodness. Any time we stand her up in the crib she starts chattering immediately. Violet's absolutely adorable beanie was made by my friend Taylor. It is the only hat she will let us put on her. Girl knows what she likes.

7 months

Sweet chunky cheeks is 7 months 6 days old, I didn't really do a 6 month post (only her half birthday celebration), and I haven't really updated since she was 5 months in regards to development type things. Mom of the year right here. This feels like old news, but about two days after she turned 5 months she was sitting up on her own. About a week before she turned 6 months she decided to finally roll over while sleeping and we ditched the swaddle for good, which lead us to sleeping in her room all night long. This was a big obstacle for us. She now, on most nights, goes to bed at 9:30, wakes up at 7 ish to nurse, falls back asleep and sleeps until 9 or 9:30. Let's not kid ourselves though, we still go through the not so good nights when she ends up in bed with us around 4:00 in the morning. This girl is a rolling fool. She is already all over the place and gets closer and closer to crawling every day. I'm not too sure if I am ready for this and the house definitely isn't. Baby proofing is on the top of the to-do list. The day after she turned 6 months she was very upset that whole evening. I decided I would check her gums to see if her teeth might be hurting and sure enough two little sharp teethies had cut through. So, hopefully those pains will leave us for a little while. 

She is going through a growling and screeching/yelling phase. It can get quite loud and of course she thinks it is hysterical. These past two weeks she has been singing and humming all the time. I will hear her "hmmm" "mmm mmm" "aaahh ah" "ooo ooo" as she is playing, while I'm carrying her, or when a particular song comes on that I guess she likes. It is the sweetest thing I've ever heard. She loves for us to  read books to her now. This is one of my favorite things I do with her. She will sit in my lap and take in every word. She loves to turn the pages and is very good at it. Her two favorite books are  peek-a-boo animals, and safari animals. She wants us to read them over and over again especially in the evening between dinner and bath time. When we close them she starts hitting the from of the book, looks at us and grunts until we start over again. It is so crazy to see this little baby do such human activities. 

I apologize for the novel, but I had a lot of catching up to do. Now for some chubby baby goodness.

Violet's Room, according to my iPhone

Here are some of my favorite things in Miss Violet's Room. Most everything (except the crib and rocking chair) is vintage, handmade, or thrifted. Which was the goal when we started out and I'm so happy with the way it came together.