Look, Daddy!

I discovered your DVD collection and pulled each and every one off the shelf all by myself.

We miss you and hope you are having fun in Colorado!

7 months!!

She is closer to a year old than to the day she was born, craziness!

 

This month has been the biggest as far as development and changes.  She no longer seems like a baby and is becoming more and more independent as each day passes.  We are having so much fun playing with her and watching her learn.

Highlights -

- She has mastered crawling and uses it to get around every where.  She will crawl up and down the hall just to see what is around each corner.  She tries to chase after the kitties, but so far they are still faster! 

- She is still working on pulling herself up.  She is constantly trying to pull up on every thing and has no concept of what is stable and what is not.  She also gets so excited that she forgets to hold on.  We have had lots of bumps and bruises along the way and expect many more to come.  We had to lower the crib mattress as she figured out how to use the bars to stand.

- With all these new skills she is now playing with the 'big kids' in her class at daycare.  There are three boys ranging from 10-12 months and she loves that she can now interact with them.  Her teacher informed us that she is one tough little girl and is sure to let them know if shes had enough by pushing them away.  I'm pretty sure that was music to Dad's ears!

- I say this every month, but I am constantly amazed at how much of a chatterbox she is.  Her vocabulary is continually expanding and she simply does not stop talking.  She woke up from a nap early the other day and since she was happy and chatting I left her in her crib so I could finish up a few things.  She literally talked to herself for 45 minutes straight.  If she is not sleeping in the car, she is talking.  She just learned how to blow raspberries so every couple sentences she will throw in one of them.  We just have to laugh at her.

- Sleep is still all over the place.  I am thankful for the good nights we do have scattered throughout.

- We are working our way through the introduction of solid foods.  We started cereal at about 5 and a half months, but then stopped for a couple weeks while she was sick.  It took her awhile to get into it, and sometimes she still just plays with it, but we keep at it and figure it is all practice right now anyways.  She enjoys the sweet potatoes and pears. She HATES peas (seriously, the look she gave me when I put them in her mouth was complete shock and her entire body physically shuttered).  But her favorite by far is carrots, as you can see from the picture.

Please slow down

Yes:  she is standing
No:  we did not position her there
Yes:  she can officially pull herself up

Seriously, stop growing up so quickly Baby Girl!

A fun day with family

Maya got to partake in her first annual Knowles Christmas tree adventure in the mountains.  Luckily it was relatively uneventful this year... the weather was gorgeous (although cold) and we didn't have to stop to push unprepared cars out of the snow.  After picking out the perfect trees, we headed back to Grandma and Grandpas to warm up and play.

 

Apparently eating her boot is much more fun than wearing it.

 

Hanging out with Grandma.

With Mommy.

And with Bennett.

The family surrounded by the trees.

She was so exhausted on the way down the mountain that she fell asleep with her toy in her mouth!

 Reading the paper with Grandpa and Bennett.

Sitting at the dinner table like a big kid!

Snuggling after a long day.

Its official...

We are mobile.  You can not imagine how happy she is with her new found freedom.  Plus, she seems to have fully recovered from the ear infections and pneumonia and is in the best mood she has been in for a week and a half.  Today is a great day for Maya!