9 months!!

Alice turned 9 months on June 22nd! This has been a huge month for our little pumpkin. She is changing so much by the day and her personality is really beginning to show through. And what a personality it is! She LOVES to smile and is always happy. We feel so lucky to have such a happy little girl!

Some other milestones:

* No crawling, but she scoots around pretty well on her belly. She's also a rolling maniac when she's on the bed!

* She has 4 full teeth now

* She loves to make an "oh" face. It's too funny!

* She is learning to clap, though she doesn't really get when is the right time to do it.

* She has become a Cheerio fanatic. The girl can't get enough!

* She loves, loves, loves to be around other little kids. She gets very excited and yells and laughs. SO cute!

Update from doctor's appoint on June 30th:

Weight: 20 lbs (75th percentile)

Height: 26.5 inches (50th percentile)

Noggin: 47.5 cm (97th percentile)

She was all smiles at the doctor's office and had the nurse completely in love with her. She asked if she could come back every day!

I also wanted to share some of the out takes from this milestone picture. Here, like always, is what happens after the first shot is taken:

Another action shot:

Here's one with a new hairdo and crinkled sign:

The infamous "oh" face :)

Note the hair brush that was needed to keep her occupied:

Such an angelic little face!

Pigtails and teeth, teeth and pigtails

It took me bribing her with my Blackberry to get her to sit still, but I did it!! I think this is also one of the few shots I have with her showing her new chompers:

There are no pigtails or teeth in this picture, but I just thought it was cute and shows how big she's getting! She's starting to look less and less like an infant and more like a toddler!

8 months!!

Miss Alice turned 8 months on May 22nd-- her cousin Will's 6th birthday!  This has been an extremely eventful month for our gal in terms of milestones!

* She started to come around a bit to solids.  She now has oatmeal every morning with some fruit.  She definitely seems to prefer less sweet foods, like avocado and carrots.  And she's also dabbled a bit with cheerios, though we've put that on hold for the time being.

* She's a rolling maniac now, rolling both ways!

* She's creeping all over the floor-- still backwards, but hey, it's something!

* She is making lots of consonant sounds now, including Ba, La, Da, Ma, Na and the occasional Pa.  

* And most exciting.... she's getting not one, not two... but FOUR teeth in!  Eek!  Luckily, she's still her usual chipper self, just a bit more clingy than usual.  Though I have to admit, teething and nursing at the same time makes me a wee bit nervous!

Once again, this milestone picture was very tricky.   I have to now pretty much get it right on the first shot.

Happy Birthday, William!!

OK, I am in denial that Will is SIX YEARS OLD today!!  It seems like it was only yesterday that he was a baby!

Will is definitely one cool little dude and an awesome big brother to Beckett.  He's also the bestest nephew one could ever hope for.  He was super sweet when Alice was born and was so excited to come see his newest cousin at the hospital.   Alice just loves her cousin Will!

Happy Birthday, Will!!!  Can't wait to see you on Sunday!

Happy Birthday, Pepe!!!

Today Pepe turns the big 6-9!!  Wowzers!!

But before he was the awesome Pepe that he is today, he was my Dad.  And let me tell you-- he rocked!  

My dad was definitely the original Mr. Mom.  He cooked, he cleaned, he helped with Science homework.  There wasn't anything he couldn't/wouldn't do.  My friend Nicole mentioned the other day how much she loved to come over my house because my Dad was such a great cook.  I can't tell you how many times we would just be hanging out in my room and my Dad would appear with a plate of freshly made french fries or some other delectable goodie.  I also fondly remember Sunday mornings as pancake mornings.  My dad would make me a stack of pancakes that got smaller and smaller and smaller until, much to my delight, the top one was a little tiny pancake.  

Yes, my Dad is also the ultimate nerd.  For Christmas, we usually always got one "Dad" gift.  I remember one year, both Wendy and I got a calculator.  We of course laughed and shrugged it off.  Yet, that little device got lots of use during my high school torture of Algebra, Trigonometry and Analytic Geometry.  And let me tell you, when I was packing up my room to go to college, guess what I took with me? Yup-- my trusty calculator.  

He is by no means an emotional guy... or talkative for that matter.  But he always finds ways to show how much he cares.  I used to come home from college for visits and find little notes in my car the next morning (along with $20 for gas--woohoo!).  Last summer, when Eric and I moved back to Windham, my Dad was over every week, helping us get settled in and do all the "house stuff" that we weren't used to doing.  Even the day Alice was born, my Dad took the morning off from work to be in the waiting room and be the first visitor to welcome her into the world. 

I am very thankful to have such a great Dad.  And extremely grateful that Alice has such a wonderful, loving Pepe.  

So Happy Birthday, Pepe!  We love you very, VERY much!!

Make Way for the Grahams

I have to confess-- I have been looking forward to my first mother's day for a long time.  And I knew exactly what I wanted to do once the day arrived-- The Duckling Day Parade in Boston. Living in Boston, I used to hear and read about the parade and knew I wanted to do it once I had little ones of my own.

Of course, a parade isn't a fun parade if it rains.  So I watched the weather all week, anxiously hoping those clouds with raindrops would disappear from the weather forecast. And lo behold, as the weekend drew nearer, they did!  While it was a bit windy, the sky was bright and sunny and the Graham Fam headed down to Beantown for our first annual Make Way for Ducklings Parade.

Miss Alice getting psyched up for the parade

Eric aka Mr. Mallard

Alice with Eric after she decided she wanted to see the parade on foot

Tulips in the Public Gardens

The Graham Fam

Taking a "lunch" break (love that gummy smile!)

Keeping Alice entertained

While down there, we bumped into Katherine, who was the teacher I subbed  for at Saltonstall.  I absolutely adored the little duckling costume she made for her daughter, Chloe.  Taking mental notes for next year.....

Here's wishing all mothers out there a very happy Mother's Day!!

Our Little Mermaid

Saturday was Alice's first swimming lesson-- and first time in a pool, no less!  Eric and I debated about what her reaction was going to be.  We both agreed she would either 1) cry or 2) just be her usual stoic self and not show any reaction.  

Well, when it came time to go into the pool, she definitely leaned more toward #2.  However, she did start to loosen up a bit and smile as the time went on.  The lesson went well, despite the constant crying of another fellow classmate (who was a boy-- go figure).  She attempted to kick a little, though I did most of the work for her.  Overall, though, a good workout for both mom and baby-- we both took a nice afternoon nap later!

So, week #1 down.  Only nine more lessons to go.....