loulou:: 9months

louisa-grey statistics::

Age: 9 months
Weight:  19 lbs
Length: 29 inches
Size: 9 months/12-18 months onesies; size 3 diapers
Eyes: beautifully blue, with very long lashes.
Hair: filling in and getting long. it’s longer than charlottes.’ was at the same age, as you got your first piggy-tails this past week (see photo).
Teeth: no new teeth all month! i have enjoyed your sweet little smile, as well as the respite from teething.
Nicknames: none this month.
Sleeping: you started sleeping thru the night during this month! this past week, you have been waking up at 6am.                                                                
Naps: your morning nap is at 10:30, and lasts an hour to hour and a half, and an afternoon nap between 2 and 4pm. you like napping in the car if we are driving somewhere in the morning.
Eating: you nurse at 6am/9am/1pm/4pm/bedtime. you snack on mummum’s and cheerios, or peas or black beans, and eat a big pureed veggie lunch (i made homemade carrot and sweet potato puree. you love both.). i mix your evening rice cereal with goat milk, now, and any leftover puree from lunch if you haven’t finished it. you like avocado as well… you grew quite constipated at twice this month, and ate prunes to help things along. you eat with much more enthusiasm than charlottes.’ did at this age; it’s such a refreshing element to this stage of your development.
Movement: you are practicing walking (while holding our hands), but, still unsteady at standing up for long periods. you climb the stairs from our living area to the toy rug (two stairs) w/o help!
Milestones: officially sleeping thru the night. standing independently. saying, “dada”, and “mamamama”. sharing a room with your sister.
Outings: you seem to enjoy our thursday morning routine of going to Bible study. the ladies in the nursery comment about how you enjoy watching the other babies and playing…
Favorite toys/activities:  you love “patty-cake”, cuddling, petting puppies, and you really love pulling charlottes.’ hair. she is incredibly patient with you. you are a busy mover of a bebe., but, ironically, you enjoy sitting still to look at books when we read them together!
 Words/sounds: you haven’t become the loud mouth i wondered you might become last month. you can still say “all done” in your own way. you say “dada”, “mamamamama”, “babababa”, and sometimes “hiiiii”.
Memorable moments: one week, i walked into the nursery after Bible study to find you on the couch, asleep, on your tummy. you were so sweet. your piggytails were memorable. we had our first family campfire over at the simpson’s this month; i did your bedtime routine outside and you slept in the stroller. you are beginning to understand and obey when we say “don’t touch” and ask you to “come”. seeing you wear mawmaw’s sweater, and my baby shoes, on Good Friday.

loulou:: 8months.

Age: 8 months
Weight:  18 lbs
Length: 29 inches
Size: 9 months/6-12 months; size 3 diapers
Eyes: blueblueblue
Hair: blonde and getting longer. daddy and i agreed that from now on, you will always have more hair than he does ;-).
Teeth: you cut your second tooth right after you turned 7 months, and both bottom chompers have come in nicely. you are ramping up for more teeth right now, but, i am not sure whether it’s the top teeth or more bottoms.
Nicknames: we call you “flapsie”
Sleeping: you have kept the same sleep schedule this month. you did sleep through the night one night.
Naps: a short morning nap, and an afternoon nap between 2 and 4pm. as of 3 weeks ago, you take your afternoon nap in your sleepsack and crib, independent from mommie. it took a few days for you to adjust.
Eating: you nurse at 6am/9am/1pm/4pm/bedtime, and eat 3oz of rice cereal at 5pm, sometimes mixed w/ sweet potato… you tried avocado mixed w/ breastmilk and seemed to enjoy it. you have also started having cheerios, and had peas one night when i cooked them for supper. and i let you gnaw on apples/carrots/bananas, sometimes, if i can supervise the process. you get very excited about food; you are really enjoying your baby food and i will be doing more in the next month.
Movement: you stand up all the time. you have already begun trying to balance w/o holding onto anything. you are fast at crawling, and you wave! it’s no joke, definitely a conscious effort on your part: you make eye contact w/ a person, and put your hand out like a german salute. the reason we call you “flapsie” is b/c you get so wound up/excited about something, you just flap your arms (and legs if you are being held), as fast as they can go. and they go fast! you are a pincher and a scratcher, but, you mean well.
Milestones: eating cheerios for the first time. first time swinging and sliding!
Outings: beyond typical activities, we spent a beautiful sunny day together in white rock, on the beach, as a family, to celebrate mommie and daddy’s 6^th anniversary. that was a special day.
Favorite toys/activities:  favorite loulou. activities would include anything involving charlottes… you get to play in her room w/ the baby gate up, and the two of you are so fun to listen to on the monitor. you love dancing with me. you also enjoy waking daddy up in the morning.
Words/sounds: you are really into saying “dadadadada” now. you say it in the morning in conversation w/ daddy. you also signal “all done” after meals w/ an “a-da” sound, and if i test you too much not believing you are actually communicating, you become very cross. you have a set of lungs on you and really enjoy hearing yourself squeal. it’s a new hobby.
Memorable moments: changed your diaper the other day, and apparently, you had eaten a sticker. i hope i always remember your darling baby face. and the first time you made the face i refer to as “the eaglet”… it’s a smile so big the muscles between your eyes scrunch up. it’s pretty hilarious.

loulou:: 7months

Louisa-Grey Statistics

Age: 7 months
Weight:  17.5 lbs
Length: 29 inches
Size: 9 months/6-12 months; size 3 diapers
Eyes: sparkly blue; lots of white flecks. you often squint because you smile so big and scrunch up your face.
Hair: blonde and shiny, growing in nicely
Teeth: i took off your amber teething necklace and the only difference is a bit more drool, which i don’t mind. you cut your first tooth this week… you now like feeling your tooth with your tongue. it’s so cute.
Nicknames: i call you lovey quite a bit.
Sleeping: you dropped your 11 o’clock feed!  you sleep 6:30pm-6am, eating at 3am. i like this new schedule.
Naps: basically the same as it’s been. you like to sleep in the car if we go out in the morning. days spent at home, you have a nap between 10 and 11 o’clock. then you nap between 1-3pm, most days.
Eating: we have a good schedule going… you eat at 6am/9am/12pm/2pm/6pm, and eat an ounce+ of rice cereal at 5pm… you had some sweet potato this week, too. i’m super relaxed with you and solids; it took a couple of weeks for you to get the hang of it anyway, but, you like it now!
Movement: feb 10^th, you started crawling. no hesitation, perfect technique. ten days later, you crawled into my bathroom while charlottes. was in the tub, and pulled yourself up to standing to watch her. you love standing up!
Milestones: crawling. standing up. starting solids. cutting your first tooth!
Outings: we went to seattle while daddy was on his 9-day trip. you spent a lot of time in the ergo carrier and loved it because you love to snuggle. you enjoyed a day with charlottes. and me in downtown vancouver as well; i shot some portraits and you slept in the stroller. you are so content.
Favorite toys/activities:  you are fond of the gloworm, now. and you like books when charlottes. is reading; you want to chew them. you notice puppies! i guess it’s in your genetics to be another animal lover. we say you love to “plunder”; plundering is definitely a favorite loulou. activity.
Words/sounds: “bababababa”, “da”, and the past couple of mornings in bed, we have quite enjoyed having you smush your nose onto ours and whisper a lengthy “hiiiiiiiiiiii” to us. it’s hilarious. and, you like smacking your lips, which is cute, and sounds like a kiss (you try giving us kisses, too, actually.).
Memorable moments: seeing your personality emerge has been my favorite part of this past month with you. you are a charmer, and like to tilt your head over and smile at people to get a reaction. you are just incredibly pleased with yourself these days. i love this stage of infancy.

loulou::6months

Louisa-Grey Statistics

Age: 6 months
Weight:  16.5 lbs
Length: 29 inches!
Size: 9 months/6-12 months; size 3 diapers
Eyes: dark/bright blue. sparkly. you follow charlottes. around a room!
Hair: longer, light blonde.
Teeth: teething has continued throughout the month. you wear an amber teething necklace; I don’t know if it helps or not. you haven’t been fussy the past few days, so, I think you have had a break.
Nicknames: for some reason, charlottes. tries to insist on calling you “lou-la”.
Sleeping: we may try some sleep training in the coming weeks…
Naps: you have a nap in the morning, in the car if we are going out, and your afternoon nap at the same time as charlottes.
Eating: you had a couple of mummum’s this month, more because you were teething, but, i’m not really pushing you into solids quite yet. i am sure you will sleep more once i do… on a related note, i have worn spit up for months!! you are definitely spitting up MUCH less. however, you blow out your diaper at least once every day :-/.
Movement: on jan 16, you went up on your hands and knees, fully without help! it blew me away. since then, you have progressed to trying to crawl. you are so motivated to move. you rolled off charlottes.’ bed and my bed at least once each. oops.
Milestones: you started talking!
Outings: you are the perfect little tag-a-long for all the outings we go on.
Favorite toys/activities:  you like anything you can put in your mouth. we borrowed an “exersaucer” from the schuberts and you spend some time in there every day, and love it. you also really enjoy riding along in the ergo carrier.
Words/sounds: you are a gabby bebe.! you squeal and chatter away, babbling “dadadada” all the time.
Memorable moments: so many of my favorite memories involve you laughing at charlottes.~ on the hotel bed when coming home from Christmas in ft. mcmurray, cuddling with charlottes. for a few minutes before mommie settles her for naptime [new routine! i love hearing you two on the monitor.], dancing to “my girl” in the kitchen and you giggling at your sister.

a mental image of you i don’t want to forget is the night we left you with a sitter you don’t stay with often… i forgot to mention you sleep on your tummy. when we returned home, your daddy and i were so giddy at finding you on your back in the crib, with your legs straight up in the air. it was the cutest thing ever, as was seeing you awake so pleasantly and smile right at us. this story is just another example of how good-natured you are.

your daddy and i love you soooo much. we love your quirky qualities, and easy going temperament. this will sound a little superficial, but, sometimes you are more like a pet J.

loulou:: 5 months

 Louisa-Grey Statistics

Age: 5 months
Weight: we neglected to weigh or measure you this month… looking forward to seeing your progress in a few weeks from now!
Length:
Size: a few 3-6 month clothes, mostly 6-12 month clothes.  size 3 diapers
Eyes: dark/bright blue. sparkly. you look for me in a room.
Hair: it sprouted this month! you have the sweetest fuzzy head. your eyelashes are long, too.
Teeth: towards the end of the month, you started teething seriously… drooling, gnawing on your fingers, a bit fussier, and up more in the night.
Nicknames: i don’t think any new nicknames came along this month.
Sleeping: your sleeping habits are becoming more interesting J. you are so easy to put to bed (you seem to want to go to bed for the night, in your cheerful way.); i nurse you and lay you down while you are still awake. you are up and nursing quite a bit in the night, beginning shortly after midnight. i think you are getting a little spoiled by cuddling in bed with mommie.
Naps: you dropped your evening catnap… you have a nap in the morning, and your afternoon nap at the same time as charlottes.
Eating: milk. you spread out your feeds during the day (this may have something to do with all the nighttime eating, though. oh my.). you drink bottles quite well on occasion.
Movement: your grip has improved so much! you roll over both ways! you REALLY want to sit up; it’s so cute to see you laying on your back and straining to sit up. you like playing on with your feet. you like to suck or chew on your index and middle fingers.
Milestones: first Christmas.
Outings: weekly breakfast at “jennifer’s house” with daddy/mommie/charlottes… went to get our Christmas tree, first long road trip to ft. mcmurray, and went for walks in the snow!
Favorite toys/activities:  your barn with soft-yet-noisy animals is your new fave. and, anything that you can teeth with.
Words/sounds: you are chatty sometimes. you laugh more frequently, too.
Memorable moments: introducing you to uncle david, and brand new cousins, breckyn and andrew. just watching you engage with all the family during the holidays was such a pleasure. you are a sweetie.