Briella, you continue to change and grow so much each and every day! We love you so much and enjoy watching you learn and explore and who you're becoming.
You have become quite the little hugger. You love hugging! Your hugs include little back pats, which is so darn cute. :) And towards the end of the month you started giving huge, both arms around the neck hugs! Whenever someone gets you out of your crib, the first thing (well, after the big smile) you do is give a big hug. It melts my heart! Oftentimes, you crawl over to daddy or me while you're playing and give us a hug.
You are standing all the time now holding onto things with your hands. One time you have let go and stood for a couple seconds. With all your moving around and pulling yourself to your feet and walking along furniture, you have experienced a lot of head bonks and lots of bottom falls. But you are pretty tough. You cry for a short bit and then you are up and at it again.
One of your new favorite activities is getting into the kitchen cabinets, making quite a mess! It is fun to watch you learn and explore. I have set up some of the cabinets for you to play in and you are learning which ones those are. Although, you do get quite upset when I prevent you from getting into the others. For the most part though, you stick to the approved cabinets. I figure, it's no different than picking up your toys and it keeps you busy when I need to get things done in the kitchen.
At the beginning of the month, you got into a new routine where you would wake up crying every night around 2:00. I'm not sure why this started, but I'm thinking that your routine gets messed up every time we go out of town. So, for the last bit of the month we didn't go anywhere and you got back to sleeping through the night.
Saying "no" is something else you caught on to quite well. It can be useful at times and defiant at times.
You're voice has become louder, say when you're crying in the night or yelling when you are upset. :) As well, you have developed this cute high-pitched joyful squeal and a funny little grunt/growl.
Communication has gotten a little easier. We haven't really worked on too many signs but you did catch on to the sign for "more". So far, you have only associated it with food even using it out of context just to let us know that you are hungry. That is so helpful! I'm looking forward to you learning more signs so we can communicate even better.
Daddy is teaching you knucks and elbows and thumbs up. It's fun to watch the two of you. :) It appears that you like the elbows part the best.
You have started crying when daddy leaves, which is both sweet and sad.
Looking through and reading books has really caught your interest this past month. Frequently, I find you holding a book and looking at it. And you like to sit in our laps and have us read to you. I love that you love books!
Oh my, you climb the stairs...every chance you get... Amazingly, you are quite good at it, well, the climbing that is. The problem is that you have no idea how dangerous they can be and you like to stop in the middle of the stairs and turn around and sit. Thankfully, our stairs are a bit wider than normal and so you tend to be ok. We have to be very careful and watch you at all times, because you will head straight for the stairs. We are working on going all the way up without stopping.
You have seen me blow on your food when it's hot, so now you have started blowing on (well, towards the direction of) your food. So cute!
We are really enjoying that it is starting to warm up outside! Daddy hung your swing up in the backyard that Grandpa and Grandma brought out last fall. Since you love swinging, you are thrilled with this new toy. We have also gone out to the front yard and played a bit. Since the grass hasn't grown in yet, I let you play on the sidewalk and in the rocks. I think you played in and with the rocks for at least a half an hour. You had a blast.
You had cow milk for the first time and thankfully, you really REALLY like it. :) We haven't weaned you yet and I'm not sure exactly how long I will continue nursing you at night and in the morning, but during the day you now drink milk.
To celebrate your birthday as just our little family (ended up inviting Grandpa Keith, Grandma Karla, Uncle Jeremy, Auntie Crystal and Jayla and Jennalee), we took a trip to the zoo. Your first trip. Seems like you had fun looking at the animals. I'm looking forward to going back to the zoo when you get a little bit older and watching you.
Pictures from Month 13
This is how you eat shredded cheese when you're in a hotel room without a highchair. :)
We went with Ryan to Farmington, New Mexico for a work trip. On the way home we took the scenic route and stopped at Four Corners and Hovenweep National Monument. Made it seem more like a family vacation than just a business trip. :)
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| At Four Corners |
Hovenweep National Monument
At the Zoo
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| With Grandma |
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| New Hogle Zoo hat because momma forgot sunscreen. |
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| With Daddy |
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| Hugging cousin Jennalee |
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| With Grandpa |
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| A rare family picture. :) |
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| She was pretty tired by this time, so there weren't any smiles, but I think she enjoyed the carousel ride. :) |
Playing in the rocks
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| She dug out an old binki (which she hasn't wanted since she was about 2 months old) then climbed up on the first stair and stood up...oh my. |
And She Found the Cabinets...
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| She decided that she didn't want that one sleeve on. Ha ha. |
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| Milk running down her chin. |
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| She looks so big here... |
