Snow

Just a quick post and pics (at our rental and that shovel is about 4 ft tall) of our current snow situation....last report was 2 feet in Duluth. I'm posting these pics (including one of sleepy Frannie with her new big girl backpack from her cousin) now so I can compare them to the ones I'll take Friday afternoon after the latest round of snow rolls through in this never ending winter. School was cancelled at 3:50 pm TODAY because of the storm that comes tomorrow. We are now going to have our last day the third week in June. And it's only mid-February.....

I'll be going to school til July I think.....

First Steps

Frannie took her first steps last Saturday! Brian and I were on the floor playing with her and she walked between us. Solid steps too, not like falling forward. Then on Sunday she was in the kitchen (only in a diaper cause the girl is on the move) and she was bear crawling-then stopped, squatted, and popped up to a stand! Oh the expression on her face....a combination of excitement, surprise, and amazement. 

Since then she will only take a couple tentative, falling toward you steps but is loving standing up. Tonight she stood up and started bouncing while saying "ahahahah" like she was dancing. She was so pleased with herself. She also has learned how to turn her walker herself. So if she gets stuck or has to turn a corner, she either backs up or manhandles the walker to the direction she wants it to go. Wow.

And as for the teeth, they are looking much more suitable in her head. And I'm pretty sure there are more on their way soon because after the two week reprieve of no drool, chewing, or ear pulling, she's back at it. 

She is 11 months old on Saturday and I am loving this stage. She is pretty good at telling what she wants and has a great sense of humor. Overall she's really mostly in good spirits. She's quick to smile, loves music and when someone sings to her, babbles constantly, and LOVES sitting and looking at books. Boy we lucked out.

Cartoon Teeth

Well the top two teeth are finally showing themselves and I'm not quite sure what to think. The look enormous in her mouth especially compared to her tiny nubbin bottom teeth. I, of course, can't get a picture of them yet but I'll post it as soon as I do. 

We went to a local "celebrity" concert last night. Frannie had a great time- I'm pretty sure she thought all the people there were for her the way she was talking and yelling. It was so funny watching her clapping about one minute after everyone else was done. She was so in to it that she stayed awake til almost 9! Pretty late for her. Then today we went to watch the start of the Beargrease dog sled race. It was pretty cold so we only stayed to watch 5 teams go by, but Frannie liked seeing all the dogs.

The only other news to report is that her favorite thing to do right now is push her walker doing laps through the house for (not exaggerating) 20 minutes at a time. No joke. She's like the energizer bunny. I even had to lay down and play dead in hopes that she'd stop...she just ran the walker into me until I moved.

Snow Bunny

We had our first family snow hike last weekend. It was finally above freezing and thanks to some awesome boots from her Uncles, Frannie was able to "walk" (with Dad's help) quite a distance. She loved it! Smiles the whole time and even a little playing in the snow.

She has had a growth spurt for sure...she now can reach things she couldn't just a month ago and I had to get rid of a bunch of clothes that don't fit anymore. She says mama, mostly as a comfort sound I think. I'm not too sure she is officially talking to me. She knows the sign for "all done" and uses it. Now we are working on please and thank you. She LOVES climbing stairs. And when you want to be done climbing but she's not ready...oh boy, the girl has got lungs and she's not afraid to tell you she's mad. She's standing for longer periods on her own now and cruises with her push walker and using walls/furniture/whatever to walk where she wants to go. She's eating pretty much whatever we eat. I have been letting her try out using a bowl and spoon. Not so great...in fact tonight she threw the spoon on the floor as soon as she got it, in favor of using her hands. She's pointing to things and will play peekaboo. She also likes the game where she takes her socks off while in her car seat and then laughs.

And the final big news is that those top front teeth have finally broke through! I'm sure it'll be awhile before I can get a pic of them, but they are there!

First Christmas

Three states in one week. That sounds more dramatic than it really was, but true-Frannie and I had Christmas in MN, WI, and IL. And she was in good spirits nearly the entire time which included 8 hours in the car (twice).

We had Christmas as a family at our "house" where Frannie tore into her presents. The tearing of paper was really the best gift of all for her. We had a yummy breakfast of blueberry pancakes. Then we headed to Hayward to see Meemaw and Grampa. The final leg of the journey was the 8 hour drive to Dwight. I give myself a little pat on the back for the planning of that drive-we left around 4:30 so she'd take a short nap, then she and Meemaw played in the back for about two hours and then she fell asleep for the rest of the trip. Thank goodness she slept cause the ten minutes or so that she did cry before falling asleep was about all I was prepared to handle.

Dwight was more family time. Frannie got to bond with Aunt Vic and spent time entertaining Meg, Beth, Glenn, and Val. We didn't get to see Trudi and her crew or the Heinrichs which made the trip feel a little incomplete. We did get to see Ben and Alan for a quick visit. Frannie also made two new friends-McKenna and Elaina, while I got to see my friends, Jenny and Amanda.

Since we've been back I'm not sure what happened but I swear Frannie has grown taller, has added more new "words", is standing on her own for longer periods each day, points at things and talks, and tonight-tried eating with a spoon from a bowl. That was ugly...but she had lots of fun.

9 Months

9 month stats....

Weight - 17lbs 11oz - 41%ile

Height - 28.25 in - 72%ile

Head - 18 cm - 92%ile

At least she's consistent....long and lean with a big head :)

Dr said she looks just perfect. Her "vocabulary" has exploded just recently. She's always been chatty but holy cow does she make the sounds now. Constant chatter of some sort. She loves shopping/going out to eat/the library/any place there's people to watch and talk to. 

She's now doing laps pushing her walker toy on her own and she's into doing her version of yoga...some downward dogs/cobra/plank.....I think she's trying to motivate me....

Brian took her in the snow today since we finally got her snowsuit. She was a bit unsure, so hopefully it will warm up a little again so we can play more. She is very excited about her big girl car seat (thanks to her aunts and uncle) and she'll get to try it out next week as we head to Dwight for Christmas with the fam. Our Christmas here will just be the three of us opening a few gifts and hopefully playing outside if weather allows. 

Thanksgiving

So much happens in three weeks! We celebrated our first Thanksgiving, first Christmas tree hunt, first standing on her own, and first introduction to the world of yummy food all in the last three weeks. Make note-still no new teeth. I've decided they are all going to come in at once the way she chews on stuff. She also either went through or is going through now her 9 month growth spurt. Clothes that fit her last week (I swear) don't fit anymore. We have her 9 month we'll check on Monday so I'll post her stats then. 

Thanksgiving was great! Frannie got to be with not only mom and dad, but meemaw, gramps, and her two favorite uncles Ben and Alan. We had such a nice visit chatting and eating and laughing. She had her first taste of pumpkin pie, cream cheese frosting, quince sauce, and Indian food. Loved it all. We all went on the Christmas tree hunt, which scored us a grown up Charlie Brown tree....so small it fit in the back of the CRV. It's decorated simply and I love it. And the best part is Frannie seems to have no interest in touching it. She's much too busy crawling like a wild girl, chatting, and standing up when at all possible. She stood on her own about a week ago with me and then again today with Brian. Her personality comes out more and more and she laughs all the time now. She's really a happy little girl and she makes us laugh every day. Here are some pics.