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.

8 Months

Frannie is already 8 months old! Crazy. She is so much fun (and funny) and is just really happy. The only thing that brings her down are those damn teeth. She still just has the bottom two and I wouldn't be surprised if there were three that pop on the top anytime. She is not just chewing but raking things across her top gums and she is having a hard time sleeping...even crying out in her sleep :(

She also had her first ear infection. She must actually like the medicine because it hasn't been to awful giving it to her. We all got hammered with a never ending cold and hers led to the ear infection.

She is loving bath time and is a speed machine. She crawls like crazy and is pulling herself up on everything. She just discovered she can stand up in her crib so she stands there and "talks" til I come get her - she's quite proud of herself. She still loves being around people and likes going places to watch (and chat with) others. She's also gut laughing more now finally, which I love. And she will even play games with us...she'll crawl toward this one outlet and I'll yell "Frannie, what do you think you're doing?" And she'll stop, sit, look at me, smile, and then speed crawl to the outlet. She stops just before she gets to it to wait for me to grab her and take her across the room. As soon as I put her down, she's off to do it again. Super cute.

Sick

It's her first real "sick". She's got a terrible little cough and she's teething on top of it. I'm a little worried about an ear infection. Why is it with babies the symptoms of two things are totally the same??! Yet despite it, she is in pretty good spirits. Maybe it's because we are in our 7th living space in 18 months and this apartment is very open and long so she has tons of room to crawl. I think she likes the freedom. She's got an independent streak and is also not afraid to tell you when she's mad. That's really the biggest news and other than that she's growing fast and is standing up all the time on everything. You can see her in all her standing glory below. She also has been more into reading and books lately too. She was on a book boycott but especially when she's tired before bed, she'll sit still and listen to a story. Plus she loves turning the pages and holding it herself.