Scout These Days

Today Scout is 16-months. As such, I thought I'd share some notable tid bits about this sweet girl.

FAVORITES
Favorite possessions: blanky and "Elephanté" (reserved exclusively for nap and bedtime)

Favorite toy: Mom's cell phone
Favorite word: Dad and Daddy
Favorite parent: Mom :)
Favorite food: turkey cold cuts, mandarins & red grapes
Favorite treat: Popsicle (sugar-free of course)
Favorite book: Peek-a-Moo
Favorite thing to watch: Baby Genius Nursery Rhymes
Favorite thing to do: Get chased around the house and tickled while diving into things and laughing hysterically
Favorite cheer-up/distraction song: Itsy Bitsy Spider, If You're Happy and You Know It, & Head-Shoulders-Knees-and-Toes

FIRSTS
First step: Dec 10th
First "climb": Dec 15th (You climbed on top of a diaper box.)
First ponytail: Dec 30th

First hair trim, by Mom: Dec 30th (I had to do something about that baby mullet, but it was a little frightening chasing you around the room with scissors. I just did the back.)

First pair of kicks: Jan 3

First official play date: Feb 12th (Your nice Aunt Tiffany provided finger painting and sugar cookie decorating, but you slept through most of it.)

First professional haircut (which necessitated first lollipop): Feb 15th

STATS
Weight: 18.3 lbs (15%)
Height: 30.5" (50%)
Head: I can't remember, but tiny... and oh so cute! :)

You've brought us joy and laughter every day of your life, and we can't wait to continue to watch you grow and learn.

12 months

We made it! It took a bit of work orchestrating these monthly shots, but now I can finally say it was totally worth it! I just love seeing how much she's changed. As parents, of course, we've always been biased about her cuteness factor, but I swear she just keeps getting cuter!

I do have to apologize now though to our subsequent children who will most likely...no, most definitely, not have as many pictures. Sorry, just one of the perks of being the first.

You can see this pretty clearly in her twelve month collage below, but Scout has definitely gone from short and chubby to long and lean. Apparently, we're going to have to start feeding her cheeseburgers. Check out her measurements from her 12-mo wellness visit in comparison to her 9-mo visit below. At 3-months, she was 70% in weight and 10% in height. :)

AT HER 12-MO APPOINTMENT: 

Weight: 18lbs 5oz (30%)

Height: 29 ½" (70%)

Head Circumference: 43.25  (15-20%)

AT HER 9-MO APPOINTMENT:   

Weight: 18lbs 10oz (65%)

Height: 27 ½" (50%)

Head Circumference: 42 ½ (25%)

First set - Months 1 thru 12

Second set.
Because I'm indecisive.

11 Months

Your first word was "mama". You actually started saying it a couple of months ago. Your dad's not entirely convinced you know what you're saying, but he's just silly and jealous.

You still lick things...mostly cool things like the wood floor, chrome, leather, porcelain (yes, porcelain. ie. toilets). You're still very happy and easy going. You can also be mischievous. We have to keep a close eye on you because we never know what you might be putting in your mouth or getting into. As soon as we open a door to a room that's off-limits (ie. pantry or bathroom), you immediately come crawling full speed to try and weasel your way in. You find great joy in biting your dad's finger and watching him squirm.

We had a few sad nights when you woke up hysterically crying and there was nothing we could do to calm you. This was strange because you've been a 12+ hour sleeper for several months now. After doing some browsing, we think it may have been night terrors...which is so hard because you get so upset and we feel so helpless. Fortunately, it only lasted 3 nights.

You love your baths, you love to play, and you seem happiest when we're out in the fresh air on our lovely walks.

You love sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, rice, greek yogurt, and Gerber cookies. You like bananas, whole wheat bread, turkey, cheese, and pureed apples & pears.

You can pull yourself up and stand when you have support. You can clap, wave, give wet kisses, and you're working on your high fives/hand hugs.

Lots of things make you laugh - peek-a-boo, tickles, raspberries, being tossed in the air, nuzzles, funny noises & sometimes absolutely nothing at all. (Listen to sound bite below)

Holy moly, those eyes.

This expression is sort of fantastic.
Now that the weather is cooler, you get to wear your fleece footies,
and you're even more snugly than usual! I think we'll just wear these everyday until spring.

Beware: this picture is not for the faint of heart. 99% sure that that is a bug's leg on her tongue. Protein?

Scout's new thing: She randomly breaks out in this great laugh/cackle.
It's hilarious. Listen to sample below.

10 Months

I'm not sure how we've arrived at 10 months, but this parenthood stuff is pretty rad.

Scout is definitely still living up to her nickname, "Scouterific"! She's so much fun and so happy. She's not walking yet, but we're ok with that. She's an army crawling machine though, and she's pretty darn fast when she wants to be. She's always pointing her toes which is absolutely adorable but could pose a problem for the whole standing/walking thing. I'm starting to think she might just do a pirouette before she takes her first step.

P.S. If you haven't noticed, we're digging the whole Rosie the riveter headband thing these days. :)

8 Months

8 months and already keeping us on our toes. She can't crawl yet*, but the girl can ROLL... from one side of the room to the other if she sees something she likes. She also loves to lick everything. Hardwood floors, my watch, my yoga mat, Daddy's glasses, etc.

She's doing ok with her baby food but still just a few bites a day. We've tried to introduce tiny bites of "people food"...banana, yogurt, grapes, but she tends to gag as soon as they hit her tongue. I'm sure it's just a matter of time. Especially since this baby already has a mouth full of teeth. I think she's got about 7 that have broken through now! (4 on top and 3 on bottom). She's probably sprouting more as we speak.

*Update: this post is about 1 week late, and over the past few days Scout has graduated from just rolling to an adorable caterpillar scrunch/army crawl.

7 months

It's hard to believe that Scout's really 7 months now. Eric and I can't decide if the time has gone fast or slow, but it's gone nonetheless. Even though time continues to slip away, Scout continues to make us feel younger. I've noticed that Eric and I are smiling and laughing a lot more these days, and it's all thanks to this little goofball.

She still sleeps through the night (from about 7pm-7am), and she's been on solids for a month now...we're lucky if she eats a few bites a day. She doesn't love any of it, but she seems to tolerate the carrots best. We selfishly still feed her the peaches purely for the entertainment value. Her reaction is similar to how we might respond to chomping into a lemon, only much cuter. She can finally roll over both ways now...just a few days ago, it was only back to front which meant she would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night in a fuss until we flipped her back to her back.

Because of Eric's work schedule, he doesn't always get to see much of Scout during the weekdays so he likes to steal a few late-night snuggles before he goes to bed. She's always wide awake with a huge grin when he walks in, but then she goes right back to sleep when he leaves.

The other day I read a blog post entitled, "Motherhood: Easier Than I Thought" (or "Better than What They Tell You"). I found myself relating to a good portion of the post and feeling guilty for it because I realize that it's not so easy for many first-time moms (and certainly not for moms with multiple children). There are a lot of factors that come into play - several of which, I know nothing about due to the fact that Scout was adopted. Factors like: recovering from labor, recovering from 9 MONTHS of pregnancy, hormones, weight gain, postpartum, exhaustion/frustration/pain from breastfeeding, etc, etc. I also know new moms with colicky babies...babies with allergies...babies who throw everything up...babies who don't sleep...babies with special needs, etc. I really am aware of how fortunate we are that Scout's been so easy on us. I'm sure the terrible twos will hit us twice as hard, and if not the toddler years, then we'll probably have a spicy pre-teen/teen on our hands. But, for now, I'm just going to enjoy this sweet stage while I can. :)

For Memorial Day, we visited the cemetery in Emmett where some of my family members were buried, including my dad. This was our first time taking Scout.

She loves Dad's schnoz. 

So sweet.

She may be an easy baby, but she still has her moments. :)

Baby Showers!

Ok, this blog post is so very late (only 8 months), but I wanted to do it anyway...because it was too good not to document.

Back in September, my family threw the sweetest baby shower.

SIL Robbie & her best friend Kim who we LOVE (she's the one who knit 2 hats and a blankie for Scout in a day)

Tiffany, SIL & master party planner

The ladies of the family

Nieces Hanna, Talia holding Finley, Faith, Emma (not related) & Cami (only missing Clare & Ella and, of course, Scout)

The incredibly generous "loot".

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In December, the YW spoiled me with a 2nd baby shower.

Wise YW sharing their advice.