Eleven Month Bloopers

Eleven Month Stats

* My parents say that this has been the biggest month of changes in my development!
* I live in Idaho and love having a house, my own room, and a yard to play in.
* I am 23 lbs, 30 inches long (90th percentile for height and weight).
* I am thinning out and am actually wearing out my clothes now. I wear 12-18 month clothes.
* I wear size 4 diapers.
* I am very mobile and crawl, stand, pull myself up, and take steps with your help.
* I now have to wear shoes to practice my skills. I have small feet and am in size 6-9 months when fitted for training shoes.
* My knees, hands, and tops of my feet are always dirty from crawling all over the place;)
* I actually wore off the top of my shoes outside (the soles need to be on the top).
* I have 8 teeth (4 of which I have broken in the last week). They are my 4 top middles, and 4 bottom middles.
* I still love music and now shake my maracas when Dad plays his guitar. I dance and sway to music.
* I love to shop and now wave hello and goodbye to everyone when I feel like it.
* I like to clap my hands for attention and have started doing silly things to make people laugh like making machine gun sounds.
* I love my kitty Bubber and squeal with delight whenever she is around! She lets me pull her tail and fur (still working on petting her gently).
* I am a social butterfly and love to meet new people and play with kids my age! I am not shy at all.
* I say, "Dad, Mom, Nine, Hi (sometimes) and most recently owl (oww-waa)"!
* I am into everything and love to be in the kitchen when mom is cooking. I have my own drawer and open and close it multiple times a day. It has empty boxes, measuring cups, towels, etc and I throw them allover the kitchen.
* I have my own bedroom and have slept in it no problem since my first day in our new place in Idaho. I now sleep 10-11 hours a night, and take 2 naps a day.
* I love food and get to try most anything now. For breakfast I eat buttered whole grain toast and fruit. For lunch and dinner I usually eat whatever my parents are having or a chunky baby food. Recently I tried straight lemon and loved it (despite the occasional pucker ;)
* Some of my new favorite toys are bouncy balls, my pink ball from Grandma, my water play table, and my owl.
* Bad habits: I hate having my diaper changed and squirm and wiggle the whole time! I also like to stand up in the bath tub and it is a constant battle to keep me safe. I have a shoe addiction and will chew on anybody's flip flops. I also love to get into the cat food and water. If you would let me I would eat it. Although my parents are frustrated.....they can not help but laugh.
* I have lots of hair and it just keeps getting thicker (especially the curls in the back)!
* I put my hand over my ear and pretend to talk on the phone ;)
* I recognize my grandparents and friends that live near us. I even reach for them when they come over!
* I am looking forward to my 1st birthday at the end of the month!

Four Teeth in Five Days!

Laken has broken 4 teeth in 5 days! So she has doubled the amount of teeth in her mouth and now has 8 teeth total (4 top middles, and 4 bottom middles). The amazing thing is that who would have known. She has been so sweet and the tooth monster did not show up this time. Could we be any luckier with this kid!?! Here she is eating her special macaroni and cheese (natural, real cheese, low sodium), and today she moved on to the bunny shapes that are even bigger. For breakfast she has upgraded from whole grain cereal (similar to cream of wheat) and fruit to whole grain toast and fruit. Wow what a great job Laken. She had a pediatric apt. yesterday and she was 23 lbs. 30 inches (90th percentile for height and weight). Very healthy and ready to move on to milk instead of formula. Chase and I are the ones not ready for that and are holding out for her 1st birthday;) 11 month pics to come.

Update on Baby Riv!

Breaking News: River and I had our first appointment with our new OB Dr. Urquhart in Lewiston. River's heartbeat was 149 and we just started our last trimester together. Lately little Riv has been extremely active.....waking me up 3 nights in a row! He now stretches out and I can see him poke out in two places on my stomach! As far as the pregnancy goes this time I feel blessed to have no gallbladder pain (knock on wood). It seems that I have traded that in for hip pain this time. I literally limp everywhere because my hips are killing me. Both of my OB's are convinced it is related to having two pregnancies so close together.....it is hard on your joints, bones, and body in general. We discussed preterm labor again and are hoping little Riv can bake at least as long as Laken. It is hard to believe that Laken was born 8 weeks from now in terms of pregnancy length. So we just ordered River's bassinet and swing just in case and are fully prepared for him by the end of August. This weekend I am making my last trip to Spokane to finish up buying the necessities for him. I can not wait to meet him and hold him close!

Social Bee

Laken is quite the social bee now that we are back in Idaho! Our schedules are packed catching up with old friends and all of the summer events. Truly Idaho is the most amazing in summer. My best friend Liz Stark came down from Colville to visit us and family for a few days. The first three pictures are of her kids (Easton 2 1/2, and Aava 8 months). Laken really liked Easton since he is so great with babies having a little sister of his own;) Aava and Laken are only 3 months apart (like Liz and I) and enjoyed the water table again. Laken is really getting to know her Grandma and Grandpa Breen. Here she is with Grandma out to lunch. She now reaches for Grandma whenever she stops by, and mauls Grandpa's hats and glasses right off of his head. Today they closed on their house in Lewiston and we are very excited to have them even closer to us! The last two pictures are of my good friend Amanda Wilhelms daughter Savonni 14 months. Laken and her play really well together and in these pictures Laken is supposed to be in bed, however Savonni is feeding her "lil crunchies" (a baby version of cheese puffs). We've seen many other of our friends, but I need to be better about catching pictures of them all together. I know that someday they will treasure them and have a good laugh!

Summer Splash

We bought Laken a water play table for her birthday. But we just could not stand it any longer and had to give it to her early knowing the pure hours of joy it would give her! So we gave it to her today at almost 11 months old. She waited at the french doors with her face pressed against the glass squeeling with glee as Chase set it up! When I opened the door......she crawled right over to it, pulled herself up with the edge, and went to town playing in just her swim diaper. She loved it and is now fast asleep from all of the excitement!

M.I.A.

We are missing in action....from our blog that is! So much has happened in our lives over the last two weeks and blogging is the last thing on our minds. So until further posts here is the low down.
* We moved back to Idaho for Chase's last clinical rotation. We've moved into a beautiful rental that still seems too good to be true.
* Yes that means we are "Home" for now and hopefully with a little luck there will be a job opening here soon!
* We are very busy still unpacking and visiting friends and family that we have not seen in a long time. Oh how we missed this!
* Laken is sick for the very first time :( It is quite possibly the saddest thing I have ever experienced. Just the other day I was bragging about her amazing immune system and BAM, within the next few day she has a green snotty nose, a goopy eye, and her first diaper rash from diarrhea. Poor little bug is exhausted.
* It still seems surreal to be back and we are treasuring every minute of it!