expressions.

Tell me that is not cute!

She has a new love of making faces at us..and we totally eat it up. I'm pretty sure she knows it too.

First official word.

So as I leave our bedroom today to go get Payton's paci, Layne comes running after me... "BABE! Payton just said her first word!!!" Now Payton is really good about mimicking...something we are going to have to really be careful about now it seems. As she was getting into Layne's guitars, he picked her up and told her 'No No No'.

Her reply?

'NO!'.

That's right. My darling, sweet angel looked right into her daddy's face and flat out told him 'NO'. Clear as day. I kid you not. What proud parents we are. Ha Ha. I know it's not particularly good that she has already learned this word, but I could not stop laughing nonetheless. She sure is a character our little one.

She has babbled 'mama' and 'dada' and even made sounds that sound like 'hi' and 'kitty'. But this is her first word that was "clear as day" and used properly. We are usually pretty good about trying to use other vocabulary to tell her she shouldn't be doing something or to divert her attention. Lately though, she has been so grumpy, clingy, and just plain difficult. Sometimes that is all I have the effort of saying when she is throwing a fit constantly. I usually have A LOT of patience, but when I can't even get something to eat or go pee I am a little disgruntled. I thought this behavior was out of the norm for her and sure enough, as I felt her bottom gum line today I felt a little tooth about to pop through! My daughter is over 9 months old and still has no teeth yet. we're overdue.

I guess I am going to have a baby attached to my hip awhile longer until she feels better. Luckily Layne was home today and we were able to take her to the park for awhile which made for one happy baby {at least for more than 5 minutes! Wahoo!}

First Easter with baby girl.

I know that it's already been almost a week since Easter but with all the sleep I have been lacking and the quality time I've been spending with my family away from the computer, I am finally finding the time to post about it.

I love Easter. I can't believe it's already come and gone. I would love waking up on Sunday mornings to a full Easter basket and hunting down those easter eggs as if it were my job. Being hopped up on marshmallow peeps, chocolate bunnies, and jelly bellies was even better. Obviously I don't do that anymore, but that is what is so great about having a kid. You get to experience those childhood memories all over again, in the eyes of your child.

I still have another year or two for one of those Easters, but I can't wait. Our Easter this year was spent with family and friends. No hunting. No candy. And yet perfectly wonderful.

We went to our friends' family gathering and of course as soon as we get there Payton starts crying hysterically and screaming in ranges only dogs can hear. There were people everywhere and everyone was coming up to greet us. Poor thing was so frightened and overwhelmed. She finally settled down in our arms and carefully watched the kids play and adults converse. We enjoyed company in the midst of some perfect spring weather and basked in the sun while we took Payton to play amongst the other kids.

Layne's best friend, "Uncle Peter"

My little loves kids and babies. She will intently watch their every move, cooing and laughing to herself...completely enamored with them.

And for the cherry on top to the evening - a nice Easter dinner with my family, and me even throwing a frisbee with Layne outside. Good 'ol family fun. Couldn't have asked for a better first Easter with my sweet baby girl. My sister, who is an aspiring photographer took our Easter family portraits so I don't have those yet.

9 month stats.

We took P to the doctor for her 9 month well baby check-up and all is good! She is right on track developmentally. She is still going through some stranger anxiety though, you would have thought the nurse and doctor were ripping her arm off the way she was screaming. If you even look at her the wrong way she freaks. Drama!

Height: 27 and 1/2" - 58th percentile
Weight: 17 lbs. 15 oz. - Between 25th-50th percentile.

She had to get 4 shots on Monday because we had some catching up to do. Ever since then sleeping has been a nightmare, I'm not sure if that is just a coincidence or not.  I have read up a lot on baby sleep patterns and it looks like Payton is going through the dreaded 37 week, or 9 month sleep regression. It usually occurs when they go through some big developmental spurts that you can't see...on top of teething, and some possible separation anxiety that all negatively affect sleep. {Understatement of the century!}

Normally, she goes to sleep around 7:30 PM and wakes up at 6:30-7 AM, with 1-2 night-wakings. The past few days though she has kept mommy up for hours in the middle of the night. The worst was 2 nights ago when I was up until midnight getting her to try and sleep longer than 10 minutes, and then up from 3:50-5:30 AM. Fun right? She doesn't believe me when I tell her I need sleep.

I can't be up partying with you all night little girl.

Oy, Bring on the coffee!

Happy 9 months!

My little girl is 9 months old today! Wow. 9 months old. So much has changed in that short amount of time. With her, with us, with our lives. Everyday our hearts grow with love even more, if that is even possible. When she was a newborn it was hard to picture 9 months, now I can't picture anything but my laughing, smiling, crawling -but wants to run - sweetheart of a child. She is not a little baby, nor a toddler. She is in-between. She is the best part of each. And the best part of our life. 

She is standing tall, crawling fast, and walking if she can hold on to something. She can stand on her own for a short period of time because she has balance and strength. And when she falls, she gets right back up again because she is determined. We are a little behind in the teeth department and still don't have any, but that's okay because I don't particularly like teeth marks on my skin. 

The girl is a born to be foodie. I was blessed with a non-picky eater and I pray it stays that way. She currently eats 3 meals a day of solids, and loves to snack on cheerios, fruit, and whole wheat bread. She is just now starting to sleep good at night and I probably just jinxed it. She has only been waking 1-2 times and will sleep the rest of the night through. Yes, I still rock her to sleep at night and in the middle of the night feedings, but she can put herself back to sleep with her paci if she wakes up. She takes a morning nap and an afternoon nap, both usually over an hour long. 

She is the happiest baby I've ever seen. She is ALWAYS smiling, laughing, and talking in her secret baby language; And my day is complete when I can get a big 'ol belly laugh out of her. 

Now that she is mobile and exploring her environment, we are experiencing lots of bumps and bruises. No fun! She can say "mama", "dada", and I swear she says "kitty." And speaking of kitties...she's obsessed. She is definitely our child.  

She loves to wave at everybody. Even the wall.

 I secretely love when she's tired because that is our snuggle time. After naps she likes to just lay on our chests, and those are the moments I love. She gets into every. little. thing. because that's her job now. I have recently just discovered that she likes to 'sway' back and forth to music, her form of dancing. Girlfriend can move to a beat. And she has the brightest, sweetest personality. However, she is very impatient (gets it from her dad) and very sensitive (gets it from her mom). Her hair is a golden light auburn brown, and her eyes are a grayish blue with specks of green and brown. As you can tell I'm still guessing on the eye color. 

Happy 9 months Paytie Pie!