A day at the Zoo

Well..Bailey had her first experience with the Atlanta Zoo, and what a wonderful experience it was. Bailey had so much fin watching the animals move around, and eat, and jump, etc. She watched in amazement at each different animal. She loved the gorillas..they moved a lot, an d she really liked the birds because they never stopped! We stopped in the petting zoo, and she had no fears about petting the sheep, goats, and even the pigs. We stayed at the zoo all morning, and into the afternoon. Needless to say, as soon as she got into the car, it was lights out for Bailey..she slept the whole way home, and then slept the whole night long!! We will definitely go back to the zoo again!

Bailey's 1st Snow Day, trying to feed herself,and cupcakes...

So..as we all know it SNOWED in Georgia! We had so much fun taking Bailey out into the snow. I was so proud that she kept her hat and gloves on the whole time we were outside. She ran around, tried to touch the snow, ate some, but most of all she just loved being outside. I posted some cute pics and videos of her playing. Bailey's grandmother (Caki) also came over to play--there is a really cute video of Bailey running to her. She also played in Caki's boots when we came in the house to warm up!

We are also trying to teach Bailey how to feed herself with a spoon..I have included a sequence of pictures of Bailey with her applesauce..she ended up turning the bowl upside down!

Bailey is learning so much at school..she has learned the motions to "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". I finally caught her in a picture with her hands above her head signifying "out came the sun"....it cracks me up tp see her making the motions...

Running, Swinging, and Having Fun!

Well It has been a month, and my how Bailey has improved with her walking! She is now running everywhere she goes. There is rarely any crawling..I think that sh figured out that running can get her where she is going much faster! She is so fun to watch.

The past month has been a sick month for us. All three of us came down with the stomach flu..ugh! Not much fun trying to anticipate a 13 month old getting sick! Bailey has been to

the doctor more times than I want to think about..between ear infections, pink eye, sinus infection, cough, and runny nose the doc has made a mint off of us. Bailey cant seem to get over her ear infections. We had 3 rounds or oral antibiotics..all of which slightly cleared up the ear infection. After the 3rd round her poor little ear was still infected..we had to get her injection antibiotics. She got two shots for 3 days on a row..this kicked the pink eye, sinus, and ear

infections right out of her system..oh for about 2 days! She now has another ear infection, and now we are on the 4th antibiotic. We are in a waiting pattern to see if this clears up. If it doesnt clear, or if she gets one more ear infection within a month, then she will be referred to the ENT, and she will get tubes. This is a very common operation, and if she does have to have them, then it should be the cure to the infections. Keep her in your prayers..we hope she can get better, and stay better!

Bailey is also transitioning into the next class at her school. She loves playing with the bigger kids, and playing out side really tires her out! She was so tired the other night that she went to bed about 6:15, and woke up at 7:15 the next morning! Crazy!

We have also started trying to give Bailey a spoon to try to feed herself..she is actually starting to grasp the concept. She does well with applesauce and spaghetti....surprisingly it is not terribly messy!

During the nice weather we had last week we took Bailey to the swings several times, and she had so much fun. She is very content to swing for a long time. She laughs the higher she goes.

At school Bailey is learning so many new things..she has learned he hand motions to the Itsy Bitsy Spider..she is especially cute when she puts her hands oer her head to simulate "out came the sun". She also claps her hands and dances when we sing any song to her...she loves music!

I Can Walk!

Well..she can finally do it!! Bailey can walk! It is just amazing that she has gone from taking 10 steps, to trying to walk everywhere. The walking is still wobbly to say the least, but I have to give Bailey credit..she tries to walk 100% of the time. Sometimes she takes 3-4 steps, other times its 10-15, but she always tries. Although, she usually ends up crawling if she doesn't make it to her destination without falling. I was able to catch some on video, and have attached it. I know she will be walking like a champ in no time!

After months of teething, Bailey has also FINALLY cut her two top teeth! Hopefully this will make chomping on all of her big girl food a little bit easier. She is transitioning to table food nicely. I have learned a lot about the textures that she likes and dislikes. She loves bananas, and I am not talking about cut up bananas into nice small pieces...I am talking the whole banana. I will cut the banana lengthwise, and she loves it!! She can hold it in her hand, and eat it up! She also loves spaghetti, lasagna, and fettuccini alfredo...takes after her Momma with the love for Italian food!! I have attached some pictures of Spaghetti face, and a video of her eating some bananas.

Bailey also started daycare last week, and has really done very well with the transition. There have been a few challenges..morning drop offs are hard, but after she gets situated she does really well. I have attached a few pictures of her first day..you'll notice that she really likes to climb on the foam toy!! Hopefully she will continue to enjoy her day with her new friends!!

Lastly..we went to the doctor today to have Bailey's ears checked, and right now she is free of her ear infection. The big news though is that she has been approved to move into her new carseat, and face the front!! Yeah!!

Catching up from the Holidays...

Well..what a whirlwind of a few weeks for us. We celebrated Bailey's 1st Birthday on December 23rd! I cannot believe how this year has flown...my tiny 5 lb 13 oz baby girl is now 19.6 lbs (25th percentile) and 29 3/4 inches long (75th percentile). She is babbling all the time..she can say Mama, Dada, NanNan, Cup, Up, Dog, and That. She says "that" a lot!! It is really cute to see her pointing at things saying "that"..she has the sweetest little voice..we feel so lucky every day! She is standing really well

on her own, and venturing her first steps..she has been able to take 2 or 3 for the past few weeks, but just hasn't had enough courage to take more until Friday night..she took 10 steps on her own.....walking here we come! She loves to push her walk behind toys all over the house. She also climbs stairs like a champ..we have to make sure we have the gates up at all times now!! On a different note..we always knew that Bailey liked music, but now she has decided that she likes dancing to the music as well....every time anything with a beat comes on she gets a huge smile, and starts dancing..we love it! She gets so proud of herself...we can help laughing!

Our Birthday Girl....we had a small family birthday get together on Bailey's actual birthday. We gave Bailey her first little cake..and she HATED it!! She wanted nothing to do with it. She did, however, really like opening packages, and ripping the paper!! We had her Birthday party on The 28th, and had fun with lots of friends and family! She had a great time, but was completely wiped out when the fun was over!

Christmas.....Bailey had a great 2nd Christmas..she got so many fun and beautiful things. I have no doubt that she will be stimulated for months with all the new toys that she got. Good for Mommy and Daddy!!

December did bring our first real illness. Bailey had a 102+ fever for over a week..we were in and out of the doc 4 times, and even to urgent care. Turns out that it was just a bad virus that eventually manifested into an ear infection..yuck! After 2 rounds of antibiotics I hope that it is finally gone..we go back in on the 13th for a check up. She is also cutting her top teeth so that has just added to it..we can see them now..so hopefully that will be over for her soon!

Our last bit of big new is that Bailey is starting her new school on Monday. I think that this will be a way bigger adjustment for Mommy than it will be for her. I think that she is going to have a lot of fun playing with the other children...I know she will learn a lot. I just pray that my heart can make the adjustment..I will really miss having her with me every day....

More to come later~

Here comes Santa Claus....

Well we went for our First visit with Santa, and came to find out that Bailey does not like Santa!! We went on Friday for some pictures, and got some really cute ones of Bailey in a chair with Santa behind her. When Santa came to sit on the chair, and have Bailey in his lap she cried and cried and cried!! So, our first Professional pictures of Bailey with Santa will be with Santa behind Bailey..we should get those back in a week or so. Today we had Santa and Mrs. Claus visit our neighborhood...we tried again, and had the same

result...cry cry cry!! Ron and I had to visit Santa with Bailey to prevent her from crying. I have posted some cute pictures...check out the new earrings!!

Bailey got her ears Pierced!

Well its been awhile since I wrote last, and boy have a lot of things happened. We celebrated Bailey's 1st Thanksgiving this year, and although she will probably not remember it at all I think she had a good time. She really likes white rice, and liked gravy, but that was about it when it came to table food...she still really prefers her baby food! Bailey got to play all day with all of us, her cousins, and her Grandparents dog, Lily..she seems to really like Lily! After dinner Bailey and I took a long nap together..it was just what the doctor ordered!

We also got to play with our friend Grant just before Thanksgiving! Grant is 6 months older than Bailey so he could show her a lot of new tricks! They had a lot of fun, and We had a lot of fun visiting with Grant's Mommy and Daddy!

Our biggest change in the last month is that Bailey got her ears pierced! She did great, and only cried for a minute or two. I really struggled with this decision, but thought that if I did it now that she probably would not remember it at all..I thought that might be best as I remember when I got mine done, and it was a traumatizing experience! She has small gold studs, and they look so cute. I have yet to snap a picture of them, but will post one as soon as I do!

As far as her mobility..no walking yet!! She is cruising all over the place, and will move one foot forward, and then down she goes! She has not worked up enough courage to take off and go...but I am sure it will be any day now! She is babbling like crazy! She is making a lot of identifying sounds, and although they might not make sense to us..she sure knows what she is saying. We know for sure that she says mama and dada. We are pretty sure she can say ball or at least a very early form of it, and "woof" when she looks at a dog. She babbles all the time...soo cute!

Bailey also got to meet her Uncle Randy for the first time! It was great to see my brother, and so cool for him to meet his niece!

Also--if you notice Bailey has a big bruise on her face in some of these pictures...this is her first real injury! She fell and hit the side of her face on the running board of our bed! I have never been so scared, and have never heard a cry like that before.... I know that babies will all get hurt eventually..I just hope it doesn't happen again to her for a very long time!

Next time I write will be for her 1st Birthday..my how this year has flown!