Leah Kate update: 12 months

I can't believe Leah Kate is ONE!!! This year has gone by so fast, and I am thankful for each second with this sweet girl. Thinking back about this year makes me realize how blessed we are to have such a happy, easy baby. Leah is always smiling and wanting to play. She stays on a pretty good schedule and sleeps really well. I know all babies are not like this, so I am definitely not taking for granted! 

Leah began walking independently this month! She takes several steps before grabbing onto furniture or sitting down. She is all over the place! She also loves to feed herself, and she is trying a lot of different finger foods. Leah Kate's new favorites are pieces of biscuits or bagel, peaches and mandarin oranges, and broccoli. She is beginning to use a fork and spoon to pick up food, but this often results in a huge mess! 

Leah's vocabulary is also growing! It seems like she says a new word every few days! She now says "down, hair, home, ball, and go." I am thrilled that she finally asks for me by saying "mama" instead of calling me "dada!" Leah still weighs 23 pounds and is now 30 inches tall, and she has 8 teeth! 

We had such a great time at Leah's 1st birthday party! We are so thankful for our family and friends that made it such a fun day. It was bittersweet because it was the last party we had at our house in Auburn before moving (more to come in another blog post). Leah did great and had fun eating her cake. She LOVED the attention from everyone! Here are some pictures from her special day!!

Leah Kate: 11 month update

Leah Kate is doing a lot of the same things as last month, but the main thing I have noticed is how much she has slimmed up. All of that moving around and pulling up has made her lose some of her baby weight :( She is getting taller and still weighs 23 pounds. It has been nice that she has been able to wear her current clothes longer than just a few weeks! She has FOUR teeth coming in on the top which has been fun... Not! She actually has done pretty well with it considering how bad that probably hurts. She had her first little illness this month with pink eye. She looked so pitiful! Thankfully she got better quickly after starting eye drops. She now gives us hugs without us asking for one, and it makes our day!!

Leah Kate has loved her walker that MiMi (my mom) got her! She will make laps around the living room with it! She still isn't walking independently yet, but is definitely getting closer! Grandma Dorothy (Jeremy's mom) got her some pots and pans to go with her new play kitchen which she LOVES. I was hoping with a kitchen of her own, she may not want my pots as often!

She really enjoyed going to the beach this month with my family. She wasn't as scared of the sand and water as she was the first time we went. Leah loved having a new place to explore! I can tell we have been saying "no" a lot since she can get into our things now. She will look at something she shouldn't have and say "no, no!" She will then proceed to try and get it anyway... It sounds so cute when she says it, but we are trying to be more conscious of when we say it! She also started saying "door" and "wow" this month!  Well, I think that is about it! Can't believe I am planning her birthday party for next month... The fact she will be turning one blows my mind!

Leah Kate: 10 month update

If I had to describe this month in one sentence, it would be "Baby on the move!" A few days after she turned nine months, Leah Kate began crawling! Of course it was for Jeremy's IPad! Since then she has been crawling and cruising EVERYWHERE!! I am constantly chasing her these days. She can pull up on furniture and cabinets. She now loves to open the kitchen cabinets and play with my pots and pans. Leah Kate's balance is improving a lot and she can stand for a few seconds when we let go of her. I wouldn't be surprised if she starts walking in the next few weeks! 

Leah's comprehension and communication is also expanding quickly! I love to see her understand something for the first time! She now says "wa-wa" when I say "bath" or she sees her cup. She will say "woof woof" and point to the back yard when I say our dogs name. This past weekend she got really good at saying "uh oh" when something falls down. She now thinks it is so fun to drop her bottle and say "uh oh".... I am waiting for the day that she looks right at me and says "ma ma". She will say it when she is babbling, but I am not giving her credit for it yet :) haha 

This month Leah started a Kindermusic Class for babies. They listen to music and play with different instruments. Of course she LOVES it! I really love to watch her interact with the other kids and enjoy the music. I am hoping she gets her dad's musical talent- not mine!! She always gets so excited when she sees other children and wants to play with them immediately. I am so thankful she is a happy, sweet little girl already! I pray for her to continue to have such a sweet, loving spirit as she grows up. One of my favorite things that she has started to do this month is giving hugs and kisses. She will just hug me for a few minutes when she wakes up which makes this mommy's heart so happy! Well, this seems longer than some of my other posts, but this month has been full of new developments! 

Studying her instrument at music class!

Playing in her ball pit!

Leah Kate: 9 month update

This month Jeremy and I went to Disney World for a week with some of our good friends, Daniel and Tabitha. Leah Kate had a fun time with both sets of grandparents while we were gone! I think we missed her a lot more than she missed us! She was doing so many new things when we got back! Her fine motor skills are improving a lot. She is now able to pick up small pieces of food and put them in her mouth by herself. The cutest thing that she does is say "yum" when she is eating or sees food. She loves waving at people when they walk by, and she will sometimes imitate us saying "hey." She now notices small specs and parts of toys and will point to them. She isn't crawling yet, but she is scooting all over the place! She doesn't just sit in one spot anymore! I am in the process of baby proofing the house!! Her favorite thing these days is to stand up by herself while holding on to something. We love to watch her start dancing when she hears music. Hopefully she will have some of Jeremy's musical talent!

She is getting into everything!!!

She loved her first time at the park!

Leah Kate: 8 month update

I don't really know where to begin for this months post... I am two weeks late writing this even though I took Leah Kate's picture weeks ago. I write this update with a heavy heart because the day I took these pictures was the day that my sweet Granddaddy Moore passed away. We took these pictures right before we left for Andalusia since he had not been doing well. I found out when I arrived that he passed away around 11 o'clock that morning. I am so thankful for the 26 years that I have gotten to spend with him, and even more thankful for the eight months that Leah Kate was able to bring him joy through his pain. I am sad that I won't be able to text him the link for this update (he was a high tech granddaddy!). He loved getting pictures of Leah Kate, and he showed them off to everyone! I am going to miss him so much, but I am thankful that he is in heaven and seeing Jesus face to face. Here are two of my favorite pictures of Leah Kate with Granddaddy. 

On a happier note, Leah Kate is learning all kinds of new things! My Speech Pathologist self is LOVING that she is imitating signs for "more" and "all done". She is babbling all of the time, and she imitates "hey", "bye bye", and "da da". Leah Kate intently studies the toys that she plays with, and she loves touching the different textures. She is trying to scoot all over the floor, and she is getting super close to crawling. She is so squirmy and loves to move around- which is why these picture are so blurry! Leah Kate's first tooth came in! She is still loving to eat her solid foods for three of her meals. She is also able to chew up the little yogurt melts. She has trouble picking them up and putting in her mouth, but she is getting close! We also had her baby dedication this month at Lakeview Baptist Church! It is hard to believe that Cliff Knight married us five years ago, and now he was doing her baby dedication! I am so thankful for our family and friends that came to support us! 

Leah Kate: 7 month update

This month has been filled with so many new things! I am amazed at how fast Leah Kate is changing. She is now sitting up and reaching for things without any support. This development has revolutionized my ability to go grocery shopping! Having her sit in the front of the cart is so much easier than having to put her whole car seat in the cart! This month has been so much fun because we got to take her to the beach for the first time! She HATED the sand and the ocean, but she had fun playing on a blanket under the umbrella :) Leah Kate loves the pool though! It is so nice to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Leah Kate's communication is also increasing. She babbles using different sounds all of the time, and she will respond to her name. Her new favorite thing is clapping her hands! She looks so inquisitive when she is learning something new. I love it! 

I am late with her update this month because she has been sick with strep throat :( She looked too pitiful to take her picture for a few days. This is the first time she has been this sick, but she has been a trooper! I hate to see her not feeling well, but thankfully she is now back to her normal, happy self!