Lainey 11 Months

Our little Lainey bear is so close to 1 year! It has been forever but yet not long at all. You are such a sweet little babe. You learned to clap this month, and you can now officially drink from a straw sippy cup. You are very curious about everything. You reflux is pretty much gone, and no meds. That is a HUGE praise. You still spit up a tiny bit every now and then but otherwise it is just not an issue. You don't even mind tummy time anymore. You roll to your tummy a lot now. You are very smiley at home, and even sometimes to strangers which is new. You also started babbling this month! We have heard a variety of different consonant sounds although no words.

Size: According to our scale at home you are a little over 18lbs. You wear mostly 9 -12 month clothing and size 3 diaper.

Likes: You are a very happy baby. You love grabbing everything and putting it in your mouth, especially receipts. You like to be included in everything and you love being out and about. You like baths and splashing all around. You laugh when we tickle you and when we act silly with you.

Dislikes: The past month or two you have started getting fussy when we leave the room or don't pick you up. You don't fuss yet when we hand you off to go in childcare though. You also get really upset when we take things away from you (again, receipts, small parts, etc) and start crying dramatically.

Working on: You are working on getting up on all fours and going from laying to sitting. You are making progress at both but still need help.

Eating: You take 4 bottles a day (7 oz each), and baby food a couple times a day. You are eating more baby food this month. You still refuse/gag on anything besides purees. You don't even like vegetable purees anymore. WHAT? Peas were your first love! So now I have to mix the veggies with the fruits.

Sleeping: You are a great sleeper. You go down between 7:30 - 8pm and fall right asleep on your own. You wake up around 6:30am. Sometimes you wake up around 5am and we give you the paci and you go back to sleep. You take 2 naps a day. It is just crazy that we never ever rock you to sleep. Nice that you are so easy but also kind of sad to miss out on those sweet cuddles. You don't really like to be rocked - you are restless and just want to go in your crib.

We love you so much sweet baby bear! Happy 11 months!

Adventures in San Diego

We just got back from a really fun vacation in San Diego. This was Lainey's first time to fly. She was 10 months (turned 11 on the trip), and Cambry was also 10 months when she first flew to Asheville. It is such a great age to travel. Both girls were so good throughout the vacation. Although when traveling with kids everything seems to take so much longer. We were joking that there are just 10 easy steps to get there - 1) spend 14 hours packing, 2) drive to parking place, 3) uninstall car seats, 4) get on parking shuttle to airport, 5) navigate a double stroller with 2 kids and 2 car seats and 2 suitcases and other items through airport, 6) keep kids occupied on plane, 7) navigate through next airport, 8) take shuttle to rental car, 9) re-install car seats, 10) drive to hotel, WHEW! The only way to eliminate some of those steps is to have your own plane. We plan to do that next time.

The first day we walked around La Jolla and enjoyed the view of the pretty beaches. We saw the seals laying on the beach and stopped and had a little gelato.

The next day we rented hiking backpack carriers and hiked around Torrey Pines Reserve. It was very scenic and nice weather. Cambry wanted to play hide and seek the whole time so one of us would run up ahead and hide behind some trees. It never got old. Lainey was as happy as can be the whole time. At the end of the hike Cambry fell asleep on Greg's back. They woke up at 5am (hello time change!) so you can't blame her.

We came back to the hotel to let Lainey nap and then that afternoon walked around Balboa Park. It is a nice place to walk around with pretty gardens and museums, a carousel and train ride for the kids and other fun sites.

The next day we hit up Disneyland! It was a little less than an hour and a half away from San Diego. It was so much fun. Cambry had a blast and I'm sure as she gets older this would be something she would enjoy more and more. We rode lots of rides, went through Minnie's and Mickey's houses and met them, saw parts of the parade, and did a ton of walking. Everything is so elaborate and detailed and the whole area is immaculate.

The next day we went to the zoo. Cambry enjoyed it, but not as much as Disney. Actually she asked if we could go back to the hotel and play hide and seek. We were all - but look at the cool animals! She was not that interested. Lainey was getting a bit of an attitude about being in the stroller so much. She wanted to be held or put the in the Bjorn so we did that most of the time and she was one happy girl.

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That evening we got cleaned up and went to eat Mexican food in Old Town. It was a cute little area with lots of shops and dining. 

On our last day before we headed out to the airport we walked around Seaside village and then drove over the bridge to Coronado island. There was a really nice park there that we stopped at for a while. 

The weather was great the whole time, and everything was so beautiful. All the trees and the landscaping and the ocean and cliffs and HILLS. It is so different driving around with hills. We enjoyed our vacation so much. I would definitiely recommend San Diego as a family friendly vacation spot. Now I'm ready to start planning the next one!

Sisters

Nothing new going on lately. Just hanging out enjoying my days with these 2. Divine Design just started up again and I am so glad! The girls have fun in childcare while I get to hang out with other mommies and learn a lot. Greg was in Africa for a week for work recently and I survived - yay! The girls had fevers and one of them no longer thinks she needs naps so things were a little TENSE by the end of the day. But he is back now! Lainey is doing good in therapy and making progress bit by bit. I tried out ModCloth for the first time recently. I bought a shirt and scarf and liked them both. It is just too hard to shop with 2 littles so ordering online is so much easier. I am so excited that it is fall. It still feels like summer and maybe its a little too early to bust out with the boots, but it will be here before you know it! I posted a guide to Houston Area Pumpkin Patches and I can't wait to go!