McKenna's 9 Months Old!

So it's almost official, McKenna's almost been on the outside longer than she was on the inside. Tomorrow we are headed back to the doctor's office for the first time in three months for a checkup... I have a feeling she's going to be near the 100th percentile for everything, she seem huge to me. I guess it's possible that I have a skewed perspective, since we were able to meet Daniel Hendricks (who seemed like a miniature person) , McKenna's newest in a series of new friends:
It's so fun to us that our friends are all having kids so that they can grow up together. There will be many more new babies this year (at the time of this post, there are at least 4 'cookin'). We can't hardly wait! Let the exponential growth continue!

Ok, here's McKenna's 9 month update: She's going to crawl soon, really soon, much to my chagrin. My days of sitting her on the floor with a pile of toys to entertain her are almost over. She's already learning the meaning of the word "NO!" and I'm entirely certain she understands what it means. Everything still goes into her mouth... her hands, my hands, the hands of strangers, and most recently, the knee of my jeans while I was still wearing them.

Still no sign of the word "ma-ma" in her vocabulary, although I've heard her say 'ma,' (maybe it was 'muh') so either she's punishing me for telling her no, or she things it's funny to be withholding. She rolls all over the place in her crib, and I often find her sleeping face down with her head in the corner of her bed. And yes, it still scares the heck out of me. She is showing signs of separation anxiety, common for this age of babies, but really it's only separation from me (secretly I like it, makes me feel important), she cries when I leave the room.

She brings joy to everyone she meets; she smiles all the time... I really do think she's the happiest, most easy going, mellowest kid I've ever met, and I'm not just saying that because she's mine. She really is amazing. I'll write a short post tomorrow with her 9 month status after we visit the doctor... stay tuned.

Cheerios and Easter-ish Photos

A lot has happened in the last few weeks, and I forgot to take pictures of most of it.  Sad.  

Grandma, Granddan, Uncle Jared & Aunt Blair came to visit... we had so much fun, and I didn't take a single picture of any of them... maybe they didn't actually come and we just dreamt it.   

McKenna went on her first brewery tour, no pictures of that either.  A child's first brewery tour is a seminal moment in a young life... and I have no evidence that it actually happened.  

I did shoot a video of McKenna mastering the fine art of systematically shoving Cheerios into her face.

 

I also got a video of McKenna laughing at me while I try to get her to say, "Mama." She has been able to say, "Dada" for quite some time.  She still can't say my name... but I think we'll get there eventually.

 

I finally had a softball game that was early enough in the evening that McKenna could come and show off her awesome softball jersey... when my mom saw these pictures, she asked if McKenna was playing 'shortstop'  HA HA.  So Funny, right? Or lame...

And, of course, I forgot to take pictures on Sunday when McKenna was dressed in her Easter best.  So I put her in a cute outfit today and put her on our dead... I mean dormant lawn and took some pictures so I could at least remember this age. 

Hopefully I'll remember to take pictures when McKenna turns one in July... we'll see. 

McKenna Has a TOOTH!

I know it's been less than 24 hours since my last post... but I thought everyone would like to know that the 'eagle has landed' ... the tooth has finally broken the skin! I am thrilled, not because I particularly wanted McKenna to have teeth (maybe she'd need them one day, but I don't want her to get older than this, we've already had long conversations about how she needs to stop growing), but because I wanted a good night's sleep... selfish I know.

She's been miserable for the last few days, so I'm sure this is a welcome release. Unfortunately for her, I've heard that the bottom two come together or in close succession...which means this respite will be short lived. My fingers are not looking forward to the continuing teething process. Here's a picture of our newest arrival (click on the photo for further detail):

The Blizzard of 2009

I met John during the blizzard of 2003... some friends of mine made me drive them over to this guy's house during the blizzard to play Cranium during the blizzard, and that guy turned out to be my future husband... who knew? So fast forward 6 years to the same week, and BAM! Another blizzard. This time it's not nearly as snowy, but we have McKenna, so we get to take pictures of her in the snow which is really fun! Her little snowsuit is too short, thus we couldn't put up the hood with the cute little ears on it... but it was still her first experience sitting in the snow all by herself.

The Giant 8 Month Old Baby

McKenna is officially 8 months old as of Tuesday. E I G H T... sounds impressive doesn't it? She's changed so much, her little personality is amazing. She laughs, claps, and feeds herself Cheerios. She's a regular (miniature) person.

Check out the difference between 1 day old and 8 months old:

She has also begun to throw herself from a sitting position onto her face/head/hands/side/front/back/etc... which unfortunately for her means she's face-planted on the granite fireplace hearth a few times. We finally wised up and bought a rug and a new chair for the unused space behind our couch so that she would have a soft landing strip for her new found love of flying.

Here are some pictures and a video of her trying out her new digs:

McKenna also graduated from the Bumbo chair (we'll bring it back to you, Mercer's...thanks for letting us borrow it) to a real high chair. She loves it, and with her added tray space, she now gets to feed herself Cheerios. It's like we've given her a special gift every time she gets a Cheerio, and because of that we're treated to a big cheesy grin.

Here she is sitting in her new throne (she's not feeding herself in these pictures, she's eating herself... she's working on her first tooth):

I saved the best for last... McKenna thinks that everything Dad does is soooo funny... In the following video (sorry it's a little dark), I was helping McKenna tickle Dad's toes... She's funny. I'm sure you'll agree. If you don't agree, lie to me and tell me that you do. That is all. Thank you.

There's Mud in Your Eye...

In case anyone was wondering if baby spit up stings when it gets in your eyes, the answer is an emphatic yes... and the answer to the next logical question is, no, there will be no photos to commemorate this momentous occasion.

Tonight when John and I were putting McKenna to bed, John read her a bible story from The Jesus Storybook Bible, and I fed her a bottle and we prayed with her, which is similar to every other night of her little life. That's where the similarities ended. I stood up from the rocking chair to put McKenna in her crib... when all of a sudden she proceeded to sneeze and spit up at the same time. Did I mention she was facing me? Awesome. Thankfully, I was wearing my OSHA certified protective eyewear, but complete isolation was not achieved. Some droplets of stinky stuff still made it into my eyes. I am now wearing a completely different outfit and have washed my glasses with soap and water... dried them... they still were gross, and now they have been cleaned with Windex.

I have been so damaged by the contamination that I think I will call it a night and head for bed. Ah, the joys of Motherhood.

Bath Time and a Visit from Grandma and Great-Grandpa

Grandma and Great-Grandpa came to visit last week to celebrate the birthday extravaganza that happens around here during the month of February. Aunt Catherine's birthday is on the 12th, Aunt Mary's is on the 17th and so is mine and finally John and Great-Grandpa's birthday's are on the 18th. Needless to say we eat a lot of birthday cake in February.

In preparation for Great-Grandpa's visit, McKenna brushed up on her knowledge of the global financial marketplace and economic forecasts for the US and International Markets. Here she is reading the Kiplinger Letter:

We had a great time while Grandma and Great-Grandpa were visiting, McKenna learned how to clap, and we drove Great-Grandpa all over the state and once to the chiropractor (plane seats are not made for people his height). Here are some photos that we took on the lawn at church:

I thought I'd also include some photos of McKenna's new tub skills... seeing as everyone likes naked babies (except the babies themselves, when their parents bust out the naked pictures when they're teenagers..."oh look how cute she was, all pudgy and naked in the tub...") She has decided that playing with rubber duckies and splashing around is pretty awesome.