Sarah K Tyler

Dear Nicki,

Eleven. E-Lev-En. How is that even possible?! Next month is the big one-(decimal)-oh!

You’ve hit many major milestones this past month, including crawling. You picked up crawling by lunging forward from a sitting position, so you quickly learned how to get back from a crawling position to the sitting position, and from there how to go from your tummy to sitting. You also started pulling yourself up to a stand constantly. You can stand independently, and get up without support, but you don’t realize this yet. I’ve seen you take your hand off your activity table to hold a toy, but as soon as you realize you’re not holding onto anything, you grab for it. Maybe this month you’ll gain the confidence to do stand unsupported intentionally?

The weather finally turned warm and we switched you to two piece PJs. It was just in time too, as you were starting to outgrow your Christmas fuzzy sleeper! In mid May! One of these days I will buy those in the right size. Mommy promises.

Last week we got you your first pair of shoes and took your first steps outside. Did you know the average size for a nine month old baby is a 3 or 4? You? At a month shy of the one year mark your size 2 shoes are too big! Or at least too long! Looks like I wasn’t far off the mark in my observation that you have ity bity feet for your age!

The milestone I’m most eagerly anticipating is talking. We thought we may have had a first word (other than “mama” and “dada”) a few weeks ago when Daddy and I were picking you up from daycare. As we were walking to the car, you turned back waved and said “bye”! We both heard it clear as day, but you haven’t done it again yet. You parrot back a lot of words. Mommy can say “hi” to you and you say “hi” back (much to the delight of your grandparents.) You’ll also say “hello” after your toy says “hello” sometimes, but it’s not clear you understand what those words mean yet.

We’re also working on teeth number #3 and #4! Right now you can just see the white bits under the gum, they haven’t broken through yet, but they are there. You have been so incredibly good this time around, which makes me think last time it wasn’t the teething keeping you up. So far you’re still sleeping like a champ and we haven’t needed to give you anything for the pain. Knock on wood. Speaking of sleep, you’re also up to an hour and a half per nap in the crib at home. I am a happy mama!

Love Always,
Mommy & Daddy

Dear Nicki,

We’re entering the double digits of months. Oh. My. Gosh. Where is the time going?!

You have made great strides towards walking. Literally and figuratively. As soon as you could cruise, you were off! You’d do three or four laps around your activity table in a row, it was the cutest thing. You also enjoy cruising on the coffee table, and discovering all the non-baby safe things mommy forgets to put away. You used to hold onto the baby bumper, but you quickly learned it was more fun to have your hands free. The only issue? You can only balance on your feet for a second or two. It wasn’t a problem for you for long, you learned to lean your chest against the table for support so you could hold an object in each hand.

One handed Standing.
Mommy needs to learn photoshop. I have so many adorable photos with something in the background (in this case diaper wipes.) Sigh.

You are very into your toys these days. It’s amazing watching you development, you make such leaps in perceiving your world. You offered your binky to Fuzzy Bunny, by putting it on his mouth. We weren’t sure if that’s what you were doing, or you were just bashing your toys together, until you tried to put your pacifier in Mommy’s mouth! You thought it was absolutely hysterical, and kept trying to get mommy to take it. You had your little spider push the buttons on the remote control, and seemed to be making him crawl up the table. You also put the pretend purple phone to your ear without being prompted to. I know I’m biased, but I’m pretty sure that level of “role playing” is very advanced!

My little ham
The many outtakes of Nicole “Pookytron”

You now eat cheerios, Gerber “puffs” and yogurt melts like a champion. You weren’t as keen on the steamed vegetables yet, though you did put some carrots into your mouth. I think it’s the texture that you’re not sure of, you take the pureed vegtables very well. Even peas, which you hated at first. You’re also not a fan of cooked pasta, egg yoke or cheese yet, but we’re working on it. After rejecting banana in non-pureed form twice before, you shared one with mommy on Monday. Mommy will let you in on a little secret: if you share your banana with the kitty, she will love you forever. Kitty loves people food.

Enjoying her time in the swing

You have been a little miss giggle fits this month. Everything makes you happy. You squiggle up your nose and squint your eyes with a big ear to ear grin. I hope you never grow out of this phase. I just want to gobble you up, I can never get enough of your face! Seriously, my 1 TB hard drive has less than 2 GB free. I have a full 32GB card I can’t download because I’m out of space!

Love Always,
Mommy and Daddy

Dear Nicki,

Nine months. Nine. You’re well on your way to one, and becoming a toddler.

Feets! I has one!!

We’re still debating whether you will crawl first or walk. Your pediatrician says walk. I’m inclined to agree. You do a sort of reverse army crawl on the bed where you throw your face down, kick up with your feet and drive yourself forward an inch. You then pop your head up, look around and continue if you haven’t reached your toy yet. It’s the cutest thing! Yesterday when mommy put you down on your hands and knees you started swaying a little (a precursor to crawling), but you’re more consistently taking steps when holding onto Mommy. You’re record so far is 3. We purchased two toys for you this weekend, one to encurage crawling and one to practice standing. I also have a price watch on a toy to encourage walking.

Airborn Baby!

We also started you on a sippie cup. That’s right, you drink from a sippie cup! (And you spill from a sippie up.) You love your juice. You get so excited when you see the sippie cup, and grab the sippie cup with both hands and attack the nozzle. Mommy and daddy have to tip it a little for you, but I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it.

Your pediatrician suggested we try some table food around 8 months, but it was clear you weren’t ready. Even just a few days ago you clearly weren’t ready. You didn’t yet have the “chew” instinct, and you got distressed by the solid texture. The past few days you’ve been showing more signs that you’re ready for table food by making that distinctive chewing motion. A couple of times you tricked mommy and daddy into thinking you had something in your mouth! Yesterday we decided to try table food again and you eat 3 puffs and 1 cheerio. When mommy tried to give you cheerios just a few days ago, you thought cheerios were toys for dropping on the floor. Not a single one touched your lips. How rapidly you have these developmental changes!

Fascinated with your Easter dress

We’ve noticed that your favorite color appears to be blue. You loved holding your blue Easter eggs. Every time we refilled your basket you’d take them out one by one until you had a blue one in each hand. Too cute!

Love always,
Mommy and Daddy

Dear Nicki,

Eight months! Before you know it, mommy will be planning your first birthday party. (Okay, I confess, I’ve been planning it for a while. I just can’t help myself when it comes to celebrating you.)

This month you got your first two teeth. We had a little bit of a rough patch sleep wise when they were coming in which wasn’t helped by the fact that you were also getting over a cold. I’m happy to report both teeth are in and you’re once again sleeping through the nights. Eleven hours! Well, technically 11:01 with a standard deviation of 6 minutes – you’re very consistent!

Teething

Another recent complication with your night time sleeping is that you started rolling over from your back to your stomach three nights ago! Sure you’ve done it in the past, but not very often. You seem more comfortable sleeping on your stomach, but you were startled to wake up on your stomach the first couple of nights. Daddy and I didn’t know if we should risk waking you by helping you get back to your back again, but tonight I watched you roll all the way over with ease! Of course, the fact that you’re rolling over so frequently now means your days in the rock n’ play are numbered. Another month, another sleeping arrangement, eh?

At your last doctor’s appointment, you were just 1.5 lbs shy of Lily! My prediction: you’ll be as big as your kitty by 10 months.

I took 1306 photos of you this month – double that of last month! Mommy is making up for lost time. We took photos of you in the gym (which you still enjoy beating up!), the jumperoo, playing on the mat, playing in your high chair – I wanted to capture everything. Mommy is once again starting to run out of space on her hard drive!

Playing with the bowl, waiting for mommy to put the camera down and get dinner started

This month we started size 3 nipples this month, and you’re up to three meals a day. Day care was so impressed with how well you eat! When I picked you up after your first day with a pureed lunch they were stunned that you had eaten them all. I think they assumed it was your first time eating any purees. But of course mommy sent you in with bananas, you’re current favorite.

We tried peas and green beans again. You eat them both without protest, but it’s clear they weren’t you favorite. I know they don’t taste as good as the orange veggies, but hummer mommy, okay? We don’t need an Oompa Loompa Nicki! We also added some more protein to your diet. Yogurt is a huge hit! You’re even downing peach yogurt, though you rejected the peach purees a while ago.

This month we will get to start you on finger food! I am so excited!

Love always,
Mommy and Daddy

Dear Nicki,

I cannot believe you’re turning seven months old this month. Seven!!

Last month it amazed me how quickly you went from a wobbly little sitter to a pro. Now we’re seeing the same thing with standing. On a Wednesday mommy felt comfortable to let you hold on to the crib rail by yourself for the first time. You looked over the edge of the crib so timidly. By that Saturday you were balancing mostly by yourself, loving the fact that you could meet us eye to eye. You even try to stand up in the tub so you can have a better view of the kitty. I’m pretty sure we have a daredevil in the making. (You probably get that from your Aunt Emily).

Time to lower the crib, mommy!

When you were just two months old we used to float you on your back in the tub singing ‘the good ship Nicki-pop’. You loved it, but after the introduction of bath toys, however, you were too interested in playing to float. All of a sudden you want to float again. You throw your head back giggling and laughing. You can’t get enough of the good ship Nicki-pop!

The Good Ship Nicki-Pop sets sail

We’re thinking of getting a no-tangles shampoo for that insanely long baby hair of yours.

This past month was also the return to good sleeping. You are doing 10/11 hours in your crib easy. In fact, you were sleeping so well at night (and not at all for naps) that we felt comfortable moving you back to the rock n’ play for naptime. You’re doing a full 14-15 hours a day, which is right on track. It’s the first time that you’ve both napped well and slept well, even though we’re bucking the traditional wisdom that bedtime and naptime arrangements should be identical. (Clearly you haven’t been reading the same baby books as mommy.)

Mommy’s napping angel

You just recently started hugging. While sitting in my lap you’ll turn around with your arms out and bury yourself into me. It’s so adorable!

In news that I’m sure no adult reading this will believe, I’m really starting to think you’re saying ‘mama’ now. It started last month with you jabbering the ‘ma’ sound. There were one or two times when it sounded like you were calling out to me as I was leaving the room. But you’d say it as though you didn’t know how many ‘ma’s to put together to make a word. Now, I can count half a dozen times when you’ve screamed ‘mama’ with the right number of syllables when getting upset that I was leaving. You don’t say it at any other time, so you do seem to associate the word with me. I don’t know if you know I’m mama, or mama is a word to get to me stay.

We’re also pretty sure you recognize the word ‘Lily.’ When we say ‘Lily’ you always turn and look for your kitty. You are so enamored with her, but alas, your kitty does not return your affections.

Love always,
Mommy and Daddy

Dear Nicki,

I cannot believe how fast time has flown. It’s 2013, no longer the year you were born. You’ve been out of my belly and in our lives for six months now. This month was so many first for you. You started sitting for the first time (just in time for some Christmas photos by the tree, you are such a perfect baby!), you had your first plane flight, and your first night in the crib.

Sitting by the tree. One of these days mommy will order your holiday clothes in the right size. At least this time it was too big.

Despite the lack of sleep, you had a ball at Christmas time. You loved meeting everyone. So many different laps to sit in! You love all the attention, and eat it up.

First (well technically second) flight

Moving you to the crib and away from my side was tough on both of us. You were doing much better in the crib, sleeping up to five hours straight! Alas, we hit a snag at the end of the month. Our new night time sleeping arrangement wasn’t routine enough when we left California to visit Grandma and Grandpa. The port a crib just wasn’t the same, and you didn’t sleep well. The good news is, we know you CAN sleep in the crib now. You’ve learned! We just need to re-establish the routine.

Morning Smiles. How do you know to look into the video camera?!

You’re now eating sweet potatoes, squash (your favorite) and carrots. Mommy made the mistake of trying peas. Before peas, you reminded us of a baby bird, mouth wide open to accept any puree we had to offer. Now? You’re a bit more cautious, trying everything through pursed lips. Mommy is sorry she tried the awful peas, but I promise you there are many more good foods out there. This month we’re moving on to fruits. If you have any of mommy’s genes, you will adore fruits.

Love always,
Mommy & Daddy

Dear Nicki,

This probably doesn’t come as a shock to you, but your parents are baby novices. This month really highlighted that fact.

In the middle of the month you started getting really fussy at the bottle. Mommy and daddy noticed you seemed hungry, but kept pulling away. I mentioned this to Grandma over skype and she asked if we had switched you over to the size 2 nipples yet. We had forgotten nipples came in different sizes. Woops! Apparently size 1′s were just for babies 0-3 months old, and size 2 are for 3-6 months. You were already halfway through the size 2 period!

We also noticed you seemed hungry all.the.time. We talked to the doctor and devised a plan to start introducing you to solid foods around Thanksgiving time. After the nipple incident, I started to wonder at what age parents shifted from the 4oz bottles to the 8oz bottles. Apparently this month. Again, Woops!

Lovin’ your bigger bottles

We also broke in your new high chair. You weren’t sure what to think about the rice cereal at first, but quickly got into it. A little too into it, actually. You keep grabbing the spoon. You’ll let me pull the spoon away from your mouth an inch before shoving it back in. Mommy needs to put more rice cereal on the spoon first, sweety!

More please

Our plan is to try sweet potatoes and squash over the next few weeks (when you’re closer to six months), then on to peas. Mommy can’t wait!!

Of course, another month meant another change in clothing sizes. That’s what, four straight months of wardrobe changes?! You are now in 6-9 month sleepers. Quite growing so darn fast! Mommy is now starting to question weather I bought your “baby’s first Christmas” clothes in the right size! That’s the second holiday Mommy incorrectly guessed your size. We only got Thanksgiving right because I bought your outfit the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving!

Thankful for baby snores

Thank you for your continued patience.

Love always,
Mommy and Daddy

You’re growing so increasingly fast! This past Sunday we switched over to 3-6 months clothes. That’s three months in a row where we had to change your clothing size! Even your day care teachers noticed you seemed so much bigger on Monday than when you went home on Friday. Mommy suspects you’ll be in 6-9 month sleepers soon. You have such long legs! We did manage to get some photos of you in your skeleton sleep and play for Halloween, if but just barely.

You’re making leaps and bounds developmentally. You started rolling onto your side again, something you haven’t done for three months. This time it’s clearly intentional. You’re very close to rolling over from your back to your tummy, but have no interest in the other way around. You just love to look at the world around you. You are also interacting more with your world, holding things with two hands, inspecting everything and not just by eating it.

Your personality is shinning through more and more. I’m predicting you’re going to be a social butterfly. You get so excited when you see other kids. You loved the trick-or-treaters and your face lit up when you heard a group of girls giggling at the doctors. You have a daycare boyfriend. Two, actually! You are all smiles when ever anyone looks at you, love chatting and squeal with delight when others are near. You’re such a sweetheart two. Lately when I rock you to sleep, you take out your pacifier and seem to be offering it to me by trying to put it in my mouth.

You recently discovered your thumb. I’ve noticed you with just it in your mouth rather than your whole fist. Your toes no longer offer you any challenge. You’ll grab one hand on each foot, or two hands on the same foot. Once you even crossed your hands to hold the opposite foot. Soon those toes will be in your mouth, I have no doubt about that!

Love always,
Mommy and Daddy

Dear Nicki,

Three months! Wow! It seems like we were just reflecting on your two month birthday.

You’ve really gotten into your toys. It started with the Bright Starts Snuggle & Teethe Blue Elephant Teether and Lamaze Space Symphony Motion Gym. Oh, how you loved them! But you sometimes struggle to hold them. Mommy got the idea to try some Links. Best $5 I ever spent! They were perfect for your tiny hands. You could grip them and learned coordination necessary to hold those other items with ease. They are hands down your favorite toy.

Concentrating so hard

We’re still working on giggling, but you smile up a storm. Daycare says your favorite activity is song time (which doesn’t surprise me) and that you like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Patty Cake best. I’m pretty sure you’re one of the favorites. Even though there are a few infants your age, when ever I pick you up someone is cuddling you!

Cute as a button

You’re also growing so incredibly fast. Even though you were still wearing newborn clothes at six and seven weeks, we have graduated you to 3-6 month sleepers before 3 months! They’re just too short on you, you can’t fully extend your legs. The 0-3 month onesies still fit you well, and you have quite a bit of room to grow in them both width and length wise. Were did these long legs come from?! Certaintly not mommy or daddy.

I have a colleague who recommended we cut the feet out of your sleepers to make them last longer. I think back to the how much you loved your PJs the first time we put you in them. The warm fuzzy feet seemed like a must. Since you will need 6 month sleepers eventually, it doesn’t seem to matter whether we put you in them now or wait a few weeks.

Enjoying your October PJs

I guess it’s time for me to stop thinking of you as ‘our little newborn.’ That will take some getting used to.

Love always,
Mommy and Daddy

Dear Nicki,

In a few days you will be two months old! As I’m sure will be a running theme with these posts, I can’t get over how much you’ve changed in just a short time period!

You’re smiling now. Really smiling, not just the smile reflex. I can’t get enough of that happy baby face! Your hair is getting lighter like Mommy’s, and your eyes darker like Daddy’s. As adorable as you are now, I think you are going to be gorgeous when you grow up!

Making my heart melt

You sing with Mommy! You don’t have very many sounds that you make, but you started making them in rhythms kind of like mommy singing. (Actually, you’re probably as on key as mommy too…) So far your favorite song seems to be Mary had a Little Lamb, but Mommy is trying to win you over with Soft Kitty

You’ve discovered your hands! Your fist has become a substitute for your binky when it falls out of your mouth. You rub your eyes when you’re sleepy. You try to hold your binky and bottle.

Holding your bottle and looking darn cute while doing it

When you ‘hold’ your bottle it’s using an open hand on either side of the bottle. For the Binky, however, you’ve managed to close your hand around the grip. Sometimes you hold the lip of the binky, or get a finger inside the finger hole. Last night when the binky fell out of your mouth you got excited and managed to pop it back in yourself. We are looking forward to the day you can do that more frequently! Daddy keeps joking about needing ‘baby glue’ to help it stay in your mouth.

Holding the Binky is Serious Business

I also want to personally thank you for putting up with Mommy and her camera. Most of your ‘newborn’ photos were taken this past month. I put you on the white backdrop at least a half a dozen times sans diaper, yet you’ve left it relatively unscathed. After two photo sessions you soiled your diaper in the first few seconds after getting it back on.

Love Always,
Mommy & Daddy