Our Baby Girl

Is not a baby anymore! I swear, she's really growing up!

She talks all the time now and just yesterday, she said her first word! I mean, she's said words before, like Dada, Mama and Baba. But yesterday. Oh yesterday.

She said, "Mama!" and looked right up at me. I melted on the spot.

It was the most precious thing ever!!!!

Makayla crawls all over the place...gets into everything!! It is so fun to watch her explore and grow, though. There are times when I let her do things, so that she learns what not to do. Good life lessons. But, she really loves electrical outlets and wires. So we always take her away from those and tell her it's not safe for her to play with those things. Yeah, we rock as parents, we know.

She eats Cheerios at every meal. And lately, she's been starting to choke on them. I think it's because she tries to shove so many in her mouth at one time. So I pretty much have a heart attack three times a day. That's fun. But, she's learning so much every day.

I just watched her open up a book for the first time! And now she's eating it. Hey. I'll take what I can get. :)

She gets really angry whenever I take a shower. We've tried putting her in her ExerSaucer or just letting her crawl around our room. Nothing works. She screams the entire time I'm in there. She needs to learn that every time Mommy leaves the room, chaos will not ensue. And I'll always come back. She is learning that, though. Usually she follows me if I leave the room and THAT is definitely an adorable sight to see!

She's currently in 9 month clothes and has been since she turned 7 months. We're going to switch over to 12 months here pretty soon, but they still look pretty big. But that's what I said about my maternity clothes and I outgrew those bad boys almost before I got to wear them!

Makayla is one stubborn baby. If she doesn't get what she wants, she throws a fit. Sound like anyone you know?! She HATES getting her diaper changed. She HATES bedtime. And she HATES her crib. We're working on all those things, though. One day, she will not cry during all of these processes. We just need to figure out what to do to make it stop.

She loves to get tickled. She will laugh and laugh and laugh! She loves to laugh, just like her parents. Today I was crinkling one of her toys and she was looking up at me and belly laughing! That never gets old. Never.

She also really loves to be held. Like all the time. And while most times this is wonderful for me (she won't be a baby forever, so I'm going to relish those moments instead of forcing her to cry, like some parents do...), sometimes, I need to get things done. She loves to be rocked to sleep and we're okay with that...for the most part. We will be breaking her of that soon, though. It's rough on me to not get 8 hours of sleep a night. Who knows when the last time happened?!?

She holds her sippy cup like a big girl. When she forgets to hold it (sometimes), I say, "Hold your cup, Makayla." and she does. It is oh so sweet.

She also does this wonderfully adorable little thing where she'll be yelling and playing around and then she'll put her open mouth on your arm or your belly or the mirror or whatever is closest to her and her mouth. It's hilarious! I absolutely adore it! She really loves to kiss herself, too.

We're learning how to wave, clap and point right now. Mommy makes up songs for everything we do and while they aren't always the same, I still love them! She also has this really great song for when she brushes my gums. I love it! That's right, I still have no teeth at almost 9 1/2 months old! -Makayla

All in all, we love our baby girl. She never ceases to amaze us with everything she is learning and doing every single day. We love to listen to her talk and babble on and on and on. She loves to sing, too! Precious! Kinda makes me want another one. But not yet. I am going to cherish every moment I have with this little girl before we throw another one in the mix. :D