18 Months

Last Thursday Autumn was 18 months old.  Man, time flies!  We had her 18 month checkup and here are her stats:

• Height - 31 inches, 26th percentile
• Weight - 21 lbs  4 oz., 12th percentile
• Head circumference - 46 cm, 25th percentile

Baby girl is getting big!  Here are some of the things she is doing at 18 months:

• Talking like crazy!  Some words include: bubbles, Mama, Dada, Bubba (aka Cooper), bathtub, Elmo, Abby, done.  I know there are more, but we're still trying to decipher so much of what she says. 
• She enjoys coloring.  Specifically she is into pointellism.
• She is not just walking, but running everywhere.
• She loves getting into the laundry basket and being pushed around the house.
• She loves slides and swings.
• She likes to hug Bubba and Cookie.
• She eats pretty much everything.
• She knows most of her body parts: nose, ears, eyes, tummy, hands, feet, etc.  She loves to show you her body parts when you ask where they are.
• Autumn loves to clap for herself when she does soemthing good, like when she correctly identifies a body part or throws something in the trash.
• She is an organizer.  Her favorite activity is moving things from one container to another and back again.  She organizes toys, shoes, markers, chalk, etc.
• Autumn is wearing size 12-18 month clothes, size 4.5 shoes, and size 4 diapers.
• Autumn is starting to tell us when she needs her diaper changed.
• She does great at school.  Daddy insists that she is a teacher's pet because one teacher or another is always holding and hugging her.  She doesn't cry when we leave her at school or the church nursery, which is very nice for us.  She seems to play well on her own and gets along with other kids, but we're definitely going to have to work on the concept of sharing.
• We're starting to explain the new baby to Autumn, but she doesn't understand much yet.
• She is about to move into a toddler bed.  Wish us luck!

Autumn is such a sweetie and she brings so much joy to our lives.  We love you sweet girl!

Autumn has a secret!

Autumn has a secret she wants to share. . .

We're expecting baby #2 in early November!

My Gypsy Girl

These pics are over a month old.  They're from Valentine's Day.  Andrew was working late and my friend Christel came over for dinner with her son Eli.  It was Autumn's first Valentine's Day date.  She was dressed like a gypsy with a funky flower hat on and an apron that Grandma had given her for Valentine's.  She enjoyed pouring Ms. Christel some tea and chewing on the remote for the TV. 

Daddy also surprised both Autumn and I with some beautiful roses.


Autumn's roses in her room.

My roses.

I figure it's better late than never in posting these fun pics.

Princess Autumn

This morning, like most mornings, Daddy dressed Autumn for school.  Daddy has morning duty most days since he doesn't have to be into work very early and usually works later and I take care of Autumn in the evenings.  This morning Daddy must have been in a fun mood, because he dressed Autumn up as a cowgirl princess.  She came into my room after she was all dressed to show off her tutu and boots.  She was so excited about her outfit.  I think Daddy secretly likes it that all of the ladies at school tell him that Autumn is always dressed so cute.

iPhone Dump

Here are a few pics from lately.



Hanging out at the Town Sqaure with Grandma.





Autumn likes to use a lot of toilet paper. 
Don't worry we're not potty training yet. 
I'm just trying to get her used to the idea of a potty.



Papa bought Daddy and Tio funny St. Paddy's Day hats from the dollar section at Target. 
Warning!!  Apparently these hats are chick magnets.



Baby girl was out!



Checking out some Vera purses on St. Patrick's Day.

Last night we took dinner over to Nana and Pops.  Autumn saw a banana on the counter and she asked for it by name.  It was pretty close sounding to banana.  She also started saying Nana to Nana.  She was excited that she knew who she was and could say her name.  We would ask her where's Dada or where's Mama or Pops and she would point to each of us and smile.  She also knows where her nose is, foot, hand,, mouth, etc.  She is so smart and growing up so fast!

Ear Tubes

Autumn has had an ear infection pretty much non-stop since Christmas.  She's been on four rounds of antibiotics, but her ears never really cleared up.  So, after talking with her pediatrician, the family docs (Papa and Tio) and visiting with an ENT we decided to go ahead and have ear tubes put in.  This is a very minor procedure, but it requires general anaesthesia, which is always a little scary for babies.

Her surgery was scheduled for Thursday, March 8th at Texas Children's Hospital.  She was not allowed to have anything to eat after midnight and nothing at all after 5:15am.  Clear liquids were okay between midnight and 5:15, but honestly who is awake during those hours - not me and certainly not Baby Bottom.  I kept Autumn up late (until 10 or 11) the night before and pushed extra fluids and food on her, so she wouldn't be quite so grumpy and hungry in the morning.  We woke up late - around 6:20.  I had wanted to leave the house by 6:30.  We ended up leaving around 6:50 and got the the hospital by 7:40 (only 25 minutes late). 

We let Autumn keep her pacifier all morning.  This seemed to keep her calm.  She never fussed about not having food or anything to drink.  She kept looking at us like "do they know I still have my paci?"  She usually is only allowed to have it for naps and bedtime.  Autumn was sleepy on the way to the hospital, but once we got in the waiting room all she wanted to do was play, and there were lots of toys for her to play with. 

Around 9am we got called back to the holding room where we met with the doctors before the surgery.  Papa had put in a call to one of his friends at Texas Children's to ensure she got the best anaesthesiologist possible.  Dr. Glass was very nice and she helped to make us feel at ease.  When it came time for surgery Autumn chose to ride back to the OR in a toddler car (see picture below).  She was enjoying all of the toys.  Dr. Glass said Autumn was way too easy.  She just rocked her to sleep (with the help of a gas mask full of anaesthesia of course).  The procedure lasted all of 15 minutes.  I barely sat down between leaving the holding room and having the doctor come in to say we could go back to the recovery room.

Once in the recovery room we got to hold sweet sleepy Autumn.  She was so lifeless for a minute and then came the apple juice.  She chugged two cups of apple juice and got fussy when we had to refill the sippy cup.  We didn't have to stay in the recovery room too long before we were able to head home and put Autumn down for a long nap.  Grandma, Grandpa, Grandma T and PapPap had all come to the hospital to see sweet Autumn.  Grandma T had brought her a new doll too.

When we got home Autumn slept until 1:30PM.  She woke up ate some mac n cheese and then proceeded to totally freak me out.  She was eating and then she just starting staring off into space and getting really white.  She threw up and then ate some more and then got really white again.  Her head was nodding off too, like she was about to pass out.  She then stared into space and stuck her tongue between her lips and made a farting noise.  In hindsight I am 100% convinced that all of this behavior indicates that she was just loopy from her anaesthesia, but it scared me at the time.  I even texted the ENT who had assured us that texting him was the best way to reach him if we had any questions.  Autumn eased back into normal again and by the evening she was wired.  She even climbed up onto the second shelf on my kitchen cabinet.  I tried to get a picture, but she got out too fast.

The verdict is still out as to whether the tubes are helping or not.  We probably won't know for at least a few more weeks, but in theory they should prevent further ear infections in the future.

Weekend at POC

This weekend we went to the beach house in Port O'Connor.  Papa had invited us down to spend some time relaxing and eating good food.  I had hoped that Andrew would be able to join us, but I wasn't holding my breath.  He's been super busy lately at work.  Most nights he hasn't been home until well after midnight.  Anyways, Friday night after a lovely dinner (Morton's Mac n Cheese, Meatloaf and Sauteed Spinach), Andrew surprised me by saying he could join us for the weekend. 

We ended up heading down around 10PM on Friday night.  Autumn slept the whole way.  I always try to plan travel around her sleep.  She woke up a little when we got there, but eventually went back to sleep. 

Saturday we played with the toys at the beach house, watched The Little Mermaid (while Autumn rearranged the DVDs and magazines), took a stroll on the beach and took a nap with Daddy.  We didn't spend too much time outside on Saturday because it was very very windy.  In the afternoon we played with the toys outside on the deck, went to the park and pier with our POC neighbor Vera and did some more DVD and magazine rearranging.  For some reason Autumn loves to rearrange things.  She took all of the DVDs out of the cabinet and moved them to the other side.  She also took all of the magazines out of the magazine holder and put them on two ottomans.  Saturday evening we enjoyed a lovely dinner of pea soup, spinach salad, sauteed veggies, rice and fish. The guys smoked cigars late into the evening and then Andrew and I stayed up all night tending to a very fussy baby.  Autumn was just not herself Saturday night.  She cried almost all night long. 

Sunday morning Tia took Autumn off our hands for an hour or two so we could catch a few zzz's.  Thanks Tia!  Sunday was a beautiful day outside.  Low winds, blue skies and blue waters.  Sunday morning Daddy and Tio played with their Christmas presents (remote control helicopters). Sadly, Andrew's died a horrible death after flying too high and then crashing into the beach.  Late Sunday morning we took Autumn's very first boat ride.  She did well for about 5 minutes before the huge life vest that made her look like a giant marshmallow and the cold wind became too much for her to handle.  We turned the boat around and she cried the whole way back to the marina.  After the devastating boat ride we had a quesadilla and pea soup lunch and then headed home. 

Sunday night Autumn and I went to Babies R Us with Grandma Clarke and then ate Mexican food with Grandma and Grandpa while Daddy caught up on some work that he missed while we were playing this weekend.  All in all it was a great weekend.  Sorry, no pics.  I always forget to take pictures when we're having a good time.

Lately . . .

Autumn is growing up so fast!  She moved up to the Toddler 1 class this week, so she is no longer a baby :-(  In the Toddler 1 class they eat at a table (no more highchairs) and they take naps on mats (no more cribs).  Autumn is also talking a lot more.  I think she is saying "cat", "ball", "bubba" (aka Cooper) and "mom".  It's kinda hard to make out what she is saying, but I am trying to understand her.  She can easily point to things and people in books, like if you ask her where is the dog, she will point to the dog.  The other night she had on an Abby Cadabby shirt and her Abby shoes.  I asked her where Abby was and she immediately pointed to her shirt and then bent down and pointed to her shoes too.  So cute!  She is also mimicking a lot more lately too.  She is so fun to be around.  Here are some recent pics and videos.  These include the zoo, her first taste of cake pops, meeting Elmo, Sesame Street Live and Go Texan Day.



First cake pops!


YUM!








Meeting Elmo at Chick-fil-A.  She was a little timied at first,
but she kept waving at him later.




In awe at Sesame Street Live!




All decked out for Go Texan Day.




What are you looking at?




Hanging out with Grandma and the elephants.




With Mommy at the zoo.




Showing Tia that 2 babies can go grocery shopping,
see the extra space next to Autumn.



Stomping Grounds

Not much going on here lately.  Autumn is still on antibiotics for an ear infection that she's had since Christmas.  She is such a trooper, you would never even know she's had an infection.  She usually isn't fussy or cranky.  We go to an ENT next Monday to see if we should put tubes in Autumn's ears to prevent future ear infections.

Last night Autumn had her first real tantrum in a public place - HEB.  We were almost done shopping.  I had all of the items on my grocery list in the basket and Autumn starts screaming.  She had a can of rotel tomatoes and she dropped it and wanted it back, but I wouldn't give it back to her because she just wants to chew on it - gross.  Anyways she started screaming nonstop until we got through the checkout and in the car.  Fun times.

Saturday, was a much better day though.  We went to the Stomping Grounds for an hour or so before Mommy went to lunch and a movie with Tia.  Here are a few videos of Autumn having some fun sliding down the slide and climbing on the play area.  She had a blast and it was relatively cheap, so I definitely see us going back soon.

We are tentatively planning to take Autumn to Sesame Street Live on Sunday, so hopefully I will have some good videos and pictures to update the blog with on Monday.

15 Months

Autumn, here is what you are up to at 15 months:

• You weighed in at 19 lbs 8 oz. at your 15 month check up (8th percentile).
• You are 29.5 inches tall (20th percentile).
• You wear size 12 months still and size 18 months, depending on whether it runs big or small.  Typically you wear a smaller size in dresses and a larger size in pants, since your legs are so long.
• You wear a size 3 diaper.
• You have 5 teeth with a couple more on their way.
• You currently are getting over ear infections in both ears (OUCH!)
• Your bedtime is roughly 8:30PM, but Mommy and Daddy are sometimes flexible on this if we go out to eat or have family over in the evening.  You usually wake up between 7 and 8AM.
• You are walking (and nearly running) all over the place.
• You are very curious about everything.
• You eat everything - the other night you ate a whole cheese enchilada and beans and rice.
• You are starting to become very attached to your Grandma Clarke.
• You like playing with the curtains, hiding behind them and running through them.
• You love books and are starting to sit still for them better.
• You are starting to sign "again" a lot.  I think you picked this up at school, because we did not teach it to you.  You use it to express that you want more of something, but you also use it to just say that you want something.
• You are busy.  You are constantly playing with one toy or another.
• You like to "organize" things.  You move toys or other objects from one container to another.  The other night you took all of your toy magnets off the fridge and put them in the empty laundry basket.
• You still take 2 naps a day most days, but are starting to take 1 nap a day a couple of times a week.
• You are starting to become more interested in Cooper, petting him and of course sharing your food with him.
• You nod your head "yes" and "no", but you do "no" a lot more because people always laugh at you when you do.
• You are starting to understand so much more of the world around you.  Last night you were riding your toy princess car and I asked you where your purse was, because you usually wear that when you ride your car.  You opened the seat in the car and showed me that you purse was inside.  Grandma and I say that you have to grab your purse when you ride your car, so you can go shopping.
• You know where your nose is, but if you are distracted you won't show me or you'll point to my nose instead of your own.
• You have started hugging my legs some and giving me more hugs in general.  I love these.

You are such an easy going and happy baby.  Mommy and Daddy love you very much and we are enjoying watching you grow and develop every day.

Autumn's Newborn Pictures

I know this post is more than one year late, but hey I didn't have a blog a year ago and I didn't get Autumn's newborn pictures until last week - long story.  Basically, the newborn photographer we used was very expensive and we weren't completely aware of how expensive until after we had done our newborn session with her and commited to a total of 3 sessions.  (Don't get me wrong the photographer is great, just expensive.)  Anyways, we had 3 prepaid sessions with this photographer (thanks Grandma and Papa), but we weren't able to purchase the pictures because of the high cost.  The 3 sessions came with a photobook with 30 pictures in it.  So, after the third session (in December) we were able to purchase our 30 favorite pictures (the ones going in the photobook) for a more reasonable price. 

Anyways, here are some of the pictures from her 3 sessions.  It is absolutely amazing to me to see how much Autumn has grown.  She is such a happy, beautiful and wonderful baby - er, little girl. I am so blessed to be her Mommy.

 NEWBORN

 9 MONTHS

ONE YEAR



This is the dress Mommy wore in her 12 month pictures.



 

The photographer we used for the pics included here was Christine Meeker - http://www.christinemeeker.com/ If you have a higher budget for photography I highly recommend this studio, Christine and her staff were very friendly, professional, and overall did an amazing job.

As a side note we have found a wonderful and very reasonably priced photographer based in The Woodlands. Here is a link to her website: http://www.nicolebonifacephotography.com/

Autumn at 14.5 Months

Autumn, here is what you are up to at 14 ½ months:

·         You started walking about a month and a half ago and have not stopped for a second.  You still let us carry you around some, but not too much.

·         You are very easy going and happy. 

·         You are attached to Mommy, but you go to everyone easily.

·         You love your Grandma Clarke and always reach out for her when you see her.

·         You LOVE books.  You always point to the book shelf and make me get down books to read to you, but then you only last 2 pages before standing up and starting to play with your toys.  I think you have ADD like your Mommy. (Daddy doesn’t think I have ADD, I’m just easily distracted)

·         You loved opening gift bags at Christmas.  You would pull out the tissue and then look in the bag and pull out the present with a huge smile on your face.

·         You still take 2 naps a day, but usually only 1 a day on the weekends.

·         You eat everything, especially bananas.

·         You can say “that” and “Dada”.  You don’t really say “Mama” in reference to me, but I know you know who I am.  Also, Daddy doesn't think you know any words, but we know he is wrong.

·         You weigh just under 20 pounds.  Not sure your height, but you have a checkup in a couple of weeks, so we’ll get more details then.  You do seem tall and thin (hopefully you will be like your Aunt Alli).

·         You mostly ignore Cooper and he does the same with you, although he likes to stand between you and Mommy to hog Mommy’s attention.

·         You have more clothes than any baby EVER!

·         You go to daycare Monday, Wednesday and Fridays and you stay at home with Grandma Clarke on Tuesdays and Thursdays and on days when you are sick.

·         You live in the house with the RED front door!

I could keep going, but if I did I might never stop.  You are a beautiful and happy baby girl, who is quickly becoming a big girl.