FOURTEEN Months

Swinging with her Daddy!

This month held a couple of 1st timers for Jayden. The weather was nice after her cousin Cassady's bday party we decided to take Jayden to the playground. She got super sleepy so all we did was swing with her but it was worth the short trip. She loved it so much! Look at that smile!








Having a lazy day at the zoo!


 

Even though it was October it was nearly in the 80's so Malina & I decided to take her 2 boys & Jayden to the zoo. It was Jaydens 1st trip & even though she's to young to understand she still had a great time. She never ceases to amaze me at how good of a baby she is sometimes. She was perfect the whole trip. Now I was thinking the opposite would happen because that morning when she got up she wasn't in the greatest of moods but I think she enjoyed the change of scenery & being outside all day. She never cried, whined, or fussed at all. We all had a great time!







She has still not started walking...I hate to say it like that "still not" because I don't feel like it's a big deal that she's not walking yet. She was a late crawler & we assumed she would walk later than most as well. She reminds us time & time again that she does things on her own time & when she wants too which is fine by us. Now I will be the 1st to admit that being our 1st child we tend to baby her & her being carried around by us like a queen probably doesn't help lol She is only a baby once so we are going to enjoy every minute of it while we can. She walks along the furniture but gets scared to let go. She has started trying to figure out how to stand up on her own from a sitted position without holding on to anything. So far, that means she just puts her head down & butt in the air lol She will hold that pose for a minute & then sit back down.
I guess I should mention that this month just like every other month she still will not say daddy. Maybe by the time she is 2 we will get it out of her. She will now go up to Stephen & pat his chest while saying Momma! lol She is definitely messing with us.

THIRTEEN Months

I mean seriously? How cute is she?

Ok, y'all this kid is growing up overnight! Her hair has gotten so long it's turned into a baby mullet! She can now rock out little pigtails.
She is doing a lot better with her eating this past month & has now decided she loves chicken and mac & cheese. Yay, she's not living off just green beans & ritz crackers anymore! Though she still puts those away like nobodys business. One night we went to Jacks for dinner & she ate an entire serving of green beans, a chicken leg, & some of my fries. This was unheard of for her since most stuff she takes a few bites then starts spitting it out. She was so full we took her pants off & her let her ride home in her shirt & diaper. Now that's some good redneck parenting right there! It just seemed way more comfortable!

haha, loving that rib bone!

On labor day we took her to visit Stephens grandparents in Huntsville & she had a blast! His grandpa gave her a capri sun, chips, & a chocolate pudding cup. Oh & also an Alabama hat because she loves hats. He was her new fav person obviously. She was so good that day considering she didn't take a nap. They had some bbq & my mo-in -law gave Jayden a rib bone to chew on. She didn't hesitate, she knew exactly what to do & she loved it. I'm sure it felt good on her gums since she was cutting in another molar at that time.







On a not so good note she got sick this month for the 1st time ever:( I shouldn't have bragged that she had never been sick because of course it happened after that. She ran a fever for 3days straight with no other symptoms other than just wanted to be held & lay around. At 1st they thought it was a uti but then her labs came back negative after a few days so they said it was likely a fever virus. Up until then she had never been sick so I had never had to experience it...seeing your child sick is horrible & makes you feel completely helpless. I'm so glad it wasn't anything serious. She was back to her normal self in no time!

TWELVE Months

ONE YEAR!!! I know, I know, I can't believe it either. 12months has now come & gone & in a flash she is already 13months! Your guess is as good as mine as to how in the world it has already been a whole year. I handled it pretty well I think. I did cry the night before her birthday though. I always rock her a little before laying her down at night. As I was rocking her that night it literally felt like yesterday I was holding her in the hospital. You don't realize how fast a year goes by until you see it through your child. It happens soo fast! I came into the living room that night already weepy & Stephen asked what I was going to do when she starts school if I'm already crying over her bday. Well, that was the wrong thing to say because I boo-hooed even worse, haha! I told him, "don't ever say that to me" lol I can't even imagine sending her to school right now, baby steps ok!
She is just as entertaining as ever & we love it! She challenges us everyday & is so strong willed. I keep saying we're are going to end up on an episode of Nanny 911, haha! Now don't get me wrong she is an excellent baby but she is just so determined to do it her way, all the time. She still REFUSES to say Da-da. I don't get it, I really don't. Her list of words so far consist of Mama, Nana, mine, night-night(for bedtime obviously), & mimi..which is what she says for Minnie or Mickey Mouse. She loves her some Minnie Mouse!

At her 1yr checkup she weighed 21lb 12oz & was 29in long. She is starting to get a little picky about what she will eat but I guess that just comes with the age. She loves Ritz crackers & would live off them if we would let her. Her other faves now are green beans & grilled cheese sandwiches. By the end of the month we had switched her to whole milk & completely taken the bottle away. Before then I would still give her a bottle before bed even though she didn't really need it. It was just her time to wind down before bedtime so I was worried about taking that away but she never fussed about it being gone. I still rock her for a few min before laying her down though, I'll be doing that until she won't let me anymore:)

ELEVEN Months

I swear I need to start writing these post sooner because my memory is horrible! I know I'll probably end up leaving a lot out from month 11, oh well. Let me start by saying that if you have been around Jayden you know 1st hand that she refuses & I mean refuses to say, "dada". It's become like a game to her...every time you ask her to say dada she says momma instead. Every time! Trust me we have been trying to get her to say it since she was 7 or 8 months old. Now, she obviously knows exactly who Daddy is & will even point to him but she just will not say it. It's become a running joke around here. I swear she is doing it on purpose, totally just messing with us. This month she added "Nana" (which is what she calls my Mom) to her vocabulary. Stubborn, just stubborn because we all know she can say dada she just won't.
She now has almost 10 teeth! I checked her mouth one evening & discovered she was cutting 6 teeth at once:( We had no idea because she had been so good about it & wasn't acting like they bothered her. I think 3 or 4 of the 6 have already made it all the way through & the others are still trying. I had no clue a kid could cut that many at once.
She has started pulling up more & has started to scoot along the couch. She thinks she is hot stuff when she stands holding the couch. She always smiles & looks at one of us like ok you can clap now, haha! She is obsessed with phones so I found an old one that we don't use anymore & gave it to her to keep as her very own. Seriously, I should have got her on camera because her reaction was hilarious. Her eyes got huge & she just held then phone up & laughed. I guess she was amazed because I never let her play with ours so it was the best thing ever to her. I told her to say hello into the phone & she held it up to her ear...smarted kid ever ;) Of course I thought it was the greatest thing because we didn't teach her that...it's funny the things kids pick up on just by watching you.
Ok don't judge this next part but we thought it would be hilarious to put a wig on Jayden...& let me tell you it was hilarious! She looked awesome, haha!

 We had her birthday party technically while she was still 11 months old because her bday fell in the middle of the week on a Wednesday. My sister, Mom, & niece all helped with the party & it wasn't stressful at all....sarcasm? A lot of ideas we got from Pinterest & I think it turned out to be a great party. Jayden loved it & had a blast & that's all that matters. She had the cutest outfits...one lace romper for before cake & another smocked dress for after. If you're reading this & you were there THANK YOU for coming & celebrating her big day:) It was a lot of people but I enjoyed it & I hope everyone else did too.

 She also got a pink play phone & pink car at her party:)

I love this sweet lil dress on her!

TEN Months

Jayden turned 10 months old the day we left for the beach. Her very first beach trip, how exciting! Let me just say I thought I packed a lot when it was just me..umm no..it's nothing compared to everything you need for a baby. My Mom went with us and we four barely fit in my little Mazda with everything we took! I will admit that Stephen & I were both thinking it would be a rather difficult or should I say exhausting trip. BUT let me tell you Jayden did ahhh-mazing! She never fussed the entire car ride nor did she ever cry or get fussy when we were out & about or at a restaurant. The only time she ever cried was when we would get back to the condo & she would be exhausted & ready for bed or a nap. So far this kid has been exceptionally easy on us...that should continue into "toddler-hood" right?  Right??? I almost forgot to mention we got her an airbrush shirt...oh my word it's the cutest thing ever. Sadly I don't have a pic of her wearing it yet because the smallest they had was a 2T & it's rather big. However, Mom bought her a shirt that said "cute & crabby" with Destin across the bottom & it's also is a 2T but way smaller. Weird.

Jayden is definitely a water baby! She was weary of the pool at first but quickly got comfortable in it. She loved sitting on the steps with me or her Nana & on the side of the pool splashing. As far as the beach goes she did well with it but it was just too hot for her. We had gotten her a baby beach tent(best $25 ever spent!) & would go to the beach @5pm but after about an hour her lil cheeks would be bright red & she would be getting restless. We even had a battery operated fan for her AND this was at the end of May so I can't imagine taking her mid summer. We would just pack up & take her to the pool to cool off.

This month we switched Jayden to a big girl carseat which she loves. She is up higher & can see better out all the windows & I'm sure it's a lot more comfortable than her infant seat. She also had a 6month check up with her ears...which was a 10 minute visit with a $60 copay for them to tell me she can hear. Yeah, kind of knew that already. She for the first time ever threw a small fit while at the doctor because I wouldn't let her down in the floor. Stephen worked that day so I was by myself and she was kicking my booty! She is a nonstop ball of energy! When I didn't put her down she while yelling "momma" slapped me! Mmhmm you read that right...ol girl up & slapped her Momma! She's young so I know it's not like when a toddler slaps but still she did it out of frustration because she didn't get her way. So, the only thought I had was, " omg, what are we going to do when she's two" haha! She is a ball of energy & attitude. On another note she is hilarious!! I know, I know, every parent thinks their kid is the funniest thing ever but we can't help it. She keeps us laughing. It looks like she got my crazy gene, poor kid. She's loud, she makes funny faces ALL the time & she constantly comes up with her own funny way to do things. I assure you she was not mad in the pic below...I would make a face at her & this is the face she would make back at me, haha!

 I love her little personality & we can't wait until she starts talking more. We've been working with her on naming her body parts & she can now tell you where her hands, toes, nose, & belly are. Though for the nose she grabs mine since she can't see hers. It's funny how the smallest things they do can make you the happiest & proudest. Her Nanny(my mom-in-law) has taught her how to "gripe" at people/things. She will wave her hand up & down at you or point while waving. It was cute until she did it to me one night after I told her no...ok it was still cute even then. She started crawling the other night (June 21st) though it seems she would still rather army crawl everywhere. What ever way she wants to do it is fine by me. I now regret having zero carpet in the house because I know it hurts her little knees. Plus, I'm going to need a never ending supply of xanax when she starts trying to walk! I've already tossed around the idea of putting bubble wrap on her but that might be a tad bit too overprotective...just a tad.
Stephen got to celebrate his 1st Father's Day & I know if you asked him he would say he had a great day. This pic is from that day & it's not hard to tell these two adore eachother!

Here are some various pics from 10 months:)



NINE Months

Nine months came with 2 new teeth for Jayden. She cut her upper front teeth within two weeks. This go around seemed to be a lot more painful for her as we had many, MANY sleepless nights. I was a walking zombie for a week straight. I felt so bad for her knowing she was in pain, she would wake up @ 6 times a night screaming. Sometimes for 5 minutes & sometimes for 45min.  She cut the 1st top on April 30th then the 2nd one came in on May 8th. After that she was back to her normal self & she looks adorable with her 4 little teeth!
She had her 9 month check-up to which she weighed 20lbs and was 26 1/2 inches tall. He said we were doing a great job & that she was perfect! Finally he didn't say she was too skinny or too chubby just perfect. She was 9 months old and still not crawling & I was surprised he never even asked if she was. When I brought it up he said it was completely normal & that girls take longer than boys & also the 1st born can take longer to crawl or walk. I don't know if she will ever crawl because she rolls & scoots herself to wherever she needs to be. She does get up on all fours and rocks but then drops down and scoots or rolls. She does what she wants to get the job done & that's fine with us. I read a blog once where the mom of 4 kids was saying she regretted pushing her 1st born to do so much before he was ready just because she felt that's what she was suppose to do. I never want to push her before shes ready..I'm actually enjoying her taking longer to crawl because that means she stays my little baby a while longer. Honestly, I don't think we're ready for her to be mobile yet...we're already exhausted haha!
I got to celebrate my 1st Mother's Day in May. Usually I'm not a fan of holidays like that because there's so much pressure for it to be "perfect" & that always annoys me but it was a really great day spent with family & having Jayden actually did make it "perfect".
Here are some pics from 9 months...

Happy Mother's Day!

      Haha!!                  

                                   

  One of my fav pics!

        

     So sassy!       

EIGHT months

I barely finished writing about her 7th month & now I'm back again writing about month 8:( Sigh! For month 8 we started working more on giving her table food & not just baby food. She loves sweet potatoes so I started with that. However, she hated it! I mashed it but didn't puree it into baby food & she just did not care for the texture at all. She does well with crackers & teething biscuits though. Her doc told us a lot of babies don't like new textures because they don't know whether to chew it or swallow it. She's getting use to some new things though.
Welllll Jayden got her 1st black eye:( It was actually right under her eye on her cheekbone. She was laying in the floor on her tummy playing with a toy & when she went to put her face down she hit her eye on her toy. It instantly knotted up & bruised. I thought I was going to pass out! I've really got to get it under control before she gets older. I know I can't freak out when things happen to her because it will only make it worse for her. Nobody wants their baby to get hurt though. This pic was a few days after but you can still see the bruise. We put an ice pack on it for about 10min & it helped a lot.

She also celebrated her 1st Easter & looked absolutely adorable in her little smocked dress! She was not interested in her basket at all...well, I should say not interested in what was IN the basket but did want to eat the ribbon that was on it:) We didn't have her pic made with the Easter Bunny...honestly those bunny suits creep me out. She obvisouly is too young to hunt eggs so I'm definitely looking forward to next Easter when she will be running around and able to do more.

At the end of the month we decided to try getting her to sleep in her crib. When we tried this before we had decided to move her crib into our room but it still was a disaster. However, I can happily report that she is currently sleeping in HER crib every night & taking naps in her crib. It has been way easier than we thought since the 1st try was horrible. She knows I'm still in there with her & before I don't think she understood that part. So to everyone that said it can't be done that she will still be in our bed in 5yrs...sorry but it can & was done! I have to note that she has a new sleeping position that she only started in her crib...sleeping on her tummy face planted into the mattress! I told my Mom that she was doing it to punish us for kicking her out of our bed lol It's terrifying to walk in & see your child face down in the bed! I let her fall sleep that way then I always turn her to her side.
Until next time...here are some more pics from 8 months:)

I forgot to mention that for Easter her Nana(my Mom) got her this pretty blue dress & bunny ears that have a crown on them. So we decided to take some pics in the field.