RG by the Week: 42 Weeks!

July 31-6th 

42 weeks!?! WOW!! I can not believe it!! This is a BIG week for us- Raleigh Grace has now been in this world longer than she was growing in my belly!! It is definitely surreal knowing that she is so old and has been a part of our lives for so long.  I know I say this all the time but I can not believe that she is growing up so fast- it seems like each month flies by faster and faster... and to think that in only 10 short weeks my baby girl is going to be a YEAR old...! 

Okay, sorry for the sappy intro... moving on.
ps- this is a really long post with way too many pics... proceed with caution!

we celebrated Granny Fox's birthday! (you made her that beautiful card!)

Stats: 

this is how I found her when I went and got her from her bed... fashionista :) 

42 weeks... 9 1/2 months! WOW!  We (and by we I mean you) still have 2 bottom teeth, no more, no less.  Your hair is blonde (white) except for when it is wet it looks strawberry blonde-ish :) Your eyes are still a beautiful deep blue!  I am not sure how much you weigh but you are getting heavy, sister! Oh look at your hair:

never to early to start training right?? (see below for explanation ha! its a funny one!)

Firsts/Milestones:

You are a babbling little girl.  In the mornings when I get you up I usually bring you to my room and nurse you and cuddle... as we are cuddling you are just the most chatty little thing ever and I am loving it!!! I tried to write down some of the sounds you are saying but there is no way I am getting them all because you are so explorative with your newfound voice... its so much fun to listen to you! Here are a few of the sounds I wrote down: 

pah da (dah-dah on rare occasion, still working on that one) ma-ma mah-mah oo dee doe bah-bah non ugh ahh guh hai ... and many more!

You started this about a week or two ago- you have started laughing at things because they are funny... you especially love to laugh at your books, and things on tv.  

You just started using your index finger to pull down on your bottom lip but you haven't started making any noise with it yet-- we are all trying to get you to do the "brrr" noise while playing with your lips. 

First time laying on your back "floating" in the tub... you have always been so unsure once your ears get wet but you did great (pic below)

Not sure if I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago but you have started waving! Its not with your hand but rather your whole arm flop's up and down... Sometimes if we cant get you to do it on your own by mimicking us, we will grab your arm and start flapping it and then you do it on your own (muscle memory maybe?). 

You recognize the following words when we say them to you:  up-when you are laying on the changing table or if you are in your bouncer- you know to reach your arms "up" and we will get you out.  Eat- daddy and I have been signing to you but I'm not sure you totally recognize any signs yet, but I'll say eat, do the sign and smack my lips and you most definitely know what thats about.  You know people by their names (both my family and daddy's).  Bounce- if we say bounce bounce while you are in your jumperaoo you will go to town (we say bounce bounce come on bounce and you love it- its like you are putting on a show for us!) 

You got in the lake at Camp with Paw-paw (Jim) and loved it- you kept picking up dirt off the bottom and trying to eat it.  At one point you were munching on a rock but we finally got it out of your mouth. :) I'm really not sure who had more fun- you or PawPaw?? 

We went to the grocery store the other day and I found a balloon and clipped it to the cart while we were shopping and you were fascinated! You are so smart-- you grabbed the string of the balloon and with your other hand pulled the ballon closer to you then moved your other hand- reached up, grabbed the string and pulled the balloon closer until you finally were able to grab the balloon- Daddy noticed this and I was like, no... shes not doing that on purpose but when you grabbed the balloon it was obvious you were doing it on purpose.  You would then let the balloon go, and do it all over again.  It kept you entertained for a good while! ha

You are now drinking out of your sippy cup on your own! You have been holding it for a long time but we would have to "help" you turn it up to get the water out of it... now, you know what you are doing! 

You and I planed our first "garden"- tomatoes, cilantro, lavender, bell peppers, and sweet basil

You had your FIRST ever accident in the tub- you pooped! As soon as I saw you getting ready to go, I grabbed you and put you on the potty... you actually pooped in the toilet AND the tub! So proud of you haha! (see pictures above!) ha

You watched your first real movie- Milo and Otis and you LOVED it-- you laughed as you watched and thought it was great for a whole 30 minutes until daddy turned it off so we could bathe you.  You ate part of a biscut and watched as you had your sippy cup of water beside you. You were in heaven! 

You learned how to ring Granny Em's dinner bell! Following a family tradition! :) 

ringing the dinner bell

watching Milo and Otis 

clearly she loved Milo and Otis!

another one of your new favorite things to do- help mommy and daddy with laundry :)

talking Daddy into letting you go outside to garden with me

silly faces... helping mamma garden

Behavior/Loves:

You love to have your mouth open with your tongue out.  It always cracks me up- maybe that's why you do it? hehe :) 

You love your bouncer and nearly bounce out of it... you put your arms in a touch down position and will jump and jump... and jump.  After about 5 or 10 minutes (depending on the day) you are done. 

You still love the water- going to the pool, bath time, playing in a glass of ice water, etc. You see water, you want in it! (We went to K's cousins engagement party on Saturday and there was a pool out back where we were hanging out and she wanted in it so bad we had to strip her clothes and let her play on the step. She loved it!) 

Now that you are saying buh-buh "bye-bye" people love to try to get you to say it when they /we are leaving and they try to get you to wave... you could not be happier about all of the attention.  You love being the center of the attention.  When we were skyping with Gma Lala and Pop the other night you would make sure you were facing the camera before "showing off."  You are quite the little entertainer- I can't wait to see what the future has in store for you!  

You are always getting compliments on how well behaved you are.  When we took you to camp on Wednesday night, all of the people there just kept saying how good you were and that they have never seen such a well behaved baby.  You are so flexible and "go with the flow" 99.9% of the time, even when you are tired.  At camp on Wednesday night we leave until almost 10:30 and you were exhausted but you didn't show it.  You let everyone hold you, pass you around, etc. without getting a bit fussy! 

You love when I read you your "cute and cuddly" bath time book- it has baby animals and you giggle when I read it.  You also love Brown Bear and the Hungry Caterpillar books. You will go to your book shelf and almost always pull Brown Bear off first no matter where I have placed it!  

You still love to share what you are eating with us... you reach out and put it near our face :)

jumperoo fun

Hanging out with uncle Charlie at Granny's bday dinner

you and Uncle Charlie

Feeding: 

You are eating great this week- even your baby food! You are eating and nursing about the same as last week.  

Hanging out at Camp with the best life guards- PawPaw and Uncle C (after your swim in the lake)

celebrating the first ever Eagle Scout Day (you were the only girl up there with all the Eagles) 

you are with them renewing their oath (center of pic- to right of daddy- he's wearing the grey shirt with the TX state on it)

Sleep: 

You have been sleeping GREAT!! Like I said earlier some nights we keep you up late but even if we have been out and about later, usually when we get you home we change your diaper and put on your pj's and I nurse you and you go right back to sleep!  You are sleeping from about 10pm-5am, nursing and then sleeping until about 9-9:30.  You are great about playing in your crib when you wake up... Sometimes I don't know how long you have even been awake because I will go to check on you and you will be sitting up playing! You definitely don't get this from your mommy- I am happy you enjoy playing by yourself!  Naps are still pretty good but you usually nap about an hour and a half instead of two hours now.  I'm not complaining though :) 

At camp during Wednesday night ceremony

the moon was beautiful and almost erie coming up over the mountain! 

hangin out with Charlie

Clothes: 

same as last week, and the week before ha.  Still in 6 month clothes for the most part... some bigger some smaller. Size 2 diapers.

Favorite Moments: 

Watching you play in the lake at camp, watching you swim in the pool... just trying to take in ALL of the new things you are doing every day! The world is your playground and you really are exploring and learning new things daily! 

such a big girl, laying on her back for the first time in the tub.

Most Challenging: 

thankfully, I can't think of anything.  Sometimes you get frustrated and grunt or squeal and I know thats hard for you but its still cute, and we try and make you happy and move on :) 

sweet little girl was passed out but she was hot... look at the little beads on her nose!

Looking Forward to: 

Going to the beach with my family and YOU!! (my mom, brother, aunt, and granddaddy- we usually go to the beach for a week every summer with them but this year we have been too busy so our weekend trip will just have to do.) So thankful to be able to go to the beach period! 

"If you're lucky enough to be at the beach, you're lucky enough!"

this is RG pulling on her lip trying to do the buhbuhbuh sound ha! :)

started baby proofing 

loooving her first snow cone! from the cutest stand ever!!

Mommy Moments: 

Enjoying every moment staying home with you! I can't imagine doing it any other way! You make me so happy sweet girl!! :) 

this never happens so I'll enjoy the occasional cuddle I can get while you are awake :) 

not the best picture, but some exciting things have been happening in the life of Daddy... hopefully I can make it official soon :) As always, so proud of him and love to celebrate him! :)