Keeping Up with the Buckners: April 2012

Double digits, baby! My little girl is 10 months old. In the past month, Hailey has really become much less "baby" and much more "toddler". It is crazy! She is pulling up on absolutely everything and cruising around all the furniture. The girl is BRAVE! She babbles non-stop and is really starting to understand words and concepts. It's amazing to see that little brain hard at work :)

As far as playing goes, she rarely "eats" her toys anymore - she actually plays with them! She bangs them together, puts the balls in the proper spots in the massive toy shown below, pulls toys on and off the stacker, and LOVES books! She turns the pages when I say "turn the page!" and "pets" all the pages as I read. When playing with books on her own, she opens them and holds them up to her head like shes reading. So smart! :) But hands down, my favorite thing she has learned in the past month is holding her play phones up to her ears like she's talking. We didn't even teach her that! Now whenever I look at her and say "Hello?" she holds her toy or little fist up to her ear and tilts her head like she's on the phone. Too cute!! She's also a pro at waving (more to strangers than to me or Rian..) and clapping her hands. Oh, and when you say "give me a kiss!" she lunges toward you, mouth wide open!

(its a baseball card)

She loves standing. She toddles back and forth between the coffee table and couch with no fear at all. She loves to scare mommy by letting go completely of one and turning her body all at once to grab onto the other. We are also working on her walking behind her little musical push-toy. She is really good at it! I am hopeful that she will be walking on her own by the big O-N-E!

She has cutest little personality. She is smiling and giggling all the time, showing off her "cheese face" and her 3 tiny teeth to anyone that will look her way. She laughs at me all the time, too! Whenever I put on my glasses... whenever I try to teach her sign language... apparently the signs for "eat" and "more" are just hilarious :) She is just so lovable and sweet. She isn't much for snuggling (unless she is really, really sleepy) - she would rather be crawling and exploring! Speaking of which - the girl is quick! Just when I think I've tossed the dog bone out of her path, I look over and she is chewing on it! Ok, that has only happened twice, but she is FAST.

cheese!

sporting the classic "baby bath mohawk"

he's cute mommy, can we keep him?

Hailey is also still a great eater. We are on all finger foods now (still left handed) - no more purees in this house! I can't believe my baby-food-making days are already over! New foods we've tried this month are strawberies, watermelon, cantaloupe, raspberries, and PB&J! We don't need to do prune juice anymore because she gets enough fiber in her diet from all the black beans and whole grains mommy feeds her - brown rice, whole wheat pasta, and whole wheat bread! She's going to be the healthiest baby in town whether she likes it or not! :) I can't believe that less than 2 months from now I'll start weaning her off of "me" and onto regular milk. This has been the fastest year of my life!

nom nom nom, enjoying my first pb&j

And thank heavens, she is sleeping through the night again. I think it was our 12-day stint in Jeff City that threw off her sleeping pattern. A few nights of "cry it out" and she's back to 11 hours of sleep at night and 2 naps during the day (binky-free, I might add!). Also, thanks to some sleeping tips from my friend Lindsay, her morning nap has gone from 20-30 minutes to 45-60! It's a beautiful thing.

Also this month we switched Hailey into a "big girl" carseat. MAN what a task that was. There are WAY too many to choose from and the prices range from like $75 to $400! After lots and lots of research we landed on the Britax Marathon 70. And thanks to Babies R Us messing up my order (its a long story...) I got about $80 off the in-store price! Love me a great deal.

look at me! im a big girl!

Miss Hailey had her first Easter this month as well. How cute is she in her pretty dress, frilly socks, and pink patent leather shoes?? Scrumptious!

Party planning for her 1st birthday party is in full swing. Get ready for pink, aqua, yellow, and cute, CUTE owls! Hobby Lobby is going to be sick of me in the next 2 months but I don't care... this party's gonna be a HOOT! ;)