Dear Lola- 11 Months

Dear Lola,

Every day it seems like you learn something new. This month you starting pointing at things in books. You love books, but can't always hold still long enough for me to read one cover to cover. You'd rather flip the pages as fast as you can. I love it when you're tired and snugly and sit while we read. You've learned that blocks are for stacking which is just so so cute. You will take them out of your toy basket and then put them all back in. You do the same thing with the cookie cutters and a bowl. Probably my favorite thing that you've learned is to clap your hands. You do it with a big smile on your face. I love the way you babble. Sometimes you go on and on, talking about who knows what. One day daddy was trying to teach you to may mama. It really sounded like you said it a few times, but of course you didn't know what you were saying. I think you will be talking soon. When dad gets home for the day you always light up and let out a giggle. It seems like you turn into a high energy version of yourself when he gets home and wants to play. It's adorable when you follow him around the house.You have only gotten better and better at walking. After taking your first steps a month ago it only took about a week before you were walking more than crawling. You learned how to stand up in the middle of the floor and then quickly how to turn around to change direction. You are such an adorable, clever little girl.

Lots of love,
Mom

Dear Lola- 10 months

Dear Lola,

You took your first steps two days after turning 10 months old . We were surprised and thrilled! Grandma Hill had been making bets that you would for weeks but I was skeptical. I had been helping you learn to stand on your own for a few days but then suddenly you thought you would take a few steps before diving for the floor. I kept standing you up and bribing you with my cellphone. The most you did was 4-5 steps that first day. I sent a text to Dad saying "I think Lola will be walking by the time you get home for lunch!" Since then you just keep getting better and better. You are now striking out on your own- you are so brave! You also get into and empty every cupboard and drawer you can reach. I just have to accept that the house will always be in disarray. I also found you sucking on the nasty part of the toilet plunger the other day haha. You are such a curious and clever child :) Other things you have been up to this month: going down stairs, getting off the couch or bed by yourself, and waving. You sometimes cry when I leave the room without you, or crawl into the bathroom after me. You love eating cheese, crackers, cheerios, chicken, peas, watermelon, bananas, peaches, and pretty much any fruit we give you. I am happy to say that you are doing much better at sleeping all night long, although if you kick off you blankets and get cold you whine until you get cuddled. There is no way I can get you to wear a bow on your head anymore. Even distracting you is not enough to keep it on for a minute. Holding still for pictures is also difficult because you just want to get a hold of the camera. Right now you are sitting on my lap as I type, inspecting all Dad's calculators and sometimes trying to type for me. This is such a fun age! Love you forever.

Xoxo,

Mom

Dear Lola- 9 Months

Dear Lola,

I'm sitting here thinking about how you've been out longer than you were in. It feels like forever ago that I was pregnant and it seems impossible that you ever fit in my tummy. The little faded lines on my skin remind me that you did, but that it was a stretch :)Your stats are: weight- 19 pounds 9 ounces (64%) height- 29 inches (91%) and head- 18 inches. You are so tall! You've been cruising along furniture all month long.You are tall enough to reach the oven handle and the bathroom counter. Sometimes you stand on dad's side of the table and hold on while peeking over to see me while we eat. I can't believe you will be walking in the next few months. You've always been one to enjoy a good cuddle, but it melts my heart that now when you are sitting in my lap facing me you will turn your head to the side and lean into my chest. A few of your favorite new noises are to stick out your tongue and blow and to smack your lips. Your top two teeth came in last month. Now you have a seriously toothy grin and a good bite to go with it. Everyone, watch your fingers! We went raspberry picking the other night. Picking raspberries with you was like picking carrots with a bunny. You wanted to eat them all. You are getting into everything and get upset when you don't get to play with something you want like knives out of the dishwasher and dog food (eww.) You sit near me while I do the dishes and play with pots and pans and tupperware. This year has gone by so fast. It makes me sad that soon you won't be my little baby. Someday when you read these letters I hope you get a glimpse of just how much we loved you from the start.

Love always,
Mom

Dear Lola- 8 Months

Dear Lola,

This month you have been one happy baby. You learned how to stand up to things all on your own. This has resulted in a lot of head bonks, but you are getting better at landing gracefully on your bum. You crawl with (almost) lightning speed to the bathroom and stand up to the toilet- so funny. Before you could stand you were always crawling on to the bathroom scale. Please don't obsess too much about you weight. Believe me, 20.5 pounds is nothing. :) You are so cute during bath time. You splash and crawl and chew on your sea creature bath toys just as happy as can be. You've also discovered how to unroll and eat the toilet paper so it's probably safe to say that the bathroom is your favorite room right now. You surprised me a few Sundays ago by climbing the stairs at Grandma and Grandpa Hill's. You can climb the whole staircase now which is crazy since you don't really have any to practice on at home. You still love to nurse about six times a day and eat three solid meals. You've gotten pretty adventurous eating finger foods. The other day we had tacos and you ate corn tortilla pieces and shredded pork right along with us. You aren't nearly as excited when you see me with a spoon. I think your love affair with bananas is just beginning. Still no top teeth but I can tell they will be here soon. At night you sleep from about 9 PM to 7 AM and then take three naps during the day. Sometimes you get up once in the night. I realized early on in your life that I could feel resentful about this, or just enjoy a quick cuddle with you. Mostly I don't mind. Dad taught you to turn on the light by pulling the cord on the ceiling fan. If I carry you across the room you raise your arms trying to get to it. You've been "talking" for a few months now, saying dadada and such. It's too cute. It's been fun taking you swimming and fishing this summer and let's face it, nothing is cuter than you in a swimsuit. I painted our toenails matching red for the 4th of July. Thanks for being my cuddle bug. 

Love always,

Mom 

Dear Lola- 7 Months

Dear Lola,

At seven months it feels like your baby days will fly by in the blink of an eye. You are wearing 12 month clothes and growing by the minute. This month you started eating meat and fruit (yum yum!) You've gotten really excited about eating. It's easy to tell if you like something by the way you swallow and quickly open up wide for more. The opposite happens if you hate it or are full, as well as crying. You can be so dramatic haha. I just started giving you those little baby puffs which you think are the best thing EVER.You got a bad rash after eating avocado so I guess we will have to be careful. You love your sippy cup but don't understand that it has to be tipped up to get water. Real cups are the bees knees. I think this happened after I gave you a sip of my smoothie. If I've got a cup you've gotta have a drink. OH! My wildest dreams came true! You sprouted your two front bottom teeth about a week after you turned 6 months. They are super cute and sharp. They didn't seem to bother you at all coming in so It's a good thing I was keeping a lookout for them or I wouldn't have noticed. Now I'm kind of scared for your top teeth to come in....ouch. You've been working all month on crawling. Mostly it's been more of a scoot crawl but lately it's definitely a real crawl. I even saw you go from sitting to crawling a couple of times. I think you will really take off this week. Eek I'm scared though because I know I can't protect you from all the bumps and bangs. One thing is for sure, I can not put you on the bed any more. You dove off head first twice in a week. That made me feel like the world's worst mom.We took you camping for the first time to Horseshoe lake. It was really fun and of course you wanted to eat all the dirt you could. Dad thinks you are his little fishing pal this summer. It is the cutest thing watching you two together. I love our little family of three. Xoxo

Love,
Mom

Dear Lola- 6 Months

Dear Lola,

Six months already! You are growing so fast, little cutie. Suddenly you are doing all sorts of big baby things like napping less and sitting up all on your own! The day we got home from vacation I noticed you were doing two things I hadn't noticed before: chewing your toes and pushing up with your feet to get your tummy off the ground. I know you have big ideas about crawling. For now though you can get just about anywhere you want by rolling and scooting. It's just not nearly fast enough for you! The last few days you have gotten up on your hands and knees. I guess we will have to wait and see how long it takes for you to get moving :) You also do this funny thing where you balance on your head and your feet in a bridge pose. You are a little gymnast! You've tried lots of vegetables now and seem to like them all. I'm on the lookout for teeth but you haven't sprouted any yet. It's funny though because I have dreams about them all the time. Once I dreamed that I looked in your mouth and counted 40 teeth. All in one day, wow! :) Another time I dreamed that I looked and saw a bunch of teeth but they were all big and strange looking. You then popped out a pair of dentures and I said, "Lola, whose teeth did you steal?!" Lol. At your 6 month appointment we found out that you weigh 18 lbs 2 oz (87%) and are 27 inches long (90%)! Keep growing big and strong, baby girl.

Love you lots,
Mom

Dear Lola- 5 months

Dear Lola,

Lately it has been so fun to be your mom. It's been about a month since you learned to use your hands to grab and get a hold of things and you are now a pro. I never tire of watching you use them to grab for a toy or food off daddy's plate. You especially like to use your new found dexterity to grab at my face while you nurse. You try to get a hold of my nose or put your whole hand in my mouth. Of course this would be quite annoying... except for the fact that I still find it adorable. You also started eating solid foods earlier this month, although I put it off again until last week. You've eaten rice and oatmeal cereal, peas, sweet potatoes, and carrots so far. I think you've liked them all just fine- except the peas. It's been a few weeks now that you learned to roll from your back to your tummy. Your scooting has only gotten better too. You arch your back and push with your legs to get half way across the room if you see something worth the scoot. Your giggles are contagious and I love the way you smile with your whole toothless mouth open wide. It's almost just as cute when you pull a big frown- you always get your way when you do. This week we got a jogging stroller and we have gone out every day. Daddy is always so happy to come home and hold you after a long day at school. He usually sits you on his lap during dinner just because he missed you all day. You're not sleeping 10 hours straight anymore but I guess it's okay as long as you're happy. It's amazing to see you grow from a helpless newborn to a curious little baby. You have a lot more growing to do, but know that today I love you just the way you are.

Love,
Mom

Dear Lola- 4 Months

Dear Lola,

Monday marked 4 months since we held you for the first time. Your dad and I think you are the most precious little girl in the whole world. Monday I also took you to see Dr. L. He is very happy with how you are growing. You weigh 15 lbs 7.5 oz (87%) and are 25.5 inches long (91%.) Your cute little noggin measures 16.5 inches around (77%.) You had to get immunizations so of course you bawled your eyes out. Thankfully you fell asleep before we even left the Doctor's office. That night you gave us a scare. I noticed you were hot and had a temperature of 101.6. I immediately called my sister Karen who is a nurse. Then I called Phil who said he would pick up some Tylenol on the way home. 45 minutes later you threw up about ten times. You completely soaked the front of my shirt and your clothes too. It scared me half to death! I called Karen again and Phil who then also called Karen... you can tell we are first time parents with a first time sick baby. I even called the after hours number at the pediatrician's office. I was just so nervous. You spit out the Tylenol but went to bed as usual. You even slept through the night (although I sure didn't.) It seemed all you needed was a good nights sleep and then you were happy as a peach. You started sleeping through the night at about 2 1/2 months, although lately you've been waking up for snacks in the night. In other news you have started to babble and giggle which we think is adorable. You like to arch your back to escape from the bouncer or even your car seat when not strapped in. Your grandma, aunts, and cousins all love to hold you. I got you some books at the thrift store including Goldilocks and the Three Bears and I'm going to read them to you. I have fond memories of my mom reading to me so I hope you will like books as much as I do. I'm so blessed to have you as my daughter.

Hugs & Kisses, 

Mom