Fun with Jadyn

It's always a party when Jadyn & Whitney get together.  Here are the two of them right after Whitney's nap.  (That's why her hair is crazy!!)  On this occasion the two of them were having so much fun in the crib.  Jadyn was cruising everywhere and Whitney was white-knuckled to the side trying to jump on her mattress.  The best is when these two spot each other at church.  They both start to squeal and smile and wave at each other.  They really are good buddies. 

We also went to the doctor for Whitney's 12 month check up:

Here's the stats:

Weight: 19 lbs (15%)

Length/Height: 28 inches (14%)

Head:  46 cm (74%)

She screamed and cried big alligator tears with all the shots and finger pricks.  But at least it's over and she took a nap right after.

Whitney's REAL B-day

I'm sure by now, you're wondering if I'll ever stop posting about Whitney's first birthday.  This is the last one, I promise.  But I am doing this blog for journaling purposes, so I don't want to NOT put up pictures from what Whitney was actually doing when she turned one.

Good Morning:  Breakfast of champions?  Don't worry, this wasn't all she ate. 

Dad came home from school early, just in time to take a quick cat-nap in between Whitney's 2 naps.  Here she has the remote, which she pretends is a phone.  I think Baby Babble is what she was watching.  

Time to open presents from Grandma/Grandpa Paxton and Allen & Katy.  (We don't call my parents Grandma or Grandpa.)  How unorthodox, I know.

A "ca" (car) from Grandma/Grandpa Paxton... along with a set of keys!!  Woo Hoo!

A dolly from Katy & Allen.  So sweet. 

Love at first sight!

Whitney loves to feed her "bay-be"

You know what they say:  Babies having babies.  I wanted a picture of me with MY first baby having HER first baby on her first birthday.  

My cute friend, Andrea, always does this with her girls.  

Here is Whitney by our front door.

Up close

Me and my baby girl

Don't laugh.  Yes, it is the same cake from 5 days earlier!!!  I know the whole end is missing.  Whitney didn't care.  She still knew it was a dog and loved being able to finally get it out of that fridge.  

Still just as proper with her cake.  Why can't she eat every meal like this?

P.S.  

Thank you Andrea for this darling book.  

Whitney LOVES it- and will come to Seattle very soon!

12 Month Update

Whitney is officially ONE, and this is what she's been doing this last month:

-Loves to try to say new words:  I'm not sure which one's I've already written down in past posts, but theses are the ones she says:
"da" (dog)
"ba" (ball)
"ca" (car)
"dada" (dada)
"maa-maa" (mama.. it's my favorite!)
"du" (duck)
"bur" (bird)
"uh-oh"
"cra-cka" (cracker)
"bay-be" (baby)
"clock" (clock.. it's my second favorite)
"dat" (that)
"dis" (this)
"ber" (bear)
"basss" (bath)
"bu" (book)
"bubble" (bubble)
-Whitney takes 2 naps that are usually 1.5 hours each.  Occasionally, we'll get lucky and she'll sleep for longer than 2 hours.
-Started sleeping all the way through the night (11-12 hours) without waking up.  This one was painful for me, as it took a lot of work to get her to do this.
-LOVES animals.  She loves going to the zoo.  Whitney can spot a bird, bug or animal a long ways away.  She'll start trying to name it.  Usually, she won't stop saying it's name until it's out of view again.
-When we say, "Monkey!" Whitney will start to go, "Ooooh, ooooh, ooooh, oooh!"  Just like the monkey at the zoo.
-Whitney loves to do "Open mouth!"  and open her mouth as wide as she can.
-She also loves to do, "How big is Whitney?"  "So BIG!"  and raise up her arms right next to her head.
-Got to travel to Texas for the first time.
-Loves to play with other kids- especially the ones just a bit older than herself.
-Tries to feed herself with a spoon and doesn't like me to put food into her mouth.
-Whitney loves spicy food.  Right now she loves beans, crackers, cantaloupe, grapes, yogurt, cheese,  (I just started giving her peanut butter after she turned 1... and she loves that.)
-Likes to do just what we are doing.
-Says "mmmmm" when she wants to eat or drinks something.
-Started drinking whole milk.
-Loves to clap, wave & blow kisses.
-Is barely starting to pull herself up to things.
-Army crawls.... but she's starting to crawl "normally."
-Loves to be chased and then try to chase us.
-Always wants to be "walked" around.  She does the walking, but wants to hold onto our fingers.

We love you, Whitney!  Happy 1 Year!

Happy Birthday BBQ!

I know it's so cliche to say it, but I can't believe my baby is ONE! I'll be honest, the last 8 months just flew by. (The first four went sort of slow. Lack of sleep, need I say more?)

We love our baby girl. We decided to have a birthday BBQ with some of our friends here in Columbus.

Thank you to everyone who came and shared delicious food.

Whitney was on her best behavior and sat in her high chair for quite some time. She was totally entertained by all of the guests. Thank you to Ellen who took SO many wonderful pictures. These are all courtesy of her:

Whitney eating her Birthday BBQ dinner & watermelon.

Our little family.

Whitney & Davis: Birthday buddies 2 years apart.

I love how Whitney is just sitting all by herself in her "thrown." She sat here for a while!

How mean of me, I know. But at least she was happy.

Mama & her baby

Daddy & his girl

Whitney & Jadyn

Lately, all Whitney wants us to do is "walk" her around everywhere.

These are the two dog cakes I made for Whitney. Please don't ask me what breed they are supposed to be. She is officially OBSESSED with dogs. I don't know how she can spot them so far away, but when Whitney sees a dog it is, "Da, Da, Da, Da, Da, Da!" over and over and over.

She was so excited to get her hands on that dog!

Singing "Happy Birthday!"

Ready to dig into the dog.

So yummy. She devoured the pink tongue.

Happy Birthday, Whitney!

TEXAS

Last week Whitney and I went to go visit my sister, Juliana, and her family in Dallas. It was so fun! We took a direct flight (much better than changing planes) to Dallasand were greeted by Juliana and her kids all holding signs saying, "Welcome Whitney and Krista!" So cute. Juliana and Todd have a beautiful home and are so hospitable. It made me want to come back very soon. Here are some of the things we did while we were in Dallas:

Brooklyn and Whitney playing together.

Justin & Whitney. Whitney couldn't get enough of her cousins.

Justin is a good babysitter. Can I take him to our house?

Blake with his "attack" face. He loves to squeeze the babies.

Andrew took this picture of me and Blakey. He's quite the photographer.

Todd and Brooklyn at Andrew's Scout meeting.

Andrew with his awesome rocket.

Brooklyn and Whitney hanging out in the pack-in-play.

Note: I missed taking pictures for a couple of days because we all came down with a nasty stomach flu. YUCK! Luckily, Brooklyn and Whitney didn't catch it. On one of our last days in Dallas we went to see Tyce's grave. It was so pretty and peaceful.

Justin, Andrew, Blake, Brooklyn & Whitney all around Tyce's grave.

Brooklyn & Whitney

Me & Whitney.

The boys feeding the turtles, fish and ducks at the beautiful pond.

Me & Whitney... Juliana & Brooklyn

This was our last day here. We had to get some "pretty" shots of our girls.

I LOVE these next two pictures. Brooklyn has a "thing" for getting the bows out of Whitney's hair. She wasn't too happy about it.

All the kids and their favorite Auntie.

Sisters. Can you tell that Blakey took this picture? Good job, Blake!

Thank you, Todd & Juliana for such a fun vacation! Next year, I'm going to the BEACH with you guys!!