Videos for the grandparents

Ashlan splashing around in the pool today.

Ashlan screaming.  Fun.  :)

Can't remember if I posted these next two...

9 months 4 weeks

One more week (and one day) and Ashlan will be 10 months old! She has been standing for awhile but now she stands for longer and she’s also started dancing more often. She even dances while standing or clapping and doesn’t hold onto anything, so her balance is getting a lot better. I try to catch her dancing with the video camera but she only does it for a few seconds each so we only have videos that are very short. Of course she does it longer when we’re not recording, haha! But if anyone is interested, you can go on my youtube videos and even though I haven’t posted them on the blog, you can still see them because they’re public. My username for youtube is my email address before the yahoo part.  I’ll try to put a few on though if my internet is working…we’ve been having major issues for the last two months and hope to get it resolved soon.

Ashlan is now saying “Mama” a lot more and just talking a lot more in general. She still says “Dada” too and other babblings. She is a lot less reliant on her binkys now and only uses them at night and at naps, so we’re thinking that’s why she is talking so much more lately. I don’t even pull them out when we’re out but I have them just in case. We’re also thinking this is due to her now having not one, but two loveys! This just started over the past week or two…ever since we got back from Tampa. She LOVES her penguin we got her from the FL aquarium and that doll from her Nana and Papa. She is constantly hugging them and does not want to leave her crib without them after naps and in the morning. She is so funny…when we go to greet her in the mornings, she stands up and jumps up and down, and then sits back down and grabs both dolls and then stands back up and jumps up and down again. We got another doll so she has an extra one when it needs washed, but we’re going to have to find an extra penguin online, I think. She loves them! 



For the past few days, she has been putting her blocks on top of each other, and not just the big ones either! She’s actually been doing individual blocks on top of each other! So now Daddy has someone to help him build castles! : )



She is also “feeding” us when she eats her food. We usually get a little bit of everything from her plate, from chicken to puffs. It’s usually when she has eaten a good amount, but at least she is starting to share! :) She still has no teeth, but apparently I didn’t either until 17 months and I ate everything too, so we’re not worried at all. She is eating pretty much everything we eat. We had chicken alfredo the other day with mini farfalle noodles and she loved it (who wouldn’t?). I’m not sure when you’re supposed to give babies utensils to use on their own, but considering she pulls the fork out of our hand to put in her own mouth, I think we’ll start that here soon. I was just trying to avoid a mess for as long as possible, lol! She has trouble stabbing the food with a fork, but has no problem putting it in her mouth when we give her the utensil, so we’ll start working on that. She has already mastered the straw cup, and is even getting bored now with her baby straw cup…she wants mommy’s! We give her an actual cup and a straw but we still have to hold it, of course. She does great with that too. We’ve already tried a regular cup a few times. She did absolutely great the first and third time, but the second time, she soaked herself!  LOL!  Baby steps…



Onto the pics…

Still has that dimple!  <3

Doing great with her straw sippy!

She loves to crawl with her Mega Blok person in her mouth!  LOL!

And this is how I found her after a car ride recently...she loves those "people".   

Dan calls them her minions, lol!  :)

Her two loveys.

Always playing with Caesar.  <3

She loves to stick her tongue out and blow raspberries too...this is also a new favorite.  Ignore her hair...this is one time I don't have her hair out of her eyes.  It's very rare!  Isn't it getting long though?!

More shots with her loveys.

We ordered some Xmas gifts online and they came in this box...which she loved to play in!

Dan was pushing and pulling her around the living room and she was all smiles.

A onesie from back home...another present!  A bit big but definitely wearable.

The new gate we got her...or for us, haha!  We LOVE it!!!  The bad part is Caesar can't go in and out. 

 It's so funny to see him standing at the gate door wanting in or out!

Sharing a snuggle.

Feeding mommy!  She has been doing this for months now but Daddy has never been home to snap a pic!  She has started giving Daddy snacks too.

What the gate looks like.

She doesn't like being left behind though...

A very tired Ashlan...Daddy getting some snuggles. 

This is what happens when we wake her up from a car ride.

Ashlan was playing at her BFF's bday party on Sunday.

Some of the kids playing today.

Actually putting some blocks together!

9 1/2 months old

Well, not much has happened this week so this will be short.  I just know that the grandparents really like the updates!  :) 

For the last two weeks Ashlan has been trying to wean herself, I think.  She was used to nursing 5-6 times a day.  Little by little, she has been decreasing her nursing times over the past two weeks and now she nurses 2-3 times a day.  We wouldn’t care so much but she doesn’t care for drinking anything, period.  She will take a few ounces of breastmilk out of the sippy or her straw sippy here or there, but hardly ever the bottle now, and not more than a few ounces at a time.  She just really doesn’t like to drink.  She’s kind of like her mommy in that way, actually!  I have to force myself to hydrate most times.  Anyway, it appears she’s getting all she needs between our estimations of nursing and what she’s getting out of the sippy so we think she’s getting what she needs.  The weaning doesn’t bother us, but we’d like her to drink from a sippy more often so we’re sure she’s getting what she needs.  We end up hiding breastmilk in her oatmeal at night, just so she gets the nutrition but she still doesn’t get the liquid.  Other than that, she is doing just great!  I have to pump more often but I don’t mind as long as she’s not wasting it.  There is only two and a half more months that I have to do this anyway before she can totally be on whole milk so we're not too concerned.  Even if she completely weaned herself around 11 months, I won’t be too heartbroken or concerned if she gets mostly whole milk.  She is growing just fine! 

Onto the pictures...

She was amusing herself with a cereal box.  LOL!

Her new loves...her penguin we got from the FL aquarium and a doll her Nana and Papa sent her.

Sorry this is upside down...I don't know how that happened, but I'm doing this quickly!  

This is with her new socks that have grips on the bottom...I bought them to match her two new fleece outfits that we got for the colder weather. 

She loves pushing the animal crackers container around on the carpet.

Playing with Daddy in the morning.

During the Steeler game.

And our make-shift fence...we are getting one this weekend, I think.

LOL, you can see her diapers outside the window.

Playing with Caesar and he was playing with her!  <3

She LOVES Caesar! 

She is enjoying herself...

I think Caesar is enjoying himself too!

Another shot of them playing together...

Videos for the grandparents

Ashlan laughing and playing with Caesar...this was after the Steelers killed the Seahawks.  :)

Our Tampa trip

We went to Tampa expecting to stay September 9th through the 12th to go to the Florida Aquarium and the Lowry Park Zoo and to use our Jacksonville zoo tickets for a 50% discount at both places. However, Ashlan apparently had other plans on Saturday night and we ended up going home on Sunday morning after only going to the aquarium on Saturday.

She did excellent on Saturday at the aquarium though! We got there at 9:30am , when it opened, and stayed until 2:30 (it closed at 5pm). It was starting to get really crowded with people and strollers (we had one too though) so we decided to call it a day a little early. Ashlan had already fallen asleep in her stroller at the aquarium so we were good for awhile. We saw everything there was to see and a few shows as well, so then we decided to leave.



When we got to our hotel, there was the Hispanic Heritage Festival going on which was right outside of our hotel, so we ended up walking around there for awhile. It was really nice! They had bands performing salsa music and people dancing in the streets! While we were walking around looking at the booths that were set up, Ashlan fell asleep again for a bit.



We then happened upon a Greek taverna called the Acropolis (which was on the main drag of Ybor City, where we stayed) and we just had to go there! Dan had a greek beer and I had a greek wine and we ordered tzatziki while Ashlan slept. That sure brought back great memories of our vacation to Greece! When she woke up, we went back to the Hispanic festival and had some food and then went back to our hotel. Ashlan was ok through her first sleep cycle or two but then she was up from 3:30am to about 6, when we just decided to get up. After that night, we decided to wave the white flag and go home. I was really looking forward to the zoo but we’ll have to go another time. Neither of us were looking forward to another night like that and this way, we got to watch the Steelers game (which we probably would have been ok missing, seeing what a bad job they did kicking off the season).



So, we’ve learned a few things from this trip…first, get Ashlan used to the pack’n’play before we leave for any trip ever again. Second, get Ashlan used to the pack’n’play before we leave for any trip, lol! Third, always have a suite so she can sleep in a different bedroom than us (poor neighbors!). Either way, Saturday day was pretty great except for night time! Ashlan went back into her routine tonight so hopefully this is just a learning experience for all of us!

Our makeshift fence.  Haha!

Playing in our hotel room...

She had a pretty good time!

Daddy and Ashlan at the Sting Ray touch tank.

She loved to look at all the fish!

Mommy and Ashlan...she was staring at all the ducks.

The huge cruise ship next to the aquarium.

This was her nap at the aquarium...she was pooped!  (I forgot to turn the picture around, sorry.)

Daddy and Ashlan after Ashlan's nap and her lunch of a banana (which some was left over on her chin).

This was the cruise ship and the water park at the aquarium.

Pointing at the fishies...her new thing is pointing now.

Jersey Shore duck...if you don't get it, don't ask (Dan says I apparently watch too much reality tv, lol).

QT with daddy.

Mommy and Ashlan outside the aquarium...after Daddy bought her a stuffed penguin from the gift shop.  She loved it!  My kind of girl!  ;)  Those who know me, know why!

Party at the hotel!

The Hispanic Heritage Festival stage with our hotel in back (left).  Glad the music stopped before Ashlan went to bed!

Ashlan giving Daddy love at the Acropolis after she woke up!  <3

Ashlan giving her new penguin some love!  :)