11 months old

This summer is flying by and oh how I wish it could last forever. I do love teaching, but I love being a mommy so much more. We love to read books and she has her favorites. We have lots of dog books and she will find the dogs in the books and say "uff" (woof).
I've said it as a teacher and now let me say it as a mom:  "I'm not a fan of teeth." Giada is working on her 3rd and 4th tooth. Both top teeth decided to come in together. She is such a trooper. Its hard to know she is uncomfortable and not really be able to do anything to help. We are excited though because getting a few more teeth opens up more food possibilities!
I've said before that I don't think Giada is in any hurry to learn to walk, but she is ready to learn to talk. She can say "Daddy", "Momma/Mom", "Hi", "uff(woof)", "iggy(Wrigley)", "uh-oh", "more", and is constantly jibber jabering and singing.

11 months old!

Spaghetti

Her laugh is my favorite sound in the world!

kiwi

Pool time - Wrigley is never far away!

SWIMMING!

The pool was finally warm enough for us to go swimming! She likes being in her float more than being held. She wants to move and play in the water. We are having such a fun filled summer!

This is Giada's newest facial expression. She cracks me up. I love watching her learn and grow. Right now it seems like everyday she's learns something new. Books are another favorite thing - yay! She will sit in my lap and listen to me read while helping me turn the pages. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this special time. She has also learned to share everything with Wrigley...toys and food. 

We got our 9 month photos back from my talented sister and brother-in-law (Roberson Photography). I can't believe next week she'll be 11 months old. Let the 1st birthday party planning begin!

Growing & Learning

This morning Giada learned how to pound her fists on her tray full of Cheerios. She thought this was hilarious as it made Cheerios rain down and cause Wrigley to run around munching them all up. Can you imagine a better way to start your day? I love it.  It continues to amaze me how much Giada is learning each day. She is learning to wave bye-bye and blows kisses to her Daddy every morning when he leaves for work.  We recently bought a swing and hung it from one of our trees. Giada LOVES to swing. She will laugh and squeal, especially when her Daddy pushes her higher than Mommy likes, but she likes it so I roll with it. Wrigley doesn't know what to think about the swing. He jumps and barks around it adding to Giada's enjoyment. Giada's hair is getting longer and thicker. We recently had our first pony tail and learned she is not tender headed (thank goodness). I'm beginning to doubt she will ever crawl with her belly off the ground. She is quite content with her version of crawling, using her forearms to drag herself and one foot to push herself where she wants to go. Believe it or not she is pretty fast. Especially when she sees that Mommy is busy cooking and makes a break for Wrigley's water bowl. She knows she shouldn't because half way there she'll turn and look at me. When I spot her and start walking toward her she laughs and attempts to crawl even faster. Luckily I'm still faster than her. I think she'll be a late walker. She will stand up when we put her up. She is trying to pull up to standing herself, but hasn't mastered it yet. And she has taken zero steps. We've tried to get her to take a few while holding our hands, but she will pick both her feet up so she can sit again. Fine by us, no need to rush the walking - once she starts we know she won't stop.

sweet summertime

I know what your thinking...Oh wow, so Jessica didn't forget about her blog.

I am so very excited to be home with my baby girl for 2 months! She is growing so big so fast. She has 2 teeth, both on the bottom. They aren't fully grown in yet, but she's working on them. She is crawling all around and of course likes to go for things that "aren't for babies". Her two favorite things seem to be the lamp and the surround sound speakers. She hasn't picked her belly up off the ground yet so her crawl is like an army crawl, but the way she does it she looks just like an inch worm. She is also pushing herself up from laying to sitting and will pull up to standing when she holds our hands.
Wrigley continues to amaze me at how truly wonderful of a dog he really is. He is so patient with Giada. She LOVES him and will laugh and bounce every time he comes into a room or if we enter the room where he is. He can be snoozing and she will crawl up to him and pull on his feet or his tail or any of his fur and he just lifts his head, gives her a lick, and lays back down. It is so fun to watch them play together. Wrigley won't touch Giada's toys, but she will go after his. He knows this and will often grab a toy and squeak it right in her face so she'll grab it. Cracks me up!
Giada can say 3 1/2 words:  Momma, Dadda, Uh-oh, and sometimes "uff" (woof). With only 2 bottom teeth, that aren't even in all the way, she is still eating soft mushy food. She loves cheese (just like her Daddy), avocados, bananas, puffs, shredded chicken, and peas.
We have a family pass to the zoo and we spent the afternoon there last weekend. We loved seeing all the animals (and some of Mommy's students who were there with their summer camp). When we got to the petting zoo area one of the goats jumped up on the fence (with its front feet) and scared me to death. I lunged in front of the stroller because I thought the goat was coming all the way over while Brian continued to just push her closer to the fence. Giada thought the whole thing was hilarious as did the other people standing there. Hearing her laugh made us all laugh too.
We are still waiting on the water at the pool to warm up so we can go swimming. We love going on walks and it can be hard to tell who enjoys them more - Giada or Wrigley. She will put her feet up and talk, talk, talk. She giggles when the wind blows and her hair blows.