Spunky Monkey at 11 months

Each month its seems like there is an adjective to highlight Ansley's new found discoveries, accomplishments, milestones, etc. This last week or so she has mastered climbing well which makes her a lil monkey! Then when you factor in her little temper stubborn personality that has been rearing its head more and more, you could say she is a spunky monkey!

She has been climbing for awhile, but when I walked into see this after her nap, I knew we had reached a new level....

For a couple days, we were scared to leave her in her bed. We couldn't lower the bed anymore. I didn't know what to do besides put her in a toddler bed which would be another issue in itself! As well, we thought about those little tents that we have seen. But we then calmed down after watching her closely and realized she seemed to only do it when left awhile (Yes, she did it several more times with us waiting at the door peering through the crack). Plus, Tyler even sat in her rocker and watched her attempt it using the bumper somewhat to get leverage. Thankfully, taking the bumper out has eliminated that problem for the time being. The tent may be on order if she does it again!
UPDATE: She climbed up the bed again since writing this, I looked into the tents and they are expensive! So looks like we are going to be getting Tyler's baby bed that has spindles on all 4 sides instead of a ledge on the ends. (look at picture above closely to understand)

Other things she climbs...refrigerator, dishwasher, shelves, small tables....If she can hike her leg up on it, she can climb it! Just another reason you must watch her pretty close. Plus, you have to distract her to stop her from doing something or else the temper comes out! She gets, in the most girly way, mad when you don't let her do what she wants. At a restaurant this week, she told me "NO!" when I took a fork or something from her! I have been saying "No, No" to her so I guess she is getting the point! But when she succeeds and does or gets something she isn't supposed to, she has the biggest grin and giggles while running away! That's the spunky side! I watched some kids at church in the nursery last week and she was with me. If someone had a toy she wanted, she had no qualms about snatching it from them, even when they were twice her size. She just pushed them out of the way. Then she has started squealing, mostly when happy, but will do it when you take something away from her, too. I for see us having those mother/daughter arguments a lot sooner than I thought! We already fight over her not sitting in the highchair, getting in her car seat, changing diapers....and the list goes on!

Wouldn't sit still for me! Many takes later.....

Other areas of change:

• finally has a tooth! Popped out 3/22
• Loves eating graham crackers or any type of crackers
• Loves playing outside
• Still very squirmy when changing her diaper or clothes
• Practically running now, not just a slow toddle
• Wants to scavenge thru everything-cabinets, shelves, bags, etc.
• Does not want to sit still while eating!
• Seems to be saying "Thank you" sounds like "te to"; as well as "no"
• loves to be outside!
• her hair has a cute flip and some small curls...much longer!
• loves to play peek a boo and to be tickled
• loves to point at things while jabbering away
• has no desire to drink from a sippy cup...all 6 different types I have tried!
• has started dancing to music.....so adorable!
• enjoying her new Zebra to ride and dolls to carry

She has grown some, 18 lbs 7 oz at last appt.. Wearing some 12 mos now and still some 9 mos. clothing.
I have had to go out and find some shoes for her since she is walking so well. The regular soled shoes I had already were hard for her to walk in. Plus, she would pull them off quickly...and chew on them. The soft ballet type shoes are great though for right now. Her hair just about has to be in a bow or else its a mess in her face. She tends to leave them alone most times. Anxious to see if it lightens up this summer. Right now its a lighter brown.

Such a big girl, proud of herself!

Since I always update on sleeping and eating......
She is finally not eating at night! I have tried to keep her from eating until 6 am the last couple weeks and have been successful however she still wakes up once before that and needs to be laid back down with paci. So she sleeps from 8:30-7:30 waking once then eating at 6 or 6:30. Naps are a little random, but when at home, she sleeps around 11 for an hour then 3:30 for another hour. Some days we are out and about missing her morning nap. She seems flexible though and will just sleep earlier and longer in the afternoon. On to eating! She nurses 4 times a day still and eats 3 meals with us. I attempt to get a couple jars/tubs of food in her but she doesn't always stay still long enough to eat that. Most of her diet consists of bread, toast, crackers and cheerios here lately! She wants to self feed but without teeth its hard to find things she can eat on her own. The banana in the fresh food holder still keeps her occupied. She also has tried broccoli, green beans and ice cream here lately that she seems to like!

We still get a lot of people saying she looks like Tyler, however some are beginning to see me in her. I think she looks more like me but has his smile. Garyn looks a lot like Tyler with my hair color, so its a fun mix anyway you slice it!
I guess that is enough about our Spunky Monkey! One last picture though, speaking of monkeys, I had to put this one in of both of them in a tree. (no fear, Nana was right behind holding on to Ansley.)

We love our little monkeys!

Reached a goal!

So I realized it is 8 days into March and I have never written March goals....

When it was already 5 days into the month and I still had somethings to catch up on from February, I decided to take March off! I love having my goals and am already missing them. But Ansley is keeping me busy these days leaving me with plenty to do. We have also been sick a lot lately it seems. I was the last week of February; all of us were the first week of March; now this week Garyn has an ear infection. That makes for a lot of cuddling and cleaning unexpectedly! Therefore, I'll attempt again in April, which will be here before I can blink!

However, one goal has been reached by a smart little boy named Garyn! We have been teaching him to count to 100. He gets a prize at preschool when he can for his teacher. After working on it for a couple months here and there along with a lot of whining, I decided it was time to get serious. So, I pulled out the bribery trick. The bribe: when he could count to 100 without help, I would take him to Game Stop to get a Wii game, that was no more than $30. That was a week and a half ago, a long week and a half for Garyn. I was quickly regretting it when he would cry every time I said he didn't count without help. But alas he did it!

Afterwards, we went and got his reward for putting in lots of practice to be able to do it. As you can tell, he had a  hard time remembering the transition to 60, 70, 80, 90. For the longest, he would count to 59 then say "What's next?" then again get to 69 and ask. This happened for months without any progress because he just didn't want to remember. Sonic gave him a reason to remember.....

We are very proud! Now, onto the next learning curve....adding! And learning how to play this new game.

I will have to get busy finishing up my goals and keep up with Ansley....

Quick Steppin' 10 month old

Well, it has already come and gone. Last Saturday, Feb. 25th, she turned 10 months old! So technically she is already 10 months and a week now. In three weeks she will be 11 months and the big 1 in about 7 weeks! Oh my, my stomach just turned. If you can't tell I want it to slooow down!

(Side note: I have had blogging difficulties and have had to find a new way to upload pictures. Very frustrating! But I think I got the hang of it now! Plus, we have been sick a lot lately. All had stomach bug this weekend and now Garyn is coughing his head off)

So yes, she is getting bigger and looking more like a little girl. Her hair, as you can see, has gotten thicker and longer. She lets the bows stay in more now. Sonja/ Nana said the other day the wind was blowing her hair and she kept touching it trying to figure out what was going on.

Other areas of growth:

•  weighing about 18 lbs
•  wearing size 9-12 mos.
• size 3 in diapers
• sill has no teeth!

She loves attention. Smiling and laughing at anyone who will talk to her! And she wants to be in the center of attention all the time! She also wants to be in the middle of everything. Grabbing at your phone while trying to talk; climbing up into your lap to blog; wanting to sit at the table instead of in her highchair, climbing into the refrigerator when you are putting groceries away.........all of which are times we have to constantly redirect her to try to keep her happy. Unless she is asleep or in the toilet water in the room next door you can't get much done around her. A new trait she has taken on since walking.

Every time I go to do something in another room, I risk coming back to find her in the toilet, in the trash, climbing on something, pulling the cat's tail or licking the cat's bowl. She gets into the cereal boxes, eats pine cones, chews on Garyn's shoes, unrolls the toilet paper or eats Garyn's art paper. It has become a full time job here lately! But I do love every minute of it and she hasn't done anything that can't be rectified!

That smile and her little laugh make up for it all anyway! Except when you aren't letting her do what she wants, she is smiling constantly. She is starting to play peek a boo, do some motions to patty cake, wave better, point, dance and most recently, hug. She still only says "mama" "dada" "bye bye" and "nana" but not necessarily to ask for anyone or at the right time. However, she definitely lets you know what she wants! Garyn loves to act like she is chasing him still and she is catching on more to this game now. She will follow him some then turn around to catch him coming around from the other side. Here is a short video of her playing peek a boo with her shirt....

Eating wise, Ansley is still completely in control! Some days she will eat 3 good meals plus nurse 4-5 times. Others she might take a few bites but want to nurse longer and just as often. I think she is going to be somewhat picky and definitely finicky! She doesn't like the chunks of food in the baby food but will eat table food pretty well. She eats crackers, toast, rolls, scrambled eggs and cheerios well. Also, sometimes she will eat mashed potatoes. We just try to feed her and get more if she is eating well. And I am trying to get her to sleep through the night or at least not eat during the night but thats not what she wants and she lets us know! When I try to let her cry or just lay her back down, she yells and screams louder or wakes up every hour until I feed her. I know I have got to just push through but haven't drummed up the courage yet!

Speaking of sleep......she is doing well for nap at home sleeping for at least an hour and sometimes 2 hours twice a day. I lay her down and might go in one time to lay her back down but she crys a lot less than she used to. On the other hand, she has been fighting sleep more when elsewhere like church and Nanas. Sometimes even in the car she refuses to sleep and just gets fussier and fussier. ( BTW, she still doesn't like being in the car for long) At night, she has been consistently going to bed at about 8 and waking around 7 with a feeding around 3. We have gotten better about reading a book at night (she used to just eat and then we prayed). She enjoys the books as long as they are short and sweet. She gets too side tracked if you don't turn the page fast enough!

Her brother is one of her most favorite people. He can make her happy fast and helps us entertain her a lot! I loved seeing this the other day right after we picked him up from preschool.......

As I said, she still has no teeth and does this grandma-grin every so often. So funny!

Here is a short video of her walking better from a couple weeks ago. She is walking a lot better now, though. I just loved Garyn's encouragement in the background :)

I still thank God every day for this sweet blessing. Don't know what we would do without her!