The Time You Spent Your First Week Away from Mommy

As mentioned previously, mommy had to go back to Austin after a fun family weekend in Houston to enjoy Uncle Quinn's Farewell Talk at church. You stayed in Houston with daddy as several family members were in town to visit with Uncle Quinn before he leaves on his mission to Brazil. Some of these family members had met you before and some had not yet. Daddy also wanted to stay home and spend some quality time with your uncles before Uncle Quinn is gone for the next two years. Unfortunately, mommy had to be back in Austin for another long work week - and it was - many late nights. I managed to get a little extra sleep and some packing done but mostly I just missed you guys. I was afraid that you wouldn't notice I was gone and that you would forget me when I came back. Of course, I wanted you to have fun and not be sad and miserable without me - frankly, I guess, if you had just not noticed my absence, I suppose that would have been for the best - BUT there was still a small part of me that wanted to feel validated as mommy that you missed me and needed me. I was told you had tons of fun throughout the week with family - swimming and going on all kinds of adventures. I heard you were cheesing it up with your cute new face all of the time and that everyone loved you very much. Daddy tried to do Skype with us multiple times but as there were so many people in Houston using the Taylor's internet, it was very choppy and poor image quality. It was almost a tease that I would rather not have done - as I could see you poorly and lagging and it just reminded me how much I missed you. I finally got to come back to Houston the following weekend. My coworker allowed me to sneak out very early so that I made it to Houston just shortly after when I would have otherwise been just leaving work. You were already asleep at it was about 11:30PM. Daddy and I stayed up visiting with family that I hadn't seen in years then we snuck into the room about 1:30AM. Due to the number of family members crashing at the Taylor's home, we all had to share a room and as memory serves from your earlier months - sharing a room with Delilah in the pack-n-play does not go well. If we happen to wake the baby dragon and she sets her sights on you then all heck breaks loose and until you are snuggled between us nursing you cannot be soothed. Needless to say this was what happened. As quiet as we tried to be within a minute you woke up and saw us and cried until you were picked up. Selfishly, I was excited because this meant that I would not have to wait until the morning to say hello to you after a whole week apart. BUT THEN... you initially immediately clung on to me and laid your head down in the darkness, but you abruptly pulled back and tried hard to stare at my face in the subtle light gleaming in from the hallway through the cracked door. You had this face of confusion and possible concern. You didn't seem to recognize me or you were shocked that it was me and not daddy soothing you as it had been for the past few days. Fortunately, it seemed that you accommodated quickly to the return of mommy and you laid your head back on my shoulder. I sat down on the bed with you and nursed you to your tummy's content - and boy must you have missed the real stuff over the formula this week or maybe just the comfort but it was a long session. THEN... another blow to mommy. After you had your fill, you snuggled in between us to sleep but suddenly got up and crawled over to daddy and daddy, half asleep, put out his arm like it was routine and you settled on top of him and fell asleep. If this was not the cutest scene I had every seen, I would have started crying. Obviously, daddy has been your knight in shining armor this week valiantly taking care of you and you've developed an extra special bond that I hope continues to bloom throughout your life. I felt like a piece of our relationship had ended or diminished though and that was tough. Not to worry though, the next morning, it was back to normal and the entire family vented frustration that with mommy in town, Delilah wasn't as much fun because you never wanted to play with anyone or would focus on anything unless it's me. *Selfishly excited* It also made me feel a little sad though. I was a bit frightened thinking that you cried relentlessly as I walked out of the room each time thinking that I would leave you for another week. Wow, was I between a rock and a hard place. I tried to take full advantage of every moment with you, and I tried to be more aware of experiencing each moment with you. We never know how many moments we get or how many moments we will miss. I'm so happy to have had and to continue to make new memories with you ... and I'm sorry but we are about to experience yet another week apart as daddy goes back to Houston in a few weeks to wish Uncle Quinn a real farewell. Have fun... don't miss me too much! ;)





You also got to meet Uncle Quinn's lady friend, Emi. She enjoyed you very much and she was a pretty funny addition to the general Taylor family fun.

The Time You Turned 11 Months

It amazes me how time has flown by so rapidly this year. You are now 11 months old - SO close to one year and I just can't fathom how we've come so far so fast. You are in every way amazing, talented, and frankly genius. We feel that you are very advanced and obviously the cutest baby in the world - no bias here. Today also happens to be your first 4th of July celebration as well. Unfortunately, I did not get to spend it with you as you were in Houston with daddy and mommy was working in Austin (see next post for that devastation growing experience). I think you knew that I felt bad about not being there though as I heard from several sources that you slept through fireworks.








Beautiful as always ... toothless as always. This photo was just before you unceremoniously ripped the flower headband from your head with annoyance. We have a huge box of headbands and hair accessories but you remain fairly hairless and you have always hated wearing anything on your head for more than 2.5 seconds - so in the box they will remain until you forget you don't like them.

Below... you showing mommy and daddy how easy it now is for you to climb up on top (and then over - if we aren't super proactive about your safety) on the couches in the living room in the baby arena.

It's become a thing for you to eating your monthly sticker. You've become quite adept at it. I usually am able to salvage most of it and at the very least get it out of your month, but I'll admit - your poor mommy may have not been the mommy of the year this month and you probably did end up digesting a bit of your sticker this time. I couldn't seem to keep it away from you. It probably didn't help that I couldn't find a white onesie so I just stuck the sticker to your tummy instead for your photo op. 

Oh and the cheesy-face. You started doing the cutest (the new cutest) thing this month. When you are smiling, you scrunch up your face - eyes, nose, and eyebrow - and put on a huge grin. This is now your signature response to things that make you laugh or smile - perhaps even times when you smell something gross or at least that's what it looks like. The first time you did it, the face was few and far between then after visiting Houston and entertaining everyone with it... you started doing it frequently and nonstop. The praise and laughter associated with the face I'm sure encouraged the continuation of this adorable new expression.

You have accomplished a lot this month. You have taken great strides - literally - in your walking proficiency. You can now get up from sitting without furniture and get just about anywhere relatively fast walking. You still crawl for expedited travel but not often. You can climb up and over everything - including our baby arena (the living room) that has been specifically arranged to contain you. You can say puppy - softly in a whisper - and you can chastise the puppies in a loud babble. You can say Mama and Dad sometimes dada more discriminately but you won't do it on command - only sporadically when you feel the urge to surprise and excite us. You still primarily indiscriminately make the mama and dada sounds particularly mama when you are hungry or sad or crying. You very much have us wrapped around your pretty little fingers. I can't stand to hear you cry still and now much less when I think you are intentionally calling our my name "mama" in order to stop the heartache and pain of whatever devastation you are processing such as being confined to the living room and your current inability to vault the ottoman or your confinement to the pack-n-play so heaven-forbid mommy can take two seconds to change while she knows you are in a safe space. But your mind games work wonders because I pick you up, I hold you, I love you and I avoid setting you down in confining environments as often as possible. You little stinker! But you have daddy too. As always, he can still handle the cries better than mommy which has saved us a few 3am full-scale wake ups as daddy encourages mommy to "wait just one more minute" then ah alas you were only startled for a moment and have gone back to sleep by yourself. But, I've seen daddy cave to your will occasionally too... a few extra puffs, pull you onto the other side of the ottoman, throw in a cookie, or just open his arm and let you crawl on into his cozy nook and cuddle in to sleep on daddy a little longer in the morning. You've got our number girlfriend and you use it! But we are happy and proud to serve our little princess.

The Time You Said/Whispered Your First Word

I guess months of hearing us shouting at your "puppies" set you up well for your first word. You have already been pointing toward the dogs, walking toward the dogs, and yelling indistinguishable babbles toward them after mommy or daddy chastise them for roughhousing or general craziness, but now you've stepped it up. We were visiting Houston and we were at GiGi's house playing in the living room with blocks when it happened. You looked at the dogs and in a soft whisper and a little bit of stuttering over the "p" sound, you said "puppy"! We were all a little shocked. We weren't sure if we could count it as your first word. We didn't know what the prerequisite for first words was ... does she have to talk louder, does she have to say it multiple times, do we have to be sure she isn't saying it indiscriminately, etc? But sure enough, you were looking right at the dogs and you said it a few more times - likely because we were so excited that you decided you should probably say it a few more times for the praise and glory. You've said it a few times since, but cutely ... and strangely... you always say it softly and almost under your breath. More often than not, you are back to your yelling at the dogs - those bad brothers! Your relationship with them is adorable. I was very nervous with the number of stories I hear at work where typically good pet dogs snap but your brothers have so far been wonderful with you. They have demonstrated extreme agility in playing hardcore and always avoiding you as they pass by and they have licked you all over and never nipped. Well that's not entirely true - Dexter did nip at your toes once when I was holding you up and he wanted to go outside, but I feel like it was accidental and it was more what he does to me when he wants to go outside and your foot just happened to be there - oops! Other than that, Gams and Dex have been super sweet to you - allowing you to slap their tummies with both of your hands, allowing you to pull at their loose skin around their mouths, and allowing you to pet/pat them to your heart's content. Gambit will occasionally walk away when he's had enough but surprisingly Dexter just lets you have at it occasionally turning around to lick your face as a subtle encouragement to change what you are doing to him. We are very fortunate they have developed this loving relationship with your so that we do not have to be on high alert every moment with you around them but we do have to watch you with other dogs because you are definitely being set up to be super affectionate to all animals -which is great, but dangerous when they aren't quite as friendly. What we all love the most is how un-phased you are by the dogs presence when we are over at Grannie Jannie's and there are a million dogs running around you, licking you, or bumping your little walking self over. Puppies and babies... double the trouble, double the cute!

While at GiGi's you also got to play with your cousins and play at Water Park McKinney. GiGi loves the summer and more than that she loves buying new pools for the backyard. Each summer, GiGi usually picks out a new inflatable pool and some are small for kids while others are large enough to need filters and ladders. This year, GiGi one upped even herself and not only had her large enough pool for kids and adults but that pool's ladder went into another smaller, baby pool and then there was also a splash pad set up for you on the patio with a large cabana shaded area, water misters, and a painting station. Fancy! You had a blast swimming it up with your cousins.

The Time You Completed Your First Masterpiece

I've been a pinterest-aholic for a while now and the saddest thing is that I'm not crafty, I bake but I'm not artistic enough to bake master creations, and I never had enough time, patience, money, or art supplies to accomplish half the things that I pin. HOWEVER, after seeing that your Aunt Bronwyn had done an art project with Owen - well - painted Owen's feet and basically painted with him - I figured that I should do what I had pinned and allow you to paint as an activity. I took care to find non-toxic, child-friendly paints. I made sure to lay down plenty of plastic on the back patio and then I even taped down the white paper so that you could sit and paint. I started by putting it on your hands then I put blobs of paint on the paper itself hoping that you would start smashing and playing in it. Well, you were more confused than anything and as we don't go outside in the backyard aka the dog's pit of despair often you were also more interested in exploring off the plastic and in the backyard while covered with paint than on the paper laid out. Surprisingly, you didn't try to taste the paint. With more assistance from me than anticipated, we got some pretty fun pieces of artwork out of the event. I had pinned this event for your first birthday with the intention of trying to have you paint me artwork for each of your birthdays... perhaps we shall still do this, but it was definitely fun to get all messy and paint together even if it was not as long of an activity as I thought it would be and you weren't half as excited and interested as I thought you would be in the novel activity and gooey paint.

The final masterpieces... we called the "Hands" followed by the exquisite "Feet"

The Time You Turned Ten Months

Another month has come and gone. You are ever the social butterfly this month. You have really started to shine in public. It's a funny thing though. You have also started to have some serious 'stranger danger' anxiety, but at the same time, you really seem to be enamored with babies and children. You are constantly twisting and turning and back bending to get a better look at new friends. You make huge smiles and coos. Then in come the adults that you've known all your little life and you do this cute head nuzzle into my chest and pretend to be shy or even better if you are even slightly passed in another person's direction - the waterworks begin! If it was even possible, you are even more attached to me. You won't let me go anywhere without screaming bloody murder. Daddy seems to get things done without you attached at the hip, but mommy can't even eat without fighting you for my food. You now stand at the ottoman dreaming of the days when you could vault it, screaming at me, until I return to the room. On the one hand, I'm flattered and intrigued that you love me so much; on the other hand, I'm exhausted! ;)


Other hits this month:
YOU TOOK YOUR FIRST STEPS! (A total of four so far and you are taking your sweet time to wow us with anymore. We figure you are convinced that it's silly to wobble when you can run using one hand on the furniture or speed crawl on the floor. You also take your walker for long jaunts across the room if all else fails.)

You have been trying several new foods and some big girl foods too. You are still a sucker for the puffs though - which can become very demanding sometimes too! New foods include: little chunks of meat (if you don't choke on them or just chew for twenty minutes), avocado, mac n' cheese with veggies, veggie puffs, and real bananas

You have been swimming in the big girl pool and at a splash pad and you LOVE the water.

 I'm so stinking cute - I don't even know how you guys handle it.

Now it's on ... now it's not.

Dancer in the making ... pointing my toes with my pretty long legs!

Yeah, I'm walking. NBD.

Eating my monthly sticker - as per usual these days.

And I'm done with photos mother ... PLEASE!

The Time You Took Your First Dip in the Big Girl Pool

Now you have been swimming quite a bit. You are a water-child! You love bath time and particularly love when mommy turns on the shower over your bath tub and you get rained on. You usually open your mouth and stick out your tongue to try and catch the drops. You have been swimming with mommy and GiGi multiple times in GiGi's assortment of backyard blow up pools and GiGi gave you a little pool that you splash around in at our house, but you  had not - until this point - taken a swim in a big pool yet. The day was beautiful and warm, but the pool wasn't quite warm enough yet. It was a short pool adventure, but you loved it none the less. Until you started shivering, we were having a blast. We only stayed in a few minutes, but you were all smiles - well until daddy decided that it would be a good idea to toss you high in the air as a final end-it-with-a-bang exit. It looks like it is going to be a fun summer poolside with you.

The Time You Started Walking... Running

Today is me and daddy's four year wedding anniversary, but we've been so enamored with you this past nine months that we haven't given ourselves much thought and wouldn't you know, both of us completely forgot. There were no presents or flowers or even cards, but as usual, you brought amazing joy into our lives and made the day something special to remember. Your daddy said that you had taken two wobbly steps a few days ago, but I hadn't seen them because I was at work. I coaxed you multiple times to show mommy but nothing. Then your uncles Quinn and Zach came to town to help daddy with the lawn before we all ventured to Houston for Memorial day weekend, and magic happened. Mommy was about to get ready for work when we said let's show them her walking her. I didn't expect much maybe a wobbly step or fall, but you blew me away and the video shows my excitement through the shrill yell I made at the end. Fortunately, your uncle Zach just happened to bust out the iphone video just in time to capture these first precious steps. Now as the true over-achiever you are, you not only took one to two steps but you knocked out a full four steps. I was so excited that I think I scared you. You were so fantastic. I was so impressed with you. We knew you would start walking early because you are just that advanced but we were so very proud of our little mobile - and now likely to get into way more - little lady. Since then you haven't taken too many more steps because I know you are just waiting to pick up one day and say crawling is for babies, but you have been a runner on the furniture. Your cruising has escalated to practically running and nearly toppling over yourself with just one little hand grazing the furniture for support. You are so darn cute, but you can't seem to get anywhere fast enough. You like to also throw your body the last little way just to save time. We are so proud of your ever-advancing skills and though we need to keep safety proofing even more now, we are excited about your development.

The Time Your Turned 9 Months Old

I can't believe another month has flown by and how far you have come. It's crazy how such a little person can accomplish so much. I've been a bit remiss in documenting it all to the date like I have before so I'll have to play a little catch up this month.

You hit quite a few milestones this month. Early in your ninth month, you surprised us all with you hands and knees crawling. Mommy had read that some babies just rock the army crawl until they walk and seeing as how you were owning that travel style, I assumed you were going to keep it rolling. Of course, any time I get adjusted to something you are doing or not doing, you change it up to keep me on my toes. We were visiting home for the Rockets/Clippers game on March 30th and you out of no where started rocking on your hands and knees. You weren't crawling just yet but we figured it was definitely coming. Within a week you were busting out a few strides here and there and before we knew it, you were a speedster. You have never gotten to the dog food faster! Here's a few shots of you getting around and of course playing with your favorite toy - the iPad - made even more fun to play with when mommy or daddy are trying to do work on it. Good thing we have the protector case because you ravage that thing. You also love pretty much all technology including our phones and remotes. We gave you my old phone and you have a fake remote, but the real deals are far more entertaining than the fake stuff... and you know - too smart for your own good!

Another new fun toy this month - rubber duckies! GiGi got you a few rubber duckies in your Easter basket and you were such a fun that I thought you needed more. I thought you needed A LOT more, but daddy made me cancel some of my order. I guess 26 ducks are plenty for now. I got you an alphabet set from Oriental Trading Company - your daddy's uncle is the CEO - so we are fans! You love them so much. Unfortunately, your brothers like them too so we are constantly telling them to: "DROP THE DUCK!"

You were also very helpful in the yard. Texas weather is taking it's sweet time to heat up so we haven't had many days out in nature yet, but it is getting there. During one of the warm days, we went out to water the rose garden and you helped. Such a good little helper. You love water almost more than rubber duckies and princesses and until you got tired, you were adorable. 

I started feeding you puffs right at 8 months and everyone gave me a hard time because you may have choked a little bit on the first one, but they are soft and you swallowed it just fine. Now you can't separate yourself from the puffs. We started you on sweet potato puffs because of your passion for veggies, but you have upped your game to banana puffs and apple cinnamon puffs. We try our best to get you enough solid food and milk before you start to demand your puffs. You put them away too. You like to get one in each hand and down them. Girl loves her puffs!

One day this month, mommy was at work and got this picture emailed to me from daddy. Apparently, daddy was only on the computer for a moment before he realized you were inside the puppy's kennel. I guess you just love your big brothers so much you wanted to be like them. You went right on in there and played for a little while. I almost had to make a CPS report, but it was pretty cute - like everything you do - so I let it slide as long as daddy didn't lock you in with Dexter and go run errands. We'll do that when you are older. ;)

Another warm day this month. GiGi thought you were the perfect size for one of the pool's she had in the backyard last time we visited. You loved it so much that GiGi let you take this one back to our house. It was a beautiful day so we took it in the front yard and had a pool day with your princesses. You were so stinking adorable and you loved it. You are such a fish. I can't wait until it's warm enough to take you in the big pool.

One day this month, we decided to take your brothers to the dog park. Daddy and I used to take them all the time before you and I think they have felt a little jealous lately of you because they haven't gotten as much attention or special trips to the park. You enjoyed watching all the puppies playing in the park and in the water. You loved the beautiful greenery and the blowing wind. You really wished that you didn't have to be carried and would have preferred to jump off of the bench, but you overall had a great time.

We got to visit Tyler, Camille, Millie, and Kevin while we were in town toward the beginning of the month. It was nice to see everyone and we are so very blessed to still be such good friends with these great people. We got to hear more about Kevin's engagement and see new tricks Millie has mastered. You are very intrigued by other babies and children right now so you definitely could not be bothered by looking forward for the picture when you could be inspecting your neighbor. You are always such a curious little one.

You are so close to being able to walk little lady. We decided that if you were of average height and weight for your age, you'd be running by now but since you are so long and lean, you have to get a little more balance to keep you steady before hitting the road. You love pulling up on everything and everyone and you are cruising at full speed sometimes with two hands, sometimes with one hand, and sometimes you let go all together just to keep things interesting. We didn't think you would be using the walker from Grannie Jannie quite so soon but when don't you surprise us! You are so advanced!

You are also becoming little miss independent this month. You show us who is boss all the time. Daddy doesn't take as much from you as I do - I guess we can see who will be good cop and who will be bad cop already! You also don't act up as much for daddy because you know I'll bend to your will much easier than he will. You particularly take joy in resisting any time that I change your diaper (insta-rollover), any time that I try to put you in your carseat (back bend central/stiff as a board), and any time that it's time to go in the high chair (I know you want to eat, but you won't go willingly!) If you were only stable enough already to eat on the go then we would have no problems. Well, I'm sure I say that now and then when we get there - just like before - I'll be wondering where the times went when you weren't as mobile! Grass is always greener!

 Is it too early to start encouraging you to embrace the joys of education and choose a great school to obtain said education from? If there was any question on the best school in Texas than I suppose this can help clear that up. Daddy and I both went to undergrad and graduate school at The University of Texas at Austin and as you can tell we are grooming you to make the right decision too! Unless of course, you settle for one of the Ivy League Schools on full scholarship because of your brilliance before attending medical school. No pressure of course, we'd love you if you were the check-out clerk at a local retail store or the CEO of a booming company taking care of your old parents on the side!

Well, that one was a very long and thorough post. I guess that's what I get for not updating as I go. A lot went down this month and I can't begin to think of all the million moments that I didn't capture with this blog. I just know that there will come a time that I don't remember all of this magical moments with you. I will forget the stress and difficulty of the time (that I'll be happy to forgo) but I'll also forget the sweet moments I caught your smile looking up at me when you knew you accomplished something good or the hand on my chest as you nursed or the (very infrequent) episodes when you just laid back on me and sat quietly watching a movie or listening to my heartbeat. I hope that I keep them all tucked away in my memory, but I'm glad that I am taking the time even if it's every once in a while to put them down here for you - but really for me to reminisce how amazing and special your life has made mine. Love you to pieces! Happy 9 months!