A much needed update

Well, it's been awhile since I've updated the blog, so I'll just jump right into the good stuff!



Gloria knows how to clap her hands - palms together. (Nov. 1)

Her top two front teeth have emerged! (Nov. 3)


Gloria raises her arms (or at least one arm) when you ask her how big she is, or say "Gloria is SO BIG!" (Nov. 3)

She can sing "Happy Birthday" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" in Spanish. (Nov. 8)

She can stand up all by herself, from sitting or laying on the floor, without having anything to hold onto. (Nov. 10)

Since she has top and bottom teeth, Gloria has figured out how to take tiny bites from a cracker or a Cheerio that she is holding. (Nov. 11)




She also has learned how to shake her head "no," although she doesn't know what it means. (Nov. 11)

Gloria learned how to parallel park the car. (Nov. 14)

Gloria is getting a tooth on the top to the left of her front teeth. (Nov. 20)

The tooth on the bottom to the right of her front teeth is coming up. (Nov. 23)

Gloria has been standing alone with incredible balance for quite some time now. She has taken a few small steps here and there, but now she has started taking bigger steps with no help. She can walk between Rob and me, though sometimes it's more of a lean and her feet just have to keep up so she doesn't fall on her face. (Nov. 23)

She can ride a unicycle, wearing a blindfold. (Nov. 23)

Today she started pointing at things with her index finger, folding her other fingers into her palm. (Nov. 24)


She also started bending over, with her head on the ground, to look upside down between her legs. (Nov. 24)


Today, I put Gloria down for her morning nap around 10:20. About 10:45 I heard her wake up, but she was content and playing with the toys in her crib. About 11:15, she started getting fussy, so I went in to get her. Here is what I found:

"Hi Mommy! I took all of my toys out of my crib..."

"...and dropped them on the ground!"
No wonder she was getting fussy - she didn't have anything left to play with.

Now for some fun pictures:

"I've got my very own kitchen!"

"What can I get for you?"

"Let's put this in the microwave."

"Need a shoe?"

"Mommy and Daddy finally put away my playmat. Guess that means I'm growing up."

9 month doctor visit

Gloria had her 9 month doctor's appointment on October 29 - so really it was her 9 1/2 month appointment.

She had her finger pricked to check her hemoglobin level which was 12.4. Anything over 11 is great. She also had a flu shot in her thigh. I was holding her and she barely knew what happened. We have to go back at the beginning of December so Gloria can get a second flu shot. Since this is her first flu shot, they do it in two doses.

And now, here are her stats!
Weight: 21 pounds 4 ounces (80th%)
Height: 30 1/4 inches (off the chart)
Head circumference: 18 1/8 inches (90th%)

They said Gloria is looking great, progressing and developing wonderfully. I asked about Gloria's few short catnaps and was told that some babies take catnaps and there's not much to do about it. Between 9 and 12 months the babies that take catnaps start to take fewer naps, but longer...so we'll see. Since Gloria is sleeping about 12 hours straight through at night, she is getting sleep and we can't really complain. They also told me that Gloria can start eating whatever food we eat - except for honey (wait until 12 months) and peanut butter (wait until 2 years).

The nurse said that Gloria would probably be getting her top two front teeth next but that it could be awhile. It wasn't that long because a few days later, on Nov. 3, I saw both of her top front teeth had popped through!

Gloria has been enjoying eating foods with more texture like pieces of pear, mandarin oranges, crackers, hard-boiled eggs, and peas. We also introduced her to tuna this week, but she doesn't really care for it. Tonight I'm going to make her a butternut squash pasta with tomatoes and cheese. It's from a book that Rob received for Christmas from "Baby Harbin." The recipes sound really good, so hopefully Gloria enjoys them. (If not, I might just have to eat them!)

Now for a bit of comparison!

March 6, 2008
(almost 2 months old!)

November 5, 2008
(almost 10 months old!)

Apple Pickin'

On Wednesday, Rob, Gloria, and I went apple picking in the orchard behind our house. We took two bushel baskets and drove the Gator back into the orchard.

"Apple picking? What's that?"

Gloria really enjoyed herself. It was a comfortable temperature with a slight breeze in the air. Since it gets dark earlier now, Gloria could see the half-moon looking at her and she kept peeking back at it.

"I have my very own apple!"

"And, boy oh boy, is it yummy!"

We picked two baskets full of yellow delicious apples. That's the kind that we enjoy the most when we make applesauce. This weekend we'll be slaving away over the stove to make a new batch of sauce.

Gloria wanted to pick some apples, but being only 30 inches tall, she needed some help.

"A little higher Daddy..."

"I've almost got it..."

"Phew, that was hard work. Thanks Daddy!"

"It's getting dark now.
Hop in Mommy so I can drive us back and we can have dinner."

Did you vote?

"Because I did!"

Gloria's 1st Halloween!

A week before Halloween, we went to buy pumpkins at a house near us. They had a lot to choose from and it was hard to decide on the perfect ones. We ended up with 4 big ones and 2 small gourds for Gloria. It was very cold so Gloria couldn't show off her cute pumpkin shirt and had to have a blanket wrapped around her in addition to her coat!

"I picked out a little pumpkin!"

"There sure are some silly scarecrows around here!"

"I'm the best pumpkin! You should take me home!"

Rob and I carved three pumpkins this year. (We had one more to carve, but it got mushy and icky before we got to it.) We did them after Gloria was in bed, so we don't know how she feels about pumpkin guts. Next year we'll include her in the process. Gloria loves to look out the front door at them and will play peek-a-boo with them, ducking down below the window and then popping back up to see them.



One of Gloria's gourds has a curved stem that she likes to hold onto and bite. Ask her where her pumpkins are and she will crawl right over to them. She also enjoys looking at the "Happy Halloween" banner that is hanging in our dining room. If you say "Happy Halloween" she looks at it, or if we're not in the room, she turns her head in the direction of the dining room.





Gloria had a wonderful Halloween! We went to St. Joe on Thursday to enjoy a Halloween dinner party and help pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters. (Friday there was a big play-off football game, so trick-or-treating was moved a day earlier.) We ate our traditional Halloween dinner of barbecue, macaroni, and jello. There were brownies and spider cookies for dessert.

Spider cookies made by me and April

Since the time change comes in November now, trick-or-treating started while it was still light out. The weather was wonderful and we were all able to sit outside to pass out candy and look at the costumes. Gloria was excited, all dressed up as a little black kitty - complete with ears and a tail.

"Trying my costume on before a bath. See my tail and my ears!"

Gloria helped Rob pick out the candy from the bowl and put them into the kids' bags. It seemed like everyone that came to the house commented on how cute the little kitty cat was.

"All of these suckers are just for ME!"

Gloria had fun watching all of the kids and seeing their costumes. She didn't get scared by any of the crazy ones we saw. When it got dark, Rob, my mom, and I took Gloria in her stroller down the street to the neighbor's haunted house and yard. She saw big, bright, light-up pumpkins and a floating UFO! We didn't take her through the haunted house though; it made me scream!

"Mommy Pumpkin and Baby Kitty"

Passing out the goodies!

Gymboree

"Hip hip hurray! It's a Gymboree day!"

For the past month, I've been taking Gloria to Gymboree - a fun activity center for children 0-5 years. They have music classes, gym classes, art classes, and school skills. The first month after you sign up you're able to go to unlimited classes. So, on Mondays we've been doing music and then going to gym 15 minutes later. Thursdays is gym class again. The classes we go to are 45 minutes long and Gloria stays happy for the entire time! Our first month is coming to an end, so I have to decide if I want to take Gloria to a music class or to a gym class. Or I could pay a bit extra and go to music class and one gym class.

Gloria has a lot of fun in both the music and gym classes. In the music class we dance, clap, play with drums, maracas, and scarves. We've focused on jazz, the Beatles, and now African music. Up next is disco! In the gym classes, they have had the children do activities that focused on their sense of touch, and now they're doing activities with ramps and climbing. Gloria is actually in the gym class for children 10 to 16 months old, even though she was only 8 1/2 months when we started. Since she was already crawling, pulling up on things, and walking while holding on, it was suggested that she would do best in that class. And she has done great! I think she fits in just perfectly.

"It looks a bit scary in there."
(Gloria has not gone through this tunnel yet, though she has gone through shorter ones.)


"Scarves are fun!"


"A little bit more..."


"Look at me, climbing up the stairs!"
(Gloria learned how to climb up stairs at Gymboree.)

"Shake, shake, shake those bells."