Watch You Grow! Month 7

Dear Ensley,

I don't know that I ever really knew what it meant to be thankful before you.

Month 7: 


So excited to be taking your 7 month picture!

Your first holiday season! This month was your first Thanksgiving. I was so thankful this year for you, our little blessing, our little miracle. You also grew and changed so much this month! You tried new foods, a new bath, and we decorated the house! You loved everything and it was so fun to start our family traditions with you. This is such a special time of year, and I am so glad that you seemed to enjoy all of the fun.

Your firsts: Big girl bath: (11/10) You used to take your baths in a little pink bath in the sink downstairs. When you grew out of that, we bathed you a couple times just sitting in the sink. We finally had to stop doing that because you would SPLASH waster everywhere and make a huge mess. We couldn't figure out what to do because you could sit up by yourself, but not for long periods of time and you weren't really sturdy yet. After some research, Daddy went to Babies R Us (our favorite store) and bought a little transitional bathtub that blows up and fits inside the big bathtub. He chose a duck and he took the funniest picture of you the first time you saw it. You were unsure about it the first couple times, but then you loved it because you could lean back and splash and splash. It was so cute.



Notice your freaked out face and questioning look! :)

Real Meal: (11/12) You ate sweet potatoes this month! It was your first "real food" and you LOVED it! I thought for sure you were going to be a fabulous eater, but it turns out you kind of enjoyed the novelty of eating real food and got bored with it after a bit. Soon after giving you sweet potatoes I tried peas and you literally gagged and then wouldn't eat anything I offered you for a whole month. You didn't trust me at all.

Thanksgiving! (11/22) I was nervous though because we have a quiet little life at home, we rarely miss your scheduled nap times, and you haven't been away from home for long periods of time. All of these things are the complete opposite of a Mitchell family function. They are LOUD, and I mean loud. I knew it was going to be especially crazy because the Redskins game was going to be on while we were there. I also was sure that you would have a hard time with napping because you are so curious that you refuse to sleep if we are somewhere new and you know something interesting is happening. You also don't particularly like people all up in your face who try to touch and hold you. ALL of these things made me really nervous to go, but we couldn't miss it. I was floored at how well you handled the day. You wore a beautiful little gray dress with lime green, silver, and hot pink polka dots and little sparkly silver shoes (for 10 minutes). You were PERFECT! You didn't cry or fuss or get overwhelmed in the least. You were happy, full of smiles, and everyone absolutely loved you. You didn't nap except for a half hour or so in your stroller, but you were still as happy as could be.  

Love this picture of our family. (And yes, the color coordinating was done on purpose.)

Christmas tree: (12/1) You and Daddy and me went to the Christmas tree farm on December 1st to choose and cut down our first family Christmas tree! It was so much fun, and you really liked it there. Daddy cut the tree down really quickly and we put it up and decorated it after you went to bed that night. I thought you would be all over it in the morning, but you really didn't get too interested in it until you saw the decorations glitter and you realized you could pull them off of the tree. Overall, you were VERY good around the tree. (Our second one too...that's a story for next month though.)

Trip to the store like a big girl: (12/4) You got so big this month that we could actually put you in the cart at the grocery store. Daddy didn't think you were ready, but you were so excited to be up where you could see everything.



Too CUTE!

Things you liked: LIFE! SMILING! You were so happy and filled with such joy. Every single picture I have of you is bursting with happiness. I am so full of peace knowing you are such a happy girl. Sweet potatoes (for about a minute). Lovey (as always). Your routine (still! lol).

Some of our favorite pictures of you:

I love you my sweet baby girl!

Love,

Mommy

Watch You Grow! Month 6

Dear Ensley,

Nothing really big happened in your development this month, but you did kick off the start to the holiday season as a monkey for Halloween! Oh, and you got so cute I could literally cry.

Month 6:

You are the happiest, most beautiful and wonderful baby! Every single day, we have so much fun with you. You are so independent and inquisitive. You slept in your pack and play at the end of our bed every night until this month. One night you decided you had enough of sleeping in the cramped little cardboard bed and refused to sleep in it. You cried every time I tried to put you down, so I took you into your room and laid you in your crib, and you fell immediately to sleep. I don't think Daddy and I would have ever wanted to actually move you out, so you had to do it yourself. I was so sad I slept on the floor of your room the whole first night. You were so good though. You didn't even need me. You slept all through the night and never looked back. I always wanted you to stay in our room or sleep with us, but you were such a big girl even then. You never cry unless it is when we put your jammies on after your bath. Then you cry for about 10 minutes until you get your bottle. This month is the first month you really don't like strangers. You HATE missing your bedtime and routine. Anytime we miss it, you FREAK out. I am so worried about how you are going to do next month during the Mitchell family Thanksgiving. It is going to be so loud and crazy, and you so enjoy our little, quiet life. We also had Liz Khiel come take gorgeous pictures of you this month! You were WONDERFUL while she did them, and they turned out better than I could have ever imagined!

Your firsts: This is the first month you really started laughing. I was the first one to really make you giggle by saying the word "poopie." It was so funny! Now, you love to laugh at Daddy the most. He makes funny faces and noises that can always make you giggle. You had your first meal this month. It was rice cereal. You hated it. We switched to oatmeal which you liked a little bit better, but not enough to get excited to eat it. Holiday: This was your first Halloween! We tried to go to the Jones' Halloween party (you were a monkey and Daddy and I were bananas), but you started crying the minute we got there and didn't really stop until we left.



Halloween...and hated every second of that costume. Lol!

Things you liked: Lovey: As always, you LOVE your Lovey. Your toes! You are always grabbing them and pulling on them. You love when we pretend to eat them or tickle them. Whenever you have footie jammies with faces on the feet you just stare at them and smile. Eating everything. No matter what it is, you want to put it in your mouth. Your favorite thing right now is a plastic red-ribbon bracelet that I got at school. Your walker. This is still your most favorite thing. We try not to put you in it too much because we want to encourage you to crawl, but you love the independence the walker gives you, and it is such a crack up to watch you zoom around in it. You are so quick now, and you have also discovered how to push the walker sideways so you can try opening cupboards and drawers. You are already into everything and you can't even crawl! We are in serious trouble when you are mobile. Sleeping in your room. You love your crib. You go to sleep so well and never cry, and you hardly wake up through the night now. You wake up in the morning and talk and play until we come to get you, and then you are all smiles. You LOVE the morning, and you are so happy when I come to get you every day. Your little smile makes my morning, and I never leave for work on time because I want to spend "just one more minute" with you before I leave.

You with your Lovey. This is another picture from Mimi. She always gets the BEST ones.

Some of my favorite 6 month pictures:

LOOK AT YOU!!!!! So cute I could burst.



Poor Foxy. This is the first month you started to really notice her. She wants to be part of everything, so she would hang out with us, but you would reach out and pull her ears and her fur by the handfuls. She would never react or bat at you or anything. She was so sweet and it was like she knew she had to be nice to you and let you do what you wanted.



Daddy introducing you to his love - softball. He LOVES this picture because you are so excited about the ball.

My angel.

I am so proud of you, baby. You are so beautiful and fun. Everyday I love you more and more. You are such a fantastic little angel. I hope you know how much you mean to me.

I love you.

Love,

Mommy

Watch You Grow! Month 5

Dear Ensley,

This was one of my favorite months! You gained so much independence and were so FUN!

Month 5:

Your personality is just growing in leaps and bounds! No more pictures of you crying this month. You are so happy and bubbly. We love that we can take you places now and you are fun, curious, and adorable.  Later this month, Nana Fish came to visit. She babysat you all week and was so excited to be with you. Daddy and I bought her a plane ticket for her birthday so she could come see you. She loves you so much!

Your Firsts: Your first overnight trip to Las Vegas. (9/15) You went to Las Vegas so that you could meet your Great Grandma Turner. She came out from Ohio to help Aunt Joan get her new house set up and unpacked. With all that we packed for you for the weekend, it almost seemed like we were the ones moving! We had almost our whole house because we didn't know what you needed and what you didn't. Grandpa Dave came with us to help and see Grandma. He was so excited. Ever since you were first born he has been madly in love with you. He came to the house almost every single week to see you, and being able to spend a whole weekend with you seemed like the best thing that ever happened to him. He even babysat you one night while Daddy and I went out on the town. I was absolutely panicked about taking you all the way to Vegas, but you were AMAZING! We gave you a bath and left at your bedtime in hopes that you would sleep the whole way, and you did! You were the most perfect angel. Great Grandma thought you were beautiful and perfect. You smiled at her immediately and reached out to touch her face. It was so sweet, and I was so proud of you. You were even perfect on the way home even though you were awake for almost half of it.

Our trip to Vegas to see Great-Grandma Turner.

 Your first Novi football game. We went to Homecoming to see if Daddy's softball player, Jocelyn, won Homecoming Queen - and she did! She even posed with the crown on your head. (10/3)

Future Homecoming Queen!

Your first trip to Oak Glen to walk around the apple orchards. We went to celebrate the beautiful fall weather and your 5 month birthday! :) (10/7)

Things You Like: LOVEY! I can't exactly remember when we bought Lovey, but I can only assume it was this month because she starts popping up in all your pictures around now. I plan to write a blog entry specifically dedicated to Lovey because she is seriously your most favorite thing in the world. Being silly:You love when I make silly noises and funny faces at you. You love to be talked to or hear us sing. Any kind of interaction with me and Daddy is your favorite. Your walker: You still really like your walker and puttering around the house. You are getting more and more independent and that makes you even happier. Books: You still love books, and you have started wanting to turn the pages and play with them yourself. iPad: We have been showing you the iPad at night for about a month or so, but this is the first month you get REALLY excited when it starts. We do Fisher Price apps that all start with a song and red background for the Fisher Price logo, and you get a huge smile whenever you hear it. Your favorite apps are the alphabet, counting, shapes and colors, and animal sounds. You smile whenever the xylophone comes on, so Daddy really wants to get you one for Christmas. Your routine: You are a baby who LOVES order. We still follow your routine to a T because you HAVE to nap at a certain time, eat at a certain time, and be in your own bed. This is why I was so nervous to take you overnight, but you did so well!

Some of our favorite pictures of you:



This is your happy, adorable face in the morning. You still slept in our room in your pack and play, so I was able to see your smiley face every single morning! It was such a joy to wake up to your enthusiasm and zest for life! :)





Mimi took this picture while she was babysitting. She always gets the BEST pictures of you, and you always look like you are having so much fun with her. She absolutely loves watching you and says it's too long before she gets to come back. I am so glad you guys are going to have such a close relationship.

 

You in your favorite thing - your walker!



Snuggles with Mommy.



I mean, are you the CUTEST thing, or what??

So interested in this book. It was one of your favorites because the plastic fish on the top could move, and you loved the bright colors of the fish. This is my screen saver at work because you are reading a book about fish - How much more perfect can a picture get? :)



You and Grandpa Dave. He LOVED coming to visit you all the time. You loved pulling his mustache.





Daddy eating your toes. Your favorite game!

I just can't believe how quickly the time goes. You are such a big girl and learning so much. You love all the independence you are starting to have. I just love all your cute smiles and fun giggles this month. You are such a joy and light in our lives. You complete our family and our hearts in a way I never dreamed possible. Thank you for all the JOY you've brought and continue to bring.

I love you my little blessing.

Love,

Mommy