10 months old!

Caleigh Grace was 10 months old last Friday!  I can't believe that it has been 10 months already.  She seems so much like a little girl to us and so much less like a baby.  Overall one word I would use to describe the past 2 months is busy!  Caleigh is into everything and she is so fun!

At 10 months Caleigh is:

-taking 2 naps a day, at 9 and 1 and each one lasts about 2 hours and then asleep for the night from 6:30 or 7 pm - 7:30 am

-all done with baby food - we are creatively trying to use the rest of the baby food that I made since she won't take anything from a spoon from us

-Caleigh is now eating pretty much everything that we eat and loving it - mealtimes are a mess!

-still taking 4 bottles a day - Caleigh will take water and juice from a sippy but not formula - the transition may be a little tricky

-saying 'dada' and 'all done'... when she is done eating she will arch her back and say 'ahhhh duh' which we think it all done - she is also babbling all the time and it sounds like she is just talking to us - very cute

-crawling (her version of crawling with one leg more like a scoot)

-cruising everywhere

-has great balance - will stand alone for several seconds

-will walk when she holds our hands but she is not a big risk-taker so she probably won't take her first steps for a while

-loves climbing on anything and everything - stairs, toys, chairs

-loves swinging at the park

-doesn't really clap yet or wave bye-bye... she will raise her hand to wave when we say bye-bye but that is about it; doesn't sign anything yet

-loves playing with nesting toys and taking them out of each other 1 by 1 with her pincer grasp - also likes doing this with tupperware containers and the clean silverware in the dishwasher

-loving her silky (blanket) - she would prefer her silky to comfort her more than us - one of our nicknames for her is 'silky lover'

-loves reading books

-has 6 teeth total: 4 on top on 2 on the bottom

(disclaimer about this video: we took this video so that we could remember the way she cries and then sounds like she is telling us everything that is wrong - it is only a few seconds of crying without us getting her - don't worry)

Also at 10 months Caleigh has turned into quite the joke-ster.  Here is her new favorite game - playing peekaboo with herself and laughing hysterically.  It is really really funny.  She is so speedy with it she is hardly covered up for long...

Also since I forgot to give them at 9 months here are her 9 month stats:

18 lb 5 oz (42%)

28 inches (67%)

10 months old

Caleigh is 10 months old tomorrow!  How is she so close to 1 already??

past week or two

Here are some updates from the last week or 2.  Playing under the desk in our kitchen.  She loves to play in 'her' cabinet (the tupperware cabinet) in the kitchen and help me unload the dishwasher.  Her version is of unloading the dishes is to climb on top of the dishwasher and pull out the silverware. 

She got into my lipstick already!  Just kidding.  She must know her lips are bright pink because she sure is striking a pose.  In reality we are trying to use up the last of the homemade baby food since Caleigh is so over being spoon-fed.  She usually eats everything by herself except for the yogurt that I feed her once a day.  On this particular day I mixed the yogurt with some beet baby food I had made and wah-lah pink lipstick.  She actually liked the combo I think... well she at least opened her mouth for it. Partaking in her first Ritz cracker.  Look at that long messy hair! Welcome to the big leagues Caleigh!  She has officially outgrown her baby carseat and so we graduated to a cowseat or a cals-seat... I love that it looks like a cow and it looks pretty cute in our black Pilot.   Caleigh does not appear to be super impressed by her new ride - she actually was pretty annoyed to be strapped down while in the house and with a perfectly full basket of toys just a couple of body-lengths away. Striking a pose while (messily) eating some mac and cheese for the first time.  She devoured it.

silly goose

she is a big girl!

I feel like we haven't posted in so long!  I need to take more pictures in general.  I meant to do a 9 month update but Caleigh will be 10 months on Friday - I am so behind.  Things have been so busy with us lately - I have been working so much the past couple weeks.  Here are a couple of pix that I do have.  

I took this to try to get another picture of this girls crazy hair - it is getting so long!

She looks so big here.  Honestly she seems so much like a little girl now.  She is talking a lot and cruising and climbing everywhere.  Overall she is just so busy!  I will do a 10 month update soon. Just a little clip - not very exciting.  Caleigh must be a little camera shy because in general she shuts her mouth when she sees the camera.

spaghetti!

Caleigh had her first taste of spaghetti last week.  (I threw in some peas for a little color).  Caleigh loved it!  She has really transitioned from baby food and now eats pretty much whatever we eat.  Last week she also enjoyed some sloppy joes. 

Caleigh likes to eat with her fingers in her mouth - I think it helps her taste it better :) After the spaghetti she needed a bath big time!  As Caleigh's hair gets longer it makes for some interesting hair styles.  A mohawk in the bath - 

Labor Day

On Labor Day we heard there was going to be free food at Chick-Fil-A so we donned our college apparel and headed out for lunch. 

The real Carolina (UNC obviously) was greatly underrepresented.  Sam's watching Maggie give Caleigh a kiss to cheer her up.   Caleigh enjoyed splashing in the water on the playset.  She looks like such a big girl in her first (of many) UNC cheerleader outfits. Family photo op - Adam didn't get his arm out of the way in time.

women's beach trip

This past weekend Adam took daddy duty and graciously allowed me to go to Isle of Palms with a bunch of women from Uptown.  We drove down on Friday, hit the shops and the beach on Saturday, and headed to Poogan's Porch in Charleston for dinner on Saturday night.

me, Mary, Kim Macurda, Anna Mendenhall, Melissa Hunt, Lexi Frost, and Lisa Ellis

On Sunday we headed back to our families but we had a great time of fellowship over the weekend (and Caleigh did great - I missed her like crazy!).

hanging out with sam

Last week Sam hung out with us for the morning and he and Caleigh had a grand ole time.  They especially enjoyed the bumbo...

This is just further proof that the bumbo is much more useful once it is able to be climbed on.

More Fairhaven pictures...

Shoot!  I forgot to add these in the first Fairhaven post...  These are more pictures from our Saturday afternoon post-hike photo-op.  

The one above was a rarity.  Caleigh was focused on the ground and the grass. Dada's hat. Favorite family picture in front of the apple trees!

Fairhaven weekend!

Last weekend we left on Friday to go to Fairhaven, some cabins in Roan Mountain, TN with the Dirks.  We loaded up our new Honda Pilot and Thule car-top carrier with all of our luggage, 2 high chairs, 2 pack n plays, and our beautiful girls.  Our first stop on our weekend adventure was dinner in Newland, NC at a very country BBQ place.  Fortunately for us there was live music (by a duo - 1 of the guys was blind!) to go along with the checkered table cloths.  A couple of people even stood up and danced (including Maggie!).  Caleigh and Maggie were glad to be out of the car and to partake in the fabulous food.

In order to leave for Fairhaven you had to be wearing a blue t-shirt.

Check out the music in the background - we had front row seats! And any restaurant that recognizes the goodness of Adam's favorite drink, Mountain Dew, has to be a good place.  Is anyone concerned about all of those implements around the sign?  After a good night's rest we drove into Blowing Rock.  We drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway, played on the big park, the girls swung on the swings, we ate a good lunch, and best of all we got some really great fudge!  After afternoon naps on Saturday we went for a quick hike.  Caleigh had the most comfy ride on the trail. A break from the hiking for a super cute photo op.  Pretty impressive if I do say so myself - to get a 17 month old and a 9 month old to sit still for pictures and to both be smiling (sort of)... Both looking at the camera would have been too much to ask. Caleigh is taking a break and Maggie is narrating the action for her. Quick family pic in the gazebo. We walked up to the pond.  Here Caleigh is showing off one of the leaves that she found - she did manage to eat an untold number of leaves that I was too slow to remove from her grasp. Tyler and Adam in the canoe in the tiniest pond ever. What are our daddies doing???  The cutest thing was how well Maggie played with Caleigh.  This photo was not orchestrated!  Maggie just walked over and sat down right next to Caleigh... so sweet.  And here Caleigh is eating another leaf. A trip to the swing set after our quick jaunt to the pond. Fairhaven was teeming with apple trees!  Of course we couldn't resist the photo op.  This is my favorite picture of the whole weekend... Another family pic...  Does Caleigh look bored of them? This is a little lake just off of Fairhaven's property. On Sunday we headed up there for some exploring. Most of us on the bridge... We were at the lodge looking for some fishing poles for the pond but Caleigh was pretty occupied by Adam's shoe strings. A little rock-climbing.  What a risk taker.  Good thing she had a spotter. Tyler did most of the fishing using flower petals as bait (very manly).  You will have to check out the Dirks blog for the HUGE (note the sarcasm) fish that Tyler caught.  After he caught the first fish though they all got wise to his scheme and we couldn't catch anymore. All in all we had a great vacation!  The girls were so cute together and we adults had fun playing Bananagrams, Settlers of Catan, and Hand and Foot together.  Can't wait to do it again next year!

bumbo

I think Caleigh likes the bumbo so much more now that she can climb on it than when she was a little baby that sat in it.

Let me see if I fit in it this way... What is in there??? (I LOVE when she squats like that.  I think it makes her look like such a little girl.) Mom, my leg is actually stuck in there... No other way to get the leg out...

busy

Mom can't you see that I found something pretty awesome on the edge of the carpet in this corner - can't you see that I just don't have time for pictures anymore...

PS She is wearing a Carolina Girls... best in the world t-shirt.  She looks so big to me in this picture!

just being silly

A tisket, a tasket, Caleigh's in a basket...

She tips over these baskets on her changing table (which we don't actually use to change her anymore) several times a day so we thought we would give her a taste of her own medicine.  Look at me... Smiling only for Daddy of course... Trying to flee the confines of the basket but not quite sure how to do it so she's just being silly.