I LOVE this!!

I love this because Owen did this exact same thing when he first started talking! I would say, "say, Mamamamama!" and he would say, "Dadadadada!" So, this is only fitting for Anderson to do it the opposite!

Peek-a-Boo with Andi

ALV-10 months old!

Anderson is now 10 months old! I say NO WAY, but the calendar tells me otherwise! I can't believe she is only 2 months shy of being one! That is not even possible! At any rate, it is in fact true, so I can't stop it!

She continues to delight us each and every day! She is quite the little pistol all of a sudden and into EVERYTHING!!! She keeps us busy, that is for sure! And, she is very feisty and a little squirmy worm. Changing diapers/clothes these days is a workout in and of itself!

Anderson had tube surgery last week for her ears. She did great and everything went very smoothly. We are really praying this will keep those nasty ear infections away!

Andi has a few new tricks up her sleeve. Clapping seems to be her newest favorite thing to do! She is doing it all the time and usually very random! She is pointing at everything these days. It is very cute to see her point and babble as if she is trying to tell you something very important. She is saying "Mama" and "Dada" regularly and sometimes she will say, "Hi", although I think we only know that she is saying that because of when she says it. She is babbling constantly and definitely knows how to express herself. She is clapping all the time and also makes the clicking sound with her tongue, to which she is very proud of herself...mainly because her brother gets so excited every time she does it! I think he is especially proud of her because he has helped to teach her all of these new tricks! She has started pulling up on anything and everything she can! She did this the first time a few weeks ago, but then didn't really do it anymore, but not for lack of trying. She just didn't seem to have good enough balance or coordination to get herself up and then once she was up, she was very unstable. However, ever since she got her tubes, she has been non-stop! I really believe that when they drained out all of the backed up fluid from her ears, her equilibrium is now back in balance and she is able to stand easier. She used to stumble a lot when she was crawling and would fall to her face, but now, she hasn't seemed to have any trouble with that anymore. Along with pulling up, she has also decided that the stairs are a really fun place to be. All of sudden, she discovered them and has pretty much mastered them at this point, which scares me to death! Earlier this week, she was in the kitchen with me when I was washing bottles and then she went into the living room. I heard her playing and then she seemed to get really quiet. I knew that wasn't a good sign, so I went to check on her and she was almost all the way to the top of the stairs!!! That was a wake up call for me...we now put the gate at the bottom to keep her from going up alone!

The cutest thing Anderson is doing right now is playing peek-a-boo! She hears "Do you want to play peek-a-boo?" or "Where's Andi/Anderson?" and she puts the back of her hands over her eyes with the cutest little grin on her face! She loves it! It is so precious! I will post a video!

Eating textured things is getting much better! She still can't stand textured baby food, but she eats puffs and yogurt melts with complete ease now! I don't even have to break them up anymore! She also will eat broken up goldfish and cheerios. I have tried to offer her bread, pancakes, and bananas, but she isn't interested once she picks them up. She seems to be opposed to the way they feel. I will keep trying though! We have definitely turned a corner, so I am sure it will be no time before she is eating everything we are eating! She has also finally mastered the sippy cup...well, just one sippy in particular. After trying several, she just couldn't figure it out. While I was at Walmart one day, I grabbed a cheapo just to see what she would do and she had no problems. I was definitely getting worried about the sippy because I want to be done with the bottle shortly after she turns one. So, getting a sippy mastered was a must!

Although she is still little, Andi is growing like crazy! I really feel like she has gained a lot of length here recently...she just seems much longer! My guess is she weighs close to 18 lbs now. She is still in size 3 diapers, but I will most likely switch her to size 4 when I buy diapers next. She is definitely more in size 9 months or 9-12 months clothes at this point. But, I can still squeeze her into her 6 month clothes. I am really trying to stretch out what we have for the remainder of the cold(er) days versus buying new stuff when spring and summer are right around the corner.

As always, we are enjoying our sweet girl! She is just such a joy and she definitely keeps us on our toes!

ALV-9 months old!

9 months have passed since our baby girl was born! How is that even possible? She is still such a wonderful baby and such a joy to our lives!

Andi was 16 pounds, 4 ounces at her 9 month well visit (still 10th %) and she was 26.5 inches (25th %). Still growing, but still so tiny! She is still in size 3 diapers and wears 6-9 month clothes now!

As you can see from the previous post, she started crawling during her 9th month! And, now, she has taken off! She is quick and gets into EVERYTHING!!! When I say everything, of course, I mean everything she shouldn't get into! She can find it all...including a stink bug! Yep, she attempted to eat a stink bug...nasty! I am not sure if it was crawling around and she picked it up or if it was already dead, but I looked over at her as she was pulling it out of her mouth and setting back on the ground...dead! We have stink bugs everywhere and for the most part, we totally ignore them. They don't cause any harm and they aren't poisoness, just a little strange looking and they only stink if you squish them or if you vacuum them up...let's just say we have learned not to do that if we don't want the whole house to smell like stink bug! Oh, and if you BITE them, of course! Ugh, I can't even explain how nasty it was to imagine that our baby girl stuck that thing in her mouth and bit down! Her hands and her breathe reeked of stink bug until I washed/brushed them! Whew, that is one for the memory bank, huh?

Andi still isn't eating anything more than just plain old baby food, yogurt, and oatmeal. She just can't handle the textures. I do give her puffs from time to time, broken up, and she does fine. But, if I give her a whole one, she gags and chokes. The pediatrician said this doesn't worry her and that it just means she isn't quite ready yet for finger foods. So, we will just try again later and see what happens!

She has gotten another ear infection (her 3rd in a month and a half)...this time a double. Basically, this is the same fluid sitting there, causing the infections, from back in December when she got her first one. It clears up with antibiotics and then comes right back when she is done with the medicine. So, our pediatrician felt like it was time for her to see the ENT. I knew that meant she would be heading for tubes like her brother. To be honest, this is what I hoped for because I know how well they work. As it turns out, she will have to get tubes. The ENT doctor said that she can tell by looking in her ears that the fluid has been there for a while and isn't draining properly. She said that if it sits for a long time, it can cause hearing problems and/or scarring. So, she said that tubes are necessary to get her ears cleared up and to get her comfortable again. Although, you really wouldn't know her ears are bothering her other than the fact that she constantly tugs on them. She doesn't cry, she doesn't have trouble sleeping, she still eats great...she just tugs at her ears! At any rate, her surgery is scheduled for March 7th.

2 big things have happened during this month...Andi said "Mama" for the first time and she cut her 2 top teeth! She still only says "Mmmmaaaa" or "Mmmammma", and it only seems to be when she is upset or tired, but I will take it! Randy says I "won" this time...since Owen said "Dada" first! I didn't know it was a contest ;-) Her 2 top teeth came through much like her bottom 2...no warning and no signs; she just all of sudden had teeth. That is nice, I will say! Both of our kiddos have taken teething very well! I know we are very lucky when it comes to that because I know it can be bad sometimes!

These 9 months have gone by so incredibly fast. I really, really, really want time to slow down! She is just growing too quickly! Her smile and her laugh alone are enough to melt a heart! She is amazing and just gets more and more fun everyday!

Andi is crawling!!!

Andi started crawling on Friday...01/20/2012! She started a full month earlier than Owen did. I was shocked that she got it so quick! And, I was able to catch her very first time on video, just as I did with Owen! I was so excited and as you can see, Owen was just as proud of his baby sister! A little disclaimer...please excuse the fact that both children are half naked! I promise they don't run around like that on a daily basis. Owen spilled his drink on himself in the car and Andi had a blowout diaper. I had just gotten his pants off (he does have undies on, but they are hiked up to the point they are under his shirt) and her all cleaned up when she decided to take off. So, I grabbed the camera, not caring that neither child was fully clothed! Oops ;-)

Blog updating

I am so incredibly behind in updating this blog! I still haven't gone back and done the post on Owen's birthday party, which was 6 MONTHS AGO! I have all intentions of getting around to that and all of the things since then up to the present at some point! But, to be honest, adjusting to 2 kids and working from home has just been slightly tougher than I had imagined! So, I will get to it when I get to it! In the meantime, I promise to at least update Andi's monthly post! I hope to get caught up and then stay caught up after that! But, I am not promising anything....

ALV-8 months old!

Although this post is a little lot late, the picture was taken on the day Andi turned 8 months old ;-)

Andi continues to be the sweetest, happiest, little baby! She is so pleasant all the time and really is the easiest baby! She doesn't give us any trouble and I usually know exactly what she needs if she does get fussy!

Even though she is still tiny, only in the 10th percentile, Andi is growing like crazy! From 6.5 months old to 7.5 months old, she gained an entire pound...15 lbs 13 ozs at her last visit, which was a sick visit in December. We came back from our trip to NC to celebrate Christmas and I just had a feeling something wasn't right...she was still eating fine and sleeping fine and was completely acting normal, but the slight tugging on her right ear throughout the weekend bothered me, so I took her to get her ears checked. Sure enough, her first ear infection :-( Unfortunately, me taking her in to check her ears meant that she and I came in contact with all of the germs at the pediatrician's office and we both came down with a stomach bug. We then "shared the love" with the ENTIRE Voelp clan (well, almost entire...only Tim's kiddos were spared...EVERYONE else!!). It was a nasty, rampant virus that struck us all at the worst time possible, the week of Christmas...but that is for another post...back to Andi! Other than the stomach bug, she seemed to handle the ear infection like a champ...MUCH different than her brother who was, to put it mildly, MISERABLE when he had one! She was a trooper and after a few days of antibiotics, it cleared up!

About a week after I posted her 7 month entry, her bottom 2 teeth popped through! No real issues with the teething...they just all of a sudden were there! She really is such an easy baby...we are so blessed!

Andi is still in 3-6 month or 6 month clothes, but can wear some 6-9 month or 9 month things. She is also still in size 3 diapers...that should hold true for a while! I am hoping the pile of clothes we got for her back in October will last through the winter because I really don't want to have to buy more "warm" clothes when the seasons will change soon!

She is still doing great with solids, but doesn't seem ready at all for finger/table food! If I give her puffs that I have broken up, she does fine. But, if I give her the whole thing, she gags as if it is completely closing off her airway...when it is only on the TIP OF HER TONGUE! And, the "textured" baby food does the same thing to her! I don't know if she will ever progress at this point ;-) But, trust me, we are in no rush!

Andi isn't crawling yet, but she does get up on all 4's and rock back and forth! She almost does a crazy "jump" motion while on all 4's as if she is trying to propel herself forward, which cracks us up! She is definitely trying really hard! She also rolls everywhere and seems to find a way to get into everything! She is going to be a wild one, we can tell already! She is able to push herself, while on her belly, backwards all over the floor, but can't quite get the forward motion yet! She also does a funny scoot thing when she is sitting. She can get all the way across the room while sitting on her bum! It is one of those things where we wondered if she would just never crawl and do the butt-scoot instead, but I think she may be crawling soon! Again, we are in no rush!

Andi LOVES her big brother and we can always rest assured that he will keep her entertained! He is so good with her and loves playing with her as much as she loves having him around! She gives the biggest laughs to him! Her favorite thing seems to be splashing with him in the bathtime, which is so fun to watch! They just splash and splash and splash like crazy people and she is the biggest instigator which makes it even more hilarious! Her other favorite things are her jumper and her exersaucer! She is still quite entertained in those! During Christmas, because of the Christmas tree, we put the jumperoo down in the basement and pulled out the "Johnny Jumper". She really seems to enjoy that more so than the jumperoo, so we may just keep it that way!

Andi hasn't started making any consenant sounds yet. She hasn't said, "Mama" or "Dada" or really much of anything more than just the vowel sounds. She does make a sound when she is really tired or hungry and fussy like "mmmmm" but I am not sure if that really means anything. When I looked back, Owen was already saying "Dada" at this point, as well as a few other consenant sounds. But, we are not really worried...she is taking things at her own pace and once again, we are in no rush!

Andi has started lifting her arm in the air and moving it up and down and making the "Ah" sound when she sees someone walk in a room or when she is trying to get someone's attention! She is clearly attempting to say "Hi!" which is so cute! She and I went to the local bagel shop one day after dropping Owen off at preschool, and she was bound and determined to get this man's attention who was sitting a few tables away! She kept making that sound and moving her arm up and down...and the poor girl just couldn't get his attention...apparently he just wanted to read his paper and drink his coffee and never even realized she was "talking" to him! It was cute either way ;-)

We can't believe our sweet girl is already 8 months! I don't understand why children have to grow up so quickly anyway, but I truly feel like Andi is growing up much quicker than even Owen has! It must be a second child thing?!?! I feel like I blinked and all of a sudden she isn't a newborn anymore! So, all of these milestones that she hasn't reached yet or isn't reaching as fast as Owen did, are perfectly fine with us! The longer she holds off, the longer she just might stay our baby girl!! I wish I could keep her this age forever, but I am so excited to see who she will become too! We truly are enjoying every moment and taking it all in as much as possible!