Florida

Kelsey LOVED the beach (YES! says her beach loving mama). She had a great time playing in the sand and loved watching the water.

She had a great time hanging with Bubbie at the pool!

Kelsey's first coed bath with friend, Graham. Kelly and Graham came to visit from Ormond Beach and we had a blast hanging at the beach and the pool together.

Eating Cheerios with Papa.

Hanging with Uncle Eric (but wanting to WALK around)

Great Grandfather Ogron came up for a visit from Miami.

Showing off our swimming lesson skills. Floating.

Enjoying a fun dinner with Uncle Jeff, Aunt Lisa, Amber, Bubbie and Great Papa O with a gorgeous view of the ocean!

Loving on Cari, Carrie, Casey and Aunt Ja Ja (wish she was in the pic more!)
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LOVING my first blueberry muffin with Great Papa Nano!! What a way to end the trip!

Walking Video

April 13, 2010

11 Months

Picnic in the Park with beautiful spring trees

Loving the feel of the grass on my feet

I LOVE my new swing!

Hanging at the zoo

Her daily mess making in action

Eleven months. SO hard to believe (seems to be a common thread of late:) Kelsey is doing great! She had a rough 11th month with a bilateral ear infection that wouldn't go away and a stomach bug that had her and me barely eating for a few days, but now she's eating up a storm and drumroll........ WALKING!!!! A couple weeks prior to her 11 month bday, Kelsey would take 1-2 steps and on her 11 month bday, she took 4 steps. Then on April 13th, she crossed the room to daddy and mommy several times. She looks like a drunk sailor, but she falls well when she bobbles. Right now she prefers to crawl, but walks here and there if she's motivated. High motivation includes the computer, our cell phones and the remote control. At last check, she weighed in at 16 lbs, 3.5 oz. She's fallen off the growth chart for weight, but being sick the whole month is surely the culprit. Kelsey continues to LOVE bath time. In fact, she loves it so much that when we're downstairs and we say, "wanna take a bath?" she claps her hands and climbs up the stairs as fast as she can. It's hilarious! Kelsey now signs milk, all done, water, babbles all the time, and gives 5 and turns her hand over to get 5. She loves music and we've just started a music class. After the first class, the teacher suggested her moving up to the toddler class....my baby is a toddler now!!! Where does the time go??!!?? We're going to give it a try and see. We've finished her swim class for the time being and have started a stroller exercise class, that I have to say is a much harder workout than I anticipated! We're having such amazing weather so it's refreshing to be outside so much! You can take the girl out of FL, but you can never take the FL out of the girl :) I think Kelsey is a FL girl at heart too! We'll find out as we're headed that way soon!

Fun, fun, fun

Peekaboo!

Look at all the Kelseys!

Inside a "boat" while Mommy sings (as usual)

Missing the beach...

Playing balls with Daddy

K for Kelsey

We played at the Magic House a rainy afternoon and Kelsey loved exploring all kinds of new toys and going on lots of new adventures. We can't wait to go back! :)

Meeting O

Kelsey and Olivia enjoying their first girls dinner together

Our friends from Atlanta, Shelley and Olivia, had a girls family weekend in St. Louis and we were so excited to see them and spend some time with them! We loved hanging out and hope we get to see them and the rest of our ATL family and friends soon!

TEN MONTHS

Not easy to get these shots anymore :)

Enjoying the sun, FINALLY

"Playing" with a box of tissues. TROUBLE!!

Playing with friends

10 Months. Such a BIG GIRL! Kelsey is as amazing as ever, talking up a storm, cruising ALL over the house, standing by herself for a few seconds, getting into trouble (sometimes even on purpose, the little sneak), and being all around incredible. Her new words include nana (for banana) and ni ni (night night) when it's bedtime or naptime. She is following lots of 1 step directions (when she wants to ofcourse) and is really a little sponge soaking up all kinds of new information. It's incredible to watch how she really focuses and pays attention to all that's going on. She loves other kids, her swimming lessons, any kind of music and being outside. Kelsey is constantly chasing Mocha and Bella around the house and they both are fantastic with her "nice" hands. Kelsey has been going through separation anxiety and to be honest so have I. It's hard to watch her cry when you leave, but I'm happy to report we are BOTH doing much better! Thank goodness she has Adam's easygoingness. In fact, except for a mild fever, we would have never known she was suffering from her first ear infection (both sides too!). We really are so lucky to have such a dream baby. I do see hints of temper that I'm sure comes from my side of the family so we'll see what toddlerhood brings us :) I've been told I was a mean tantrummer. She's such a little person now. It's hard to believe she'll be 1 soon. So bittersweet for this proud mama and dada :) We thoroughly enjoy our little playful gal and think you will too. See below :)

St. Patty's Day

Marching with Daddy at the Whole Foods Parade. Play, Daddy, Play!

The Whole Fam

Actual St. Patty's Day

Big Girl Bathtub

Getting ready to go in

SPLASH!

ALL WET!

Fun shampoo hair

And rinse....

We finally made the transition to the big girl tub on 3/12/10 and Kelsey embraced it wholeheartedly. She LOVES the freedom to splash all over and explore- our little cousteau.

My MoMo

I love playing with my Momo!!

Swimming Lessons

On our way to Kelsey's first swimming lesson, sporting the tankini.

Getting ready to go into the pool for the first time in 7 months!

Second lesson and a new suit!

Getting in the wish-it-was-warmer water

Kelsey is a little, adorable fish in the water! She loves it and has no fear. She's doing great reaching for toys with her hands and her feet, splashing, having water on her face, resting on her back (starfish position), and falling into the water to me from the side of the pool. She does great especially since it's in the middle of her morning nap time!! The hardest part is running to the car in this weather after the lesson. WE CAN'T WAIT FOR SPRING!!!

Sledding- "Are you kidding, Ma!?!"

Kelsey, like her mother, is not a big fan of winter. Here are some photos and a video of Kelsey's first time sledding. It fairly funny. She was her little active self as soon as we got inside! Too funny! :)

b

Are you serious?

Lots of Love

"Daddy's Girl" pacifier and "My heart belongs to Dad" shirt

Play Group Valentine's Day Party

Kelsey, Daddy, Mocha AND Bella!

Kelsey had lots of Valentine fun. We tried to take pictures with a white sheet, our attempt at professional shots. This doesn't work so well with such an active girl, but some of them turned out pretty cute. Then Kelsey and I hosted a Valentine's Day party for our play group. We had a gift exchange for moms and babies and it was a great time! Last but not least, we got to spend Valentine's Day with our favorite valentine, Daddy! :)

9 MONTHS!!!

9 months! Where does the time go? It's crazy to think that we'll be celebrating Kelsey's FIRST birthday in just a few short months. Our baby is looking more and more like a little girl- yes, we have mixed emotions about that! She is into EVERYTHING and loves to make a game of it! Apparently my plan when she was tiny to smile at her after telling Mocha or Bella "NO!" wasn't the brightest. At the time, I didn't want her to think I was using a harsh voice with her, but now it has backfired as everytime Adam or I use a "parent" voice, she looks at us and smiles or laughs and it is IMPOSSIBLE to keep a straight face. We definitely need some fine tuning as far as "discipline" goes :) Kelsey is crawling all over, pulls up on everything (Mocha and Bella included) and walks with her push toy. She even "walks" with any toy that is close to the right height.

Kelsey continues to nurse very well and is eating a TON! She loves pureed foods and finger foods and is dying to eat anything we are eating. Newer foods she's eating include: cucumber, kiwi, raw apples, blueberries, broccoli, strawberries, zucchini, rice, chicken, egg yolks, green pepper, lettuce, wheat pancakes, various melons, bagels and more. Despite her great eating, she continues to be the tiniest in her play group. She's weighing in at 15 lbs 9.5 oz (5th percentile) and measuring 26 3/4 inches (25th percentile). Our pediatrician thinks she's just supposed to be this size and collectively we're not worried. ( I was a couple months ago, but have realized she's just the right size!)

Kelsey is also now officially saying 4 words. Her first word was on 1/27/10 and it was MAMA!! YAY!!! :) I worked hard for that one :) She also followed that shortly with DADA, then Bella (sounds like Deda) and Mocha (momo). She's using them all the time now. :) We're signing too, but other than "up" I haven't seen any definitive independent signs yet. Kelsey seems to understand a really lot and is following one step familiar directions fairly easily AND when she wants to. Ofcourse! :) She turns pages in a book and LOVES when we read to her. She's fairly independent playing and despite some mild separation anxiety, adjusts well no matter where we are or what we're doing. Adam and I count our lucky stars every day to be blessed with such an amazing daughter and we frequently talk about how we love her more and more every day!!

Winter Visits

Loving visiting with Bubbie!There was A LOT of snow!
My mom came up to play with Kelsey. Adam and I enjoyed
the free babysitting and Kelsey had a blast with her Bubbie!

Loving "Aunt" Becky feeding me brunch!