Clothing size: Still wearing 9-12 month onesies and pants. Dresses and jammies are 12-18 months now.
Eyecolor: Pale blue.
Teeth: 4! Two top and two bottom. I keep thinking that she’s teething, but nothing else has popped up yet.
Eating: She’s nursing about 4 times a day now, and her consumption of solid foods really seems to have gone up this month! She loves yogurt (Greek or regular), grapes, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, any kind of shredded chicken, graham crackers, and any kind of cheddar cracker (i.e. goldfish).
We also let her try pizza a few days ago at this community pool party… and she was ripping pieces off with her teeth and actually eating it! My baby is so grown up!
She’s starting to get bored with Cheerios for breakfast, but that’s the easiest thing I can give her while we’re all getting ready in the morning.
She also likes to taste-test sidewalk chalk…
Words: Her favorite words are hey, hi, this, and that! She loves to go up to the guinea pig cage and say “heeeeey” so excitedly to them.
Favorite things: “Piggy” (her plush guinea pig), reading books, the toy cookie set, pretending she’s talking on the phone, drawing on the magnetic board, peekaboo, and little toy cars. She loves watching the real guinea pigs, and Kaya still gets the biggest laughs out of her.
Dislikes: Getting her face wiped and laying down for diaper changes.
Sleep: She sleeps from about 8 pm until 6 or 7 am, and for the most part, sleeps through the night! She’s had a few extra wake-ups lately from traveling, but other than that, she’s been very predictable in this category lately. She takes a 3 hour nap (as long as big sister doesn’t wake her up), starting around 1 pm. She still likes her little 30-minute “power nap” in the morning if she can get it. We’ve had a few days lately where it just hasn’t happened, and usually, she starts falling asleep in her high chair at lunch!
Nicknames: Baba, Baba Grace, Baba Gracie. Although we call her by her nicknames 90% of the time, she somehow does still know her real name!
Milestones, etc.: -She’s still not walking independently, but she’s pulling up on things and cruising along them whenever she can! Standing opens up a whole new world of activities- like playing the piano!
-She’s started climbing. For example, she can get into the cozy coupe car all on her own. She also likes to sit in Kaya’s baby stroller (until I catch her and take her out)!
-She tries to put shoes on all by herself! One time, I got my running shoes on, and she grabbed Kaya’s flipflops and attempted to wear them so she could come with me.
-She definitely has little temper tantrums when she doesn’t like something, but I have to say, on the whole, she is a very mild-mannered little girl. Her tantrums involve her squawking and throwing her body backward… and that’s pretty much it.
-She’s always loved her daddy, but this month, she’s really taken a lot more interest in him and will even ask him to hold her. I’m glad they’re spending a little more time together!
-We switched her over to the convertible car seat this month and she seems to like it a lot more than her infant seat. We brought it inside to clean it up (it was Kaya’s before) and adjust the straps, and she sat in it any chance she got.
-She’s started to (sometimes) fold her arms at prayer time. What is cuter than chubby little baby arms folded together? (answer: maybe nothing)
Dear Kaelyn,
Baby girl, I love everything about you. You climb into my lap to snuggle, you kiss and hug freely, and you make everyone smile. You love being close to your mama and I couldn’t be happier about that.
You are so inquisitive these days and are always asking me “this?” (what’s this?) so that I’ll name objects for you. Your most-frequently spoken word is “hiiiiiiiii!” without a doubt. You say it any chance you get and I love hearing that little baby voice of yours.
Keep on smiling little princess. We love you more than you know.
Love, Mommy
Singing “happy birthday” (and I have no idea what Michael was doing with his hands in this picture…)
Blowing out the imaginary 28 candles!
TWO. Our friend Katie surprised us with this gorgeous orchid! It’s the most vivid blue flower I’ve ever seen, and I love how it brightens up the room! It’s supposed to be pretty foolproof as far as care goes, so here’s to a (hopefully) long-lasting relationship with this beauty.
…even if the end result is a giant mess! 🙂
FOUR. These little baby piggies are growing so fast already! They had their first baths this week and look better than brand new. 🙂
FIVE. We kicked off our Friday with sidewalk chalk! Kaya loves creating and even tried to make a rainbow. Kaelyn just loved tasting the chalk.. haha. Playing outside with my girls is definitely one of my favorite things.
We made it safely to my parents’ house by evening. Our plan to get them to nap in the car mostly failed, so we still had two sleepy girls the next day.
We spent a lot of time just lounging around and relaxing. 
This was also Kaya’s first time having extended contact with a dog since the bite incident, and for the most part, she did great. 
My parents’ dog, Socks, is really sweet, but also very loud, so she was afraid when he would bark a lot. She asked about him whenever she couldn’t see what he was doing, and laughed when he would give us all kisses. I am still so proud of my girl for being so brave. 
Grandma and Kaya took several walks around the yard. 
Both girls loved watching the water move down the river. I loved watching them enjoy nature. 
She loved it.
I’m so grateful for this little family of mine and these beautiful places to explore together.
We made our way back down, which almost seemed more difficult for Kaya to navigate than the way up. I will admit, there were some slippery parts of the trail that I was nervous about traversing while wearing Kaelyn. We might wait until they are a bit older to do this particular hike again.
Both kids were so exausted that they fell asleep before we even reached the bottom of the trail.
These simple memories together are some of the sweetest.
Kaya is so happy to have pets again (after a hiatus of two months), and has been so loving and gentle toward them. She loves helping me feed them and asks to see and hold them all the time.
Michael finished building their cage last night, so they’ve been adjusting to that and have enjoyed jumping around in it. They seem so tiny next to the food bowls!
This might have been my second stick of cotton candy… So obviously I had to do some kind of crazy dance. #YOLO 
The end of the evening was a little bittersweet, since this was our last hurrah with Ben and Brittany before their move to Texas. We are already missing our sweet friends.
They were my safe place. At the end of the day, if I was stressed, hurting, or just needed company, I knew they would always be there for me. There was an inherent trust between us. “You care for me, and I’ll watch out for you”, they always seemed to say.
We are without a pet for the first time in the six years we’ve been married. A little time has passed since the dog bite incident, and Jax officially has a new home now. While I am so happy that he received a second chance and the best possible future, there is definitely an aching void in my heart for my puppy.