Merry Christmas

Tomorrow we are packing up and heading north to my parents for Christmas. It turns out that my new job includes more than a week off at the holidays (the University is closed December 24-January 2). This means that all of us will be in Oshkosh for our usual Christmas eve and Christmas day festivities, Karl will have to go back on Monday to work a few days and Ally and I will stay until Thursday or so. I have a basketball game on January 1 so we need to be home in time to allow me to get ready for the game even though the university is closed. We are really looking forward to some time with family and hoping for good weather and a cooperative child on the drive.

We wish everyone a very happy and safe holiday!

Jillians

Uncle Corey comes to visit on Sundays so last week we went to Jillian's to eat and play. Jen came too and had a very competitive game of air hockey with Karl. Ally just liked to run around and look at all the flashing lights in the arcade. Disco Duck was her favorite game because it involved stomping on colored buttons. We all played basketball and ski ball and came away with 250 tickets. We are saving them up for a big prize some day!

New Teeth

Teething is a vicious cycle. Ally has only had four teeth since before her first birthday but all of a sudden new teeth are popping up all over. The entire lower right side has decided to come in all at once, including her molar. The left side has also started to swell and her molar has surfaced and yesterday I could see the two top teeth next to the center ones breaking out. Its crazy! It always seems like her worst teething happens in conjunction with a cold (pediatricians say coincidence but I disagree) so its very tough to tell whats causing her crabbiness and waking during the night. We have been treating with baby orajel since the herbal tabs that were so wonderful have since been recalled. Seems to work okay for short spurts but it doesn't do much for the swelling. She used to like the teething rings but now she is far to busy to just sit and chew on those. I just keep expecting to wake up to a smiling mouth full of teeth soon!

Holiday Greetings from the Kraebbers

Tree Decorating

I put up our Christmas tree the other night after Ally went to sleep and yesterday she helped decorate it. I had put all the lights on and the colored ornaments but I wanted her to help hang her special ornaments and our stockings. She was so happy to see the lights and she loved touching the colored balls. She helped put up Baby's 1st Christmas from last year and the new Baby's 2nd Christmas that I bought for her. We also added a New House ornament since we had one from 2006 when we bought our first house. Its not a huge tree by any means but it works for us and Ally likes it. Some day I want to have a real tree but until the dog and the child can be trusted with it, we will stick to this fake one.

Traumatized by Santa

Does this really need an explanation? Worst idea ever!

14 Months Old

This month has obviously been a whirlwind of activity for all of us. The packing, moving, new job, new day care didn't really lend itself to much picture taking or blogging. Ally has perfected a lot of skills and even has added some new things.

Walking. She can really move now! She rarely crawls at all and is comfortable walking anywhere. Last months she really was only comfortable walking at home and work revert to crawling in public places but not anymore. Lowes is among her favorite places to explore! She is much faster and a lot less stiff-legged these days. She gets a little clumsy when she gets tired but she really does great most of the time.

Talking. Ally's vocabulary includes dada, mama, ella, ball, up, doggie and a variety of sounds I can't yet translate. She is very good at pointing and shaking her head both yes and no which is new. She calls Uncle Corey "co-co" which is so cute so it is becoming very obvious that she knows what things are, but doesn't necessarily know how to put the right sounds together to make the words yet. She can point to many things if you say the words like shoes, jacket, blanket, tree, snack, chair, cup and various body parts. In day care she has been learning sign language and she uses the sign for more perfectly. So perfect that she asks for more when she hasn't even had anything yet. She also puts her hand to her mouth to show she is hungry and is working on the sign for please. I would prefer she learns to talk rather than sign but learning is learning and I will take what I can get.

Eating.Her eating is still a cause for concern with us as she just has not been very consistent. It doesn't seem to bother her that she doesn't take in as much as we think she should and her weight is right on so there is no real cause for concern other than our own stress about it. Each day brings something new- one time she only wants to feed herself, one time she only wants to be fed from a fork, only cheese, no cheese, little pieces only, big pieces only.... She has a few things she really enjoys like string cheese, milk, mac and cheese, corn dogs, grapes, black beans, goldfish but all others are really hit and miss. She is now eating some applesauce and pancakes which she has always refused in the past. Other favorites like peas, grilled cheese, cooked carrots, chicken seem to have been a phase and she wont eat them now. We do find that she prefers big chunks of things she can take bites of versus small pieces on her tray. Meats are the biggest obstacle but we are working on it. Day care hasn't helped in this area as much as we had hoped but she is getting exposed to a variety of foods and only gets jarred baby food on the rare occasion she absolutely refuses to eat anything else we give her.

Drinking. Ally is down to one bottle per day which is bedtime only. She loves drinking from cups and really decided on her own to give up bottles. She discovered chocolate milk and only really like the pre-mixed milk rather than white milk with chocolate added to it (just like Mommy). She likes cups of all kinds and uses a straw like a pro. She gets a lot of juice and milk at day care so we mostly just do water and milk at home.

Teeth. Ally has a bunch coming in right now. Basically the entire lower right side has decided to come in at once so it is very sore and swollen lately. Her molar is poking through and the one right next to the center teeth is almost all the way up. Not fun!

Ally absolutely loves to play with toys of all kinds. She loves toys with doors she can open and close and also with things like shape sorters where she can put one piece into another. She is also very into sitting in chairs and climbing on furniture. Ally is a girly girl right now and loves bags of all kinds that she can put toys in and put on her shoulder, bracelets/watches and lip gloss. We have a few things in mind for Christmas which we hope will help her with these new obsessions.

First Haircut

Ally's hair was getting a little out of control so we decided to take her to get her hair cut on Friday. Karl already had an appointment with our favorite stylist in Lafayette so we were able to get Ally in right after him. She started out doing great but as usual, she quickly decided she didn't like being held on to. The pictures Karl took are classic! While it looks like it was absolute torture, she really only was unhappy for a minute. Now we can see more of her adorable face!

The before, during and after:

Climbing Stairs is So Easy

Ally absolutely loves to go up and down the stairs. She first learned this and Grandma Sharon's house and now that she has a nice carpeted stair case of her own, she is in heaven. She knows exactly how to go up and down safely. She has now also figured out that its faster to just slide down instead of using her feet. Doesn't take much to amuse this girl.

Almost Unpacked

Week one in the new house has been amazing! We closed on Friday the 12th and moved in the next day. We didn't really have a ton of stuff in the apartment but enough to require a moving company to take care of things for us. We packed everything up and they took care of the loading, driving and unloading into the correct rooms in the new house. I can't even describe how wonderful it is to move into a brand new, just finished home!

Our builder did a fantastic job on the details and everything we picked looks great. Karl's favorite room is the kitchen and I really love the whole downstairs. We unpacked Ally's room first so she would have a place to sleep and feel comfortable in the new house. My dad came to visit and helped us unpack the kitchen and get some major things done like installing shower curtain rods. We got through almost all of the boxes from the truck and this weekend we will bring everything that has been in storage in Lafayette. This includes our winter clothes, guest bedroom furniture, office stuff, freezer, lawn care items, etc... Things are in their place for the most part now and we will really get everything organized once we remember what its like to have everything in one place. The two stories is taking some getting used to for us all but the extra space is wonderful. Ally loves the stairs and is a little too good at going up and down by herself. She is not a fan of the gates but she gets over it quickly and finds something else to play with.

After one week, here is my list of best things about the new house:

- carpeting in the living room

- no loud neighbors upstairs

- two words: master bath

- basement for storage

- beautiful kitchen with gas range and granite counter tops we picked out

- space for all of Ally's toys

- a nice big garage

- the most comfortable couch in the whole world

- only 10 minutes to Ally's day care

Pictures to come soon!

The First Two Weeks

We have been so busy that there has been no time to update all of the things that have been going on! I started my new job at Bradley University and Ally started at day care on November 1. The day care is located in East Peoria which will be very close to our house and on my way into work. We were up and out the door by 6:30 each morning to be able to drop Ally off and get myself to work at 8. Ally went to sleep early with no fussing and was really great in the car the entire first week. It was dark most of our way in so she got an extra 30-45 of sleep. She was so excited to get into day care and see all the toys and kids. She absolutely could not have cared less that I was leaving her there. The only time she cried is when we had to leave to go home.

Ally's first week at day care went very well. She has sort of self adjusted her schedule over the past few weeks leading up to day care so it was easy for her to get in a routine there. She gets breakfast there when she arrives (before 8am), snack around 9:30, lunch around 11:30 then an hour or so nap, afternoon snack around 2 and lots of play time in between. Her first day I planned for her daily mid-morning bottle but by day 3 she only wanted milk in her cup. We haven't looked back! I was able to get her between 5 and 5:30 and she was so worn out that she slept most of the way home each day. We got home around 7 and Karl would have dinner ready for us to eat, then some play time and bed around 8.

My first week at work was a total blur! Starting a job like this at this time of year is not something I recommend. I only had 4 days to learn and prepare for the first basketball game. Everyone is so busy that I really am on my own to figure things out which is ok, but frustrating at times. My goals were pretty simple- get my desk organized and know enough to make it through one game. Because of the commute I really couldn't put in any extra hours in the office or work any games during the week so that was also tough.

Week two was a little different just because of day light savings time. Now that the sun was up on our way in, Ally did not want to sleep so the drive wasn't as easy or pleasant. She cheered up right when we got to day care though and once I get her coat off she waves and says bye-bye to me even if I'm not ready to go. She is a big hit with the teachers and has made lots of friends already. She gets to spend some time in the toddler room too since she is a little older and can walk and play on her own. On Tuesday of week two Ally woke up with a runny/stuffy nose but seemed ok. About an hour into work I got a call that she had a fever and had to be picked up. Karl and I scrambled and I was able to get her home quickly and to the doctor in the afternoon. Of course she has an ear infection and a cold! We got her on an antibiotic right away and with an extra day home with Karl and some extra sleep she seems to be back to normal.

I am still adjusting to the job duties but its getting easier. The job duties are similar to my previous job but a lot more freedom, I am just trying to figure out how to take advantage of that. The athletics department runs a lot differently and some things are better and some are not- that's to be expected anywhere. I am still learning and sometimes its hard to remember that Ive only been here for a few days. I have to work at a very fast pace which isn't unusual, its just hard to learn all new things and work at the pace I'm used to. The people at Bradley are very friendly and open to new ideas so the potential to do good things is definitely here.

Overall the 2 week commute and chaos went much better than I anticipated. Ally is so easy going and I am very thankful for that! Karl was great helping me get Ally up and ready and he did all the packing while we were gone. We are beyond ready to leave the apartment behind and get some extra sleep! Ally has finished her antibiotic and still has a little bit of a runny nose but has been fever free since Tuesday. Again, expected when you are introduced to new kids and new places with lots of germs. We will be switching insurance providers and doctors to someone local next week so finding a new pediatrician is critical.

Happy Halloween

13 Months Old

Saturday we celebrated Ally's 13 month birthday with a trip to Champaign to watch some Purdue football. It was the worst game we have ever seen but the wind, cold and terrible football didn't seem to bother Ally. It was her first time wearing a hat and mittens and she actually left them alone and wore them for the majority of the time. A lot has changed for our family in the last few weeks so month 13 has been a busy one.

Ally has really reached some major milestones, specifically walking in the last week. She really does well on her feet and loves to carry things around the apartment. She is getting more comfortable taking steps and doesn't crawl much around our place. She isn't ready to show off her talents outside the apartment yet but I think that will come as she gets better balance and confidence in her abilities. Carrying around Ella's leash is her favorite and she also enjoys bags with handles she can put on her arm. I am convinced that Ally is either training for one of those strong man competitions or is the incredible hulk. She is going through this phase where she tries to pick up/carry/flip over anything and everything. She loves putting the strap to her diaper bag over her shoulder and carrying it and dragging around her toy work bench and activity table. She will flip over anything that moves!

Ally got so many great toys for her birthday and she really likes to play with them and spread all the pieces all over the place. She has several shape sorters and a set of big duplo legos that she really likes. She knows where the pieces go, can stack things up, pull them apart, and is very good at knocking stacks over. She has also learned how to throw things which is bad and put things back into their container which is good. Books are still her item of choice, especially the lift the flap type. She has several stuffed animals, a singing cookie monster and a dog that talks but she isn't quite sure about them yet.

We have discovered several new foods that Ally likes this month. The big hits have been black beans, grapes and mini-corn dogs. She also likes cooked peas, carrots and flavored rice dishes. Still not a big fan of meats at all and we have tried a variety of types and textures with no luck. Recently she has shown a ton of interest in utensils and actually does better than expected with spoons and forks. She knows exactly what to do with them and can scoop oatmeal from a bowl and land some in her mouth and can also stab a few things with a fork without injuring herself. We are working to phase out the bottles and are down to the late AM bottle and the bedtime bottle. She still is not a big fan of drinking milk out of a cup but will drink water or diluted juice with no problem. Hopefully day care will help her with more exposure to the cup but I also have a fear that we will digress while we are commuting for the next two weeks.

In anticipation of the new schedule, we worked hard this past week on a new and improved bed time. Ally has been sleeping 9:30pm-9am with a 2 hour afternoon nap for a while now which really isn't going to be possible when I have to work at 8am with an hour commute. We started last weekend moving up her bedtime routine (bath, read, bottle) by a few minutes which also meant that we put her to bed awake for the first time. I also woke her up earlier each day. She did much better than anticipated and we really only had one night where she cried for more than 10 minutes. Right now we are getting her down as close to 8pm as possible and Karl is the best at easing her to sleep.

This months pictures include some from our pumpkin patch visit and Halloween so enjoy. Lots more to come as Ally gets to explore a new day care and a new house very soon.

Time for a Walk Ella

Ally has been walking more and more this week and has discovered how to carry things. She finds all sorts of things to pick up and move from one place to another. Yesterday when we got home from a trip to Target she was trying to pick up a big pack of paper towels so I grabbed the video camera. I didn't get much of her strong man training with the paper towels because once I started the camera, she decided it was time to take Ella for a walk. Ella didn't agree but it was so funny to watch. What a funny girl!

Walking

Our New House

Big News: New Job and New House

Last week Tuesday, I was offered and accepted a job with Bradley University Athletics as the Assistant Director of Marketing. Its actually a very odd story as to how this job came about but here is the short version. A few weeks ago I was a finalist for a job doing marketing for the Bradley Alumni Association and part of my interview was to meet with the university president. She is a wonderful woman and we discovered we both had many Purdue/athletics ties so we spent a lot of time talking about those things. She asked if she could give me resume to the athletics director and I said sure not really thinking anything of it. Turns out she did that day and the next day his secretary called to schedule a time for us to talk. I had a brief phone conversation with him a week ago Friday, came to campus again last Monday to talk with him and a few other staff members and then he offered me a job on Tuesday. Right now its a temporary title until some of the restructuring the AD is doing is finished but it is a great opportunity with a lot of growth potential and creative freedom. Bradley has 12 division one sports (no football) and are in the Missouri Valley Conference. I will be responsible for all game day elements, ticket sales efforts, marketing, advertising, etc... of their most valuable sport which is men's basketball and I will also be creating and implementing a sales strategy and a branding campaign for the department. Big responsibilities but the athletics director feels like I am the right person for the job! I will start on November 1 and my first game will be the following Saturday. And now my brother and I work for rival schools... who would ever have thought that would happen?

With a job in Peoria and Karl in Springfield, we decided to look for houses in East Peoria which will be about 45 minutes for Karl and about 15 for me. We saw a lot of options and decided to put an offer in on a two story 4 bedroom/2.5 bath new construction on Friday. Because of the number of long hours and events I have to work right away we really need something fast, and our lease is up in November as well. The house is still being finished and we have the opportunity to pick carpeting, appliances and counter tops which is very exciting. The most important factor for us in moving was to find a really good neighborhood with families and people we could be friends with since we aren't near any friends or family and we think we found a great place for a great price. The house is set to be move in ready on November 12 so that is our closing date.

We found Ally a very nice day care in East Peoria and she will start there full time on November 1 as well. There weren't too many options for places with immediate openings but I think this place will work out well for her. She is still going to be in an "infant room" until she is 15 months but there are 3 other babies close to her in age in the room. They will continue to help her with table food and drinking milk from a cup and she already fell in love with all of the fantastic toys to climb on in the room. The rooms are also equipped with web cams so we can check in on her anytime but I'm not sure if I want to take advantage of that- once I start I probably wont get any work done. Until our house is finished, Ally and I will make the drive to and from Peoria together so its going to be a big adjustment for all of us. I wont be working many week night events until we get moved in so this plan should work out great for us once we get a handle on waking up much earlier.

We are so excited and will have more information to share soon! We are making some trips to the house this week so maybe I can get some pictures to post of the current progress.

Pumpkin Hunting with our Pumpkin

A few weeks ago we took Ally to the Apply Barn Orchard in Chatham to pick out her very own pumpkin. With the weather being as hot as it has been lately, we waited for a relatively cool day after Karl was done with work so it would actually feel like fall. Ally loved looking at all of the rows and rows of pumpkins. She carefully picked out a very round little one and we picked out two other medium sized ones to complete our pumpkin family. Not sure exactly what we are going to do with them but at least our patio looks somewhat festive.

First Birthday Photo Shoot

A few weeks ago we had Ally's pictures taken by my former intern, Kim and her husband. We loved how Ally's 6 month shots turned out so this time I wanted some outside. The weekend we had the pictures scheduled Ally ended up getting sick but we did them anyway. It turned into a very quick shoot at Happy Hollow park. There were some nice shots but we can also tell that she wasn't her smiley self (come to find out later, she actually had a fever of 103 while we were taking these). Overall we were happy with the ones we got and more pictures just makes it harder to chose the prints! Here are the best ones from the day:

Again, I highly recommend Kim Davis Photography. She is more than affordable and you get a ton of pictures to choose from. And yes, Ally's hair naturally looks like that! How she got so adorable we will never know.

Birthday Celebrations

Ally had a great birthday week full of presents, family and food! We started with a small get together at Grandma Sharon's a few days before Ally's birthday. It was a cupcake party complete with a cake made out of cupcakes, in the shape of a big cupcake. We ate BBQ and mac and cheese, then opened some presents. Ally was much more interested in climbing on the steps than anything else so she really wasn't in the party mood. We sang Happy Birthday and gave her a cupcake with pink frosting hoping to get a good reaction but instead she stick her hands in the frosting and freaked out. She hated it and wouldn't even put it near her mouth! Instead of cake she got a bath and the party was over.

On her actual birthday we invited Uncle Corey over for dinner and presents at our apartment. She got a fun singing Farmer Cookie Monster from Corey and a few toys and clothes from us. I sat her in my lap and gave her some cupcake off a fork and she enjoyed it much better. She loved playing with Corey and her new toys.

The next day we loaded up and headed to Oshkosh for a big party at Grandma Julie's. Everyone was really looking forward to seeing Ally and she had a great time. She decided not to nap much during the day so we feared that it would be a repeat of her first party but she was great. She played with everyone, opened TONS of presents, ate snacks, and even got the cake in her mouth on her own with no melt down. We took tons of pictures and some video of all of the parties so I have put together a little of everything. A big THANK YOU to all of our wonderful friends and family for making Allyson's 1st Birthday so special!

One Year Check Up

Yesterday Ally had her one year check-up and passed with flying colors. She measured at 21 lbs 5 ounces and 29.5 inches tall which puts her in the 97th percentile overall. We were really shocked to see that she only gained a pound and grew an inch in three months because she feels so much heavier and so much longer to us. This slow down in growth is completely normal for this point in her development and she will continue on this plateau for most of this year. Ally might be wearing the 12 month clothes and size 3 Huggies for a while longer as they fit just right. She got three shots and took them like a champ. One interesting thing is that we had to do a lead exposure questionnaire and we will have to take Ally to get a blood draw in the next few weeks to test her lead and hemoglobin levels. We had never heard of this but apparently its required in Illinois, even though we have only lived here a few months and answered no to all of the questions. I am not looking forward to taking her in for the blood draw, I can't even handle getting it done on myself let alone watching them do it on my baby.

We got the ok on our front facing car seat and the switch from formula to whole milk so those are exciting milestones. We need to work for more table foods and phasing out the bottles by our next visit in three months. We should also begin a routine of brushing her four little teeth. Two thumbs up for Ally and another great check up!

Year in Review

Ally's Favorite Activities:

Climbing

Waving

Reading books

Pulling items out/off of their place

Petting her dog

Visiting family

Drinking from a straw

Our Favorite of Ally's Activities:

Laughing

Smiling

Clapping when you say good job

Getting a big smile and a wave when you go in to get her in the morning

Productive nap times

Best Buys/Gifts:

Video baby monitor

Graco convertible products- we love both the travel system and high chair systems

Boppy pillow

Flip video camera

Pottery Barn blanket

Bouncy seat

Works in Progress:

Meal times- trying to work for more self feeding and to try to put more in her own mouth than she gives to the dog

Separation Anxiety- since she is with me all of the time, she is sometimes hesitant to go to Karl when she needs something. She is ok with others if she doesn't see me leave which is obviously very common at this age

Riding in Cars- she is great on long trips but anything shorter than a half hour is a disaster most of the time

Walking

Proudest accomplishment for myself in the first year: Sticking with nursing for six and a half months despite the stress and struggles

Biggest area for improvement in year 2: Better communication with Karl about the small things related to Ally and let him do things his way and I can do them mine, as long as they get done and she is happy

We are beyond lucky to have a very easy going, healthy and happy girl. My goals are to stress less about the small things and enjoy all the fun things that are ahead. Although I know she is "normal" and all kids go through some struggles I can't let a bad trip in the car, refusing her lunch, a day with no nap, waking up a time or two at night or any other minor one time problem ruin my day.

One Year Old

Today Allyson Jeanne is one year old! In many ways it seems like the year has flown by but it also seems like she has been at this stage in her development for a while now. Karl and I both agree that the first few months are mostly a blur- a whirlwind of visitors, struggles, doctors visits, stress, etc... She hit the fun and happy stage fairly quickly and once she got mobile everything really became more interesting. The move to Springfield has added some additional challenges and stresses but we know that we have been blessed with a very happy and healthy child.

Sleeping. Ally has been on a consistent sleep schedule for quite a while. Naps were a struggle at first but day care helped with setting a schedule and her high level of activity also means that she tires herself out easily. Her daily sleep schedule consists of waking around 8am, napping around the lunch hour for one to two hours, then to bed for the night between 9 and 9:30. We had a few weeks recently where she wasn't feeling well and would wake up a lot at night to either eat or just want to be rocked. It required two nights of letting her "cry it out" once she was feeling better but since then she is back to normal. I know that her consistency in the sleep department is something that should be celebrated and not complained about so I do my best not to get too worked up over the few nights when she doesn't sleep as well.

Eating. The one area that I am often the most stressed about and also the area where she is the least consistent. Ally demonstrated the desire to self-feed very early on which was great but it has since been difficult at times to be sure she is getting the right foods. Anything crunchy she will devour but things that are soft or mushy she really doesn't want anything to do with. There are a few anomalies to this like bananas and noodles- she loves to eat both but she is pretty picky about the kind of noodles and the bananas have to be bigger pieces that wont fall apart. Right now I would say she gets a 50/50 mix of table food and pureed foods just so that we can be sure she is still getting the fruits and veggies that she won't feed herself. Some of her favorite things to eat are mac and cheese, string cheese, french fries, turkey, toast with butter, waffles with cinnamon and sugar (no syrup!), cheerios, goldfish crackers, buttered noodles, rice dishes and the Gerber crunchy veggie flavored snacks. A few things we have found she wont eat are pancakes, plain white or brown rice, meat/marinara sauce on noodles, and grapes. This week we were able to switch her from powdered formula to whole milk and she has taken it with no problems from her bottle. She loves her sippy cup but so far only really likes juice or water in it. I hope to introduce milk in a cup more often and wean from the bottles soon.

Talking. She makes a ton of happy noises but not many words yet. She has many consonant sounds but the words she associates are dada, mama, Ella and Bob. She also knows where she is going if you say outside, knows what her cup is if you point to it, knows what books and balls are and knows where to find her blanket. Yelling is one of her favorite activities.

Walking. Our adventurous little one loves to cruise around and stand to play but just wont take the steps on her own yet. She knows exactly what to do and looks at you like she is ready to take off but she gets scared and plops down to her knees to crawl. She moves so fast crawling that its obvious she thinks walking is too slow. She will hold hands and walk and push anything that moves around the apartment so it should be coming any day now.

Playing. The current favorite activities are still much of the same. She absolutely loves books and emptying baskets, shelves, drawers, etc... She does now put things back sometimes but only to take them out immediately. Ally loves to play catch and fetch which is very funny to us. Toys that play music and light up are favorites and she is in need of more things to push around. As of this week she has taken to emptying the drawers and cabinets in the kitchen and playing with plastic bowls. She is very good at stacking them and she likes putting spatulas in the dog's water dish.

Other miscellaneous obsessions: stairs (up and down), TV remote, drawers, dog dishes, books, commercials on tv, music, bouncing up and down.

We have been very busy traveling this month so between the fun trips and the new camera, I have hundreds of good pictures to share from this month. Enjoy a few below and more to come from her birthday parties and her one year photo shoot. Happy Birthday baby girl!

Birthday Week

Its Ally's birthday week and we have been busy! On Sunday we had a small celebration with family in Lafayette, Thursday we will celebrate at our place with Uncle Corey and Saturday we will have one last birthday bash in Oshkosh with my family. It is obvious that Ally has no idea what is going on and Karl doesn't seem too emotional about it but its a big deal to me. Its been tough since we moved but playing with her and watching her learn more and more every day has been pretty amazing. Hard to believe I have spent so much time with her! I am working on a list of all of the fun (and not so fun things) she has been doing as well as a lot of the things we have learned over the last year. Its going to be a long list but I'm having fun putting it all together and hope Ally will appreciate it some day. Lots of pictures from the past month, her birthday parties and one year shots to come soon as well as her official one year stats from the doctor next Monday. We really appreciate all of the work our families have been doing to make these parties special and fun, even if Ally doesn't seem to notice!

New Skill: Stairs

Ally is a fantastic climber. The video shows her first efforts at climbing the small steps a few weeks ago. Since then she has mastered every set of stairs in Karl's parents house, both up and down. Just say "turn around, turn around" and she knows to go backwards now. She has even figured out how to get around the dog cage to get to the big set of stairs when someone isn't looking. She is very sneaky! All day long this is what she does there, no toys necessary.

New Do

I realize that posting pictures of naked children online can be dangerous but these are just too cute. Also note that the only reason we took these was to test out our new fancy camera (and possibly to embarrass Ally at a later time when she really deserves it). After having her hair in pigtails all day, she looked like a crazy person once I took out the rubber bands. I got her into the bath and she was splashing around like crazy with her curly hair bouncing all over the place. Her hair is getting so long on the top! Here is the before, during and after hairstyles of Allyson.

Our new camera is amazing and I can't wait to use it more. It can take up to 10 pictures at a time so I am guaranteed to get at least one good picture before she runs away!

Pigtails

Football Season Kickoff

On Friday we traveled back to West Lafayette for the first home football game. It was so great to be back! On Friday we enjoyed the Gold and Black dinner on the football field. Ally got a chance to crawl all over the perfectly prepared grass and loved it while we enjoyed the meal catered by the Beef House. We tried to make it to the volleyball game after dinner but Purdue beat UConn to quickly and it ended just as we got to the door. We still got to see a lot of familiar faces so that was nice.

Saturday we loaded up everything we could possibly need and got to the tailgate spot around 10. This was my second time being there to tailgate for more than just a quick stop by to steal a cookie and Ally was only a month old last time she did. The rain held off and it actually ended up being nice weather for football watching. Ally got her very own purdue chair to sit in and she enjoyed some gold fish and yogurt before heading into the stadium. We made it in time to see most of the band pre-game show and all of the usual elements I am always busy coordinating rather than watching. I was trying really hard not to think about what I would be doing down on the sideline or about things I knew were not going right so it was a challenge. Ally slept for most of the first quarter and did pretty well playing in the stands. She definitely was a big hit with the fans around us, everyone just wanted to touch her and play with her. It was really humid so her hair was in tight little ringlet curls so she looked so adorable in her new jersey! She loved to wave at everyone, bounce to the band music and clap for the good plays. The game wasn't too exciting and Ally was getting restless so we headed home mid way through the 3rd quarter to get Ally some lunch and a much needed nap.

We discovered later Saturday that Ally hasn't been eating or sleeping well all week because she has a little virus going on. Happy for a Purdue victory but hoping Ally gets over this so we can do it all again this weekend! I'm looking forward to catching up with some old twirling friends and taking more pictures of a happy baby.

Chatham Library

Ally loves to go visit the Chatham Library not to read the books but to play with all of the fun toys. They have a giant tree for climbing in and around, a little play house, stuffed animals, puzzles, blocks, legos and much more. We haven't gotten a library card because she has zero interest in the books when we go. I thought we would go look for new books and read a few there but nope. Its actually a lot of fun to watch her terrorize a place that's not our little apartment. Ally is happy as can be crawling from one toy to the next, emptying various containers, pulling toys from shelves, and climbing up and down the tree slide. She thinks the library is awesome!

Where is Ally?

This is what I saw on the monitor at 8am yesterday morning so I had to go make sure she was alive! She was sound asleep and it was too cute not to get the camera.

11 Months Old

On Monday, Ally celebrated her 11 month birthday. She has been a busy little bee this month, just growing and growing. She has fine tuned many of her skills and is working towards the big one- walking. The teeth count has also been growing as she now has her bottom two and top two teeth sticking out.

Ally stands on anything and everything but really doesn't show much interest in standing on her own yet. She thinks that her toys and books are now for standing on and she thinks they help her reach more things she shouldn't if she uses them as steps. She is into cruising around furniture and her jumper and always has to be sure someone is watching when she gets adventurous and starts to move or only hang on with one hand. She will push anything and everything around on the floor but she really likes her stroller, push toy and high chair. She is starting to take a few steps at a time holding onto my hands and yesterday she even did some only holding on to me with one hand. She is not very balanced yet so we really need to work on that. She knows that she can crawl super fast so she gets frustrated easily and just wants to be on all fours.

Waving is the current obsession and has replaced giving kisses. Her waves are the cutest thing, always with a smile, and she waves at everyone we pass. She has now started to carry objects with her when she crawls too which is entertaining. She likes to carry her boppy pillow and lay in it in various places in the apartment. Laying down in general is sort of new as well. She will just put her head down in random places and lay on the floor for a few seconds. Its really cute when she lays down next to Ella but it never lasts longer than 10 seconds. Ella has become very tolerant and lets Ally lay on her, pet her face, push on her paws, pat her head, just about anything really which is a big change.

Not much has changed in terms of eating or sleeping. She is working on more table food and getting a little harder to feed baby food but that's to be expected. She loves chicken, cheese, noodles, and goldfish crackers. She has mastered the sippy cup but I have only been putting water or a water/apple juice mix in it for now.

We really think she is getting tall now and her hair just seems to get more curly by the day. We are busy making plans for her 1st birthday parties (yes, she gets at least two) and she will have her big 1 year doctors visit on October 4. At this visit she will get a lot of shots and will get the go-ahead to move from formula to whole milk. Hard to believe how much our life has changed in one year! Summer is coming to a close so we will have to find other things to do now that the pools are all closed. Enjoy some photos from this past month and the ONE YEAR update is soon to come.

A trip with Ally then one without

We made it back after an almost 2 week adventure. We spent a week with my family in Oshkosh then we left Ally for 4 days while we took a mini-vacation in Lake Geneva and then a very quick trip to Pittsburgh for our friend Charlie's wedding. We did a lot of fun things while we were home including the water park in town (which Ally absolutely loved), dinner with Sara and Kevin from Madison, my cousin Kaylin's wedding and a Brewer game with my dad. Once we left Ally had even more fun with a visit to the Milwaukee Zoo, Menominee Park, and seeing lots of friends and family.

It was hard to leave Ally but the timing was right and we were happy to get away for a few days. Being without her had its good parts like getting to carry a purse instead of a diaper bag, not having to search for high chairs and changing tables, getting to eat food when its served, actually getting to dress nice and do my hair, etc... but we missed her a lot. I only called two times a day to check on her and my mom said she was having a blast and was being a perfect little angel every time I called. We had a relaxing massage at the resort and were happy to spend time with Charlie and his family at the wedding.

A very big thank you to my family in Oshkosh for being so great with her and for letting us have a few days to relax. They had been waiting a long time to have Ally all to themselves so I know it was hard when we left yesterday. I think this video I shot on my digital camera on Sunday pretty much sums up her time without us:

August Travels

The end of August is going to be very busy for us but we are excited to get out of town. We will be visiting 3 states (4 for Karl) over the next 10 days and we will also be taking our first trip without Ally. On Wednesday we will be heading to Oshkosh to visit my family and go to my cousins wedding on Friday. On the way up, we will be dropping Karl off at the airport in Madison so he can go to a 2 day conference in Salt Lake City but he will be coming back late Friday night. We will then spend most of the week in Oshkosh visiting and then we will leave Ally with my parents and spend a day in Lake Geneva before heading to Pittsburgh for our friend Charlie's wedding. Karl is the best man and my mom has been dying to have Ally to herself so we decided this would be a great time to travel without her. We will see how I feel once its actually time to go! We will be back 2 weeks from today so we will have lots of pictures and stories to share. Let's hope we all survive!

Loud Mouth

For those of you wondering what Ally does during the day, let this short clip be an insight into the mind of a 10 month old. She has been very into yelling lately so make sure your volume is turned on. You can't see it in the clip but she had managed to empty half her toy basket and spread it all over the floor by this point. Enjoy!

Now there are 3!

Look very closely... 2 on the bottom and 1 on the top, soon to be 2 and 2 it looks like.

Greetings from Allyson

The Princess and Her Pet

Updates: Walking and Teeth

In addition to her push toy, Ally has now started walking behind anything in the apartment that moves. This includes her stroller, high chair and even a laundry basket! She knows how it works so we will see how long before she is doing it on her own.

Also, her top right tooth has finally popped through. The left one wont be far behind but you can definitely see and feel the right one. I know she is going to lose these eventually but I am still hoping they come in somewhat straight!

Push Toys are Great

Ally's first real steps! She pulled herself up to her toy and began making her way all the way across the living room. She was halfway across the room before I was able to get the camera going so this really only shows her last few steps but it was pretty amazing. She was so happy just pushing her toy across the room! She didn't quite know what to do when she ran into the sliding glass door so she decided that was enough. I'm hoping she will show off again when I am more prepared to video. This FisherPrice convertible toy is great, it goes from a push toy to a ride on toy easily and Ally just loves on the moving parts on it. Its just the right height for her and will be good for quite a while.

10 Months Old

Its so hard to believe that Allyson is almost a year old already! She is still on the move constantly and is getting more adventuresome by the day. She has perfected the art of pulling herself up and can do it on just about anything but has yet to get on her feet without holding on to something. This week she has started to experiment with letting go of things she is hanging onto and seeing how long she can stand alone before she sits down. Its sort of funny to watch because she is so careful and she lets herself down to her knees or butt very gently even when she isn't holding on to anything.

Her favorite activities still include emptying things and taking items off/out of things. She spends a lot of time each day removing any items from the table, her book shelves and toy baskets. Some of her other new tricks include clapping, waving, motor noises/raspberries, blowing kisses and hitting her hands on things to make noise. She claps all the time, anytime she hears "good job" or "yay Ally" her hands go along with a big smile. Waving is new as of last week but she doesn't quite use it in the right context yet. She knows the word kiss and will smack her lips like a kissing noise and its so cute. Some days she is stingy with the kisses but other days she does it constantly. This week she also started to hit things like the sides of her head, her legs, chairs, table top and me of course just to see if it will make noise. Ally is very vocal and makes a ton of sounds. She refers to Karl as da or daddy but he isn't the only one so Im not sure if we can count that as her first official word or not. She is getting pretty good at carrying on a conversation even if we can't understand her.

Ally is eating more table food and has recently taken to feeding herself chicken, turkey and bananas in addition to the breads and crunchy stuff she has always liked. She is hit and miss on the pureed baby food items but she definitely likes to have bites of everyone else's food. The funny thing is that she is a fantastic eater out in public and really only puts up a fight to eat when she is in her highchair at home. We are experimenting more with a sippy cup but she hasn't quite figured out that she has to suck to get the liquid out. She tips it correctly using the handles but she only bites on the spout. We do have one cup that doesn't have the spill-proof spout so she likes that one best but she makes a huge mess so I prefer she learns how to use the other ones. She also knows the correct motion to use a regular cup but she gets surprised every time liquid comes at her so she tends to get a huge mouthful and pull back. We are looking forward to the one year mark so we don't have to mix formula anymore but we need to get this cup thing down sooner rather than later.

This week we wrapped up Ally's first 8 week session of swimming lessons and she seemed to enjoy it. We go to the pool about once a week in addition to the Y class and she just loves the water and to watch other kids at the pool. Milestones coming soon will be Ally's top two teeth, more words, standing alone, cruising and walking. Not sure in what order they will come but her top right tooth has broken through a little and she is starting to walk more with help. She hasn't shown much interest in cruising around furniture and things but yesterday she walked all the way across the living room behind her walking toy with no help from me. Scary! I didn't do a very good job taking photos this month (surprise) but here are some to enjoy.

Ally's First Competition

On Friday I took Ally to South Bend to watch her first baton competition. They have made some changes to the competition and they have now crammed 5 days worth of events into 4 days so I decided to make the trip up for the finals. This was my 20th AYOP and my 6th year as a spectator. I can honestly say I never thought I would take my own daughter there so it was quite the experience!

Now that we live further away, we made a stop in Lafayette and spent Thursday night there and then went up in the morning so we weren't driving all 5 hours in one day. We were able to see Whitney compete in the twirl offs, the corps finals and several of the exhibition performances. Of course Notre Dame was experiencing a major air conditioning failure on the hottest day of the year so the arena was easily over 100 degrees. Everyone was so incredibly hot, especially all the babies but Ally was a trooper. In addition to seeing some great twirling, we also got to catch up with some old friends and Ally got to meet lots and lots of people. She was her usual adorable self so we got stopped by many moms asking if she was a future Miss Majorette or future Golden Girl. It was great to meet up with my friend Rachael (Socially Inappropriate Mom) and meet her baby Daisy, see Jenny O and her two girls and to see all the girls on the team looking so grown up. Most of them don't remember me since I taught most of them when they were 4 or 5! Obviously it would have been much more enjoyable if it hadn't been so unbearably hot and moving so slowly but we saw what we needed to see and made it back to Lafayette by 1am.

I have been asked several times since Ally was born if she was going to twirl and my response has always been "if she wants to". Maybe I can show her a few things when she gets old enough and then she can make an informed decision but its hard to imagine not having her go to the studio where I grew up so we need to find a way back to Oshkosh before that time comes! I certainly don't want to be starring in an episode of Toddlers & Tiaras but I wouldn't mind having her learn what it means to be dedicated and work hard and to have something to show for it...like a Miss Majorette title or a college scholarship. Daddy might think otherwise but we will just take it one step at a time :)

A side note: ND has gone through a major renovation and did some things that will be similar to what Mackey will look like soon. They did a great job with the history of the school and all of the images around the arena, and the seating area itself is a huge improvement. I couldn't resist taking a few pictures of Ally by some famous/infamous landmarks but you can be sure I was telling her "you may see a few football games here, but you will never go to school here". These were taken on my phone so they are pretty poor quality.