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.