What a month! It was ever so fun for my growing baby :) Now that she's a pro at crawling, she's been turning loose and standing on her own for up to 20 seconds! Which may not sound like much, but for her, its highly exciting :) Her favorite thing to do is grab a toy in one hand and push herself up with the other. She gets this huge grin on her face as she does it. And then she'll just stand there and wobble and grin until she plops down. Its very entertaining :)
Karis gets soo excited whenever we play peek-a-boo or pop a stuffed animal out from behind the chair or put a cup on our heads. She really gets a twinkle in her eye whenever we play any kind of game. She loves it when we help her kick her jingle tag ball or put a blanket over our face for her to pull off. She also loves to make up games for us to play together. For instance yesterday, as I was rocking her before her nap, she decided that it would be hilarious to sit up and then all of a sudden, wham, free-fall back into my chest. And then she would turn around and look at me and smile so big and giggle. She did it over and over and it was so cute that I couldn't be frustrated that she wasn't calming down for her nap :) She makes up little games like that every day and its just so much fun! (Can you tell that I absolutely LOVE being a stay-at-home-mom? :)
And she really has a thing about her Daddy...I'd definitely call it an obsession :) I mean, she has always been a Daddy's girl, wanting him to hold her, trying to get his attention, etc. But now its gotten pretty severe :) If she even hears his voice, she has to get to him as fast as she can crawl, no matter what she was doing. Nothing is as exciting as her Daddy :) She takes off at lightening speed and crawls up his legs til he picks her up. And heaven forbid that he would be in the middle of something and not pick her up -- its the end of the world for her and she just falls apart :) Its so cute but sometimes frustrating because if he wants to get any schoolwork done, he pretty much has to lock himself in the office :)
Karis can eat pretty much everything now as long as it is cut up very small. And believe me, she will let me know if her bites are not small emough! She gets a frustrated, concentrating look on her face and will sometimes even yell if she doesn't like the texture or she thinks its too big :) But thats a good thing; she has never choked on anything because she always lets me know if she picks something up off the ground and it is too big. I added lentils and mung beans to her cereal this month, which may sound horrible, but they are full of protein and so good for her. And she doesn't even notice when it is mixed up with her veggies and fruit! I also started grinding up almonds, walnuts, flaxseeds, and pumpkin seeds to add to meals. I eat them, too, because we are both trying to gain weight :) I am waiting til she turns 1, however, to give her dairy products since she broke out after eating yogurt.
She had her first sickness this month, but I guess I can't complain too much if she went 9 1/2 months without being sick at all! We have been so blessed with good health! She is completly back to normal now, for which I am so thankful!
So our sweet baby is growing up. But so far, every stage has been my favorite so I sure can't complain! This month, I would ask you to continue to pray that she gains weight and that her head grows. I know its just in her genes to be thin, but it would just be nice to not have to worry about it. And please continue to pray for us concerning discipline. Its an ongoing battle, of course, but so worth it! As a family, you can pray that God will guide us to the next step as Mark graduates in may and we are trying to figure out what is next. Thanks for your prayers!
1) Daddy obsession update: Karis has decided that if she cannot find her Daddy, he must be in the bedroom or outside. Therefore she has been randomly going to those respective doors, trying to get through, and fussing if she can't, saying, "da-da-da-da" the whole time :) This occurs several times a day and is because he works all night long at UPS several nights a week. Hopefully, he is able to sleep in pretty late the next day. We often go in to wake him up because a happy baby is the most fun way to wake up :) So she knows he's in there. She also sees him coming home from class in the front door, so that door is also under constant watch :) Its pretty funny, but frustrating if her banging and fussing happens to wake Daddy up prematurely :)
2)Karis has developed a little attitude if I offend her by not doing what she wants: She will fuss, promptly turn her back to me, and crawl about 5 steps away before turning around to see if I've noticed. She did it today because I closed the cell phone after she called my sis-in-law by mistake (yes, I let her play with my phone :) and she is no longer content with holding a closed cell phone. It has to be open so she can see the cool lights and push buttons and hear sound :)
3)Miss Independent : Karis has decided that she would rather feed herself than have me do it, which is both exciting and frustrating. Its great for her coordination and development, but mealtimes just take sooooo long now. Plus, she really eats a lot more when I feed her. We've always done a combination of spoon-feeding and finger foods, but now she really just wants to do it herself :)
