Family Update: Oakley

This blog is so uselessly outdated.  I just finished the kids’ scrapbooks for last year and, once again, really wished I had blogged more.  So I’m going to try to do an update for each member of the family over the next few days/weeks.  Starting with the littlest sprout.

She’s 10 months (almost 11) and I can’t seem to stop the time from passing, try as I might.  She started crawling right after Thanksgiving, and by New Year’s she was climbing the stairs.  Luckily, she has now mastered going down them too, so my worries about stairs in this house were (mostly) short-lived.  I say mostly because she still sometimes forgets where she is and needs supervision.

She eats a mix of baby food and real food.  Usually baby cereal or fruits for breakfast and regular lunches and dinners.  Sometimes she’ll have baby food for dinner if we’re having something spicy.  I throw her dinner in the food processer and pulse it a few times, and she usually feeds it to herself with her hands.  I know, classy.  But it makes it so we can all enjoy dinner together at the same time.  Usually.  It’s not uncommon for her to scream through dinner.  She’ll drink juice from a sippy cup and occasionally water.  She still nurses 3x a day although I’m starting to get the vibe that she’s not all that into it anymore.  I’m hoping she’ll hold out until her birthday so we can skip formula. 

She’s a momma’s girl.  She is very clingy.  Exhaustingly clingy.  Baby-on-hip-constantly clingy.  The nice part is that she is snuggly.  She lays her head down on my shoulder and likes it when I pet the back of her head.  She gives hugs and likes to lean forward to receive kisses when I make kissy sounds.  The not-so-nice part is that, well, I have a baby in my arms all the time.  But when I remind myself just how quickly she’s growing up, it’s not so bad.  Luckily she has given up her morning nap so now she’s napping at the same time as Calvin and for a little bit longer than her old afternoon nap.   The tag team napping (Oakley, then Calvin, then Oakley again) wasn’t working for me.  I like this arrangement much better.  The quiet, alone, down time saves me.

She loves walking.  She can’t stand or balance, but if you hold her hand she’ll take you for a walk and do laps around the house.  She has stood for a few seconds but she’s not quite there. 

She lights up when Daddy comes home from work.  She “sings” during the hymns in church and waves her arms around like she’s leading the music.  She loves baths and splashing.  We call her Oak Sprout, Oakster, and Oakster Baby/Babe.  She still scrunches up her face and breathes really fast through her mouth when she’s super happy.  She “claps” by moving her hands up and down like she’s drumming a drum and slapping them together as they pass.  It’s hard to describe, but she does it when she’s happy.  She kind of says Mama and Dada, but it’s hit or miss and I don’t think it really means anything.  She’ll mimic a nod yes and a shake no.  She likes to grab faces, and for some reason she is constantly grabbing my throat and squeezing.  She doesn’t do it to anyone else.  And it hurts! 

I can’t believe how quickly these last 6 months have gone.  It’s like I blinked and she went from rolling over to trying to walk.  I’m so grateful for this little sweetheart.  She is so loved and adored by every person in this family.  She’s everyone’s favorite.  :)