Tons of new pics

I have become a bad blogger again....sorry. Lauren has been doing really good. She is now sporting 11 teeth, including 2 molars. Needless to say she was not a happy camper about that. She weighs just 16 pounds and is 26 inches long. The doctor says that she is in the 5th percentile in her weight and height. She has lost a little weight but she has been sick with a double ear infection, upper respiratory infection, and bronchitis. That was a fun little doctors appointment. My baby girl was not feeling good and then she had to have blood drawn and a chest x ray. Needless to say the entire doctors office heard her and was coming down the halls to check what was going on. By the way it is a 2 story doctors building. Her lungs are excellent! Other than that little hiccup she has been the picture of health. She is walking everywhere...or maybe I should say practically running. She can move so fast you would think she was a streak of lightening. She has also developed the most sinister giggle. It is hilarious. She will break out in this spontaneous giggle for no apparent reason when it is quiet. I have been trying to get it on video but she has been uncooperative. I am going to keep trying though. She has been sleeping so well and eating anything you put in front of her. She eats mainly veggies and some meats. She is Miss Independent when it comes to eating. If it isn't finger foods most of the time she doesn't want it. She will however allow her grandfather to feed her from a spoon when no one can. She has learned how to drink from a straw. I was not going to allow my child to have any caffeine of any kind but one day she was wigging out about me drinking even though she had her sippy cup. So, I proceeded to let her "try" and to my amazement she was able to do it and she took a big gulp and just shuttered and some yummmmm. It was so adorable!. The girl can take you down for some diet coke. Lauren and I picked out her new bedroom set. I got her opinion on this...really. She sat on the computer desk and we went through sets and she made it known what she liked and didn't like. We have decided on the Hello Kitty and Puppy bedroom set. She giggles and claps and screeches "cat" at the top of her lungs any time she saw it so I am guessing that is the winner. She will be moving into her new room soon. I will post pictures of that as soon as it is done. I will try not to be a bad blogger but I can't promise anything.:)) Below are a few pictures of her lately. Her hair has gotten so long.

WALKING!!

Guess who is walking?? LAUREN GRACE!!!!! She started walking today and we couldn't be more excited and terrified all at the same time. She has also discovered how to climb up on things. This would be another terrifying thing for me. She has also been sleeping a lot better these days with some of the advice from Jill. Another thing I started doing is putting in a couple of scoops of yogurt cereal into her formula at night time. This keeps her from getting hungry in the middle of the night. The pictures is of her climbing onto the sterlite box to get onto the futon. I will post more pictures and maybe a video of her walking soon.

Misc. Stuff

Well, a lot has been going on. Lauren did get her ears pierced. The lady that pierced her kept on saying "she is going to cry, are you sure you want to do this?" She asked me like 5 or 6 times which only made me more nervous. Finally she did it and Lauren cried for all of about 2 seconds before she was whisked away by her Papoo (grandfather). It was a lot more traumatizing to me than for her. She has really been trying to walk and talk more. She has been eating so many different foods. She has discovered that she likes Italian food a LOT, squash, corn, baked beans , chicken and anything else that you put in front of her. She has also learned how to use a fork pretty well. I have a picture of that below. This also means she wants to use it all the time and sometimes she just can't. She has now been sporting another tooth which brings our total up to 8 teeth. She is a real giggle box. She has the most devilish giggle. It sounds downright evil but so funny. My mom and step dad that lives next door decided to put up their pool and she is absolutely loving it. We bought her a crab that she sits in that has a sun shade and she just kicks her feet and giggles. She especially thinks its funny when her Mommy and Daddy goes under the water and gets her feet. I am so excited that she loves the water because we are a family of swimmers. It has been exhausting her to where she sleeps a little better. She is still thinking that she needs to get up 10 times a night and only take one nap during the day but we are trying different ways to get her where she is sleeping better. Thanks Jill for that advice. It will help a lot more when she gets moved into her own room. We are almost done with our master bedroom so then everyone will have their own room. Yeah!! I have learned that until she gets her own room and her stuff goes in there...there is no way I can keep house very well. I never had this much stuff with either of my boys. A swing, playpen, baby gates, jumper, and a walker, that seems like a lot of stuff in one living room. On to Lauren's first 4th of July....she liked the sparklers but she doesn't like the loud noises. We had a very low key 4th. We normally would have a huge fireworks display and a big dinner. This year we have two people with messed up ankles and feet and my husband had to have oral surgery and wasn't feeling so hot. Not to mention everyone was sick and had to work. My oldest son took off for a week to my step sisters house. She has a 15 year old too so I have had one less child all week. She is growing like a weed and has a cute little belly that I love to kiss and blow rasberries on. She is a wonderful baby and I couldn't have asked for a better daughter. She has learned how to kiss and give hugs so well and it just melts my heart every time. Even when she is trying to delay going to sleep by doing so. Well, I apologize to anyone that is still following this blog for the delay in pictures and updates.

Happy Baby

Well, we have pretty well figured out with talking to other parents that Lauren has got a little colic. Its something that was in the back of my mind but I didn't think that a 13 month old could get it. We have been giving her medicine called gripe water by Little Tummys. It has definitely done the trick about her sleeping. She has been a real chatterbox here lately. She is saying thank you, cup, Nana, and Tyler. She has also been giving the most sweetest kisses and hugs. It just melts my heart every time she gives me one of those. She is very loving and generous. She is always trying to give you some of her meals or snacks. She is also been growing. She is now sporting her very own little buddha belly and she is starting to stand on her own for longer periods of time. Her little legs have started to get some meat on them. Hopefully she will be walking soon. She is still very tiny but she is hopefully going to start to look like a 13 month old soon. Since talking to Angela, I think I have decided to get her ears pierced. Its something that I have been wanting to do for a while but my entire family had a conniption about it. I talked to my husband that is anti piercing and tattoos, and he said when have I ever denied you anything and told me to go on ahead. He is a very generous man that spoils me rotten. And let me just say that Lauren has got him wrapped around her little finger too. Here are some random pictures.

Bedtime Problems- Need Advice

Lauren has been having a rough time of it at night time. She seems to only sleep for snatches at a time nowadays. We have tried everything but standing on our heads and we might try that before its all over with. She did so well the first 3 weeks she was home so I don't think its because of the time zone thing. Any suggestions for a calmer night would be greatly appreciated. :)) Above is a picture of her in her bed, needless to say she wasn't happy.

Bad Blogger

I know it has been a while since I have posted anything. A rundown on what has been happening since I have been home with our precious little bundle. Lauren has been getting along fabulously with everyone. She weighs almost 16 pounds and considering that she only weighed 13 pounds when we got her that is an improvement. She is saying a lot more words since Vietnam. Her favorite is "cat" no matter that it might be a dog. She says doggie, Devin, Daddy, Dada, Dad, Momma, Nana, baba, bye bye and she says "that" for things that she doesn't know what they are. She has really adapted so well to our family. It is a daily routine for my Dad to take her for long walks and then takes her to my Mom and Step Dads house to play there. I catch them everyday all three of them in the floor playing and laughing with her. Lauren is so lucky to have her grandparents that just adore and love her as those three do. She has gotten over a lot of the clingyness that she had a Vietnam. She actually can amuse herself and play with her toys without always needing to be held and carried around. Which has been so much better on my back. She loves bath time. She can be screaming and so unhappy but as soon as you turn on the water in her little ducky tub she gets so excited and starts squealing with delight. It is so cute the way her face lights up. In the last few weeks she has started to stand without holding on to anything or anyone. She gets about 10 to 20 seconds in before she falls on her bottom. Then she laughs and starts clapping. She now likes riding in her car seat. We don't have her in the rear facing like we should but she acts like she is being killed if she can't see me and watch out the window. It's a Britax car seat so it sits up high so she can check everything out. Below are some random pictures of her. I will try to post more often and not be such a bad blogger.