Dear Violet...

Today you are 7 months old.  You are getting so close to being 1 now!!  Where has the time gone?  I'm already planning your first birthday (Dohl, in Korean) and I've got some great things planned!  But now I'm worried you're going to turn 1 too quickly!  Please slow down, doll!  

You're definitely keeping your Daddy and me on our toes with all the rolling and crawling that you're doing.  It seems like you learn different tricks every single day.  I can't keep up!  I feel like this past month, I've said "Yay!  Good job, Violet!!!" at least 10,000 times!  

You were an angel on your first vacation and it made your Daddy and me so proud of you!  I couldn't stop bragging about what a wonderful baby you were!  It makes me even more excited about our upcoming trip to Boston!  

Here are some of the things you've been up to this past month:

--You love watching me brush my teeth.  You sit there and just smile at me the whole time.  So cute!

--You are crawling!  Well, kind of.  You get on your hands and knees and take a few "steps" forward.  Then you lunge yourself forward to get to your end point.  

--You can go from the crawling position to sitting position.  

--We started you on solids right after you turned 6 months old.  You are a GREAT eater!  Except you still don't like rice...so, I've kind of given up on that for now.  But here's a list of foods you have eaten and love:

*Blueberries

*Mangos

*Peaches

*Pears

*Apples

*Rutabaga

*Sweet Potato

*Broccoli

*Peas

*Carrots

*Prunes

*Leeks

Here's what you've eaten and you don't like so far:

*Butternut squash

I've been making all your baby food, and I feel like I'm a hippie when I make it!  This stage has been so much fun.

--You've been sleeping so well.  You take a morning nap around 9 am and sleep for an hour.  Then you take an afternoon nap around 2 pm and sleep for a couple of hours.  Then we start your bedtime process around 7:30 pm, you're in bed by 8 pm and you wake up at 7 am.  Not too bad!  I hope you keep this schedule for a long time!!  

--You went on your first flight and you were perfect.  Absolutely perfect.  We're going to Boston next month and I'm hoping you'll be as much of an angel!  If not, I'm passing you off you your Grandma and Grandpa, who will also be going to Boston with us! 

--After we got back from Florida, you tried to mimic Wadey's scream.  It was so amazing to see how quickly you pick up on things from other children/babies.  I could tell you were trying to copy his sound...but thankfully, your voice couldn't get that high!  It ended up just sounding like a dying cat.  You've kind of stopped making that sound now.  Hopefully you've forgotten it.  

--You are starting to get mad when you don't get your way or if I take something away from you that you're not supposed to have.  A mini angry Asian, perhaps??

--Your hair is getting ridiculously long.  But I just don't want to cut it yet!  You're still so small!  What 7 month old needs a hair cut?!

--You're wearing size 6 months clothes.  You've pretty much outgrown all your 3-6 clothes...some that have never been worn before.  

--You're finally in a size 3 diaper!  

--Your stats from your 6 month appointment are: 16. 2 pounds (49 %), 26 inches (64%) and 43.4 cm head size (74%).  I'm assuming by now, you're around 17 pounds.  You're still sweet and petite!  

--You have just started to get stranger anxiety.  You never really cried when strangers held you but now if a stranger is holding you, you start to whimper and look for your daddy or me.  

--You're getting better at putting yogurt bites into your mouth. 

--We started Wiggles N Tunes and so far you like it!

--You wave Bye Bye on command!  It's so sweet!

--You raise your arms in the hair and sometimes play, "How big is Violet?  Sooooo big!"

--Right now your favorite thing to say is, "Ba Ba Ba Ba."  

--You still drink about 4-6/7 ounce bottles everyday and eat solid food twice a day.  

--It's getting more difficult to take you out to eat now.  You're SO wiggly and don't want to sit still anymore...which makes for indigestion for Daddy and me!  

--You love it when I read books to you, but start to lose interest after the 4th book.  You try to close the book to tell me you're done!  

Thank you for being the sweetest little baby I could ever have imagined!  Your snuggles and your smiles make my world go round.  I hope your Daddy and I make you as happy as you make us.  I can't imagine what my world was like before you and can't remember ever being as happy as I am today.  I love you more than anything!!  xoxo

Love,

Mommy

Fager-Moore Vacation 2011 = Success!!

Well, we're back to being Illinoisans.  Florida was fun, but it's nice to be back home.  Vacationing with a baby isn't the most relaxing thing, but I'm quite sure I've been blessed with the most laid back, easy going, happy baby.

I was so nervous and anxious of how V would do on the 2 1/2 hour flight.  I only slept around 4 hours the night before.  (On a plus note, since I couldn't sleep, I watched the finale of The Rivals, and it was awesome!!)  But to my amazement, V was incredibly happy and well behaved on the flight!  I mean, I always knew I had a good, happy baby, but this vacation really opened my eyes to just HOW good of a baby she is!  She slept during half the flight and the other half, she stared and waved at the other passengers.  In fact, I think she only cried one time during the whole vacation!

Once we got to the condo, the Moore fam was already there.  The moment we walked in the door, we hit the ground running, chasing kids, feeding kids, trying to get the kids to sleep, shushing kids and drinking a few adult beverages to try to numb the chaos.  The Moore's have a 4 year old (almost 5) son, Davis,  a 3 year old daughter, Leila, and an 8 month old son, Wade (or Wadey, as D & L called him).  So, add in one more 6.5 month old girl, and we probably should've had a license for our Floridian daycare!

Violet just LOVED the big kids and especially being reunited with her boyfriend!  She loved watching them play and watching her boyfriend, Wadey, crawl all around the place.  V is on the verge of crawling and watching her boyfriend crawl and pull up on things just made her desire to crawl even stronger!  Leila was SO good with V!  She loved playing with her and told me she would teach V how to crawl.  So she got on the floor and started crawling in circles around V.  V loved it!

Watching Davis and Leila play with each other was the sweetest thing ever.  For the most part, they got along and didn't fight.  And they simply ADORE their baby brother.  They're so protective over him.  Watching them love on Wadey is true love in its purest form.  Watching all 3 Moore kids made me excited to someday make my family bigger!  But only if my kids are as well behaved, polite, funny and cute as the Moore kids!  Can you tell that I'm mad about these Moore kids??

We pretty much hung around the condo most of the time.  Every morning we would eat a big breakfast on the lanai, the kids swam in the pool almost everyday and we grilled out most evenings.  We drove around on the golf cart at night and we each picked our very own multi million dollar home that we would someday live in.  We had big plans of going to the beach one day, but then decided against it.  Maybe next year when the babies are a little bigger.  We went out to eat one night and then decided we weren't doing that again...  And the hubby's bought Kara and I a 90 minute massage at a spa one day.  We. Were. In. Heaven.  Although next year, Kara and I decided next year, we're doing an ALL DAY package at the spa...

Okay, no more talking...I'll just post some pics.
PS-thank you, Irene for sparing us and actually sending some cool breezes our way!

(These pictures aren't in any particular order.)

Davis, Violet and Leila

V loves kisses from her daddy...  

Happy vacationing baby!

How cute are they??

Ummmm....why are you trying to steal my camera time?  

Princess Leila 

Best friends and their offspring

Time to go to the pool!  YAY!!!

V couldn't take her eyes off of Leila

The beautiful Moore family

Our first vacation as a family of 3!

First time she saw Wadey...she pretty much couldn't keep her hands off of him!

Reunited and it feels so good!

Leila is acting like a puppy.  So cute!!

Best friends forever!

No love for V!

But she's still in love with him!

Fager-Moore Vacay 2011

Showing off her curls.

I Need Travel Advice...

This Thursday, baby daddy, V and I leaving for a much needed vacay.  We're meeting some great friends and their three kids down at my in law's condo.  Yes, that's right.  Our vacay consists of 4 kids under the age of 5.  To many people, this may not sound like a vacation, but I'm super excited.  Hey, at least we're not outnumbered, right???  V is excited to reunite with her boyfriend, Wade...

I was needing some advice on how to fly with a baby.  My friend, April, gave me some great tips and I plan on using them...and referring back to them throughout our trip!  But now I need some advice on how to travel with a baby...during a hurricane!  BOOOOOO!!!!  Damn you, Irene!

As if I'm not stressed out enough traveling with a baby for the first time...now I have to worry about evil Irene blowing us all away!  I know that hurricanes aren't something you take lightly...I'm just hoping and praying that she'll calm the (*expletive) down before we get there.  

I'm mentally packing right now, and so far, I've got 17 suitcases packed.  I'm thinking my husband will make me downsize...or he'll never let us go on a vacation again.  Maybe all I'll need to pack is a swimsuit, raincoat and rain boots...I hate you Irene!!!  

Now, I'm going to end this post with a story of V and her elephant, Ellie.  Enjoy!  :)  

Dear Violet...

Dear Violet,

Happy 1/2 birthday, my love!!  Seems like just yesterday that I was seeing double and thinking there was Corona in my IV!  (If this doesn't make sense to you, then read this post.)  The days between month 5 and month 6 have seriously flown by.  You are constantly changing on me...but I think I'm adjusting well to all the change!  ;)  For your 1/2 birthday present, I bought you a rockin' new stroller!  Okay, maybe that gift was more for me...but you really do like it!  I bought you a couple of new toys, too.  It's so crazy to think that in 6 more months, we'll be celebrating your 1st birthday.  And if these next 6 months go as fast as these past 6 months, I don't know what I'm going to do!  I love watching you grow, but as I put all the clothes that are too small for you away, it makes me sad.  If you grow too fast, I'm going to replace you with a new baby!!!  So you better slow down, lil lady!!  Here are some of the new things you've been doing this past month:

--You love love love swimming!  You are definitely going to be a water baby.  You kick your legs and splash water in your face, and it doesn't bother you at all.  This also means that you love bath time as well.  You splash water all over the place...including all over me!

--Your 6 month appointment is next week, so I don't know what your stats are yet.  However, YOU ARE HEAVY.  You used to feel so light and petite, but now, you're a hoss!  Well, you still look petite, but you're definitely gaining some weight!

--I stopped breastfeeding you about 2 weeks ago.  My goal was to breastfeed for 4 months.  And then I bumped up the goal to 6 months.  But I was just not producing enough milk for your growing hunger!  So, you had no problem eating some formula!  You didn't care...as long as your belly wasn't empty!  So needless to say, weeding you wasn't difficult at all.  It was a little sad for me at first, but then I got over it and enjoy bottle feeding you now.

--You still aren't a fan of rice cereal.  

--We started you on baby food last week.  You love love love sweet potatoes!  You didn't like apples too much at first...I think it was too sour for you.  But now you love it!  You also love bananas as well.  I plan on making your baby food as soon as the baby food maker gets here!  

--You still drink 4--6 ounce bottles.  But it seems like you're less interested in the bottle.  I'm thinking the more baby food you eat, the less milk you'll drink!  Which is fine by me...formula is stinky!

--You're still a great sleeper.  But you move around SO MUCH....which wakes you up sometimes...grrrrr.  You pretty much do flips and somersaults while sleeping.  I'll look at the video monitor at night and see that you've completely switched top to bottom.  

--You like to sleep on your belly now.

--Considering you're doing flips flops while sleeping, we don't swaddle you anymore!  

--You love sitting in your new high chair.  

--When I cook or do dishes, I put you in your high chair and put you in the kitchen with me.  You love watching me do my thing in the kitchen.  

--I feel like you're going to start crawling at any moment!  You lay on your belly and pull yourself all around the place.  As soon as you figure out how to move your legs, you're going to be on the move...even more than what you are now!  Then my life will DRASTICALLY change...  

--You still take 2 naps.  You take an hour nap in the morning and then a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.  

--The week after 4th of July, you started losing your hair...and I was devastated!  You lost about half of your hair in one week.  Then it stopped falling out.  Thank goodness you still have a ton of hair!  (Which is still curly!)

--You can still fit into 3-6 month clothing but you're mainly wearing 6 month clothes.  

--You are very social now.  When you meet someone new, you study them really hard and then when they work hard enough, you'll give the a smile.  

--You are happy 23.5 hours of every single day.  

--You are definitely teething.  Drool drool drool!  You like to chew on my fingers and I've noticed that your gums feel a little bit softer than what they did a month ago.  

--You're still a chatterbox.  And you like talking at the top of your lungs!  You definitely get that from me.  

--You love to give kisses.  Wet, open mouthed kisses.  And I love getting those kisses more than anything.  

--Whenever you see me for the first time after being with Nam all day, you give one pitiful whimper.  Then you keep staring at me wondering when I'm going to hold you then you give one more whimper.  It's so pitiful and cute at the same time.

--You cry every time I wear my sunglasses.  You stare at me with wide eyes then your face starts to turn red and then you cry.  I'm not sure why my sunglasses scare you so much!  

--You no longer cry when in the carseat.  I think you finally enjoy riding in the car!  I can see you just looking around, staring out the window, chewing on your fingers and just being happy and content.  Such a good girl!

--You love it when I sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to you.  

--We're going to start going to Wiggles N Tunes next week and I can't wait!  

--We haven't been out and about too much this past month...it's just been too too hot!  I can't wait for it to cool down so we can do more things...go to the park, go for walks, picnics, etc.

--You love other kids.  You let them hold you and you just stare at them.  It's the cutest thing!  

--You're sitting up like such a big girl now!

--When I rock you to sleep, you touch my face..and it's just the sweetest thing.

You have changed my life in more ways than I can ever explain...and I thank you for that.  Thank you for loving me and always showing me through your smiles, laughs, snuggles, and wet kisses, that you need me everyday.  My life is truly complete and my heart is completely whole because of you. 

Love, 

Mommy