The Story of Us: September 2009

27 September 2009

First Trip to the Zoo

This Saturday we made a trip to the zoo. The weather was beautiful and perfect for Kansas. Not too hot, not too cold and not too much wind! We have been dying to see the new tiger exhibit, so since I had a free admission coupon we went.

I really wanted her to wear her giraffe outfit, but it was too cold...so I settled for this other giraffe outfit with pants! (Mommy LOVES giraffes, thus why we have several giraffe outfits/stuff.)

Posing with Geoffry for our pre-zoo pic.

Leighton did amazing! She is so much fun and easy to take out and about now, I love it. We went first thing in the morning which messes with her nap times (she sleeps the bulk of her nap times in the morning, thus why she goes to bed at 630/7p). She fell asleep seriously two minutes before we got there, so to avoid major meltdown, we drove around for 15 minutes. We loaded the stroller (what on earth did we ever do before we had a stroller to pile all that junk in?!?) and off we went, she/we were excited!

Littlest Penguin

Jungle Fever

Daddy STOP with the pictures!
Daddy goes a little crazy at the zoo taking pictures. We seriously have 7 pictures of every single animal at the zoo!

"See the parrots behind us?!"

Showing an uninterested Lo my favorite animals!

We saw lots of fun things (I spared you the pictures of EVERY animal the zoo has...you can go pay $11 and see them! HA!) and even timed out seeing the zoo keeper feed the tigers...which was very cool. The female tigers refused to come out of hiding :( but the males were friendly!

Here is a video clip of that:

I guess we wore out baby girl because she fell asleep in her stroller! It was so cute, but even sadder to wake her up to go home!

This is for you Aunt Meg! HA!

All in all a great fun-filled morning at the zoo! Can't wait until next time when she will be running around looking at all the animals!

26 September 2009

Puppy Love

Toby is our youngest poodle. We got him to keep Tuck company once Leighton got here. Tucker believes in his heart that he is in fact human. Thus, the need for companionship. And while Toby and Tuck love each other and play together...they are VERY different. Toby is all puppy and loves to play and be chased...he constantly seeks out attention. Now Leighton and Toby have a very special love relationship.

Please note that Toby is under the impression the Boppy pillow is HIS!

Here is a video clip of Toby and Leighton playing, I thought it was funny...and perhaps only grandparents and aunts will find this video amusing...but I am posting it nonetheless. The toy is actually Toby's NOT Leighton's.

The dogs want her toys and she want theirs...if I switch the toys will I be able to elicit reverse psychology?!

I do love how GREAT both dogs are with her, so far we have no worries about their interactions!

I know after watching that riveting video footage (I promise it was funnier in person!), you are on the edge of your seats for more... So here is one more clip, which I think will prove to put a smile on your face.

It is of my niece, Landrey and of course Toby. Toby just cracks her up, as he does everyone! HA!

17 September 2009

Movin' on UP!

Leighton is moving on up...literally! She has been pulling up on me and Chad for days...well today during one of her non naps I sneaked in to check on her and found her trying to pull up in her crib, which cracked me up. Then during non nap number two I found this:

(I wanted to upload the video of her doing it...but it wouldn't load?!? :( so you will have to settle for pics!)
She is pretty PROUD of herself to say the least! HA!

Then she did it again for daddy when he got home...we wanted to watch her do it, was pretty funny! Oh the things babies figure out, they are smarter than we give them credit for!

Oy! She is just growing up way too fast! But I love every second of it and so blessed to be able to be home to witness all these firsts.

P.S. She IS napping a lot better...and took a great morning nap, but you can't "learn" things if you are constantly sleeping. HA!

15 September 2009

7th Heaven

This past month has been just that, 7th Heaven! I don't know what it is but Leighton's personality has just exploded and changed so much this month. While I have always treasured the jewel that she is, we have had our ups and downs, but this month we are finally in a groove and I feel so much less stress being a mommy! She is getting so "easy" that I actually may consider having another one someday!

7 Months Old

Fun things we have learned this month:

*Putting herself into a sitting position.

This is what I found one day after nap time.
"Hi Mom! I am UP!"
We had JUST lowered her crib a few days before...and it is looking like we may need to lowered it again!!

*We are working more and more on solo play.
More like mommy is working on solo play...I feel so guilty if I am not playing with her all the time, like I am suppose to be constantly stimulating her or something, but I am learning she has a good time playing by herself and it is actually better for her that way!

We are actually getting ready to go to dinner out with friends for the first time in awhile!!

*Crawling backwards still! I am not sure the forward motion will ever come...question is do I want it to?! hmmmm...

*She is standing on her own while holding on to an object or hand and is starting to pull up on short objects. Since we are a little shorty ourselves we can't reach the couch or coffee table to pull up on. (This is coming with lots of bumps and "booms." :( )

*Took our first swing in the park! And LOVED it!

click play to watch, sorry about the terrible quality the video is from our digital camera.

*Learning to eat cheerios and cut up fruit...no pincher grasp yet, but we are practicing. I was really nervous about the cheerios I was so afraid she would choke...but she does quite well at licking them off her hand! Ha! Plus, it gives her something to work on while I get our lunch or dinner together, sans screaming!

*Will grab her sippy and drink from it when thirsty.

Eating lunch at Cheddars with Grandpa Bill. She loves staring at those big fans!

*Lo is going down for naps so well! I can not remember the last time I had to let her "cry it out." I just hand her her poodle, she starts sucking her thumb and I lay her down and leave! And they last anywhere from 50 min- 1.5 hours!!! Progress! I think she is just tiring out with all her activities. (Still going to be around 630/7ish PM and sleeping until 630/7ish AM! Yea Baby Leighton!!)

Not exactly nap time, but this is a pretty good example of what nap time signs look like!

*We have our small group on Wed. nights starting back up again, and Grammy, Meg, and Grandpa (or some combo) come over to babysit and put Lo to bed and she is doing MARVELOUS! This is more of a yea mommy thing, because it is hard for me not to put her down but it is a good thing for both of us! Daddy even does it every other night too, so I can get a break. THANKS mom, dad and Meg for coming all the way over here to watch her, I know it is such a chore ;) Ha! But we do appreciate it!!!

We are having so much fun. And there is more fun to come especially since all the holidays are very quickly approaching!

Here are some too cute not to post pics! :)

She is into hats...that is pull them off!