Fifteen Months

Ashley has changed so much in the last month or so that it’s hard to capture all of the differences in a list.  She doesn’t seem like a baby anymore; more of an independent little person.

At her pediatrician appointment on Thursday (where she screamed bloody murder the whole time) she weighed in at 23 pounds, 12 ounces, and measured 33 inches in height.  Her head circumference is 18.75”.  So she’s still tall and thin with a fairly big head.  Seven teeth right now, with her first molar about to come in.

We’re starting to learn her personality.  She seems to stay on a pretty even keel—she doesn’t get very excited about anything, but also doesn’t really let things bother her.  Not a big dancer or waver.  She laughs and smiles easily and seems to carefully pay attention to everything going on.  

She still really likes her cat and dog, and likes to sleep with her Winnie-the-Pooh Bear.  Favorite foods these days are tofu, cheese, peas, and nectarine.  She enjoys attempting to climb on top of or into things, and playing with sand.  She likes small objects that she can attempt to use for their intended purpose (keys in a lock and shoes on her feet, for example) or that she can take out and then put away.

Latest words include “eye”, glasses (“glass”), “sheep”, “moo”, and the letters “f” (which is also her word for flower), “n”, and “m”. 

Here are some photos from July 15th, her 1.25 yr birthday, a day in which Ashley spent quite a bit of time trying to get used to her new bike helmet:

Cape Cod

We rented a place in Hyannis last week with our friends A & M (and their baby I) and had a really good time.

The first day Ashley’s friend Alex—born one day after her—visited, and while the two were shy at first, they quickly teamed up and started causing trouble:

 

The next day they had a lunch meeting at the house, and I’m not sure what they discussed exactly, but it may have been related to peek-a-boo:

On Monday we drove all the way up to Provincetown.  It seems to be marketed towards the gay community (see flags/signs in photos) but its distinguishable characteristic seems to be that it has lots of art galleries.  Otherwise, it felt to me a little crowded and tourist-trappy.

On the way back we checked out Cape Cod Highland Light.  They had to move it back a few hundred feet from its original location due to the ground eroding (which is where we are standing, right at the edge of a cliff).  There’s a nice-looking 9-hole golf course overlooking the ocean here; maybe next time.

The next day we went mini-putting and then checked out the Barnstable County Fair.  Ashley started out on dad’s back but eventually grew tired of that.  She really liked carrying a golf club around!

 

The following day, we dressed Ashley up in her sun clothes and took her to Coast Guard Beach.  We were able to go to the beach for free (website says $3 for cyclists, but really it is free) by putting Ashley in a bike trailer and biking from the Salt Pond Visitor Center.   Ashley loved playing in the sand while she ate carrots.. she also liked taking all our stuff and moving it around:

The next day we biked the length of the Cape Cod Rail Trail—22 miles each way.   Five miles in we stopped for lunch and Ashley ran around with a sharp stick for a while:

Then at 22 miles we rested before turning around, and Ashley and mommy shared some grapes:

We stopped in Orleans for a rest on the way back and Ashley had a good time looking at the chocolates in the display cases there.  We were pretty beat by the time we got back to the car, but Ashley was quite a trooper.  The whole ride, including stops, took us about seven and a quarter hours.

Our last day we went out west to Falmouth and walked around all afternoon.  We had a very tasty lunch at QR Dive Bar, which I recommend driving to (rather than walking) if you’ve parked your car in Falmouth center—it’s farther than it looks like it would be on the tourist map!  That evening we all went out for dinner at Kream’n Kone in West Dennis where an employee there took what is probably the best photo in the history of restaurant worker photo taking—both babies looking at the camera!  Impossible!

We really enjoyed our time in the Cape.  A little crowded, but relaxing and reasonably priced.  Next time we’d probably stay somewhere quieter than Hyannis, and I’d try to avoid the ubiquitous fried food a little, but I certainly imagine we’ll be back.

Fourteen months

At fourteen months, Ashley:

• Can say cat (“cuuh-ahh”), dog, duck, cheese (“cheesh”), boom, mama, dada, and light (“ight”).
• Loves to play in the kitchen, opening cupboards and removing pots, pans, and other items, and then trying to put them back in and close everything up again.
• Is fascinated with the idea of feeding and walking the dog.  She likes to take the cup we use to fill the dog’s water with and pretend to fill his water bowl.  If we leave the leash lying around she takes it over to him and tries to put it on him.
• Rarely cries—mostly only when she is put to bed, and if there’s a loud noise.
• Doesn’t crawl at all anymore, just walks.  Is fast indoors and out now.
• Is getting better about wearing her hat.
• Still has 6 teeth.
• Loves her Baby Einstein Alphabooks.  Seems to have certain favorites, and says “cuuh-ahh” when she hands me the one for “C”.
• Threatens to climb the stairs quite often.  Usually just goes up one step and then turns and looks at me, smiling, because she knows she’s not allowed to be up there.
• Will almost always give us anything that she has in her hand or mouth if we hold out our hand to her.
• Likes eating cheese, tomatoes, chicken, peas, pasta, and bread.

Some photos from her 14-month birthday:
I took her to Westmoor park, a little park nearby that has animals.  She enjoyed running around looking at them:

Eating cheese!

Always on her tippy toes!

Thirteen months

Yeah, I know, I know, I'm nearly a month late with this one.  Her fourteen month post will be posted on time, I promise!

At thirteen months, Ashley:
 - likes to carry and drag things around
 - has about three real english words: "cuuuhhh-ah" (cat), "dog", and "boom" (yeah, she's been hanging around dad too much)
 - likes to stand while she drinks from her bottle
 - is quick around the house but a little tentative when it comes to walking around outside
 - loves to play in her Cozy Coupe, and in the sandbox at the park

 - makes a funny aggressive-looking face sometimes

Here are some pictures from May 15th, 2011:

Happy Easter!

Birthday Party!

We had a little party for our little one on Sunday.

Nancy made a party garland from these instructions on The Purl Bee.  Each piece of fabric was cut out by hand, and then they were all sewn together to make about a 130-foot garland!




While we were waiting for Ashley to wake up from her morning nap, we played a game where our guests tried to put one picture of Ashley from each month of her life in chronological order.  Harder than you’d think!  I selected the photos and couldn’t even get it right.  Here are the photos in order:

Finally Ashley woke up.  Her friend P next door woke up from her own nap as well and joined us.  Here is the scene when you take two just-woken-up one-year-olds, and you throw party hats on their heads and stare at them:
 
Then Ashley had to sit patiently while mommy fixed her dress after daddy had predictably messed up putting it on:

We sat down for lunch, and Ashley loved looking at her balloons!
 
“Okay guys, the balloons and napkins are cool and everything, but what else you got?”

Cupcakes!  After lunch it was time for the cupcakes that C & F had so kindly brought from NYC:

Delicious!




“And nothing like my favorite drink—water—to wash it down!”



And it was time to open presents.  Ashley loved the paper, cards and bags (as well as the gifts themselves):




Ashley seemed to have a really good time and was sure tuckered out when it was all done.  Later in the day mommy took her swimming and she did lots of good splashing.  A great day for our little one-year-old.  Thanks to our guests for making this day special for her (and us)!