9 months

This photo captures YOU perfectly!

My little Kayla Layla girl, you are 9 months old!  You seriously melt my heart.  You are so sassy, smart, and sweet.  You love to laugh and have fun, but you are also serious and contemplative. Here are some highlights of you at 9 months:

• I have decided to stop buying you dresses because they just don't fit your personality. You have no time for frills and fancy stuff; you want to be in on the action and you love climbing and throwing.  
• Your vocabulary consists of ba-ba-ba, da-da, Di-ey (Dixie), yea-yea, and ack (Jack); you babble (and continue to grunt) all day long. 
• You love to smack you lips.
• You love to imitate sounds.  
• You give open mouth kisses when we ask for one.
• You love to sing with us and dance.  
• You have 2 teeth on the bottom and 1 and a half on top (your second tooth on top is currently breaking through).
• When you are in serious thought, trying to figure out how something works, you look EXACTLY like your daddy.
• You are a Mama's girl.
• You continue to LOVE everything your brother does.  He is definitely warming up to you at this point, but to be fair, you do love to beat up on him a bit.
• Just like your brother, Dixie is your faithful companion.  I can't believe her name is in your vocab box before Mommy!
• You love being out and about; the more people and action around you, the better!
• Eating continues to be a great sport for you.  You eat anything and everything (including none-food items), which thrills your Daddy and me.
• Your stats average 90th+ percentile.  You are 29 inches tall, weigh 21.5 pounds, and your head circumference is 18.5 inches.  Your pediatrician was sure to note that you are one standard deviation above the norm!
• Did I mention you are smart?  Sometimes it scares us. ;)
• You are now standing by yourself.  You also continue to crawl with a vengeance.  You smack your hands on the floor and grunt as your little hips are thrown from side to side.  So stinkin' adorable.
• You can climb the stairs.
• You continue to be a great napper and a great sleeper; however, it makes us sad that you are not really a snuggler.  When you are done, you are done!  You throw the bottle and sometimes you lay your head down on the arm of the rocker and let me tickle and draw circles on your back.  I love the sounds of your little giggles.  Other times you point to the crib and cry to tell me you are tired and don't want any sort of snuggles, just bed.
• You LOVE your purple bear!

I could go on and on about you, my baby girl.  You are such a fun baby and watching you grow is such a blessing.  We love you so much!!

Our monthly picture on your chair.

You love putting EVERYTHING in your mouth!

This is a typical day for you: eating, climbing, and trying to get your brother, who barricades himself on the couch.  I don't know what he is going to do once you really start climbing!

Look at that little face!  I told Daddy you are going to want a fast red convertible for your 16th birthday!

Mikayla is your name and eating (and making messes everywhere) is your game!

You are learning to love the beach.  Yay!

You are just too cute.

I snapped this photo of you at Target and sent it to Daddy.  You are trying to get out of the cart even though you are strapped in.  I thought you were safe until...

you figured out how to do this.  You sneaky baby!  Shopping with you can be a challenge!

 We can't wait to see what you have in store for us next month little missy!

Sensory and Scavenger Play

One of the best parts of summer is the fact that my nieces are home from school so Jack, and now Mikayla, get to spend time with their cousins.  We decided to do a nature scavenger hunt and some sensory play the other day.  This led to a day outside in the pool, a bon fire with s'mores, and then tent camping in the loft.  I am so happy my kids will have all of these priceless memories to cherish forever!

Jack and Lilly toured the neighborhood looking for some nature items.

Team work!

A green leaf: check!

Deciding which flower to choose

They did it!  Great job, guys!

We can't forget about Miss Kayla Layla! I put together some sensory bags with paint, soap, oil, glitter, and various craft items.

Seconds in my little moose put a hole in the bag.  She is SO delicate!

Learning about mixing colors

SQUISH!!!

Shake-a, shake-a, shake-a!

Kaitlyn is such a great cousin teaching Mikala how to mix the colors.

My little scientist

Watching her cousins

Such a fun day!

Months 7 & 8

I have to say that there is a major part of me that feels incredibly guilty for only now getting to this blog post, but another part of me that feels proud that I am getting to it before you are actually 9 months.  Life has been the most joyous kind of crazy there can be.  May and June have been jam-packed with fun and milestones achieved.  You, my precious little girl, have TONS of personality!  You have sprouted 2 bottom teeth, and I think the top two are on the verge of breaking through.  You love to babble and talk to anyone and anything.  My favorite is watching you on the monitor in the morning and when you wake up from your naps.  You have lots of books and toys in your crib and you sit and play and talk to yourself for a little while before deciding you are ready to get up and join us.  Another love you have is climbing.  We have a stuffed shark that Jack received from the Hayes at Christmas and you love to crawl, climb, and bury your face in that thing.  Just like your brother you love your cousins and your Dixie dog.  You crawl around the house with intense purpose and don't like it at all if you find yourself sitting alone at any time.  You absolutely adore Jack and he is starting to warm up to you (wink, wink).  You find great amusement in everything he does, especially when he starts crying... you find this hilarious.  You continue to be a tremendous napper, sleeper, and eater.  You declared your independence this month by refusing to eat anything from a spoon, which was fabulous since I, ahem, had just made all kinds of purees.  You love food, but you just want to feed yourself.  And no one better eat in front of you...you tend to have a bit of a temper.  Speaking of tempers, you display yours with a frustrated cry that makes you sound as though you are constipated.  We will have to keep you in check with that temper in years to come, little girl.  I love how happy, well-rounded, and spirited you are.  Sometimes I feel sad that I don't do as many things with you as I did with your brother, but you are so fortunate in other ways.  You have a big brother that constantly entertains you and teaches you new things.  You haven't said any real words yet, but I have a feeling when you do, it will be "Jack."  We just absolutely love you to pieces, Mikayla; you make our family complete.

Pictures tell the best stories...

You just adore your brother!

Selfie!!

Eating like a big girl in your high chair at 7 months (notice all the food everywhere...you are quite the messy girl!).

You love playing with your brother's toys.

My smiley girl!

Such a pretty and sweet baby.

There are two things I love about this photo: the look captured shows how thrilled you are to be sitting next to your brother and to be up on the chair like a big girl.

The look on your face says it all: he is next to be and not moving!

Classic Kayla move.  For the record, your brother is sitting so far away from you because he said you were going to get him.  I guess he was right!

What you are doing to your turbans half the time you are wearing them.

My 8 month big girl.

Playful girl!

Look at that smile!

You LOVE electronics!

You are always turning things from from front to back to try to figure it out.  You do the same thing with books.  I think you are looking for the image.  You are quite inquisitive.  I think you will be a lover of science.  At least I hope you will.

You will pull yourself up and climb on anything you can get a hold of.

 The next group of pictures shows my attempt to take a picture of you and Jack together.  Jack was reluctant and you were squirmy!

You love it when I take your picture.

 You are both so lucky to have one another. 

You crack me up in this thing.  You will lean all the way back and just relax.  You are just the cutest!

My playful girl.  You love crawling through and under things.

You love books...let me rephrase that, you love sitting on books.  You are not so much interested in hearing the story, but rather trying to figure out the pictures and where they go once the page is turned.  As for sitting on them, that is just you!

No words, just love.

This one is my favorite.  You heard Daddy on the phone down the hall in his office.  I was trying to change your diaper and you took off.  You pulled yourself up and scratched on the outside of the door trying to get him to let you in.

We have this papasan chair up in the loft that used to be in my classroom and you love to play in it.  We spin you around in it and you love to climb up the side and then fall (shown in the next picture).

Like this.