Priorities

So being the new year it is time for me to take stock of where my priorities currently lie and how they need to be adjusted/rearranged. One priority that needs to be bumped up higher on the list is - you guessed it - this blog. 2010 was not a good year for me and keeping up with the blog. Shame on me. Not only is it not fair to everyone who reads this but more importantly it wasn't fair to my children. After having Tegan I decided to use my blog as a means to record exciting events and milestones in my children's lives instead of keeping up with baby books. I did pretty darn good for Tegan's first 3 years or so, but this past year has been not so great. So - here's to a new year and better blogging!

I left off with updates on Tegan (though that was over a month ago)... time for some Casey updates:


Miss Casey is officially 12 months old (actually, closing in on 13 months old) - yes, that is 1 year! Where did the time go? I feel like I just had her and my maternity leave should just be getting started. No, I really feel like I just had Ty. It's still so weird not being pregnant - yes, even 12 months after giving birth it's weird. I suppose it makes sense - I was pregnant with Ty for 34 weeks and nearly 37 weeks with Casey, only having 3 months "off" (approx 12 weeks) between the 2 pregnancies. That's approx. 71 weeks spent being pregnant in a 83 week period. WOW!


OK, back to "Casey Lou", as we all call her (especially Tegan). Crawling began around Thanksgiving though at that point it was really more of the "army crawl" than what most people think of as crawling. She did that consistently for several weeks (much longer than Tegan did) and then it seemed like overnight she decided it was time to do the "regular" or "normal" crawl and she's been doing that ever since - and truly, that really happened right around Christmastime.


Now we are to now. At a full 12.5 months old Casey is in full-fledged furniture cruising mode. She pulls up and cruises all along the couches, chairs, high chair, coffee table, walls... you name it, as long as it helps her stay standing she'll use it as a support to cruise (or "prewalk" if you want to call it that). She has even let go a few times, that I've observed, and stayed standing for a few seconds before getting that "OH CRAP" look on her face. You know, the look a baby gets when they realize they are standing and not holding onto anything and then lose all balance. Love that look! Let's just say that even though she's a pretty darn quick crawler, I'm enjoying this time before she's literally "up and running"!


C has also become a very, very, VERY smiley and verbal child while at the same time being one of those super quiet babies who always seems to be taking everything in with a straight face. It still amazes me how much of a unique and intriguing child C is in her very own way. Or there's this face - it was a favorite of hers to make for several weeks. Always put a smile on my face :) That's my little "gril" (Have I mentioned on here that Tegan says "gril" for "girl"? It's hilarious to hear... Oh, and that he calls "preschool" "pretty school") Poor Casey, her brother is forever going to be interrupting her even it is through me on this blog.


Talking - I was talking about Casey talking. She's got a few "words" that she says. One that's pretty consistent is "nana" or "nigh-nigh" though she uses it to mean just about anything other than may me, Brendan or Tegan so it really has no meaning - though, when I use it in the evening to tell her that it's bedtime (which is the only way I use the term, to refer to bedtime and going n'night) she does seem to truly understand what it means. The other 2 words that she does use appropriately are "dada" and "mama" although I am sometimes referred to as "dada" by her. Sure shows you who her favorite, huh? I do hear her trying to practices saying "Tngn". She somehow says it without vowels. It's sweet.


When it comes to receptive language (I think that's the proper term) Case (yes, we call her Case sometimes - it wasn't a typo) is able to physically respond to questions we pose. Specifically, we'll ask her where her baby is (she got a Bitty Baby and several accessories from the Devin Gram'ma for Christmas and/or birthday) C will go over to her baby, assuming "Baby" is in the same room, and usually give her a kiss. If we ask or suggest that she "feeds" her baby or gives Baby her "baba", C will crawl over and "feed" the baby her bottle, though not necessarily putting the bottle to the doll's mouth. She does always get the bottle to feed some part of the doll's face, though. Yesterday it was the forehead. This is an improvement, as you can see, since initially she wanted the "baba" for herself to chew on - obviously a baby who prefers the breast over the bottle for eating. Over the weekend she even began to take the baby out of her cradle post-bottle and burp her by placing the baby on her lap (face-up or face-down - doesn't seem to matter to C) and patting whatever part of the torso is facing up. Whatever the interaction is with Baby, C always gives her baby a kiss (or a few kisses) at some point before she is done playing with her. Miss C has even gotten really good at making the kiss sound and, unlike most babies, will give closed-mouth puckered-up kisses! LOVE IT!


Here's her monthly pics from 9-11 months (1 year is still in the camera - does that surprise you?!)

9 months
10 months
(I promise this wasn't her full outfit for the day.
It's what she wore under her Halloween costume)
11 months
(thought you'd enjoy the sequence and appreciate how much work these monthly shots/pics have become)

OK - How's that for a post? I don't want to overwhelm you all with too much info ;)

Hope you enjoyed the updates and pics. Take care and love to all!
~j