Amelia's Been Crawling For One Month!

It has been exactly one month since our baby girl has been crawling. It took her 8 1/2 months to figure out how to get up on her hands and knees, then rock back and forth, then finally move her legs and arms, but once she figured it out on March 29th, she just loves going everywhere! If I try to leave the living room to go make us food in the kitchen, she will start heading for the kitchen too to see what mommy is doing.

Thank goodness for safety gates! We have a set of stairs going up and a set of stairs going down. I started putting a safety gate on the stairs that go down to the 1st floor in case she wanted to go exploring while in the kitchen. She was never too interested in it, but now that she enjoys going EVERYWHERE, I decided to put the safety gate in our living room archway so she can play in the living room and stay out of the kitchen when I want her to.

I also have a safety gate in my bathroom so I was actually able to take a shower and watch her play safely on the floor in the bathroom, knowing she wasn't going anywhere. She discovered the shower door and sat next to it most of the time so she could see me. I'm thankful that now I can take a shower without worrying. I remember back in the day when Amelia was just a little thing and would eat constantly and never nap. I NEVER took a shower during the daytime. I would have to wait until Clint was home and could watch her or wait until I put her to bed and took a shower around 10 or 11pm.

Before Amelia learned how to crawl, she taught herself how to pull up to a stand. So now that she has the rhythm of crawling down and the capability to pull herself up to just about anything, it is an exciting new adventure for her and has turned me into a worried and protective mother. She loves pulling herself up to anything, especially our TV cabinet. She stands in front of the TV and bangs at it. She discovered the VCR opening and has decided that she enjoys sticking her hand in there. I say "NO Amelia" and she turns and looks at me very quickly, kind of does a little grin, then turns back and does it again! Repeat this a few times and you get a frustrated mother and a sneaky little girl who gets a kick out of pushing mommy's buttons.

Amelia is starting to show signs of cruising around our sofas. I know that once she can do this, and then walk on her own, it will be all over! I am anxiously awaiting those days and don't know what will become of me.

My Early Mother's Day Surprise

So last week on our way to the chiropractor at 5:15pm, Clint tells me that he has an appointment at 6pm and we will just go right after the chiro. I have gone on many excursions to appointments and installs before so nothing seemed out of the ordinary to me. I asked him where the apt. was and he wouldn't say. I asked how long it would take and he said about two hours. I noticed he didn't have his notebook and I asked if I should turn back to get it from our house. He said he didn't need it. During the chiro apt. I kept asking where we were going and he wouldn't say. Finally he responded and said, "We are going to Little Caesar's to get pizza." I exclaimed, "It doesn't take two hours to get pizza from Little Caesar's! The pizza is ready in five minutes. " Clint said, "Well it is Earth Day so it will take them longer because they will have so many orders." By this point I figured something was going on. So around 6pm we left the chiro and he said he had to be the one to drive since I didn't know where the apt. was. I reluctantly gave him the keys and we headed off to some unknown destination. We pulled into a gas station and behind the gas station were some businesses. He parked and we got out of the car. He walked into Arizona Hair Co. and said he was going to get his hair cut real quick because it was getting too long. When we walked in, the lady asked if I was Christie. I told her that I was and she said to come on back. Clint said, "Happy early Mother's Day Christie! You are getting your hair cut and colored just like you want it."

I couldn't believe it. I have not had my hair cut and colored since the month before Amelia was born. And she is almost 10 months old now so it's been a long time. When I did get my hair done last June at Fantastic Sams, they decided to change it up a bit and they added color that was supposed to look more like my natural brown color instead of blonde. When I got home though it was reddish looking. I did not like it very much. I missed the blonde color.

So Clint didn't lie and he did get his hair cut too while I got my hair cut and colored; blonde highlights like I like it! Amelia was a such trooper. She got to stay up past her bedtime since it took a long time. She got cranky a few times but she enjoyed sitting on my lap and looking in the mirror. She also tried to pull the stuff out of my hair while the lady was working on it.

Clint did go get Little Caesar's and I ate some pizza while sitting under the hair dryer. Amelia seemed to like the pizza too!

Overall, I am very happy that Clint was able to surprise me with something he knew I had been wanting for a long time. He may not surprise me like this too often but when he does, he goes all out and makes it worth the wait of not knowing what's going on.

The picture was from Sunday and shows off my new hair along with a mommy daughter moment.

9 Months Old

Every month on the 11th I take a picture of Amelia in the rocking chair in her room with her special teddy bear. I do this so I can see the changes as she gets bigger and the teddy bear stays the same.

It is amazing when I look over the past 9 months at these pictures and can really see the progress she has made into becoming a big girl. I remember when she couldn't hold herself up well so she was a blob in the chair. Then she learned how to sit up on her own in the chair. After that she decided that she didn't want to stay in the chair and would try to crawl over the front edge. Now at 9 months old she doesn't want to sit down for her pictures, she would rather pull herself up and stand in the chair!

My little baby Amelia is growing up so fast and it makes me sad to know that she won't be a baby forever. I am however excited for all the fun things I will get to do with her once she isn't a baby anymore.