My growing big girl :)

I took Berkley to her 2 year check-up this morning.  She was such a big girl!!!

I told her that if she was a sweet girl, we would go get ice cream afterwards!  Every time she needed a little reminder of what her reward was, she would rub her tummy and say "mmm... ummy!!!"

My little growing girl:

Height- 34 1/4" (60th %)

Weight- 26.5 lbs. (50th%)

Head circumference (50th%)

She's becoming quite the little outgoing character.  However, when the doctor came in the room, and up until he examined her, she was hiding behind me on the little bench.  It was funny and quite cute, because I've never seen her do such a thing :)

Within the last month, her vocabulary has taken off!  She went from being a lady of very little words, to having quite an opinion about things :)  She will pretty much attempt to say anything you ask her to.  But, one of my favorite things she is saying/doing these days is anytime we go to my parents house, while sitting in their drive-way before getting out of the car, she will cup her hands to her little face and say "Papa, where are you?"  Another cute thing she did recently, Mom and I were comparing my 5 year old portrait to Kenadie's, and Berkley said "where me?" while putting her hands on her chest, I might add :)  I'm afraid I have another big talker in the making, on my hands :)  If she does anything good, she pretty much always thinks she needs a high-5!  

And here's a little comparison of my two, at two years old.  I'm getting more and more comments that Berkley is beginning to favor Kenadie.  

Berkley goes to Mommie & Me

Yesterday was a fun day for Berkley!  Our Mommie & Me class started back up, and with Kenadie going five days a week to preschool this year, we look forward to being faithful participants :)  We had a great time, and look forward to spending our Monday mornings with our new friends!

Singing the welcome song to Berkley, while she has her turn in "the chair." :)

Mrs. Madalene reads a story!

And since Kenadie started school today (Tuesday), we figured we would let her come with us!  

If only Berkley was just a little better at making such a solemn face :)...  Despite how emotionless she appears in the above picture, she had a great time and I know she can't wait to go back next week!!!

I'm 18 months old!

I'm 18 months old!  Can you believe it?!?  Well, I'm actually just a few days past 18 months, but sometimes I just get so busy playing with my big sister that I forget to blog about such important milestones!  As you can see in the picture below, I am all about feeding things!  Myself included!  I really just wish my mommy & daddy would stop altogether with trying to feed me!  I REALLY can do it all by myself!  So, back to the picture... that's me and one of my mommy's baby dolls from when she was little :)  And that "Count" bowl you see there, yeah, that was my Uncle Wes'!  My Kay Kay sure knows how to save some things :)

I'm usually a pretty happy girl!  Well, if I get my way of course :)  No, really... I AM getting much better when I don't get my way :)  It sure makes my mommy happy when I don't throw a fit for not getting what I want!  I choose to do that sometimes.  But every once in a while, a girl just HAS to have a meltdown!  I love playing in the playroom!  I can make a real BIG mess, REAL quick!  My favorite song is "This little light of mine", and I'm just so cute waving my little "light" around :)  You really need to see me!  My mommy sure smiles big when I do this :)  I love my paci and "Foo Foo!"  I use to get them all day, every day, but when my mommy & daddy returned from that long trip they went on... well I guess Mommy thought it was time to start leaving those things in my bed until I was going nap-nap or night-night?!?  I was a little confused as to why I couldn't have them around the clock anymore???  But I got over that pretty quickly, and now I just get even happier when it's time to go to sleep because all my loveys are in there!

I love pretty much ALL foods!  Especially any sauce I can dip my food in!  I make a REAL big mess, and we aren't quite sure why sauce gets all over my clothes, but my bib can remain stainless???  I've really come to love Papa & Kay Kay's new pool!  And I'm so sweet when it comes to getting my sunscreen put on!  My favorite part is when Mommy puts that little stick of stuff on my face!  She says it's to protect my skin and so I won't get premature wrinkles!  I sleep very good at night!  I go to bed around 8:00 and usually get up around 7'ish these days!  I've decided that 5:30 stuff is for the birds!  My mommy is sure glad about that too!  I take two naps a day, typically one that's good, and one that I wake up really grumpy and possibly too early from, but ya know... I just don't want to miss anything my big sister is doing!  So, I cry & cry and then eventually my mommy will come to my rescue!  I'm usually quite grumpy and no fun to be around for about an hour after that.  Then, I get like this second wind kind of thing and I'm good as new until bedtime!  

I went to see my doctor for my 18 month check-up, and this is what he told me.  He said I had grown since my last appointment and that now I was:

32 1/2 inches long (68th%)

24lbs. 6 oz. (70%)

18 1/4 inches (head circumference) 50%

I love, love, love to put on ANY shoes I come across!  I also enjoy putting clothes on, on top of whatever I already have on :)  Those who love me are ready for me to talk a little bit more, but for now, I really only enjoy saying: uh-oh, bye bye, Da Da, Ma Ma, all done, Kay Kay, Papaw, ball, bow and night night.  I was saying "thank you", but now when I need to say that, I just kind of hum the sound of the words "thank you."  

Well, I guess that's about all I've been up to!  Oh, wait!  I did go to the beach back in July and had the best time!  I'm going to try to stay on Mommy until she gets that posted on here!  Well, that's all I have time for, for now!  I'm off to practice my running!  I've been watching the Olympics, and I'm almost as fast as Lolo Jones!  Mommy can hardly catch me anymore :)  Bye bye :)

15 Months

Today, our sweet Berkley is 15 months old!

I say "sweet", and she is... 95% of the time, but if you catch her in her "off" 5%... BEWARE!  Who knew BIG tempers could come in such small packages :)    

 31 3/4 inches (85th%)

23.6 lbs. (60th%)

Head circumference: 18 inches (40th%)

This little girl loves being outside, swinging, riding in the Barbie car, and doing anything Kenadie is doing!  Well, what I should say is, she pretty much enjoys doing anything that involves moving!  Easily, she walks 75 miles a day! :)  And about walking, she is sooo close to running.  She can move so fast!  To her, she probably thinks she is running :)  She has recently started becoming a little silly :)  and it's hilarious :)  That's thanks to Kenadie!

Although she is might near not talking, she understands pretty much EVERYTHING we tell her.  She says da-da most frequently and ma-ma ONLY when in SEVERE desperation as a call for help... and it's also hilarious :)  She makes the sweetest sound when she is mumbling her gibberish :)  Kenadie never mumbled gibberish, she just went from having no words/sounds to speaking words as clear as an adult, all by 12 months old.  So, I'm getting a bit antsy for Berkley to start talking, and stop all this "grunting" she likes to do that we totally give her what she wants when she does it...

She still takes two good naps and prefers to go to bed around 7:30.  If she is sleepy, she will start fretting and go stand by the bedroom door for you to put her in her bed :)   She's a great eater at this point, and I have only found one thing she didn't seem to like... salt and vinegar chips! 

I must note what a GREAT patient Berkley is!  I mentioned in my last post that when she had blood drawn, she didn't make the first whimper.  She always lets the nurse/doctor examine her without nearly bringing the building down, like her big sister!  Now, she's not a fan of having her ears looked in, but this little rascal has some high tolerance for pain apparently, because this was our 3rd ear infection to be discovered at a well baby visit!  And... she takes her medicine like a champ!  POLAR opposite of Kenadie even taking just Tylenol, or being weighed for that matter! 

That about sums up my little Berkley pie!               

Pretty In Blue

One of my oldest friends, and I don't mean her age :), took Berkley's 12 month pictures, and I couldn't be happier with how great they turned out!  Heather and I have been friends since the 2nd grade, and she is some kind of talented!  You can check out her website here.  These are just some of my favorites...



    Thanks so much, Heather!!! 

Today you're one, Berkley

What a difference a year makes, right???

Seems like only yesterday you entered this world, and made our lives even happier!  We love you so much and had so much fun celebrating your special day today!  Happy 1st Birthday, Berkley!!!



It must have been a good nap!

This was after about a 4 hour Sunday afternoon nap!  From the looks of her hair, I'd say it must have been a good one :)



Sweet Girl at 11 Months

I CANNOT believe in one month we will be celebrating your first birthday!!!  That just feels so strange to say/type/think...  How can it be?

Not too much seems to have changed since your 10th month.  You now have 4 teeth and rarely ever do I see you crawl.  You love to walk to me, hold your arms up for me to pick you up, and just as soon as you're in my arms, you're ready to get back down and do it again :) 

You LOVE your little rabbit that Daddy has named "Foo Foo." :)  When you're really sleepy, rabbit's ear is squeezed tightly and rubbed in your little eyes :)  When you wake from a nap or in the morning, you are always standing up in your crib holding tightly to "Foo Foo's" ear with your paci in your mouth, gripping the rail of your crib.  I need to get a pic of this :)

You are such a sweet baby and at this point, seem to be easy going...  We shall see...  One thing you do funny, I will try to explain, often times when I have to say "no no" to you, I usually end up having to walk over to you to remove an object from you or remove you from something you are getting in to.  If I am walking to you to remove an object, you usually start walking away from me while dropping the item I'm after and never look back.  It's as if you think I won't notice it was you who had the "no no" item in the first place :)  If you are well rested, you take "no no" quite well.  If you are sleepy, tears are sure to follow the "no no."  My, how early disciplining has to start :(



Happy 10 Months, Berkley!!!

So, what has been going on with my little Berkley pie???  How about a lot of this...

Yes!!!  I  AM saying you are walking at 10 months old!!!  That's a month before your big sister!  Every day you walk a little more than you did the day before.  It's so sweet to watch your face with this huge smile of accomplishing something BIG!  I blogged earlier, but I will say it again, you took your first few steps on Thanksgiving day, and haven't slowed down since!  Crawling is still your main mode of transportation, but it sure won't be long, and that will be a thing of the past :(

Ok, so let's discuss a little something called Eczema.  It has been thought, not confirmed yet, that you possibly have a wheat allergy, so we are right in the middle of trying out a gluten free diet to see if this will help things.  Why you don't listen to your mother sometimes...(that was directed at myself!)  But for 3 llllllooooonnnnnggggg months I had one miserable baby, unless she was being distracted to keep her mind off how miserable she was :(  And yes Mom, our troubles DID seem to start when I began adding in new foods... ok, ok, you WERE right on that one!  Now, let's move on :)  So, for the past 2 weeks we have removed wheat from Berkley's diet, along with a HUGE thanks to the nurse practitioner we are seeing at the dermatology clinic for some cream that FINALLY brought Berkley some relief!  I'm not going to name all of Berkley's problems as to not invade her privacy :) but let's just say that something she was treated for for 3 months, without EVER seeing any improvement, was never her problem in the first place :(  

You still have just your 2 little bottom teeth, but your top two should be coming through any day!  You still just say "da da" when repeating us, but not actually referring to Aaron as "da-da" yet.  You make lots of sounds and gibberish, but "da-da" is the one thing you will say "on command." :)  You know when we are away from home that your snacks are in my purse, and if I pick up my purse around you, you are definitely hoping I pull out a snack for you :)  Just yesterday you instigated peek-a-boo with me behind a door, so cute!  You love Kenadie!  When we are on our way to pick her up from school, she likes for us to come in and get her :)  When I say "do you want to go get Kenadie?"  You get really excited and start attempting to jump while I am holding you :)  You are such a joy, especially now that you are not itching soooo bad :) :) :)  Happy Berkley = Happy Mommy!  I love you, Berkley!

   

9 Months

Whew... am I ready for things to slow down around here!  But, from what I hear, this is only the beginning...  Oh my!!!  Since my last post we have: celebrated Kenadie's 4th birthday, unexpectedly and very quickly said goodbye to our beloved Yorkie, Lily, made a trip to North Carolina to see Wes, Joy and family, sold and moved out of our house, welcomed Annie our new furry four-legged friend to the family, and I'm pretty sure that may be it...  So, that's where I've been and I really want to get some things documented that need to make it into this years' blog book that I will print out in January.  With that being said, we will pick up with Berkley's 9 month post :) before she quickly turns 10 months!

18.4 lbs., cruising around furniture, VERY interested in Kay Kay's stairs, taking 4 bottles a day, loves her little rabbit blankie, selectively understanding "no no", says da da, clapping, eating some table foods, in a stage 3 diaper and wearing 9 month clothes, takes 2 naps and a little early evening power nap, goes to bed around 7:30, doesn't "army" crawl anymore and is THE BEST TRAVELER EVER!

You are so much fun, and I would say were happy all the time if it weren't for the eczema we encountered at 7 months :(   

Happy 9 months, sweet girl!  I can't believe I will soon be posting about you being 10 months!!!

8 is GREAT!!!

Berkley definitely thinks being eight months old is GREAT!  Why, you ask?  Oh, well just because she pretty much gets whatever she wants, all the time... within reason of course :)  She could be summed up as happy all the time, if in any one of the following: when she's being held and walked around the house wherever I go, when she's sleeping, or when she is freely roaming about the house, doing as she pleases!!!  You can just forget about putting her in ANY type of holding device, i.e. exersaucer, jumperoo, swing etc.  Wait, I take that back, she does like the exersaucer.  For like five minutes :)  She is truly a sweet baby and I am always finding myself telling Aaron how sweet she is.  Let's just say she likes to be held, likes her freedom and likes her sleep.  And, these aren't bad things by any means, she just doesn't let you forget that she doesn't appreciate you setting her in the exersaucer, ha! 

     You attempt to pull up on anything you come into contact with!  Sometimes when you're just sitting on the floor, it's as if you are going to stand up right there, without the help of anything!  I'm not saying you are pulling up just yet, you randomly have if the object was just the right height, but it sure won't be long and I'm sure I'll be finding you standing up in your bed in no time.  Your first little tooth is just barely coming through :)  It's your bottom left tooth.  You've had your first ear infection and have been on your first antibiotic :(  You never ran fever, just pulled/tugged/made little sores in your ear over a couple of weeks, so I took you to see your doctor before going out of town. 

Probably your daddy's favorite recent milestone... you attended your first Southern Miss football game, and did great!!!

     And last, but certainly not least, you LOVE Kenadie!!!  And she would say she LOVES you more!  On ANY piece of school work, art work, doodling-type work, coloring page etc., she writes "Kenadie Zumwalt Berkley."  She's ready to see you immediately from you waking from a nap, or if she's been away from you for any length of time.  When I took you to the doctor last week, she stayed with Kay Kay, and made sure to tell me to call her after your appointment and tell me what the doctor said :)  Gee, I sure hope that's genuine and that I haven't OCDedly passed that on to her :)  She was sweet though, she wanted to know if you were sick :)

Here's to hoping that your eighth month doesn't fly as quickly as your seventh, because if it does, it means that we will be celebrating Kenadie's 4th birthday, BIG tear :(  But, she's way too excited for me to get too sad about it...  I'm sure I'll make time to have a closet cry about it when no one is looking :)  I love you my little Berkley Pie! 

Family Dedication

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Proverbs 22:6

Family Dedication was this past Sunday at our church.  It was just a sweet time, where our family, along with six other families, stood before the church and committed to raising our children in Godly homes.  It is a priveledge to be Kenadie and Berkley's mommy.  It is my prayer that they grow to love Jesus and honor Him in all that they do.  May I always set the Christ-like example God has called me to be. 

   Thankful for our little blessing, Berkley.  And thankful, and I'm not joking here, that Kenadie did EXACTLY what she was supposed to do: Be very still, be very quiet, and if she felt the need to do anything other than stand there and look pretty, she could smile :) 

Extreme Makeover: Nursery Edition

On Monday, Berkley discovered how to go from laying down to sitting up all on her own.  Monday night when I put Berkley down for the night, I told Aaron that this would probably be her last night to sleep in her bed without it being lowered.  10 minutes after putting Berkley to bed... Aaron was lowering her crib!  Even though she's not pulling up yet, I could just see her taking a nose dive over the side of her crib.  I also had to remove the bumper pad from one side... she thought she needed a place to look out more than the comfy pillow surrounding her :)

  And, she gave her new and unimproved bed two thumbs up!  While her mommy was sad it was already time to do such :(

Look who's 7 months old

Happy 7 months, Berkley!!!  What do I need to document about you at the moment... hmmm... let's see.  Well, you are still technically a happy baby, but you have definitely learned how to fuss for the things you need :)  You typically get your feelings hurt when we walk out of the room you are in, and even though it may break your heart, I sure do like the feeling of being needed :)  You are still going to bed around 6:30, but have consistently started waking around 5:30, ouch!  We usually leave you in your bed for as long as you are happy, and I can just forget about you going back to sleep!  Nuh uh, not gonna happen until after you get your bottle! 

 You are crawling everywhere!!!  We've introduced a sippy cup--my that sounds strange!  I DID say "introduced", I think it has happened like two times :)  You eat breakfast and dinner and take 4, 7oz. bottles.  One thing that's different about you and Kenadie and your bottles... you WILL actually sometimes leave an ounce or so, and not want it.  You have recently shown an interest in Lily, and it's pretty cute :)  I'm sure the feelings are mutual.  She's a great sport with children! 

You really like your little blankies, all five of them!  When I lay you in your bed, I always put one under both arms, and you roll onto your side, all snuggled up in them :)  You maybe seem a little partial to the one with the little rabbit attached to the top of it, but you really like them all!  We still don't have any teeth yet, however, you have definitely had the personality of a baby who is teething!  Come on little teethies... 

I thought I would compare Kenadie and Berkley again like I did last month.  Berkley is still taking her baths in the little inflatable tub that sits down in the bath tub, apparently Kenadie was not :)  I posed Berkley out of her inflatable tub so that their pictures looked more alike.  She sure was loving the freedom!  She is still too much of a wiggle worm to take baths like this just yet!  And one more note on her being a wiggle worm... I DO NOT remember Kenadie being NEAR as WIGGLY during diaper changes and getting dressed!  Oh my goodness!  I would say I have to flip her over about 5 times during a single diaper change.  She just smiles the whole time over it all, while I on the other hand, have worked up a sweat just trying to get her diapered and clothed, ha!



How It's Done

Crawling that is... Yes!  Berkley was definitely crawling better than she was sitting up at one point!  She's not up on all fours yet, but she can definitely get where she needs to go!  And yes, it happened OVERNIGHT! 

"Hmmm... that toy over there sure does look more fun than these over here...  Now where is that sister of mine to go get it for me?  She never lets me out of her sight!"

"Oh, alright... I'll go get it."

"Will I get there faster if I hold my mouth open?"

"Got it!"

"Okay, that was fun for a little while.  On to something else.  I really think I was having more fun before I came all the way over here."

"I'll just go right back to where I was.  The toys were better over there anyway."

"Maybe just one little scoot more..."

"Ahhh... I think I'll just stay here for a while... seeings how THIS is what I really wanted all along."

Berkley, slow your little self down!  You weren't supposed to start crawling until next month like your sister did :)  Just a note about the second child: Berkley is just about over the exersaucer and swing.  Kenadie lasted happily in the exersaucer until she was at least 12 months old, and as for the swing... I was worried she was going to outgrow the 30 lb. limit, but not Berkley :)  Kenadie must be making the outside world look way more fun!  

Happy Half Birthday, Berkley!

Dear Berkley,
Today, you are six months old, my little precious pie!  Kay Kay and I made you a half birthday cake yesterday to celebrate the occasion.  Although it appears in the above picture that it's just you, sitting unsupported by a cake that Papa is holding so that it doesn't go flying off the table, Kay Kay is just barely out of the picture to catch you when you start to topple over :)  I would say you can sit unsupported for maybe 5 good seconds :)   Another funny you can't see in this pic is that I am whistling my head off because it sometimes can get a smile out of you, and your big sister is right there with me playing the music from a little dog toy that also sometimes makes you smile.  The finger in the mouth with a slight grin was all we could get from you :)  I'm now calling you my little serious baby.  You are a smiley baby, and it's fairly easy for non family members to get a smile from you, but you are quickly drawn back to this very serious face that appears to be saying "Who on earth are you and what in the world are you doing?"

You are such a sweet baby who still rarely ever fusses.  You take 3-4 naps a day, love playing in the floor with all your toys, love Kenadie who can always make you laugh, take 4 bottles a day, eat twice a day along with what we'll call a little snack around lunchtime, and you can put your paci in your mouth all by yourself, however; I typically am needed at some point to come find it for you in your crib.  I obviously love EVERYTHING about you, but some of my most favorite things about you now are:  How super excited you are to see me when you wake from a nap or when you wake up in the mornings, how just about every time I look in the rear view mirror while driving down the road, you are 9 times out of 10 happily watching your sister like she's super great, how you "talk" a lot in the car,  how you get really excited when it's time to eat and how you smile when I sing to you at night before bedtime.

The following is a much truer shot of how our photo shoot on Kay Kay's dining room table really looked...   

    Kay Kay made a little half cake for me when I was 6 months old, we did it for Kenadie, and now it was your turn.  Of course, you have no idea what it tasted like, but we all enjoyed it :)

Happy half birthday, Berkley!  I've been singing "Happy half birthday to you..." all morning!  I love you so much, and thank God daily for blessing our family with such a special gift as you :) 

5 Month Old Little Berkley

My little Berkley... today you are 5 months old!  I would still very much describe you as a content baby, with me anyway :)  however, I am noticing that I am needing to hold you a little more often than before, hmmm...  wonder where that's heading :)  You are taking 4 (7 oz) bottles a day and with your last bottle, you are getting some rice cereal with a little vegetable.  You have only tried green beans and peas, but I'm thinking squash may be in your near future :) 

Sometimes I call you my little jumping bean :) as you are quite easy to startle.  When you have woken from a nap, I always try to start talking to you before you can see me, so that I don't alarm you :)  One day last week, you had woken from your nap, and I went in to get you, only to apparently scare you to the point of tears because I had a hat on, or either I looked really bad that day, not sure... I'd like to think it was the hat though...  You love, love, love, to kick your legs really fast when you're on the changing table.  The look on your face is 100% concentration, fully focused, as if Eye of the Tiger is playing and you are in the middle of some kind of serious workout!  You look like you are on some kind of mission, and you are counting each kick to some # I'll never know :)  I always ask you "Where are you going?", but say that to yourself in a super cute voice, and you always laugh, as if I have interrupted your thinking :)  I pretend you're saying "Oh, Mommy, I'm running to you because I love you so much!"  Okay, okay, so maybe I'm reading into it a bit much, but hey, it may be true :)  I'd sure like to think so!

Sadly, you have outgrown the cradle :( and are sleeping like such a big girl in your bed, in your own room, tear.  You are still sleeping about 12 hours at night and are still going down around 6:30 pm.  I always sing Jesus Loves Me when putting you down at night, and you seem to like it :)  Your paci at this point is really only needed at bedtime, and you've become quite the squirmy wormy during diaper changes! 

One more thing that has happened recently, I took you to the doctor because you pretty much need to burp any time throughout the day, no matter if you have just had a bottle or if it's four hours after a bottle.  It was confirmed that you definitely are dealing with some reflux, but not severe enough for medicine... however, severe enough that if you get too upset in the car, we have to pull over to get you out of your car seat to burp you, and also, often times get woken from your nap due to needing to burp... those are always fun times...

Okay, I feel good about your 5 month documentation now :)  I love you my little Berkley Pie!