update on haley @ 9.5 months old.

It’s hard to believe haley is 9 ½ months old already! 
since my crawling post in june, she has gotten very good at crawling and standing up  / scooting along against things.  just this weekend, she's starting to take her hands off of the things she is standing next to...just for a few seconds...to work on her balance.  it's really cool to see.   

from an eating standpoint, she's doing great. we introduced finger foods (puffs) on june 26 and have since added cheerios to the menu.  she is having solids 3 times a day (btwn 2-4 oz each time), and a snack of puffs once, plus between 25 & 30 oz of formula a day.  so, a very healthy eater at 9.5 months old!  on the food front, we have tried green beans, carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, squash, apples, bananas, pears, peaches, mango, and chicken.  they have all been a hit.  the one thing that didn't really agree with her was apples mixed with cherries.  seemed to upset her tummy.  she did really well with the chicken, but it's courser than the other foods, so a little adjustment.  and we have to be sure to give her something with a good amt of fiber the same day, otherwise the high protein of the chicken tends to clog her up a bit.  we also tried a sippy cup on june 26, with water only.  she has the hang of drinking from it, but still does not realize that she has to tip it back, so we're helping her in that area.

she's still not taking great naps at daycare, but we are working to adjust her bottles to be closer to nap time and it seemed to help 2 days so far.  fingers crossed it will help going forward.

haley got her first ear infection the day i left for miami (june 20)!  poor thing.  the doc told us we were lucky she had not had one earlier.  she finished her antibiotic a few days ago, but something still seems to be uncomfortable for her, so we'll go back for a follow-up asap.   on the day of her visit she weighed 21 lbs.

she still has 2 teeth on the bottom, and none on top.  but, that does not seem to make a difference with the puffs & cheerios. 

she's a chatter box these days -- no real words except mama & dada, but nonstop noise either babbling or singing.  i started making indian sounds on her mouth when she makes long noises, and she loves it!

standing up to see da da

see how tall i am !  28 inches when last measured end of april.

sporting the outfit from aunt sara & uncle jake

family photo after we came back from miami

G&G in town

trey's parents (a.k.a. G & G ...grandma & grandpa) were planning to fly to DC the last week of may to visit us.  but, since we had to fly in for trey's grandma polak's funeral the week before their planned trip, they opted to rebook their flights for june.  it worked out to be the week i was going to miami for a workshop, and we decided to utilize the opportunity and let g&g keep haley a few nights by themselves, so trey could meet me in miami.  trey stayed with them in VA for a few days, then headed to meet me, and we had a great time exploring south beach area and lounging on miami beach.  thanks to all my marriott points, we were upgraded to a room with a fantastic view of the ocean and a nice balcony.  it was my first time away from her for an extended period, and i did well, but started to miss her the last few days since we kept seeing babies around us!

from what we heard haley was super good for g&g while we were gone, and in fact when we got back it took almost 30 minutes before she would let go of grandma & come to us!  (luckily lorie had prepared me for this possibility!)  they went on walks and swinging a few times a day and played.   we took lots of photos below.

smiles all around when g&g arrive !

having fun w/grandma



heading out to dinner

swinging - haley's new favorite past time!

getting a push from grandpa!

last time outside before g&g flew back to TX

last stroller ride with g&g

crawling around as of May 30, 2011

haley started crawling the day after we got back to VA (May 30) from our TX visit!  little stinker!  so, here are some pics of her in action, as well as a video clip. 

found the stairs & tried to stand up, but can't quite do it yet

video clips (turn up volume, because she's singing)

trip to TX

Trey's grandmother Agnes Polak died at the age of 95, so we packed up and flew to TX for the funeral.  Since we were going through all the motions of packing, we figured why not stay through the weekend and make the trip really worthwhile.  So, we packed a few extra things and off we went. 

She traveled so well!  She had a bottle when we got on the plane and slept the first hour. Then she played the last 2 hrs, and had a bottle on the way down.  She was really tired towards the end of the flight but would not sleep, so she took a short nap on the drive to East Bernard.   We arrived a few hours before the viewing, and haley was exhausted, so my mom watched her while Trey & I attended the service.  It was like a Polak family reunion, and really great to see the family members we have not seen in so long. It was my first time to meet some of trey's relatives, which says a lot ! 
My mom kept haley during the funeral & cemetary service, but haley joined us for the lunch afterwards, and got to see A LOT of people.  She did great, as long as no one was right in her face, and had fun showing off & being hammy on top of the table after we ate.

Haley loved the cats, and got excited every time she saw one, flapping her ams and saying "ca".  she even grabbed purdy's tail a few times, oh and spilled their water too.

We spent a few hrs at Aunt Kerrie's house & Haley got to see moo cows from a far while we sat on the back patio. 

We did a trial run of leaving haley overnight at their house, and headed to galveston.  It was nice to relax in the sun for a few hrs.  They said Haley did great and it seemed that they really enjoyed keeping her too. The following day, Haley stayed with my parents while we went to lunch and caught a movie.  (we figured we should capitalize on the chance we have lots of willing and able babysitters!)

The day before we left, cousins Tyler & Carson came over and they all went swimming. The Jochec side also stopped over, so we got to see Grandma & Popo, Aunt Veronica and Uncle Larry.  Susan & Nancy were in LA, so we missed the chance of seeing them. 

Here are several shots from the trip.  Unfortunately, no shots with grandma & grandma preisler, but they are visiting us end of June so we will get lots of photos then!

pretty smile showing off my 2 teeth!

first time to touch a cat!

trying to grab the grass

with grandma & pepaw

AAAAAH!!  (the face of someone getting a shower curtain pulled open on them!)

playing with carson & tyler while uncle rodney supervises

aunt lorie tickling haley!

Not too sure what to think about Dusty trying to lick her!



first time in a swimming pool !

she had a great time playing!

carson was not really into swimming for some reason.

who is that man???  checking out popo jochec

who is that lady?  checking out grandma jochec

short video clip

haley likes chewing on her bottle caps...here's a short clip of her doing so.

we tried green beans

we introduced green beans to haley today.  she actually seemed to like them, but didn't eat too much. 
trey started out feeding her, but she hit the spoon and green beans went everywhere, so he told me to take over.....then she sneezed green beans all over me!  lol! 

here's a video clip of her first taste:

dr appt & latest stats - May 12, 2011 - 7.5 mos old

haley had her 'well visit' appointment today.  it was supposed to be at 6 mos old, but we had to push it back due to dealying her vaccine schedule.  so, they actually did a hybrid check-up to account for both 6 month & 9 month appts.  The good thing is that she does not have to go back until she's 1 year!  The bad thing was that she got 3 shots today ;-(  and they wanted to check her blood counts given the rough month she's had, so they also pricked her finger.  AND, this was on top of hardly napping at daycare today, so she was not the happiest camper.  Despite that, she still surprised us with not crying too much for the shots (the nurse was really quick).  I think the finger prick was worse than the 3 shots.

The doc sent us to get hip x-rays immediately after our appt though...Apparently the skin creases on the back of her legs are supposed to be symmetrical, and hers are not so he was concerned that one hip might be growing incorrectly since she was breech.  So, that made for an even longer day for miss haley.  (Lucikly I planned ahead and had an extra bottle with us!)  The x-ray technician told us that everything looked normal, and our doctor confirmed it the next day as well.  I guess the hip growth is a very time sensitive thing.    The doc also told us she needs to be eating more solids.  He said she should have it 2x a day - food first, then milk, trying a new food every 3 days.  He said in june she should be eating 3 solid meals per day, but still  have at least 20 oz milk.  The good news is that she's having cereal at daycare in the mornings, so I guess we will have her eat another solid when she gets home from daycare.  I just hate to introduce a new food shortly before she goes to bed!  But, we will make it work.  I guess i can even try some in the mornings if I don't have early meetings.  We really love her doctor!

And last but not least her stats:  She is 28 inches long, which is 90th percentile, and 18lbs 2 oz, which is 75th percentile.  She's still wearing a few things that are size 9 month, but mostly 12 month (at least for 1 piece outfits!)  she has not crawled in the traditional sense, but she can definitely reach, move around and scoot on her butt, in at least a 4 foot radius!  she's sleeping more and more on her tummy at night too.  she continues to grab things that we think are out of her reach - like a glass of water at a restaurant!  oops!

here are a few recent pics:

bed head! 

chillin in my bunny slippers

happy in my froggy outfit

swinging next door