Little Froggy in the Pool

Ainsley sure does love playing in the pool.  Here is a video of her and Kevin swimming.   



Ainsley turns 11 Months Old!

 

It's hard to believe we are almost at the ONE YEAR OLD mark! I know it has been a looooooooong time since I did a monthly update for Ainsley. So this one is well past due!

This past month has been an interesting one for us. Starting in May her personality has really started to develop. Even Dr. Miller said we have the workings of a "Drama Queen" on our hands (wonder where she gets that from?...). If she doesn't like something she will tell you. Either by yelling really loudly, throwing her body back into an arch, dramatically tossing herself on the floor, or waving her hands in front of her face. Let's just say sometimes I feel like we have already entered the "Terrible Two's". And we have noticed ways that she is starting to work the tears over on us... (more Daddy so than Mommy).

She was 17lbs when we went to the Doctors this month. This was not a scheduled appointment. She ended up getting a stomach virus. This was her first cold/ sickness other than congestion that put our little active Froggy out of commission for a few days.

Around Mothers Day her 3rd tooth (all on the bottom) arrived. A few days ago I found 2 NEW teeth starting to pop in (1 on the top... Yay! and a 4th on the bottom)

She is a pro at crawling and chasing the cats. She loves to crawl! She even loves to crawl down the hall to help me take out the trash. She is not walking on her own... But she is like a little couch spider. So I know we are in trouble in the coming months.

She loves toys that make noise and sing songs and she would rather play with cat toys or a roll of toilet paper than play with her toys. But her favorite toys are our iphones, the PS3 controlers, and the tv remotes. I am not proud to say but she even knows how to turn on the tv and Netflix on the PS3.

She loves the intro songs to some of our favorite shows: Psych, Bones, Fraggle Rock, Backyardagains, Fat Albert. In fact when she starts getting cranky in the car I just play those theme songs over and over and over and over again. Other music she likes is Classical music and the Barenaked Ladies Children's station on Pandora. I have tried playing "kid music" for her... but it didn't go over well. And she loves playing Keyboard Cat.

She loves bath time! She has gotten more active in the tub these past few weeks. Sliding on to her belly and playing with her pigs and duck. Kevin and I joke about needing raincoats to give her a bath because of her splashing. Oh.... and bath time is never complete with out some Beach Boys or Pineapple Princess.

This past month we really have started going to the pool on a regular basis. Ainsley loves the pool and splashing around. She is getting used to being in the water and splashing her face... but we have yet to do the "full face under". We have worked on blowing bubbles and showing her how to hold her breath so hopefully soon she will take the plunge.

 

For some reason Ainsley thinks she can fly. She is always trying to jump off the furniture including our bed on to the floor. She is sort of a dare devil drama queen... because when she falls she almost always lets out a cry only to get back up and try it again... I don't get it!

Ainsley loves to Eat! Infact she loves to eat... Everything! No more baby food for her. She wants to eat off of her own plate and if it is something she can feed herself she won't let you feed it to her.

Favorite foods: yogurt, mac and cheese, chicken, carrots, peas, cheese bunny crackers, cheese, puffs, popcorn, and ice cream.

At the begining of the month she hated to be put in her crib. She would much rather lay on Kevin or me any time! At the end of the month we have gotten her to fall asleep on her own. We learned this month that you have to retrain them how to sleep. (Something I was not told about or read in any of my books). She is sleeping about 10 hours a night now. Except for the nights that her teeth bother her. Those nights we are back to being up 2-3 times a night. (I am so ready for those teeth to be done with.)

 

Monday Nights - Family BBQ Pool Night!

I have always thought of the family things we would do when we have kids.  I have always been a fan of Family Game Night where we get pizza a play board games all night.  This reminds me of the Saturdays when I was a little.  My dad and I would stay up really late playing Monopoly (funny how when your a kid 11pm seems soooooooo late.)   Chinese Take-out and Nextflix Night.  I mean who doesn't love Chinese and a movie?  Picnic in the Park... (you have to ask? Hello... Cheese and Wine?! - and not for the kids).  I have even added one to my list (after our holiday celebrations with the Nelson-Montet family)... The Backyard Drive-In.

Now I know it's a little early to pull out the board games.  And Ainsley's Netflix attention span consists of the opening credits of Psych and then she is off to something else.  So we will have to hold off on those two "Nights" for a while.  

But I never dreamed that this past Memorial Day Monday we would start a new family tradition.  We don't get a lot of "Family Days" to start with.  I mean a restaurant manager and an actor/ teacher at a theater don't exactly scream 9-5 jobs.  So I was excited that we had Memorial Day off together. A simple wish to grill some hot dogs and go swimming... At first I thought it was impossible.  That is one of the downfalls of living in a high-rise apartment - No Grilling!  But after not wanting to go without the taste of a grilled hot dog I came up with a pretty good substitute... our George Foreman Grill.  So I grilled up the hot dogs, tossed the potato salad and baked beans in my lovely Whole Foods bag, grabbed a few beers, and voila!  I had a BBQ dinner to go. 

We all changed into our bathing suits and headed down to the 7th Floor.  There we had our dinner as the sun was starting to descend into the west or what I like to say "It's sinking into Kendell".  And then afterwards we went swimming.  

Ainsley loves the pool and I love taking her to go swimming.  Partly because once we get back home I give her a bath and then she is out for the night.    

I was expecting to enjoy ourselves and have a wonderful Memorial Day 7th Floor BBQ.  What I was not expecting... was it to be something that we enjoyed so much that since then we have done it 3 more times (not just on Mondays).  So now we have a new family night that I don't have to wait till Ainsley is old enough to not eat the houses and hotels in Monopoly... or have to pause the movie every 10 minutes to rewind to find out what we missed because the baby is excited talking to the cats.  No... this is something we can do now... and enjoy being a family!       

Play Date with Jack (and Xena)

Today we went up to Ft. Lauderdale to visit with Alisha and Jack. We started out our day at Ikea for lunch and shopping for fabric. After our 3 hour shopping trip (can you really do Ikea in less time? I think not) we headed to Jack's house to play. Alisha got a video of the kids playing with their dog Xena.

(Hopefully this will work since I am sending this attachment over email and not loading up via the blog.)

Coming Soon! Ainsley's 1st Birthday!!!!

Its' hard to believe that she is almost a year old!  And that we are now planning her Birthday Party!  How this past year has flown.  It feels like yesterday that I was still waddling around Summer Camp. 

Anyway.... If you already don't know... I absolutely love Shutterfly!  Since having Ainsley I have become addicted to ordering copies of the photos I take, making books and announcements.  So when it came time to plan for her birthday I of course had to find an invitation. 

In addition to our "Hungry Little Caterpillar" invitations we will be sending the following invitations out to our close family and friends. 

Buggy Beauties Pink Birthday Invitation

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