Happy Halloween!

Iris' 1st Halloween!

What a cute little zebra!

 

 I left work a little early to run a few quick errands on the way home...

STOP 1: Goodwill (costumes for mommy and daddy) - $20

STOP 2: Hollywood Vintage Costumes (hat rental for daddy) - $38 

STOP 3: RiteAid (face paint) - $5

Our first family Halloween picture = PRICELESS

Iris @ Eleven Months Old

*Superficial:
Tall
12-18 month clothing
Still in size 3 diapers - but might be moving up to a size 4 soon
Fine, light hair - but it's thicking up. Enough for a "whale-spout" hair do on the top of her head if we really try.

*New/Likes:
Bath time seems like it's getting extended every time!
Making animal sounds - sometimes on cue, generally at random.
Her stand-up/toddler toys that have been passed to her from cousins.
Getting brave - letting go of furniture and standing on her own for a few moments here and there.
Ripping up paper products into tiny shreds, the smaller the better.
Going to her "poop" spot between the couch and the coffee table whenever she needs to do her business.

*New/Dislikes:
Having mommy/daddy change her diaper - she's fine with everyone else.
Having her nose wiped, by someone else. Give her a tissue and she'll do it herself!

*Eating/Drinking:
She's still a great little eater - loves to try whatever mommy and daddy are eating!
Using a straw! Loves her new sippy cup - but she will chug the whole bottle of water if you're not paying attention.
We're starting to introduce eating utensils - but she'd rather gnaw on her new spoon than try to eat with it. Too soon? Probably.

*Sleeping/General Schedule:
Wakes up between 6:30 and 10am - depending on how the night went.
Takes a little time to wake up - may or may not have some breakfast or a bottle (of formula).
Playtime / Story time
Bottle
Goes down fairly easy for her morning nap at approx. 11am-1pm (usually two hours long)
Wakes up and eats a good lunch - this girl will try anything, with varying results.
Playtime / Story time / Outside time if the weather permits.
Bottle
We shoot for an afternoon nap around 3 or so. She generally fights this one, and if she goes down for a nap, it's quite a bit shorter than the morning nap. If she naps over an hour, we count ourselves lucky.
Daddy is home by 4pm and he and Iris start preparing dinner and having some playtime.
Mommy is home around 5:30-6pm - Iris and Mommy have playtime and Mommy helps Daddy finish getting dinner ready and starts getting Iris her dinner.
Dinner for Mommy and Daddy around 7pm.
Then it's more playtime or bath time, and we start winding down for bed around 8pm or so with a bottle.
Little miss generally fights bedtime, it's been a tad easier lately - but she won't get to bed until 9 or 10pm most nights.
Once she's down - we've been having better nights (since she stopped nursing)! She either wakes up around midnight or 3am - has a bottle and generally goes back to sleep until about 5:30-6am. She'll have another bottle in the early morning - and on a good day she'll go back to sleep for a bit, not waking up until 8-10am. On a rough morning, she's ready to get up for the day at that 6am wake-up.
All-in-all Brian and I have been encouraged with her sleep pattern of late - we're all getting more sleep, which has been a long time coming and feels great!

*Motor Skills:
Speedy crawling - like don't look away for one minute or you'll lose her.
Cruising around furniture - brief period of standing on her own before she plops down on her bottom - would rather crawl on her own then have someone hold her hands while she tries to walk.

*Personality/Communication:
Her vocabulary appears to be quite extensive - she understands and responds appropriately to SO MUCH! Communication is so fun!
Loves clapping - "yay"; waving "bye-bye"; will crawl to the bathroom for "bath time/ splish splash"; When she grabs your leg/foot/any other body part and squeezes and releases you, that's her tickling you and you'd better react appropriately! :)
She knows who people are by name and will search them out with her eyes.
Makes the correct sounds for Monkey "ooooo-aaaa"; Lion/Bear "raaaaar"; and doggy "ooof ooof".
She continues to add words to her repertoire, Fish "isssshh";  Hot "itttt" (while reaching her hand toward the stove); Socks "ox"; Down "ooow".
Little Miss clearly said "DADA" when Brian walked in the door! Such an amazing moment!
She laughs out loud much more frequently, which we're loving!
Every day is more fun than the next!