The Evolution of the Poop Face

 It started off so cute...

...then solid food made things less cute, more sad. The red behind the eyes indicates the ferocity of the inner struggle.

 Now the poop face has become downright heart-wrenching and the adjective "cute" no longer applies. Time for more prunes!

Hauntingly Cute

What started off as Survival Training 101 with Daddy has turned into an almost daily ritual of "I'm a Ghost!" We were curious as to what she might do if she ended up with a blanket on top of her - a few months ago the answer was absolutely nothing. She's come a long way since then. Enjoy!

 

I have a feeling Tyra Banks would be proud - she always knows where the camera is. America's Next Top Baby Model?

Here's to the days when mobile just meant the thing that hung over her crib.

I know. You've seen babies crawl before. But you've never seen my baby crawl. Because we'd never seen her crawl until two days ago, at exactly 9 months. Up until now, she's been doing "The Worm"  to get where she needed to go, but on July 25th she all of a sudden figured it out. And while posting 3 videos of a baby crawling may seem excessive to you, that's the beauty of this blog - you signed up for it :) This one is probably more for Teagan's grandparents, but I hope you'll watch at least one. We couldn't decide which of the 3 to post, since we found something to chuckle at in all three.

At :07 Brandon tells her to get up on her hands & knees and she just so happened to oblige. Let's hope that continues. And at :32 you get a little bonus view.

She tends to hit the ground so hard with her chubby little hands that her trademark cheeks jiggle as a result.

 

At this point, it was already past bedtime and the third time we'd made her perform like a trained monkey. But we wanted to film her doing it one more time, from her good side. Ooh ooh ahh ahh.

  

 Things just got a little more interesting around here.

8-9 Months

• Cuddles when she can’t sleep, and only then
• LOVES Cheerios – can’t get enough. If they’re in sight, she won’t eat anything else
• Claps hands and squeals when she sees yellow box of Cheerios
• Still doing “The Worm” but gets where she needs to go pretty quickly
• LOVES to suck on shoes – can’t leave them by the door anymore, she makes a beeline for them
• Plays with door stoppers
• Must have lullaby giraffe when going to sleep, I think she’s scared to be alone in the dark?
• Towards 9 months, getting picky with food and used to love everything. She’s starting to spit things out if she doesn’t want them.
• Two bottom teeth coming through!
• Plays with her car seat when she isn’t sitting in it – practically climbs in to suck on buckle
• Claps hands together when she’s excited or if she sees Daddy doing it

We celebrated the 4^th of July by going to Red Ridge Park to watch fireworks. We had an amazing view of the entire Las Vegas Valley, so we could see fireworks from The Strip all the way over to Red Rock Casino. It was pretty awesome. There were also a ton of people at the park setting off their own fireworks. Teagan took it in stride for a while, which was amazing considering it was already more than an hour past her bedtime. Some got really close and made loud noises, and for the first time ever, Brandon and I got to be the ones who comforted a frightened child. As much as nieces & nephews love you, if anything went wrong they wanted Mummy or Daddy. For the very first time, that person was me and I LOVED it.

We left Teagan with a babysitter outside family for the first time on July 16^th, to see Harry Potter 7 Part 2. She’d been rather clingy lately, so I was worried that she might be trouble for our good friend, Hilary. She fell asleep 15 minutes before Hilary arrived, so I was concerned that she would be upset and startled to wake up to a stranger. Hilary told us she looked at her funny, like she knew that something was off, but never cried and was an angel the whole time. What a relief!

9 Month Check-Up

• Bright Future Pediatrics, Las Vegas, NV – Dr. Goebel
• Height: 26” (75%)
• Weight: 19 lbs. 12 oz (75%)
• Head Circumference: 43 cm (75%)
• Developmentally, she’s right on track except for pulling herself up on her feet. We’ll work on that.
• Doctor suggested we get a spot on her head biopsied. It had been around for months and Dr. Boyer thought it was just a form of cradle cap. After looking at it with a magnifying lens, Dr. Goebel thought it best to check it out. It fell off before the appointment, so I showed up with it in a Ziploc bag. Classy! Fortunately, Dr. Bellew told us it wasn’t anything to worry about at the moment. We just need to watch it and let them know if it grows (larger than 3mm) or changes in any other way. Phew!

My Countries 'Tis of Thee

Hypothetically speaking, what would the daughter of a British-born-Canadian-bred-American-Permanent-Resident-Alien and an American look like? I think we've established that:

A better question would be: What would her passport look like? How would she answer the question: What is your citizenship? The box on the passport application just isn't big enough. At the present moment she's an All-American girl, technically speaking, since she was born in the ol' US of A. But, we plan to apply for her Canadian citizenship so she can enjoy the benefits of dual citizenship. Incidentally, the same benefits that would have made my attending school in the States much easier and saved me a lot of time twiddling my thumbs in the Border Control offices. And there would have been much less frisking. Besides, that way she'll get to celebrate more holidays. Although we're already handling that for her. Here's Canada Day Teagan:

And Independence Day Teagan. Her enthusiasm for the great nation in which we live didn't quite come across in this one. In her defense, it was already already well past her bedtime when we arrived at the park to watch the fireworks.

Please don't judge me for using the same shirt twice. If either of the flags in question were pink, we wouldn't have had a problem.

And yes, it's a much bigger bow than those she normally sports (many apologies to my father who despises bows of any shape or size) but I thought it rather patriotic and firework-esque.

Well, Teagan has her ABC's covered. American, British & Canadian, she's all set. And she'll get to party. A lot.

Party in my Crib! You're invited!

Unlike most expectant couples, Buddy and I didn't run around looking for the perfect crib and crib set as soon as we found out we were having a girl. Instead, we waited until that girl was 7 months old. No need to call CPS, she didn't sleep on the floor. We were fortunate enough to inherit a Pack 'n' Play with a bassinet that suited Little T quite well for the first two months of her life after which we were even more fortunate to be living with Buddy's parents who are more-than-equipped to house babies quite comfortably. So it wasn't until we moved back to Vegas that she needed a more permanent place to rest her little round head.

MTV wasn't available to cover it, so I felt the need to publicize it myself. Without further ado, I give you: THE CRIB.

Our parents have been more than generous in helping us with first baby expenses, and we have Grandma & Grandpa Richards to thank for this beautiful crib and crib set. So THANK YOU! As you can see, Teagan is getting your money's worth (and with it being so perfectly gender-neutral, we may even consider having another one day so it will really be worth your while!). I often wake up to the sound of her singing to herself. If my room looked this good, I'd wake up singing too!

I'd love to show you the rest of the room, but as our current motif is "Floor to Ceiling Boxes" I'd hate for you to think me white trash. So, we'll limit the glimpse to the crib. We've only unpacked the "essentials". Meaning our movies are all readily available. The blender? measuring cups? Not so much. There's goes that white trash thing!

As you can see, Little Miss T is thoroughly enjoying it and I'm hoping she can enjoy it for a few more minutes while I shower. Or stalk other blogs which, let's face it, is more likely.

7-8 Months

• Woke up on May 25^th a different baby – razzing, talking & screaming on purpose
• Says “dadada” more frequently
• Blew raspberries once in the morning and didn’t stop all day – HILARIOUS!
• Has taken to a blood-curdling scream when she really wants attention because she seems to know she’ll get it
• Early in the month turns around on her tummy and almost scoots
• Gets up on hands and knees and rocks back and forth
• Learning to use a sippy cup

We braved Disneyland when Teagan was 7 months old with our good friends, Mark & Kaylinn Morrell. Teagan was an absolute angel. She sat contentedly in her stroller for nearly 12 hours, napping for only a few minutes at a time. She rode several of the rides – The Little Mermaid, The Haunted Mansion and Toy Story Mania – and sat patiently (usually eating) when the adults went on rides. She met Mickey Mouse and didn’t blink an eye. She shook his hand and stared right at him and didn’t make a sound. It was very sweet. We’re so excited to take her again when she’s old enough to be excited about it and remember things.