Christmas wish

We wish you Merry Christmas

A Merry Christmas all!

May the richest blessings

Ever on ye fall.

May each year be brighter 

Than the year before...

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas morn!

Mer-mer-mer-mer-mer-mer-mer-mer

Merry, Merry Christmas All!

afton's eleven months

Eleven.

How did we...?

I don't know, but here we are!

Afton is:

... so smart! She is very observant and seems to watch every move we make. She'll see me do something - like putting silverware in the dishwasher - and then she'll want to try. So we'll spend twenty minutes putting silverware in and taking silverware out... And after just a few tries, she figures out how to get it in the right place. It's really quite amazing!

... cruising! She's so quick - I can set her down and just turn my head for two seconds and she's already zoomed around the corner. She's getting really confident in her mobility. She's started just using one hand to steady herself and will walk around just holding onto one finger. Sometime's she'll lose her balance or slip, and she does this funny Indiana Jones-esque one-handed save and swing her body around until she's sturdy. It's pretty impressive.

... giving lots of hugs and kisses lately. She's has such a sweet little heart and has started giving real hugs around the neck, and giving lots of sloppy, silly kisses. She's so funny - she'll grab my cheeks and smoosh her face into mine. Then, if I don't kiss her back, she grabs my lips until I pucker up. It sends me into giggle fits.

... a master of the stairs. She's super fast at climbing up, and she's getting pretty good at sliding down backwards. We're still a little nervous about her slipping, though, so the baby gates will remain up for a long time. :)

... expanding her vocabulary. She makes all kinds of sounds and has started mimicking sounds we make, too. The other day, she was around the corner from me and I said her name a few times. I turned the corner and said her name again, to which she instantly said, "WHAA" -- like "What, Mom? What do you want?!?"

... making funny faces lately. She's doing this thing where she scrunches her nose, and sticks out her lips, and then breathes in and out really fast. It's hysterical! My little sister, Pie Face, made the same face when she was little, and it's been funny to relive it with Afton. We don't know how she picked it up, but it makes us laugh.

... our favorite girl!

 [such focus and determination... ha ha]

[This picture. That face! I just... can't even... (sigh).]

afton's ten months

Ten months. She's growing up way too fast.

How can I slow down time?

Afton is:

... crawling all over! She's up on her hands and knees all the time, and loves to have crawling races with me and Brans. The other night, she chased me around the coffee table for 5-10 minutes! Round and round in circles. I got dizzy. But she loved it!

... standing for a few second on her own. She'll find her balance and stand for just a second and then get so excited and falls down. It's a pretty funny cycle. She's getting more and more confident every day. It's amazing how quickly she learns and remembers how her body works.

... a bottom-less pit. She is always eating. She still will eat anything I put in front of her (as long as it is flavorful - no plain noodles or cereal for us!) and is so good at picking up even tiny foods like rice with her fingers. But she is always hungry. Always! She is still nursing multiple times a day, she sits in her high chair and eats every meal with me, AND she wants snacks all day long. She eats and eats and eats! I'm jealous of her metabolism. She's filled out some from when she was younger, but still has the skinniest waist and is so healthy. She amazes me.

... already a climber. She's climbed up our stairs, she's always trying to climb up on our coffee table. She's a little monkey!

... dancing! She's a dancing queen! Anytime she hears music or even just a beat, her hips start rocking, and she starts bouncing. It cracks us up! She LOVES music, and even if I'm watching tv and a song comes on in the background, she starts dancing instantly. It's hysterical. She rocks back and forth, sways her hips, and bounces up and down. But my favorite is when she's kneeling, she bounces up and down and shakes her little bottom. SO funny. It's one of my favorite things lately.

... talking so much. I thought she was chatty before, but the last month, it's like her vocabulary has quadrupled! She makes so many different sounds and seems to know a handful of words now. She says "mom" and "dad" in reference to us now, she says "dog" and points to the window to see our dogs, and says "tickle tickle" and will run her fingers toward my neck. And she makes lots of other sounds that I haven't figured out yet. It's so fun to hear her talk.

... still a mama's girl, but there is no denying that this girl loves her dad. It's hard to describe the joy that fills my heart when Brans comes home from work and Afton's eyes light up and she races over to him. It's a happiness and contentment I can't explain. It's magical, this parenting thing. And I'm loving every minute.

 

halloween

I've never been a big fan of Halloween,

But there is something fun about Halloween with kids!

Twenty years ago, my mom made a little monkey costume for Bryson as a baby - and it was a hit! The rest of my siblings all wore it and it was a legend of a costume. 

So, on this anniversary year, we thought it fitting to have Afton wear it!

And just to prove how tall she is, Bryson was almost 15 months old when my mom made it for him, and Afton barely - BARELY - fit it at 9 and a half months. 

 

 It was fun to dress up Afton and have a little Halloween party.

We made donuts and had soup and all manner of orange foods.

It was a fun day!

 

 This year we grew a pumpkin...

And Brans did an excellent carving job on our jack-o-lanterns.

Can you guess who's is who's?

It was a Happy Halloween, indeed.

afton's nine months

Nine months! And our little girl is so big!

Afton is:

... pulling herself up and standing next to everything! Its been a big adjustment - I can't leave her alone for 2 seconds without finding her pulling up next to a chair or the couch of a bookshelf. But she is so strong! And she's figured out how to lower herself down from standing - instead of just tipping over. So that's something, I guess.

... eating everything. And I mean Every Thing. She'll eat anything I put in front of her - and the more flavorful the better! We've been giving her plain noodles, plain cereal, plain chicken and all manner of plain foods, and she liked them just fine for a while, but now - Now she wants flavor! She won't eat plain noodles if I'm eating Mac & Cheese. She wants the orange noodles! She will push aside plain chicken in favor for BBQ chicken. I even try to trick her sometimes and give her a plain noodle along with a flavored one, and the little stinker will eat the flavored noodle and spit out the plain one! She likes to drink from cups now, and she's figured out how to use forks and spoons and get them to her mouth. She's so smart! And so far, she really hasn't been picky. She'll eat anything. And I'm SO grateful.

... awesome at giving high-fives! Brans taught her how, and the last few weeks she's gotten really good at it. (Though, she seems to get stage fright whenever someone else is watching her... so sometimes she doesn't do it on demand... but she knows how, I promise!)

... still a great sleeper. Sure, we have a few hard nights here and there... but for the most part, she lets us sleep. We're lucky, I know.

... a little chomper! She has four teeth, and likes to chomp down on things and has discovered the feel of her tongue on her teeth. It's funny to watch her run her tongue over her teeth and make new discoveries with those pearly whites! (And luckily, I've only been bit a few times.)

... talking so much! She says "momom"  and "dadad" a lot - only occasionally in reference to us. And just this weekend she started making a sound that I swear sounds like "tickle-tickle-tickle"! It's the most adorable thing!

... the best girl. She is our joy and our little love!

I promise I didn't even pose her for this photo.

But it's just so perfect. The tongue. The crossed legs. Adorable.

Good grief, we love this cute girl!

afton's eight months

Where are all of the days going?
I swear it hasn't been eight months since this little darling was born...

Afton is:

... crawling. Yes, we're officially on the move! She does this funny arm pull where she reaches her arms as far in front of her as she can, then pushes down on her hands and pulls herself forward. Not quite an army crawl - it's a little more involved. But she's got some killer strength in those little arms. She's also starting to crawl on her hands and knees, but she'll get excited or too eager and push herself too quickly and will lunge onto her face. Ha ha It's hysterical to watch.

... pulling herself up. She's pulled herself to a standing position in her crib a few times, and loves to stand backwards on the couch and pull up to see out the front window. She'll climb up my body, using my shirt of hair or whatever she can grab to get up where she wants to be.

... going to be walking before I know it. She loves to be standing on her feet and loves to hold our hands and walk around the house. I think we're in big trouble.

... a great eater. We've been introducing almost everything we eat to her, and so far so good. She LOVES food - any and all kinds. Fruit, vegetables, pasta, rice, cereal, spicy things, pickles, cake. Everything. She loves it and has started making this funny half whine/half groan when we're feeding here - like "More please!" or "You're not feeding me fast enough!" She likes to hold cups and suck through straws, she loves to hold spoons and put them in her mouth, and has gotten really good at picking up little pieces of food with her fingers and feeding herself.

... growing a mohawk. Her hair IS growing, but only right down the top center of her head. It's coming in darker everyday, and still has a decent amount of red in it. But the mohawk kills me!

... so funny! She's started laughing all the time and will giggle at silly things. The other night at dinner, I got the hiccups, and she thought it was hilarious and laughed with every little squeak. Seriously - for like 10 minutes straight! She has started entertaining herself, too. This morning, she was in her crib and was giggling like crazy. I went in to see what she was doing, and she had figured out that she could pull the bumper pads up and down and play peek-a-boo with herself. It was adorable.

... making funny faces lately. She's developed this silly little scowl. She's started scowling at strangers -- that is, until the start complimenting her and telling her how cute she is, then she'll bust out a big ol' grin.

... getting more teeth! Her third tooth popped through this week - and teething this tooth wasn't nearly as bad as the first ones... I'm praying that's the case going forward.

... (knock on wood) sleeping so well at night. We've hit 9, 10, even 11 hour stretches at night. And it. is. amazing. She's still not very structured in her naps during the day, but I won't even begin to complain about that since we're all sleeping so well through the night. [Am I bragging? Maybe. But she's even woken up a few times at night and whimpered for a minute, but then puts herself right back to sleep. We're so. so. so. lucky.]

... talking and squealing and chattering and whispering and laughing all. the. time. They are the most delightful sounds my ears have ever heard. Her little voice is just darling, and I can't get enough.

afton's seven months

Seven months has sure come quick and and we're loving every second.

I know my baby has been changing daily... but this last month seems like she's been changing and growing every hour! 

Afton is:

... sitting! She can sit by herself for a little bit, but if she gets distracted or something is out of reach, she'll bellyflop or fall backwards. But she's getting better and stronger every day.

... still teething - but had her two front bottom teeth poke through this week. We've started calling her "Sharp Tooth". They are sharp little things! She's chewing (more like gnawing) on everything. Poor thing, she's been hurtin' lately, and it's kept her up at night. But she's still so good and most of the day, is a happy smiley girl.

... clapping! Branson taught her how to clap and now she does it all the time. It's adorable. She gets so excited and has started doing this panting/laughing thing, then will clap. It's so fun!

... definitely a strong-willed girl. So far, we've only had a few complete meltdowns, bu we've already seen her stubborn side. I think we're in trouble. (Double dose of Larson AND Ashcraft stubbornness. Yikes.)

... getting longer every. single. day. At her last visit to the Pediatrician, she measured in the 91st percentile in height. And she's only gotten longer since then! She's a tall drink of water, that girl. All legs.

... loving real food. She's had quite an array of different "real" foods - from fruits and veggies, to bread and popsicles,  to guacamole and curry. And she's loved every single bite. She can't get enough, and gets mad when she finishes whatever I'm feeding her. At the same time, I feel really blessed because she's also still nursing, and has had absolutely no trouble going back and forth. We're lucky.

... a musician! She loves to sing, and she LOVES to play the piano (and I couldn't be happier)! It's the cutest thing I've ever seen. She likes to play high and low, loud and soft. We were at my parents house a little while ago and she would play and play and then stop, and start pounding the music - like she wanted the page turned. So my mom would turn the page, and Afton would start playing again. Over and over. No joke! It was so funny! 

... loving different textures and fabrics and feelings. She will sit and "pet" a rug or her stuffed animals or faces over and over again, so gently, just rubbing her hands over it. It's so sweet! She loves feeling different blankets, and has discovered that tags on blankets feel different than the blanket. I love seeing her discover new things and explore the world.

... my joy. It's amazing how much you instantly love a new baby - when you find out your pregnant, then more when you find out she's a girl. Even more when you see her in each ultrasound. And the incomprehensible love you feel the second you hear that first little scream, and hold her for the first time. But I'll tell you what - that incomprehensible love has infinitely grow every second that she has been mine. I feel so blessed to be her mother. And so lucky to feel such an insurmountable joy.

afton's six months

Half a year.

My baby is half of a year old.

Where is all of the time going?!

Six months has flown by.

 Afton is:

... teething. Drooling everywhere. Can't get enough things in her mouth and she gnaws on anything squishy or hard. She loves putting her pacifier in backwards and chewing on the hard plastic, instead of the other way around.

... mobile! She's not quite crawling, but... she's moving around. She's rolling every which way, and she's figured out how to slither - yes, just like a snake. She wiggles her little belly and shoulders and legs until she turns the way she wants. [Sometimes, she just turns herself in a circle... haha]

... getting so good with her hands. She has a lot of control and loves to grab everything now. Her latest thing is to pet faces. She's fascinated with them and will grab my nose, then pet my cheeks, then bonk her head with mine. Adorable.

... so expressive. She gets so happy and smiley and giggly. She gives big fully belly chuckles and laughs with her whole body. When she's sad, she cries big huge tears, and has the best pout-y face.

... singing and talking and squealing and cooing non-stop. I love to hear her little voice. She does this funny moany humming thing when she's tired... It kind of sounds like Prince John  in Disney's Robin Hood, when he is moaning in his sleep. So funny!

... a book lover! She loves having stories read to her. She loves holding books. She loves turning the pages. And she's started to chatter and demand that she holds the book. This is one habit I'm happy to encourage. In no time, we'll be reading Harry Potter together!

... tasting real food. We're still nursing regularly, but overnight she became interested in food and constantly reaches for it and we've given her tastes of lots of things -- potatoes, ice cream, watermelon, popsicles, applesauce, pears... and she's loved every last thing we've put in her mouth. [Which also means, we've put together the high chair. It's amazing how big she looks when she's in it! She loves sitting in it, playing the tray like a drum and having her own little table for all of her toys.]

... getting so cute and chubby! She has such delicious rolls in her thighs, and the most adorable little dimple on the back of her elbow.

My heart grows bigger and bigger every minute for this girl.

She's such a joy.