The Beach!

We have been blessed with such great weather lately! Last Friday we decided that the day was too beautiful to resist and decided to take Holly to the beach for the first time. We wanted to avoid the spring breakers, so we went before spring break "actually" started.


Although the weather had been gorgeous, the sand and the water were still pretty cold! We wasted no time putting Holly down in the sand and she enjoyed it--at first. Then she started getting a little cold and nervous about the whole beach thing. We tried to splash in the water and have as much fun as possible so she would see that it was okay! It kind of worked, and she started warming up to the idea again.


I think that Holly will LOVE the beach this summer when it warms up. All in all, it was a good little trip!

Other things that are going on in our house: a couple of days ago, Holly took her first steps. She is 9 1/2 months old, so I think this fully qualifies her as a maniac! She is also fighting sleep like a pro--naps, bedtime, whatever--and I think it's because she is learning so many new things during the day! I also have a suspicion that she thinks she is missing out when she goes to bed. What can I say? She is! Andrew and I watch TV and eat ice cream after she goes to bed! Being a grown-up does have its perks.

As you may already know, I have a little love affair with bows for my girl's hair. I usually put them on a headband made of panty hose, but as of late Holly has started yanking it off as quickly as I can put it on. But one day, I decided to try just putting the bow itself in her hair. Yay! It stays! Holly has long, luxurious hair compared to mine when I was a baby. I was bald until I was 2 years old. This little girl has apparently inherited her father's thick hair, which I am excited about.

Side note: Sorry this picture is fuzzy. I was experimenting with no flash in poor lighting. As soon as Holly sees the camera out, she puts on a smile and gets as close as she can to the camera.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub...

This little girl loves the tub!


Holly's favorite time of the day is bath time. She loves sitting in the tub when it is filling up, letting her fingers and toes run through the water. She loves splashing around and getting water everywhere. She loves playing with her toys and washcloth. In fact, the only thing she doesn't like about the tub is: getting clean! Oh, well.

She is just like her mama in this way. My idea of a perfect evening is a nice, long, hot bubble bath, followed by reading in my warm, cozy bed, all wrapped up in my Snuggie. Ah!

Our Playdate

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine asked me to watch her darling little girl while she had a doctor's appointment. She is about 9 months older than Holly, and I knew the two babies would have a good time together.


Leah was pretty excited to come over and play.


Holly was thrilled. The entire time.


These two little girls were so fun to watch. Holly was eager to share her toys with Leah, and Leah did not want Holly to have any toys. Holly didn't mind, though.


This is how the majority of the morning went. Holly followed and copied Leah in whatever she did. They played hard and had a great time. And they were so fun to watch! It will be fun when Holly has a sibling who she can play with like this.

Nine Months Old

Our little girl turned 9 months old today! I can't believe it. She is getting so big and grown-up. I have no idea where the past 9 months have gone--it seems like just yesterday she was still in my belly, trying to break out into the world! Here are some things going on with Holly lately.

1. She is crawling very fast. She zips around all over the place! She loves being on the move and I love it, too.

2. She is cruising along the furniture. Actually, she started this shortly after learning to crawl. She is getting pretty fast at this, too. She loves to stand and will no doubt be walking soon.

3. She is finally learning to stand up on her own! Just in the last 2-3 days she has really started to take off. She can keep her balance pretty well, but still likes to hang on to a hand or shoulder or knee for balance. She's getting there.

4. She is trying and loving more and more foods every day. Some of her favorites are bananas (a favorite of babies everywhere), sweet potato, carrots, and cheese. She actually loves all fruit she can get her hands on and is coming around to different varieties of vegetables. I would love for her to actually like vegetables, unlike her mother. Holly rarely meets a food she does not like.

5. She gives hugs! This is one of my favorite things about her right now. When I get her from her crib in the morning or after a nap, or at any time during the day, Holly will throw her arms around my neck and squeeze very tight. I love it! She is such a sweet little girl and loves her mama. (She has even been known to give her daddy some hugs, too.) She will sometimes give sloppy, disgusting, open-mouthed kisses too. It's pretty scary to see her coming at you with her mouth open wide!

6. She is going through the requisite separation and stranger anxiety phase. She hates it when I leave the room and, if she's in the right mood, will sit on the floor and cry pitifully until I come back and give her a hug. It's endearing to know that a little someone loves me and depends on me that much, but can get tiring too sometimes. But most of the time, it makes me feel wonderful!

7. If you haven't caught on already, Holly is a big, fat mama's girl. It's awesome, but I feel bad sometimes for daddy. She is slowly coming around to him and they have more and more fun together as she gets older. But I have a hunch that she will always be mine!

Sorry about the picture-less post, but all recent pictures are trapped in the camera and I am too lazy to walk into the computer room and get them off the camera. My other excuse is that Andrew is on call tonight and won't get home for another hour or two. Feel sorry for me. I do! I need to throw a pity party for myself whenever he works late, because I am not used to it anymore. Sigh.