The latest

Just a few things to report. On January 22, Ashley started taking a few steps on her own. Daddy and I practice with her almost every night. He will hold Ashley and have her walk to me, and vice versa. Often she takes a step and then dives to us, but on the 22nd she took a 3-4 steps without the dive. Since then she continues to. In fact tonight Matt called me in because she took 4 good steps from him to her little chair. It won't be long now!

She has also really started walking around the whole house--she moves from furniture to the walls and scales the whole downstairs. Yesterday she walked around the whole house holding a pair of her pants, then today she carried toys around. It's cute.

She continues to point (and recognize) more and more around the house. It's neat to see how much she is learning.

She also continues to mimic. Matt swears she said "yes daddy" last week. She also has been saying "cookie" a lot (or at least it sounds like it, although I don't know what she's referring to since we haven't offered her cookies or said the word to her).

Our friends Jen, and Jim and their kids Lily (3 1/2) and Emma (9 1/2 months) came to visit this past weekend. We had lots of fun with them. Lily enjoyed playing with Ashley and reporting what she was doing. Ashley and Emma didn't interact too much together yet, they played around each other a lot though and did have some cute moments. We had a really fun visit though.

Couple cute updates

Just a couple cute things...

Sometimes Ashley pats Matt (daddy) on his shoulder when he's holding her. It's so cute. Well, when Ashley gets up in the morning or from a nap, I sometimes rub her back. Well today I picked her up, and she rubbed my back. So sweet!

Another thing, as I mentioned Ashley mimics a lot of things we say. Well she apparently has been mimicking Maddie (the dog) lately too. Maddie started barking/growling when the mail lady came to the door, and Ashley started making this funny growling sound too. Lol. She does it every now and then.

Also, Ashley just loves to feed Maddie. She casually drops her food on the floor for her. I don't scold Ashley, but I do firmly tell her no when she does this. I tell her that it's nice to share, but that's her food and Maddie has her own. Well, when I talk firmly to her, she then proceeds to scold Maddie, or at least that's what it sounds like--almost like she is trying to blame Maddie for her dropping her food. Lol.

Lastly, Ashley isn't walking on her own yet but today she did take a couple of steps. More like a dive. We were on the floor with her, and she let go of the coffee table and took one or two steps and then dove toward daddy. Yay!

Ashley's Friend Party

Here are a few pics from Ashley's last birthday party with her friends here in Greenville. After our celebrations up north with our families, we debated about whether or not to have one. By that point we were kind of "partied out". But a few of our friends were disappointed when I said we may not have a party, and I already had a cake (Matt and I made a trial-run since it was a different kind of cake pan shaped in a big cupcake), plus I already had the place decorated for Ashley's actual birthday, so we figured why not. It gave us an excuse to hang out with friends. We had a really fun time. The place looked like a daycare though with all the kids and all of Ashley's toys pulled out. Lol. But again, lots of fun. Hopefully the first of many great birthdays and celebrations over the years.

New Chapter

Well, one chapter has ended and another new one is beginning. Last night was my last night of breastfeeding. It ended on a really great note. We had a couple of bonding moments with good eye contact, and then Ashley fell asleep during it. I just held her in my arms and watched her sleep while I treasured the last moments. At one point I started to tear up even. It's just bittersweet. In one way it's so much fun to watch her grow and I'm excited about all the fun stages to come, but in the same sense I knew that this was the last time I would hold her like this, in my arms as my baby. That chapter was closing. Oh gosh, I'm tearing up again as I write this.

Anyway, tonight was the first night of change. We did our night time routine--we had bath time as we usually do, then rocked in her glider as we do. Then instead of breastfeeding, she had her formula in her sippy cup. She was a champ. She didn't seem upset at all. In fact, she seemed to enjoy holding her cup like a big girl. Then we continued on with our routine of reading books, brushing teeth and saying prayers. She went right down without an issue. I guess I'm not that surprised, she's an easy-going baby who adapts well to most situations. Plus there have been nights when I've worked late, or have been out and Matt or a sitter has put her to bed with a bottle/sippy cup in the past.

Next step--switching to regular milk. You're supposed to start at a year, but Matt's parents were thoughtful and bought us a decent-sized container of formula while we were visiting, so I figured I'd finish that out first.

Well, I'll post more about the journey as we go!

Ashley is (really) crawling

I know this looks like a strange blog title, because Ashley is really close to walking and has also been "crawling" for months, but Ashley finally started to crawl normally. She has been doing the "army crawl", and had mastered that and got around pretty fast, but she would never really crawl even though we'd show her and practice. The past couple of days she'd crawl a few inches then go back to the army crawl. Today for whatever reason, she decided she was going to stick with regular crawling and already gets around pretty fast. She even figured out how to do this side-crawl thing. I guess she is the type who likes to do things in her own time, in her own way. I like someone who is a leader, not a follower ;)

Couple other quick updates while I can think of them. Ashley is pointing at all sorts of things (which she has for a while now), but now she tries to copy each word we tell her. It's cute.

Also, I forgot to mention, for the past month now Ashley has been cuddly which I absolutely LOVE! She has always been a very sweet baby, and no doubt loves her mommy and daddy, but she was more about having fun and discovering than she was cuddling. I've always given her lots of love and affection, but I'd never force it on her because I want to respect her for the person that she is. Well, now she is a nice combination--she still LOVES to explore and have fun, but she also likes to give hugs and kisses and love on us, especially her mommy. I love it!

Another thing I've noticed is that Ashley is showing more negativity toward things. It's funny, when we go for her doctor well-visits, they always give you a paper with things your baby might be doing at that age. Sometimes I swear it's as if Ashley reads it and starts doing it immediately. Haha. For instance, it mentioned that babies at this age start showing negativity toward things, or even have mini temper tantrums. All of a sudden, Ashley starts doing this. If she is getting into something that she shouldn't be, or if she is having fun with something and we have to move on to something else when she doesn't want to, she now starts to cry and have a little mini fit. Thankfully it's not too often.

I think there is more, but I can't think of them at the moment...will post more if I remember.

Happy 1st Birthday Ashley Grace!!!!

A year ago today at 12:43 a.m., God blessed Matt and I with the greatest blessing, our daughter Ashley Grace. Words can't express our love for her. I love my baby girl!!! Can't believe she is 1 already! This has been the best year of my life!

We had a great day. When Ashley woke up, I came in singing Happy Birthday to her, then I had the kitchen all decorated for her. She was fascinated with the decorations, and had fun playing with her birthday balloon while she ate. I made her a special breakfast.

Daddy worked a 1/2 day, then he came home and we took Ashley to the Children's Museum. We had a lot of fun. She played in a wind tunnel, went "grocery shopping", played house/kitchen, milked a fake cow, played with fake farm animals and water display. Fun day.

Also, Ashley is getting really close to walking now!!! She is on the move, getting around really fast. She can move to different pieces of furniture, walks along the walls, climbs up the stairs really fast, etc.

Today, on her birthday, she stood on her own (without holding on to anything) for about four seconds. She also walked by herself with her toy walker.

She is doing great. She "talks" a lot, mimicking words we say. She has also been singing, saying "ahhh eee ahh eee" a lot. It's so cute.

Yesterday we went for her 1 year wellness visit with her pediatrician. All is looking good. She is now 29.75 inches, which puts her in the 73% for her height, and 20 lbs, 3 oz, which puts her at 36.45% for her weight. She dropped from 49%, but the doctor said he wasn't concerned because she is eating good and is just really active. She is right on track with all of her milestones, and is happy and well adjusted.

Highlights from Ashley's 1st Birthday Celebrations

Well, these pics are all out of order. I tried moving a couple, and it ended up deleting some in the process. Not sure if there is a way to fix it, so I give up! Anyway, like I said there are some that are mixed up, but here are pics from Ashley's birthday parties.