Happy Birthday Afton!!

Happy birthday not-so-little Afton! You are officially one year old. It is crazy that a year has already passed since that very long and beautiful day in the hospital. Over the past year we have had so many adventures. It is hard to picture life without your bright blues and your happy smile.

Since the last update at 9 months, you have done some pretty awesome tricks!

Around 10 months you started to master the crawling thing and started racing your brother Bear around the room. A few weeks after that, around your 11-month mark, you started to stand up on furniture and walk along it. Along the way you have figured out how to give kisses, wave, smack your tongue, and blow bubbles in your drink. Your giggles are still the most contagious thing you could imagine. Everything changed when you figured out how to crawl up the stairs. The going down thing is a little too daring for us now and you often try to just turn around and dive back down. We figure it is a sign of trust. On your birthday you took two steps while we were watching Ella's soccer game and we were all pretty excited. You haven't done much walking since, but we have been watching the 2016 Olympics and we think Thompson - the new fastest woman on Earth - was some inspiration to you. Your dad has been planning (maybe plotting is a better word) to see which event you will do in the Olympics when you grow up. We will leave it up to you, but research says equestrian events may be an easy in. 

Here are some stats for your one year mark: 

Weight: 24 lbs 3 oz. = 94%

Height: 31 inches = 96% 

Head Circumference: 47 cm = 93% 

Favorite Food: Just about everything. You seem to really like pb&j sandwiches, any kind of fruit, and carrots the most. You also LOVE drinking water out of a cup and you are getting pretty good at it. I guess it pays off that you didn't like bottles and started the sippy cup at 4 months. 

Teeth Count: 10! Your first year molars on the bottom just came in. Game changer! 

Total Steps: 3 

Words: Dada, Mama, Bear (probably your favorite), 

Countries Visited: Canada!! (you will be a citizen soon - maybe we can convince Dad to move there) 

Best Joke: Dropping food off the high chair to Bear  

You had three different birthday parties and each one included a lot of sweets and so many birthday kisses. Here are some pictures from the fun:

Party #1: Canada Eh! 

Cousin Wyatt has his birthday on August 10th, one day after you, so you two celebrated together out at the land. We had steak, dutch oven potatoes and carrots, beans, rolls... It was amazing! You were a little sleepy and didn't quite make it to dessert and tipi time that night for presents, but you were spoiled while you slept. The balloons freaked you out a bit, but they got you ready for your other parties. 

Party #2: Party with your twins! 

Benny was so excited to celebrate your birthday! 

Dad too! 

You had a blast on the waterslide! It was the same type of waterslide that accelerated your presence on Earth when we had the same party last year. You had a lot of fun sliding down and even went on your own once. 

Pizza for dinner! 

You were a little sleepy from all of the partying. It was hard for you to keep your eyes open, but that didn't stop you from enjoying the meal. :) 

Pinata for Ryan and Emma turning 4! You got lots of candy after they smashed it. Your favorite was the lifesaver gummies. 

Uncle Ben made the final smash for all of the candy! 

 And of course... CAKE! 

"Where have you been all my life?" 

Party #3: August 9 celebration! 

On your actual birthday we had a little celebration to eat brownies and ice cream. 

You clearly loved it! 

You're one!! We definitely celebrated hard. #2 is going to be even better! We love you little lady. 

9-months!

Afton Phoebe has hit her 9-month mark - August 9th was the big day. The last three months went by so fast! We scheduled her next appointment at the doctor for her 12-month visit. It is really hard to imagine that she is going to be one soon.

Here is a quick update on how baby girl is doing:

Height: 29.25” (94%)

Weight: 22 lb (93%)

Head: 45.75 cm (91%) 

Here are some of her favourites: 

Toy: Glow Worm - we call her Flo 

Food: Carrots - she likes the diced so that she can feed herself. She has become quite the independent (and messy) eater these days. She is also a big fan of quesadillas and mandarin oranges. Okay, let's be honest, Afton eats everything! 

Pastime: Playing outside. She loves the grass and tries to eat it as much as she can while she rolls around in it. 

Biggest Achievements: 

1. On May 12th, just a couple of days after hitting her 9-month mark, Afton said her first word: "Dada". Now she says it all of the time. I am convinced that "Hi", "Bear", and (hopefully) "Mama" aren't far behind. 

2. Waving - she started waving at about 8 months and is starting to understand that it means hello. She also waves when she wants more food, but that is starting to morph into smacking her high chair table - imagine how a giant would ask for more, grunting included. 

3. Peek-a-boo

4. Squealing at a pitch that is close to only dogs being able to hear it. 

Some fun memories: 

Afton is really great in her carseat. She falls asleep pretty often in it. Before she falls asleep, she will always talk to herself. It sounds like a tired mumbling. It usually lasts about 3-5 minutes and then she is out. It is one of my favourite things that she does. 

Afton giggles like crazy. When she laughs she flaps both of her hands and makes a goofy "teehee" type sound. She will also laugh a lot when we tickle her neck, armpits, or inner thighs. She squeals when her dad tosses her in the air and when he tickles her neck with his mouth and growls like a monster. 

She bites us pretty often and lately has started to think it is funny when we say "ouch". If I put my cheek up to her mouth she will open her mouth wide and say "ah" and then start to suck or bite my lip. 

Here are some pics: 

We went to Vegas to celebrate John's 30th birthday!  

Hiking in Red Rock near Las Vegas

Giggling in the water with her "cousin" Noelle 

Goofball

Chilling with her bestie Violet

This girl loves bath time! 

8 months! 

She looks so big as a 9-month old! 

She is so mobile these days, it was tricky to get one of the two of them in the same place. It is fun to see that she is starting to pull herself up on things though. She loves being able to get around more. 

We are so lucky to have so much fun with this little lady. She is happy (almost) all of the time. She is learning new things all of the time and every new phase is my favourite phase. 

6 Months! Happy Half-Birthday Little Munchkin!

Our little Phoebes is 6 months old! How did that happen? Here are some highlights from her last month.

A Few Stats

Height: 27 inches = 88% 

Weight:17 lbs. 12 oz. = 77% 

Head Circumference: 44 cm = 90% 

Note: Dad is the happiest papa ever for having such a big girl! Future retirement plan! She'll either be an athlete with that height or a genius with that head. Maybe she'll pull a Shaq and be a ginormous PhD-carrying athlete.

Here is baby girl at her doctor's appointment. She has a lot of fun at the doctor until they poke her with needles. She was pretty tough today, but her little pouty lip came out when they gave her the flu shot. The yellow card is what we get from the doctor to track baby girl's growth 

Favourite Food: Sweet potatoes and bananas. She has tried peas, carrots, squash, mango, and applesauce. She basically loves it all. Peas still give her a bit of the shivers – which is the cutest thing ever.

Favourite Toy: Exersaucer – she loves that thing!

Biggest Accomplishment: We have a sitting girl! She has been tipping over for a while now and then all of a sudden she realized that she could do the balancing. I don’t quite trust her completely on her own yet, but it has changed her world that she can sit up and control own life a little bit more.

Other exciting happenings: We have two bottom teeth in – and they are sharp! – and it looks like the top two aren’t too far away. Lots of drool and chewing on everything has been her life for the past month or so.

I really am not sure if it can get any cuter than this girl! Happy half-birthday baby girl! 

Two teeth! Her top gums are swollen, so I am sure the top two are on their way. The best news is, the doctor let Afton know that she can start eating meat thanks to those chompers. Bring on the steak! 

Even though this girl likes to have 2 AM parties more often than mama may like, she is such a cute sleeper. She usually has some kind of superhero pose (see above) and loves her little bunny that snuggles with her every night (see below). These pictures are captured from our Nest that lets us snoop our little sleeping lady from our phones. We love our Nest! 

Grandpa O

Uncle Pat

Aunt Maureen

We went up to Park City a couple weeks ago for a lovely dinner with Uncle Pat and Aunt Maureen that came to visit from the other side of the country. Baby girl loved all of the adoring fans. Plus, the food and company were both fantastic! 

This girl loves her dad. They know the true meaning of playtime and this girl giggles the whole time. 

Afton is fascinated by Bear these days. Before now, it seemed like she didn't really process that he was there - unless he was trying to get every single booger from her nose. Now, she giggles every time he shakes or rolls around with his ball. It is so fun to see her already loving him. I can't wait until they can actually play together. I am sure Bear is just fine that she can't chase him quite yet. ;) 

She is the happiest, goofiest girl already. I feel like her personality is really starting to show. She loves playing with her tongue and has it out more than half the time. And that belly!

 

We went to Denver in January to watch the Steeler's play the Bronco's at the Sports Authority Stadium. It was an absolute blast. We stayed over that night with a bunch of our favorite people - the Sandoval's! This is Ben with baby girl Afton. She fell asleep on him while they were snuggling and he helped with bath time. Ben loves Afton so much - but not as much as he loves Bear! :) We love you Benny! 

Baby girl with Grandpa Joe-Joe and Grandma Chris while we ate delicious fajitas! She loved them immediately and made herself right at home. 

The kiddos playing. I love that Afton is leaning on Emma to see the "blue t.v." while they watch. 

This girl LOVES bath time! We even went swimming a while ago - no pictures - and she had a blast. We have a fish on our hands. 

To celebrate Afton's half-birthday, Dad decided to give her some yummy peas. I have a feeling she enjoyed them (see below). Plus, it looks like she understands the concept of saving some for later. 

Love you little Afton Phoebe. Cheers to you and all of your next adventures!