11 Down!!!

One to go!!! It is getting so close, yet so far away. 11 months have gone by so fast. Soon enough we'll be counting years, not months. We covered a lot in the previous post. But below are a few more updates: Teagan now has 7 teeth. The top right one came through finally. Let's hope that's it for a while. It seems these last few to appear have caused her more pain then even the first or second. Recently Teagan is becoming more and more clingy. She must be hitting the stage in development where independence is good but she definitely knows strangers and is leery of them. She clings to our legs, whining to be picked up. It's short lived & once she is around someone for a while she warms up and is back to her old self. Bath time is increasingly entertaining with Teagan. We've started incorporating bubbles into the bath and she has a blast splashing around with all her toys. Tonight for the first time she actually bent over in the water and tried to eat the bubbles. After a couple times of accidentally sucking in water along with bubbles she learned she could scoop up the bubbles with a foam toy and lick them off. It's amazing how her problem solving skills are developing. Washing her hair has become easier. She's learning to tip her head back, supported by daddy as he pours water from a cup over her curly locks. For her birthday Papa and Nana are going to get her swim lessons at an area health center. We can't wait - We just know she's going to have so much fun!

Milestones

Teagan has her sixth tooth. On the bottom right. She's been really cranky lately and I thought it was because of teeth. I just thought it would be one on the top that has looked like it was coming in for the past week or so. Apparently she's still working on those. We are still just happy her crankiness was not related to an ear infection. She loves to explore things. For instance, today she found her diaper bag and decided she needed to inspect the contents. She pulled everything out item by item. Once she was satisfied with her studies, she surprised us by putting things back in the bag. We also broke out a new toy for her. It is a little car-like rider that came with a bunch of blocks. The seat lifts up and you can store the blocks inside. She loves to open the seat to see what she will find. She also seems to be intrigued by the sound of the seat closing. She is learning some things that we are not quite sure where they come from. Perhaps it is just learning about her own capabilities, or perhaps she is taking after one of her friends at day care. Either way, she has begun screaming when you play with her. I was on the floor and started crawling towards her and she let out a screech, turned away from me and started laughing and squirming around. Her laugh is addicting. She lets out a belly laugh when I tickle her, it mesmerises me and warms my heart because I know I gave her that laugh. I will hold my arms straight up in the air while taking a deep breath. I hold it there for a second or two while she stares at me, and then I make a noise and let my fingers crawl up her legs and tickle her belly. The laugh and look on her face is priceless... something burned into my memory forever. She continues to wow us with her walking abilities. She is cruising around like a pro. It makes us smile to watch her from behind as she waddles away with her arms and hands flopping. She takes herself wherever she wants to go without a thought. When she gets tired, she drops to the ground and crawls. Besides her walking, she amazes me with how well she can use some "words." She definitely has "hi" down. As a matter of fact, she sometimes beats me to the punch and says hi to me before I can say hi to her. Her version of "thank you" is cute and we always make sure to say you're welcome. Her newest one is "dog." It is more of a grunt than anything, but she only says it when she is looking at Cabo. Her capacity for learning is really blowing us away. I wonder how much we can throw at her. She is such a little sponge. Kids are amazing. Patrick

Ear Infection??

Over the past few days we thougth Teagan might be fighting her first ear infection. She had been pulling on the right one - It turns out she's just teething. She's about to get her sixth tooth and they must be getting far back enough to be causing her ears issues.
We're happy that she's healthy - and just a little crabby and cranky because of teeth.

Walking in Circles

It sure has been a while since we last gave an update. Perhaps it is because we tend to forget to jump on in the evening before going to bed. Perhaps it has been due to a busy life. Or maybe, just maybe, it is because we are continually entertained by our little girl. It is official, she is off and running... err... walking. I know it is still a little wobbly, but she is 100% on her way. It started just a few days ago. She was taking steps with a little more direction. She was a little more focused. Don't get me wrong, she is still a giggly, wiggly mess when she is walking between Kelly and I, but it seemed to be a little less. We made it to 3 steps, then 5 steps, then 10 steps (while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and not paying attention to what she was doing.) Yesterday, Kelly informed me that she was easily trekking back and forth between the island and the pantry or sink in the kitchen. Tonight, I got to witness the truth... Teagan is a walker. I am proud to report that Teagan is quite good at multi-tasking already. She has the ability to walk and drink her bottle at the same time. Now lets hope she can chew gum too! It sure will be fun and a bit tiring chasing her down. I am looking forward to it... I just wish Cabo felt the same way. Patrick

I love this curly mop!!!

Double Digits!!!

Holy Moly, Teagan is 10 months old!!! We have cracked double digits and we are getting so very close to the big first birthday.

We have all been having such a good time, we don't get on the blog very often. When we do, it is usually a pretty good update. Today is no different as we try to sum up the first 10 months.

Everyone has told us over and over again... "time goes by so quickly." Yes, it does, but it also has some very slow moments too. For instance, when the entire family got sick earlier this month, it was pretty miserable. Momma and I got it the worst. I am happy that Teagan did not get very sick. We have been lucky that she has not had a major illness yet. It must be very difficult and my heart goes out to those who have to deal with a sick child that can not tell mom and dad where it hurts. Teagan had a bit of a sore throat. She was not drinking or eating much. We took her to the doctor to confirm we only had a cold. She was better pretty quick. It took Kelly and I much longer to recover.

There are plenty of interesting things going on these days. Teagan is quite vocal. She coos and squeals and yells all the time. Her laughs are so contagious. Her little giggles can lead to some serious belly laughs. I love being able to watch her stand at a window or door while I am outside. I can run at her and hear her laughing. It is also fun to watch her pound on the glass... can you say future Blackhawks fan??? I have to get it on video. Maybe she can be the reason I finally go see a team.

There are some words... faint and not always distinct, but we have Hi, Ba-Ba, da-da, ma-ma, and Te-ge in our arsenal. She has definite comprehension. She understands words. For example, while sitting around, you can ask her "where is the doggy?" and she will actively scan the area for Cabo and smile and look back at you when she finds him. She understands "No Touch" although she rarely listens. When she does listen I make a big deal over it, so hopefully she will get the point. She also knows the word clap. We no longer have to show Teagan how to clap, we simply can say "clap" and Teagan happily obliges us.

Other milestones that are here... standing and furniture walking. She has no problem getting around when she has something to hold on to. She is becoming quite mobile. I enjoy chasing her around the house while she is crawling. She will head toward the kitchen and I will take of after her laughing. It then becomes a game and we have a lot of fun. I also enjoy letting her chase me around. She has taken a couple of steps on her own, but there is quite a bit of time between the events. She took 2 steps on her own at daycare, she took a step between Kelly and I too. We are not quite there, but we are close enough that we got her first pair of Stride-Rite shoes. I wonder if she will be walking before her first birthday.

Only time will tell. Until then, it is time to go wrestle and play with Teagan before she goes to bed.

Talk to you soon!

Patrick

More Firsts

It was a fairly busy weekend. Teagan is again impressing many people. She is standing along furniture or near us without holding on. She has also been doing pretty good with Cabo. It is almost like she is understanding the phrase "nice touch". Now if only she would learn "NO TOUCH!"

We went to a birthday party on Saturday. She enjoyed some of her newest favorites in ice cream and cupcakes, but it was dinner that stole the show.

On our way home from Kankakee, we stopped in Schaumburg to feed Teagan as she had just woken from her nap and needed some food. Kelly and I needed to visit a rest room and we were a bit hungry... so we decided to get food. We originally thought about PF Chang's, but decided on Benihanas. This proved to be a good choice. Not only was the food good, it was intriguing to see how Teagan would react.

The chef was fantastic. He did his tricks, he made eye contact with Teagan and tried to catch her attention whenever possible. Teagan loved the clatter of the utensils on the hot grill. She loved the steam and hissing all around. She sat wide eyed as the chef tossed veggies and rice and meat around the grill.

Once all the cooking was done, it was time to see what Teagan liked and didn't like.... or to put it more accurately, what Teagan liked.

She had zucchini, onions, mushrooms, onion soup, a little bit of steak, and rice... both white and fried.

Fried rice may indeed be Teagan's new best friend. She loved it so much she decided to spit my white rice out because it lacked anything resembling flavor. Once Kelly gave her a fork full of fried rice, the legs started going crazy. Teagan started grunting, leaning toward Kelly and smacking the table. She wanted more and more and more. Thankfully, Teagan is also very good using a straw. The rice was washed down by the never ending glass of water. While she was not particularly fond of the onions or steak, she did eat them. She seemed to enjoy mushrooms and zucchini. She was pretty excited by the onion soup. I think we will need to recreate some of this meal at some time.

We will be sure to post some pictures from the weekend soon.

Patrick.