12 Months

***Since I just shared all of Delaney's birthday pictures, I thought I'd post picks of her throughout that last 12 months...hasn't she changed?!?***

It's so hard to believe that it's time for Delaney's 12 months post! Our little peanut has grown to become such a big girl in the last year. It's hard to remember that teeny-tiny baby we brought home from the hospital. At 12 months, Delaney is the happiest, most laid-back baby I've ever been around. She has quite the personality, and is become quite independent. It appears at this point that she is very much like her daddy in both looks and demeanor. This means she'll always be the life of the party and everyone's friend!

day 1

She is so close to walking these days, it's a little scary. She could totally do it now (could have weeks ago), but our little Miss Independent's stubborn side has taken over and she seems content to remain a crawler for now. Her vocabulary is also developing quite nicely. We can definitely tell she's trying to tell us things versus just making noise. She has distinct sounds and syllables. I think we're going to have quite the talker on our hands here very soon! She's not a "quiet" child! I'll walk in the room and she's say "Mom" clear as a bell! We also think she's found her words for "more" and "milk". Her favorite though is still her friend "bob". She talks about him all the time, "bob" this, and "bob" that. I'd really like to meet him sometime!

1 week

She seems to have gone through a growth spurt here recently. All of a sudden her 12 month clothes seem a little too short and snug. We are gradually working our way into her size 18 month wardrobe. It also seems like her feet have finally started to grown. She now wears size 4 shoes. It looks like they are getting wider all the time too...another trait of her daddy's. Her hair is growing thick and long these days. She's starting to get little wisps of curls at the ends. It's so cute! I can't wait to see what it does in the summer humidity! It is a sandy brown color that has shimmers of gold and red in the sunlight. It's so pretty! She has also graduated to size 4 diapers this month. They are slightly big on her, but I'm sure they will be fitting perfectly here very soon! Today we discovered that she is in fact a big girl measuring in at 30.5 inches tall, 24 lbs, and 18.25 inch head circumference. All in the 90+ percentile! Yikes!

3 months

One thing is for certain, this girl has definitely inherited all of her family's love of food. She loves to eat, and has tried sooo many new things! We have only found a handful of things she really doesn't like...potatoes, rice, and anything that we actually have to feed her with a spoon. She's too independent for that now! She has been on strictly Vitamin D milk (not formula) for about 3 weeks now. She loves it! She will always go for the fruit on her plate over the meat or vegetables. Her favorite these days seems to be red grapes! She also has a bit of a sweet tooth as she absolutely devoured her birthday cake!

6 months

She remains a rock start sleeper. She goes to bed by 8 every night and wakes up around 7:30 or so since the time change. She takes at least one good nap during the afternoon, and once in a while (especially at home on the weekends) she'll take a morning nap too! She is beyond cuddling, rocking, and all of that "baby" stuff. She likes her bedtime stories, but she rarely sits still for them. Her favorites these days is Snuggle Puppy! She's a wiggle worm at night, all over her bed. She sleeps with one of her blankies, but usually on top of it! Good things she's hot-blooded, also like her daddy!

9 months

With the start of spring weather, she has rediscovered her love of the outdoors. She loves to be outside. In the last couple weeks, she has sat and explored the grass. She was a little timid at first, but is starting to figure it out. She loves to sit and watch Izzy play out in the yard. She thinks Izzy is so funny! She also loves to dance! She will crawl over to the stereo, turn it on, and start to boogie. It's so cute! She'll turn it on, look at us, get this huge grin on her face, and start to clap! She has also mastered a few other devices around the house...the remote control, the humidifier, the oscillating fan, and the laptop!

12 months

These days Delaney is definitely more toddler than baby! She doesn't use a bottle, pacifier, or enjoy being fed with a spoon! She'd rather take care of all of this on her own. She doesn't like to cuddle or really be held most of the time. She is far too busy to have her pants changed or get dressed. Honestly, if she had her way she'd roam naked all the time! She tells us which book to read to her, and when she's ready for bed. She seems so grown up! What a year it has been?!? I can't wait to see how much she grows and changes in the next year!

Our Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday Bash

We celebrated Delaney's first birthday yesterday with a houseful of her favorite people! It was so much fun! I'll admit we went a little nuts with this party, but now that it's all said and done it was so worth it! We picked The Very Hungry Caterpillar book by Eric Carle for our theme because Delaney loves that book! I started planning way back in November, and tried to do many of the projects myself. I found a lot of great online ideas, and I'm pretty proud of how everything turned out!
I found these invitations on a website (http://www.whattoexpect.com/forums/party-ideas/topic/the-very-hungry-caterpillar-eric-carle-invitations), and absolutely loved them. I tried to re-create them as best I could. Almost 100 cardstock circles later, this was my result! Aren't they cute?!?
I saw this wreath idea on OurBestBites.com. I though it would be the perfect door decoration for this and many more birthdays! It only took a couple TV shows to complete, and turned out adorable!
I saw these polka dot balloons at Party America, and thought they would be perfect for our theme. Delaney LOVES balloons, so we ended up with a ton of them! They made everything so colorful and fun!
Here's my caterpillar balloon creation. I had drawn a face on the red balloon. It was a simple way to incorporate our theme!
A benefit of a 6'5" husband/dad is that you can hand him 3 rolls of streamers, and you'll end up with this! Isn't it cute! This is the view from our front door!
One of the highlights of our party was the cake. Joy Kouba of enJoy Delectable Desserts made our amazing cake! It turned out so much better than I could have dreamed. I had originally planned to do cupcakes that were arranged in the shape of a caterpillar, but changed my mind and couldn't be happier! Delaney loved it too! I can't wait for another occasion to order a cake from Joy. She did an absolutely wonderful job!
Above the cake table I hung up pictures of every one of Delaney's monthly birthday pictures. Nothing like some sticky foam numbers, cheap clothespins, and orange polka dot ribbon to add a little flair to a blank wall!
We decided at the last minute on Friday to try to make the garage work for eating lunch! We borrow some tables and chairs from generous friends and family, hung some more streamers, and a party room was born!
Here's a picture of the partial lunch. I didn't get a picture taken after everything was set out. Both grandma's contributed to the yummy lunch, and Craig spent 13 hours smoking the meat on Friday. It was so good, I'm a little sad we don't have more leftovers! After lunch it was time to play! Delaney and all her friends enjoyed getting all her toys out of the toy box. It was so much fun to watch all of them play and interact together! There was lots of smiles, and very few tears! I'd call that a success. Poor Parker, Reed, and Henry were a little disappointed I think of the lack of boy toys and the abundance of pink!
Then, it was time for presents! Once again, Delaney was a very spoiled little girl. She got so many nice things...new books, cute clothes, and lots of toys. We had asked our families to help contribute to a swing set for Delaney's birthday, and like I said she was spoiled! We will be adding this to our back yard very soon! She also got a very sweet growth chart personally made by my friend Kaitlyn. She was a website (http://www.etsy.com/shop/owlpeople?ref=pr_shop)...go check out all her super cute stuff!
After presents it was time for cake! We finally found something Delaney got from me...my sweet tooth! This kids loves cake! She was not timid at all, and ate a lot of it before we finally took it away! She was so happy!

We attempted a few family photos before everyone left. Here's the best of the Bryant family I had on my camera! Not too shabby!
And well, this is the best one I had of the Mencke family. it is too funny not to share! I don't think it will make the Christmas card this year...
Thank you so much to everyone that helped us celebrate Delaney's big day! It was such a special day for all of us, and she is one lucky girl to have all of you in her life!

***I'll do her 12 month post tomorrow after our doctor's appointment, so I have all the latest measurements!***

We're still here

Yes, we're still alive and well. It seems that it's been crazy lately! We have all survived a terrible cold. We have another tooth, making 3 total now! We have witnessed Delaney's first steps, and a few more since! We have installed a new kitchen floor and entryway floor! We have done some serious deep cleaning. I'm tired...

We are anxiously waiting and preparing for Delaney's birthday festivities this weekend! This week seems to be crawling by soooo slowly. I feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas. I'm sooo excited to celebrate my little girls big day! She has no idea what's going on, but someday we'll tell her all about it. I have most of my little crafty projects done. It's down to the last minute cleaning and food prep. We're hoping the weather is nice so that we can spend some time outside on Saturday. Right now, the forecast is a high of 58 and a few showers...let's hope that changes a little!

After all the partying this weekend, I have to turn around and get geared up for the baby shower I'm throwing for Jessica on the 27th. It's going to be a crazy few weeks at our house! More to come on Sunday, with tons of pictures from the party!

Neglect

Neglect...seems to be the word that best describes me lately. It seems as though I have been neglecting everything accept Delaney. My house is completely disgusting, my laundry is piling up, my dog only spends time with my while I'm sleeps (as does Craig). He doesn't even remember what it's like to spend an hour with me while I'm awake, I'm sure. I haven't blogged in weeks. I've neglected myself, and now I have a nasty cold. It's getting ridiculous.

We tiled our kitchen floor a couple weeks ago, and it seems like everything has been out of whack since then. Craig and Brent worked so hard, and got it done in two days. It looks amazing! I have pictures and everything, but haven't had time to post them. They are going to do our entryway and stair landing in the next couple weeks. We've been using that as an excuse to not clean as it's just going to be nasty again. It's bad though, if I could afford a cleaning service this would be the time to hire one!

We are counting down until Delaney's big birthday! It's only a little over 2 weeks away! I'm so excited. My housekeeping skills are going to have to make a miraculous recovery between now and then. I can't believe it's finally almost here!

Little Miss D has been a busy little girl these days. She is all over the place. She has developed quite a stubborn side here lately. She will not sit still to get dressed or change her pants for anything. She just throws a complete tantrum. But, with Craig or Holly she behaves much better. I don't get it, why is she pulling this stuff with me! She is also eating like a horse. I think we are in the midst of a serious growth spurt. Now that she has discovered the wonders of real food, she can't get enough. She still hates potatoes, but otherwise she'll eat anything! She has also given up bottles and not looked back. She's had whole milk since last weekend, and she is doing great!

She seems to be becoming more and more of a toddler every day and less and less of a baby. She just seems so grown up all of a sudden! I expect her to be walking within the next few weeks. She has finished her first session on swimming lessons with flying colors. She is a natural! We signed her up for the next session because she loves it so much! She is now talking all the time. She says "Dada", "Mama", "dog", and "more". She also talks about this guy "Bob" a lot!

We have all been fighting a nasty cold at our house this week! I hope it's a quick one, and we'll all be healed up soon! We have a lot of things to do to get ready for Delaney's birthday!

11 Months

Today Delaney is 11 months old! It is so hard to believe that we will be celebrating her birthday a month from today! I am so excited! We got to spend the afternoon celebrating her boyfriend Parker's birthday. It was a lot of fun, and all these pictures are from the party! The last month has been an especially fun one for Miss D. She can gone crazy with mobility and curiosity. Although she is not walking yet, she is EVERYWHERE! She is one busy little girl. With all this new exercise, she has moved her bedtime up to well before 8p.m. This makes us sad as we get very little time with her after work every night, but she obviously needs her rest!
She is also eating everything in site these days. Her latest favorites are yogurt, kiwi, and bananas. She remains a fruit and veggie lover, but has tried and enjoyed many meats. She has also become quite the little beggar. We can no longer sit down to eat or enjoy a snack without having to share a few bites (or many bites) with her. She drinks water from her sippy cup and an occasional big girl cup quite well. Although, she chokes on water more than anything else. She is on her last can of formula, then we will transition over to milk. She had no troubles moving from breastmilk to formula, so I'm not worried about this transition.
She seems to be hitting a growth spurt right now. According to our scale this evening, she weighs about 23 and about 30.5 inches long. She seems to be so big these days. Our tiny little baby seems to be a distant memory. She is firmly in size 12 month clothes. She is also wearing size 3 diapers . She seems to be always hungry these days, and pretty tired. I think she is growing like a weed right now.
She has developed her love of dancing and swimming even further this month. She dances anytime she hears music. She is always smiling and bouncing about. It's so much fun! She has continued her swimming lessons this month. Each week she does something new or better than the week before. This last Tuesday, she actually swam. Craig let go, and she floated and kicked her feet and propelled herself a couple feet. It was amazing! She's a natural!

Day 6

Today is favorite super hero day. Hmmm...I don't know if I have a favorite super hero, it's not really my thing. However, if I could be a super hero these days I would want to be Mrs. Incredible (Elastigirl). She's like Super Mom! I could really use her ability to stretch herself in all sorts of directions, especially during my wresting diaper change matches with Delaney! It would be so helpful! Also, it would be totally fun to be able to pull of wearing her suit!

One of those mornings....

This morning is one of those stories that will come back to haunt Delaney later in life, so I want to make sure I have it recorded somewhere for reference. Everything was going as a typical morning at the Mencke house goes. Craig had left for work, and the girls and I were getting ourselves ready for the day. We had finished breakfast, and I had Delaney all dressed and ready for the day. She sat and played with her bath toys while I took a quick shower. Just like a normal day, and then all hell broke lose.

I suddenly caught a whiff of that all too familiar scent...poo! Naturally, I scooped D up and headed for the changing table. I had just opened up the nasty diaper, when Delaney decided it would be fun to roll over. The struggle commences...I would turn her back flat over and over. She got increasingly more determined and feisty with every attempt. About the fifth time, she managed to land her sock-covered foot in the poo-filled diaper. Can you say gross? I immediately strip off the socks, and in the meantime discover that not only has her sock been poo-ified, but her adorable hot pink and zebra striped outfit was nasty now too.

She had an orange for dinner last night, which made her poo this weird consistency. I couldn't help myself but to imagine the poo-flinging chimps on Madagascar. It was nasty! She had little pieces of it all over. She wouldn't sit still for anything, so I wiped off as much as I could and put her down on the floor. I turned around and began to clean up the changing table and put her nasty clothes in the hamper. I turned back around to discover she was mooning Izzy! Poor dog didn't know what to do, but of course curiosity and her beagle nose got the best of her!

Of course, it was adorable and funny, but I don't know if I have ever been so frustrated with my beautiful little girl! After a 10 minute wrestling match on her bedroom floor, I got her re-dressed in an equally cute outfit. I got her situated with some of her toys and continued on my morning routine. After I was all ready and dressed, I went to put D's coat on her...

Then, I discovered that she has spit up all over herself. Battle number two commences... She didn't need a diaper change this time, so there was no streaking and no poo flinging; however, it was just as much of a struggle. We wrestled around for a good 5 minutes, and I had her dressed again. (Thank goodness this child with and extensive, adorable wardrobe!) Sometime during one of these two battles she suffered an scratch on her face, it very easily could have came from either one of us...but, I know she didn't have it at breakfast! I hope it was a self-inflicted wound!

We headed out the door and made our way to Holly's! She was wound up and all over the place as soon as we got there. I'm very nervous for the report we'll get from her later this afternoon. I have a feeling little Miss D's ornery side is shining bright today! Here's a picture to brighten your day! Happy Friday!