First Steps!

 The past two weeks have been pretty uneventful in our house (except by the title, you know there is more exciting news to come).  We've just been trying to keep up with an active little 10 month old.  Kensley continues to crawl and climb everywhere. 

She's been learning a few new things lately and it's so fun to watch her.  Kensley now dances (or more so bounces up and down).  When music comes on, we'll tell her to dance and she bounces up and down...it's so cute (another thing we'll have to try to get on video sometime).  Kensley has finally figured out how to clap; however it's more of a brushing her hands back and forth.  She seems to understand what clap means and tends to clap more when we cheer for her.  Ha! 

Kensley has been saying "da da da da" for several weeks now, though we don't think she quite makes the association with daddy.  She says "ba ba ba ba" as well and in the past week or so has been saying "ma ma ma ma", except that only seems to come out when she's hungry, tired or crying.

The most exciting news of the week is that Kensley took her first few independent steps on Tuesday evening.  She is standing unassisted more and more and for longer periods of time.  She stood for at least 10 - 15 seconds (which felt like an eternity watching her wobbling to keep her balance) which was then followed by two steps to daddy.  We could tell by the smile on her face that she was proud of herself...it also might have had something to do with our excitement and cheering.  It's so crazy to think that our little girl will be walking before long!  She is growing up too fast!

Here are a few quick pictures from the past week.  We're finding we take fewer pictures these days as Kens doesn't seem to stay still long enough to catch a picture.

Kens loves riding in her wagon

Enjoying a blueberry pancake breakfast

Sweet, messy girl

Look closely...see those little feet peeking out under the shower curtain?  Guess who...

Yep...this little girl hates to miss anything.  If she's awake when I'm trying to get ready, she likes to peek in and stand at the tub when I'm in the shower.

Lately...

Ever since we got back from vacation last week, we've been battling sickness in our household.  Our last night in Michigan was a pretty sleepless night as Kensley was up almost every hour.  We attributed it to teething as she had a stuffy nose and we could see more upper teeth starting to pop through.  We quickly learned that it was a cold (probably a combination of some teething as well) as we caught the same thing.  We're all finally starting to bounce back and hope we can stay healthy for a while.



Last Saturday was a relaxing day as we ran a few errands and then spent the afternoon cleaning and watching football.  Jeremy was of course very preoccupied Saturday afternoon as Michigan was on.  The Michigan fight song was sung many times in our house after the win (it was even the song of choice during Kens' bathtime). 



Excited about her new pom pom.

My favorite Michigan fans.

Due to the sickness, we decided to skip church on Sunday and made our first trip to the Indianapolis Zoo.  We had a great time and we were amazed at how nice the zoo was.  Here are some pictures from our trip.

She wouldn't take her eyes off of the giraffe.

Daddy pointing out the elephant.

Waving to the elephant

After boycotting her morning nap, she took a quick snooze at the zoo.

First ride on the carousel.  Again too busy checking things out to pose for a picture.



Kensley is continuing to learn new things everyday.  This past week she has learned to give kisses (well open mouth kisses).  It's really cute!  We ask her for a kiss and she'll turn her head with her mouth wide open to give us a kiss.  If she has her paci in her mouth, she'll lean her forehead or cheek to us so that we can kiss her.  She's such a sweetie!

Giving mommy birthday kisses

Thursday, I was fortunate enough to spend my birthday with my favorite girl.  We had a nice relaxing day running errands and shopping.  Daddy came home a little early and took us out to dinner to celebrate.  We had a nice celebration together as a family.

My sweet girl.

My birthday cake!

Thanks, Jeremy and Kens for making my birthday so special!  And thank you to friends and family for your cards, phone calls, messages, etc.



Vacation...

This past week we took an extended Labor Day weekend vacation to South Haven, Michigan with the Roberts family.  We left last Friday afternoon and came back this past Wednesday afternoon.  We rented a great little house about a block from downtown South Haven and about 4 blocks from the beach.  The weather proved to be much cooler than we were originally anticipating, so unfortunately we didn't get to use the private pool or beach as much as we had hoped. 

Saturday, we found a little children's museum in one of the small neighboring towns.  Kens was still a little young for it, but there was a nice little area for kids her age.  She liked exploring things in there as well as watching all of the older kids play.

Checking out the Native American area and pounding on the drum.

Practicing her dance (or chewing) skills on the ballet bar.

Such a funny picture...she looks like she's in trouble here.

Riding on the horsey

Peeking in the tunnel.

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Sunday, we had the opportunity to meet some friends for lunch at the Michigan City Outlet Mall.  It had been a while since Kensley has seen her friend, Thomas, so we had fun watching them interact.  Kensley was so excited to see Thomas and she gave lots of her throaty screams upon first seeing him. 

Thomas showing Kens how to wear the cool shades.

It's apparent the excitement lasted well through lunch and into our photo shoot.  Thomas looks so sweet in this picture as Kensley is going crazy.

Such sweet babies...Kensley is only 9 days older than Thomas.

And they're off...

Thanks for making the trip to meet us!  We had fun seeing you guys and hope to get together again soon!

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Monday and Tuesday we were able to spend some time relaxing...we took several walks to the water, shopping downtown, napping, eating, etc.  Here are some more pics from the week.

Sweet girl pausing for a picture.

Picture time with mommy.

We did manage to get in the pool one afternoon for a little bit.  You can't tell by their faces, but the water was pretty chilly (75 degrees), but we toughed it out because Kensley was so excited.

Having a great time and not minding the chilly water.

Picture of the harbor.

Swinging

Enjoying a walk with mommy and daddy.

And unfortunately, the only family picture we took during our morning walk.  At least Kens looks cute!

Thanks for the great trip, Grammy and Grampy!  We had a great time and look forward to the next Roberts Family Vacation!

10 Months Old...

Kensley is officially in the double digits...well in months that is.  She is changing more and more everyday.  We feel so blessed to have this little girl in our lives and are trying to enjoy each and every day with her.

Kensley is getting pretty independent these days and it's so fun to watch her test out new things.  She is in a big climbing stage right now and loves climbing all over us, in and out of her laundry basket, up and down the step from our living room to sunroom, etc.  We're constantly having to watch her, especially when she's on the couch with us as she tends to try to dive off head first.  She's getting into everything and seems to try to put everything in her mouth (we're finding out how dirty our floors really are).

Kensley's favorite game these days is chase.  She loves it when one of us holds her and the other chases her around the house.  She laughs so hard and often squeals and screams.  She still really enjoys being outside and loves taking walks.  We're sad to see summer go, but we're hoping that the fall temperatures lend for longer time spent outdoors.

As mentioned in previous months, Kensley's monthly photo shoots are getting more difficult each month.  She rarely sits still for long and would much rather be up and moving around.  This month I had to bring in some props to get through the shoot.

9 Month Pictures...

We had Kensley's 9 month pictures taken about 4 weeks ago at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (where we got engaged and also had our maternity photo shoot).  We were really pleased with how the pictures turned out.  Click here to view all of the photos.

Here are a few of our favorites: