Saturday, September 10, 2011

9 Months Old!






Yesterday was my big 9-Month milestone. I'm learning more and more everyday. I'm a speed-crawler now, and I pull myself to a standing position in the blink of an eye. I'm already starting to cruise, and my balance is pretty good. Daddy thinks I might be walking even sooner than Bailey did, at ten and half months. I'm also babbling pretty-much non-stop in my secret baby language. I can clearly say Da-da, and Ma-ma, and I might also be saying Ba-ba, which Mommy and Daddy think might be my attempt to say Bailey. I've got four teeth, two up and two down, now, and the process has been a rough ride for all of us. I like to grit my new teeth, which drives Mommy and Daddy nuts. I have a pretty good sense of humor and an infectious laugh. Go me!

Happy girl




I've been having some major teething pains, and I've been battling some digestion discomfort as I get used to more and more solid foods, but on the days when everything is a-okay, I'm a very happy and smiling and laughing baby girl, like you see in these pictures.

Food Critic





I've been sampling tons of new foods lately. I love cereal and most fruits, but as far as the meats I like turkey, but I'm iffy on beef and chicken. I really get into my foods, in case that wasn't clear in the pictures. Oh, and I'm not much of a bib fan, so I get to eat in just my diaper to save my clothes.

Uncle D



Whenever we have company, I'm usually pretty shy and stand-offish with people who are not either Mommy or Daddy. But last weekend when people were over for my baptism, I wasn't shy with Uncle D at all. He's my God-pops now, after all.

Dirty Laundry


After a while, Mommy and Daddy feel like throwing me in with the wash. Seems like it might be a time-saver.

Grandma Lynnette and Aunt Avery


After my baptism, I stripped down, and Aunt Avery gave me a present: a hand-knitted crown hat. I'm a princess now. Thanks Aunt Avery!

My Baptism





Last Saturday, Mommy and Daddy and Bailey and I met Uncle David, Aunt Avery and Uncle Jared, Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Ed, Aunt Karen, and Grandma Lynnette at church. Then I took a quick bath, and got some really good-smelling oil on my head, and then we took lots of pictures. It was fun.

The Return of the Stork

5:00am on the 9th of December, Ryan and Lindsey's alarm went off, rousing them from a mostly restless period of sleep and non-sleep. It was time to get up and go to the Family Birth Center of the hospital again. This time around the stork had a scheduled landing time and place, so Ryan and Lindsey had looked forward to this particular day for many weeks and months prior. Leaving their 3-year-old daughter, Bailey, in the capable hands of her Grandpa Ed, Grandma Debbie, Grandma Lynnette, and Aunt Avery, they headed to the hospital and were checked into their room, this time #150 (just three doors down from where little Bailey was when she was first born).

Their first nurse, Lindsay, helped prepare Lindsey and Ryan with ID bracelets, and gowns and scrubs, then she put the IV in Lindsey's arm and everything went smooth as you please. The doctor came to talk to Lindsey, and then they just had to wait a few moments to make sure the OR was available. After that, they started walking there, but suddenly a nurse told them to head back to the room, because there was another mommy-to-be that might need the OR in a few minutes, just in case. Back to the room they all went where they waited about fifteen more minutes and then they began the walk again.

Lindsey was walked into the OR, and Ryan again had to wait for a bit outside. This time he was more excited than scared, and it seemed like the wait before he could go in was much, much shorter than the last time.

In he went and sat by Lindsey's left shoulder. There were sounds, there were smells, there was motion, and after what seemed like a small trickle of flitting little moments, the doctor said, "It's time to see baby come out," so Ryan peeked around the curtain.

This time, there was a very tall doctor in the way, so he didn't get to see little baby poking out or being pulled out, but a nurse brought her right around RIGHT after she came out, and she was very vocal about her displeasure.

Baby got cleaned, weighed, and measured, and Ryan asked Lindsey if the name they'd planned seemed to fit after they'd both seen her. It did, and minutes later little Reagan Mae Anderson was in her daddy's arms.

She was 7lbs 40z and 19 1/4 inches long. That's just a little bit heavier and longer than her sister was. She came out at 9:02am.

The parents and their new little daughter went to the recovery room for a bit, then went back to their new mommy suite. On the way Daddy signaled to Grandma and Grandpa Bliss that everything was A-Okay, and then the visiting began.

A few minutes later, Grandma Lynnette and Aunt Avery brought the new Big Sister Bailey in to meet her new baby sister Reagan. On the way back to the suite, Ryan told everyone her name, and Bailey said, "Oh, Daddy, it's beautiful!"

Overcome with emotion and overwhelmed by the amount of people in the room (and that Mommy was still in a gurney, not her regular bed) Bailey needed her Daddy to hold her for a bit as she first laid eyes on her little sibling. Later that day, she got to hold her for the first time.

Mommy and Reagan had to stay at the hospital for a couple days longer than they'd hoped, but finally, on Monday the 13th, everyone came home and the new foursome family life began.