Eleven down, one to go

Today Rebecca turned 11 months old. So here are 11 quick facts about my girl:

1. She loves to climb.

2. She loves strawberries and blueberries.

3. She hates egg.

4. She has a way of getting into everything, especially the things she should not get into.

5. She loves to open and close the garage door.

6. She loves to read books.

7. The only way to get her to wear a bow in her hair is to sneak it in there and pray she can't feel it.

8. She likes to pretend to pick her daddy's arm hairs and then eats them. Sometimes she shares.

9. She can not stand for her face to be wiped.

10. In order to change her diaper, you have to give her two toothbrushes to keep her occupied. Otherwise, she can not be still.

11. She is the sweetest, cutest, smartest, most lovable baby in the world. (I am biased.)

Now as promised, here are some pictures from the past several days.

helping mommy put together a chair

playing with Caroline at my Uncle Sid's birthday party

trying out one of Uncle Sid's new beach chairs

pushing Julie in my walker

licking a coaster

swinging with Daddy

climbing on top of the couch

"What? I'm just eating my snack!"

one of the few times she has worn a bow (notice the messy face)

Brags

Today was an exciting day in the Kimball household. Rebecca graduated from Level 2 at Gymboree. We will start Level 3 next week. To get to move up to Level 3 you have to be standing confidently and beginning to walk. Rebecca is not quite there, but she is too busy for Level 2. I spend the whole time at Gymboree chasing Rebecca and spotting her while she scales the slides. She is a monkey, and refuses to sit still for singing, bubbles ,or parachute time. Hopefully things will be easier in Level 3, but I doubt it.

Another exciting thing that happened today was that Rebecca took about 3 steps all by herself, without any prodding. I was sitting on the couch. She was standing up, holding on to the remote control. Next thing I know, Rebecca takes off toward the TV. It was so exciting! I think I scared her by my squealing. I couldn't help it. I was sooooo happy.

I am scared to share the most fabulous thing. I am worried that if I brag about it, it will be jinxed. Oh well, here it goes. Rebecca slept from 7:30-6:30 last night. She has had 3 really good nights in a row. Hopefully this is the start of something new. Now, I just need to work on getting myself used to sleep. Last night I woke up at 4:30, 5:00, and so on until 6:30. I am just not use to sleeping through the night. But don't worry, it shouldn't take me long to get back into the swing of things.

Sorry I don't have pictures to post. Check back soon!

Dog Days

Rebecca and I have not been too busy lately. There is really not much to blog about. We are just enjoying the dog days of summer.

Rebecca is getting really good at standing on her own. She is walking more while holding on to our fingers. She is even walking from furniture to furniture. She is getting more confident with her skills. She is definitely part monkey. She climbs on everything. You have to watch her every second, because she is not scared. Here are a few pictures and videos from the past few days.





Swimming in the back yard

Standing on her walker

Swinging with Papa

Trying out a new hairdo

She has learned a new trick, and it might be my favorite one of all. This is not a very good video, but you get the idea.

Watch Out World, Here I Come

Wearing Pop Pop's glasses.

Nannie and Pop Pop came to visit this past weekend. We had so much fun with them. Rebecca loves having visitors, especially her grandparents. We did lots of touristy things with them. We went to the Atlanta History Center and to Oakland Cemetery. Pop Pop left on Sunday. Nannie was suppose to, but we talked her into staying longer. Yeah!!!!!!

I think in the last blog I wrote that Rebecca was not at all interested in walking. That all changed yesterday. Mimi came and stayed with Rebecca while mom and I went to lunch. While we were out, Rebecca started walking behind her walker. Mimi said they walked and walked. I had tried this before with Rebecca, but she would just sit down. Well, yesterday she decided she was ready to give this walking thing a chance. Here is a video of her trying to make a lap. Sorry that the video is sideways. I was too excited to think about the correct way to video.

Rebecca also started to stand on her own for a few seconds. She even tried several times to get into the standing position by herself.

With all this walking and standing, we have also had lots of falls. We went three for three. She fell and bumped her head three days in a row, and all in about the same spot. You can see a bump above her left eye.

I have a feeling that this is only the beginning of the bumps and bruises.

Ten Things I Love About You

Peek-a-boo!

In honor of Rebecca turning 10 months old , I thought I would share ten things about her that you may or may not know. They are in no particular order.

1. She loves phones and remote controls, and only the real ones. You can't fool her with a toy or one without batteries. I have passed off a calculator as a remote once, but it did not last long.

2. She now has 5 (almost 6) teeth. (No babies were hurt taking this picture.)

3. She is still a wiggle worm. The only, and I mean only, time she is still is when she is asleep or she is in her high chair eating. Other than that, she is up and down, swinging her arms, bouncing, or crawling. She is busy, busy, busy.

4. Even though she has been crawling since before she was seven months old, she has no desire to walk. She can get anywhere she wants to go by crawling, she will even crawl over you if you are in her way.

5. She loves to climb into things.

6. She loves to pull things out.

7. She loves to eat. Among her favorites are: avocado, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, peaches, apple butter sandwiches, and bananas. (She does eat meat, but only when I hide it in the veggies.)

8. She hates being strapped into things such as car seats and high chairs. She especially hates getting into her car seat. She arches her back and rolls over; then she grabs the back of the chair and holds on for dear life. One day I struggled with her for at least 5 minutes before she gave up. However, once she is in the seat and all buckled up, she is fine.

9. She is still not sleeping through the night. We can not seem to get past the 5 (sometimes 4 sometimes 6) o'clock feeding. Shouldn't she be sleeping from 8 to at least 7 without waking up? Please someone tell me she is not the only 10 month old doing this.

10. She is a snuggle bunny. She loves to give hugs, and I mean the good, wrap her arms around your neck and squeeze hugs. They get me every time. It is the best feeling in the world.

On a side note, we went to Chattanooga this past weekend for Chattanooga Cousin's Weekend. All of Rebecca's Kimball cousins were there. She loved seeing everyone, but was not quite old enough to really hang with them all. Here is a picture of them all, minus JW, who had already left for the aquarium.

from left to right: Franny, Caroline, Gardnier, Cate, Greer, Gunni, Lucy and Rebecca

Where did all my cousins go?

Rebecca was very sad this morning when she woke up. For the past week we have had cousins and grandparents around. Today, Rebecca was just stuck with me. We came down the stairs and she was looking every which way for someone. She looked very disappointed when she could not find anyone.

Last week some of our cousins from Mississippi came to visit. Rebecca has already met John Clemmer, but she was able to meet John's girlfriend, Anna, and then Taylor and Kristen Clemmer. She had so much fun playing with them. They helped us celebrate Papa's birthday, then we took them to the World of Coke. I left my camera at home, so I do not have any pictures from that outing.

On the 3rd we headed up to Brevard, North Carolina. John's Aunt BeBe and Uncle Dave live there. They always have a big 4th of July celebration. Out of the 8 years that John and I have been together, we have only missed one July 4th in Brevard. We had such a great time, and Rebecca loved getting to meet and play with her cousins. They were all so sweet to Rebecca and played really well with her. We can't wait to see them again.

Pit stop on the way to Brevard

Rebecca, Papa, Matthew, and Susannah

Downtown Brevard on the 4th

Brevard is know for having white squirrels. We went shopping at OP Taylor's, the best toy store ever, and had to buy Rebecca a white squirrel. She loved it and would not let go of it all day.

Playing with Mary Beth's dog, Riley

Rebecca, Papa and Stephen

Playing with Matthew and Gabrielle

Almost all the cousins: Morgan, Susannah, Katherine, Matthew, Mary Beth, Rebecca, and Gabrielle

The whole 4th of July crew

Taking a bath in the sink at our cabin

I Heart Gymbo

One of Rebecca's favorite things to do these days is to go to Gymboree. She loves being around other children and adults. She is such a social butterfly. At the beginning of our class, everyone sits in a circle. We sing songs while the babies sit in our laps. Rebecca refuses to stay in my lap, because she wants to crawl around the circle and visit with everyone. Luckily no one seems to mind having two babies in their lap. After we do circle time, we have free play time. Free play is a lot of fun now that Rebecca is able to get around on the equipment. Here are a few pictures of her at Gymboree.

going through the tunnel

climbing up the ramp

sliding down the slide

crawling up the other slide

playing with Joshua in a basket of balls

trying to get Gymbo from Miss Lisa

Rebecca had a few play dates at our house last week. One was with Jack Gorney, one of her many boyfriends.

The other play date was with Rebecca's BFF Amelia Comeaux. Amelia seems so much younger than Rebecca now, but they will be in the same grade. Hopefully at the same school, if we can keep the Comeaux Family from moving out of our neighborhood.

Rebecca has become a big help around the house. Here she is helping Mommy fold clothes.