It's Official: Millie is walking!

Self-portrait of Millie and Mommy

Some of my favorite recent photos of Millie

Here are some of my favorite photos of Millie that I've recently taken. She is just growing up so much. She has been laughing a lot more lately - especially at Bella. And she is pointing at things now more and more.

On the way home yesterday, she saw trucks and cars in front of us and she was waving and saying "Bye." It was funny.

Millie is now signing "please"

Millie has really started using the sign for "please." I just showed her last week and now she does it all the time. I'm still working on "thank you" and she does it sometimes. It looks like she is blowing you a kiss - which, I guess, would be the same idea.

This morning, I was fixing her a bottle of milk for breakfast and she was getting so excited that she was signing "more" and "please" and "milk" all basically at the same time. At least it seems that she understands that you have to say "please" to get something. A lot of the times she wakes up in the morning and I go to get her up and she is doing the "eat" sign. She's a smart cookie (no pun intended).

And she now has eight teeth - four on top and four on bottom - with four more coming in. She's eating so much more "people" food now. For breakfast this morning, she ate apples-n-cinnamon instant oatmeal with some diced peaches and her milk, of course. She ate some of the peaches last night with her dinner and she kept asking for more and more.

Millie is really walking a lot now

Millie has been really walking a lot lately. It's so cute to see her teeter-tottering around and trying to keep her balance.

On Saturday, she helped Jacade and I in the garden and backyard while we spread pinestraw and wheat straw everywhere. She was very good too. She just climbed all over the backyard, tried to play in the birdbath, and got in her pool (with no water in it). After a couple of hours, she was, needless to say, filthy! But enjoyed every minute of it.

And our yard looks so nice now - so many veggies! We have corn, red bell peppers, tomatoes, lots and lots and lots of zucchini and squash, okra and we have three watermelons so far. They're not ready to be picked yet, but it won't be long. And since Jacade fertilizes with Miracle Gro every 14 days, our zucchini have been HUGE!

We went out to eat with our neighbors to a restaurant just below Zebulon - Pierre Sullivan. It was great. And Millie ate chicken, sweet potatoes, french fries, catfish, and coleslaw. She had no baby food for dinner. I was impressed. She was good too!

On Sunday, she and I, and our friends, Gordon, Nielsa and their son, Alan, went to church. It was Gordon and Nielsa's first time and they seemed to really enjoy it. And Millie was anxious to go into the nursery, which was a relief from weeks past, where she cried when I handed her over. She was ready to play! She and I went home and she had lunch. Then we drove to Jonesboro, with Debbie too and had lunch with Grandma Sara (her great-grandmother) at Olive Garden. Millie ate lots of the bread - she couldn't resist it either! And Jacade sneaked her some chocolate cheesecake - she couldn't resist that either! Then we came home and got her ready for bed.

So, all in all, it was a good weekend. I am hopefully going to take next week off - vacation time - to get some work done around the house. Plus, my boss, Marshall, is quiting - his last day is July 30, so it will be hard for me to take a lot of time off. We are going to work around the house M-Th and hopefully go to Savannah to see our friends, Kevin and Cassie, for the weekend.

Millie's been sick

Well, Millie caught a summer cold last week, so she was miserable over the July 4th holiday. Runny nose, sneezing, coughing - just in pain and not feeling good. Luckily she is feeling better now - sleeping through the night and eating better - but now Mommy caught what she has - or maybe it's allergies. All I know is I feel terrible now. But at least she is getting better.

We've been taking showers together which helps her nose, and keeps me from having to clean the crusty boogers off. And she enjoys it. I just have to hold on tight to her. And we both have to freeze for a few minutes until we both get dried off. Usually Jacade is there to dry her off, but the last few times, it's just been the two of us.

And she is doing the sign language more and more. We've been working on "please" and "be gentle to Bella". She has actually done "please" a few times - a good thing to learn. And I think she is having fun at Ms. Andrea's. She plays with Blake, who is a couple weeks older than she is.
She's probably going to be a tom-boy! But that's okay.

Millie has been taking a lot more steps lately. Getting braver and braver. It's neat to watch her walk - amazing.

Millie is now using sign language

I started working with Millie when she was about 6 months old, using the sign language. I started with "more" and "milk". A couple of months ago, she just started saying "more, more," but I continued to show her the sign.

As of last week, she started doing the "more" sign and I was so proud of her. She can also do the "eat" sign and the "milk" sign and every once in awhile, "diaper change." I've also been working on "thank you" and sometimes it seems like she does it, but it looks like she is blowing a kiss (that will work!)

This morning she woke up and did the "more" sign and I corrected and told her that she actually wanted to "eat" and probably have some "milk" so she did the appropriate signs and we said, "Good job!"

At our church picnic on Sunday afternoon, she was sitting in her stroller having a snack of Cheerios and she started whining because she wanted more. And I asked her, "Millie, is that how you ask for more Cheerios?" And she stopped whining and did the "more" sign. And I said, "Yes, that's how you ask for it" and I gave her more Cheerios. That simple. So she totally understood exactly what I said. She is a smart baby.

I am going to have to get some pictures of her doing the signs and post them on here.

Millie takes a few steps

Our friends, Gordon & Nilsa, gave us these shoes for Millie - but they're too small. But they sure look cute on her. She looks so grown up - and acts like it too!

Millie's cute outfit

Debbie aka "Mawt Maw" bought this cute outfit for Millie and Millie wore it to church yesterday. I just had to get some pictures - and you'll see why! She looks like a model!

Millie feeds herself for the first time!

Last week, Millie decided to try to feed herself. And she did great! She was holding the spoon and dipping it into the bowl and putting it into her mouth (and everywhere else!) I was proud of her though.

How big are you?

I've been working with Millie with "How Big Is Millie? So Big!" and she is supposed to raise her hands in the air. Well, this morning after she had her breakfast, I asked her and she finally raised her hands. I clapped and said, "Yay!" and she just smiled. She is getting so big - and it is going by so fast. But she is really a lot of fun.

Mohawk in the Morning

Millie woke up this morning and her hair was in a mohawk! It was funny. And she was all smiles. She had a rough night last night, but at least she slept late this morning.

How does your garden grow?

Our garden that we planted in May is doing so well and is already producing yellow squash and zucchini, which I have cooked already. Our corn is getting tall, there are a few red bell peppers on the stalk, the tomatoes are coming out and there are a few okra pods too. It is so nice and (cheap!) to just go out in the backyard and pick some vegetables and cook them. It always makes me smile!

Pat your head

Millie now knows where her head is. I've been singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes" and she now pats her head. She also pats her head when I sing, "If You're Happy and You Know It"

So now I am working on the rest of the song.

And I saw some back teeth coming in (on the top on both sides). Maybe that explains why she hasn't been sleeping that great.

Trains, carousels and water

What a combination! We went to Chattanooga, TN and LaFayette, GA this past weekend for Father's Day to spend the weekend with Jacade's dad, Mike. We left Friday morning, with the truck packed, and took our time making the trek. The drive actually wasn't too bad - especially since I didn't have to drive! But before long, we were there and were checking into the hotel.

On Saturday, we went to East Chattanooga to the Tennessee Valley Railroad and Millie took her first train ride. It was a 55-minute round trip ride on a train with a steam engine. We made a stop at the repair house and witnessed the use of a turntable. Millie was very good, although she did get a little antsy from being confined. But she never fussed, thank goodness.

We also went to downtown Chattanooga and rode the carousel - twice. Millie had fun both times. We ate dinner at the Mudpie Restaurant and it was so delicious (would recommend a trip there). Then Jacade let Millie play in the water fountains and you could hear her screaming with joy. She even whined a little bit when we were leaving.

We then got back to the hotel and took Millie swimming in the hotel pool for about five minutes. She thought that was funny. We bought her a swimsuit with floaties in it and she was fine with it. Since it was so late, we didn't stay long. But it was nice to swim for a few minutes.

Sunday, we went to IHop for breakfast and Millie had some scrambled eggs and pancakes. It was a good bfast. Then we drove to Nana and Papa's house to have dinner. Drove to Gonzalo's to visit for a few minutes, then we finally made it home. Everyone was so tired.

Millie and Mommy out for the count

This morning, Millie woke up at 5:30 a.m. (same as yesterday) and wouldn't go back to sleep. I was going to get up early and do some things but decided to go back to sleep/rest. Jacade brought Millie in the bedroom b/c she wasn't going back to sleep and put her in the bed with me. After about 5 minutes of playing & pulling my hair, she and I finally fell back asleep.



The end result....

Millie's birthday shirt

I bought this t-shirt for Millie to start a birthday tradition. It's a women's size small t-shirt that I have decorated with her name and birthday. Every year, we will put her handprint on it and mark it and she will have her picture made in it, to see how much she has grown.

Millie is our little climber

Millie is really an active child and she has recently been trying to master the skill of climbing onto the furniture. If it's too high, she will turn to you and ask for help. She holds out one hand, you take it and then she holds out the other one and you take that and she pushes her feet up to get into the big chair/couch. She is a smart girl and we encourage her to keep trying/don't give up.

She is also cruising the furniture a lot more lately, and has taken a few steps too. Before too long, we will be chasing her around the house.

New teeth are coming in

I noticed last night that Millie has another tooth breaking through on top. That means she will have 7 teeth total. Two of the bottom ones are still coming up, but you can see the teeth.

And I gave her what we were eating last night for dinner - grilled hamburger, mac-n-cheese, and some broccoli and corn, thinking she would eat it up! No such luck. She put it in her mouth, made a "this is disgusting" face and spit it back out. So she ended up eating some more baby food and drinking her milk (out of a bottle). I'm not pushing the sippy cup drinking, b/c I know it will happen soon enough. It was funny though.

She did eat two things that I thought were strange - Tomato/Lentil Couscous and Orzo Pilaf. But, hey, I'll take it!

Millie finally drinks from a sippy cup

I saw on my friend, Carolyn's blog that her daughter, Lily was drinking from a sippy cup. But what was neat about the cup was that it was a small snack cup with a sippy cup lid.

I have been trying for a couple of weeks now to get Millie to drink from a cup, but she just hasn't been interested. So I came home yesterday and put a little bit of milk in the snack cup, but a lid on it and gave it to her.

GUESS WHAT? SHE DRANK MILK FROM THE CUP!!!! I don't know why or maybe I am not worried why - but she did it. I also put some water in it, but she wasn't too sure about that - she just wanted more milk. So I am going to try that again today. I'll have to take a picture of her drinking from it and post it on here. I praised her for drinking all of it, so maybe she will get the idea.