Sadie's 7th Month

Right as Sadie's sixth month ended, we had to quickly get ready for a rather important celebration- Grandpa's 60th birthday!  It's incredible for me to think that my dad is anywhere near this age, mainly because the number is one of those that has seemed so far off all these years.  Grandpa is far too young, vibrant, and athletic to be sixty-- but, I guess I need to adjust my idea of a sixty-year-old.  My parents had remodeled their kitchen over the summer, so the birthday party became an Open House for them to show off the final product.  Literally, they did not even mention his birthday on the invitation.  There were all kinds of wonderful people from my dad's past and present in teaching and coaching, and they really are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet.  It was a wonderful party, and it even ended with cake, candles, and singing Stella's favorite song.  For his present, my mom has decided to get my dad a new puppy!  Dad was beyond surprised, and a bit overwhelmed at the thought of having two dogs, two kids, and a puppy to watch during the week. 

Sadie's six month check-up was right after the birthday celebration.  It's always fun to hear how big she's getting, and it's reassuring to get an "all clear" from the doc.  For the first time ever, this appointment got scheduled at a time when I couldn't go, so Dad had to take Sadie by himself.  As usual, Steve was incredible, and he even called me on my lunch to update me about the appointment.  According to her doctor, Sadie is healthy and growing and progressing beautifully.  She now weighs 16.2 pounds, and is 27 inches long.  Her size continues to outgrow her sister at her age, especially in height!  Sadie remains a little weed growing tall, and continues to stay in that ninetieth percentile in height. 

October has always been our favorite month!  Steve and I love the weather, the color change, the sports, and all the festivities that come in this month.  With kiddos now part of our lives, we now had one more thing for the whole family to enjoy in October- pumpkin patches!  We had taken Stella to Apple Hill last year, but we never sought out a pumpkin patch locally.  I honestly cannot remember the last time I stepped foot on one, but we had a feeling that the girls would enjoy themselves.  Stella loves pumpkins, and most patches are filled with all kinds of fun activities, so we figured we would start looking for a few to check out.

Our first stop ended up being more of a fair than a pumpkin patch, but the activities sounded like ones that Stella would enjoy, so we headed out early on a Sunday to the Verdi Craft Fair.  The elementary school out in Verdi puts on a Halloween Fair every year; we have never attended, but I thought we would give it a try.  There was a little pumpkin patch, all kinds of games, bouncey houses, and children everywhere.  Stella took a brief interest in the pumpkins, but then she found two things that really took her attention- horses and football.  Stella had never seen a horse in person until this day, and she was VERY interested.  She didn't want to take a ride, but she wanted to pet, feed, and generally be next to the horses.  Maybe she's taking after her Auntie Mantha!  Right next to the horses, there was a football tire throw that interested Stella as well.  She has recently become very interested in football, so she really wanted to hold the football and try to throw it through the tire.  For a little person just under two, she already has an arm on her! 

After getting a taste of fall and pumpkin patches, we decided it was time to hit up a legitimate pumpkin patch.  So, we took the short drive over to the Corley Pumpkin Patch in Gardnerville.  This is a pumpkin patch on a farm, so the whole event was pretty special.  I had never heard of so many events on a pumpkin patch, so I thought that this would be a great spot for us to try.  From train rides to horse rides, miniature golf to pig races; there was a lot to do!  I don't think that we even did half of the activities that were offered, but Stella really did enjoy herself, and I enjoyed the beautiful views.  Unfortunately, Steve did not come with us for our first visit, but Grandpa and Nonna made the trip.  We had a noisy, fun trip, and Stella really did have a big day. 

Sadie was definitely starting to realize that in our rather chatty family, everyone has to be a bit more vocal to be heard.  She had found her voice long ago, but this month she actually discovered it for herself.  She started to chatter and "talk" when she wanted things, and really started to let it be known that her voice would be heard.  In all her chatter, we were waiting for her first word to emerge.  Stella said hers right around this age, so we knew that Sadie's chatter would start to come together soon.  During a Sunday football game, Sadie was rocking herself in her pack 'n' play, talking to herself, and all of the sudden her chatter turned into a word-"Dadda!"  She seemed a bit shocked herself, but then she just started repeating the word.  For the rest of the day, she practiced her new word and really honed her first word.

As a parent of two, I have learned that the number one thing that keeps our family together is routine.  We all have our schedules, and we all keep things very routine.  One of the biggest things in our routine has been Stella's swimming lessons.  Every Friday, Stella has swimming lessons, and we all attend as a family.  Steve is in the pool with Stella, and Sadie and I watch from the deck.  Stella has been doing really well and enjoying her Friday nights, but just this month, she celebrated her first graduation!  Stella is now a Level 2 Baby Bear, and she will be moving to a new swimming class.  She got to ring the bell after she passed her swim, and we officially had the first of many graduations in Stella's life.

The morning after the big swim, we were asked to tag along with Grandpa to begin his puppy search.  He decided to take my mom up on her generous birthday offer, and he is looking to get his new addition this spring.  He wanted to start looking at local breeders, and he thought that Stella would like to join him to check out some puppies.  To say the least, I have never seen so many dogs in my life!  The woman we visited is a prestigious breeder who has Labradors from England and Scotland that she uses as her main breeding dogs, and they are by far the most beautiful Labradors I have ever seen in my life.  There were more dogs than a pound, and they just continued to appear from room to room.  They were well-tempered, good-sized, and seriously good-looking dogs.  Stella lost her mind!  Puppies were everywhere, and she was allowed to pet them all.  To say the least, we were grateful that Grandpa invited us to join!

Following our big trip to scout out puppies, we returned home to relax for the weekend.  I realized that even though I was tired, I had two little ladies who still had tons of energy.  How did I know this?  I had two little jumping beans bouncing around my house.  Sadie had really found a ridiculous appreciation for jumping thanks to her Jumperoo, and now she wanted to jump all the time!  She started this day by jumping in my arms, on the ground, and pretty much every chance she got.  Because we were talking about her jumping so much, I think Stella was feeling a bit neglected.  The next thing I knew, she was trying to learn how to jump.  Steve had been practicing with her a lot, and just like that, she was catching air and jumping all over our house.  So, both our girls were literally jumping around every chance they got!

 Speaking of the girls together, the month ended with another reminder that we had sisters in our house.  Stella continues to realize that Sadie is another person to play with, and that she is so close to actually playing with her.  After every nap, Stella wants us to put Sadie in her crib to hang out.  She even tells me, "Bye, bye, Momma," to let me know that she wants to play with Sadie alone.  They are getting cuter and sweeter by the day, and I'm dying for Sadie to be just a bit older so they can really enjoy each other.   




Sadie's seventh month was packed with all things fall, and many reminders that we are lucky enough to share every day with these two little ladies.  Sadie continues to grow and progress each week, and it is crazy to think how close she is to already being one!  We are getting close to many more milestones, but it was incredibly lucky that we were both home and in the room when Sadie decided to share her first word with us.  Here's hoping that we're just as lucky with the rest of her firsts!  Here is Sadie Lady at seven months:

October 23, 2013