What Calyssa has Been Doing...

Last time I wrote about just Calyssa, she was 4 months old.  So I am going to play a little catch-up.  Here is what she has been up to, in the last few months... (4-12 months)

  

  

On May 11th, Calyssa turned 4 months.  She liked to suck on her fingers, clap with her feet, do cute things with her hands while she was sleeping, smile, and was trying really hard to sit up on her own.

  

On June 11th, Calyssa turned 5 months and she started sitting up on her own, that day!!  It was amazing to me!!  She sat up about a month earlier than I was expecting her to.  She also ate her first solid foods (1st one she had was rice cereal).  Each of her sisters took turns feeding her and loved it!  They all adore her and love to help her with anything she needs.  Calyssa also loves to squeal in delight, when she is excited, or squeal in frustration, when she wants to be rescued, is scared, or mad.  When she cries, she sometimes says, "Mama," which I believe is her first word.  :)  She also loves to hold her clothes and still puts her hands in cute postitions, while she is asleep.

 In July, 6 month old Calyssa, spent most of the month in the car, on our 5000 mile road trip.  She did incredibly well, for her age, and only had a couple times where she was just done.  We were quite impressed.  On our trip, she ate a few new foods because we wanted something to give her when she needed a snack, while we were driving.  She tried water, apple juice, pear juice, white grape juice, puffs that melt in your mouth, and also ate rice cereal and breastmilk.  In July, she also started eating vegetables and fruits.  Her first veggie was squash and (I think) her first fruit was peaches (or applesauce or pears.  LOL!)  Calyssa also started waving "hello" (which her Doctor was quite impressed by- apparently it is pretty early,) doing a grabbing motion, and leaning toward you when she is excited to see you.  Sometimes it even sounds like she says, "hi" when she waves.   She also scoots backwards.  With 5 older sisters, she is also the living dolly, at our house, whether she likes it or not.  They dressed her up and posed her, for all kinds of pictures.  (With me recovering from so much this last year, it was a miracle Calyssa survived.) 

In August, Calyssa (7 months) was able to roll over both ways, scoot backwards, wave, and learned to clap also.  She also learned to say, "baabaabaa."  Calyssa was absolutely in love with the goldfish.  Whenever she was sad, if someone took her near them, it would cheer her right up.  She also loved pointing and waving at them.  She started eating a few finger foods like crackers, cheerios, etc. and loved to chew on whole apples.  She also loved playing with Mommy's hair.  Her sisters continued to bring her anything and everything she wanted/needed, even toys to match her outfit.  I loved seeing her little feet dangling from her high chair, and realized I am going to miss that when she grows up.

  

  

  

In September, Calyssa (8 months) got her first and second tooth (both bottom middle.)  She was saying, "dadada," "mamama," and "bababa."  She can go from a sitting position to laying and then back to sitting.  She can grab little things, like cheerios.  Calyssa is very social and she goes around waving at everyone, and babbling, and smiling.  Calyssa loves to be with her Mommy, even if it is just to be in a baby backpack on Mommy's back (otherwise she can get pretty frustrated just sitting there.)  Calyssa is starting to play with Aurora and they both love it!  When Calyssa gets excited, she moves both of her arms and both of her legs.  It looks like she is trying to fly away.  Very cute! 

   

  

In October, Calyssa (9 months) got 4 more teeth (all top middle.)  She also started crawling!! which made her very happy because then she could go wherever she wanted (like to go say hi to the fishies, point at them, and "talk"/babble to them, or go press the button on the leapfrog magnet toy which sings the ABC's.)  Sometimes, she doesn't get one of her legs out, when she crawls and she looks like Aurora did when she scooted on her bum.  Calyssa loves to wave and say, "hi," and even sometimes waves and says, "buh buh" or "bye."  She also pointed to the TV and said, "dat!"

  

  

 In November, Calyssa turned 10 months!  She loves to wave, clap, and kick her arms and legs like she's trying to fly away.  LOL!  She says "Mama," "Dada," "Hi," "Bye," "Dat" (that,) "Hey," and her favorite is "dow," which she shouts all the time.  Her sisters love it and copy her quite frequently.  We still aren't quite sure what she means by it.  One night, we were all eating dinner and we had forgotten to say prayer.  I looked over and Calyssa was folding her arms.  I'm sure it was a crazy coincidence but it reminded us to have prayer.  One up side to having a bunch of big sisters- Calyssa's sisters don't like it when she is sad or crying.  It makes them sad too.  In this picture above, someone calmed her by giving her their straw.  Downside-  You become the model for their pictures.  While we were at JCPenneys getting some pictures done, Riana and Sariah decided to take a few pictures of Calyssa, since her outfit matched the decor in the waiting area.  Another downside- Your sisters like to carry you around.  One of her older sisters had Calyssa on their bed and walked away for just a second.  Well, Calyssa fell off.  I didn't think anything of it because I have had other children fall off beds at this age and they were fine.  However, a couple of days later, Calyssa started crawling wierd- one side regular and one side army crawl, so I decided to take her in, just to be safe.  At the Doctor's office, she was grabbing toys, playing with both hands, and even slapping the table with both hands.  The Doctor grabbed all over her arms and she didn't even flinch.  I asked the Doctor to watch her crawl and she didn't even do the wierd crawl the whole time (she went back and forth.)  Her Doctor and I decided to go ahead and do the X-ray, just to be safe (but she told me to go home after it, because she was so convinced that it would come back clean.)  Sadly, her arm was broken in two places- two small buckle fractures.  (And even sadder, it took my older daughter reminding me about the fall off the bed, after we got home, to realize how she had done it.  The Doctor worried someone was abusing my children or something, since this was our 3rd broken bone this year.  I reassured her that I was 100% sure it wasn't abuse and that we had just had an unlucky year.  For one thing, I had to beg for Aurora's x-rays and had to push for Calyssa's.  I think a lot of people would've missed both of those breaks.)  Calyssa was happy as can be, the whole time.  (Except when she got the X-rays, as I had to leave, while they did them.)  No one could even tell she had a broken bone.  And that smartie figured out how to get her splint off after about a day.  She took it off and handed it to me.  I put it back on and she did it again.  LOL!!  They said they could cast it, but she would have to go to an orthopedic surgeon and they weren't sure if it would stay on because of her tiny arms.  So I pretty much carried her around for 3 weeks (in my arms or a baby carrier,) as she just couldn't bear weight on her arm.  And she healed up great.  After 3 weeks, she was perfectly normal... thankfully!

  

  

  

 In December, Calyssa (11 months) learned to go up the stairs.  Very soon (I think only a few days) afterwards, she learned to go down the stairs like a pro!!  She is super fast and has never really worried about it.  She zips (slides actually) right down!  Calyssa also enjoys crawling to the door when someone is leaving (usually Daddy going to work) and waving goodbye to them.  (Many people have commented on her cute little princess wave and how she is all ready to be in a pageant or something, with that wave.  I tell them it is because she was born into a family of all princesses.) Once they have left, she does the "all done/gone" sign, with her arms out and palms up.  Cute!  Whenever anyone talks about "No" or "No, no, no," she shakes her finger or shakes her head "no."  It is hilarious!  Calyssa also learned to pull herself up, to stand along furniture, this month, and is now walking along furniture.  Calyssa also folds her arms all by herself, plays Peek-A-Boo and Pat-a-Cake with her sisters, and enjoys finding treasures left on the floor by her sisters (in this case, a cup of pudding with a bit left in the bottom... which as you can see, made her hyper!  LOL!!  Riana especially enjoyed this, as we have pictures of a time when she got into some pudding when she was that age, as well.)  Sometimes when something is yummy, Calyssa will even say, "Mmmmm!"

  

  

  

In January, Calyssa (12 months) got two more teeth, both outside bottom middle-- giving her 8 teeth, all in the front.  Calyssa is super ticklish under her chin (on her neck.)  Calyssa is really starting to understand what we say to her.  It is nice.  She is also starting to talk a ton!  Her new words are, "want Mama," "want that," "I did it!" (with the emphasis on I,) "whoa," and my personal favorite thing my babies say, "Uh-oh!!"  So cute!  The girls were watching a show and when the TV paused and went silent, Calyssa said, "Uh-oh!"  All her sisters jumped up and ran over to her saying, "Awww!!"  They thought it was adorable!  Calyssa also loves being a big girl and doing big girl things, like sitting at the little table with Aurora.  I love the little curls that pop up here and there, in her hair.  (Hopefully, it's not just temporary.)  Calyssa loves to snuggle, when she is tired, and play with soft or silky material, suck on her paci, and listen to the music on her glowing seahorse or glowworm.  Calyssa dreams of a day when she can be held by her Mommy all day long (except when she sees something interesting that she wants to go check out) and never have to have her diaper changed.  (I, too, dream of the day when she won't have to have her diaper changed.  LOL!!)  Calyssa even blew kisses to Grandma, this week!!

We can't believe just how fast Calyssa is growing up!!  And definitely have very mixed emotions about it!  But one thing is sure, she is such a joy to have in our family and we all adore her!!  :)