vivian helene is 9 months old

She is a beautiful and happy girl. She has been getting quite a few colds, probable brought home from school by Isa. Other than that, she's a very content babe. She has been standing and cruising a lot, and has even taken a few steps unassisted, but she is cautious when it comes to walking on her own, so she doesn't do it - especially cause she can crawl much faster than she could walk! Honestly, I'd like her to hold off on walking as much as possible until we can get out of this house with all tile! I am worried about her falling and bonking her head on the tile multiple times, as she already has and when she does it's heartbreaking. She still has beautiful red hair and bright blue eyes. She says a few words, mostly in Spanish: hola, mama, papa, mira, and ta. Isa is working hard on getting her to say Isa.

9 month stats for Viv:
weight: 22 pounds, 90th percentile
height: 28.7 inches, 85th percentile

Speaking of Isa, she is an absolutely wonderful big sister. She is so kind and patient with her sister. Isa is doing fabulously at school. We are sharing rides with a neighbor, and she is getting to spend so much time speaking Spanish. She is already using full sentences!

3 years 10 month stats (for a school physical checkup)
height: 42.5 inches, 93 percentile
weight: 39.7 pounds, 86 percentile

I am one proud mama of my two girls!

Vivian Helene is 8 months old!

My pretty, pretty Vivi. She is crawling (has been since just past her 7 month birthday), and pulling up on everything and starting to cruise. She is big ad heavy and very interested in food. She has no teeth yet! She smiles and laughs a lot. She is still in a transition phase between 3 and 2 naps. Some days it is 3, but more often it is 2 longer naps. We've pretty much baby-proofed everything so she can crawl around as she pleases. Her favorite toy is a large plastic water bottle, ha! She is making so many sounds: ba, ba, ba; ma, ma, ma; da, da, da. Not quite forming into words or associated with something or someone specific yet. She is a lovely, healthy person! We are so happy we get to spend each day together with her!

Vivian is 5 then 6 then 7 months old!

Yeah. It's like all the stereotypes about the second kid. I don't post monthly blogs about her progress. Well, once every 3 months isn't too bad, considering we just moved across the world.

Vivian is a large and lovely girl. She absolutely adores her sister. Actually, all she really wants is to be touched/hugged/held by someone she loves, and for someone to smile at her. She is a very good human in that way. If she's fussing...hold her and smile at her! She will instantly smile back! She also looooooves food. In a way Isa did not. She is always grabbing at our food and she eats whatever we give her. It's super fun. We are awaiting a high chair from Chicago, because this girl could spend hours eating if we had one.

She is scootching around a LOT but not quite crawling yet. Was sitting up unassisted easily at her 6 month check up. She babbles a ton and is saying all sorts of combinations of sounds. She's an easy, happy, lovely girl. No teeth yet!

6 month stats:
weight: 20.25 pounds
height: 26 inches

Vivian Helene is 4 months old!

Vivian Helene is 4 months! New stats:

Weight: 17 lbs 9 oz, 93rd percentile

Length: 26.5 inches, 99th percentile

She is a big girl! She is very visual and tactile and is gaining good control over her hands to grab things now. She is a champ at rolling over and scooting around. It won't be long now before she sits up on her own. Crawling is right around the corner. She can stand comfortably in the exersaucer as well. We on the verge of a new life in Uruguay, so stay posted for updates!

Vivian 3 months - Isa 3 years, 3 months

Vivian Helene is 3 months old! Aaaaand, she began rolling over BEFORE her 3 month mark! She has also consistently been signing 'milk.' She is very visual and loves to look at interesting things. We went to a party the other day and people kept saying, 'come look at this baby! can you believe she's only 3 months old!'  

who is who?

Vivian Helene - 1 month and 2 months; Isa - 3 years!

Vivian! She is an amazing baby. Such a good sleeper. So beautiful. And we are teaching her how to sign milk...and she's learning it! At just over 2 months!

1 Month she was: 12 pounds (99th percentile), 23 inches

2 months she was: 14.1 pounds (99th percentile), 24 inches

Vivian is sleeping well at night, eating and growing well, and working hard at building up those muscles to hold up her head fully, sit and (eventually) stand. She hasn't yet fallen into any napping pattern, but we expect that to come in the next few months. We do notice that she's sleepier in the morning and wants to be awake in the late evening (6-9 pm) and then sleeps well in the dark throughout the night unless she has gas or a bowel movement to take care of.

Not to mention Isa girl, who turned 3 not long before we welcomed Vivian into the world. Isa's 3 year old stats:
34.6 pounds (84th %)
40 inches (96th %)
I knew she'd settle down in weight as she got older, but now she's turning into a little athlete! She's a tall and muscular girl. So unbelievably strong and very into moving her body through dance and sports.

Isa started school at Barbara Vick and will continue to go until we leave the country Dec 7. More on that here. She's also taking park district classes: sports, tumbling, art, soccer and basketball. She loves her park district classes and asks to go to them instead of school (I don't blame her!). We've been watching lots of shows in Spanish to prepare for the move, and she's been attempting to use some Spanish words. We are talking with her a lot about Uruguay, and she is excited to go there -- though she will miss a lot of people when we go.