Whoops.

I haven't written anything since Daisy Doo was 6 months old.
She is now nearly 15 months old, and I have reached the point where strangers don't care about the months so I usually just say "she's one" unless prompted for more information. (it's amazing how the months really do make a difference still, but people-in-general stop caring so much once they hit a year)

So...pictures!

My sister is a good picture-taker.

day one: system beaten

accidental Halloween matching cuties! that's Myles, the neighbor boy I babysit a couple times a week!

sickie in a box

party at my crib, yo!

Kronk, Bucky, and Yzma!

Dad is much more fun with shopping carts than Mom

messes messes messes

nun in a tub

another plane ride!

cheesin'

long day of many plane rides!

cheesin. drinkin out of a cup.

buddies.

Santa! yes, I did the whole mall thing this year.

getting ready for some BYU Football!!!!

2013 Fight Hunger Bowl! not the greatest photo of the Cosmo the Cougar hat, but eh.

queen of the slide. these two cute boys are our neighbors (Taj and Myles)

bath hairs

Myles' lil' red wagon

minutes after someone asked if she was a boy.

she is a little bit obsessed with flowers

and reading to herself

and climbing in and out of the Bumbo

birthday park day! five teeth!! and you can see them all!

the loot.

cake time!

manhandling the goods.

surveying the destruction.

BAM - almost entirely caught up!
In the last 3 months, she managed to get ALL of her teeth with the exception of her canines (top and bottom). Those four suckers are all coming in now. All at once. And it is worse than when she got all of her molars all at once. BUT, they are the last ones! Then we get a break from teething!!! She really hasn't been that awful, but these last four teeth are giving her a run for her money and it makes me sad :(

Other notes that might be good to write down before I forget them entirely:

1. She started walking about 2 weeks after her birthday. She kind of swaggers like a cowboy, super wide stance and all. It's great.
2. Since she has started walking, she has also started dancing. It's stinking adorable.
3. We have been teaching her some sign language. She started to understand some signs around 9mos and do some signs herself around 11mos. Now she knows and uses quite a few!
4. Her first word was "HI!". First notable catch phrase was "OooooOOooh!" with her mouth in a perfect "o" shape. 
5. She is now pretty good at repeating the general syllables/sounds for words. She now says regularly: her name, Mama, Dada, baby, bye, keys, eat, doggie, kitty, flower, bird, outside, signing time (her ASL videos), train, and bear. But we're still pretty much the only people that understand her, and she usually only says "mama" when she is sobbing.
6. She doesn't really act like a firstborn child, in the sense that she is pretty rough&tumble and generally doesn't get upset when I hold or care for other babies.
7. There is a healthy independent streak in her personality as well. She doesn't cry when we leave her with other people, she's never been afraid of strangers, and she's tackled slides by herself on numerous occasions.
8. She is currently obsessed with shoes and flowers and phones
9. She dropped her second nap before her first birthday. Ay caramba. But the one nap she does take is starting to get longer! 2hrs on a good day.
10. She will sleep from 7p-9a on a good night. She does still wake up once between 4-6a to nurse for 5mins, but that's it. If that's the trade off for no naps, I think I can live with it.

Love you all - I promise to update more diligently!

- Rachel

SIX MONTHS!

Last Wednesday, Daisy was officially SIX MONTHS OLD!!! Dude, time flies. While moving so slowly at the same time. I can't explain or comprehend it, so I guess I'll just have to deal with it. Here are some photos and stats instead of philosophical ponderings on the concept of time [I know the baby photos are the real reasons you're here]:

yogurt!

blueberries and raspberries!

asparagus!

Not going to lie, most of the recent photos I've snapped are of Daisy eating. We've been letting her feed herself (called "Baby Led Weaning") and she LOVES it. It's super messy, but also super adorable, and much easier than playing airplane with a spoon [in my opinion]. She's even pretty good with a pre-loaded spoon! If I put something on it, she can get it to her mouth and is super happy about it. It's a blast.

the closest I got to both of them looking at me...

Our friend Grace [and her mom Ingrid and baby sister Eliza] came for a visit!! I got to check out my double stroller capabilities, and I must say, they are pretty dang sweet. Thanks again to the Bigelow relatives for the lovely gift card that made this possible! I forsee many years of strolling adventures in our future.

Daisy is also an accomplished roller, and frequently gets herself into sticky situations such as this [don't worry, I'm currently devising a solution to the rocking-chair-and-ottoman-of-death situation....but any suggestions are welcome. How do you keep babies from getting underneath them and becoming amputees??]

car naps are adorable. and so is that ponytail. and none of her dresses are long enough so her diapers are always showing at church - at least they're cute!

Story about Daisy's ponytail: when we were leaving the doctors' office after Daisy's 6mo checkup, there was a little girl who was probably 4 years old sitting in the waiting room. As soon as she saw Daisy, she pointed and said loudly, "Look! There's a little baby! A little tiny baby with just one hair!" -- it was adorable, and the entire waiting room laughed.

Story about the checkup: Daisy Anne Rydalch is currently 27.25" tall, and only 15lbs 13oz. That puts her in the 100th percentile for height, and only the 47th for weight. A true Adams indeed! Except for the fact that she is super muscular and a baby-athlete. I guess we should thank the Rydalches for that ;) Also our pediatrician is the best. He let Daisy play with his hair and rub noses with him [AKA drool all over his face]. We love Dr. Tsai!

playing in a pile of laundry while I cleaned my room! SO CUTE.

Also, I have reason to believe that we are raising an opera singer:

I just caught the end of her performance this time

Or someone with mad pipes, at least. This particular day, she chose to sing along to Bruno Mars and Katy Perry. Whatever that means. Occasionally she'll start "singing" all on her own, and whenever I've got the radio on she'll pick random songs to "sing" to. She also babbles constantly. I'm really, really loving this age :)

On another note, we finally buckled down and decided to start sleep training last week! And let me tell you, it is amazing. I was very much against the cry-it-out/Ferber method for a while, but after some straight talk from Chris and my dear friend Ingrid I realized it probably wasn't as inhumane as I thought and that it might actually work. And guess what? It does! Bedtime is a million times easier now. Not to mention naptimes [which were practically non-existent before].

Also, here is a cute bathtime video from when Ingrid and her girls were visiting [Daisy loves having "big kid" friends]:

Annnnnnd I think that's about all the Daisy updates I've got! She's a character, and it's so much fun to see how quickly she learns about the world around her. She's a sweetheart, and we're insanely happy that she's ours.