Christmas is HERE! We are so excited for Savannah's FIRST CHRISTMAS and her FIRST BIRTHDAY! We've got a busy week lined up and cannot wait for the madness to begin! Allan's sister is home for the whole week before moving to Canada! We are going to miss her SO MUCH! and to think, we thought Chicago was cold and far...
So much has happened in these last two months.
1) Savannah is walking! Yes, it's true! About two months ago she started standing and bouncing, not real
ly knowing what she was doing. We got her a walking toy and she loves pushing it around the house and doing what we like to call her "ballet moves". This is where she pulls herself up, whether it be the couch, table, chair, whatever, and puts one leg out and twirls her foot. It could be one of the cutest things she does! She just loves doing her ballet moves! She totally got the hang of the walking toy and started pushing it away so she would be standing alone for a good 10-15 seconds. Last month she started the "stand and squat" where she would just stand and lower herself into a squatting position then stand back up. It's pretty funny. She was learning great balance and loved squatting to pick things up. Seriously, she was doing some PRETTY BIG STUFF!
The first of December is when she took those first few steps! She started with 3, 5, 6, 9... and it kept going! This is the thing about Savannah, she DOES NOT LIKE to be told to do something. Oh, reminds you of someone you say? ha. So if you say; "Savannah, walk to Daddy!" She tilts her head to the side, squints her eyes, and looks down. It's insanely ADORABLE! Allan and I decided not to push it and let her walk on her own yet encourage her to take steps and working on it with her when she showed an interest. Well, the other day I was walking down our hallway and turned around to find Miss Savannah following me...WALKING! I bent down and encouraged her to finish and she did! She's the funniest thing. Now, if you catch her walking and make a big deal out of it she drops to her knees and walks on her knees or starts crawling immediately *with her head down* as though she's embarrassed that you caught her doing it! HA!
Now that she's getting clapped for, encouraged, and hugged every time she walks she starting to become a little show off. Our church Christmas musical was tonight and afterwords she walked down the isle straight to the stage... she had her little christmas pj's on with a tutu and just loved how excited everyone was for her!
Let me just say how blessed we are to have such a loving church family! We are beyond blessed to have such wonderful Christian men and women in our lives to not only encourage us as we raise her but to be there for her as an example and to pray for her! We love you!
2) Savannah had her "first" allergic reaction to a milk based product. Now that Savannah has completely shunned baby food and wants only table food it is getting harder and more intense when it comes to purchasing foods. I am learning a lot about her allergies and how to best take care of her. I bought Amy's Kitchen Lactose-Free mac and cheese... immediately after one bite her lips started swelling, I turned the box over to find that there were milk products in it. Apparently, lactose-free means milk-proteins are still present and dairy-free means completely free of all milk/milk proteins. Obviously, I'm new to this and I can't beat myself up over it but I felt horrible. Instead of trusting what I read I needed to flip the box over and double check the ingredients.
Her reaction was one of the worst. Her skin burned, peeled, and she was miserable. After about 6 days her skin healed and was better than before. We are praying and believing for complete healing. We know the Lord's hand is on her and He is taking care of her. I will say, seeing her so helpless and in so much pain broke my heart!
We've been giving her baking soda baths. They've done wonders for her skin! The baking soda neutralizes the itchy irritated spots and helps her recover a lot faster because she's not itchy! It's a wonderful thing those baths... especially with it being so cold and drying her skin out... the baking soda has help keep her skin healthy and moisturized.
3) Savannah's FIRST birthday! Obviously, as a mother I am beyond excited for this very special day. We are throwing her a party on her birthday, 12/27 at the church. It's going to be Savannah's Sweet Shoppe and I'm so excited to start baking and getting all the wonderful things together for it! I will definitely be posting pictures of it! We got her a fabulous wooden kitchen set for her birthday and she loves it. We had to give it to her early because I put it together and there was nowhere for it to be hid!
4) Her FIRST Christmas! Allan and I agreed that we wanted to make Christmas a special time for her, create memories, traditions, and most importantly remember why we celebrate. We want to keep the focus on Christ's birth, God's sacrifice, and the LOVE our Heavenly Father has for us. We thought it would be neat for Savannah to get three gifts, just as Jesus did. Obviously, Christmas Eve she'll open her Christmas PJ's but Christmas morning she'll wake up to three very special gifts and a stocking. This year we got her big building blocks, a 50 piece dinning set (for her kitchen), and a few Barney DVD's and CD's. Yes, our child just ADORES Barney!
I will continue to post pictures of our FIRST Christmas and Birthday with our precious girl. Have a wonderful wonderful Christmas!
