Kaia's Milestones

Yes, the rumors are true... it is IMPOSSIBLE to parent a second child as carefully and obsessively as the first! I recently realized that Kaia has been sailing past milestones, without any of my acknowledgement on the blog or even in her baby books. Before all of her milestones pass without mention I am going to list some of them here on the blog!

Kaia started crawling ("inch-worming") at 7 months, and by 8 months she could crawl almost anywhere! Just last week she started crawling DOWN stairs. Now she's really unstoppable!

 Kaia's eyes have just started to change color. (Not really a milestone, but I think it's worth mentioning!). Her eyes were blue until very recently, and our Dr. confirmed at Kaia's well-child check last week that she shares my opinion that Kaia's eyes are tending more toward "hazel" lately. They are still more blue than any other color, but tend to change and are a bit more gray lately.

For the last month Kaia has been having lots of fun opening and slamming doors, opening cupboards and pulling things out, and pulling up on everything and "cruising." She has actually been cruising for a couple of months. Other milestones:
1. Kaia seemed to start saying "mama" and "dada" around 5-6 months of age, but it certainly seemed like babble. Now she seems to use those words more intentionally. She also seems to say "dog" ("da") and "hi," but we can't be sure. Her favorite method of communication is to point at what she's interested in and say a sharp little "duh/dah" sound. I felt the same way about Sophia learning to talk... I never could pin down a "first word" because her transition from babble to intentional language was so long and "fuzzy."
2. Kaia's first 4 teeth came in all at once shortly after 6 months. She now has a top tooth and bottom tooth coming in, both on the left side of her first 4.
3. At Kaia's well-child check up last week she was just over 19 pounds and is in the 75th percentile for "height" and her weight is finally just right for her height! She is wearing mostly 18 mo clothes now, with a little 12 mo mixed in.
4. Kaia eats EVERYTHING. Quesadillas, pizza, apples, blueberries, cucumbers and tortellini are some faves in addition to baby food and snacks. She's a carb girl like her mama ;D She is also slowing down on nursing! She typically has 8 or 9 ounces of expressed milk during the day with Travis BUT, during my mom and dad's visit this week she has only been having 3-6 ounces and LOTS of "adult" food... hmmm... maybe daddy needs to stop babying someone. ;) She nurses twice in the evening and usually twice at night. The Dr. said we can start transitioning to cow's milk next month, but I plan to continue nursing as long as she'll go! (Well, within reason).
5. She is starting to react so differently to the world around her. She loves "flinging" things  (toys, food, etc.) and is starting to manipulate a toy with different buttons/levers/etc. for popping up animals. She presses the "music paw" on two different talking/singing stuffed animals and then rocks to the music. She seems VERY interested in music; one of her favorite bath activities is bouncing and listening while I sing happy birthday as I brush Sophia's teeth! She loves pressing buttons on the remote, the radio, our phones, etc. and has placed her first 911 call ;)
6. Kaia started waving and clapping about a month ago, as well as playing peek-a-boo. She likes to crawl behind a curtain or closet door and pop her head out and I say "peek-a-boo!" and then she'll be beside herself with delight :)
Kaia is changing every day!