Nine Months!

Tessa Bear, you are nine months old now! Time is flying by! We had a wonderful first Christmas with you this year!

You are growing so quickly and learning new things every day! I can hardly keep up with you. Here’s what you’ve been up to this month:

• You are our petite little girl. You weigh 17 lbs, 1 oz and are 26 ½ inches long.
• You wear size 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers.
• You started sleeping in your own room this month. It was really hard on me at first, but now Daddy and I kinda like having our room to ourselves again! You are a really good sleeper and only wake up once during the night. You sleep for 11 hours at night and take 2 naps during the day!
• You are such a good eater. You have liked everything I’ve given you, with the exception of cottage cheese, blueberries, and rottini. Your favorites are chicken, toast, and strawberries! You also love to drink water.
• You talk a lot! Dada, Mama, and baba are most common. You also talk while you eat! You are so social, just like your daddy!
• Your hair is really starting to grow in and your little mohawk is almost gone!

• You are finally officially up on your knees crawling and get around so quickly!
• You pull yourself up on everything, even if you are still stooped over! You love to stand!

• You try to stand independently and walk on your own, which resulted in a big booboo on your little nose.

• You sign “milk” and respond to a couple other signs – more, play, all done, and we’re working on water.
• You are a pretty good traveler again, which is a good thing because you and I spend a lot of time on the road visiting relatives!

• You are a music fanatic! You bob your little head anytime you hear a tune. I bought you a piano and you absolutely LOVE it! Daddy, Nauni, and I took you to your first concert this month. We saw Hullabaloo, and you got to play the maraca and wave your little scarf around to the beat!

• You took your first bus ride this month from a downtown parking lot to Balboa Park.
• You have started to wave at your favorite people, which delights us all!
• You love to play with your big cousins and act like such a grown up girl when they’re around!

• You did a great job opening presents this Christmas! I'm not surprised! You love to try and play with paper all the time!

Here's a comparison of your first 9 months. Look how much you've grown!

Handmade Ornament Exchange

This year I participated in a Handmade Christmas Ornament Exchange over at Then Heather Said! We could make up to 5 ornaments and receive that same number in return. The ship-by date is tomorrow, and mine are sitting in the car, waiting to go to the Post Office tomorrow morning! (We went tonight, but I looked up the hours to the wrong PO, and our local one was closed when we got there.)

These ornaments were so fun and easy! I just cut out matching pieces of felt, decorated with buttons/beads, blanket stitched around the outer edge, and stuffed with batting! I actually have only made 3 of each so far. I was assigned my mom and sister as two of my recipients, so they'll get their ornaments when I go up to Riverside next week!

I was going to wait to post about this exchange until I've received my ornaments, but I wanted to link up to We Did It! Wednesday at Sew Much Ado. That way, if anyone needs last minute ornament ideas, here's an easy and quick one!

Sunny Saturday in San Diego

Today was an absolutely perfect day. Sunny, mid 70s, light breeze. I didn't have anything planned, and Ryan wasn't able to come home this weekend, so Tessa and I went to the park. We had so much fun swinging,

sliding,

rocking on the horse,

watching the birds,

wagon rides,

and practicing crawling!

Here's a little video of Tessa swinging and crawling. You can see her on her hands and knees for a couple of strides, then it's back down to her belly!

*Don't you love Tessa's leg warmers! I made them last night! I plan to make a coordinating onesie using the leftovers of the Santa hat I used for the leg warmers' trim.

Photo Dump!

My photo card is full, and I realized we've been so busy and I need to catch up with my blog! As is typical during the holidays, our days have been full of fun and festivities.

First off, I participated in a craft swap with Craftaholics Anonymous. I made a couple of flower broaches and head bands and Sarah made some flower magnets. We decided to work together on this swap and sent each of our partners stuff from both of us! I didn't get any pictures before I sent the packages off, but this picture is from my swap partner's blog. I love the flower broach! So easy and I think very beautiful! Sarah's magnets turned out to be super cute, too!

I got a nice little gift package from my partner. She sewed a bunch of things for Tessa and me! You can see she made a bib, a crayon roll, baby washcloth (so soft!), coffee cozy, and a kleenex carrier. Unfortunately, I forgot to remove the kleenex from the pouch when I washed it, so it now sits empty! Here is a link to her Etsy shop, if you're looking for a home sewn gift!

**Thanksgiving**
Ryan and I went to Ventura for Thanksgiving. My birthday fell on Thanksgiving Day this year, but it didn't really feel like my birthday. I don't know if it's because of Thanksgiving, or if having a baby takes the focus away. It was a really nice day, either way!
There was lots of family, as usual! This is the best group shot from my camera. 16 adults (nappers and photographers not pictured!), 1 teenager, 2 babies, and 4 dogs. That's a pretty small celebration at the Gallardo house!

Tessa had fun playing with her cousin!

She didn't get much turkey, but loved her green beans, and got her hand into the mashed potatoes!

After Ryan left to go back to Sacramento, Tessa and I drove to Riverside to spend time with my family. Here's what I got for my birthday from my mom and dad!!

I made the cover last night. It was pretty easy, and now I feel more comfortable just dropping my Kindle into the diaper bag or my purse and taking it wherever I go!

**December Nights**
Last weekend, when Ryan was home, we took Tessa to Balboa Park to see the lights and festivities! It wasn't too crowded when we were there, but the crowds were flooding in as we left. Pictures are of Tessa and I in front of the Dr. Seuss Christmas Tree, Ryan and Tessa cuddled up while we listened to classical guitar and enjoyed some hot chocolate, Tessa and Ryan listening to the didgeridoo player, and another shot of a didgeridoo player. I love this event and hope to make it an annual tradition with our family!

**Craft Days with Mama Groups**
This week, Tessa and I went to two different craft days. One was holiday crafts and the other was tutus and headbands. I love doing crafts and having other babies around for Tessa to play with, so both events were great! At the holiday craft day, Tessa ate a silver star, which caused her to choke a little, and the day ended not so nicely. The next evening it came out in her diaper and I was able to laugh a little at the big scare from the previous day.
Here are some pictures from the tutu and headband day. Tessa was racing Asher across the living room! She also loves little babies, and is here playing with baby Antonio.

These are some random shots I took on the way to craft day. The house we went to was in the Coronado Keys. AMAZING!!! The first shot is of my GPS as I'm driving over the Coronado bridge. I thought it was funny that it's just a green line going over the ocean! The second shot I took while driving over the bridge (Hence the crooked-ness!) of the infamous Carnival Splendor in the shipyard where it's being worked on. The final shot is in the Coronado Keys. Instead of backyards, these homeowners have boat docks!

**Mover and Shaker**
Tessa has been on the move! She is getting into anything and everything! I spend my mornings following her around as she shows me what else needs to be baby-proofed!

She has started to stand (with help from another object!)

She is very brave and daring. She thinks she can do things she can't quite do yet, like walk on her own! Thus, she has her first boo boo! (Sad Mommy here!)

She loves this book with pictures in it. Her favorite is this one with Daddy. She just stares at it and pets Ryan's face. She'll lean over and kiss it. Last night she was snuggling up next to this picture. I tried to get a shot of that, but she moved as soon as the camera came out.

Finally, we got the photos back from our shoot in October! I love them! Since I've already posted so many pics in this blog, I'll only share one today, and end this blog post with my beautiful smiling little girl!

~Snapshots of Life~ Thursday, 7:00 AM

My mom and I put up her Christmas tree on Wednesday night after Tessa went to bed. I love decorating for Christmas and don't usually get to because I live in such a small apartment. Plus, Ryan and I travel to visit relatives throughout the holidays, so we aren't home often enough to really enjoy the decor. So, I was excited to get to help my mom decorate her home this year! When Tessa got up Thursday morning, I turned on the Christmas tree lights and showed her our tree! We looked at some of our special ornaments and I showed her the ones her aunties and I made when we were little. You can see the angel I made in Kindergarten in this picture!

I am so excited to share this Christmas with Tessa! I want to make it a special season full of warm memories for Ryan and me, and begin new traditions with our little family!