Crawling and Walking!

Taylor began crawling sometime last week, and taking a few steps. Since then, she has progressed so much that she can crawl across the whole house (army-crawl style!) and take multiple steps (even pivoting her feet!) towards people or her activity table! Normally, she takes her steps when we hold her out and then let go. This morning, however, she took the initiative and let go of my shoulder (which was propping her up at the time) and walked about 8 steps to her activity table! Let the baby-proofing begin!!
Here are some pictures of our little girl moving around the house, and some other cute ones that I wanted to throw in!

Walking with daddy...

(no, she does not have a leaky diaper... she was drinking out of her sippy cup!)Trying to balance myself!
Almost there!Made it to daddy!
Walking rocks!

Crawling has become her second activity of choice!

No matter what toys she has, following mommy around the house is the most fun!

How YOU doin'?

Hanging out with my pal Madison!

Helping daddy with his exercises!

My activity table is the best toy!

Relaxing with mommy!

And here is what happens when mommy or daddy won't walk with me....

TANTRUMS are starting already!

Caught Red Handed!

Lately, things have been mysteriously disappearing from the tray next to Taylor's crib and ending up on the floor. We also often hear bangs and scraping sounds on the monitor when someone is supposed to be napping! Sam and I had a theory, that our playful little munchkin has let her curiosity get the best of her. To test our theory, I placed her beloved Nuk on the tray and hid by the door with a camera (clearly, I have a lot of "down time" this summer break!). Here are the events that ensued:

Object of desire sighted.

The initial reach - this involved a lot of straining and grunting!

Closer... almost there...

Victory is mine!

Ahh! Satisfied!

Yeah I did it... you wanna fight about it?

Oh mom, I can't be serious with you!

8 Months Old!

Getting ready to go to the beach!

On our way out to dinner to celebrate our 3rd anniversary!

Walking with her Leapfrog push-toy

It took a little while, but I love my walker now!

Roaming down the hallway!

On July 24th, Taylor turned 8 months old! We have been thoroughly enjoy watching her grow every day while we are home for the summer with her. She is getting so big, she's almost grown out of her 6-9 month clothing! She has been babbling a lot lately- she is a very chatty baby! We listen to her babble in the monitor all of the time!

She has been progressing SO MUCH with her walking, too. I was at a garage sale recently and purchased her a walker, a Leapfrog push-toy, and a Leapfrog activity table. At first, she was terrified of the walker - she wouldn't even go near it! After about a week though, she realized that she could freely walk around our kitchen, and she absolutely loves it now! She also can walk with her push-toy across the living room, and stands and walks around her activity table. A few times, she stepped away from the activity table and stood on her own for a few seconds before falling down (we caught her of course!). It was almost as if she was attempting to take a step, but then got too nervous at the last minute! She loves it. She even throws tantrums (yes, REAL tantrums) when she wants to walk and we won't walk with her. We think she will be taking her first steps in the next couple of weeks.

During the month of July, we have enjoyed taking her to the park, to the pool, and to our first family vacation in Michigan, where she spent her first day (or hour and a half!) at the beach! She has been adorable in the water! When we went to the pool for the first time, we stayed in for about 2 hours total - she was so relaxed, she almost fell asleep in my arms! We're going to have to get to the pool a few more times this summer. She was a little more timid at the beach. She liked walking into the water on the shore, but once the water reached above her waist, she got a little nervous! And of course, no trip to the beach with a baby is complete without her taking a bite out of a clump of sand!! (the one SECOND that Sam and I were both looking away!) Yuck!

Here is an update on Taylor's likes and dislikes...
Taylor likes... playing in her crib, rolling around on the ground, WALKING, her jumperoo, her walker, her activity table, her push-toy, WALKING, books, mango puff snacks, water, WALKING, remote controls, dolls, brushing her teeth, putting things in her mouth, WALKING, exploring, listening to music, listening to mommy singing, biting things... oh yeah, and WALKING.
Taylor dislikes... when no one will walk with her, sleeping in new places, her bath (when she's too tired), getting her diaper changed, putting her pajamas on after her bath (she would rather roll around on our bed), becoming too tired, nightmares (she seems to be having them lately, though not too often), getting her nails clipped, and hearing mommy and daddy say "no!"

Summer Fun and 7 Months Old!

Mid-shriek!

Trying to sit up - check out the determination in her face!

Lounging around!

Out for a walk!

Relaxing in my exersaucer!

Check out my new swimsuit!First time in the pool!I love the pool!

Summer is officially here, and we have thoroughly been enjoying our summer at home with Taylor! She has become so interactive, and showing more personality every day. On June 24th she turned 7 months old. So far during this summer, she has enjoyed her first kiddie pool experience, a couple of trips to the zoo, and a countless number of walks outside.

She is sleeping through the night now (WOOHOO!) typically from 7pm-6:30am. She also takes two solid naps, one in the morning for about 1.5-2 hours, and an afternoon nap about the same length. Depending on the timing, she might also take a 30-45 minute nap in the late afternoon. She has tried a lot of new fruits and vegetables - some of her favorite include butternut squash, avocado, sweet potatoes, bananas, peaches, mango, and carrots.

She has begun babbling earlier this week, putting together strings of "bababa", "mamama", "tatata", and "dadada". She also shrieks, spits, and blows bubbles all day long! Her favorite hobby is still WALKING while holding our fingers. She doesn't want to do anything else! Although it goes against the recommendations of most pediatricians, I might break down and get her a walker. We'll see....

I hope you all have a wonderful Independence Day weekend!

6 Month Pictures!

Posting these pictures has been well overdue - we took them a couple of weeks ago when she turned 6 months old! We absolutely LOVE how they turned out! We also had her 6 month appointment about two weeks ago. We can't believe how big our baby girl is getting! Here are her stats:

Weight: 18 lbs 11 oz. (91st percentile)
Height: 26 inches long (56th percentile)
Head size: 43.5 cm (76th percentile)

5 Years Cancer-Free!

We are happy to announce that on June 3rd, Sam was able to celebrate 5 years of remission from cancer! While we never will forget the 9 months of chemo, radiation, and surgeries, nor will we forget the months of physical therapy to follow, we are more focused on the triumph than the struggle. We are more than thrilled to be able to celebrate all that Sam has accomplished since June 3rd, 2005!

-June 3rd 2005 - Sam is officially in remission, Sam & Cheryl get engaged!
-Sam is able to drive again in the fall of 2005.
-He returns to Lewis University to continue his studies. He graduates in 2007 and continues until May of 2008 to obtain his teaching certificate.
-Sam & Cheryl get married on July 21, 2007.
-Sam & Cheryl buy their first home in Minooka in the fall of 2007.
-Sam lands a job at Minooka High School as a science teacher, a job that he loves!
-Sam has travelled to London, Edinborough, Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Milan, Pompeii, as well as countless U.S. cities!
-He has seen and been to MANY Sox & Bears games, and has seen the Sox win the World Series, was able to be at a Bears playoff game, and be at game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals to watch the Hawks win!
-He has welcomed nephews and a niece into our extended family
-Most importantly, he became a dad to beautiful Taylor Grace Pavelka on November 24, 2009.

Every day is a gift, and Sam continues to enjoy every minute of it! Feel free to post any of Sam's accomplishments that I may have forgotten!

Officially in remission (with a ring hiding in his pocket...)London!
Graduation!Our honeymoon in Italy - hiking in the Cinque TerreHoneymoon in Italy - visiting FlorenceHiking the Great Wall of ChinaOur wedding!Rome!The arrival of our little miracle, Taylor Grace!