11 months old today!

this month has been busy with the move, battling morning sickness/exhaustion, and the dogs being inside our new smaller place.  i wish i could've taken more pictures this month, but i couldn't find my camera from the move until recently.

milestones and happenings of this month:

• moved to a new place and required 3 days of adjustment =(  lots of crying, anxiety, and lack of sleep
  
• laughs like the dutch baby in the youtube videos!!!  i have waited 6 months for this!  i'm going to try and catch it on video tape
  
• smiles all the time (yes, this is a milestone for us)
  
• screams really loud for fun
  
• brushes her teeth by herself
  
• uses the sippy cup
• plays peek-a-boo
• climbs onto and off of the sofa, the coffee table, stroller, our bed, etc.
  
• climbs down the stairs the right way
• does that korean reflex exercise thing that all the korean parents try to get babies to do: jam-jam (opening and closing hands), dori-dori (turning head side to side), gonji-gonji (pointing finger into the opposite palm), jahk-jahk-gung (clapping).  this would be better described by video but every time i bring out the camera that's all she can focus on.
• points to everything that interests her
• 2nd earthquake for both me and alison.  feels a different than i thought it would

our goal this month: start going to a class again once a week (music, gymboree, etc.)  we need to get out. 

this month we realized that we cannot take alison out to restaurants anymore.  she demands too much of our attention and screams for fun.  our lives are slowly becoming more catered around the baby's schedule and personality.  currently, we are looking for a babysitter so we can have a life outside of the house once the baby goes to sleep.  just basically someone to be in the house so that we are not doing anything illegal by leaving the baby at home alone.

for the dogs, we hired a dog walker who takes the dogs everyday.  lifesaver and so worth the money.  they would go crazy in our 1100 sq ft place.

dean and i are planning a trip to china in august.  are we crazy???  i will be 6 months preggo and it will be so hot out there.  but sadly, i think this will be our last opportunity in a while to go on an adult trip and leave the baby at home.  having our parents babysit 1 kid is enough but adding another might be tough.

pregnancy update:  i am 14 weeks and 2 days today so i'm in my 2nd trimester!  but i'm still sick all the time and have no desire to go out.  my skin is like a teenager and i've already gained 8 lbs!  i eat to feel better.  i had gained 4 lbs by this point with alison but i think some of this weight also has to do with quitting breastfeeding when i was about 5 weeks pregnant.  i had my 1st trimester screen this month and my NT measurement was "elevated."  i knew something was wrong when the ultrasound tech was taking measurements, got quiet, then she told us she needed to show the doctor the pictures.  the doctor then came in and started to take the same measurements. he basically said that after my blood test results are available, i might need to think about having an amniocentesis.  well, i got my blood tests and the news is good.  chances of down syndrome are 1:327 (for my age, it's 1:725) but still less than 1% chance.  chances of trisomy 18 are 1:30,000!  so no more further testing for me!