Pictures of Ariella's Birthday!

Ariella's Birthday Party

Ariella's party went really well overall. We had a big turnout, 27 people, 5 of which were kids. I was very happy with how the decorations and food came out. My photographer friend came early, and Ariella did a photo shoot. She even took pics standing while holding onto a chair. She stood there a long time. I thought she'd fall for sure, but she didn't.

Then, Ariella took a nap, and was asleep for the first 15 minutes of the party. Luckily people were still arriving, though. After she woke up, I brought her in the living room to play. I put her on her rocking dog (not my brightest move, with all the presents right there). She fell off of that, oops, bad mommy! But she got ok very soon, phew.

Then we did food. I fed Ariella chili and apple sauce. Then, she got fussy, so I took her into my bedroom to nurse quickly. I think most people thought I was doing a diaper change.

Then we did presents. It was a lot of presents, and Ariella got a little overwhelmed. I guess it was a lot given that she's not used to many people.

Then, we did the cake. I took off her dress, but she was covered very well by her 1st birthday bib. She went to town on the icing! I think the cake was a little firm or maybe they just did a lot of icing, but that was all she got, the icing. She ate a good bit of it, too. Then, she pulled off her hair bow, covering it with icing and tried to eat her bow. Then, the icing was in her hair. Then, she was tired I guess, because she wiped her eyes. Oops. So, icing everywhere. Then, off to a bath because I'm sure icing in the eyes is not good.

After that people started leaving. All in all very nice party, perhaps a bit too much for her, but I think she had fun. At least when she's older, she'll know we really went all out for her first birthday. :-). For me, the party was kind of a whirl wind. It went by fast, as I was kept super busy by Ariella. I got to eat a little chili, but didn't even have cake until the party was long over. I guess that's pretty typical. I didn't get to talk with the guests as much as I would have liked either. But, I was very happy with how it came together.

It's Been A While!

I haven't posted in quite a while! It's been absolutely crazy at work. And, of course Ariella has been keeping me super busy. I can't believe she's 1 already!

Some more recent things with Ariella:
1. Her mode of transportation is scooting while sitting.
2. Just last night and this morning she has really started sitting up on her own from laying down! She had kind of been able to do it previously, but she did it when we laid her down in her crib, and then she was sitting up again when I got her this morning! Exciting stuff. I'll bet she'll be pulling up, crawling, and cruising very soon.
3. She does "Arms Up" on command.
4. She does "Clap" on command maybe 50% of the time.
5. She does "Wave" on command maybe 10% of the time.
6. We had another Parents as Teachers visit, and the lady said that Ariella has excellent fine motor skills.
7. Her favorite words are "eat" and "ate".
8. At her 12 month doctor's appointment she was 20 lbs 3oz (25-50th percentile), 30 inches (75th percentile), and head circumference 50th percentile. My little baby has leaned out! The doctor was very pleased with her growth.

Breastfeeding:
We're still breast-feeding! We made it through a nursing stike and getting sick, which killed my supply about a month ago - but she's back to being a champ of a nurser. I've been drinking Mother's Milk tea for about a month now. I bought a lot from Amazon. I can't wait until it's gone. I'm getting so sick of that tea (but don't want to waste it by not drinking it)! I'm still pumping at work twice. My freezer supply is down to 60oz (from 156oz). I should make it to the end of the month before it runs out. Then, I'm going to start her on organic goat's milk to add to the pumped breast milk. At the same time, I'm going to cut down to pumping only once at work! Hooray!

Sick

Tyree got Ariella and I sick. I seem to have gotten the worst of it, though. Ive had a fever of 101.1, coughing - so much coughing, a burning throat, aching, congestion, exhaustion, the works. Luckily, I think Ariella is almost over it. She had some fever 1 night, but mostly just a little congestion, coughing, runny nose. I took her to the doctor, twice, but it's just a cold. Meanwhile, I went to the doctor today. I have a prescription and orders for lots of rest and fluids. Unfortunately, most of the comfort measure medicines are ones i can't take because or breastfeeding, either because it would hurt Ariella or dry up my milk supply. Breastfeeding has become very hard. My supply is low, and Ariella is only nursing in the morning, and for a very short time. I might have messed up by lowering her amount f milk during the day and transitioning her from the bottle to the sippy cup, where the milk comes out much faster. I'm not sure if I can fix it. I'm trying. I figure I need to get my supply back up, which is hard with her not nursing really. I've even started drinking mother's milk tea. I was wanting to nurse until the end of her 2nd year. The health benefits are so much better than cow's milk. But, that might not happen. It makes me sad, but at least we're going to hit the 1 year mark, even if she doesn't go back to nursing. All this pumping is wearing my body down, I hope I get well very soon. It's hard being a mom and being sick.

Ariella said "Daddy"!

We were so excited. Last night, clear as day, Ariella said "Daddy"! She said something dada-like a couple of weeks ago, but this was the first very clear "Daddy". Tyree was very excited. He couldn't get her to say it again, though. A little while later she did say deity, which was close. Tyree asked her if she was being religious. :-)

Can't wait for her to say Mommy! Or Mama! Hopefully I won't have to wait too much longer.

"T"

Ariella's baby vocabulary has been exploding lately! This past week she's really been into the "t" sound. She says "ate" and "eat" a lot (not with meaning - just babbling). She also says "geet" a lot and "geet-ah" sometimes. Tyree has been trying to teach her to say guitar - lol. And, she's done "dee-dee" quite a bit and "dada" a couple of times. No "mama" yet, but I'm sure it will be soon. It's such fun to hear her babble. I've been singing the alphabet song to her a lot lately. She really gets a kick out of that one - lots of big smiles.

Sleep Training Update

Sleep training with Ariella has been very successful so far. One night she didn't really cry at all! Last night she had a little more trouble, but still not more than 15 minutes of off and on crying. Overall she's getting a LOT more sleep - almost 11 hours most nights. And, I'm getting a LOT more sleep, too.

I realized that Ariella has grown too big for her 9 month size pajamas (she is almost 11 months old after all). Last night all of her footed pajamas that fit her were dirty. So, I put her in some footless ones. I think maybe her feet were cold, which might have been a cause of some of her trouble getting to sleep and getting back to sleep. I ordered some new ones online in the 12 month size, and I'm going to get a couple more this weekend as well.

The hardest part of this sleep training is that I really have started missing seeing her at night. That's 11 hours that I no longer get to see her/talk with her/etc. Plus, no more night nursing sessions. No more nighttime cuddles! It's almost like I got another full-time job that forces me to be away from her. It's made going to work each day a lot harder. I know I'll adjust and that this is much better for her, but it's really a tough change for me. Tonight when I get home, she'll most likely be asleep! At least Fridays are work from home days, so I'll be able to remedy my Ariella withdrawal.