Leah's 1st Birthday Bash

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Leah, who was turning 1 year old.

his little girl knew from the moment she woke up on her birthday that something special was going on. She knew she was the center of attention, and she thought that was the most fun thing!

Her Grandma & Grandpa were visiting her, and there was all sorts of decorating & cooking going on. She was in awe at the big round floating ball-looking things that her mommy called "balloons." And she also loved the crinkly paper things called "streamers."

When she woke up from a short nap, lots of friends started coming to her house. She saw her Uncle BJ & Aunt Chela, her "Uncle" Steve, and her friends Sarah, Ben & Mary Jo. They all played with her and told her how cute she was!

Then everyone ate hamburgers & salad & watermelon. The birthday girl wore a crown. But only for a second until she took it off because she did NOT want anything to mess up her beautiful hair!

Ater dinner, it was time for presents. The birthday girl wasn't really too sure what to do with them at first. But she did think it was pretty cool to play with the pretty paper and ribbons that the presents were wrapped in.

She got lots of cool toys. She always wanted someone to open them right away so she could play with them. But by the time she was done opening presents, she had so many she didn't even know what to do with herself! There were new toys everywhere, and so many people to play with. But her favorite gift by far was from her "Uncle" Steve. It was a ball pit! Daddy bought her some extra balls to go in it. She loves balls and having so many in one place was like heaven! It was so much fun to sit outside the ball pit and throw them all in.

And as if that wasn't enough fun for one day, then the birthday girl got to eat cake! At first she wasn't too sure why Mommy & Daddy were giving her this round thing in her high chair. But after only one bite, she decided it was yummy and she dug in, first trying to stick her face in it, but then realizing it was easier to use her hands to stuff it in her mouth! She ate the whole thing. And after one taste of ice cream, she wanted more of that too!

Turning one is hard work! And as soon as all her friends left, the little girl went to sleep. What a fun day she'd had!

1 Year Old!

My 12-month-old:

- Weighs 19 lbs. 9 oz., which is only in the 25th % for her age, but is almost 30 inches long, which is the 75th %. So I have a tall & skinny girl! (Also, her head circumfrence is 18 inches, which might not mean much unless I tell you that is the 80th %-- she has a big head.)

- Still takes 3 bottles a day at this point, but will soon be down to 2, and hopefully, to none by the end of the month. We just have to work on getting her to take milk from a cup!

- Is still a very good eater. She loves ham & cheese sandwiches and will eat a half of one, along with a cup of yogurt and even some mac & cheese in one sitting. She will eat any "grown up" food I feed her (seemingly because she likes that she's eating what mommy & daddy are eating). She is getting bored of Cheerios, though, and usually won't eat those!

- Still sleeps very well at night (at least 10-11 hrs.) but is a crummy napper. If she gets over an hour nap in the morning, she usually thinks she's done for the rest of the day, even though she gets really grumpy by 5:00. Once preschool starts (Tuesday!) full-time, she'll only be able to take her afternoon nap, at 2:00 (she'll probably fall asleep in the car on our way home every day), but I expect she'll sleep until at least 4 every day. Maybe she'll start sleeping in in the mornings to compensate for the late afternoon nap??

- Says "uh oh" appropriately, but not much else. She says something that sounds like "whazzat?" but not sure if she knows the meaning. She also said something that sounded like "hello" the other day when she picked up her toy phone. But when I prompt her, "Leah, say mama," she will respond "dadadada."

- Understands the command "give me a kiss" and will respond by leaning forward and putting her lips to yours.

- Pretends to "read" by pointing at the front of a book and blabbering all the syllables she knows, bzzabzzabee."

- Uses her pointer finger to point at things she likes (not necessarily things she wants, though). Lately she likes dogs. She points and waves at every one she sees, even the ones on TV.

- Loves to play peekaboo. She will grab a towel or sheet and put it over her head until someone says, "Where's Leah??" and then she'll pull it down and smile really big until you say, "There she is!" In the bath, she pulls the shower curtain in front of my face to try to get me to play.

- Is already getting into everything, even though she's not officially walking. I'm usually worn out by 9am getting her out of the magazines on the shelf, the toilet paper in the bathroom, the shoes in the closet....

- Finally learned how to crawl on her hands & knees with her belly up off the floor. She still resorts to dragging that belly if she wants to get somewhere fast, but most of the time, she's up now. And here I thought she'd skip straight to walking...

- Her favorite new thing is to hold her arms out for someone to pick her up. She constantly wants to be picked up. I've started pulling her to her feet and helping her walk to wherever she wants to go. But other people just can't resist those outstretched arms & pitiful pout.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

Dear Leah,


I can hardly believe it's been a year since you came into our lives. It has certainly been quite a journey. Those first few weeks-- well, first months, really-- were a little rocky. I wasn't sure you'd ever learn to sleep or eat or do anything on a schedule. I thought I'd never have any time for myself. Those days were full of so many emotions and fears that I barely had time to reflect on the fact that you were here. You were no longer safe inside my womb, you were mine & your daddy's to hold and to take care of.


The struggles with nursing and sleeping eventually got better, and then you started smiling and laughing and interacting much more, and then-- that's when I decided I could get used to this mommy thing. And I wanted so badly to preserve your every sound, your every move and every cute "thing." I wanted to bottle up your newborn smiles and sounds so I could hold on to them forever, because I knew even then that they wouldn't be here long.


And now, as you turn one, I am even more aware of that fact. You grow in leaps and bounds every day. It seems like you are constantly making new developments. And now I am no longer consumed with worries over whether you're eating enough or whether you'll sleep through the night or whether you'll take a nap when I need you to. Now I think more about what fun things we can do together, what new things I can teach you and show you and what cool new things you'll do every day. And I am constantly reminded that your Daddy and I only have you a short time-- we are only your caretakers here on earth, here to cheer you on as you aim toward the ultimate goal of one day meeting your Heavenly Father face to face.


But for now, you're stuck with us. We get you for at least the next 17 years. We get to watch you learn and grow and become the person that God is-- even now-- creating you to be. We are so excited to hear all you will have to say and see all that you will become. I pray that you'll keep your carefree giggle and unconditional charm, and that you'll add to it a passion and love for Jesus as your personal Savior. Happy birthday, little girl of mine!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

I saw this feature on a couple other peoples' blogs & I thought it was a cool idea. Each Wednesday, I will post just a picture-- no caption, no words. (Most of my posts are so wordy, you will all probably appreciate this!) Just something fun or exciting from the week. So here goes...

Preparing to Say "Bye-Bye" to the Bottle

I don't know why there isn't a lot of information out there about how to eliminate the use of the bottle. I haven't heard from anyone else how they did it. I know that it is a necessity-- it's bad for her teeth to have milk in a bottle just before bed, it's not good to rely on the bottle as a sleep aid, etc. But really, I am the reason she's not yet getting rid of the bottle. I suppose I could just stop giving her one, forcing her to drink her milk from a cup or not have any. But most of the time the bottle seems easier & quicker than putting her in her high chair, preparing a snack, waiting for her to finish, cleaning up, etc. etc. Also, the bottle almost always works to put her to sleep before a nap/ bedtime. It's soothing. (And I guess a small part of me is not ready for her to not be my baby anymore. Bottle time is the only time she'll sit still long enough for me to hold her.) She's still not quite one, so I know I have time, but I know it's only going to get harder as she gets older. So here is the new game plan (taken from an article on IVillage.com)

Strategies to employ to completely wean from the bottle:
1. Offer milk in a cup before every bottle feeding. I realize he may flat out refuse it, but persistance often pays off.
2. Wean gradually. I suggest that you eliminate one bottle -feeding every five to seven days, depending on your child's reaction. Replace each bottle-feeding with a cup feeding and extra holding.
3. Leave the morning bottle for last.Leave his favorite bottle (for Leah, probably the night time one) as the last one eliminated. When it is time to eliminate that feeding, do it slowly by decreasing the amount in that particular bottle over a week.

It will be much easier to start this once she starts school full time (Sept. 1st). They won't really be able to give her a bottle while she's there, so that will automatically eliminate the mid-day bottle (and hopefully she will be too busy to even notice it's missing). After school, she'll be napping probably until close to dinner time anyway. So then I'll just work on the morning one, offering breakfast as soon as she gets up instead of the bottle. The goal now is to be done by the time she hits 13 months.

Lake Day

Yesterday we went with our Sunday School class and another class to a local lake to enjoy a day of fun in the sun! The teacher of the other class has a ski boat and was more than happy to take us all out. Leah got to ride the boat, and at first she loved it-- the wind blowing her hair, the fresh air on her face. Then she got a little over-hot and probably hungry too and was almost inconsolable. So we took her back to the shore to relax while Brett & I got to go back out and get on the tube! We thought Scott was really "roughing us up" but once we got back on the boat, he said he was taking it easy on us! Ben & Sarah went after us & in almost every picture we took of them, they're at least 2 ft. off the water! So it was a fun day.

1 Going On 13...

Oh, the ever-changing moods of a toddler (or is this just a girl thing?):

From this...





















To this...






















In less than 30 seconds, too!

Meanwhile, Leah's been learning a lot of new things lately.

She says "uh oh" fairly clearly, and at appropriate times, too. She seems to actually understand what it means, and sometimes it seems like she'll intentionally drop her paci just so she can say "uh oh."

She finally gets the sippy cup. (This is the 4th brand I've tried, and also just so happens to be the cheapest. Now once she gets started, don't dare try to take away her cup!)





















She holds a phone up to her ear in the appropriate way and can pretend to stir imaginary tea in her tea cup.




















And lately a fun thing for her is to pretend to "mop" the floor with a washcloth. My little Cinder-Leah!




















And, oh, does she climb!! (Apparently she likes Jeopardy...)






















Last weekend we went to a kids' fair at the fairgrounds. It was a Christian evangelism-type event. They didn't have a lot for Leah's age, mostly things to bounce in, games to play, but the clown made her a ladybug-shaped balloon. (She wasn't scared of him at all and loved the balloon.) She also had her first snowcone. And she loved to watch the people on stage singing. Next year I'm sure she'll have even more fun.

Seriously?

I am in total agreement with this article from Reader's Digest this month:

http://www.rd.com/living-healthy/bubble-babies/article150007.html




Things I cannot believe moms pay money for:

Knee pads for a crawling baby?

Gummy crib railing...

A bathtub bumper?? You also can't see it here, but the faucet is covered with a cutesy little fish bumper. Really?

The only childproofing we've really done is outlet covers and a gate at the top of the stairs. We will probably also add cupboard locks and maybe a gate at the bottom of the stairs, but that is it. When she is walking, I'll make sure the bathroom doors are closed. I fully believe there is power in the word "no" and a little re-direction, even for a toddler. Also, I've never really been worried about germs. If the paci falls out on the floor, face up, I quickly pick it up & put it back in (maybe not in public, but at least at home). If she wants to crawl around in the mall play area where millions of kids have probably been running around, no big deal. And she's only been sick maybe twice in her little life.

Now maybe if something serious happened to my child to warrant needing an item like one of the ones above, I might understand a little better. But really, a toddler is going to fall every once in awhile. She will probably bump her head (and she does at least once a day). She will probably scrape her knees. But she will be fine, and probably even forget about it in the next few minutes. We cannot protect them forever. And that just made me realize that the process of letting them go begins the day they're born.