Cuddle-Bug

generally, you would never hear me say "my baby girls is such a cuddler!" but this past week or so, it's actually been true. aria is finally learning to snuggle.

now, i'm not really sure how much of this has to do with teething and the fact we were sick last week, but it's been nice to have her snuggle up to me and just lay there...without using me as a jungle gym, pulling off my glasses (and sometimes hair) and jumping out of my arms to chew on the remote control. i'm hoping this all has more to do with her learning attachment than her being sick; she's always been very attached to her father and whenever he's around she's rarely content to be held/played with by anyone else...until recently. it appears my child might actually like me. she smiled at me the other day when i picked her up from the babysitters and when i got her out of bed yesterday morning, she hugged me rather than trying to climb out of my arms into her play saucer! it was a big moment.

but last night was the biggest thrill moment for me in a while...she fell asleep while i was holding her. now, to some most of you, that does seem to be a big deal. but if you know aria, you realize how big of a deal it actually is. besides being the most energetic child you've ever met, she's also slightly ....er... distracted. by everything. but last night she relaxed, got cozy in my arms and fell right asleep. it's like she's finally figuring out that she's safe. and there's no greater feeling than your content sleeping baby in your arms.

Mirror, Mirror

one of aria's favorite things to do is let me carry her into the bathroom and stare at the mirror...watching her and i make faces and letting her touch her reflection in the mirror - she couldn't be happier. she loves seeing herself in the mirror sometimes still gets confused as to whether i'm in front of her or holding her. these activities will go on as long as i let them...she's never bored with that mirror.

i look in the mirror at her and wonder...how will this reaction of hers change over the years? will she always look in the mirror and smile? or will she look in the mirror and wish someone...something else was greeting her? i personally think she's the most beautiful person God ever created, but will she always see her beauty, her inner beauty?

when she smiles, my life gets better - my whole world lights up when she laughs. i can only hope that her smile stays this real and genuine as she grows up. she expresses joy ever every little new discovery. the whole world is her playground, even if all she knows of that world is our living room, her bedroom and her stroller lol. she can be fascinated with the corner of a pillow for 15 minutes, never mind the incredulity she has when we show her a toy that plays music and lights up. so many wonderful things in her little world...will she always have a love for discovery?

when i pick her up in the morning after she wakes up, she holds on to me for dear life. when she's sick, she just wants to be held, which is relatively unusual for her, actually. when she's tired, she doesn't want to be alone, esp if her daddy is home. she loves hearing josh's and my voices and if she can see our faces and hear us at the same time - all the better. she needs us, and it's a wonderfully scary feeling. i want to be everything i can be for this little person who needs me. will i always be there? give her the best advice? and the biggest question, will i ever disappoint her because i don't meet her needs?

so many questions that run through my head just from a simple, daily trip to the bathroom mirror. i want to be the best mommy i can be, for her. but right now, she just needs a diaper change, so we'll start with that.

6 happy months :)

Yesterday was aria's 6 month birthday and we celebrated by lots of play time and a couple long naps :) just had me reflecting on the past 6 months that aria's been in our life and how our lives had changed....rather...if there were ways it hadn't changed lol.

aria arrived july 26th of this past year and right away, josh and i experienced a whole new kind of love - i mean, you love that baby to death before they're born, for sure, but when you get to look into their little , unfocused eyes and hold that tiny little bundle of not-too-happy-it's-so-cold-out-here, it's a whole other world. i found myself laughing and crying at the same time; it's really just indescribable.

and then we got home...and i became the mos paranoid person i know. seriously, i was a mess. aria would NOT sleep on her back - if we even so much as lay her down on her back she would scream, which doesn't make for good sleeping habits; thus, with aria sleeping in the not-at-all-recommended belly position, i had to monitor her every time she slept. and by "monitor" i mean, sit next to her cradle and watch her. at all times. i was nuts.

since then, i've relaxed a little on the whole "monitoring" thing lol, but with aria's very active lifestyle, she still requires quite a big of supervision, but not on the "hovering" level. she's managed to find herself in some of the oddest predicaments due to her uncoordinated movements all over the place...she has discovered a love for sticking her head in the corner of her crib and trying to put it through the bars. fortunately, we all know this will never happen, but the fact that she tries is...well, disturbing.

watching aria grow and learn new things and discover new noises coming out of her mouth has been a blast...she is definitely the most entertaining thing that could possibly have happened to our little family and i can't wait to see what the next 6 months will hold. probably a couple new words, teeth and steps :)

Who could say no to that face?

How beautiful is she? And no, I'm not biased.... ;)

First night away

yep... it happened. aria's first night away from home, away from mommy and away from daddy. she went to mimi's. alone. without me. by herself. it was a big step - can you tell?

for those of you who aren't parents you may not understand how big of a step this is - letting your little one stay with their grandparents is normal, everybody does it and it's perfectly acceptable. but the first time? oh, it's a big deal, let me tell you.

and for those of you wondering, yes, i cried. i was a mess - i'm so used to having my baby play with us at night in her saucer and the little "good night ritual" ...and she wasn't there. and it was sad. but it was good for me - i mean, i can't keep her home FOREVER. and it's not like my mom didn't take good care of her! in fact, i'm sure in reality, aria hardly missed us with all the spoiling she got; but still....it was a big deal.

in fact, after she left on thursday night, i wasn't going to see her again until friday night after my Thirty-One party, but friday was so lonely and quiet, i went up early so i could see her that afternoon...

one would think after almost 6 months of constantly being with your little one, you'd be ready for a break, and in a way i was, but they become such an integral part of your life - EVERYTHING you do revolves around them - that when they're not there it's....weird.

but all's well that ends well, and aria was truly happy as a lark to spend some time with mimi and grandpa and it was nice to get a full night's sleep...

Christmas Pictures

so, i promised them a while back and i just NOW found my connecting cord, so i finally have them...and here they are! at least a few of them lol...

She LOVED Papa :)

"how big is the girl? SOOOO big!" :)

treavor got her matching converses, and she couldn't stop staring at her feet :)

snuggle time with great-grandma!

"presents?! for ME?!"

I LOVE MY DADDY!

playing with her new toys from great-grandma and aunt gail!

meeting aunt gail for the first time

Alvin is her FAVORITE, esp the shiny guitar :)

new pretty dress from great-grandma!

Christmas Day 2010 :) Our first Christmas!

going to the Nash Bash, looking all pretty :)

who couldn't love that smile? Aria's, i mean...

Baby steps...

ok, no - she's not walking yet. but at the rate she's going, she may be soon! she's started to master the crawl/scoot pretty well, and can get pretty much anywhere she wants to go now. she's also entered a whole new phase of discovery in the realm of textures - anything she can run her fingernails across and make noise is her current favorite thing...as well as any flashing lights. she's still madly in love with my cell phone and gets very annoyed with me that i won't let her put it in her mouth. she still makes out with both her parrot and Jax (her little dog Josh gave her when she was born) and thoroughly enjoys leaving "baby hickies" on my shoulder.

teething is still in full force and while we've gotten used to the drool, the sleepless nights are definitely taking a toll. moving her back and forth from her swing to her bed to try and keep her happy and trying to keep that stinkin' pacifier in her mouth constantly is cause for much exhaustion over here. she's usually pretty happy during the day, which is a blessing, but evenings and "sleepy times" aren't quite as fun - can't wait till these blasted teeth cut through.

tonight is a monumental night as well - she's spending the night with my mom without us for the first time. gonna pack her all up and ship her off LOL - ok not quite, we'll be going up there tomorrow for a Thirty-One party. but nevertheless, this is a big step not just for her, but for me as well. i hope i can enjoy the quiet time lol.

jabbering is one of /our/ current favorite things she's going through....the little attempts at conversation leaving us giggling at her utter cuteness. she'll sing herself to sleep and talk to herself when she wakes up in the morning...she has serious conversations with her dolls and laugh, squeals and jabbers when we tickle and play with her... she's a blast, i can't lie. there's no greater entertainment than watching her play with and talk to her toys :)

Real Food!

since Aria was born, Josh and I have joked that Aria doesn't eat "real food"... i mean, seriously - have you smelled formula recently? gross. and she loves it (but only because she doesn't know better lol.) well, today things started to change...

Aria had her first "real food" today - it was squash. not really my favorite, but i want to start her on veggies before the sweetness of fruit ruins her tastes to anything healthy for her (josh and i are both sugar addicts, so i'm sure that will be passed on to our offspring.) so squash...lovely orange color which ended up on everything. the first couple bites were VERY uncertain...gave me a very funny look and spit it out. i thought "great, she already hates veggies"... but such as was not the case. when i put the food down to take a quick picture (because in only 2 bites she had already managed a rather sizable mess...) she got upset and decided she wanted more. within 10 minutes, she had finished all 5oz of the squash and was quite irritated when it was gone.

i had no idea that after eating 5oz of solid food, she'd still be hungry, but she was, so i gave her some formula and she was mostly appeased. however, after 5oz of bright orange squash - only 4 oz of which actually made it into her mouth i'm sure - she DEFINITELY needed a bath. she had it ALL over, and i'm not kiddin - we're talking her arms, her feet and after undressing her i even found it in her belly button. really? her belly button? she was wearing TWO LAYERS!!! so yes, she got a bath. and then, after all that work, she took a nap....but not after spitting up bright orange squash within 5 minutes of her bath.

i love being a mom.

Aria Learns to Crawl

so i know it's been an inexcusably long time since i wrote last and trust me, lots has happened. the biggest thing is (drum roll please!!) Aria has learned to crawl :) only slightly and she wears out fast, but she is definitely doing it! i guess i should have started with the fact that she's rolling over all the time now and i can't keep my eyes off her lol. she's growing so much every day it's incredible.

some other new things...she's obsessed with putting her hands behind her head for some reason... still teething and drooling all over everything. and not sleeping much for that matter - something i hope changes VERY soon. she jabbers ALL THE TIME and it's SO STINKING CUTE! she really is convinced that she's talking and will carry on little conversations with us - so adorable! she mostly talks to her toys - especially the ones with faces. even more cuteness :) she is starting to dance now when we play music and dance with her - she finds that great fun. she thinks yawning is the funniest thing ever - i dunno, never made me laugh, but it cracks her up. her best friend is still her parrot on her play saucer, whose head she chews on on a fairly regular basis...

on a not so happy note, i still haven't found the connecting cord for my camera yet, so... no pictures. at least from me - here's a couple cute ones from mom's camera :)