Birthday Part I

Dear Luthien,
I knew this would happen. I wanted to write about your actual birthday before your party occurred but I did not get around to it, and now I must recount both days...
It was nice to have you all to ourselves your birthday weekend- everyone went out of town since it was over the 4th of July, but we stuck around and found some fun things to do. On Friday evening we went to a free night at the Phoenix Children's Museum. It was a long wait but well worth it- tickets for even babies cost $9, I didn't even look at what adults cost! I wish we brought our camera to document your favorite parts of the museum: #1 was playing at the sand table. You actually liked this sand because it was very fine and dry- we made designs with cookie cutters and watched the different colored lights illuminate the table. You were totally into it. They also have a fun baby/toddler area with tons of climbing equipment and various activities. Your favorite was climbing up the stairs and looking down at daddy's face through the clear parts of the floor below you. I was crying laughing watching the two of you look at eachother through this clear floor. Anyone who knows dad even remotely well knows he can make some pretty funny faces. The next day we went to a book reading at Changing Hands, a long time Tempe bookstore that we love taking you to. Curious George was there to share his stories, and you LOVED it. I didn't think you would be as into seeing a giant monkey as you were. You also listened and behaved very well during the reading. So cute! That night we barbecued and had our own little 4th of July celebration. Unfortunately the fireworks part didn't work out the way I wanted it to, and it reminded me why I want so badly to move out of Phoenix. To make a long story short we tried watching the fireworks on our roof, but as soon as dad got up there he saw about 5 scorpions. We hopped in the car and started driving, but the traffic was so bad that the fireworks ended up starting, and the only place we could get to was Tempe Marketplace, one of Arizona's many (and newest, most popular) strip malls. You and I watched the end of the fireworks with a million cars racing in front of us, while dad tried to find a parking spot. We will have to plan better next year, and I'm sure you will enjoy it more anyway since you likely will have more energy at that time of night, and more understanding of what is going on.
I should probably interject with some pictures now. We didn't get pictures of any of the activities I have described, but here are a few random ones from the same weekend...


Dad was really proud of this outfit he picked out for you. He loves gray and brown together so much he doesn't even mind the bit of pink you are sporting. Actually, I have to say that dad is better at picking out your outfits than me! He's always been good with women's clothing, something I love about him. You haven't been wearing too many bottoms now that you have your cloth diapers and more baby legs, which is fine by me!



Here you are pushing your little walker around the house. I think I mentioned this before but this was the first time you did it using only one hand. The other hand is tightly clenching one of your favorite flax crackers. Grandad has said your cracker is kind of like your pacifier. You've never really used a paci but in the past few months you seem to always be holding a cracker. You hold on for dear life to it and take little nibbles throughout the day. Sometimes you prefer to give it to Roofus and then request another, a habit we are trying to break :) I love that you look like such a grandma in this picture!

Now, on to your actual birthday. We had your Uncle Rhett over for dinner and practiced a few of the recipes out we planned on making for your party. I have since found that I am one of very few people who like eating Gazpacho, but that's a different topic. You didn't like it at first but are liking it more and more as you give it a try. These pictures are a bit out of order but here you are playing with your presents. I mainly included this one because I love the way dad looks :)

More of you playing with your gifts. I can't remember if I've told you this but one of your very favorite things to do is taking off and putting on tops of containers, bottles, etc. We found this cute wooden "condiment set" where you can do this to your heart's content. Plus you don't get as frustrated because they're a bit easier to take on and off then other things. Again, no pants/skirt, sorry!

You LOVED this book we got you! It was funny, because at that point I hadn't really even sung you the song very much. I think you loved those round wheels mostly (although your circular obsession has lessened a bit, you still tend to gravitate toward round things). Now you love to dance and hear us sing the song that goes along with the book.

I love this picture. You can see your delight, immediately when you opened the present:

And here you are with your cupcake. You wanted to grab the flame so badly. Mom accidently bought trick candles, so after we sung to you and blew it out once, dad had the idea of letting you "learn" about the heat associated with the candle. You eventually did touch it and were very sad, until you realized that meant you could play with ice cubes. As far as actually eating the cupcake, we will never have the classic 1 year-old birthday picture with smeared icing on your face. I shouldn't have expected it. You ate two pieces of strawberry but would have nothing to do with the rest of the cupcake. I am happy my daughter chose the fruit over the sweet, however, I did work hard to make sugar-free (cane, at least) cupcakes for you! My crazy, picky girl!

Love, Mama

P.S. I'll write separately about the party.

California...(Birthday news to come)

Dear Luthien,
I've never been very good at writing titles, and I'm not sure how appropriate they are for this purpose so I hope you don't mind if I leave them out for the most part. Anyway, I want to tell/show you a bit about our California trip. We went to San Diego to visit your Aunt Carlie and Uncle Kade while they are living there this summer. We drove with your Nana and Grandad. We also planned on meeting up with Uncle Beau/Aunt Maria and your cousin Georges, and Georges stayed with us while Beau and Maria vacationed up north for the weekend. Before I rant (for the second time) about how I do not think road trips with little children should exist, especially when the travel lasts more than 7 hours and the whole trip only lasts 72 hours (sorry Rapier family!), let me just say that seeing your sheer delight at the sight of the waves on the beach made it all worth while. You are most certainly our water baby (although not an aquarius like your Dad). Although you love our man-made pools in Arizona and frequent them oft, it became obvious that nothing can compare to the natural-ness of the ocean. You got so excited with every wave, every seagull, every taste of the salty water. You could care less that the first day we went, it must have been about 50 degrees outside (although somehow the water felt warm compared to the chilly air and wind). You are still particular about certain textures, so I will say that you still are not sure about the sand. You don't mind when it's dry but that wet stuff- just plain weird. Here are a few pictures of you discovering the wonder we call a beach:








Your first encounter with the sand:



Here is a picture from the next day, nice and sunny, at the beach in Santa Barbara (yes, we drove to Santa Barbara Sunday morning, left for Phoenix at 5:30 that evening and mom went to work at 7:30 a.m. the next morning, why do you ask?) I love the old lady look you've been sporting lately. These were the cheapest, velcro style sunglasses we could find a few months ago and it just so happens that you LOVE them. Crazy girl. I think most babies would rip them off but you don't mind a bit, and I don't blame you. AZ sun in the face is not fun.



Here you are all tuckered out after a few hours at the beach; a rare sight to see. Wish we could go every day...



And a few more from the trip...Here we are at the pool. I had to include this one because it looks as though you are posing for the camera. Sorry about all the pictures of just the two of us! Really, there were more people on the trip!



I think you look so grown up in this picture. Something about your teeth and your hair, and perhaps your jacket :) Did I mention you are getting 6 more teeth all at once right now?! At this point we're all used to it- you've been steadily getting teeth since about three months.



I have to include this sequence involving you and Georges. You two were so adorable together. Here he is admiring you as you give his favorite stuffed animal a tight squeeze (one of your favorite things to do):

Next, he reaches in to take back what is rightfully his, and you quickly protest:

More protesting...actually, mini tantrum- as he can't help but show off his capture:

But alas, triumph! Actually, sweet Georgie willingly gave you his toy, and you can't see very well but he is giving you a kiss and saying 'sorry' for the whole calamity. Another example of how you are your Daddy's girl. For now we will consider it cute, but we are trying to teach you that you can't always get your way. Hard to do when you look at that face:



My baby Luthien, let me also just say Happy Birthday! On Sunday, July 5th you turned 1. I can't believe how fast you've grown. I will share more on this very soon. Your birthday celebration is not happening until the 18th, and I will have more to tell you then, too. A few notes before I end: You are so close to walking. You have the coordination down, I am sure, you just need the courage to take those steps without support. Your cautiousness is from your mother. You have, however, been walking short distances with only limited support, like holding on to one of my hand's. The past few days you have been repeating so many words, such as "keys," "amen," and "eye" very clearly. This evening you signed "milk." And you have been imitating the animal sounds for lamb and cat. "Mary Had a Little Lamb" is one of your new favorite songs. "Itsy Bitsy Spider" has always been a favorite, and lately you are really mimicking the hand motions well.


Good night little one, please let Mama sleep tonight.
Love, Mom

Growing Up

Well Miss Luthien, it has again been much too long since I've written. I wanted to write before we went on our little California vacation this weekend but did not get a chance. So I will update you on this past month's happenings and then about our trip. Dad and I really noticed this past week that you are really growing up and becoming a little girl instead of a baby. I guess that comes along with turning 1, which I can't believe is happening so soon! This past week you really started "cruising"- walking all along the furniture and other items as long as you have a little support. We decided to finally get you something to hold onto and push while you walk, since you were trying to do this with so many things around the house. Mom was originally searching for a cool (likely expensive) wooden version but we finally made the smart decision to get a cheap little walker since you will only be using it for a short time (I'm trying to do better with this....). Here is a picture of you and Daddy setting it up:


I haven't gotten a chance to get a picture of you actually using it- the first couple of days you got very frustrated with it because it's hard to keep up with on the wood. But now you love pushing
and walking all around the house. The only frustrating part now is our house is too small to keep up with you- we have to constantly re-direct you when you can't go any further! Notice in the picture your new camera smile. It's a bit different from the earlier fake smile. I can't decide now if you are squinting your eyes because of the flash or if you actually are smiling for the camera...I think it's a little of both.

As promised, here is a picture of you in a cloth diaper (and a few more just for fun). We started out using them part-time and it has been going very well- the new designs make it pretty easy, even for Dad. We are switching to full-time very soon.


Here is a really good example of the camera smile. We have a hard time getting you to keep your eyes open!


And one picture with your very best friend, Roofus. You two love looking out the front gate together- extremely cute. We got home from our trip this weekend in the middle of the night. When you woke up this morning the first thing you wanted to do was see Roofus. You couldn't stop hugging her (more accurately squeezing her). You are a true animal lover like your mama, I couldn't be more proud :)


A few final developmental notes (I'll really try to keep it short this time). First of all, your walk is so funny looking. I have always been a sucker for the Frankenstein-esque walk of newly walking babies, but yours is exceptionally cute/hilarious. You have the "duck" walk like your mom (opposite of being pidgeon toed- mom worked hard her whole life to overcome this). Your left foot really is turned out and whenever we try to turn it in you look at us very strangely and it quickly pops back out. Adorable. Secondly, your language has really expanded this month. You now consistently sign "more," "all-done," and "cold." You will also sign "potty," and a few others on command. As I have said before, you are an incredible observer. You study my mouth as I model words for you, and almost always attempt to say them. You have been able to imitate words like "balloon," "nana," "fish," "moon," and "birdie." You are becoming more consistent with saying "mama," (you've got "daddy" down of course, and also "more") "cat," "no," and a few others. You are understanding so much, more than I know I'm sure, but you really know your body parts now. You can point to your hair, eyes, ears, belly button, toes, feet, shoes, and sometimes nose, mouth, knees, and hands. You like songs with movements that you can imitate and/or do yourself, like "reaching for the sky," patting, kicking and other little hand motions.

I also want to tell you: 1) you are the best hugger- whenever you go to someone you know (especially Mom and Dad) you give them a big squeeze 2) you are such a swimmer- Dad takes you every day which helps, but you really are naturally drawn to the water 3) you are getting two more top teeth (that will make six on top!) and possibly two molars- some days are better than others in terms of your crankiness, sleeping, and eating, but in general you've been doing pretty good- I don't blame you for having a hard time!

Well that is all little one, but I will be writing again very soon!
Love Mama

Owies and Baby Legs

Dear Luthien,

Well, it was a fun (and full) weekend.  I came home Friday to discover you had developed quite a gash on your nose.  It was your second big fall, this time into the edge of the cabinet- one of your favorite places to play.  I told dad to get a close-up shot so you can see, but I think he wanted to destroy as much evidence as possible (he was very sad when it happened).  In addition to the cut your eye has been black and blue too :( You can get an idea of the owie from this picture:

 

Now, you are probably distracted by what you are wearing (or not wearing) in the picture! We found some UV "Baby Legs" that keep off the sun/heat and look very stylish with your new diapers.  Yes, this weekend we finally started using cloth diapers.  I've been wanting to for a while, and we finally went to a class this weekend that helped us make the transition!  Pictures of the full ensemble are coming- at first you could not get over the color and all the snaps, you just kept looking and laughing... Below is one more picture with baby legs, pre-diaper since I just can't get enough:

 

After our diaper class on Saturday we went to your second cousin Liam's 1st birthday party. First you wanted to give your cousins lots of kisses.  This is a new favorite of yours, since you have learned what kisses are.  Unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries at the best part, but here you can see you are about to lay one on Jack:

We then went swimming, and it was the first time we put you completely under the water.  You love the water so much that you did not mind one bit!  You came up with a sort of confused look on your face the very first time, but no crying.  We are pretty sure you'll be a swimmer like dad.  

After a long day we did our usual night time routine, including my favorite part, reading together.  I have read to you every night since you were about 1 month old, so I never really get to see your face from the front.  Dad took a picture of us, and I have to say it is so sweet to see how attentive and interested in the book you are.  I think we were reading "Global Babies"- one of your favorites, and mine too right now.  I am happy to report that this was your best night ever for sleeping (and good naps the next day!). Down by 8, woke up once at 5:30 to nurse, then back to sleep until 8 (well, almost).   We are hoping for the same success tonight, however, we may have to go swimming more often to tire you out! 

Good night Luthien.  I could write all night but I'm already getting to bed too late, as usual!

Love, Mom

P.S. You can now point to your toes and you were able to sign "all done" today at lunch.  Okay, I promise I'm stopping now....

Mothers Day, Milestones and More

Dear Lufin-

Let me start out by explaining why we call you this- we always said we would never have a "nickname" or feel the need to shorten your name in any way (believe me, we got asked this a lot when I was pregnant with you and continue to now).  You see, your good friend Beckam (one of mom's best friend's son) calls you this and it sounds outrageously cute when he does, so we kind of adopted it, against our will.  We'll see how long it lasts...

Also, once again I am so sorry it has been a month since I've written you!  So many things have happened and I'm sure I'll leave something out, but I'll do my best to outline for you now.

You had your 9 month pediatrician appointment fairly close to when you turned 10 months.  Mom was so excited to take you to the scale because she was sure you had gained a few pounds since the last visit.  After all, since you had learned to pick more things up with your fingers you had been eating better.  I was holding back the tears when the scale read a whopping 15 lbs and 11 oz!  This means you had gained less than 1 pound in the past month or so and were dropping lower and lower on the charts!  Luckily we met with a new pediatrician (same office) who was very encouraging about the whole thing, and far from worried.  After discussing a variety of things we concluded together that you are simply very independent and it's okay that you do not stand for sitting in one place being spoon-fed.  I know that your strong opinions and independent spirit can and will blossom into amazing qualities as you get older.  These are characteristics that I admire in your dad, we just have our work cut out for us now!  Since the appointment you continue to eat more and more things since we are not worried about giving you primarily finger foods now.  Thank you Luthien!

We signed you and dad up for a play/learn/exercise class with other babies and of course other moms.  I was very surprised to find out that you have had a hard time adjusting.  You are slowly getting less outgoing with other people, and even babies!  It may just be the larger group setting that freaked you out, but we have noticed that even your cousin Amelie is more interested in you now than you in her- must be another sign of your increasing independence :) I'm glad we signed you up when we did, the socialization is great for both you and dad, and I think they do a lot of great activities.

Concerning your development, as of this week you have started waving!  We need to catch it on video- you have the funniest floppy-wrist wave I've ever seen!  Your receptive knowledge continues to amaze me.  When we ask you "Where's the..." you either look or point in the right direction (still working on consistently pointing).  You sometimes will shout "ma!" or do a modified version of the sign for "more."  We are currently working on body parts- your favorite is "belly button."  You still don't show us your own body parts, but rather look or point at others'.  I won't list all the words you understand because there are getting to be so many- some of the newer ones are "frog," "bird," "fish," "uh-oh," "no," "kiss," "walk," "ball," "bath," and various body part names.  In terms of your language expression, all of the sudden everything has turned into "dog" which originally was your first and only word (very common for your age).  You do make some pretty close approximations to "book" and "ball" and I can hear a difference in the vowel sound when you are naming a dog vs. a cat.

You are definitely pulling yourself up on all the furniture but have not started actually cruising, but you love when we help support you and have you walk around the room or kick a ball.  When you hear music now you sometimes start to dance (something dad and I have been so excited for- baby dancing is our favorite), especially if we start dancing too.  One thing that you love to do is crawl around and then take "resting breaks" where you all of the sudden lay completely flat on your tummy as though you are going to sleep- so cute!  You love doing this on soft surfaces, so unfortunately your favorite place to do it is on the dog beds (needless to say these are now vacuumed every day)!

Mother's Day started out great because you and daddy made me breakfast in bed and let me sleep in a bit.  Shortly after dad got really sick, but you and I tried to enjoy our time together regardless.  I will have to write a separate letter to you as a belated Mothers' Day post.  I now have so many strong feelings about motherhood that I can't wait to share with you.  For now, I will leave you with some pictures:

Your new favorite thing to do is watch us while we are in the shower.  You just love anything to do with water so you don't care if it splashes all over your face, you just squeal with delight the whole time (or cry out in frustration if the water isn't touching you every second).

Of course this is the prime age for getting into everything.  The pantry is definitely a favorite of yours, and the dog treats in particular.  This pretty much sums up a typical morning while mom/dad are fixing your breakfast:

This was from a couple months ago but I thought it was important to document your first big spill.  Luckily Roofus was there to help clean up:

Here are a couple of pictures from the train park in Scottsdale.  You loved riding around on the train and relaxing with Mom.  Also note that you just learned how to hold your cup by yourself! If we let you, you would still have us hold it, but you are definitely capable of holding it yourself.

Lastly, here are a few pictures of a little fun we had fairly recently.  If there is one thing mom learned while working with kids during graduate school, it is how to turn regular tasks/every day events into language-learning opportunities.  Often times this involves making a mess (much to your dad's dismay), but that's all part of the process- there is so much to talk about when making a mess and cleaning it up!   I especially love having you around in the kitchen, where almost everything can lead to an opportunity for learning.  Here is what happened when we learned all about the magic of flour:

Good night sweet girl, and please try to sleep well tonight!

Love, 

Mom

Easter, etc.

Luthien- Well, here are some recent pictures of you, as promised....

I was dying to take you swimming since it started warming up (actually by now it has more than warmed up- record heat, which we're not fond of/ready for).  It's a long story, but by the time we finally got to the pool the day of your first swim, it was a little chilly.  You didn't mind one bit- you are not affected by water temperature we have come to find out (hot water heater just got fixed after almost a week of being broken and you still took your bath like a good girl every night).  This picture is pre-pool, we forgot to bring our camera to document you actually in the water :(  Just know that you loved splashing around with mom and dad.  

I'm sorry but I just have to add, isn't your halter bathing suit totally adorable?!
 

The Friday before Easter we had a party at your great Uncle Tyler's house.  Here is just one picture of you during the egg hunt.  You loved crawling around and picking up all the eggs.

The next day we went to Tucson to celebrate your Grandpa Edward's birthday, Easter, and attend your great grandmother Alberta's funeral.  It was a very tiring weekend for all of us for a variety of reasons.  You definitely enjoyed the Easter egg hunt with Grandma Linda, Uncle Ben/Aunt Kristin and cousins just as equally as the previous celebration, as you can see below:

Sitting nicely with your cousin Chloe:

This is the toothy grin you've been showing off lately.  Believe it or not this version is not as exaggerated as we often get.  Notice the arch in your eyebrows- looks exactly like daddy. When you make this face you simultaneously breath very loudly out your nostrils.  Where do you come up with these things?!

One highlight of the trip was going to the top of Mount Lemon (just the three of us), where you were able to see snow for the second time.  You loved it- again, you aren't very sensitive when touching cold things, so you loved picking up chunks of ice and snow and playing with them.

Last but not least, a stop to the Bedford home (your Aunt Carlie's family)...After peeing all over yourself and Holly at church, mom stripping you naked, etc., you were happy to spend some quality time in the sunshine with Garret:

A quick developmental update before I finish this entry: You have, for the most part, developed your pincer grasp (gripping items between your thumb and forefinger) as of this week!  Mom was pretty anxious for this since you will mainly eat finger foods only at this point.  Of course, you will only use it to pick up your organic puffs at this point- fruits and vegetables still frustrate you because they tend to be more slippery and harder to grasp, so you give up pretty easily.  

Congrats on your fine-motor progress baby girl!

Love you,

Mom

Hi Luthien-

Well, it has again been a long couple of weeks, but this is about you, not me. I am writing while on my lunch break at work so again there will be no pictures. I promise to post some after our Easter adventures this weekend!

Lets re-cap: at 8 1/2 months you finally started crawling- we always said it wasn't a completely normal crawl- kind of like you had a bum leg. Well, that has officially disappeared and now I can call you a full-fledged crawler. When you see something you want (usually a cat or dog) you are very speedy, too!

Mom is starting to accept the fact that you are not really into any foods that have to be eaten from a spoon. This means all my long hours spent making deliciously fresh (mostly organic) purees are coming to an end. I'm not quite ready to let it go yet since there is an exception to this rule- you LOVE my potato leek soup. You also seem to prefer anything that is very fresh- if it was made the day before and re-heated, forget it. I'm still determined to find more purees that you like because then we could get more volume into that skinny body of yours! Although you have more teeth than most your age, you still tend to cough/choke a little with some of the finger foods, so we can only do very small amounts at a time. For some reason whenever you have to eat off of a spoon you purse your lips and take the tiniest bites I've ever seen, except with the potato leek soup! I'm starting to wonder if/why you have an aversion to the spoon- my initial thoughts are to trace it back to the NICU or the oral vaccines....of course this is just my inquisitive, research-based mind at work. We haven't been back for your 9 month check-up but I am hoping you have gained some weight according to their scale. You definitely feel heartier to me and we've been working really hard to find things you like!

Speaking of teeth, your two top teeth came in and it looks very funny, and of course cute. I have to admit it is a bit hard for me to adjust to your new "look," I'm not sure why! You also have two more teeth on both sides of the middle top two that have poked through- just not quite visible when you smile yet. You have this habit of tapping/grinding your teeth together that is like 'nails on a chalkboard' for Dad and I...seriously, how is it possible to grind your front teeth?!

No new language milestones to report just yet. We're still working on various signs, pointing, waving, and consistent/meaningful productions of 'mommy' and 'daddy.'

You've been having a hard time sleeping at night again- last night you woke up screaming 4 or 5 times. I'm thinking your teeth are bugging you and hoping we can go back to only 1 waking per night.

You continue to have an obsession with anything that is circular shaped. This is probably tied with or a close second to your obsession with other babies/kids! We recently went to a friend's 2nd birthday party and it was very obvious how much you love being around other children-sometimes more than they do- you had the best time playing with and watching all the other babies. I was able to see your age cut-off the other day at the grocery store. You were totally engrossed with a girl who looked to be about age 6. You were totally uninterested, however, in her sister, who was desperately trying to entertain you but was the unfortunate age of about 9. My crazy, picky girl!

Well, we are off to Tucson this weekend and I will report the events of the trip when we get back!

Love you,
Mom

p.s. I forgot to mention how sad you get now when I have to go to work. I'm sorry I have to leave you and I wish I didn't have to go- it really breaks my heart. I do know that you are safe with Dad, even if he doesn't always do things the way I would do them!