I sat and thought today about how Alayna will be 1 year old in two months. 1 year old....I cannot believe it. I am going to be the mother of a 1 year old. I am having a harder time grasping that concept than I had turning 30. It is unbelievable to me that I will have a toddler. Anyway...I regress.
This past month has been beyond busy. Right before Christmas we had Alayna's 9 month pictures taken and we also had family pictures done. When I was trying to put together our family Christmas card this year I was shocked by how we have very few family pictures. There are a few from when Alayna was first born, but seriously I have that new mom look going on (lots of weight still, disheveled hair, dark circles, you get the drift) and I was NOT going to put that on a card for all to see and possibly keep forever. All the other pictures were of Derek with Alayna or me with Alayna since one of us is usually taking the picture, so unfortunately we had to go that route. Next year I will know to plan further in advance and take family pictures in October. So, we had family pictures taken and they turned out really nice. I have yet to be disappointed in JC Penney, especially for the price we pay. Here is Alayna's 9 month photo and a family picture.
Before we got our family pictures taken we took Alayna to see Santa Claus. This was her first time and hopefully a prep to Santa visiting daycare in the coming week. Well....it didn't go so well. She sat on the Big Guy's lap and looked at him with questioning eyes and then that bottom lip started to quiver. Next thing she is squirming and crying. We got a pretty funny picture of it all. Unfortunately, she wasn't any better when Santa came to daycare, she was still scared and cried for him that time too. Maybe next year....
The weekend of the 18-19 of December we headed to Milwaukee for Alayna's baptism and to spend Christmas in WI. It was a great time. Alayna did very well all through church and she was a vocal participant in her baptism. She loves baths, so she didn't mind at all when the water was poured over her head. Though she did smell for days from the oil the priest put in her hair. I guess that is the downfall to having a baby with a full head of long hair already. Old St. Mary
parish in Milwaukee was absolutely wonderful and the ceremony was very nice. It was so great to have so many people that cared about us there. Derek's parents made it in from Seattle and braved the cold for the weekend. My aunt Danielle, uncle Andrew and cousins made it from California and our friends Joe and Jenny with their little girl also made it. My parents hosted a really nice get together at their house afterward and everyone had lots of good eats and of course, in true family style, many desserts to choose from.
That week in Wisconsnin was so great, and even though we were there almost 9 days it went by so fast and we still didn't get to see everyone that we wanted to. There is just never enough time. Maybe some day we will make it back there permanently.
The day we got home we took Alayna to see the Gaylord Texan's ICE Show. The theme this year was Charlie Brown Christmas. And since that is my absolute favorite Christmas cartoon, I just couldn't miss going. We got to the show and got in line and as soon as the lights went down to see the "making of" movie Alayna was asleep. She slept through the entire thing (even when it was 9 degrees in the ice part of the show).
Family picture at ICE. Alayna is wrapped in Derek's jacket, fast asleep.On New Year's I stood up in my friend Brenda's wedding. It was such a beautiful ceremony. The pastor was great, making it very personal to her and Stephen. They had a great New Year's Eve party at their house to celebrate their marriage and the coming new year. Alayna partied with us until about 9pm when we put together her pack and play and put her to sleep in Brenda's bedroom. We got to enjoy the party without the worry of a baby-sitter or the crabbiness of an over-tired baby.
As for developmental aspects, this past month has been another big one. Alayna is eating all kinds of new things, many flavors of puffs and baby purees. But, she has also been introduced to goldfish crackers, graham crackers and cheerios. She LOVES all of them. I think she would eat that kind of stuff all day long if we let her, addicted to carbs already, just like her mommy. :-)
Alayna is also so vocal though still not really saying a true first word yet. She says momma and dadda with increased frequency though she still doesn't quite associate it with us yet. Unless she is whining about something than amazingly "momma" can be heard quite clearly. She is started to mimic tonations and syllables of words. She will say "dah" for dog and tried to mimic us saying "santa."
Alayna is also "cruising" on the furniture like a champ and will push the kitchen chair or foot stool around as her walker (see videos in other post). She is getting closer to walking though I still think it will be a few weeks to a month before that first step comes. She is still a little afraid to let go of something while she is standing. Derek and I work with her on her play mat and let go of her and she can stand on her own for about 15-20 sec before she loses her balance. It was pretty exciting the first few times when she did it and then looked at us with a look like "hey look at what I am doing!" ha ha
Here are some pictures from the past month.
Alayna being silly and playing with a stacking cup
Watching the laundry go around
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