15 Months!

This post was ready on her actual 15 month birthday, well, all except for downloading the pictures which is why it's getting posted today. But still a lot sooner than in the past. :)

Briella, it's been a fun and busy month! I can't believe that you are already 15 months old! I love watching you learn and grow and change!

All of the things that you seemed to hate last month have become much easier and more pleasant experiences. Thank goodness! Getting dressed isn't usually a struggle anymore unless something is  hard to get on or off. And now you actually like putting shoes on. Yeah! That makes it so much easier when we want to go outside! The hair thing is hit or miss. If you are distracted and don't notice that I'm trying to put a pony tail in it, then you are fine. I don't do your hair everyday, but you are learning on the days that I do start doing your hair that we WILL finish. It's a good lesson in obedience. :)

You learned how to sign "all done," which is so nice! Communication is so much easier now! We are also working on "please." You have the sign down, so now it's just teaching you when to use it.

You have officially been weaned as of five days ago. Weaning you was really hard for me and the last time that I nursed you I sobbed. Breastfeeding was such an amazing experience and I am beyond grateful that I was able to nurse you! I will miss those moments of just you and me!

This month seemed to have been the month of injuries. :( First, you decided to grab a bee while we were outside. Yikes, was that an experience. I didn't know how to get the stinger out and you were screaming/crying while I called daddy to see what he would say (and also for some moral support for your momma). Well, he didn't really know, but he left work and headed home (you have an amazing daddy!), so I called Grandma. We tried the credit card trick to flick it out, but I wasn't having any success, which led to laying you on the floor straddling you with the uninjured arm pinned and I just grabbed and pulled it out. Thankfully, the crying stopped immediately and you were fine. Also, thankfully, you are not allergic to bee stings like your momma. I was so happy when that experience was over!

Next, you decided to take a spill while pushing your walking toy and flipped over the top of it and hit your mouth on the floor bar of the elliptical machine. A fat, bloody lip was the result (picture below). Actually, it bled a lot. Daddy was home for this incident and he was much more clear-headed than I was and acted quickly. At least you got to enjoy your first popsicle to help with the swelling. :)

Other injuries include trying to crawl out the front door forward rather than turning around backward like you know to do, resulting in falling onto your chin and scraping it up. Then another bloody mouth from taking a spill in the mountains. I guess we are just at this stage where injuries are going to abound no matter how careful we are. Makes me sad, but I am thankful I get to cuddle you.

Walking! Well, sort of. Finally, you will walk between Momma and Daddy without having to hold on to one of us. Yippee! I know that your confidence will all of the sudden kick in and you will start walking all on your own very soon.

Pictures

 

Pool Time!

It's easier to get the bows and headbands by just getting into the drawer. :)

Big girl in her chair.

"I don't want to sit down in the chair! I want to stand!"

Hanging out in the bouncer so Momma can get stuff done in the yard.

Day Trip to Red Canyon Lodge

 



 

 

Fat lip :( Not sure how well you can see it, but it's the upper right.

You learned how to open the sliding screen door. Uh oh...

I like the irony of the shirt that says "this is my little black dress" and the fact that you are playing in the dirt and covered in chalk. :)

I just love the look on her face. Ha.

Smelling the flowers.

She fell back asleep after daddy got her up from her nap. Guess she wasn't done.

Rockin' out.

With cousin Ahlyvia.

Bits and Pieces of Life

1. Friday, I nursed Briella for the last time. I knew it was going to be hard, but I didn't anticipate how emotional I would get over it. I know that it's time, but I was sad. Really sad. Sobbing sad. I love her and I'm really going to miss those moments that only her and I shared. Time flies way too quickly.
2. Friday night was the Relay for Life that goes all night long. This was the first night that I've stayed up past 11:00 in a very long time and it was also the first night that I have ever been away from Briella. Kind of weird and kind of freeing at the same time. Saying goodbye when Ryan and Briella left to go home was a little hard. However, participating in the relay was a lot of fun and I am really glad that I finally had the chance to be involved. Thanks to Ryan for keeping Briella for the night and taking care of her most of the day on Saturday so I could get some sleep. :)
3. Today, I started the Insanity workout program and I believe it is appropriately named. Ha ha. Day One is just the Fit Test and that kicked my butt! This is going to be good! Dropping the last 10 baby pounds plus the other 10 I needed to lose before getting pregnant is the goal. Really, I will just be super happy if my pre-pregnancy pants will actually fit. Ha ha ha.
4. Summer is here!!! And I couldn't be happier about that! Briella and I spend a lot of time outside enjoying the sunshine, playing and exploring. I feel like this is the first summer in the last few that I am actually getting to enjoy. In 2011, I was pregnant and slept the summer away and last year Briella was still so little and I was very slow in adjusting to mommy-hood. So, yippee for this summer! We are going to enjoy every bit of it!

Pictures I Missed

So, apparently, I didn't download all of the pictures from Briella's 14th month to my computer, which means I missed a few cute ones. :) I HAVE to post them, of course. Ha ha.

So Happy :)

And a few seconds later...

Notice all the milk she decided to let dribble out while drinking. Yikes.

14 Months!

Briella, you are growing up so fast!

One of the sweetest things this month is your kisses! You have started giving kisses, sometimes when requested and sometimes just when you feel like it. It's always a guess as to which kind of kiss you are going to give, as they range from just a lean in to an actual lip smack to a mouth wide open "I'm gonna getcha" kiss. My favorite is the lip smack kiss. Just so darn cute!

Daddy taught you to pat your chest to say "I love you" whenever he is leaving or saying good night. You caught on quite quickly and sign it all the time now to everyone. Sometimes it's even an indicator that you are ready to leave wherever we are since you associate it with leaving. :)

Last month, I talked about how you've learned to climb the stairs and how much you love it. Thankfully, now you have learned equally as well how to turn around at the top of the stairs and come down the stairs backwards rather than trying to go face first.

And now it is not just stairs that you like to climb, you pretty much try to get your leg up on anything within range of your knee. I think we definitely have a climber on our hands!

You are so close to walking, but just haven't dared try it, but you do like to crawl on your hands and feet a lot instead of your hands and knees. However, you are much faster at the hands and knees crawling, so you usually revert back to that. But, I take that a sign that you are getting closer to walking.

A new, not-so-fun development is that you hate, and I mean HATE, getting dressed and undressed, putting on shoes, brushing your hair, actually, trying to do anything to your hair, getting your diaper changed, having your face washed after meals. Oh my. We are working on the fits that you throw. Really, I think that you just want to do everything yourself and don't like someone else doing things to or for you.

Wrestling is another favorite. Anyone who dares lie on the floor better watch out! You have no regard for body parts either, as most often it seems you like to go for the head and face, although, sometimes over the torso. Good thing you are still pretty small. :) You get such delight out of it. My guess is that you enjoy someone being on your level and you are just trying to love on them and play with them.

Words are an interesting thing with you. You actually know how to say quite a few words, but you tend to only say a new word a few times and then you are done saying it. Kinda weird if you ask me. :) So the new words for this month are "touch" (because you hear "don't touch" A LOT. Ha!), "dog," "cow," "woof," "eyes," "shoes" (momma was proud over this one. He he.), and "love you."

You got 3 new teeth this month! The two upper front teeth and another lower tooth. Now wonder you were a little crabby at times. :)

Firsts

• Your first time getting sick. :( You got an ear infection along with a little cold, plus some eczema on your tummy.
• Playing in the dirt, like real dirt! We went up to the mountains for an afternoon and one of your aunties put you down and boy, did you have fun!
• You pooped in the tub for the first time. Yuck! Thankfully, daddy was the one giving you a bath, so he got to clean it up. :) Hopefully, that is also the last time you poop in the tub. Ha!

Pictures

 

Playing in the ball pit at cousin Ciara's birthday party.

Swinging with the cousins.

 Afternoon Trip to the Mountains

The beginning...still clean and stylin'.

Getting started in the dirt...

Still goin' at it...

Covered in dirt!

 Climbing Adventures

"I can do it!" (and don't even try to tell me there is an easier way!)

"See, I did it!"

Jennalee wanted to get in the crib, too. :)

Eating with a spoon. Or maybe just eating the spoon. Ha ha.

13 Months!

So, according to Blogger I started this post on April 16th... Well, here we are on May 7th and I am still working on it. Briella turns 14 months in 5 days, so I guess better finish her 13 month post. :)

Briella, you continue to change and grow so much each and every day! We love you so much and enjoy watching you learn and explore and who you're becoming.

You have become quite the little hugger. You love hugging! Your hugs include little back pats, which is so darn cute. :) And towards the end of the month you started giving huge, both arms around the neck hugs! Whenever someone gets you out of your crib, the first thing (well, after the big smile) you do is give a big hug. It melts my heart! Oftentimes, you crawl over to daddy or me while you're playing and give us a hug.

You are standing all the time now holding onto things with your hands. One time you have let go and stood for a couple seconds. With all your moving around and pulling yourself to your feet and walking along furniture, you have experienced a lot of head bonks and lots of bottom falls. But you are pretty tough. You cry for a short bit and then you are up and at it again.

One of your new favorite activities is getting into the kitchen cabinets, making quite a mess! It is fun to watch you learn and explore. I have set up some of the cabinets for you to play in and you are learning which ones those are. Although, you do get quite upset when I prevent you from getting into the others. For the most part though, you stick to the approved cabinets. I figure, it's no different than picking up your toys and it keeps you busy when I need to get things done in the kitchen.

At the beginning of the month, you got into a new routine where you would wake up crying every night around 2:00. I'm not sure why this started, but I'm thinking that your routine gets messed up every time we go out of town. So, for the last bit of the month we didn't go anywhere and you got back to sleeping through the night.

Saying "no" is something else you caught on to quite well. It can be useful at times and defiant at times.

You're voice has become louder, say when you're crying in the night or yelling when you are upset. :) As well, you have developed this cute high-pitched joyful squeal and a funny little grunt/growl.

Communication has gotten a little easier. We haven't really worked on too many signs but you did catch on to the sign for "more". So far, you have only associated it with food even using it out of context just to let us know that you are hungry. That is so helpful! I'm looking forward to you learning more signs so we can communicate even better.

Daddy is teaching you knucks and elbows and thumbs up. It's fun to watch the two of you. :) It appears that you like the elbows part the best.

You have started crying when daddy leaves, which is both sweet and sad.

Looking through and reading books has really caught your interest this past month. Frequently, I find you holding a book and looking at it. And you like to sit in our laps and have us read to you. I love that you love books!

Oh my, you climb the stairs...every chance you get... Amazingly, you are quite good at it, well, the climbing that is. The problem is that you have no idea how dangerous they can be and you like to stop in the middle of the stairs and turn around and sit. Thankfully, our stairs are a bit wider than normal and so you tend to be ok. We have to be very careful and watch you at all times, because you will head straight for the stairs. We are working on going all the way up without stopping.

You have seen me blow on your food when it's hot, so now you have started blowing on (well, towards the direction of) your food. So cute!

We are really enjoying that it is starting to warm up outside! Daddy hung your swing up in the backyard that Grandpa and Grandma brought out last fall. Since you love swinging, you are thrilled with this new toy. We have also gone out to the front yard and played a bit. Since the grass hasn't grown in yet, I let you play on the sidewalk and in the rocks. I think you played in and with the rocks for at least a half an hour. You had a blast.

You had cow milk for the first time and thankfully, you really REALLY like it. :) We haven't weaned you yet and I'm not sure exactly how long I will continue nursing you at night and in the morning, but during the day you now drink milk.

To celebrate your birthday as just our little family (ended up inviting Grandpa Keith, Grandma Karla, Uncle Jeremy, Auntie Crystal and Jayla and Jennalee), we took a trip to the zoo. Your first trip. Seems like you had fun looking at the animals. I'm looking forward to going back to the zoo when you get a little bit older and watching you.

Pictures from Month 13

This is how you eat shredded cheese when you're in a hotel room without a highchair. :)

 

We went with Ryan to Farmington, New Mexico for a work trip. On the way home we took the scenic route and stopped at Four Corners and Hovenweep National Monument. Made it seem more like a family vacation than just a business trip. :)

At Four Corners



Hovenweep National Monument



 

At the Zoo 

With Grandma

New Hogle Zoo hat because momma forgot sunscreen.

With Daddy

Hugging cousin Jennalee

With Grandpa

A rare family picture. :)

She was pretty tired by this time, so there weren't any smiles, but I think she enjoyed the carousel ride. :)

Playing in the rocks

She dug out an old binki (which she hasn't wanted since she was about 2 months old) then climbed up on the first stair and stood up...oh my.

 

And She Found the Cabinets...

 

 

 

 

She decided that she didn't want that one sleeve on. Ha ha.

Milk running down her chin.

She looks so big here...