Aria Meets Santa

We went to see Santa for the first time today. Aria's been seeing Santas all over town and even saw one on the Metro last night. So today, we took her to meet him firsthand. She was a little shy when sitting on his lap but kept walking back to him over and over and even lay down (briefly) on her tummy to watch him. So cute...

Packing Peanuts

We got a package the other day. Guess which part Aria liked best.

Deep Thoughts

Of all the Sesame Street songs to get stuck in one's head, I believe"Me Lost Me Cookie at the Disco" to be the worst.

Change We Can Believe In

I am so happy to be raising my daughter in a country that has finally moved past the issue of race in a presidential election. For the first time in my adult life, I can honestly say I'm excited about the direction this country is headed.

Aria's shirt was a gift from her Granddad.
He's been a fervent Obama supporter throughout the Campaign
and accurately predicted VA's conversion to a Blue State.

Aria's Election Day outfit: Isn't it cute!

Tired, but still hopeful after a full day of voting and other outings;
results were just starting to come in.

Halloween

Fairy Princess Takes Flight

Mama & Aria

Dada & Aria

The Fam

Aria at Hilloween.
The fairy dress was a gift from Great-Grandma & Bampi Nelson
and was a perfect base for the costume.

Tina Fey for President

Growth

Mom & Her Little Diva

Dad & Aria on the 4th of July

I can't believe how big Aria is, how quickly she's grown into this little person with thoughts and imagination and opinions. She looks through books on her own now, making the appropriate animals sounds and studying the pictures with intensity and fascination/amusement (depending on the book). She plays with us and teases us. She feeds herself and poses for the camera. She has favorite books, toys, music, games, animals and people. She loves hats and sunglasses and she speaks to us as if communicating fully and though her words are not often discernible, the emotion behind them is. I had an entire conversation on the phone with her today; she babbled conversationally and I imagine she told me all about her morning with daddy. She giggled and laughed and explained just why my request to put daddy on the phone was not a good idea (daddy had no idea she was talking to me or that the phone was even on and giving the phone to him would have blown her cover; besides, she had more phone calls to make). When I said her name she would echo me in her singsong voice..."Aria"..."Ayia"..."Can I talk to Dada?"..."Mama!"

Eating Chili

Our girl has gotten about 5 teeth in the past month (including a molar or two - ouch!), with more on the way, and is transitioning from two significant naps a day to one very necessary but often fitful nap, all in the middle of what seems to be a couple of growth spurts. Understandably, she does not always quite make it through the day a happy camper. It seems that the stroller nap, an old standby and favorite for mom, dad and baby alike, is no longer working. To get that one nap in good measure we need to be home where she can quietly nurse, rest and sleep to her heart's content. Going out in the mornings and afternoons is to be our new pattern, I believe, and that is OK, as it is quickly becoming even better than our old ways. We've recently gone for walks in the cooler morning air or taken a swim before the local daycare centers bombard the pool, then gone home to lunch and a siesta before trekking back out for an afternoon romp around the local playground or a nearby museum. Aria does much walking herself these days, so other times we just amble around, not going anywhere in particular or very quickly. This works out well and while I miss the once-reliable afternoon stroller nap, our afternoon playtime is much-treasured time together.

Running around the playground,
in an adorable dress from Grandma Janie

This afternoon the three of us ran around the playground, Aria ambling up the stairs, squealing down the slide and rocking on the teeter-totter. She's a tough one, rarely crying even when she tumbles head-over-heels on the twisty slide or falls on a brick walkway. Her cheeks flame red and her nose prickles with tiny beads of sweat, exhibiting the trademark puppy-dog nose her parents each sported as little ones. The steroids, which give us significant pause and cause for concern, seem to be doing their job...no trace of cough or wheezing in our hot, active girl.

Running freely and happily
(Aria often throws her arms back like that
and squeals with delight when she runs)

This week we have our appointment with a much-recommended allergist, to hopefully make some headway in determining the cause of the coughing and wheezing and recurrent colds and ear infections and get her off the meds once and for all. This is where our girl's toughness crumbles to a point and the numerous doctors' appointments and hospital visits exhibit their toll...She is terrified of doctors and fights any sort of procedure - be it IV, shot, temperature taking or just a bandaid on the toe to measure her oxygen levels - with a passion and ferocity that takes several adults to control and eventually exhausts her and reduces mom to (somewhat hidden) tears as she tries in vain to comfort her little one. We do not look forward to this, but persevere in the hope that we will get whatever is needed over with quickly and that no more tests or doctors' visits will be needed anytime soon.

Dada did my hair

Our daughter is an amazing little girl and the love I feel for her fills and overflows my heart a million times over. I've thought a lot about her birth recently and can't believe how fast she's grown, how our tiny, passionate little baby has grown into this active, passionate toddler. She has changed so much, yet somehow stays the same.

A beautiful weekend morning at the park
(with Dada - Mama doesn't do mornings)

15 Months Today: A Rundown on Aria-Speak

Just a brief rundown on Aria's vocabulary thus far (for those interested).

Note: Though Aria is saying and understands all of the following words, pronunciation is still in development and understanding may be limited to mom and dad in some cases. She still often leaves the end/beginning off her words...Just this week "all duh" became "all done."

WORDS
Hi
Bye-Bye
Uh-Oh
I Don't Know
Turtle
Dog
Bird
Milk
More
All Done
Bath
Bed
Night-Night
Paci[fier]
Ball
Bubble
Book
Banana (or na-na!!! in a throaty-growly voice)
Cheese
Pizza
Cracker
Water (or wa-wa)
Paper
Hat
Door
Shut
O (as in the cereal)
Mama
Dada
Grandma
Aria (Ayia)
Elmo (her favorite!)
Big Bird
Nose
Toe
Eye
Arm
Belly Button
Mouth

...oh, and of course...NO!

SIGNS
Hi
Bye-Bye
Dog
Kitty
Bird
Milk
More
All Done
Bath
Change (as in diaper)
Bed/Sleepy
Eat/Hungry
Hat
Dance
Grandma

Our girl also makes various animal noises, such as roaring like a lion and mooing like a cow, and can point to and identify lots of body parts (eye, ear, nose, mouth, belly button, toes, feet). Most of all, though, she loves to sing and dance, stopping whatever she is doing when a favorite song (she does have discriminating taste, even at 15 months, and seems to prefer songs with distinctive notes and rhythms) comes on to bounce and move and sing along.

Pictures!

Aria's first birthday was spent (in part)
feeding Great-Grandma Nelson yummy birthday cake.

The Bubble Room at the Columbus, IN Children's Museum

Giant toilets are a bit daunting whether you're three or 30!

Auntie Kiki and the Ballerina
whirl around Grandma Janie's dance floor.

Step off...I need some space.

Tentative first steps

She's a-swinging!

Roooaaaaarrr!

Aria Discovers O's

After two more bouts of illness that included a 104 degree fever and a second trip to the ER for our little one, the winter fog is finally lifting. The weather is warming up and the Nelson fam is all about town soaking up the sun. Bring on spring!

This week our girl turned 10 months old. I can't believe it; she's almost one. Wasn't it just yesterday that we were bringing her home from the hospital? She's grown and changed so much, so fast. It seems that this is a magic age for Aria, as she's pulled one new trick after another out of her hat this week.

For example: Sing a note. Any note. It doesn't have to sound good, just make a noise. Ahhhh... Now tap your hand to your lips repeatedly. Note the vibration-type sound. This is Aria's new favorite sound. Last week it was NaNaNa - "Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye." We've sung that line a lot recently (yes, just the one line; surprisingly - or not so surprisingly to those that know me - I don't know the rest of the song). This week, though, it's AhAhAhing that thrills our girl. It's her goto sound when playing, when upset, when seeking attention. She does it to me, to strangers, whoever. So cute. Others think she's blowing kisses, but I know better. Still, after a couple of days of seeing others blow kisses back, Aria's learned that too. I think we have a genius on our hands.

What else? Well, Miss Aria was no where near interested in finger foods a week ago, but what a difference a week (and a healthy dose of competitiveness) makes! Last Friday we had lunch with another set of Nelson girls, Sandy (mom) and Emily (baby). No relation, but Emily is just a couple weeks older than Aria and the two girls are by now pretty familiar with each other. The two also tend to hit their developmental milestones right around the same time. This time, however, Emily was way ahead, having gotten the whole finger foods thing down some time ago. At lunch we sat the babies across from each other, giving Aria a perfect view of Emily's eating prowess - Cherrios, banana puffs, lentil stew...whatever it was Emily ate like a pro. And once Aria saw her friend do it, she just couldn't resist. She gobbled up her only-moments-before rejected lunch of avocado and banana, keeping one eye on Emily all the while. Then she played with some banana puffs, going so far as to lick one of them. By the next day, she was ready for more, picking up and eating one, then two, then three Os. Now, she just can't get enough of the Os and eagerly reaches for more before the first one is gummed up and swallowed. Which leads us to our next new skill...Pointing!

Aria pointed for the first time this week. At the Os! Not mom or dad or the kitty...at the Os. Well, there you go. The way to our girl's heart is through her stomach; she is a Nelson, after all.

In other news, Aria got to experience a playground for the first time this week. She loved the swing; the higher and faster it got, the more she laughed.





The slide was also a hit. Aria easily maneuvered up the 3 small platforms to the slide and then was able to slide down by herself after only a few times going down with help. True, she didn't always intend to slide down (not really understanding that here it's flat but over there, not so much), but she came down with a big smile every time. Dad is convinced (and thrilled) that we have a future lover of roller coasters on our hands.

A New World for Aria

Maybe there's hope after all.

Sick & Tired of Being Sick & Tired

January was a rough month and February is not off to a great start. I don't think I've ever been sick as many times as I have been this winter. A lovely myriad of colds, flus and a truly butt-kicking episode of mastitis have come my way of late and this time the horrible cold got to Keith and Aria as well. Oh yes, we're a happy household. I guess that's what perpetual sleep deprivation will do to you. Grrr.

Will write more when we have something nice to say.

Knitting Book Sneak Peak

The following pictures were taken in August of last year for an upcoming book of baby knitting patterns. The book is being written by Marie Connolly, owner of Stitch DC and will be released November of this year.

All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth...

...my two front teeth, my two front teeth.

Yes, folks, Aria has a 2nd (bottom) tooth just popping through. And after a couple of rough days (lots of fussiness), she seems to be feeling much better.

The holidays were full of Aria developments, most notably that she's now crawling, pulling herself into a standing position and sitting herself up from a laying down position. What a difference a couple of weeks make! Our girl's also started dancing to music and mimicking us a lot more, singing back to us what we sing to her (La, la la, la la) and trying to repeat words. Most words come out as some variation of DaDa; for example, "Shadow" comes out "DaDuh", but the wheels are definitely turning.

Aria's first Christmas was filled with hustle and bustle. In order to have time to do our family Christmas, not cut into Aria's naptime and still get to my dad's Christmas lunch on time, we opened gifts as soon as she got up on Christmas morning. At 7am. I don't remember the last time I got up that early to open gifts; for many years (if not always) I've pushed the gift-opening as late as possible, wanting to sleep in. (There's a great gift - extra sleep.) But this year, sleepy-eyed and in desperate need of caffeine, we began a new tradition =).


I think the whole gift-opening thing was a bit overwhelming for Aria. She was most interested in the tissue paper and boxes which we kept taking away from her, much to her dismay, as she would chew them to the point of disintegration. Yum, paper... She received some very cool gifts, though, among them wooden rattles and a little wooden wagon she can pull around, a musical, tri-lingual octopus and a brightly colored, oh-so-soft elephant, a handmade Peruvian llama, a couple books, some awesome clothes and even a CD of beautifully soothing lullabies. Aria's now played with and chewed on all the toys (and a little on the books), giving them all the official Aria Seal of Approval.