Aria: 10 month update

Although I haven’t been blogging monthly updates on Aria (and I wish I did), I have been doing something similar in that I set up an email account for her when she was born and email her all sorts of updates, pics and videos so that when she is old enough to actually read her own email, she can open them up and read them (and understand how obsessed with her I am ha!). However, I do want to start blogging more updates about Aria just so I don’t forget all the little things she does that make my heart sing at every stage of babyhood!

Nicknames: It is very rare that Aria is called her actual name! She is mostly referred to as RiRi, but I also call her my “bubba” or “bubbie.” She is also my monkey and peanut!

Height/Weight: At Aria’s nine month appointment a month ago, she was almost 22 lbs, which put her in the 86th percentile! I don’t remember her exact height but it put her somewhere in the 70th percentile. I am really proud of her growth, especially given the fact she wasn’t born huge and in the few days after her birth, she dropped in weight to somewhere around the 5th percentile at the time!

Skillz: Don’t ask me why whenever my husband and I talk about her development, we refer to all the things she can and can’t do as her “skillz” with a z! Silly I know! Anyway, Aria is very active and she has one thing on her mind at all times– trying to walk! She absolutely refuses to crawl– she never has done it and never tries to! She rolls like a champion and sometimes scoots backwards, but I am pretty sure she won’t be really mobile until she walks on her own. She cannot get up on her own, and she is just trying to pull up sometimes, but she loves for us to get her in the standing position and let her go, at which point she can take 7 or 8 steps. Other things Aria can do though include waving, clapping, putting a phone to her ear, pointing at many things when you ask her to (she can point out the following: lights, cars, her belly, various animals on her exersaucer, light switches, the alarm, windows, tiles, microwave, globe, momma’s nose, momma’s hair, and many others!), playing peek-a-boo, and she even has some words! She says car, tree, cheese, clean, and keys and seems to be adding a new word or two every few days. It’s definitely one of the best parts of mommyhood to see her gain new abilities and skills everyday.

Food: Aria is on three solid meals a day plus nursing or drinking breastmilk from a bottle when with my mom. She is a good eater in that she does eat a lot it seems; she is in a phase though where feeding her is a production because she has little patience for sitting in her high chair to eat. I have to hold her, show her things and put food in her mouth at the same time. If I put her in her high chair, she is more likely to play and squish her food than eat it! She will self feed though when she feels like it (like if it is cheese– there is never a piece of cheese that doesn’t go directly in her mouth ha). But, she does eat a large variety of food including, tons of veggies (peas, corn, carrots, green beans, asparagus, broccoli, and cauliflower all steamed), scrambled eggs with cheese and spinach, mini waffles or French toast sticks, beans (kidney, pinto, black), plain Greek yogurt mixed with fruit purees, mini quinoa/egg/cheese/veggie muffins, rice mixed with lentils, grilled cheese, mac n’ cheese, cheese chunks, and a few other things. One thing is she won’t eat fruit unless pureed– we have tried every fruit I can think of! The only one she sometimes tolerates is blueberries, but even more than five blueberries and she is done. I am going to keep offering fruit, even though she mostly spits it out! At least she eats her veggies though. . .

Nursing: She nurses five times a day when with me all day, about three to four hours apart. I probably could drop a feed because when with my mom, she nurses once before I go to work around 6 and then only drinks 6 ounces with her, nursing again at 3:30 and then finally once before bed at 6:15ish. It is so weird to come to terms that as she gets older, she doesn’t need momma’s milk as much! I think once she hits 11 months I will drop a daytime feed and as recommended by my pediatrician, introduce a little whole milk during the day as I plan on starting to wean once she turns one. The weaning process is sort of daunting, but I will follow her lead as best I can. I will continue nursing morning and evenings as long as she wants to but hope to have her completely weaned by the time she is 14 or 15 months, though again, I want to follow her lead. I am so fortunate nursing and pumping has gone relatively smoothly for me the last nearly 11 months, and will definitely be a little sad when our sessions come to an end!

Personality: I really love the little personality that I see starting to emerge! Aria is spunky– she is really funny too. She knows when she is doing something entertaining– you can see in her eyes and her mannerisms when she is trying to make you giggle! She will often look at me, then at dad or my mom, back to me to see if what she is doing is getting a chuckle or reaction! She really is a giggler too, especially before bed for some reason. She is also very sharp– she notices every sound, from a car passing by outside the kitchen window to the washer running to the scrape a fork makes on a dish! She is always looking, observing and taking things in! I call her the “neighborhood watch” and “crime patrol” because every person, dog, car etc. that passes by our house, she stares down, points at, and follows with her eyes!

Likes: Indian music, her music class, drinking water out of a straw sippy cup or regular cup, watching music videos, her blanky (needed for all naps and nighttime), her exersaucer, learning new things to later point at, going out of the house, mall walking, sleeping on car rides, sitting in a cart at Target, kissing your stuffed animals, going to bed (knock on wood– she really looks forward to bedtime! I am blessed, I know. . . ), standing and cruising, her picnic basket, putting rings on her ring stack, waving at everyone, trees, birds, grass, the outdoors in general

Dislikes: sitting in her high chair for too long, loud, sudden noises like sneezes or abrupt laughter, bottles, people in her face, getting her hair washed, napping for more than 30 minutes, getting her fingernails cut

What I love. . . (besides just her!): I love how when I wake her up at 5:30, she never cries but instead waves at me. I love how she waves at and kisses her own shadow! I love how she burrows into my shoulder right before bed. I love how excited she gets when I walk into the room after I have been gone for only a few minutes. I love how she has so much fun with dad. I love how she crinkles her nose when she gives a big smile. I love when she stares people down in stores, and once they catch her eye, she waves. I love how she points to communicate. I love our quiet nursing time. I love her wild, semi-cury, semi-straight hair. I love how she leans in to kiss me. I love she is both bold and delicate. I love watching her eat her favorite food, cheese! I love how she tolerates me dressing her in sometimes outlandish outfits! I love her alertness and curiosity. And I love her cry– it is just so cute!

Aria is almost 11 months– her first birthday party is basically in a month! I can’t wait to see what this little one has in store for us!