So Proud!

I'm not going to embarrass Brianna by posting a picture of her on her little pink princess potty seat, but I'd like to!  Its been a week now since we took her to Walmart and let her pick out her own potty and big girl panties and I'm proud to say she is doing fantastic!  She's still learning to listen to her body but with a little help from mommy, daddy and the teachers at school, she's gone 5 days with no pee-pee accidents!  She wakes up dry every morning now and wants to use her potty "so I can take my vitamins!".  Even though she was already getting her My First Flintstones every morning, she somehow thinks they are her reward now. 

Needless to say, I'm very proud of how quickly she's learned to use the potty.  I think the fact that she told me before we got the potty that "pull-ups just easier mama" when I'd ask her why she wouldn't tell me she needed to potty had something to do with it.  I swear she's too smart for her own good some days!

(and for those of you wanting pictures ... I'll try to post some this weekend.  You can always find pics on facebook though on either my profile or Justin's.)

Its a bird ... Its a plane ... No, Its FLASH!

Yep, that's Brianna in her homemade Flash costume!  It was her daddy's idea since she likes to run so much, it seemed appropriate that we make her in to a super hero known for speed.  She had a blast hanging out with our good friends, the Durham's, and getting spoiled and loved on by little mama's Averi and Aspen.  She also got her first kiss from a boy, at least that I know of.  Knight's very good at giving kisses, and very serious about making sure his target gets the full effect of his kisses too!

Her daddy said he knew Knight was too old for her (he'll be 3 in a few days) and that he should have kept a better eye on that boy!  But look at those curls ... how could any girl resist that.  You notice Brianna isn't really pushing him away.  I think his beautiful blue eyes won her over just a little bit!

First Steps and Sippy Cups

Friday was a big day at our house.  Well, technically it was a big day at daycare for Brianna but regardless of where, she had a big day!  We've been transitioning from bottles to sippy cups for lunch and on Friday, she voluntarily gave up all her bottles with absolutely no fuss.  Such a big girl!  She's been standing unassisted for several seconds for a few days now and she also took her first steps on Friday.  She took three steps the first time and two the second.  Of course, I can't get her to do it at home where Justin and I can see it, but its only a matter of time till she's off and running, literally.

We also had our one year well check this past week and as usual, she's on the top end of the height charts and the bottom end of the weight charts.  She's 30" long (73%) and weighed 19.8 pounds (24%).  Her height has slowed down and dropped out of the 95th percentile but she's still a tall little girl.  We also found out she had a double ear infection, which we would have never guessed since she's been her happy, funny self with no fever.  So, she's on antibiotics for a few more days.  We got a couple shots but opted out of two of them till she's a little older.  I just didn't feel comfortable giving her the MMR and Varacella until she's both older and not battling an infection.  She was unhappy enough that she had to have two shots after being poked and prodded by Dr. Karen.

Here's a few more pictures from her birthday party ... I've been meaning to post them for awhile but haven't had time.   She never really touched her cake so there's no messy face pictures.  She ate a few nibbles but she's not much of a sweets girl. 

My mom sent her this adorable beanie and I really wish she'd leave it on her head longer than two seconds!  It looks so cute on her and is very soft.  But, Bree doesn't like things on her head.  We'll just have to keep trying it on her till she gets used to it because it looks too cute to not wear it!

And last but not least, do you think she has enough toys out this morning??

What's Brianna Up To?

I realized this morning that one year ago today was the first morning Brianna woke up in her new home, after staying awake till 4am her first night home.  Justin and I asked ourselves "what's wrong" more times than we could count that night and were walking zombies in the morning.  I miss the cuddle newborn days but I'm so thankful for the fact that she sleeps from 8:30 pm to 7 am every day, or at least most days.

So, what's Bree up to now, a year later?

Here's a video of her playing with one of her new birthday toys.  My parents gave her her very own rocking chair and she spent Saturday morning watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in it, just rocking away.  Of course, that only lasted for a few minutes before she decided it was time to move on to something else, but here she is, rocking in her rocking chair!

• Table Food: So far, she's done well with the entire menu at daycare and has only table food for dinner every night.  She seems to love steamed carrots, peas, zucchini and squash.  I found organic chicken nuggets at Target a few weeks ago and she eats those up too!  YoBaby Yogurt's another favorite, regardless of the flavor.  Berries are also a favorite and she seems to want to eat them in some form of order.  For example, last night, she ate all the blueberries, then blackberries, then the raspberries followed by strawberries.  She's done that several times now so either she's figured out shapes and likes to eat the same shape ones together or its just a personality quirk.  So far, I haven't found anything that she won't at least try.  I'm hoping that this appetite for variety continues!
• Clothes:  She'll soon be out of all her 12 month clothes, or at least the pants.  Most of the tops still fit her but after finishing up this last growth spurt, it seems the pants are getting a little short.  Time to move up to 18 month size, at least in a few pairs of jeans so we can stretch her wardrobe a little longer!  She's also pretty much outgrown her size 3 diapers so the next box we buy will be size 4.  She's getting big way too fast!
• Talking / Signing: For those that missed it in the last post, she made up her own sign for music and now knows where the Ipod and speakers are stashed as well.  Needless to say, there's always a variety of music playing in the house now.  At daycare, the signs they're working on this month are cookie and cereal.  She's already got cereal down and even used it when she was home with daddy to ask for her cheerios last week.  Cookie is a little more complicated than I think she's got the fine motor skills to master but we'll see.  Since she doesn't seem to like the cookies and rice crispy treats at daycare, she might not need to add it to her vocabulary!  She also said "kitty cat" for the first time this morning.  She's been working in it and puppy dog for a few weeks now, but she said kitty cat clearly this morning (twice!) while petting Cleo. 
• Personality: I swear I have the happiest baby ever!  She wakes up smiling and laughing and goes to sleep smiling.  She'll play games with me right up to the point she can't hold her eyes open any longer.  She rarely cries or fusses and she greets everything in her world with a huge grin.  When we walk in the house, she's all giggles and shrieks to see Moab.  Its just so much fun to watch her be so happy all the time.  I don't think I could have asked for a sweeter, more easy going baby!
• Appearance: She still has her daddy's eyes, at least in shape. So far, they've stayed a gorgeous shade of blue instead of the hazel we both have.  Her hair is getting a little bit of a wave to it now that its longer but not much.  She's losing that baby face look and is starting to look more like a little girl every day.  The only times I still see that baby face is when she's sleeping.  Then, she still looks like a little baby instead of the little girl she's becoming.

I think that about covers it.  I'm getting sleepy and I've still got bottles to wash up and bags to pack for work tomorrow.  Justin's in California on his 10 day jeep trip so its up to me to get us both out the door in the mornings.  I normally just wake her and feed her ... Justin does all the rest, including packing whatever I need for work.  Having to do it all on my own's a bit different and makes me appreciate all he does for us.  So for now, good night everyone!

How Could I Have Forgotten?!?!

Brianna has also cut her first tooth (bottom right) and the second one will break thru any day now (bottom left).  Her first one came through December 23 so I think she must have asked Santa for her two front teeth.  Its now about 25% of the way through and looks so cute!  However, it seems she's going to run a fever with each tooth she cuts because she ran a low grade fever with that one and just a few days ago, she ran a 101.7 as the second one was coming up.  You can see it just under the surface of her gum, but it hasn't broken the skin yet.  Let's hope we have a bit of a break from teething now that these two are coming in!

Becoming a Big Girl

Brianna had a "big girl" moment tonight and it made me realize just how completely not ready I am for her to assert her independence.  Part of our bedtime ritual has always been bedtime snacks, followed by cuddling, singing and rocking until she falls asleep.  Its more for me than for her, but until tonight, she always wanted to be rocked to sleep.  The last few nights, I've seen this coming but didn't want to acknowledge it but tonight, I had to.  My sweet baby girl didn't want to be rocked to sleep.  She wanted to go to sleep in her crib on her own like a big girl.  Okay, maybe I'm giving her more credit than is due, but here was the gist of the "conversation".  It seemed pretty obvious to me that this was what she wanted.

Brianna: pushing away from mommy, fussing and pointing to her crib
Mama: "do you want to lay in your crib and go night-night"
Brianna: points to her crib again with a noise that usually means yes
Mama: "are you ready to go night-night" and stands up to walk to the crib
Brianna: lays her head on my shoulder, pats my back, then raises up and points to her crib again

So, I gave her a kiss, laid her on her tummy and covered her up, stroked her head and told her I loved her and Night-Night, then I walked out and closed the door to her room.  I stood outside, just waiting for her to make any sound of protest but nothing.  All I heard was the shuffling of covers as she settled herself into a more comfortable position, then quiet.  Such a big girl thing for her to do!  And I'm sitting her fighting back a few tears because I'm not ready to give this up.  It means she's growing up and becoming independent and doesn't need me as much, which I know is all well, good and normal.  This is what is supposed to happen if I've done my job when it comes to teaching her good sleep habits.  I just wasn't expecting it is all.  So while there will still be nights of holding a sleeping, peaceful baby in my arms, there will probably be more nights like tonight, which will take more getting used to for me than for her.

Crawling Video

Several people have requested video of this occasion so here you go....

She Crawled!

One week to the day after my last post, its official, Brianna is now crawling!  It was the funniest thing last night too.  I was sitting in the floor playing with her and turned around to grab something (remote, Moab's toy, I don't remember) and when I turned back around, she was on all fours and crawling towards .....

...drumroll please....

the tire off a remote control toy Jeep!  Her daddy is so proud!

She headed for Moab's ball next but I scooped her up before she could get to it.  She spent the next several minutes crawling around the living room floor after that jeep tire like she'd been doing it for weeks!  No stop and start or hesitation or falling down, just crawling to the tire, picking it up and playing with it, then giving me dirty looks for taking it away and moving to the other side of the room so she could do it all over again!  Of course, I was so excited that I forgot to get video of it but that will be remedied shortly. 

Anyway, just had to post about her latest and greatest accomplishment!