Such an Exciting Time!

Wow. This is so much fun (usually)! Aria is having breakthroughs almost daily. She is so interactive now, smiling and even laughing often. She is holding up her end of a conversation, beginning to add intonation to her coos and goos. Speaking of holding up, her neck is crazy strong, along with the rest of her. She can stand, holding up all of her own weight, using a grown up helper only for balance.

Other milestones: she has now successfully grasped and intentionally moved a toy. She has also discovered the joys of the baby (and second mommy or daddy or whoever else) in the mirror.

We have been taking a baby massage class, which has been great. Aria is enjoying her massages and her belly pain has drastically lessened. Whether or not these two fact are related, I can only guess. Her little digestive system is probably maturing as well. In any case, her average happiness level appears to be on the rise and we are having lots of fun.

She finally got to meet the last of her uncles (or first, depending on how you look at it). Uncle Sam (aka Uncle Shmiel) came to visit from the Seattle area. Who would have thought that her introduction to motorcycles would come from anyone other than her motorcycle mama? But it did.





We also had a nice visit from Erika. They played baby-in-the-mirror.


Just look at these gorgeous ladies!

Note on the process: Each of these postings is created on multiple visits to the computer. What with getting photos from the camera to my computer, getting them into the right format and place, uploading them to the blog and all, there is never a time that I can do all of that in one sitting. So... I better go ahead and publish this one or it may never happen.

Learning the Ropes

We are learning that life with a new baby is unpredictable. But at the same time, I pretty much know what I'll be doing every day. It's a strange dichotomy.

I know that each night I'll be sleeping as much as I can between feedings. I know that each day I will be hanging out with Aria, playing, cuddling, comforting, feeding, changing, walking and sometimes taking an outing. Each day, I will try to find some time to hang out with Aria's daddy as well. And in between, I will try to contribute at least some to getting the bare essentials at home done - laundry, dishes, some kind of food gathering, etc.

What is unpredictable each day is which activities will dominate. Yesterday was a pretty cuddly and playful day, with some comforting and much feeding and changing and a nice afternoon walk. The day before was a day of much comforting, a trip to the doctor, and lots of feeding and changing, with minimal playing. You see what I mean?

And each day Aria grows a bit more. She is now holding her head up like a champ. She stares


and stares


and stares


and I have been successful in getting her to imitate my facial expressions a couple times. She now gives big, huge, adorable smiles if you are lucky enough to please her. Just today she started answering me (sometimes) when I talk to her. It is a very exciting time (when we are rested enough to feel excitement).

Some days we are lucky enough to have visitors. We just enjoyed an extended visit from Aria's grandpa, which was lovely. Here they are, loving each other serenely,

and staring,

and playing,

and practicing her pirate look.


Alas, Grandpa had to return to Chicago. We hope for another visit soon. Uncle Ethan (aka Uncle Beastie) and Aunt Victoria came to visit again. Aria, as usual, did some sleeping,


and some squirming,


and practiced her pirate look,


and took in the world around her.


As you can see, our lovely little Aria is changing amazingly quickly. If you are in the position to visit, you should do so soon. Give us a call, and maybe we can include you in this chronicle. That's the news for now. Love to all.