Friday, November 29, 2013

Look Dad, a Blog Update! Thanksgiving 2013

At Thanksgiving yesterday, my Dad asked me if I had stopped writing my blog, basically saying "where are the UPDATES?!" He is definitely one of its biggest fans and a huge reason I keep this blog going- to keep our family updated on Iyla's most recent adventures.

Admittedly I've been slacking with my writing lately. It's almost as if with the 1 year milestone I feel like the pressure to keep up has waned, kind of like a traditional baby book that usually ends at 12 months old.

*As an aside- I totally need to update Iyla's actual paper baby book! Eek.*

We've spent this week living in our studio apartment- BC, Iyla, Sam and I… all cozy together in about 350 square feet. Friends of ours had approached us last month about the possibility of renting out our home to their incoming family, and we jumped at the opportunity to make a little extra Holiday cash! One added bonus? Last night after returning home from family Thanksgiving festivities at 7:45 to put Iyla to bed, we were able to step out our studio door- baby monitor in hand- to join our friends' celebration at our home, complete with bonfire, wine, & 5 different pies.

Here is a recap of our Thanksgiving:

Rise and shine at 5:45! That is one of the downfalls of staying in the studio- Iyla is on 'vacation sleep' mode, meaning she wakes several times a night and rises WAY earlier than normal:


Playtime with Papa:


She is starting to get what to do when asked to 'say cheese' (which she can also kind of say!):


Play time at the park:


A bath in the studio sink before nap time:


Post nap cuteness!


Flashback to last Thanksgiving, when Iyla was all of one week old!


 Smiles on the car ride to my Aunt Sheri's house:


Iyla had so much fun at our gathering. She was loving the jazz music coming from the speakers below and started dancing along. Then she slipped and bumped her face, resulting in the first bloody boo-boo she's ever had (she must have hit something in her mouth- likely her gums). Thankfully she recovered quickly, and my aunt had some Oxyclean to address the blood on Iyla's white lace dress! That black cardigan ended up coming in handy to hide and soak up much of the blood.


Post boo-boo recovery snack:


Snuggling with cousin Shanny:


Other updates from the past week include:

Breakfast out with BC and I Wednesday morning. She loved Bouldin Creek's scrambled eggs!


Lots of play time at our local park:


A trip to the brand new children's museum, where I wasn't sure who had more fun- Iyla or BC:


Iyla has entered a really fun new play stage where she is imitating scenes from real life. She loves walking her babies around in their stroller and giving them milk from a play bottle, making a sucking noise as she feeds them:


She also love love LOVES playing in our dishwasher!


And helping unload it:


Here is a video of her 'setting the table'- which was so fascinating to me. She removed just her items from the dishwasher and put them together like this:



Cuteness when she sees herself on video:



Iyla is also adding more and more words to her vocabulary. Here, she shows off her animal sounds:



We also seem to have a 'secret walker' on our hands. Up in the studio Iyla has been flying back and forth with her walker toys, and several times has let go and walked a few steady steps to other pieces of furniture nearby! She is gaining more and more confidence, and we are excited to see when she officially makes the leap to being a walker:


That about wraps things up! Dad- I hope you were happy with these updates. It was great seeing you and the rest of the family yesterday!

xo

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Happy Birthday Iyla Grace!

Sweet Iyla Grace, one year ago today you gave your Papa and I the surprise of our lives by making an early arrival. What an incredibly magical day that was! You have always been such an independent spirit- from choosing just how and when you would begin your journey (making us wait almost 3 years!) to choosing your own birth date and exactly how you'd be born (we were scheduled for a November 20th c-section but you had other plans). I love that about you. You light up our lives every.single.day and I am ever so grateful you choose us to help guide you in your journey here!

Here are your ONE YEAR updates...

How old? One year old today!

How big? We have your official one year appointment Friday- so I will again defer to comparisons with Sam:


Sleep? The first half of this month you were regularly waking 1x/night again- but now you are in a fantastic stride where *typically* you go down around 7:30 and sleep through until 7am or so. You also are taking two 1.5 hour naps daily, and go down sweetly and easily for those (usually around 10am and again around 2:30).


Teeth? Still absolutely NONE! And no hints of any on the horizon either.

Food? You are a great little eater. Your favorite things right now are scrambled eggs, chicken, broccoli, and your little yogurt creamy snacks. Having you eat a good dinner is definitely coordinated with your sleeping through the night these days! You also had your 1st Chinese food at Mimi and Grampy's and LOVED it. You are still nursing 4-5x/day- usually when you wake, before naps, & in the late afternoon.

Potty Time? You go pretty much every morning (usually both #1 and #2) and then again after naps.

Milestones? 

*You are crawling faster & with much more intent now!

*You can climb stairs. Quite quickly!

*You are standing on your own more often- and usually break that skill out when in front of new people.

*You seem to be imitating more sounds & words! I swear I've heard you say quack, kitty, icky, teeth, and many other one time wonders. I'll hear it and THINK you said it, then not hear it again for awhile.

*You can blow air, and are learning to blow kisses!

*You 'ask' to have things put in your hair. You'll grab a little barrette or bow or headband and hold it to your head, then hand it to me. Once in place you smile at yourself adoringly in the mirror! It's hilarious.

Likes/Dislikes:

Current loves:

*Entertaining yourself in the mirror

*Bike rides with Papa! You had your first ride over the weekend and it was a huge success.



*Watching the outdoor kitties

*Your books!

Dislikes:

*Holding still for diaper & clothes changes

*Being diverted from something you want

*Having foreign objects removed from your mouth

Postpartum Body?

I am back up to my pre-pregnancy weight! Also still struggling a lot with my Mommy Thumb, and thinking of getting another steroid shot to help.

Most looking forward to? Spending the holidays with you!

You've had 3 birthday celebrations so far! First with family in Houston:


Then a party here in Austin, where you did us proud smashing & eating your 1st cupcake!

Your photo collage, thanks to all the amazing photos your Grampy printed for us (I have almost no printed photos of you- they are pretty much all still sitting on my computer!)


I LOVE this series of photos your Papa took of us at your party:


The cupcake smash!


And now your actual birthday! I had so much fun taking your photos…. and discovered iPhoto's editing technology, which felt almost professional to use! I think I have a new obsession- as if I needed another excuse to take a gazillion photos of you. :)


Iyla Grace, you are such a sweet, loving, creative, joyful little girl- and we wish you many, many, MANY more years of happiness ahead!