Alina's 12-Month Update

Our active little Leo at 12-months-old

 

Little Alina turned one-year-old on August 12, 2012. She has accomplished so much in her first year; from learning to walk at a mere 10-months-old; to climbing and scaling every piece of furniture in our house; to baby talking and repeating back words; to expressing her first few feisty toddler moments (she hardly ever does, but when it happens the girl can squeal loud enough to stop traffic). It is truly difficult to believe that she has completed her very first rotation around the sun ;) in what feels like record time. Where did our baby go!?!? While we will miss her being so little, the excitement of watching her grow supersedes any feelings of baby nostalgia. She has been an absolute joy to raise this first year.

 

 

Eating breakfast...completely unphased by the wild bedhead

 



She is getting so tall, 93rd % baby!



 

Alina's 12-month growth stats:

 

Height: 31.5 in (93rd percentile)

Weight: 20 3.5 oz (52nd percentile)

 

At our most recent checkup, we discovered that Alina's weight has now shot up into the 52nd percentile! This was good news to hear, as I was somewhat concerned at how underweight she was at all her prior checkups. I transitioned her from formula to whole milk early, at 11-months-old, to help bulk her up a bit. In addition to her whole milk bottles, she eats like crazy. Her favorite foods are: chicken, pasta, rice, eggs, cheese, bananas, broccoli, cauliflower and squash. She eats most everything we put on her plate; but believe it or not, Elise is our most adventurous eater, she will try anything. Alina just started turning her nose up to tomatoes and a few other foods. I know the routine with kids appetites, they are cyclical and you'd better be prepared to give them second and third helpings during growth spurts. Alina had her most recent growth spurt right around 11.5 to 12 months. We are so happy to see her weight in the 50th percentile, and it looks as if we may have another tall girl on our hands because Alina is in the 93rd percentile for her height.

 

 

Big smile and look at all her teeth!

Laughing fit - she's happy and loved

 

In teething related news, at 12-months-old little Alina had a total of eight teeth, four on top and four on the bottom. She got her first molars in, top and bottom, at 12-months and three weeks old. In all honestly, I had no idea they were coming through until they had started to crown, she was that good. In fact, we barely heard a peep out of her due to teething. She was slightly fussier than normal, but nothing bad. Elise was extra cranky for a month straight when she got her molars in.

Dancing with her shoes...yeah it's a baby thing!

 

Alina had added a couple more words to her baby repertoire. She learned to say "baby" right around 12-months-old, and this is her favorite word. She loves pointing to photos, of her and Elise, on the fridge and saying "baby" to each one. She can almost say "sissy", but it comes out more like "sissa". She is also in the early stages of working on her ABCs, so far she can say "aaaa, bbbb"...we're still working on the rest, but it is super cute hearing her shout "aaaa, bbbb" for 10 minutes at a time. Overall, Alina is still a baby of few words, she is more interested in singing and music; I think she may be able to sing an entire song even before she learns how to string a sentence together :) Although she can't say all the words yet, she can perfectly hum the tunes to, "Twinkle, twinkle little star" and "Frere Jacques". It is so cute to hear her hum along when we sing these lullabies to her before bed. She also loves to dance! Any time there is music on, she slowly starts nodding and bobbing her head and then she puts one hand out and waves it back and forth to the beat. One thing is for sure, she is taking after mommy and becoming a little music lover. 

At 12-months-old little Alina is virtually fearless. As I said before, she loves to climb and stand on everything she possibly can, no matter how precarious. She has since progressed to riding Elise's push cars and mini battery powered quad runner. She also gets a big thrill from attempting to ride her sister's bicycle. Alina is such a mini daredevil, and when she falls she rarely cries, she just picks herself up and climbs again. She is one tough toddler!



Already trying to ride big sissy's bike

 

Alina is such a loving little girl. She has always been incredibly sweet, but at 12-months-old we are really starting to see the depth of her affection toward all of us. She gives the best full body hugs! She will come up to us, throw out her arms, lay her head down on our chest, and proceed to cuddle for over a minute at a time. It is the sweetest thing ever, and I fully enjoy every moment of it. Alina also loves to give kisses to all of us before bed each night. She is always in a good mood, and it has been the biggest joy to care for her over this first year. We look forward to countless more cuddly moments with her!





Love her :)

 

Look Who's Walking! - Alina at 10-Months-Old

Baby Alina is walking at 10-months-old!!!
 

Cute baby walker in her blue tutu swimsuit

Baby Alina turned 10-months-old on June 12th. She took her first unassisted steps on June 22nd, 2012! Just a short week later she began full on walking. This is the biggest milestone of our baby girl's first year and we are amazed that she has mastered it so early on. We think her strong desire to keep up with big sister Elise, pushed her to take those first steps. She only crawled for a few short months and now fully enjoys viewing the world upright and on her toes. We are such proud parents right now! Watching our baby girl walk is nothing short of amazing; and we just can't believe how fast she progressed. I'm sure running, climbing and dancing are not too far off. What a special moment for our littlest doll!



Our skilled little walker perfecting her gait

Walking and calling for "mama" - I love this combination hah

Alina has a few favorite words now; "mama, dada, baba", and her favorite non-word "gaga", which is always super cute to hear. She isn't a little chatterbox quite yet, but she knows all she needs to get by. I think that saying rings true, either you have an early talker or an early walker, she certainly falls within the latter category. Elise was the early talker, but she didn't start walking until after one-year-old. I work on introducing new words with Alina, but as of now she sticks to her favorites, and you will never hear me complaining about her saying "mama" too much, I can't get enough of that one and it seems to be her overall favorite - YAY for mama!

Baby stinker face strikes again; look at all those teeth!

 

Playful little sweetheart

At 10-months-old, Alina has a total of six teeth; four on top and two on the bottom. She got her  additional two top teeth right around eight-months-old, and hasn't had any more come through since. She is no longer nursing, I stopped right before she turned 10-months-old, as she was no longer interested. She has four 8-oz bottles of organic baby formula in additon to all her daily meals. She now eats the same things we have dinner...hooray. She especially enjoys chicken, pasta, spaghetti, turkey meatballs, eggs, avocado, steamed broccoli, squash and carrots, soybeans, and fruit of any kind. She's not a picky eater as of yet, although she has been turning up her nose to tomatoes (which she used to love).

Feed the baby - she's a big eater now
 

Spaghetti face! She has no qualms about getting messy

Helping us do the dishes, with an irrestible giggle



Alina is still a great sleeper. She usually has an hour nap in the morning, and a 1-2 hour afternoon nap. She sleeps the entire night through from 7pm - 7am. She rarely ever cries when put down for her naps or bedtime. This is a huge change from Elise, who always cried when put down to sleep (she still does even to this day). It is nice to be able to lay her down and watch her cuddle into a ball and fall asleep almost immediately. We are so grateful to have a little one who embraces her zzzz's!

One sweet little girl! She is always happy :)

Pretty in pink and showing off her beautiful eyes

Alina looks even more like mommy's little twin, as her eyes are beginning to darken. She has gorgeous hazel eyes right now and it has us wondering if they will stay that way or turn all the way brown. Right now they appear to be brown in the center surrounded by green on the outside. I think they will likely turn brown, but only time will tell. I also love that her hair has stayed a nice golden brown color. It is getting much longer now and we do not plan to cut it. We are going to let it all grow out, nice and long - no bangs for this little one.  While Alina looks like mommy, she definitely has her daddy's sweet and mellow temperment. She rarely ever cries and is not demanding whatsoever, however, she is a ball of energy and super inquisitive. She loves playing with her toys, especially the musical ones, as she is so curious about all the sounds. She is also quite active and always finding a chair to push along the floor; any way possible to get into dishwasher; looking for ways to climb up furniture and toys; and this little one puts everything in her mouth, we really have to watch her in that department. Other than that, she is so easy and always a joy to be around.

 

 



Reading her musical sound book; she loves it





 

 

Alina's growth stats at her 9-month checkup:

Height: 28 in (50th percentile)

Weight: 15 lbs 14 oz (5th percentile)

Alina had her most recent checkup at 9-months. At that point, she was average height, but still super tiny weight wise. Since then, she is no longer nursing and now on formula and three full meals a day. I can tell she has gained considerable weight, although she is still a naturally petite little girl. I'm looking forward to finding out her growth stats at her 12-month checkup. I plan to start her on whole milk in another month or so. I have a feeling we are in store for a huge growth spurt. She may be our tiny little doll now, but not for long; I plan to enjoy it while it lasts!

 

Seven Month Milestones; Crawling & Talking!

Our baby crawler! - Photos by Christy Leopold

Apparently seven-months is a golden age for baby Alina, because she has hit many HUGE milestones all within this month. She is now officially crawling! On March 26th, at seven-months-three-weeks-old, she crawled all the way down the hallway into my arms; the furthest she has gone yet. She was so proud of herself, almost as proud as her beaming mama :) She has also learned to pull herself up to stand. She usually does this when playing at her little activity table. This toy used to be Elise's favorite and it is proving its worth yet again in keeping Alina entertained for hours.

Little doll in mama's arms; her favorite place to be

Kisses for my sweet baby girl



Another huge milestone is that baby Alina recently said her first word!!! Much to my chagrin, her first word is; "MAMA". I've been celebrating this for days upon end, and of course rubbing it in dad's face. Elise's first word was, "dada", so this is very exciting that I've got a sweet little mama's girl in the making. She said it three times while in her crib, I picked her up each time to reward her with kisses. As you can imagine, it was the absolute sweetest moment.

Cheese! Showing off her new top teeth

Alina's top two teeth are now poking through. So she officially has 4 teeth before hitting the eight-month mark. She was extra fussy and drooly over the past few weeks, so we anticipated that those top two chompers were coming through. We have been feeding her more baby food as all she wants to do is chew. She loves steamed veggies and fresh fruit. Broccoli, baby carrots, bananas, raspberries and blueberries are her current favorites. She also eats baby rice puffs like they're going out of style. I started supplementing with formula right around seven-and-a-half-months as she just started daycare three days a week. I pump during the days I go to work, so she only needs to be supplemented for one feeding. In addition to nursing morning, afternoon and evening, she has one formula bottle per day plus breakfast, lunch and dinner foods. She's a content little girl and a great eater thus far, however, she does make the funniest sourpuss face when you give her something new to try. Usually she stops making the sourpuss face after acclimating to the first couple bites, unless she really dislikes something (ahem peas and brown rice).

Muah, looking for hugs and kisses :)

We are so proud of our little seven-month-old doll. She has come a long way in just a few short months, and has us pondering what new milestones she will reach before her first birthday. We love you beautiful baby Alina!

Baby Alina doll at seven-months-old

Happy 6-Months to our littlest Valentine

Happy 6-months sweet baby Valentine!

Baby Alina turned 6-months-old yesterday! It's both exciting and bittersweet. I already miss my tiny and cuddly baby girl, yet also feel immeasurable excitement in knowing that we get to continually discover her little personality and interests as she grows into her toddler years. Also, it is really fun to see just how much she wants to keep up with her big sister. Alina is in complete awe of Elise, and she immediately lights up the minute she walks into the room. I think the most exciting part of her impending toddler stage, is that she and Elise will become little play buddies and keep each other entertained. Watching the two of them smile and laugh together is the greatest reward, and with each new week they interact and play more frequently. Despite all this talk about Alina growing up, she is still the baby, and we plan to fully enjoy the next 6-months with her, before the final curtain call on babyhood and that giant leap into toddlerdom.

Diaper changes + feet time = very happy baby

Alina really is an adorable baby girl. She resembles a little doll with her chubby cherubic cheeks, button nose and big blue doe eyes. Whenever I take her out, people stop to comment on how cute and doll-like she is. She has a very sweet temperament too. One of the things I find so cute is that she LOVES diaper changes. It's during diaper time, that we often get the most laughs and smiles from her. She is very cooperative and not at all squirmy during all her changes (quite the opposite of big sis Elise). She also loves to grab her toes and either chew on them or see-saw to her little heart's content. Mommy used to do this as a baby too. Alina really is my little chubby-cheeked doll baby twin, in both looks and habits. See the photos below for a comparison. I think we look pretty similar!

Not quite crawling, but rolling and creeping all over

Mommy as a baby - see the resemblance?

Although she is not fully crawling yet, she is very mobile. She will roll and creep across the floor to get where she wants to go. She just started pushing up on her knees in the crawl position, but has yet to take those first synchronized steps to propel herself forward. She is a pro at rolling over, so she usually just twists, turns and flips to get across the floor to where she wants to be. She will now sit up for brief periods of time, with a little help from mom and dad. She has yet to pull herself up or stand, which is fine by me as I have a bad case of, "second baby syndrome" - the obvious antithesis of first baby syndrome, in which you push your child to hit all their milestones as early as possible. With second baby syndrome, we're certainly not in a rush for her to grow up and know that she will hit all those milestones when she's good and ready.

Feet time again, she loves see-sawing around :)

 

 

Her adorable smile, which she flashes all the time now

Alina makes all sorts of consonant sounds now; "ba, da, ma, ga", and it is like music to our ears. She also communicates her mood by her monotone "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" (when she is content/competing for dominance over Elise), squeals (when she's really happy) and what I affectionately refer to as "her baby bird noises" little chirps, peeps and squeaks (these are usually sounds of contentment, but sometimes get very shrill if she's upset). Some of her noises are just so incredibly amusing or cute that they often stop me in my tracks. We plan to start teaching her baby signs very soon.

She is also a great sleeper. She has a 2 hour morning nap, 1-2 hours in the afternoon and she sleeps from 7pm - 7am, rarely ever waking up at night. As a baby, Elise was a sound sleeper too; all-in-all we've been pretty lucky in that department. She does cry when we put her down for nap and bedtime, but is usually calmed fairly easily by lullabies, rocking and her light up musical seahorse (aka - her chubby-cheeked twin heheh). I can't express enough how grateful I am to have sound sleepers, because so many babies do not sleep through the night.

Enjoying feeding time after taking control of the spoon "airplane"

We just recently started Alina on rice cereal and solids. Her first solid food was pureed peas! It was so funny watching her take that first bite. Her facial expression was priceless; it was a mix of confusion, disgust, and curiosity (in that order) haha. After that initial bite, she quickly got the hang of things and ate up an entire half jar. Mmmm, baby mush. Her favorite part of eating is watching momma turn an ordinary old spoon into a super-duper, high flying airplane. She giggles and laughs every time, although her laughs soon turn to frustration if she isn't able to capture the plane and fly it herself. I had almost forgotten how unfussy babies are when it comes to food, then again it's not like they have much choice when we keep shoveling spoonfuls into their mouth. Oh how I wish the old zig-zag airplane spoon tricks worked to get our toddler to eat her vegetables.

Baby girl all bundled up after bath time

Alina's 6-month growth stats:

Height: 26.5 in (77th percentile)

Weight: 13 lbs 14 oz (18th percentile)

Alina's pediatrician said she looked very alert and healthy, and that she appears to be surpassing all the typical six-month milestones. I was concerned to hear that her weight was so low relative to the average, however, her pediatrician didn't seem worried and just said to start more solid feedings. I have her on the same feeding schedule and amounts as I did with Elise, but she is much littler. I'm not too worried, as she has been eating well, maintains a good temperament, and stays active. She should be gaining more once we increase solid food feedings and begin to supplement with an additional daily formula feeding. Downside: The diapers are going to start stinking here real soon. I still nurse her three times a day. My goal is to continue until she is at least nine-months-old.  

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's in progress

Elise got a special Valentine for her teacher

Pretty flowers

A very sweet Valentine's card for mom

The girls did well :)

 Cutest Baby Valentine!

Realities of a One-Month-Old

Our little baby doll Alina turned one-month-old on 9/12/11. One thing we have really taken notice to is how incredibly strong she is. Alina has been holding her head up since birth. After I feed her, I always place her over my shoulder and pat her back to burp her. She will usually either burp or spit up, but afterwards if she is still hungry she lifts her head, slightly opens her mouth and starts bobbing on my shoulder, she will then push with her legs and arms and crawl back down to nurse! I guess I shouldn't be amazed by this, but Elise never held her head up or did this until much later, so it is a bit surprising to see her doing this so early. When Elise was hungry, she just smacked her mouth like crazy and flailed about. Alina doesn't waste time, she just bobs her head a few times and then decides to move herself to where she wants to be. It is so interesting to see all the differences between them, especially even in these early few weeks.

I'm cute, but beware - I spit-up...A LOT!

Another, not so glamorous reality of having a one-month-old is the non-stop baby puke. My arms, chest, stomach, neck, legs, clothes and even my hair have all become prime targets. Alina spits up like it's going out of style. She's projectiled on daddy and I more times than we can count. Elise is wise enough to know not to hold her after she eats because, as she so eloquently puts it, "she spits" - isn't that the truth! I know in the next few weeks it will start getting better, but right now she's our little puke machine. Nothing can prepare you for the massive amount of laundry you will be doing in the first month; it really is neverending and spit-up clothes have to be washed fairly quickly. I look forward to getting past all the spit-up accidents, but other than that Alina really is the easiest and sweetest little baby doll around.

Daddy got a chance to feed her the first bottle

Admittedly, feeding her has been more tiring this week. Alina tends to have on/off days. On days - she's more alert and nurses regularly while off days - she just wants to sleep and little will wake her, even at feeding times. While she's perfectly content with this, it is not exactly ideal nor comfortable for mom. Fortuntately, breastfeeding IS easier the second time around. I think I've only declared that I wanted to give up one time in the past month. The first time around, I said it more times than I can remember. Even through bouts of mastitis and thrush (which were both equally painful and discouraging) I've pushed through and am finally arriving at an easy/second nature attitude towards her feedings. I must say, that it is an incredibly rewarding feeling to know that your baby is content and feeding well. It makes the path there, and any struggles along the way, all worth it in the end.

Happy, sleepy girl

While I love spending each and every special moment with Baby Alina, the stickler in me is having a difficult time accepting that certain things just have to be put off. It drives me crazy to look at my floors right now, they are in desperate need of cleaning. The sofa has been transformed into a laundromat and Elise's toys are overtaking the most random parts of the house. Burps clothes are strewn across our bed and the dishes are calling my name. Also, work is piling up in my office inbox. Plus, I have a ton of pictures I want to post and photo albums I want to complete, but unfortunately working on photos is my last priority right now. Ultimately, I've come to a point of acceptance that this is the way things will be until I get Alina on a regular daily schedule. After all, taking care of her is my main focus and as exhausting as it may often be, I wouldn't have it any other way. Love you baby girl!

This little doll keeps me going strong!

...and this one reminds me to cherish each
moment because the baby stage goes by so fast!

Half Moon Bay State Beach - Labor Day 2011 Family Road Trip



Half Moon Bay State Beach

Enjoying the nice uncrowded beach

Family time and Baby Alina's first beach trip!

Lovely views and steep cliffs

This Labor Day, we all took a family road trip to beautiful Half Moon Bay State Beach. Elise suggested the idea for us to take a trip to the beach well over a month ago, and has been talking about it non-stop ever since. We enjoyed the trip, though getting out of the house took over two hours. Getting two kids ready takes an entirely new amount of preparation. I had to bring double the items, plus lots of changes of clothes and burp cloths for baby Alina, who is an absolute puke machine at the moment. Then there was getting together all the food, the pump and bottles, movies to entertain Elise on the drive down, plus beach towels, loungers, chairs and other items, the baby carrier, diapers, Elise's toys, wipes...wipes...and more wipes, and yes the list goes on!

It was full on chaos getting out that door for our first trip, but once we were on the road the day unfolded relatively smooth. Elise was well behaved, plenty entertained, and had enough snack options to keep her satisfied the entire road trip. Alina slept the entire drive! She was awake only long enough to down each bottle I gave her, and then on a sleepy milk high to dreamland right afterwards. It was amazing that both the girls did so well on the road trip.

Elise had so much fun at the beach, despite the fact that it was very cold weather. She built sand castles and enjoyed the company of mom, dad, baby sister, grandma, Uncle Colin, and Aunt Darcy. Our little three-week-old Alina was bundled up like a baby burrito and slept the entire time. She did so well on her first travel adventure!

More views of beautiful Half Moon Bay State Beach

Spending time with Uncle Colin

Enjoying the day with family

Playing in the sand with daddy

Proud of her Tinkerbell sand castle