Happy 2014!!

I can't believe how quickly 2013 flew by! How is it possible that it is already January 1 again! I have grand plans of doing a "year in review" posting, but I'm already so far behind here, it may not be ready till November!

It's so hard to believe that this was just a year ago!!

We rang in the new year in true Tuna fashion...about 20 minutes late! Baby Tuna woke up screaming at about 11:57, so the Hubs paused Carson Daly while I was on baby duty. Once she was settled, we watched the ball drop, toasted our champagne, and reflected on the year the passed...all in our pjs. Then we crashed - we are the parents of a ten month old, after all, and she had us up waayyyy too early!

For our first breakfast of the new year, we enjoyed scrambled eggs, fruit (both of which the bambino devoured!), mimosas (something I desperately missed last New Year's), and these beauties. Nutella and cinnamon filled crescents. Holy wow, were they good! They're a hack of some overly complicated Pinterest baked goodie I found recently and there's no way the original would have been any better than these! I may be making them again this weekend cuz they are all I have thought about all day!!

We've spent the rest of the day relaxing, eating the last of the Christmas cookies, and soaking up every last minute of family time before the Hubs goes back to work tomorrow - Boo!! 

I hope you all have had a wonderful start to your 2014! Thank you for reading and supporting my little corner of the world. I can't wait to see where the next twelve months takes us! 

CHEERS! 

Baby's First Christmas - In Four Parts

This year, we decided to do Christmas a little differently. Instead of racing around town, trying to fit everybody in on Christmas Day, exhausting ourselves, and feeling more stressed than festive, the Hubs and I chose to keep Christmas Eve and Day to ourselves. A little selfish? Not at all! As a child of divorce, I've been sharing Christmas my whole life, and I always swore that when I had my own family, I was just gonna stay home. And it was better than I could have hoped! (Not counting the too-warm weather...would it kill Mother Nature to send some of that chilly weather this way?!)

Kid's Chair | Alligator 

You can see that Baby Tuna's enthusiasm on Christmas Eve was just out of control.

Part One
The bambino had us up bright and early (ok, maybe not bright - the sun wasn't even up yet!), so we snapped a few shots of her checking out some of her presents. Her reaction was priceless!

We wanted to wait until the sun had come up a bit before opening presents, so we enjoyed some snowman pancakes (don't worry, Z didn't get any of the chocolate chips or faux bacon) and OJ. This was Z's first taste of daddy's pancakes, and I wish I had gotten a shot of her wolfing them down. She loved them!

Z spent the next half hour tearing into her presents, but she surprised me...it wasn't until that evening that she became truly interested in the wrapping paper itself. She just really like her presents and spent the day playing with all of them. It was so wonderful!

Little Red Car

Crazy Animal Magnets

Some good friends of ours gave Z the most amazing little piano. My little musician crawled right up to it and started pounding playing like she knew exactly what she was doing! I'm so excited that this little munchkin is so musical!

Piano

The three of us spent the entire day in our Christmas pjs, eating cookies, and enjoying a stress-free, totally relaxing, amazingly wonderful baby's first Christmas. It. was. perfect. And I really can't wait for next year when we get to do it all over again!

Part Two
The next day, we headed north to see our families. Z met her cousins for the very first time at the Hubs' parents' house. We were a little worried that she may be overwhelmed by all of the new faces, but she loved all three of her cousins, and they were all so good with her! The babe was especially taken by her cousin Aria, which she demonstrated by climbing her. I think Aria was a little nervous at first, but was so gracious and wonderful and let Baby Tuna sit in her lap and pass a bow back and forth. It was such a great moment!

Part Three
The next morning, we had breakfast with my dad and step-mom, which meant chowing down at our favorite hometown breakfast joint, The Blueberry Muffin, and more presents for Z. She had done such a great job the night before ripping open the paper and playing with the bows, but on this morning, she was in more of a climbing mood!

Part Four
The final Christmas installment happened at my mom's house, where we had been staying. Z opened a few more presents and we spent the rest of our time relaxing, feeling lazy, and watching the babe play with her new loot. I'd say Santa treated her well!

Ball Ramp | Zany Zoo Activity Box

While we were there, we also got to see a few old friends, the kind that don't live too far away, yet we don't see nearly enough. Now we are back at home, enjoying as much family time as we can before the Hubs heads back to work in the New Year. We hope all of you had a restful and festive holiday, and that you have an amazing New Year!

Month Ten Update

Double digits! Say what now?! Baby Tuna hit the big one-o a few days ago...ten months!

Believe it or not, this pic was the best of the bunch; and the only one where she wasn't out of focus, full of tears, or crawling out of frame. I fear our once easy, always smily, monthly photo sessions are a thing of the past. 

Weight: 19.04 lbs (48th percentile)
Length: 26 ¾ in (Ready for this? 17th percentile!)
Incidentally, her head circumference of about 18in is in the 88th percentile. She's one step away from bobble head status!
Sizes: Still wearing size 2 diapers (although the next shipment from Honest Company will be size 3), still fitting in 3-6 month clothes, and still swimming in a lot of her 6-12 month stuff. The leggings and jeans fit in the length, but the waists are big and a lot of the shirts/onesies are huge! It really depends on the brand.

Sleep: Unpredictable as ever. Most nights she zonks right out and sleeps like a champ, other nights she cries for a while. There was a period where she was falling asleep standing up, arms locked in a kung-fu grip and head down on the rail. Her knees would buckle as she drifted off, but that kid refused to let go and lay herself down. If I'm honest, it was pretty impressive. Thankfully we've moved on from that.

As of right now, she's doing much better than she was, so we're calling sleep training a success. If we could just get her to stop waking up at 6 am! Naps, as always are a different story. She's taking longer naps, some almost two hours, but is usually still tough to put down, and sometimes she needs to be rocked. I think that's just the way it's gonna be.

Diet: After a few very messy and frustrating meals, I discovered that our little music lover is a much better eater when we listen Pandora or iTunes Radio. This kid loves her some Vampire Weekend and Two Door Cinema Club and will start dancing around in her highchair when she hears a song she likes. Momma couldn't be any happier! I'm just counting the days till I can take her to her first concert!

Her favorite eats are still green peas, chunks of cheese, anything with kale blended in, and tater tots. She's recently tried black beans and Cheerios (in the same sitting, actually), and cinnamon toast, all of which she loved, as evidenced by the yummy moaning sounds she made while wolfing them down. We've got to find more finger foods that she can try, and soon!

We've also cut her down to three bottles a day (from four) which is way more convenient for Momma and Daddy. She takes 5-6 oz in morning, 7-8 oz after lunch, and 7-8oz before bed. She also chugs water all day long, and we're working on using a straw cup. She loves drinking from our Tervis cups, but the ice kind of freaks her out, so the water usually ends up running down her shirt. 

Milestones:
Teeth: We officially have two bottom teeth, and judging by the drool, finger chewing, and fussiness, more are on the way any time now.  We also started brushing her teeth, which she loves! And, with the arrival of teeth comes the joys of biting. I'm fairly certain that she isn't aware that she's gnawing on my arm, but it's something we've got to find a way to stop before any top teeth show up. Ouch!

First attempt at getting a pic of the choppers. A little blurry, perhaps, but that crazy tongue kept obstructing my view!

There they are! 

Bathtub: For many, many months now, the babe has been bathing in her whale tub in the big bathtub. Then she grew. So we got a cute cushy whale mat (notice a theme here?) and gave the big tub a go. So far, so good. I was a little worried about keeping her from trying to swim around, but as long as she's got some toys, she's usually content to stay on the mat and splash around in the bubbles.

Waving, Clapping, & Pointing: I wish I had some good pictures/video of these. Z is just figuring our waving, so it usually looks like she's just holding her hand out, but she's got pointing down pat. I'm not always sure why she's pointing, or at what, and I haven't been able to get her to point on command yet ("Where's Scout?"). Now clapping, that's her favorite, and she does it all the time. She'll even clap to the beat when she hears a song she likes. That might be a coincidence, but I've seen it more than once, so who knows?!

Standing: Well, not really, but the Hubs was really impressed and thought I should include it as a milestone. Last week, Z had pulled up and was holding on to my bent knee and shoulder as I sat on the floor. I have no idea how long she was standing on her own, but I eventually realized that she wasn't holding on anymore. It must have dawned on her at a about the same time, cuz she sat herself right down. She's only done it once, so I'm not sure it counts.

Now for all of the extra cuteness...I just can't resist sharing!

I wish the exposure on this shot were clearer, but I just love it anyway! Reading a bedtime story with Daddy by the light of her Christmas tree.  Just. the. best.

"Oh nothing. Just having a convo with my best girlfriend, Abby, over a bowl of Cheerios. The usual."

If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen a few shots now and then showing Z's love for NBC News anchor Brian Williams. She smiles every time he's on the screen. Last week, he was on Sesame Street and I thought her head was going to explode from sheer joy. She made a bee line for the TV and did her best to get as close to BriWi as possible. No matter how many times I pulled her away, she just kept crawling over there. This kid is so funny!

Well, with just two short months till the big birthday, we're trying to decide how to celebrate. Do we keep it to just family, or invite a few other folks (and a couple of kids, too). How did you guys celebrate your kiddos' first birthday? Big partay, or quiet family affair?