Catching up

It's been awhile since I have posted any Arlee updates.  Ever since Arlee turned 1 it seems like everyday she is learning something new.  My last post was about weaning Arlee off the bottle.  Well that worked pretty good, and it led us up to her going from 2 naps to 1 nap during the day usually between 1:00 and 2:00, and she will sleep for about an hour and a half.  That is really nice because we plan everything we do around her nap schedule.  So back to the bottle issue, I have not taken away her night bottle, only because she isn't drinking enough through the day. My plan is to give her a few months and see what happens. 

Also in Arlee news, she got a potty chair!  She has caught on to the whole potty thing, all of a sudden she decided after watching everyone use the toilet she wanted to give it a shot.  You say "Arlee wanna go potty" and she goes running in the bathroom as eager as can be.  So we decided to get her a potty her size.  So far she has pooped in it everyday and potties in it as well (not every time).  She loves the attention she is getting off this.  We just sit her on it and read a book until shes done.  Now if she could only tell me she has to go, that would be awesome.  Pull-ups here we come!

Alree is walking, running, using her tippy toes, walking backwards, and climbing up the stairs.  I can tell it won't be long til shes looking for a stool to climb on things.  She is talking up a storm mostly just a bunch of random syllables, she can say mom, dad, gma, gpa, duck, cat, bath, backpack, magic, freckles and i'm not sure if i'm forgetting any.  She has started whining and trying to throw fits to see if she gets her way, but i'm not giving in so hopefully that will pass real quick!  She has 12 teeth and a few more on the way, that has been a roller coaster for us.  When those teeth start coming in she gets really cranky fast.

My new favorite thing to do with her now is let her mimic me.  She loves to pretend scrub the floors, vacuum, brush her hair, teeth.  Anything you are doing she wants to try.  Its so cute.  I love the age she is, just watching her learn so quickly is amazing! Ohh one last thing, I can't believe I almost forgot, she can wear pig tails!!  I have never been a fan of pig tails,well now I am they are so cute on babies.  They make her look like a little toddler all grown up!!

We did it!

Arlee made it all day without a bottle, no problem!!  I did give her a night bottle because she didn't drink much at all.  Until she starts drinking more through the day I will give her a night bottle I think!  I am so proud of her!!

Major Milestone (I hope)

First off, Arlee went down for her nap today without a bottle and without any fussing for the first time!  I am so excited because I have been so torn between taking the bottle away and letting her make that decision herself.  Last week I started her on whole milk, just mixing it with her formula, next week she will be all  drinking just milk no formula.  I also started giving her a sippy of just milk with her meals.  I just sit it there and if she drinks it fine if not fine.  Well she spits it out every time. She will go for a drink and immediately realize.  I have been worried that if I take the bottle away she will get no milk at all.  Some people tell me she will drink it if she gets thirsty enough, but part if me thinks that's kinda cruel to force it like that.  Arlee is pretty good about letting us know when shes ready, and if we push to hard she fights back if shes not into it.  She has been showing some signs of not needing a bottle, like if she eats enough food she doesn't seem to mind not having it, and shes going longer between feedings.  So I had made up my mind to bite the bullet and take her bottles away this weekend and see what happens.  And, to get her to take milk in the sippy.  She has never wanted formula from her sippy, she hates it, but she will drink water and juice from it.  Someone told me to try mixing Ovaltine and milk in her sippy and she might like drink it that way until she gets used to it plain.  At least then she would drink enough milk. With all that said this brings us to now, I decided to try a little experiment today.  When Arlee gets up around 9 ish I feed her oatmeal or an egg for breakfast, then at 11ish she gets a bottle and goes down for a nap, then she wakes up for lunch and so on.  Today I fed her breakfast then at 11, instead of getting her bottle I gave her a big snack and gave her milk in a sippy with a straw , she ate and drank a little milk.  Hey a little is better than none and she acted liked she liked it!  Then I laid her down for a nap, and she did it no bottle!!! Yes!!  She is ready!  Lets just see how the day goes!!

Cake Pics

I finally got ahold of some cake pics from Arlees birthday

She's just starting to figure out the cake was pretty good.

It was like she struck gold, she loved the cake!

We had to hose her off she has never been that messy!