13 months old developments

Hola! Bella turned 14 months old on Oct. 20 and is such the toddler! She's all into tag-along toys and mommy's LongChamp hang bags (she has good taste, huh?!). She loves playing upstairs in our room and has a ton of toys at this point. We just bought her a baby back pack carrier and it's pretty hard core if you ask me. She loves it. We tested it out on a hike at the Red Rocks and I think she enjoyed being totted around and sitting up high to see everything. Well, fall is definitely here! It's so beautiful and I think all the leaves will be off the trees after our cold spell in the middle of this week. However, as it is with typical Denver weather, it's supposed to be back into the 70's this weekend.

DEVELOPMENTS:
Well, things have slowed down in the development area, since she's been walking. Although, now she is starting to run!haha. She's also starting to make a little noise and put her hands up in the air when she drops something or when I ask, "Donde esta?" (Where is it?) It's too cute. Also, just a couple of days ago she fed Titan her food and I said no and shook my finger. Little smarty pants, mocked me and pointed her finger and waved it back and forth!

Speaking wise, she says "ba" for ball. I'm also teaching her the Spanish word for it, Pelota. It might be a while before she says that one! I'm trying to get her to say hola, so we'll see.


SLEEPING:
Goodbye to two naps! It's official, Bella is down to one nap and I'm lucky if she sleeps an hour in her crib these days. We bought an awesome new car seat (Britax Marathon Convertible Car Seat) for Bella and she can no longer nap in her infant car seat, as she since she was like six months old or so. At first it was hard to get her to sleep in her crib, but she eventually got the hang of it after some cries.

However, she doesn't nap very long and I am now putting her to sleep around 615-630 at night instead of 7-715pm. She'll still sleep til about 5-530, maybe a bit earlier. She can stay awake for about 4.5-6 hours! One time it was like 7 hours with a brief ten minute nap in the car! 6-7 hrs is the absolute max. It's hard now b/c if she falls asleep in her car seat, I have to actually take her out and hope that she's still asleep when I put her in her crib.

It's a toss up whether she stays asleep. Sometimes she does and others, she just wakes up and won't go back down. I didn't realize how nice I had it when she fell asleep in her infant car seat and I was able to keep her in it when I took it out of the car seat base! Today she only napped for 45 mins from 1-1:45pm and she'll go to bed around 6:15. She was up from 720am until 1 p.m. though. You would think she would sleep a tad longer!

EATING:
Bella is down to one nursing session now, the early morning (5a.m.) one! Last night was the third night with nursing at bedtime and it's really amazing how well it has gone. The first night, she cried for maybe 10 minutes off and on and nothing major. She then passed right out. The second night she hardly peeped a word and last night, she went right to bed. Now, it might be because she was very tired from not napping long! Well, hey whatever works, right?! I think that trick is to make sure she's really tired!

I've been reducing the time on me at bedtime by one minute, starting at 12 minutes. Before this, she would stay on for 30 mins. There were times a couple of months ago when she stayed on for a wholeeee hourrr. Anyways, I just kept reducing the time until it got done to one minute and left her one for that minute and that was it. I put her in her crib after one minute and I was prepared to deal with a crying spell. However, to Kieran and my surprise, it went off without a hitch! I would not have done it any other way. I'm just not one of those mothers who could do it cold turkey. I don't feel it's good for the baby or the mother. I haven't gotten engorged either b/c I did it gradually. Next weekend, I'm going to wean her from the last nursing and that will be it. 14 months of nursing..not bad, huh?! Glad I was able to go this long, but knew it was time to wean. A mother can just tell...

I started to wean her after her 12 month birthday. On Sept. 2 I dropped the 3rd late afternoon feeding and no problem. She looked and made the nursing sign, but I just distracted her with toys, books, food. etc. Then, Sept. 14, I dropped the second nursing and once again no problem. Just kept her distracted and busy. Besides dropping these feedings, I started to give Bella some milk at night around Aug. 19 in addition to nursing, to get her used to drinking from the sippy. At first, she just wouldn't take much at all. I tried warmed milk, cold milk, and chocolate milk. However, I kept trying and she would take a little more each time. Now, that's all that she takes at night for three nights now. I just mix in some chocolate with the organic milk and give her a straw with it. She loves it now! I dropped the bed time nursing Saturday night (Oct. 18- almost 14 months old) and will drop the last one (early morning) this weekend.

Bella is eating three meals and two snacks in between. She like to nit-pick at her food, so I have to give her a variety of foods like grilled cheese, tofu with soy sauce, rice and broccoli (flavored), yogurt with pineapple juice or with natural strawberry fruit spread mixed in, Cheerios and milk, oatmeal, PB and J, bagel pieces with cream cheese, bananas, etc. Lately, she loves pasta! I mix in some lentils with the sauce for a healthier boost!

COLORADO:
It's been 15 months since we've moved to Colorado and we are so happy out here. There's SO much to do and see. You could never get bored out here and if you do, then it's your own fault! haha. One of our Penn State friends from back east, Erica, just moved out here in Denver about ten minutes from us! I'm so excited to have her here to hang out with. It's nice to have old friends near us, especially Penn Staters! We went to see a Penn State game at a local Penn State bar and had a blast. It was as if we were back in college! I have a feeling I'm going to be getting out more now that she's around =-)

Well, that's about it. Bella is having a blast being a toddler and loves to play! She also loves to give Titan hugs and besos (kisses). Bella is going to enjoy Halloween this year for sure! She's going to be an octopus and I've attached a glimpse of what she'll look like. It's so cute!

Take care,
The Lasaters