It is a Petersen tradition to have all of the grand kids get together on Christmas Eve and act out the Christmas Story. Here are some of the pictures I got.
Almost all the boys were sick, so Aubrey volunteered to play Joseph.
This
was Ari's first real Christmas. She slept through the 1st one while we
spent it in the hospital. Ben's sister, Marianne, and her husband, Dan,
have been staying with us for the holidays (you'll see them in some of the pictures/videos). Ari figured out, pretty quickly, how to rip
the corners of the packages, but her favorite was ripping the
tissue paper. We had so many presents that I put two away without having
her opening them.
You are one year old. I think about all that has happened in the last year and I don't even know how to begin to describe the joyous change you have brought into my and your dad's lives. We were driving home tonight from Grandpa Petersen's and we passed the Krispy Kreme where we were when we got the phone call letting us know you were on the way. The "Hot Now" sign was in the window and we were so tempted to stop in and feed you your first doughnut. Maybe we will do that tomorrow.
Let's see...some of the changes this month...You still are not walking or really even standing. You cry every time we stand you up. You have learned to turn around in a circle while you are sitting on the floor. You started doing that while your cousins, Lilly and Kate, were staying with us, while their mom had her baby. I think you realized that you couldn't keep up with them so you just sat and turned to watch everything they were doing.
You got your 7th tooth this month. It was not very nice to you while it was coming in...I don't think I have ever seen you so miserable. But the pain only lasted a couple of days. You are making all kinds of sounds, and seem to understand the basics of conversation. You make a noise when someone hands you something or one of our phones makes a noise. You have also been saying a phrase that sounds very much like "whats that" when you see things.
Naps have been a bit of a battle. Some days you won't take an afternoon nap, then today you slept for 3 hours :) We have been very busy with friends and family and you love all the activity. You always want to be where things are happening and will fuss if you are left out.
This year has been so wonderful. We are looking forward to celebrating many more birthdays. This is the last "Dear Arianna" letter until your 2nd birthday. But the blog will continue. I love you my precious little girl.
Love,
Mom
Ben putting together her wagon
Ben had to go to work so Uncle Dan finished her wagon
We have a wonderful friend who agreed, at the last minute, to take some pictures for us for our Christmas card. I love the pictures of Arianna with the tree, they capture the wonder and awe of a child's Christmas. Reflecting on the last year has made me so grateful for all that I have. I am glad that Arianna was born around Christmas, she fills me with Joy.
Ben did a good job of conveying some of those feelings in this poem:
Be warned it might bring tears to your eyes.
'Twas two days before Christmas,
Two-thousand eleven
And up on the wall, the clock read
half-past seven
The butterflies hung o'er the cradle in
wait
For a little one coming, we knew not the
date
Each bathroom, each floor, had been
carefully cleaned
By a mother expecting, and to Father it
seemed
That this season might be yet another
alone
Without children to brighten the holiday
tone
But what a surprise! As we drove home
that night
On the Krispy Kreme sign "Hot Now"
was so bright
We reached for our donuts, and in came
the call
We had to get going, there was no time
at all
Mom got a bite in; I stuffed my mouth
And started to drive...Was it north? Or
south?
But sweet little Ari was ready to come
Not even two hours, and all would be
done
And as her dear mother relinquished her
hold
And she passed to us, the joy was untold
We did not yet know all the troubles
ahead
But we had the assurance that we would
be led
So miracles later, some great and some
simple,
We took our sweet Ari to be sealed in
the temple
It will soon be a year since this story
was told
But we can't express all it was to
behold
So we simply give thanks to our Savior
and King
Sending love by our words while we are
apart
We pray that the peace the Spirit does
bring
Will be in your home, and dwell in your
heart
We would also like to share with you a video that is a beautiful illustration of the true meaning of Christmas. Enjoy! And we hope you have a very Merry Christmas.
Dear Arianna, We are coming up on a year! It has been so amazing to watch you grow up so much. I love watching your personality unfold. You have started to develop so many little preferences. You love your bed and your room and don't really like to sleep other places. You know what food you want to eat and make it known during meals when you want something that you are not given. You also seem to think that toys and books are meant to be strewn all over the house. As long as they are all over the floor you have no interest in them, you act like they "belong" there, but as soon as I start to put them away you follow behind me to spread them out again. You did this at your aunt's house too :) Even with all of these preferences you still let me do your hair without a fight. I love your curls, and I get stopped all the time by strangers commenting on your pig tails. You love buckles. Whatever seat you are in you try to figure out how to buckle the buckles. You haven't been able to do it yet, but it isn't from a lack of understanding. I think you don't have the motor skills down yet, but your brain knows how it works. You still don't like to stand, so you only pull up to your knees. But we are starting to get you to do it more. You have started to push things around the house while walking on your knees. I have tried to convince you that it would be better if you stood up, but you still don't believe me :) You have six teeth and seem to be working on two more. Your mouth is always busy with something though. If you can't find a toy to chew on, your tongue will do and your talking has started to develop new sounds. Your most recent favorite is "na-na-na-na" but when you are especially upset, it turns into "ni-ni-ni-ni." Other sounds are ga-ga and da-da. You have said quite a few other sounds as well and are expert at learning new noises to make with your mouth. You are grinding your teeth a lot now, but we can't seem to find a way to discourage it so hopefully you will grow out of it soon. A couple weeks ago you got really sick. It started with a fever that lasted a few days and turned into bad congestion. You did well with the fever but the congestion made it hard for you to breathe through your nose so eating and sleeping became difficult. One morning, after an especially difficult night, I finally just covered you and your bedding in eucalyptus oil and put you down for a nap. Your congestion cleared up, you slept for 3 hours, and when you woke up, you drank a whole bottle. I was very happy to see you respond so well. Your first Thanksgiving was very fun for you. You love being around
lots of people, especially the kids, and you liked seeing your family
in St. Louis too. Everyone is so happy when you are around. You light up
the room and make everything so much fun. We
love you Arianna....more than we know how to express, and we hope that
you will one day understand how much we hope you find happiness in your
life as you learn and grow to become the girl and woman that you are
meant to be. Love, Mom and Dad.
Photo Shoot
Ari hasnot been the most cooperative for pictures lately so I thought we would do an after bath, pj, photo shoot. I didn't get very many good ones, but you can still get an idea of how much she has grown. I have also included some fun videos :)
Arianna is 11 months today, and I would normally post her 11 month post, pictures and letter, but we are traveling and I haven't been able to put it all together, so enjoy some pictures and video from thanksgiving!
Ari had been growing so much lately. We just realized that she "knows" how to get dressed. She holds each of her arms out for us to but in sleeves or her jackets. She lifts one foot at a time for socks and shoes. She also knows how to lift her shirts over her head (good thing I mostly put onesies on her.) She also enjoys playing so much. She has learned to "chase." She actually asks you to chase her it is amazing.Here is a video of her playing with her cousin Joe:
Ari also loves food. I captured just a little of her pleasure with bananas in this video:
My mom also got her a walker. It has been hilarious to watch her figure it out. She still doesn't do it consistently, but she still enjoys it. Mom, I am sorry I haven't posted this earlier, I just realized this video is a month old!
I have been slacking on posting, so here is a little bit of catch up :) For Halloween we dressed Ari up as a Jaguar. My mom gave her the PJs and I made the tail and ears :)
