Dear Arianna (8 months)

Dear Arianna,

I cannot believe you are eight months old. Six months I can believe, but eight?! Where did the time go these last two months? We have been so busy that I haven't taken the time to enjoy your growth as much as I have wanted to. You did spend most of the last month sick though...Your dad and I have been so impressed with how happy you have been, even though you must have felt horrible. People kept commenting on it..."Wow she is such a happy baby" "Oh, she is such a smiler" or "Ahh...I got a smile!" I have heard this from strangers and family. It doesn't matter who a person is or how sick you are...if someone smiles at you, you smile back. You bring light wherever you are. 

This last month has been a battle with food. Your nose was so stuffed that you had trouble breathing while you were eating so we were lucky if you ate half of what you normally ate...and you fought me the whole time. We finally figured out that you wanted some space, so now we lay you on the ground to feed you, and you are liking that much better. Tonight you ate your entire bottle...I am so glad you are feeling better. 

You have discovered some new sounds and babbling. You say "Ma--Ma--Ma--" when you are whining and "Dadadada" when you are happy. You also discovered how to click your tongue. Your favorite sound is a high pitched "yayayayayaya." The only time that you are really quiet is when we are outside...then you just sit and watch, mesmerized by everything around you.

You have just started to get up on your hands and knees and rock, but you still prefer to roll to get to something. You have also figured out how to push up to a sitting position from laying on the floor. One night your dad went in to check on you and you were sitting up in your crib. You gave him a huge smile and started to babble away like it was morning...

You now have four teeth, 2 on bottom and 2 on top; I am sure that more are not far behind. You chew on everything you can get your hands on, including your hands and toes! As I said, this month we have fought over food, but you have started to enjoy graham crackers and puffed rice. You still love cucumbers, but now you eat little chunks out of the middle. 

We haven't measured you this month, but you can wear some 18-month clothes, and we had to buy you a new car seat! Last week you weighed 18 lbs 6 oz, which puts you at about the 70th percentile for weight. You are so long, people are surprised to find out you are younger than a year.

Ari, your dad and I love you so much. We feel so blessed that we are able to be your parents. You have already taught us so much. I love seeing your personality slowly emerge. I love the person you are becoming. I can't emphasize enough how much light you have brought into our and so many other's lives. We love you so much!

Love Mom
*We are having internet issues, there are more videos and pictures that I will post when it is working*

Sickness and Travels

 Things have been a little crazy around here lately. A few weeks ago Ari got a cold, that cold turned into a cough, and the cough turned into wheezing. Through out this Ari never had a fever, all the discharge was clear, and she was happy. Those are the three things that the doctors have told me to look for to see if she has an infection. We went to one dr and she was as baffled as we were, then ended up in Urgent Care because we wanted some answers before we left,  and last to another pediatrician. The verdict from all these visits? Ari has bronchiolitis. Which is swelling and mucus buildup in the bronchioles, due to a viral infection.  She was put on steroids and breathing treatments, which helped almost immediately, and she was well enough to make the trip to Arizona.

A lot of Ben's extended family lives in Arizona including his only living grandparent, his grandma. Ari is her 100th great-grandchild and is actually related to her through the Guymon line. We thought it was time that they met.

We took a direct flight from Springfield to Mesa, which was wonderfully easy and affordable. Ari did amazingly. I followed lots of advice that I got from family and friends and both flights went smoothly! Ari slept most of the time and the time that she was awake she was smiling and giggling with the other passengers.

Arizona was wonderful, but a little hot. We got to see and spend time with a bunch of family. I didn't get pictures with everyone because Ari was still not feeling well at the beginning of the trip. Towards the end she was all smiles...

Ari and Grandma Cluff

Ari and Cousin Cole

Ari and Aunt April

"This is how it works Grandma..."

Ari and Aunt Coco

Four Generations

 It was so wonderful to spend time with everyone there. We will have to make another trip out soon!

Normal Life

Things have been busy here. It is funny, even I am looking forward to the school year starting...no kids in school, no class to teach, but everyone else's schedule settles down during the school year, so I hope mine will too. Here are a few things of Ari that have changed:

Ari has discovered that bath time is fun, and loves to splash:

 

 Ari now has 4 teeth and with that has come a lot of snot:

 

Ari has started to roll to get where she wants to go, and that means get into things. We are going to have to move some stuff around:

 

She also loves my phone:

  

She has also started this new squealing and wanting to play with the floor more that her toys. All this to the delight of family who has found this very entertaining...this is a clip from a 5 minute video...she also has started to eat her toes sitting like this. I will try to capture it on video next time.

  

And a mini photo shoot for those of you who are looking forward to football season!

The thinker...

What do you mean I have to wait a whole month for football?

 And last but not least:

 

I think this is Ben's favorite picture so far...we are having a caption contest :)