Arya's Birthday week

Arya turned two on Tuesday, January 14, and we had a very low key steak dinner with Grandpa and Grandpa Heller.  She opened a gift from Mike and Tricia and got a Berenstain Bears coloring book from Grandpa and Grandma. Thank you!! Since we had guests in town, Neil was able to take a day off from work.  She spent a lot of time at the beach in La Jolla, took a very long 4 hour nap, went to a German restaurant and had spaetzle on the 14th and the 15th.

Weekends 3/52

::weekends is a new series where I'll be documenting some of what we do on our weekends.  For us, that's Thursdays and Fridays::

This weekend was around Arya's 2nd birthday and we had Grandpa and Grandma Heller here to enjoy the great weather!  It's been an unusually warm winter and it hit 80 degrees in Coronado on Thursday, 1/16 (Happy Birthday Bridget!).  I'm not usually a beach kind of girl (as you can tell by me wearing jeans and a sweater to the beach), but I actually enjoyed myself and Arya had a good time too.  She played in the water, played with her sand toys and ran and ran and ran.  I've had this swimsuit for about 3 years now.  She's finally old enough to wear it!

Tea Time with Arya

Weekends 2/52

::weekends is a new series where I'll be documenting some of what we do on our weekends.  For us, that's Thursdays and Fridays::

Arya became the newest member of the New Children's Art Museum!  We had a free pass from the library that we checked out and it also allowed us to get 25% off an annual membership.  We decided to go and see how much she liked it before we shelled out the money, but she ended up having a good time and I really liked it. I see many more days at the museum with her!

Weekends 1/52

::weekends is a new series where I'll be documenting some of what we do on our weekends.  For us, that's Thursdays and Fridays::

We feel SO SO blessed to have some days off together after 5+ years.  It definitely took some getting used to, but I think we've got a tentative rhythm that allows me to have my absolutely required alone time and Neil's absolutely required "get out of the house!" time.

Arya had a good time at Presidio Park.  We kicked the ball around, played with the leaves and played keep away with Arya with the frisbee. Another little boy wanted in on the fun too, so that was cute.

Some sweet B&W photos

Leta took some pretty pictures of Arya when we are in Iowa for Vanessa's baby shower.  Many thanks to my talented sister for taking these!

Arya Highlights from 2013

2013 was a big year for Arya.  She has super long BLONDE hair, lots of teeth, loves Berenstain Bears and Curious George and loved her fruit. She had to switch daycares, which was too bad, but her current one is doing well and Arya really likes her. She traveled to the midwest for her 1st birthday in January 2013, and for Vanessa's baby shower. She spent a lot of time her Grandma Oelrich, who was helping us out from April-September, while Neil was away at FLETC and Yosemite.

A Conversation with Arya

Arya is starting to make noises nonstop!  Still waiting for more laughs though.

13 Weeks

Arya turned 3 months old on her 13th Week (April 14th).  Here's a few things she has been up to lately:

• sleeping from about 8:15pm to 5am (this morning she slept until 5:50!)
• drinking 6 oz. each feeding
• rolling over, just not on camera yet!
• grasping a rattle (Grandma's idea!)
• sucking (more like chewing) on her little left thumb
• loving her baths!- no more crying

Arya's New Ride

We tried putting Arya in her Ergo when she was around 11 lbs. I couldn't quite figure it out and didn't know if I was putting her in it right, so I took her to a local store and  attended one of their babywearing classes.  I quickly learned how to do it and then Arya had a nice little nap, while I walked around the outdoor mall a little bit.  Papa loves that he doesn't have to take the stroller everywhere and also loves that she tends to fall asleep almost immediately after being put in it.

Look!  She's in there!

Let's make sure she's breathing!

I'm a cool dad

A REALLY cool dad :)

Arya's Aunties

Arya is blessed with the best Auntie's in the world!!  Each one got to spend some time with her at different times in February and March.

Aunt Vanessa was the first to visit from Feb. 17-20.  She fed, changed, and acted as a bed for Arya all weekend.  I got to catch up on sleep, got to relax and cleaned up a little bit since Arya was more than taken care of. I have to admit though, that I was afraid Arya wouldn't be able to sleep anywhere other than on Vanessa, but thankfully she's been O.K.  Vanessa was supposed to leave the 19th, but her flight got canceled, so she showed up with Neil's dad later in the day.  Here's the funny part: I came out of the bedroom to see Paul (Neil's dad) and he said he brought someone.  I look over and see Vanessa, and I seriously thought I must be dreaming and she isn't really there, I'm just seeing things.  Part exhaustion and Part too many Science Fiction shows, I think.  Vanessa, come back ANYTIME!!  Want to be my nanny?!?

Aunt Bridget was the next to visit from Feb. 29-March 5.  Poor thing got sick right away, so she slept it off at the beginning. I'm pretty sure she started to feel better by the end of the visit.  None of us got sick, so that was nice!  Her visit was awesome because she did a lot of cleaning and made us Baked Chicken Teriyaki and Meatball burger make-ahead meals that we are still enjoying. She even cleaned and disinfected our fridge!  (It's still clean and fairly emtpy).  She also took lots of pictures of Arya.

Lastly, Arya visited Aunt Leta in Las Cruces briefly on March 12th and then for a little longer on March 14th. Arya is always a sweet little girl who doesn't cry much, but man did she let it belt out on her first visit.  We ended up having to go outside and we put her in the sun for a little bit and that calmed her down.  She was just too cold, I think. The second visit went much better. We took Leta out to eat at Si Senor Restaurant and Arya slept through the whole thing. We're glad Leta got to meet her!