Nine Months!

Wow! Aliyah has grown up a lot in the past couple weeks! She is now 18 and a 1/2 pounds and 27 and a 1/4 inches long! She is definitely on the move and getting into everything! She is a super fast crawler and can pull herself up on anything! She is starting to let go of the things she is holding on to and standing on her own for a few seconds. She walks along furniture, along the wall, holding on to mom's legs, holding our hands; let's just say she doesn't like to sit on the floor much anymore. She has learned to open the cabinets, but lucky for me has not started pulling stuff out yet. It's time to start baby-proofing for real this time. She is getting more adventurous and will crawl into other rooms to play (get into things) without having anyone with her. She has learned to climb, which helps her reach things she's not supposed to. Her mobility has been a little bit challenging for mom, but she is loving it!(Climbing on a box so she could pull stuff off the table and discovering that the cabinets open for the first time.)

(Pulling herself up.)

(Walking along the walls in the kitchen.)

Another new development, Aliyah is no longer toothless! She had two teeth pop through on March 19th. They didn't seem to bother her at all at first, but a couple days later she got kind of fussy and we were grateful for baby orajel. The pain seemed to subside after just two days, and now we are good to go! The funny part is, she didn't get her two front teeth, she got the ones next to them. They're like little bottom fangs!(It's hard to take pictures of teeth.)

Along with turning nine months old, came sleeping through the night! For the past two weeks, Aliyah has gone to bed around 7 o'clock and doesn't wake up until anywhere between 4:30 and 6:30, and then after being fed, normally goes back to sleep until 7:30. I love it! Yay Aliyah!
One new thing that is not so fun is tantrums. Little temper tantrums have become a fairly common occurrence at our house. Anytime she doesn't get what she wants, like to be picked up, or if we take something away that she's not supposed to have, she lets out a crazy scream and the tears start flowing. If she just wants to be picked up, I often give in. I really don't like the crying. I know that I need to be more consistent about not responding to the tantrums so that she doesn't think she can get whatever she wants by crying, but it's kind of hard for me. Don't get me wrong, she's still a happy baby, but the tantrums do exist.(I found her playing in a jar of vaseline that she figured out how to open. At least that's not snot all over her face. She was not very happy when I took it away and cleaned her up!)

(playing with daddy's basketball)

On another note, a small update on what's going on with me and Steve. This month I turned 26. I really can't believe it. It doesn't seem like college and even high school are that far in my past, but then I think about everything I've done in the past eight years and realize it's true. The week of my birthday was Steve's spring beak, so we were able to go down to my parents' for a few days to celebrate with them (and watch lots of basketball!) (Sharing Teddy's bone, trying to help those teeth pop through!)

The big news in all of our lives is that we our going to Guatemala this summer! Steve applied to a law program down there and was accepted. We will be spending a month in Antigua, where Steve will take classes learning about international law. Then, we may spend another month in Solola, where Steve has found an internship, we'll know for sure by the end of this week. We're excited, it should be a fun adventure! We've also enjoyed beautiful weather this past week! Aliyah and I got to go on nice long walks, play at the park, and even went jogging one day! We can't wait until the sun is here to stay! I have been loving spending time with my girlfriends, we have dessert nights, playgroup, do crafts, and just hang out. And Steve has found some guys to play basketball with again. Life is good for the Brown family!

Happy Valentines Day...

So I'm realizing that I'm always about a month behind, but oh well, someday I'll be more on top of things. (Likely story, huh?)
Valentines Day is not even that big of a deal in our house, but I couldn't resist posting these adorable pics of Aliyah. Other than Aliyah's cute outfit and the beautiful orchids Steve brought home for me, it was a pretty ordinary day.



Right after Valentine's Day, Aliyah turned 8 months old. Along with this came two new discoveries, scooting and sitting up on her own! She had been scooting for awhile already, but only backwards and with little control. At about this time, she discovered forward motion and started getting up on her hands and knees and rocking, as well as crawling backwards. On Valentine's Day, she went from laying down to sitting up on her own for the first time. The next day, she figured out how she did it! We are all very happy that mommy and daddy don't have to sit her up anymore. In the past three weeks she has mastered the art of crawling and likes to play with anything that is not a toy. She has also learned to pull herself up to stand using pretty much anything, including the flat wall. She loves to get up and down and up and down and is starting to walk along the furniture. She also likes to blow raspberries. She's not very good at it, but she purses her little lips and tries so hard. She thinks it's pretty funny, but I think we think it's even funnier. I love all the new things she is learning, but I've had too recognize that keeping my eye on her and playing with her is more important than the other things I'm trying to do around the house. Life may have been easier when she couldn't go anywhere without my help, but I think this is more fun :)

The Past Two Months

I suppose it's time for another update.

First came Christmas and a much needed break for Steve. Steve's parents came for another quick visit a week before Christmas for a total of three visits in 2010. Aliyah's going to get spoiled:) We then headed down to my parents' for a few days, including Christmas Eve and morning. We had a nice time and Aliyah seemed to enjoy herself, although some of the older children (Michael) were a little upset that they had to wait for the baby to wake up Christmas morning before we could open presents. We enjoyed a leisurely day,then joined Betsy and her family for Christmas dinner. Yum!Didn't matter what it was, as long as she could chew on it.

(Mommy made her Christmas leg warmers and her stocking)

One of the presents we got for Christmas was a book called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." Up to this point, Aliyah had not been a very good sleeper, and it was only getting worse. She had gotten so bad that after sleeping an initial three hours, she would wake up every hour at least. We decided enough was enough, and after reading a couple chapters of the book, decided to start sleep training that night. No more fighting her to sleep or responding to every cry. As hard as it might be, after reading a little, we realized that it ultimately would be better for her because she would finally be able to get the adequate amount of sleep that her little body needs. So, we put her down awake for the first that night and she cried for 1 1/2 hours. It was a very difficult hour and a half, but after that, a miracle happened, she slept for almost 8 hours! Then, after being fed, she slept another 4, without waking up at all! The next day, we laid her down for her first nap, and no crying, she went right to sleep. Ever since, life in the Brown household has been much happier. We occasionally have relapses and she cries for a little while, but never too long. Aliyah now sleeps 13 hours a night waking up only once or twice to eat! I saw a baby onsie that said "All Mommy wants for Christmas is a Silent Night." Couldn't be more true, best present ever!
We spent New Years at my parents' house as well. Good thing too, because both Steve and I got super sick with some sort of stomach bug and I'm not sure how we would have taken care of Aliyah if we had been on our own. We were very grateful that Grandma and Grandpa were there to watch her, as well as take care of us. Needless to say, this was definitely not my favorite New Year's ever.

We spent the rest of our break relaxing and enjoying not having anything to do. We also went to visit our friend Stephen up in Bellingham, leaving Aliyah behind for our first night alone in 7 months! And she did great, thank you Betsy! Steve was also able to go to the Seahawks playoff game with his brothers. He had a great time! Said it was the best game he'd ever been to! I'm glad he was able to go :)

Aliyah at 7 months

Right around 7 months old, Aliyah got tired of sitting in one spot. Although she still can't crawl, she can roll from one side of the room to the other. Only problem is, she gets to the wall and tries to keep rolling. She is also really good at scooting backwards, the problem with this is that she's trying to go forward, so she often backs herself into things and gets mad because she's getting further and further from the things she's trying to get. It's so fun to watch her discover the different things she can do!

This past month she has also discovered that she LOVES to jump. We started putting her in the Jumperoo again, and instead of just sitting there looking at the toys, she jumps, and she jumps hard. It's great because now I just stick her in it while I get ready for the day or pick up the bedroom, since the only doorways to put it in are either to the bedrooms or bathrooms.

My mom gave me another solution for getting things done without ignoring Aliyah, while in the kitchen. Now Aliyah gets lots of sink baths while Mom makes dinner! And she loves it!
And that is life as we know it right now! Steve is back in school and applying for summer externships (hopefully more on that in the future.) And Aliyah and I are keeping busy going to play groups, grocery shopping, visiting Grandma, and just hanging out at home. Life is good!

Where Does the Time Go?

Time seems to be going so fast, and Aliyah seems to be growing even faster! I can't believe she is already six months old! She's learning new things and getting cuter by the day! But let's back up a little bit and visit the highlights of the past couple months.

4 Months - Aliyah reached her four month mark in mid-October. As seen in previous posts, at this point, she had learned to roll-over and loved playing with anything that wasn't a toy. She was quick to laugh, and we loved to hear it! She was weighed in right at 14 pounds and 24 and 1/4 inches long.


5 Months - The month of November was a very eventful one, with a few more milestones for Aliyah.

5 Months Old

We broke out the big girl bath!

Time for solids!

We went to a hockey game for my sister-in-law Betsy's birthday. It was another first for both me and Aliyah. No fights like you see on tv, but it was still fun.

Sitting all on her own! In the beginning, she had to use her arms to support herself, but now she is steady as can be!

Seattle Snow Storm!!! A week before Thanksgiving, snow hit Seattle and everything shutdown as usual. Luckily for me and Aliyah, we just sat at home and watched the snow fall. It was very pretty from our point of view. Unfortunately, Steve was not so lucky. He had driven to school that day, hoping to stay late and get some extra studying done, but when the school canceled all classes after 3, he decided he should probably head home early. 10 and 1/2 hours later, he made it home at 2:30 in the morning.

Steve's parents came for Thanksgiving. We had dinner at his sister Betsy's, dessert at his brother Les', and then headed down to my parents' and stayed for a couple days.

6 Months - That brings us to now. Aliyah is now15 and 1/2 pounds and 25 and 1/2 inches long. She has finally found her feet and likes to lift them high then slam them down. She loves to stand all the time and we are grateful that one of our neighbors lent us their exersaucer so she is able to stand as often as she likes. She looks like she is always chewing gum, which totally cracks me up. And she is ready for her first Christmas.
Steve is finished with his first semester of law school and survived some brutal finals. We are now looking forward to a three week break to relax and visit family and friends!

The Simple Things...

Lately, Aliyah doesn't really want to play with her toys, she'd rather play with the trash. I guess she's learning early how to be a penny-pincher. (Don't worry, she was supervised while chewing on the plastic Huggies bag, no fear of suffocation.)

Happy Halloween!

Well, Halloween was not that eventful for us, seeing as Aliyah is a little too young to participate in all of the festivities, but I did get to make her a super cute Halloween costume! She looked amazing in my opinion, and we got to show her off at our ward Halloween party.
So, for her costume, I decided she was going to be a peacock. Seemed like a great idea, until I put the costume on her. I failed to remember that Aliyah likes to put absolutely anything she can get her hands on straight into her mouth. Needless to say, being covered in feathers was not the ideal situation for her. Within 5 minutes of putting her costume on, our living room floor was covered in blue feathers. We continued to leave a trail of feathers in our wake the entire night. In order to keep her from eating the feathers, we ended up having to put a bib on her and some mittens. They detracted a little from the look, but seemed like the best thing to do. So although her costume was a bit of a hassle, it was all worth it for the cute pics!
One thing I did want to do this Halloween was take Aliyah to a pumpkin patch. Unfortunately we never made it, but I survived the missed picture opportunity. It was probably for the better, I think Aliyah gets tired of posing for Mommy's photo shoots. :) We'll do it next year for sure!
For actual Halloween, we headed down to my parents' house to celebrate my mom's birthday. We enjoyed a nice dinner and cake, and Aliyah got to see her great-grandma again! All in all, I think it was a pretty good holiday.

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' . . .

Aliyah officially learned to roll over two weeks ago! I put her on her tummy and she plopped right over. I decided I better try again because she had rolled a couple weeks before completely on accident. So again, I put her on her tummy and bam! And she did it again and again! I was very excited! Now she's done it at least once a day since! I know, my baby's got skills. Next trick, sitting on her own, we've been practicing. :)
1st day rolling!

Two weeks later