Fire Cracker! Snuggle Bug!

14 Months Old

I love my Aria-Boo so much. This girl runs me hot -Real hot, then turns around and makes me a puddle of mush. She has an attitude and determination to have it the way she wants. She will throw something down, cry and scream when she's not happy. She will defiantly look you straight in the eyes and hold your stare when you tell her No. It's like playing who's Alpha Dog. Then a few moments later, she'll walk up behind me and give me the biggest hug she can and nuzzle her head into my shoulder. Sometimes she'll even do a big "Muah!" on my shoulder too. Then she gives a big toothy smile. For my quiet, reserved self, her open defiance and expression of her wants takes me back. I have to take many many deep breaths, tell myself to accept her personality and character as she is, and let her work her way through her emotions. Then I wait for that sweet moment as a reward for not loosing my cool.

Squueeeze!

Aria is totally turning into a toddler. She has her opinions on what she wants to eat. When you offer her something, she's not shy to shake her head and say, uh uh. She will reach out of your arms to point to what she does want to eat from the fridge. She's been wanting to now feed herself with utensils. I was only letting her do this with me also holding the spoon or fork. But now she gives me a look of "Let me do it myself, Mommy." So I taught her how to stab a chicken nugget piece with the fork, and she tried a few times then did it herself, and continued to do it with the carrots. I have to remind her to then put it in her mouth to eat it. She's just so excited she could do it herself.
Right now, if she could just eat Mac n Cheese all day, she would. After having leftovers in the fridge at her eye level, she now looks for more every time the fridge opens and says "cheese?"
Aria has tried some new foods, which she is liking: raw red cabbage, green olives, tater tots, and watermelon, brussel sprouts.

Aria's favorite things to hold: a spoon and her doggie.

Aria Loves Shoes! Whenever she sees a pair laying around, she grabs it and says shoes. I bought her a new pair of black dress shoes for Matt & Jackie's engagement party and after I tried them on her feet and put them back in the box, Aria took them out of the box. She walked over to me saying "shoe!", sat down in front of me holding her feet up. She kept them on until it was time for bed.
She's also very into "dress up". If she sees something, like a tutu or her jacket, she'll grab it and bring it over to me, holding it up and waiting for it to be put on. Then she stomps away proudly.




















We officially moved Aria into Luc's front-facing toddler car seat. No more baby carrier. No more baby. She loves it. She has a lot more room and can see the driver. It's also easier for Luc to hand her things like crackers, or if she drops her toy between them.

Aria also:
-Lifts heavy things, to show off her strength
-Eats Luc's food, for him
-Understands "switch" when she's holding something and she's getting dressed to put her shirt on/off
-Points out Mommy and Dada and grandparents on the photos on our fridge
-Tries to put on her own socks and shoes
-Has a new fascination with her belly button. If she's not wearing a onsie, she'll randomly touch it throughout the day
-Feeds herself with a fork

For the Love of Brother!

Saturday morning I was in the kitchen cleaning dishes. Luc was watching something on his tablet and Aria was playing. Next I see this:

So nice of Luc to let Aria watch his show with him.

Then I hear, "Okay, Aria! I know! I love you too. I Love You Too!!"
And then I see this:  :-D

Aria also got her Passport in the mail last week. Now we can book our flights to Belgium for September!