Arden's Walking!

Arden's been working on taking her first steps for about a week or two now. It started with standing up from a squatting position without pulling up and then some wobbly few steps and then last Saturday she just decided to give it a shot. Since last week she's improved tremendously and is walking all over the place. Video is a bit difficult, but here's a few clips of her progression! They're all real short since she still falls a bit.

Last Saturday


Drunken baby steps


This Saturday- She's getting good!

Father's Day at my Parent's

We went to my parent's place near the beach for father's day. That way, I could be with my Dad, in addition to Dave being with Arden. Arden's schedule got all messed up Friday so she ended up being awake in the car for most of the trip down, but Dave entertained her in the backseat by having a car seat dance party and playing peek-a-boo with Gigi (her lovey).

Saturday we went out on my Dad's boat which Dave was nervous about, but seemed to be ok if Arden was strapped to him or if he wasn't responsible for her when she wasn't. She seemed to get her sea legs and tolerate the baby life jacket quite well! We stopped for a picnic in Southport Marina and then she took a nap on the ride back. Later that afternoon we all took a dip at the pool and Arden enjoyed her baby float.

Then on Sunday, Father's Day, Arden gave Dave the painting she had made him. I had her try her "hand" (pun intended) at finger painting last week to make him a card. I prepped the whole kitchen table with newspaper and stripped her down and got a bath ready for the inevitable mess. She painted two pictures- one for Dave and one for my parents. Then she got paint on her face and was a little confused. But I matted the painting on construction paper and attached the below picture to it with a note that said "Happy Father's Day Love, Arden" on it. He seemed to get a kick out if it. He also picked out her shirt to wear on Father's Day- "My Daddy Can Fix Anything" which I thought was a cute shirt when I bought it, being that Dave is a carpenter and can really fix anything.

I decided to start a Father's Day tradition of taking a picture of Dave and Arden every year on Father's Day and putting them in an album for him to see how she's grown each year. This was last year's picture, when she was only a few weeks old. And here's this year's picture. Does anyone see the similarities?

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Daddies out there!

Arden's First Birthday Party

This past Saturday we had Arden's first birthday party. I told Dave awhile back that I wanted to be the mom that had the cool birthday parties. They don't have to be over the top expensive, but just fun. I remember growing up with a friend who's mom always did unique things with us for birthday parties- scavenger hunts, blindfolded walks, etc. We were a lot older then 1, but I still aspire to be like her.

So we decided on a butterfly theme. Between my mom and I we went a bit crazy with the decor including everything butterfly from the standard balloons and plates, to realistic butterflies, to foam butterflies, butterfly picks for the cupcakes, etc. but it was fun. We invited all the babies of my yoga mom's playgroup that range in age from 15 months to 9 months, then my friend's kids that are 2 and a half and a newborn were there too. Thank goodness the weather cooperated and we were able to hang out in the backyard with the baby pool. The pool was a huge hit! The kids loved it! Arden sported her new bikini and got watered by Jacob so she would grow. Then we did cake and eggless cupcakes or yogurt for the kids and sang to Arden which she seemed a little overwhelmed by. She was a good hostess and seemed to love having all her friends over! We'll have to do the baby pool more often for playdates.

It was a great party and great end to her first year! Thanks for everyone that helped us celebrate!