Not the usual perfection

Petra's been cranky at night ever since her party. I think her molars might be coming in (I can see large bumps where they will erupt), and then throw in her first diaper rash, and we might have a reason. Regardless, it's been a bit frustrating. Every time she wakes up during the night she wakes up crying and flailing, and it's hard to calm her down even with the boob. Hopefully it's just temporary and will be gone soon (everything is just a phase with babies, isn't it?).

Of course, during the day she is happy, chatty and playful! She loves the Ikea Poang chair that we got her, and will sit/stand and bounce on it for long periods at a time, and bring her toys (like the little frying pan in the picture) and books with her when she climbs into the chair.
She also fetches her little red See Kai Run shoes and tries to put them on herself. She also helps (or actively hinders) when we are getting her dressed- she puts her arms through the sleeves, lifts her foot etc.
She's become a big fruit eater, and goes into the fridge every time we open it to grab a plum or a pear and start gnawing away at it. We find peeled fruit all around the house! She's insisting on walking just about everywhere- to and from daycare, 3 blocks to the drugstore, up the street to the bus stop. It makes the walk a bit slower, but much more fun.
Petra is starting to open books and turn the pages on her own. We've seen her go from barely paying attention, to closely watching the pages, to turning them when we finish reading the page, and now she's taking over on her own. Such a good little librarian!
She's also an action-baby, with her rocking slug (also from Ikea), on her poor man's segway, or riding the spring toy in the park. She's just so much fun! Except at 3 in the morning.

Cake and Ice Cream

Petra had her first birthday party yesterday. Lots of friends came over to help her celebrate- some old, some new. Cake and ice cream, pizza and balloons ensured that everyone stayed happy. There were plenty of toys to keep everyone busy, and a 5 foot Strawberry Shortcake piñata to keep them all in line. Cake was provided by Petra's admirers at La Maison du Pain. Petra was an absolute darling for the entire party.

And that was a bit of a surprise. In a case of epic bad timing, we had her 1 year check-up the day before. 23lbs 15oz, 30.5 inches tall. Doing well, except the tail end of an ear infection (which we only saw as a cold- she's a real trooper). The bad news- 4 shots and a blood draw! That left us with one cranky baby (and one that was a bit feverish as well. Pesky pneumococcal conjugate!). All night long she would wake crying, and all Saturday morning was much the same. We forced her to take 4 naps before the party though, and with the rest and some Tylenol drops she was MUCH better by the time the guests arrived. Blowing up a mess of helium balloons (her favorite) certainly helped improve her mood as well.

Thanks to everyone who made this such a special day for our girl!

Happy Birthday to You!

I'm not sure I believe it, but today is Petra's first birthday! 365 days of the little muffin! My how time flies. It seems like just yesterday that she was just sitting up, and crawling, and standing, and walking, and, and, and...

Things that prove she's a genius (at least to us!):
Say "Go get your monkey" (or other toy) and she looks around, spots it, and brings it to you.
Say "Dance dance dance" and she dances up and down and turns in a circle.
Say "brusha brusha" and she'll brush her teeth with a toothbrush.
Say "bye bye" and she'll wave (or make kissing noises if you kiss her, and blow a kiss if you're lucky).
Say "bounce bounce" and she'll bounce up and down giggling.

She drinks from a sippy cup, climbs stairs and furniture, and she runs down the street as fast as Daddy can chase her.

There's just too much! So, to sum up, let's just check off a few milestones from the American Academy of Pediatrics:

Turns over box of blocks to dump them out
Recognizes names of familiar objects
Walks alone
Stands on tiptoe
Carries toys while walking

But wait, all those are in the "second year" section of the book! Hmm, maybe she's really 2 years old? Did I miss something? I better go back and check the blog.

Can I have the keys?

Petra is one step away from borrowing the car! We have a little wagon that she has hardly noticed for a month or so, and all the sudden she realized 1. She can push it all over the house (ramming walls and "Steering" by manhandling (babyhandling?) it all over) and 2. she can be driven all around the house at high rates of speed. Both appeal to her immensly, and she is having a ball doing both.

Petra is playing with all her toys in new ways now it seems- She turns the pages of her books for us (and brings us a nonstop stream of books to read to her- such a little nerd!); she has discovered puppets (and giggles when they kiss her); She stacked a couple of blocks (instead of going all Godzilla on them like usual);

Halloween is coming! We'll be travelling on the 31st, so elaborate heavily furred costumes are out. Mommy found a cute T-shirt/pants combo with a glitter skull & crossbones- with a pink bow. That would be adorable enough, but then Daddy found some kitty ears with a pink bow to coordinate with it. Petra hated wearing the ears- until she got a look at herself, then it was all smiles and posing! The little ham!

MMMmmmmmwah!

Petra blew Daddy a kiss as he was going to work yesterday! Such an incredible cutie!

Of course, she balances that with suddenly learning how to whack things away (or throw them) when she doesn't want something (particularly food, but anything she doesn't like can go flying).

The Frog Princess

Petra had quite the frog in her throat for a couple of days this week. It made her already cute giggles and babbling even cuter (if a little disturbing). Luckily, it went away in 2 days, and she had no other symptoms of illness at all. Go figure. And I'm sure it has nothing to do with us bathing her in the kitchen sink.

Let's see, what else to tell? Petra has become quite the dancer since she started walking. Now when you say "dance dance dance" to her, she does a little softshoe shuffle and bounces up and down. Far better than the white-boy shuffle that Daddy does. She raises her arms to show that she is "so big" when you say "how big is baby?" She yells "Doggy" (more or less) when she sees one, and loves to pant like one. She is officially moving WAY too fast for us, and seems to love sprinting for the street every chance she gets. We're going to have to put her on a leash soon.

We had a busy weekend playing. Went to the French bakery for treats and adoration. Went to BevCen for some retail therapy (and a towel bar for Petra!) and adoration. Went to the Autry museum to see the Yosemite exhibit and for adoration. Hmm, sensing a theme? I don't know, but I don't recall seeing everyone else's baby constantly being adored by complete strangers. Sure there are cute babies, but THIS cute?!