...I have heard time and time again that Arielle is too young to make strange...so then why does she? I certainly don't try to facilitate it by running to her rescue every time she squawks when she's being held by a new person...but she still does. Granted most of the time she's tired and probably over stimulated so it doesn't help that she's being held by someone new...but still I am shock by how much she freaks out.

Yesterday, in point of fact, I went out for brunch with Jae and Marie...Arielle sat in her car seat in the booth and played with her toys for a bit while I ate...then I took her out and she just hung out on my lap looking at Marie and Jae. Then when Jae wanted to hold her she seemed perfectly fine and didn't make a peep while she was being held. She was at the tail end of being awake for 3 hours and she seemed just fine.

Then later that night we went out for supper with a bunch of people and any time anyone tried to hold her she would flip right out...like reaching decibels I didn't know she could reach! It was slightly disconcerting...now in her defence she had fallen asleep in the car, woke up in a strange place and then was whisked away from mom while she was still waking up...so maybe it was too much too fast for her and then it spiralled down hill from there.

When I got home Jonathan's parents were here and she wasn't much better...again she hadn't really napped well during the day, she was over tired, hungry and needed to just go to bed. So obviously that isn't necessarily the point to teach her about getting used to people...but it still makes me feel bad that people I trust and love are foreign to her. While I was rocking her to sleep (read: calming her down) I told her that everyone who was holding her loves her and it's really okay for her to be away from me for a bit. That doesn't mean I'm going anywhere for a long time...I'll always come back. She doesn't get it now I know...but I figure if I can instill that in her now then maybe since she's making strange early...she'll stop making strange early. I suppose in the long run it's not a big deal I just can't help but feel I'm to blame even when I know I'm not...I'm not making sense I'll stop. :p

In other news we went to the doctor on Wednesday for Arielle's four month shots and wow she has grown. She's just over 25 inches and weighs 16.5 lbs!! My big girl!! :) She was pretty good for not having a nap and being in a strange place. She cried during the actual receiving of the needles but calmed down pretty quickly (especially after I fed her :) she was also really good on the scale this time. Last time she flipped out on many levels and this time she just looked like she was trying to figure out why the heck she was on the scale...lol

I fretted all morning about how it was going to go and was I going to cry again, but no this time I was strong (read: forced myself not to cry) and it went well...I anticipate that next time the reaction will, again, be different so I won't even attempt to assume I know what's going to happen...lol

I just realized that today is Halloween so I guess Happy Halloween to everyone. We aren't going to do much today. I might get Jonathan to pick up some candy on the off chance that we get anyone at our door. I didn't get Arielle a costume so maybe we'll be more involved next year. I can't believe it's almost Christmas and am going to start my countdown tomorrow when November officially starts. Anyway, the munchkin should be waking up soon so I'll sign off. Oh what the heck I'll add another picture...lol She seems to have the same look on her face in most of these pics...weird.

Sometimes I think she's just so cute that I can't stand it! I want to pepper her with kisses every second of every day just to hear her laugh...I can't wait to watch her discover something new because I get to discover it right along with her. She's growing so big that I can't believe she ever lived inside of me. I must have only been half alive until she was born because now I feel more whole than I've ever felt in my life. As cheeseball as it sounds she completes me in a way I could only dream about in the past.

I am so head over heals in love with my baby.

Now granted there are nights where I wish she would sleep just that much longer or times when I want her to nap because I know it's good for her even when she seems to think she wants to be wide awake. Or moments when I'd give anything to actually shower in leisure as opposed to a quick run through when I have a second. But then she'll be in her jolly jumper in the bathroom door and she smiles at me and I could care less that I haven't worn my hair down in a month or the fact that I can't remember the last time I wore my own jeans.

Arielle my dear I'm sorry that I'm constantly dressing you in these matching outfits that I'm sure will haunt you when you're older. Or that I'm taking pictures of you now that I'm already planning to show to your first boyfriend. I can't wait till you can talk (even though I've been told once I started I haven't stopped...lol) so that we can start relating on a new level. You are just so amazing there aren't words enough to convey that to you. There are going to be times when I'm going to be frustrated or tired and will not be at my best, but never for a second does that mean that I don't love you more than anything. Your dad was my reason for believing in happiness again and you are my reason for building hope where it had diminished. Mommy loves you so much she can't wait for you to wake up!

But she will. :)

Time certainly has done some flying as of late! Arielle is going to be four months old in a little less than a week. I can't believe that a year ago I was adjusting to the fact that I was pregnant and now I've got this beautiful baby girl. My little dolly! :)

This morning I had a bit of a panic attack...Arielle woke up just fine and was very happy to see mommy, mostly because I get her out of her swaddle blanket...lol So I let her stretch and relax then took her over to her change table to get rid of the night time diaper...gross. Anyway I'm watching her kick and notice that two of her toes are purple! It turns out somehow a bunch of hair got into the bottom of her swaddle me and managed to wrap themselves tightly around her toes. I swear to you it took everything in me not to panic! I had read somewhere that this happens so luckily when I saw her purple toes I figured that's what it was so I gently removed the hair (she didn't seem to notice anything until I started trying to take the hair out). One of the toes actually had skin breakage while the other one just has this deep indent that almost instantly came up allowing the top of the toe to return to it's lovely pink-blood-is-flowing-through-me colour. I rinsed it out and put a tiny bit of polysporin on it and am trying not to fuss to much over it. Over the day it has gotten better and I'm trying not to over exaggerate the whole thing by acting like we're gonna have to amputate her toes...*sigh*

Naturally I called my mom as soon as I got the hair out with slight panic and 'what do I do'...she said it was a good thing I noticed...how could I not I love Arielle's little feet and can't imagine missing something like that. Anyway I'm sure she'll be okay this is certainly not a panic situation...at least now I know that...lol

We just got through a growth spurt which was a bit trying for mommy and daddy what with Arielle feeling the need to wake up every two hours and randomly crying for over a week! I figure it was because she was just achy and couldn't get comfortable. Of course at the time I tried everything from taking her out of the swaddle to bringing her into bed with us. However, I've definitely learned that keeping her in the swaddle is a very good idea because in the end she sleeps longer, even if she fights it SO hard when you put her in there.

The last couple of days she's even been really good with her naps. In fact right now she's going on almost two hours for her afternoon nap and her morning nap was an hour and a half! She even slept 12 hours last night...I'm hoping this becomes trend...but am aware that as soon as it is a trend she'll probably start majorly teething and it'll get all fubared again...lol

Well next week on her 4 month birthday she's going in for her shots again...I'm going to brace myself and will hopefully be able to handle it...oh I know she'll be fine, but mom takes an emotional beating from hearing her baby cry like that. Anyway I've got one more load of laundry to get and some lunch to eat possibly even before the little one wakes up. She's so cute isn't she? :)

Not that I, for a minute, thought anyone who told me to enjoy every moment was kidding...but wow I just can't believe how big my little girl is...she's growing and learning at such a fast rate her old mom can't keep up.

A couple of stories to entertain. The other morning sounded like a typical morning when my dear child started talking to herself. I was on the phone with my mom so I walked into Arielle's room and burst out laughing...because my child, in an effort to free herself of her swaddle me, removed her arm from not only the swaddle me but the sleeper as well. Right through the neck! I swear it was too funny as you can see from my picture...I kept laughing and that was the look she was giving me as I took pictures, clearly wondering what was taking me so long in letting her out and changing her diaper...haha I figure this is the one of the first in very interesting things my child will do and say in the future.

This morning she is sitting next to me in the ExerSaucer that she borrowed from her friend Kai. Last night was the first time she was in there and initially she wasn't sure. She was THRILLED to be standing but then one of the toys made a noise that freaked her out and mommy had to save her. Then later on we tried again (away from the scary toy) and she loved it. Now she's just exploring each of the toys and has even made up with the one that scared her. I, on the other hand, cannot believe that my Arielle is doing all of these things independent of me...yeah I know this is just the beginning but man I'm already feeling a sense of loss from that little baby that came out of me who even needed me to hold her head up, now she's figuring out how to STAND for goodness sake...*sigh* I really do love these moments and am so thankful I get this year off to enjoy these milestones with her.

Last night was a break in our beautiful sleeping habits and I think it had something to do with mom eating too much salsa or something because boy did she have gas and I think some constipation. She got up every three hours to eat which is unusual because she usually has one stint of about 5-6 hours...then at around 4:40 she started fussy and crying out in pain and over the next hour I had to rock with her and nurse her on and off (it helps with the gas) till she could work it out enough to go back to sleep...however the sleep didn't last and finally at 7:00 after nursing her again I took her to bed with me and she slept till about 8:30 and now after one huge poop (that soiled the above outfit) she's back asleep and I hope it's a long one but we'll have to see.

I am enjoying my coffee now and trying to figure out my day (including the load of laundry I have to do now because of the poopy outfit...lol). I was going to go to the gym this morning. I've been doing it every other day for a week now. I'd feed Arielle at about 5:30 and then make it to Curves just after 6...I really liked those days and am enjoying the work out...I was going to go this morning but after being up from basically 4:40 on I frankly did not have the energy so I'm going tomorrow. I want to get into this habit before it gets to cold for me to venture out that early in the morning...lol

I'm gonna go try and eat some breakfast before my little wonder wakes up, here is one of many pictures I took of her yesterday when we were cuddling. :) Also an adorable picture of the Levi's outfit, a hand me down from her cousin Jane.

So Jonathan and I decided that since we were planning to get a digital camera why not get a camcorder that takes still photos as well. It was a little bit more expensive but frankly I really like the idea of taking video of her now so that I can remember this very cute time in her life...as well as subsequent cuteness...I can't help it she gets cuter by the day. There is a downside that the camcorder doesn't have a flash, but heck those are accessories that we can get later and really this thing is so much fun, we can make videos of her set to music and basically collect en mass so much images of her that no one save grandparents are going to want to watch...lolSee this picture isn't too bad is it? I love the faux hawk she has going on right now with the hair she got at birth slowly falling off and new fuzz growing in...I think I can see blond and even some red in her hair so who knows we might have a strawberry blond girl on our hands...yikes she's just going to keep getting more beautiful huh? That's it she can't date till she's 45...lol
See even Arielle is sick of pictures and talk of pictures. It's hilarious I try and take video of her doing all of her mobile things and there's nothing she just stares at the camera like she's wondering what the heck I expect of her...lol

Off the topic of video taping babies I went to my friend Janice's wedding last night and it was too much fun, mostly because Krista had a little too much...ehm...was entertaining. There's video of that but of course I will forget how to upload that if ever asked to...haha That is for me to use at a later date...mostly for amusement purposes. Anyway the wedding was gorgeous and a lot of fun I'm so very happy for Janice and very glad that she got to have this moment. For those of you who were at my May wedding Janice was our MC.

I'd like to send out a SKIDOOSH to all that sat at the table with me...mostly because that caused me to laugh the most...well Vergil's commentary of said comment was what caused me to laugh...it was good times. :p