This post is a few days late, so sorry about that!  But better late than never, right? I always feel like, each month, I won't have that much to write about next month.  As in, how much more can she really learn/do/say in just one month?  And every month I'm proven wrong by all the new amazing things she can do!  Like what, you ask?

She has gotten the hang of a few more signs.  She signs all done, more, help, please and eat.  She loves to wave to everyone that walks by, and sometimes, if she gets really excited, she waves with both hands.  I had to go back to her 13 month post to see what words she said last month and what new words she's discovered this month.  It goes something like this:
At 13 months: mama, dada, ball, bath, night night, again, more, dog, yum, banana, bubba
New at 14 months:  car, hi, bye, yeah, go, down, milk, book, cracker, shhh, up, down, poo poo, please (which really sounds like "pff"), and no
Her fave words (aside from mama and dada) are bubba and cracker.  She points at every baby, everywhere, and says bubba on repeat.  Same thing if she sees a cracker, a cracker box or cracker wrapper/package of any sort.

Still loves books, being chased, building/destroying towers, and being scared silly by her daddy.  Or anyone, really. She has 11 teeth (with two more about to break through), and it's a battle to really brush them.  She prefers to just chomp on the toothbrush and suck off all the toothpaste.  Although, buying a spin brush has really helped.  She had her first taste of macaroni and cheese this month, and she LOVES it.  She would eat that and life cereal for every meal, if she could.  She's not a huge fan of vegetables (read: she hates vegetables) but we can get her to eat them if they are mixed with fruit in one of those squeezable pouches.  Or sometimes if it's mixed in with mac and cheese.

She has re-fallen in love with bath time, and loves playing with these little animal squirt toys we bought her.  And drinking the water- she's obsessed with drinking the bath water.  She loves to dance to music.  She can dribble and kick a soccer ball, which makes her Stanford soccer playing parents oh so proud.  She still takes 2 naps a day, ranging from an hour and a half to two hours each.  She is learning more and more animal sounds, which is really fun to see!
At 13 months she knew: dog, lion, pig, sheep, monkey
New at 14 months: snake, cat, cow, whale, horse,

She loves to give kisses (even to her baby doll and stuffed animals), and she bites in protest when we tell her no or when she gets frustrated.  She uses everything as a phone, and she is still obsessed with iphones and ipads. She LOVES to sit on her own chair, and especially loves to get on and off all by herself.  We bought her a potty this month, and she is obsessed.  She wants to play with it and sit on it and carry it and put toys in it all. day. long.  Basically do everything but use it for its intended purpose, which is fine since I had no intention of actually potty training any time in the near future. 

She weighs 21 pounds, 14 ounces (45th percentile), is 31 inches tall (85th percentile), and I can't remember the number, but her head circumference is in the 95th percentile! And she had to get FOUR shots at her well baby visit this month, and she was a champ.  She cried more having her head circumference measured than getting her shots.  Silly baby.  She's really into climbing lately, which makes me nervous because she's starting to attempt to climb out of her crib.  She's not really close to actually doing it, but I am SO not ready for her to be in a big girl bed so she just needs to chill out on the climbing front.

Happy 14 months to my little baby bug!

How I'm feeling: Depends on the time of day. :)  Usually pretty good, although carrying Riley around and lifting her up and putting her down is really starting to take a toll on my back.  By the end of the day my back just aches and aches.  Not sure how I'm going to cope when I'm much much bigger!  But other than that, not much to complain about.  I'm starting to feel a little bit of ligament pain- proof my belly is expanding!

Weight gain this week: one pound
Total weight gain: 2.5-3 pounds

Cravings: I really really felt like having sushi, but haven't had any because I don't know enough about sushi to pick something I'm actually allowed to eat.  So I'll look into it, figure out what's okay to have, and then maybe go out and get it at some point.  Oh and tomato soup from Safeway, YUM!!

Aversions:  Nothing too bad- alfredo sauce, and orange juice (off and on, some days I want it, some days I hate it).  I think that's it.

Best part of the week:  Daily naps (except for today), and almost daily sleep-ins (8am) thanks to my amazing husband who usually gets up with Riley early in the morning.

Movement: none felt yet, apparently I have an anterior placenta this time around, which means it can take a lot longer for me to feel any movement.  Last time I first felt movement around 17 weeks, but it could be a while before I feel anything this time.  Guess we'll see!

Worst part of the week: My stupid arm still feels awful from my blood draw last week when she struck a nerve.  OUCH.  I guess something to ask my Dr. about at my appointment on Monday.

About baby:  Baby is now about the size of a lemon, somewhere in the 3.5-4" range, weighing in at a whole 1.5 ounces (all approximate, of course).  Baby can now grimace, frown, pee, and possibly suck his or her thumb.  Fun fact (thanks to parentsconnect.com)- the baby has tripled in size in the last 3 weeks!

Aaaaaaaand, a photo with some more fun facts.

To be perfectly honest, I have been horrible about taking belly pictures.  BUT, I have a feeling (and by "feeling," I mean evidence) that I am going to be way bigger way earlier this pregnancy than I was with Riley, so I need to start taking weekly pictures and stop putting it off!  With Riley, I didn't take regular weekly pictures until around 20 weeks because there was barely any change.  But here I am, 13.5 weeks pregnant, looking, well, much more pregnant than I did last time.  So, as promised, a few pictures for you.  :)  And umm, pretend the mirror isn't super dirty.

And in case you don't believe me that I'm way bigger already?  Here's a little comparison from last time around... me pregnant with Riley at TWENTY THREE WEEKS, and me now at THIRTEEN WEEKS.  Siiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

How I'm feeling this week:  Pretty good!  Mostly nausea free, but I still get really full really easily, so I have to eat smaller meals more frequently.  I still take a daily nap during Riley's 2 hour morning nap, which I think is making a huge difference in how I feel for the rest of the day.  I have no pain, although after a really long day of being out and about a playing with and carrying Riley around, my back definitely starts to get really achy.

Weight gain this week: One pound
Total weight gain: 1.5 pounds

Cravings:   More like "preferences" rather than cravings- rainbow sherbert, peach yogurt, clementines, guacamole.  Oh and one day I really wanted a caramel apple pop... do you remember those?  I hadn't had one since I was maybe 14 years old, and then I came across one and HAD to have it and it was soooo delicious.

Aversions: Hmmm, nothing I can really think of... does wanting to gag every time I change one of Riley's diapers count?

Best part of the week:  Today's ultrasound!  We had our NT scan today, and everything looked great!  This was the first time Mark got to see the baby, although we had to leave Riley at home since they apparently frown on bringing kids to these appointments.  I guess I can understand that, but I sort of wanted to include her in the whole process, even if she is too young to really understand.  Although the lady that did the ultrasound was ultra crabby, and probably would not have appreciated Riley being there unless she was a perfect angel, so it's probably best we didn't bring her.

Worst part of the week:  I had to get blood drawn yesterday, and the weirdest thing happened.  I don't know if she hit a nerve or what, but she put the needle in, which didn't really hurt but it literally felt like she was stabbing me with another needle down by my wrist.  Normally I have no problem with needles (especially since I now give myself a daily injection), but this was so weird and really hurt!!  And my whole arm felt really weird afterward, so something weird happened with that blood draw.

Exercise: This week, now that I'm feeling way better, I decided I need to get my butt up off the couch!  I mean, I do tons of walking and toddler chasing every day, but it doesn't feel like enough, so this week I started doing more walking, and even a little jog one day.  I swam one day, and it felt SO good, so I'm hoping to swim 2-3 days a week to stay in shape.  I also started some light strength training (ya know, in addition to carrying the 22 pound sack of potatoes (otherwise known as Riley) around all day)

Sex/Names: People have been asking me about names, and if we want a boy or girl, etc.  Mark is DYING to have a boy, and I'm not sure I have a preference.  I would love to have another girl, a sister for Riley, but I would also love to have a little boy, so I know I'd be happy either way.  Purely practically speaking, having a girl would be cheaper as we already have everything we need, although it would be fun to shop for baby boy clothes!!  As for names.... ugh I don't know.  We're waiting until we know the sex to really think about it, because there really aren't any names that really stand out to me at the moment.  We didn't have any backup names for Riley, so we have to start from scratch!  I can tell you that whatever name we choose, it won't start with an "R" or "B." I'm not in to siblings all starting with the same letter, and also not into first and last names starting with the same letter (i.e. Betty Bartlett.. HA, like I'd ever name my child Betty...)  So yeah, we'll see.

Anyway, a few ultrasound pic from today... baby was being totally uncooperative, but we did manage to get a couple cute ones in 3D.

And I promise, a real belly pic is coming, I meant to do it this morning but now it's dark and I have no natural light sooooo... tomorrow.  I will say that I am definitely bigger this time around than I was with Riley at 13 weeks!

Riley's newest favorite activity?  Raking, throwing, flicking, digging, and eating dirt.  I don't know why it is so appealing, but it is.

We went for an hour long "nature walk" today, which is proving to be one of her favorite activities.  She loves to be outside, so we walk all around our apartment complex looking at trees, picking up leaves and grass, pointing at flowers, chasing birdies and doggies and any other animal that might cross our paths.  She waves to anyone that walks by, and she walks all around and tries to get into trouble.  And then, she discovers a big pile of dirt.  And she plops her butt down and goes nuts.

It's funny because she played for a good 20 minutes without putting a single bit of dirt in her mouth.  And then all of a sudden, it's like a light bulb went off in her head, and she gave me a cheeky little smile, and shoveled HANDFULS of crap in her mouth.  Over, and over, and over.  And I don't really mind the whole germ thing, but I don't like her putting small choking-sized objects in her mouth, it makes me super nervous.  And of course, me telling her NOT to put things in her mouth made her want to do it even more!

Eh, at least she's still cute, even with dirt all over her face. :)

Riley spent all of last week pretty sick.  It started last Sunday (9 days ago) on our plane ride back from Seattle.  She was super cuddly, and content to just lay in my arms for the final 30 minutes of the flight- which I loved, but thought was quite unusual behavior.  I should've known then and there something was wrong.  That night she spiked a fever, which lasted until Wednesday night, when it hit just over 104.  We saw the doctor twice, who said it was either (1) Roseola or (2) a UTI.  We gave it an extra day because to diagnose a UTI in a diapered baby requires a catheter.  Sure enough, on Thursday she got a tiny little rash, which spread further on Friday and lasted until Sunday-ish.  Roseola it was.

Needless to say it was a pretty miserable week (for everybody), but she is finally back to her normal self.  Which means she's happy, and silly, and mostly lots of fun.  We spend the day building towers, reading books, playing chase and peek-a-boo, climbing on everything possible, and going for walks. We go shopping and hitting up random toy stores and playing with all the toys on display, because sometimes we just need a change of scene. :) We take all the mixing bowls out of the kitchen cupboards, we kick balls, we wait anxiously for daddy to come home and give his little girl a ride around the block on his bike. 

While these are pictures taken at bath time, Riley took her first ever shower with me today, and she loved it!  I needed a shower, she cried when I got in, so I stripped her down and brought her in with me and she played with all her toys while I got all nice and clean!  This might become a new daily activity for us!

Having a sick baby for a week definitely makes me appreciate how happy and lovely she is when she's not sick, even when she's having a "rough" day and fights her afternoon nap (like today).  She's my little sidekick and I love her to death!

12 weeks.  Not a whole lot has changed since my last update, but I think I'll start a more organized way of doing weekly updates, similar to what I did last time around.

How I'm feeling: Well, for the most part, SO much better.  I've been able to eat a little more normally without feeling really sick, and I've haven't been as totally exhausted.  I still have days/moments where I feel really sick, but I'm so thankful that has not been the norm for me this pregnancy, as I know it is for some women.  As for exhaustion- I still need a daily nap, that's for sure.  Other than that, I feel pretty good- no pain, no cramping, no nothing.  I'm sleeping pretty well, aside from having to wake up frequently with a sick and teething toddler this past week. 

Cravings/aversions:  This week I really wanted nectarines and a big salad with steak.  One day I really felt like macaroni and cheese.  And I had the most delicious veggie wrap, it seriously seemed like the most delicious thing I've ever eaten haha.  And, as always, I have really been loving bagels with cream cheese.  For some reason, that is always delicious.  No real aversions per se, I don't think.

Weight gain: fluctuates between 0 and 1 pound, so nothing real or significant so far.

Fun things this week: Seeing the baby on the ultrasound for the first time (actually that was two weeks ago, but we'll count it).  And I'm really looking forward to our NT scan next week where Mark will get to see the baby for the first time!

NOT fun things this week:  Starting my lovenox injections.  I do them daily, usually in the evening after Riley is in bed.  I started them on Monday, so I've done 5 shots so far, and I have 5 nice bruises on my stomach to show for it.  I hope these bruises don't last long otherwise my belly is going to look ridiculous really soon! Although on the upside, my insurance is going to cover the injections, which means that I only pay $25 a month rather than $916.  Definitely makes my ridiculous monthly insurance costs worth it!

First belly pic coming tomorrow... I hope. :)

Friday afternoon we packed up the car and the baby, headed to my parents house, and then headed off to the airport.  Yep, we took Riley on yet another airplane.  The child has now been on FOURTEEN flights in her tiny little life, which is a little bit ridiculous if you ask me.  But, as usual, she was pretty much a model baby on the plane, so I can't really complain.  And of course it helps when the flight is only like an hour and a half (we flew from Oakland to Seattle). 

Anyway, we went to Seattle for my cousin's wedding, and my other cousin's babies' first birthday party.  It was an action-packed weekend with lots of mingling, lots of disrupted nap times, and WAY too late of bedtimes for 3 nights in a row.  But to be honest, aside from getting lost a few times, things could not have gone any smoother.

The wedding on Saturday was at noon, and we planned it perfectly so that Riley slept for about an hour in the car on the way there, so she was semi well-rested when we arrived.  And even if she was tired, she did a good job of faking it once she got to explore the wedding site.  It was like a baby's dream garden.  It had a fountain, and a TON of rocks which she loved to pick up, hand to anyone willing to hold them for her, throw, and occasionally, if we weren't keeping a close enough eye on her, she'd try and eat them. 

This was the same dress she wore to the last wedding we went to and I didn't take a single picture, so Mark was sure to not let that happen this time around.  He demanded I get my camera out and snap away.  And I did just that. :)

She honestly could have sat in these rocks all day long.

The wedding was gorgeous, the scenery was beautiful, and my two favorite people looked fantastic.

AND, I even got a picture of me and Riley!  Those are pretty rare, and I think Mark did a pretty good job.

The flower girl and the ring bearer for this wedding were my cousin's babies, who are just 6 weeks younger than Riley, and I didn't get any pictures of them coming down the aisle (since keeping Riley quiet was a full time job), but they were super cute being carted down the aisle in a little red wagon.  So of course we needed a picture of the three babies together in that wagon post-ceremony.  It's a miracle all three of them sat in there for so long to get a picture taken!

Anyway, the wedding was lovely, unfortunately we had to leave a little early to get the tired baby into bed, and we may or may not have gone to the wrong hotel, and by the time we finally got to our correct room, the poor baby was sooo overtired it was not a pretty sight.  BUT, it all ended like THIS so I can't really complain.

Anyway, the following day we had the twins' first b-day party, which of course Riley loved, and it was so good to get to see everyone again.  It does make me a little sad we don't actually live in the US, but we'll be back here eventually!  Anyway, these might be two of my new favorite pictures of Riley from the party.

Sadly we had to leave this party early as well in order to get to the airport on time, but it worked out perfectly with naps and such anyway.  And Riley was a very good baby on the flight home, and now I'm exhausted and need to get to sleep!  Fun weekend away, but so glad to be back!

It's world breastfeeding week, so I thought it was only appropriate to finally publish this post that has been sitting in my drafts folder for about a week.  Sorry, no pictures because, to be honest, I don't have one single picture of me nursing my baby, which makes me a little bit sad actually. 

About a week ago, I nursed my baby for the very last time.  13 whole months.  I never planned to breastfeed for this long, but it just sort of happened this way, and I'm so glad it did.  When I was pregnant with Riley, I knew I was going to breastfeed.  Well, I knew I was going to TRY and breastfeed.  I had read so many horror stories about how hard and painful and awful it was at first, and I was more than a little bit freaked out.  So I just wanted to share MY story, in hopes of maybe helping at least one freaked out mom-to-be that might be reading?

Anyway, despite reading and hearing all the horror stories about breastfeeding, I tried to remain optimistic.  As soon as Riley was born, I tried to nurse her.  And, she wasn't interested!  First nursing attempt = fail, but I tried not to stress.  I had gone to a breastfeeding class, and they had told me that after I gave birth, if I wanted to shower that was okay, but not to use any soap because they baby needed to smell ME and not whatever soap/shampoo I decided to use.  So I listened to that advice.  I then tried to nurse Riley again, and she was having trouble latching.  And it didn't help that all she wanted to do was sleep.  The good thing was, in New Zealand, in the hospital there is a TON of support for breastfeeding.  I had midwives helping me the entire time I was in the hospital (2 days) and they would not let me leave until I felt confident that Riley and I had got the hang of breastfeeding.  I thought we had, so off we went. 

I don't have any horror stories to share.  I think relatively speaking, I had a pretty good breastfeeding experience.  But I did have a few issues.  (1) Oversupply.  Some people don't have enough milk, but I had way too much.  Which meant I could become really uncomfortable quite quickly, and Riley was often drowning in milk.  And, I leaked through so many breast pads and shirts it was insane and a little, umm, embarrassing when it happened in public!  Not the most fun thing, but better than not having enough milk!  As for the pain?  It really wasn't that bad.  I put on that Lansinoh cream after every feed as a preventative measure, and around 5 or 6 weeks I stopped using it and was pretty much pain free.  My biggest problem was that for some reason, for a really long time, Riley would only latch on to one side.  So I had to pump from the other side in order to not lose my milk entirely.  Super annoying, but not the end of the world.  And on the upside, I got a sweet freezer stash out of it!

But eventually, all these issues worked themselves out.  The pain lasted the least amount of time, then around 3 months Riley started nursing from both sides, and the oversupply issue took the longest to regulate, but eventually we got there.  And then?  Everything just became so much easier.  So natural.  And I started to really love it.  Also?  I had read that you shouldn't introduce a bottle or pacifier early on because it will confuse the baby... Riley got a pacifier on day 3, and a bottle of breast milk at 3 weeks, and we never had a problem.  Although I wasn't very good at giving her regular bottles, so some time around 7-ish months she started to refuse bottles, but that wasn't really a huge deal since I wasn't going back to work or anything.

Then sometime around 8 months Riley started to get teeth, which means she started to experiment with biting.  It didn't last long, but it was painful and stressful and I contemplated weaning.  But we stuck it out, and the novelty wore off and she stopped biting.  But around this time she also got sick and starting waking up at night, and I made the mistake of nursing her back to sleep for about a week, which then became a habit that would prove really really hard to break. 

For MONTHS she was waking up multiple times a night, and often times she was wanting to nurse.  I knew she was way too old to be nursing in the night, but I couldn't bring myself to just let her cry, and she wouldn't take a bottle, and so I just kept nursing her.  Then around 11 months she started biting again (she would often bite when her teeth were bothering her), and I felt like this was it, we were going to start weaning.  But she stopped biting pretty quickly, and we carried on.  I wasn't ready to wean her at all, and neither was she.

And then, right before she turned one, I found out I was pregnant.  And my milk supply took a big hit.  I knew it was the beginning of the end of nursing, so I started cutting out a feed a week.  We cut out the morning one, then the afternoon one, then the one before bed.  So she would still wake either in the middle of the night or early morning for a feed.  Then, on her own, she started sleeping through the night, and I would nurse her first thing in the morning.  And last week, I dropped that last feed.  I nursed my baby for the very last time.  And she didn't even cry.  And I've had no pain, no engorgement, no problems whatsoever, and I think that's due to the pregnancy combined with the month-long weaning process. 

13 months is longer than I ever thought I would nurse her.  And if I wasn't pregnant, I'm pretty sure we would have continued on.  But I'm also pretty sure that she started sleeping through the night more frequently as a direct result of the weaning.  I'm not saying that that was the only way to get her to sleep through, we could have done sleep training, but I didn't want to do it that way.  And I wouldn't wean her just to get her to sleep through the night, it's just an added bonus. :)

That's really all I can say to sum up the day.  Riley was just not herself today, and I'm not totally sure why.  Tired?  Teething?  Not feeling well?  Who knows.  But she whined and threw mini tantrums ALL. DAY. LONG.  Except when she was sleeping.  Or in the swimming pool.  She was as happy as could be in the pool, as always.  And thank God for her daddy who came home and played with her in the pool.  Underwater tickles are just the BEST.

And of course, she completely lost it when it was time to come out.

Adding to our troubles, Riley has been having a few separation issues lately.  As in, she freaks out when Mark leaves for work, she freaks out if she sees me leave, she cries and bangs on the bathroom door if one of us is in there.  She hates to see us leave.  And I'm totally opposed to the whole "sneak out while she's not looking" thing, so basically she gets upset at every single separation throughout the day.  She also suddenly started freaking out when we put her down for a nap, and I'm positive the two are related.  So I decided to try a little experiment, and I put some pictures of us right by her crib.  And maybe a picture of a random dog too, just because she loves doggies so so much.  I'm not sure if it's actually helping at all, but she now LOVES to be in her crib.  As in, she will go into her room, go straight to her crib, and cry and sign for me to help her to get up in her crib. And she points to mama, dada, and doggy, over, and over, and over again. 

You would never know this precious little face was the grumpiest little baby today!  All I have to say is thank goodness for a 7pm bedtime.