Cambria | Eleven Months (January 2014)

This little girl is almost one!  She turned eleven months old at the beginning of January and continues to learn and grow so quickly every day.  It is so much fun for us as parents to see!

We got back from our Christmas vacation late on January 2 and tried to put Cambria right to bed but she immediately pulled herself up to standing in the crib.  So Daddy had to get out the tools and lower the crib for the last time!  Now that Cambria is a little trickier for me to reach in the crib, I finally gave up swaddling her for good on January 4.  It wasn't too difficult of a transition considering she had become started wiggling around at night to find a comfy spot anyways.

On January 5, Cambria finally, finally, FINALLY took a bottle. I have tried so many times in the past and I don't know what it was about this time but it all just clicked for her! Due to my pregnancy and how worn out I have been feeling, Andrew and I decided to begin weaning Cambria from nursing other than first thing in the morning and right before bed.

That same day, Cambria showed me how big and independent she is becoming by taking a single step  on her own towards me a few times. From crawling to beginning to walk in less than two weeks?! Talk about fast forward!

Cambria's main present from Mom and Dad was a V-Tech Learning Walker.  We had gotten one several months ago from Andrew's Aunt Heidi that her grandson, Kruiz, had played with but we couldn't get it to work for some reason. Cambria still loved to play with the buttons and I just knew if the lights and sounds were working as well, she would be so happy.

Cambria's fourth word was "Ba-ba." At first, I thought that was how she addressed herself because she always used that term when pointing to photos of our family. Eventually, I realized that she was using that term for "baby" and pretty much anyone 10 years old and younger qualified as a "ba-ba."

Speaking of family photos, Cambria loves to look at family pictures and to watch home videos. She won't sit and watch anything else. Andrew recently finished editing our GART 2014: Tour de Cambria video from Memorial Day and Cambria wants to watch it several times every day. She also watches our wedding video and the video from GART 2012 as well as my YouTube channel of videos posted to this blog.

Cambria still loves FaceTime, Skype, etc. Once when Aunt Sarah didn't have time to call she just sent this quick video to C. Over Christmas break, Cambria always trilled her lips like that at Sarah whenever she was around. It was super cute that they have their own little "thing."

On January 8, I noticed Cambria's right lateral mandibular incisor erupting. Four days later, it was followed by her left lateral mandibular incisor. I guess I must have had teeth on the mind because the next day I was returning to work after a nearly year-long hiatus.

Our friend from the Lynchburg Third Ward, Dr. Rudy Wolf, is a dentist at Peaksview Dental in Bedford, Virginia which is about twenty miles down the road from where we live (almost a straight shot!). Here and there, we have discussed my going to work for him but I was really reluctant to leave Cambria especially since she refused a bottle for so long. Andrew's class schedule for this semester frees him up on Fridays other than a two-hour class from 1:00-3:00 (Cambria's nap time). Our friend, Lauren Malone, offered to let Cambria come over and take a nap at her house while Andrew went to school. I asked Dr. Wolf if he would consider hiring me for Fridays only and he agreed. What a blessing for us! I don't think we could have had a more ideal situation for my return to work and I am so grateful!

Friday, January 9, was my first day away from home. Andrew was still on Christmas break and so he was able to stay home all day with Cambria. He sent me a video from the morning which was super sweet and made me tear up (of course!)

He also sent a picture of Cambria getting ready to go with him on a walk. Oh, Daddy Fashion!

Striped leggings, striped shirt, and striped sweater--at least they are all stripes!

I missed Cambria so much while I was away and my non-cuddly girl rewarded me with lots of hugs when I got home. That night, I just wanted to hold her a little bit longer and so instead of putting her down in her crib, I rocked her for a bit and she snuggled into my chest and fell asleep. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for moments like this. I needed it so much!

We moved the barn Cambria got from Nana and Papa for Christmas over to the corner in front of our board games. It's nice because it prevents Cambria from pulling the games from the shelf and provides a little place of her own that is tucked away. Cambria's play is becoming more interactive and imaginative. She likes to come up behind me and stick her head between my legs so that I can wiggle her back and forth while chanting, "Put her in the paint shaker, put her in the paint shaker!" My mom would have to tell me where that phrase came from (Dad's wrestling/roughhousing days?) Cambria loves it. She also will offer to share her toys with you if you are playing together as well. It's very sweet. I should qualify that by saying that she shares with adults and we are still working on sharing with her peers.

Another little made up thing that the two of us do is gently "bump" our foreheads together as a sign of affection. I started doing it one night and the next day when I got home from work, she leaned forward to bump foreheads with me. I loved it!

One of the bittersweet moments of the month came when one of the missionaries serving in our ward was transferred to another area. Elder Lopez has been such a light in our home and he has touched our lives forever. We love to visit with him and were so very sad when it was time for him to move on! We will miss finding his sweet thank you notes tucked away every time he leaves our house.

Cambria, Andrew, Elder Z, and Elder Lopez

On January 14, our Primary presidency hosted our first "Great To Be 8" program for the Valiant 8 class. There were a few kids who were sadly absent due to illness and a few coming down/getting over being sick and so we joked among ourselves that it would be a miracle if we didn't all get sick afterwards. Little did we know how prophetic our words would turn out to be!

Lauren speaking at the "Great To Be 8"

Andrew was sick Friday to Saturday but felt well enough to go to Church on Sunday. We had our ward conference that day which afterwards I dubbed "Ward Contagion" since families started dropping like flies. There were two bugs we were contending with: a nasty GI bug (none of the adults admitted to this one) and the flu. Sunday night I felt a little sick but I just chalked it up to pregnancy. On Monday, I had a fever (which is extremely unusual for me) of 100.9 and a deep, hacking cough. The cough made me want to throw up! I couldn't eat anything which just made me feel even more sick. I was miserable! Andrew had started his semester that day but he came home between classes to change Cambria and feed her--otherwise it wouldn't have gotten done. I felt horrible! And emotional about being sick and useless. I asked my OB to call in some Phenergan and Zofran which really helped with the nausea I was experiencing.

"Encouragement" from my cough drop wrapper

Towards the end of the week, I started to feel better but poor Cambria came down with the flu. It was so sad. I was so worried because the first night she was burning up with fever like I had never experienced before. We tried to take her temperature with our ear thermometer and an oral thermometer under her armpit but weren't getting accurate results. I have never felt a person so hot in all my life--even the palms of her head were like fire. I could hardly sleep that night because I was so worried!

What a sad couple of days for our family! But nothing that a blankie, a paci, and a baby doll can't fix! And apparently we both got our appetites back (I nearly spilled the beans about my pregnancy with this post to Tarsha Joyner!)

Ew.

Well, that was January. Not exceptionally exciting due to illness and my sluggish pregnant ways. Hoping to get my energy back soon so that I can feel like myself again!