Happy Happy Birthday Baby!

Today, Ellie turned one!

One year ago Ellie was born.

Ellie is now in her second year of life!

This time last year she wasn't in my belly.

She's a toddler!

I keep having to say this a million different ways because it just doesn't seem possible it's been a year since Ellie's birth.

I sat down to write a post reminiscing about labor and birth but, truth be told, I'm too tired.

So, instead, in the spirit of the year of firsts here is another one . . .

Today was the first day I caught Ellie picking her nose. She looks quite proud of herself . . . too funny!

P.S. Ellie whispered to me today that her birthday wish is that you all get out and VOTE tomorrow!! No excuses!

Oh and be sure to pick the right one!

Make a wish . . .

Today, we celebrated Ellie's first birthday! We had a rubber ducky party with lots of friends and family. It was a great day.

My friend, Eric, has started making birthday cakes and we were so excited to have him make Ellie's. Isn't it fabulous??!!

Ellie's first experience with birthday cake! Will she ever go back to eating vegetables?

Happy birthday to Ellie! Our little girl is one!!!!

Trick-or-treat!

Happy Halloween!

Ellie's first halloween was a big success. She dressed up as a flower princess.

Halloween was always one of my favorite holidays . . . getting dressed up . . . going out at night . . . and, of course, candy!

One of the biggest bummers of growing up is getting too old to do these childhood traditions.

So I've decided this is one of the biggest perks of parenting . . . trick-or-treating here we come!

50 ways to maim your baby!

You know that Paul Simon song "50 ways to leave your lover", well, in the span of 24 hours Drew and I have rewritten that song to . . . . "50 ways to maim your baby!"

This morning when Ellie was woke up Drew was surprised by the fact that she was all wet. She never leaks through her diaper. Upon changing her he realized he forgot to put on a diaper last night. So our poor little girl slept all night diaperless and in a soaking wet sleeper!

#1: Neglect . . . check!

Then this morning, as I was making my breakfast, I was surprised by how quiet Ellie was playing in the living room. That should have been a big red flag because as I went over to her I realized she had got a hold of her liquid vitamin D supplement and was drinking it. Ahhh, I called poison control immediately with my heart pounding. Luckily, they said it's impossible to acutely overdose on vitamin D because it is water soluble.

#2: Attempted poisoning . . . check!

So after a strange morning Drew and I decided to meet for lunch at my favorite new hangout, The Tot Spot Cafe in Woodinville. It's a cute cafe with a huge playarea for kids. Ellie was standing in the big firetruck play toy when another little girl decided she was finished sharing and proceeded to push Ellie out. Ellie landed hard on her head. Her first big fall.

#3: Battery . . . check!

The scary thing is . . . it's only 2pm. So like I said we are well on our way to completing the lyrics to the new song . . . "50 ways to maim your baby!"

Squishy . . messy . . goodness!

Today, we carved pumpkins with the grandparents.

Love the possible captions on this series of photos . . .

Ooo, a pumpkin.

Looks tasty.

I think I'll give it a try.

Well, that's . . . different.

But next year I think I'll try carving instead of taste testing!

Pucker up!

A few weeks ago, at Drew's birthday dinner, Ellie got ahold of a lemon. The face she made upon her first taste was just priceless. Some families might take it away to save her from another puckering moment. But the Nobles, no we grabbed the camera!

Three cheers for Ferber!

Why didn't we do this sooner??!! That is the question bouncing around in our minds this week!

As you know, Ellie has never been a sleeper. At nearly 1 year she was still sleeping like a newborn at night, waking 2-4 (or more) times a night and requiring that she be nursed or rocked back down to sleep.

Drew and I havn't had a good nights sleep soo long that it was beginning to affect nearly every part of our life! I wasn't even excited to see Ellie in the morning because I felt like I had been parenting her all night.

That was final straw for me . . . if I'm not enjoying motherhood . .. something drastic has got to change!

I had always been afraid of Dr. Ferber (the Director of the sleep center at Boston's Children's Hospital and author of Solve you child's sleep problems. Dr. Sears, attachment parenting guru, has berated Dr. Ferber's methods as unsympathetic to children and negativly coined the term "ferberizing."

Well, I am surprised to say Dr. Sears was wrong.

Yes, ferberizing Ellie did come with some of crying but I really don't think it was more crying than before. Plus, after 3 nights she fell asleep, by herself, in her crib after 30 minutes and slept for 10 hours straight!!!

As I sit here and write this post she is currently screaming in her room because it is nap time . . . naps still need major work.

But, overall, Ferbers methods have led to huge improvements with sleep!

Here is Ellie attempting to stay in the loop by skimming though the book.