Christmastime

sleepover party

juniper had her first overnight last night at grandma and grandpa woods house. they came out to us and picked her up and took her to their place on the train. zach and i picked out a tree, decorated it, went out to dinner and saw a movie. it was definitely a bit weird not having her in the house. but kind of nice too. she did ok, she woke up a lot but willie was able to rock her back to sleep. here's to many more sleepovers at the grandparents!

15 months

18lbs 11oz

30.5" long

18"dia head

loves animals

gives kisses

starting to sign ("more", "all done", "up")

naps 1.5-3 hours (usually closer to 1.5)

still nursing 3-5 times a day

hate milk and cheese

starting to formulate words (kitty, doggie, uh-oh, hi, bye)

points to her nose

absolutely loves sesame street musical celebration dvd

eats her weight in cheerios

picky eater

walking

10 teeth with 2 more molars coming in

sleeps through the night (except during teething time. ugh)

has a need to be balanced - always has to have something in each hand

halloween

last year juniper was a pumpkin for her first ever halloween.

this year juniper was a blue m&m. for no other reason other than i needed a costume, had no inspiration, and found this at a thrift store for $5. we had a costume party at play group and this is her with her friends maple and lucia.

grandma and grandpa wood

grandma and grandpa wood have decided to settle in landsdowne, pa to put down some roots and be close to juniper. they are helping us out with babysitting which frees us up to work and go to school. it's great having them close by. and juniper loves being with them. she has her own fully decorated bedroom at their place. i think it's nice than her's at home!

she walks!

just a few days before turning 15 months - she's off any running. not a little baby anymore!!

sleeping training

after 13 months of nursing, rocking and and bouncing to sleep multiple times a night, we decided it was time for sleep training. since we returned from hawaii, her sleep had declined and we were all tired and frustrated. there is always a debate between the no-cry sleep solutions and the cry-it-out methods. it comes down to having to decide what your limits are and what is best for your family. and when it is best for your family. we decided to go with the ferber method, which is a cry-it-out method. the first night was awful. about 80% of the time was spent with her crying and us going in in intervals reassuring her that she was ok. but we were not to pick her up or stay in the room till she feel asleep. this also meant no nursing! this was hard for me and my boobs. the next day was a bit of a mess since none of us had gotten much sleep. but that night there was a huge improvement. we decided it would be best for zach to do most of the reassuring because he was a bit more strong willed that i was. so for the first time in 13 months i got to stay in bed for an entire night (this does not mean i was asleep the whole time but it's a start). tonight is the 3rd night and she has only woken up once.

it feels a little bit too easy but i'll keep you posted.