Siena's First Birthday!

Sorry it's taken me a week to post these pics... We had a wonderful celebration for Siena's big first birthday, complete with Aunt Lindsay, Uncle Andy, and Grandma and Grandpa Sustar in town for the event. Winnie baked a huge pumpkin-shaped carrot cake, though unfortunately Siena's candle-blowing practice didn't quite pay off at the big moment... Oh well, maybe next year. :) As you can tell, we had a Halloween theme and lots of costumed guests. A great way to celebrate our little girl's first year!!

Our little lady bug... the big ONE year old!

Joe carved these beautiful jack-o-lanterns just for the party. No help from a pumpkin-carving kit, of course. :)

Siena had a visit from a bearded Superman, aka Uncle Andy.

Siena's grandparents -- a clown, a Hershey's kiss, and a ????

Even the dogs got into the Halloween spirit.

Siena dove face-first into her cake. She ate every bite!

Surrounded by her loot

FIRST STEPS!!

A big week in the life of Siena! Okay, so these aren't technically her FIRST steps, but we'd practiced a couple times before this video was taken, and it all looked pretty much like this. :) She's getting more confident with her steps by the day, and will now take a couple of steps on her own to transfer from place to place. Today she set a record of eleven (!!) steps in a row walking from her play table to Mommy, so she's making quick progress! One week until her first birthday... will she be walking by then?

Moving to the Big Girl Bed

I decided about a week ago that it was time Siena slept in her own room... As much as I love having her snuggle with us in our bed, I found myself spending much of the night with a baby draped over my belly or pushing me off the bed entirely. She's still waking frequently at night, and I had hoped that moving her a little further away would help. So far, the results have been mediocre at best. I've been successful at putting her down in her bed for naps and initially at night, but when she wakes in the middle of the night it's almost easier for me to bring her to our bed than to sit and rock her back to sleep (which often takes multiple tries). Sigh... I'm also in the middle of trying to wean her from night nursing, which will make my life somewhat easier once she catches on. Thanks to Joe for his support in that area, taking on Siena's night wakings all by himself on the weekends so I can get some sleep. Dealing with these sleeping issues is NOT easy, and I have to keep telling myself that "this too shall pass." Before I know it she'll be a teenager sleeping until 1pm, right?

Visit to Eckert's

Here are a few pics from last week's visit to Eckert's orchards... Siena had a blast climbing among the many pumpkins, big and small. I've included a picture at Eckert's from just about a year ago, when Siena was less than one week old. I can't believe how fast this year has flown!

I heart pumpkins!

American Gothic, Sustar style

Driving the tractor... If only Grandpa could see me now!

These pumpkins are bigger than I am!

Siena visiting Eckert's last year at this time... Hard to believe our little "Pumpkin" is almost ONE!

Unloading the Dishwasher

Uncle Andy has requested more videos, so here's another one... Not quite in chronological order with the blog (this one is probably from about a month ago), but cute nonetheless.

Siena Dances to Her Favorite Songs

Please note that Joe is responsible for this post. :) Here is Siena dancing to her two favorite songs: "Grilled Cheese" and "Kareem Abdul-Jabar." Both tunes are written and sung by The Ed. Yes, the lyrics to "Grilled Cheese" are "Don't sneeze on my grilled cheese, baby, 'cuz I don't want no boogers on my bread." Sigh... Where does Daddy find this stuff?

"Look Mom, No Hands!"

Siena started standing on her own a couple of weeks ago, but it's been tough to catch on camera. I finally got a good picture this morning as she was playing with her little table. Here's she's clapping along to the music while holding my camera lens cover (a favorite toy which she likes to play with whenever I pull out the camera). I guess walking isn't too far away!

Dada's Jazz Concert

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post... I need to get caught up! Life has been busy, but lots of fun as we've welcomed in the fall weather. Last Saturday we met Winnie, Picky, Nanna, Daddio, Dylan, and his daddy Erin at the Belleville Chili Cookoff to hear Daddy play in his jazz ensemble. There were only a few musicians in the group, so Joe was definitely center stage! He did a fabulous job and we enjoyed some yummy chili afterwards.

Daddy playing a solo

Dylan feeding Siena a Cheerio. So cute.

With Nanna and Daddio

Hanging out in the square listening to some great jazz tunes.