Asha Likes: Playing silly games (pretending to sleep, being chased, throwing balls, putting everything on her head), taking baths, being outside, her dinosaur bike and her walker, all loud and beepy toys, dancing to music, digging through my bag, HER DADDY, and bread.
Asha Dislikes: Getting her diaper or clothes changed, getting out of the bath, too much "hands on" love from her sister, and strangers.
Soon after Asha clocked 9 months, I left town for a 4-day work trip. I pumped diligently in airplanes and public restrooms, but still my supply suffered. We probably could have bounced back from it, but right afterward, Asha came down with a cold and fought nursing for almost a week. My supply was not going to recover, and rather than stress out about it, I accepted reality and took the opportunity to stop pumping at work. I wanted to keep nursing 2-3x a day for as long as possible, but Asha always was a very distracted and unenthusiastic nurser, and to make a point she started biting me. I realized I was starting to dread nursing, tensing up and cringing with every latch, anticipating a bite. It was no longer a pleasant experience for either of us, so on April 3 I made the difficult but ultimately right decision to nurse Asha for the last time. I had enough frozen breastmilk to give her some every day until her first birthday, which means I technically made my goal of nursing for a year. Now she mostly drinks cow's milk with a little toddler formula to supplement.
At 10 months, Asha finally started crawling on her knees and mastered it immediately; she is SO fast now. Around the same time, she suddenly started sleeping through the night (not-so-coincidentally, this lined up with me ceasing to pump at work and starting to give her formula during the day). We immediately moved her crib into the bedroom with her sister, and suddenly, we have our grownup bedroom back. They've done really well sharing a room, and Amaliya loves having someone else in there with her. Sleep has been great since then, which is an incredible relief but also sad, in a way. The long nights with a baby are hard, but they're also some of the best nights of my life, spent in peaceful silence with a little one curled into my body. I'll miss it. Also note that "great" sleep means that Asha is in bed around 7 or 7:30 and falls asleep before 8, but is still awake at 6am most of the time. Her day napping has always been sporadic, but I think she's finally down to one 2-3 hour nap per day now. So different from her sister, who was sleeping 15-16 hours a day until she got closer to 18 months.
My sweet baby Ash is growing into her own person, with such a special and unique personality. If I had to sum her up in 3 words, they would be: curious, silly, loving. (In case you're wondering, Amaliya in 3 words: careful, analytical, sassy). She loves music, especially blowing whistles and hearing daddy play, and does a little booty dance with one hand in the air whenever she hears a song. She's really into toys, the squeakier and beepier the better, and she laughs her face off when chasing a ball around (she's basically a puppy). She's the most loving baby, always wanting to snuggle, and will crawl across the room just to put her head in my lap and recharge for a moment before she's off to destroy the next thing. She's not talking yet but her babble is nuanced and conversational, and she enjoys imitating her sister's screams and shrieks.
It's been the fastest, most blissful year since Asha came into our lives. Happy Birthday, lovely girl.
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