Remember that time I had a second baby and I blogged about her all the time? No? Me neither.

Madelyn’s serenades make Arielle fall in love with her big sister every time.

Here’s the thing. Arielle was born in March. Then I was in my little new mama-again cocoon for about 6 weeks. Then, that 6 weeks turned into 12 weeks because the struggle was real. Then, I wanted to report back that everything was super easy breezy, but it wasn’t because breastfeeding. And then at around 6 months when things were in their groove, it felt too late to start recapping Arielle. It’s kind of like dieting in December: why start now? May as well just keep eating.

But the guilt. Ooohhhhh, the guilt. The thing is, Arielle is now almost 10 months and she’s such a little delight. She’s just so sweet and cuddly and fun, but it wasn’t always that way. Through no fault of her own, she was actually born a little cranky. Well, her tummy was. After I finally started to get over the hump of the difficulties of breastfeeding, I noticed that she never really settled and got content after eating. I mean, after I devour a chocolate cake with fudge filling, I am happier than an ant at a picnic, so I couldn’t figure out why she would scream and writhe and scrunch after eating.

So then came the elimination diet. Goodbye pizza. Goodbye ice cream. Goodbye buttery mashed potatoes. If an ingredient ever came from a mooing female mammal, it was out. If it had any kind of soy in it, it was also out. That didn’t leave a lot of options for this picky eater. And after two weeks, wow, what a difference! Baby Arielle was a whole new woman. The elimination of soy and dairy from my diet completely changed her, and it was clear her tummy was much happier. Feeding times became relaxing — for both of us — and she no longer twisted in pain. My taste buds, however, longingly flooded for all my favorite foods.

I continued this diet for approximately three months for Arielle’s comfort and happiness. And through it all, I didn’t lose an ounce. Everyone told me that the upside of my deprivation/Arielle’s relief was that I’d get super skinny. Maniacal laugh. It’s not easy to blog about your baby when you’re just dyin’ for a hot fudge sundae, but you look like you ate one anyway. I never knew I could crave a Caesar salad until I couldn’t have a Caesar salad. Oh, and sleep wasn’t happening. All these feeding issues, boob drama, and multiple wake ups can really take a toll on a woman’s desire to get all warm and fuzzy. In this part of Arielle’s babyhood, I was just coasting. Getting through to the next step.

Arielle saw the Dodgers play 3 times in her first 6 months of life. That’s pretty impressive (thank you Auntie Pattie & Uncle Barry) and she became a fangirl just like her sis and parents and, maybe even most importantly, her Poppa!

In all honesty, that’s how her first half of her year was: Let’s just get through to the next step. The problem with being a second time parent is that you know what comes next. Everything with Madelyn was fresh and new. Every poop she made was so exciting, the next one better than the last. It’s not to say that Arielle’s poops are unexciting (they are! Yay poop!), but I now have a gauge for good/better/best, and having been through four years with Madelyn, in hindsight, every year is even better! So Arielle sitting in her high chair for the first time? Yeah, totally cool. Go Arielle. But I KNOW how great it is when a baby turns into a totally composed toddler with fine motor skills and how cool it is when she can sit in a chair. By herself. And eat with a fork.

Between the rough start, frustrating middle, and knowledge of what’s to come, it’s been difficult to put into words my experience as a second timer in the mom department. And through it all, I love her more than I could have imagined. That is definitely my greatest a-ha! of the whole journey. Arielle completed our family and it went from warm and cozy to bursting at the seams with trust and love and laughter and teamwork. We thought we had it so great with Madelyn — and we did! — but Arielle took us from all A+ grades in AP classes with valedictorian status to free ride to Harvard. Bryan and I have learned way more about each other as parents and teammates because Arielle has also taught us to divide and conquer, and also to come together in a two-brains-are-better-than-one kind of way.

Arielle was such an excellent traveler during her first vacation. She was great on both plane rides, dealt with a crazy no-schedule sleep schedule, and got carted around to meals and attractions like it was no big whoop. We can’t wait to show her more and more!

So, Arielle hasn’t been all challenges and uphill battles; No, she’s been perfect all along, but her presence is allowing us to experience more and learn additional roles as parents. And that can be hard. We know all the greatness to come because her big sister has paved such a wonderful path, and I have a sneak peek into the joys of toddlerhood, and language acquisition, and physical achievements, and the end of teething, and Sesame Street marathons, and walking shoes, and imagination, and goodnight stories, and potty success, and the returned cuddles and “I love you”s.

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But for the sake of “better late than never…” here’s Arielle by the month!

One Month: Arielle ate every 2 to 3 hours like clockwork… including during the middle of the night! She liked to cuddle and sleep. She also snoozed a lot. Did I mention she liked to sleep? She wore size newborn diapers for an entire month and wore a lot of her sister’s newborn outfits.

2 Months: Arielle started to do more tummy time and tolerated it … in a mediocre way. She wore size 1 diapers and 0-3 month clothes. She loved to look around by tracking everything with her eyes and was very alert. She discovered her big sister, Madelyn, and began to realize that she would soon become her most favorite person in the world.

3 Months: Snoozing happened swaddle-free and we also went cold turkey on the pacifier. Both things were keeping her from sleeping and that was unacceptable, obv. She started to flirt with the idea of rolling and the smiles, though not completely out to play in this photo, were becoming a regular on her little punim.

4 Months: Arielle celebrated America’s Independence with all of her friends and a fireworks show on her 4th month with us. The smiles and rolling were in full force and she welcomed diaper changes (size 2) as opportunities to play and giggle with her mom and dad. She loved to explore textures and lights that she discovered in a baby class with baby pals.

5 Months: Frequent Flyer miles collection began — Arielle took her first plane ride to Seattle and loved exploring the suburbs and the city. She also attended her first birthday party — her sister’s 4th! She fit into 3-6 month clothes and size 2 diapers, rolling all over and working on balanced sitting.

6 Months: Half a year down, and Arielle mastered sitting up in September. Along with sitting up, her spitting up was becoming a little less regular, and she began to consume dairy again with no trouble. Hooray for pizza! (for Mom). She also had her first non-milk foods like purees and cereal. Eating is a favorite pasttime, which explains her 6-9 month clothing size and size 3 diapers.

7 Months: No crawling yet, but Arielle loved to sprawl out on her tummy and flip her limbs around, perhaps thinking about the idea of maybe considering the possibility of one day potentially crawling… in the future. Oh, and no big deal, but sleep happened. Like, no more nighttime feedings (her idea) and 12 hours of solid sleep (also her idea). Mama was in heaven during month seven!

8 Months: One tooth in and another on the way changed this little girl’s gummy smile and she suddenly looks older! She also got really vocal all of a sudden, babbling lots of stories and opinions that only she understands. Size 3 diapers and 6-12 month clothing keep her warm as we head into winter.

9 Months: As evidenced by the photo, Arielle is not interested in laying down and staying still. At 9 months, toys and books are her favorite non-Madelyn objects and a special flavor of crawling is in progress: No tushie up in the air, but the girl gets around with her arms and push-offs from her feet. But really, she is perfectly content to sit like a lady and play quietly with her toys or munch on Puffs.