One and a half

My teeny tiny baby (ok, she was never that tiny), is getting soooo big. And cute. I guess that is to be expected, she has had 18 months + to practice.

18 month stats:

Height:  33 3/4 inches.  If these measurements are completely accurate, and I'm sure they are not, she is about a half inch taller than the Mister was at this age.

Weight:  21 lbs 12 oz.

Teeth:  11.  She has her first set of molars, all four front teeth on top but just three on the bottom. 

Sleep:  Still about 11 hours at night plus a two hour nap.  And for the most part she is sooo easy to put to bed and I love that about her.

Favorites: 

Foods:  Bananas, anything chocolate, yogurt, cereal.  Some mornings she will eat three bowls of cereal.

Toys:  Babies (but mostly because the Mister is always trying to take them away from her), playdough, and a little Simon doll (of Alvin and the Chipmunks) from McDonald's that she calls "Sauce".

Songs:  "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes", and the "Wise Man".  Also anything that anyone will sing to her, especially if it has hand motions.

Games:  Hide & Seek...but mostly the hiding part. 

Other favorites:  Dancing and drawing.  She will lay down on her tummy like she is really serious about what she is coloring.  But her #1 favorite of all is getting into Mom's makeup.  Oops!

Most afternoons, after a quick story and song I put her in her crib (awake) and then go take a shower.  Usually when I go check on her after 10 minutes or so she is fast asleep.  Recently, I went in to check on her assuming she was asleep since I hadn't heard a peep.  However, she was sitting up in her crib hiding under her blanket.  I'm guessing she was playing peek-a-boo by herself :)

She loves to sit on the potty even though she hasn't succesfully gone yet.  But I hope all this practice will make potty training easier when the time comes.  I got lucky last time around, I sure hope it's that easy again.

I love having a girl to dress up.  Boys clothes are cute, but let's face it, with girls there are so many more options.  And accessories.  OH, the accessories!  The only thing is, I thought I would have more time where I got to choose the outfits.  Not so with Baby Sister.  She frequently will get her heart set on wearing a certain pair of pants (or shorts in the winter!), shoes, or insist on which jacket she wears.  She's very assertive!  But, her favorite outfit of all seems to be a shirt, no pants, some sort of shoes and typically a hat or hair bow. 

She often requests a hair bow before going to bed.  Once she woke up in the middle of the night and refused to be put back into her bed until I put a bow in her hair.

Baby Sister has entered that phase where her vocabulary just seems to be exploding.  She says a new word almost every day and sometimes more than one new word.  Or, she will become more precise on words she's already saying, such as: "outside" instead of just "side".  Some of my favorite words that she says are:

siiiwy (silly)

pitty (pretty)

cuss (necklace)

boos (spoon)

blblblblblblb (banana)

fuff (can mean any animal but most frequently dog or horse)
bye, bye sue (bye, bye, see you)
I doot (I do it)
snacksie, jucie (or anything else she can add "ie" to)

Probably six weeks or a month ago she said her first phrase.  It was "go away" :(  She said it to Little Mister.  At church.  Quite loudly.  During the prayer.  I probably shouldn't have, but I laughed.  I love to see her standing up for herself.

When answering in the affirmative, rather than saying yes, she says "do" or "I do".  I love it.

What a doll!  She is so squishy, and cute, and sweet and sassy and I just love watching her grow.

Three and a half

 

What on earth would I do without this little bundle of energy that keeps me entertained and on my toes all day long? 

Some of his favorites:

Favorite food:  Olives & nutella.  Not together of course.  And smoothies ("smoozies")

Favorite games:  Hide & Seek ("hide & sink") and puzzles.

Favorite books:  Curious George & Too Many Cats.  It's an I Read You Read book.  He has his parts memorized.

Favorite Song:  I Am A Child of God & The Wise Man Built His House Upon a Rock.

Best Friends:  Benjamin, Dallin, Natey, Sam, Mylee, Camille, Sophie, & Holly.  But he always tells me that Holly is his "medium friend".  She's seven :)

When he grows up he wants to be an animal rescuer.  Actually, he thinks he already is one.

I feel very blessed that I think for the most part we skipped the terrible two's (unless the terrible two's is making terrible messes in which case we had that every day) and the even terribler (?) three's.  Despite his energetic, often boisterous personality, he's usually pretty easy to keep entertained and happy and he adapts quite well.  However, he does have his moments.  He's been known to get put in timeout while at the gym daycare and be loud and irreverent at church.  And when I tell him "no" or to do something that he doesn't want to do, I get one or more of the following responses (often accompanied by him crossing his arms with a "hmmmph" and giving me his best disappointed face):

"Mom, you are not impossible!"

"But, you are not as big as Dad"

"You are not the only one....."

"Stop saying bad things to me"

"But Mom, you are  not in charge of rescuing animals"

And finally, "Can you please go away from here?"

As you can see, except for the last one, none of these statements have anything to do with anything.  But, he says them with such gusto that I can tell he thinks he is making a fantastic, well-thought-out argument and I should immediately change my mind and let him continue.  Either that, or he just likes hearing me laugh.

In January he started his Sunbeam class at church. I think he loves it, except for the part where he has to sit still and try to listen.  But, his teachers tell me that he is mostly good.  And at least what he lacks in good behavior he makes up for in adorableness.

In the fall he will be starting K-4 at preschool.  He talks about school all the time and is really excited.  Several of his friends will be going to his same school, although most of them will be in K-3.  One of his little girl friends from church will be in his same class and that makes me very happy.

He knows all of his letters and the sounds that they make.  And with some help can sound out simple words.  He has also started to show some interest in spelling and, for instance, will ask me "what makes the 'str' sound" or "what does c-c-cat start with"?

He has figured out rhyming and sometimes we play rhyming games in the car.

He can count to 50 and can count to 100 by 10's.  Really I think he could count as high as he wanted, he seems to understand the pattern and if I ask him what comes after 50 or 100 he usually gives the right answer.  But, if you ask him he says he can only count to 50 and he always stops at 50.  Maybe next week I can get him up to 60.

He has no interest in writing though.  He does like to color for short amounts of time and sometimes I can get him to draw a circle, but letters, um no.

He seems to make friends very easily and may or may not have one or more girlfriends.  There is a girl at the gym named Grace that he plays with all the time.  Grace is an "animal rescuer dinosaur".  Last Friday we dropped the kids off for Parent's Night Out while we went on a date. Grace was there too and apparently they spent the entire evening playing together and sitting next to each other during dinner.  And yesterday he tackled a kid at the bouncy house place because that kid was being mean to his friend Myah.

To me he is the perfect mix of wild, crazy, and sweet.  This boy loves to find a cozy place to snuggle.  Usually that is right next to me.  More frequently than I would like, he wakes up in the night and sneaks into bed right next to me.  He loves to sit on my lap and usually requests that I put him to bed - even though Brad & I alternate every other night and he knows it.  When I'm not available though, he finds a cozy little place to build a nest of blankets and pillows :)

 

But my favorite, favoritest, favorite thing of all is that he calls the plural of clothes one "clo".

This little boy has stolen my heart for sure.

Valen-times

We had a great Valentine's Day (or "valentimes" as the Little Mister would say).

I did some crafting/deocorating ahead of time. Incidentally, Little Mister was devastated when we got rid of our Christmas tree. Luckily the day after we finally dropped it off to be recycled the little pink one that I had ordered on clearance arrived. Quick thinking mommy decorated it with felt heart pops and it became our Valentines tree.

I bought them each a couple of small things so that when they came down for breakfast in the morning they would have a surprise. My parents sent them each a card. (thanks Grandma & Grandad!)

We were invited to a fun party with our friends where we exchanged valentines and had treats.

And we finished off the day with a trip to the ice-cream shop.

Little Mister takes a sick day...

I know as a mother I am supposed to hate it when my children get sick. And I do. Except, The Little Mister never ACTS sick.  Well, maybe an hour or two here and there.  And maybe for 20 minutes or so before or after he pukes - which is rare.  But typically, no matter what, he is FULL of energy.  And it's tough to explain to a three year old that we need to stay home because he is sick when he doesn't realize that he actually IS sick.  Until today.  Today he had a fever.  No other symptoms - at least not today, and if asked he would say he felt perfectly fine.  Nothing hurt.  He didn't feel sick.  He even said he was happy.  But for the first time since he has been able propel himself in any direction on his own, he was perfectly content to sit on the couch in his jammies and watch TV.  Mostly he wanted to sit on my lap, and I was perfectly content to oblige.  It would have been pure bliss except for the part where Baby Sister also needed my attention and I had to keep getting up to take care of her.  But, even so, she was mostly happy to be able to play with all the toys without having them taken from her only to be told how she SHOULD be playing with them.  This may be the closest thing I will ever get to a sick day.  So, even though I'm sad my baby is sick (even if he doesn't know it) I'm going to appreciate the calmness of today.  Almost no fighting, and lots of snuggles.

Groundhog Day

9:30am - Pilates

12:00pm - Lunch

1:00pm - Put Baby Sister down for a nap

3:30pm  - Playdate with friends

7:00pm - Girls Night Out

Gorgeous weather all day. 

Yeah, I wouldn't mind repeating this day over and over.

 

 

Happy one-and-a-half birthday Baby Sister!