Tag Archives: baby

Annabelle Lyn: 20-22 Months

26 Jan

This little girl is growing up so fast, I can’t keep up on the updates! Annabelle was 20 months on November 27, 21 months on December 27, and 22 months tomorrow, on January 27.img_1725img_1813Size

Annabelle is still wearing 2T clothes, size 5 shoes, and size 4 diapers.img_1787img_1736Eating

Annabelle is still a picky eater, and still lactose intolerant. Over the holidays, she apparently ate too many Hershey’s kisses because her diarrhea returned for a bit. Her favorite foods lately have been yogurt (non-dairy), applesauce, mandarin oranges, peaches, toast, and bacon. She eats like a bird—she won’t eat many foods, and the ones she will eat, she doesn’t eat much of. But she doesn’t have any problem eating her weight in candy, suckers, or gum (not that we let her…).img_2494img_2233Sleeping

Annabelle is still waking up 1-3 times at night. The past month or so, she will often not even let us put her down in her crib at night. Those nights, the only way she will settle down and go to sleep is if we lay down on the floor with her—on the mattress that has been on the floor in her room since last summer. I read in my last update on Annabelle that I thought she was getting her 2-year molars, but she still hasn’t! Uffda, teething seems to take forever. Once she does get her 2-year molars, though, we’ll get serious about getting Annabelle to sleep all night in her crib.

Annabelle takes one nap a day for about two hours, from about 1:30 to 3:30.img_2267img_1816Development

Annabelle is an active, daring, little monkey! She loves to climb, dive, slide, jump, run, and spin.

She has also started talking a bunch, and can say about 15 words, including Dada, Mama, Emma, Abell (Annabelle), cracker, bubble, purple, yellow, honey, ball, doggy, all done, oh no, and dough know (I don’t know). So cute!img_2235img_2070img_2523Annabelle LOVES her big sister Emma and they play together most of the time—though sometimes the age difference makes getting along a little difficult.img_2280img_1757img_1785I started working two days a week at the beginning of January, and Annabelle started going to daycare at the same center Emma has been going to. She has handled the transition well, and the workers say that she only cries for a few minutes a couple times a day, and the rest of the time she is pretty happy. A couple times during the day, Emma and Annabelle get to play together in the gym, and the workers say that they play together the whole time. One day when I came to pick them up, they were both riding a trike—Emma was sitting in front, pedaling, and Annabelle was riding on the back.

Annabelle’s favorite things lately have been:

  • Blocks—she loves building towers
  • Books—she will sit for 4-5 books, and often grabs a book, finds me or Travis, and motions that she wants to sit on our lap and have us read a book to her
  • Rough-housing—she still loves to be “thrown” onto the bed, held upside down, spun in circles, etc.
  • Mommy’s phone or iPad—she loves playing games and watching short YouTube videos… I just have to be careful to keep her from calling anyone (which she has done more than a handful of times!)
  • Painting—Annabelle really enjoys painting with either finger paints or with brushes on an easel… we just don’t do it often because it’s an ordeal 😉
  • Cuddling–Annabelle is a cuddle bug, which I love–unless she’s sleeping, then she wants to be left alone.

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And that’s Annabelle at 22 months!

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Emma Grace: 3.5 Years

17 Nov

Emma was 3 ½ years old on October 7, so I’m a liiiiitttttle behind on this update. How is Thanksgiving only a week away?!?!

img_1821img_1811Since my last update on Emma, she has not slowed down one bit. In fact, now that Annabelle is cruising around and causing trouble, the two feed off of each other and create even more and bigger messes and disasters than either one would do on their own. Or Emma will do things that she knows she shouldn’t, just because Annabelle is doing them (and is too young to know better). Thankfully their shenanigans have not yet destroyed anything valuable or ended in serious injury.

We like to say that Emma is 3 going on 13 because she has taken to growling when she gets frustrated (gee… I wonder where she learned that, mom?), frequently stomping off to her room while yelling “Leave me alone!”, and slamming her bedroom door. {insert Facebook Wow emoji here}

img_20160824_104737-largeThis girl seriously gives me a run for my money, and pushes my buttons. Oh man, I could tell you stories… and maybe I will one day. I’ve been working on a post about dealing with anger—MY OWN—in motherhood for almost a whole year now, but I haven’t published it because there’s no conclusion. I’m STILL struggling with it, yo!

Emma is just an extremely strong-willed, particular, won’t-back-down-for-nothing child, who will defy me while looking me straight in the eye. I’ve come to understand, though, that she does this for the exact same reason I am often strong-willed and defiant: she thinks her ideas are better than mine, and that she’s right. A chip off the old block, right there. It’s extremely humbling (and scary) when you see that your child inherited your personality, and is also learning your bad habits of dealing with that personality.

img_20160801_125539-largeThank God for His grace and the truth that “Love covers a multitude of sins.” I’ve started praying that even if I don’t stop messing up and doing things I later regret in regards to relating to and disciplining Emma, that at least God will continue to give me a soft enough heart to repent and apologize to her. It’s a daily occurrence in this household. Man, parenting is haaaarrrddd.

But I do love this girl. She has a big heart, and just the other day, when we went and played with friends at the new mall play area, Emma asked for a snack, but then shared most of it with her friends. She’s also hilarious, and thinks of the craziest things to do and say. She has a great imagination, and has started to play by herself in her room quite often, because she knows that if she is anywhere Annabelle can reach her, it’s game over for playing with anything in a particular way (Annabelle is the new Destructobaby). I do often remind her that it’s more fun to play with other kids than by herself, even if they don’t play how she wants them to.

img_1757-largeOverall though, Emma and Annabelle get along really well, and most days they are like two peas in a pod. They both seem to have very similar personalities (in that they’re both CRAZY!) and can often be found running circles around our couches, giggling in the pitch-dark bathroom doing God-knows-what, and making disasters out of books, water, toilet paper, markers, you name it whenever Mommy has been distracted for too long.img_1811-largeimg_1785-largeimg_1835-large

img_1754-largeSpeaking of destruction, Emma has recently gone through a book/paper ripping phase. We were at a loss for how to handle this type of destruction (since I refuse to put all books away or out of her reach). But after several instances of surprisingly intentional destruction (meaning she ripped A LOT of pages), we explained to her that she was no longer allowed to rip anything, under any circumstances, ever again. And if she did rip something, she would get a spanking.

After we explained that, she did rip a few more things (and received a detailed explanation of her disobedience and resulting discipline), but she hasn’t ripped anything since then—and that was about 3 weeks ago. She has mentioned a few times, and I have seen her do so, that she exercised restraint in not ripping something, and I have praised her for going so long without ripping anything. Maybe after a month of no ripping, we’ll take her out to China Buffet (her favorite restaurant) to celebrate.

img_20160922_131613-largeSince the beginning of September, we have tried to do some preschool activities at home (testing out the waters of homeschooling) but so far, it’s been kind of a flop. Emma was excited the first couple weeks, and still asks to “do school” on a semi-regular basis, but never wants to do what I suggest. She mostly just wants to color and maybe trace some letters. I tried telling her about Christopher Columbus while she was coloring a picture on Columbus Day, but she just kept interrupting me and saying “Mommy, stop talking. Mommy, stop talking.” So, we’re leaning toward NO on the homeschooling.

img_20160907_091425-largeAnd I shouldn’t forget an update on potty training… Ugh, potty training. Emma is mostly potty trained during the day, though she has been having a few accidents lately because she just waits too long to head to the toilet. She’s still pooping in a diaper. She pooped on the toilet a handful of times a few months ago but then got constipated and it was downhill from there. And she still wears a diaper to bed. I was feeling pretty discouraged about the whole situation but recently we decided to have her wear undies during her nap, even if there was a chance she’d wet the bed. But she’s only wet the bed once in a couple of weeks. So that encourages me that she’ll get there. I just don’t want this to turn into a daily battle. She really dislikes me wiping her after a poopy diaper though, so hopefully that will convince her to start pooping on the potty again.

20160921_104042-largeSome of Emma’s other favorite things at 3.5 years are:

  • iPad and movies—Of course!
  • Candy and ice cream – This may be her nightly bedtime snack…20160911_115349-large
  • Rock-a-baby in the chair—I rock her to sleep in the glider in her room fairly often, mostly for naps, but we rock a little before bedtime too when I’m the one doing her bedtime routine.
  • Jesus on the cross—Emma has really started to understand stories about Jesus, and loves to point out when she sees something making the shape of the cross. She also loves to hear songs about Jesus, and has started to really enjoy being in the church service with us (and behaves pretty well now too).
  • Dresses and flip-flops—This poor girl is in denial that winter is coming (and frankly, should already be here by Minnesota standards). She frequently doesn’t want to wear pants or a jacket, and almost always doesn’t want to wear shoes. Then she complains about being cold.img_20160801_115416-large
  • Getting dirty and wet—Emma still has a thing for dirt and water. She has loved playing in the leaves this fall (and we had TONS of them!) and on a few of these above-average-temperature days, we’ve had the water table out because both Emma and Annabelle just can’t get enough. One time at the beach this summer, Emma literally army crawled through the sand to the water. She was covered head to toe in sand.img_1599-largeimg_1269-large20160803_113747-largeimg_20160731_194850-large
  • Baths—When we say it’s bath time, both girls make a beeline to the bathroom. Emma usually starts the water and plugs the drain before we even get in there—and she even gets it the right temperature and everything now! *sniff* She’s getting so old.
  • Dance class—We put Emma in a 30-minute ballet class this fall, and so far she really enjoys it. She’s not always the best listener, and sometimes is pouty and refuses to do the moves the teacher’s doing, but overall, she’s doing well. Funny story: her very first class, Emma showed up straight from the daycare playground wearing pants and a t-shirt, with dirty feet, woodchips stuck to her pants and a band-aid on her head, while all the other girls were wearing cute ballet outfits. The teacher said Emma could wear whatever she wanted and didn’t need shoes, but after that first class, we bought her a leotard and ballet shoes.
  • Popcorn—Since both Emma and Annabelle go to bed around 9 pm, one of our near-nightly rituals is making popcorn after bath time and watching a show together. The girls really love popcorn, and Emma loves to help with measuring out the kernels, pouring them in, and plugging the popper in (with supervision).img_1656-large
  • The Striped Dress—Emma’s favorite dress of all time, only to be rivaled by her white Christmas dress from 2014 that she wore for a whole year until it literally didn’t fit her anymore, is a striped maxi dress we bought from Target this summer. She almost always wants to wear that dress, and I think I’m going to have to hide it when it does get cold outside so that’s she forced to wear all her winter clothes, instead of the same old threadbare, faded summer dress. Kids, I tell ya!20160803_132448-large
  • Elsa—Emma got a 16” Elsa doll from her aunt and cousin last Christmas, and LOVES that thing. We ended up buying Annabelle the Anna doll because they had started fighting over Elsa. Emma had been completely attached to a baby doll but Elsa usurped the #1 spot. Emma still likes her baby doll, though, and also likes a small 6” doll we bought Annabelle for her 1st Annabelle doesn’t play with dolls much yet, so she doesn’t care that Emma plays with “her stuff” but there will come a day…img_1774-large
  • Coloring—For the past month or two, Emma has been on a coloring/writing kick. She has learned how to write her name and loves to practice writing other letters too, though she gets discouraged quickly by the ones she finds difficult. She also enjoys “coloring pictures” (usually she means drawing freehand) for other people, and we often color pictures together. Annabelle likes to be near the action, but mostly likes to throw the colored pencils on the floor and uncap the markers.20160820_121429-large
  • Sleeping in her closet—We bought Emma a bed canopy and have it hung up in her closet so she likes to sleep in there quite a bit. And not just that, but she closes the door! This girl is not afraid of the dark at all.img_20160824_164232-large

And that’s Emma at 3.5 years!img_20160829_121553-large20160913_111857-large20160911_112258-large

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Annabelle Lyn: 18-19 Months

1 Nov

Annabelle is already over 19 months old! She was 18 months on September 27 and 19 months on October 27. It’s hard to believe that when Emma was Annabelle’s age, I was already pregnant with Annabelle. She’s growing up so fast!img_1998Size

At Annabelle’s 18-month well-child check, she weighed 23 lbs 1 oz (54%), was 32.5 inches tall (68%), and had a head circumference of 19.78 inches (99.8%). This girl is setting the curve for head size. 😉

Annabelle is still wearing size 4 diapers and mostly 18-24 months/2T clothes. She has gone up in shoe size from size 4 to size 5—tiny little feet just like Emma had (which is nice because she can wear all of Emma’s old shoes…at least, the ones she didn’t destroy).img_1481Eating

Annabelle is still a pretty picky eater. The foods she likes to eat consistently are dairy and fruit, which is unfortunate because we discovered that she is most likely lactose intolerant. She had been having trouble with diarrhea and pooping 5-6 times a day, so I asked her doctor about it and she suggested limited her dairy to see if that would help. We stopped giving her any dairy except some hard/sharp cheese, and her poop has changed to be what we would expect. She was never a big fan of cow’s milk, so that won’t be a hard switch, but she loves yogurt and cheese. I’ve started buying Silk yogurt (which is actually pretty tasty) and Ripple milk for her, and being selective about which cheese we give her (apparently the harder and sharper ones have less lactose). Not a huge deal compared to other kids’ allergies, just something to get used to.20160914_141849Annabelle’s other favorite foods are bacon, banana, blueberries, applesauce, peanut butter on a spoon, honey, cereal, apple slices, edamame, suckers, and chocolate. There are other foods she will eat too, but they’re more hit and miss.

I think Annabelle is starting to get her 2-year molars because she’s frequently chewing on her whole hand recently, or sticking her fingers into the back of her mouth.img_20160922_162100Sleeping

Annabelle has been doing about the same in the sleep department as a few months ago. She will sleep through the night about 40-50% of the time; the other nights, she wakes up between 1 and 3 am, and I go sleep in her room on the floor with her.img_1302She is nursing to sleep less often than before–which is good, considering I want to wean her any day now, but hard because it means she cries in her crib before falling asleep more often. I just hate that! I will try rocking and nursing to get her to sleep, but sometimes she just isn’t having it, so crying it out it is. I remember Emma getting to a point like that too around this age. I know it’s a good thing for them to learn, I just wish it didn’t involve so much crying.

Anyway… Annabelle is still taking one nap a day, usually from about 1 to 3:30.img_1070Development

Once Annabelle learned how to walk, she took off and she is now getting into anything and everything. Put Emma and Annabelle together, and they come with some real hairbrained schemes, which usually result in the destruction of something. Annabelle has also learned how to retaliate against Emma, and push her buttons. Emma will be playing with something, and Annabelle will run over to either quick grab one of Emma’s things or scratch her arm, and then quick dart away. Emma has met her match. 🙂img_1490Annabelle’s favorite things to do the past two months have been:

  • Sit like a big girl at the dining room table (no more highchair for this girl!), on the couch, in recliners, on the piano bench, and in the big part of the shopping cartimg_20160903_174259img_20160922_084959
  • Run around screaming with Emmaimg_1444
  • Play with Emma’s fishing rod outside (almost every time we go outside, she asks for it by pointing and whining)img_1313
  • Pushing strollers, carts, trucks, etc. – she’d rather push them than ride in themimg_20160906_135151
  • Destroying things – knocking blocks over, ripping paper, throwing bowls out of a drawer, taking all the caps off markers and abandoning them, throwing crayons around, etc.
  • Playing with water – mostly in the kitchen sink and outside – all she wants is several vessels for containing water that she can fill up and use to pour water from one thing to anotherimg_1211
  • Rough-housing – Annabelle actually likes to be thrown up into the air (only when Travis is sitting down though, not when he’s standing up), body-slammed on the bed, steamrolled on the floor, held upside down, flipped over, spun in a chair, etc. There’s really not much you can do to Annabelle that she doesn’t like. She might have a look of fear on her face while you’re doing it, but afterward she gets a big grin on her face and whines for more.20160912_123148
  • Copying Emma—It is truly amazing how many things Annabelle picks up and copies from Emma. Emma sometimes gets upset that Annabelle follows her around so much and always wants to be doing what she’s doing, which is understandable, but it really is so cute. We tell Emma that Annabelle just loves her and wants to be like her.
  • Sitting on the kitchen counter—Annabelle always wants to be where the action is. Obviously, we only let her do this when we’re able to sit right there and watch her.img_1330
  • iPad—Annabelle and Emma have started fighting over who gets to use/watch the iPad. I don’t think Annabelle really has that big of an interest in the iPad for what it is, just that she sees Emma using it quite a bit and wants to be like Big Sister.img_1296

As far as talking goes, Annabelle usually defaults to whining to get what she wants instead of talking. We’re trying to encourage her to use words like “water” when she wants a drink and “more” or “please” when she wants something to eat. She has learned the sign for “please” so she does use that a fair amount when prompted—it comes out as “eeees” with her arm moving back and forth. She also says “eese” (Cheese) often when we’re taking a picture of her. So cute! She has started saying Mama again (yay!), and can also say Emma, Dada, Doggy, Nana (banana), and Wawa (water). She uses several variations of Dah Dah to communicate a number of things. She has said other words, but they’re rare.20160921_110554

img_101120160913_11311620160911_11343920160913_11450420160911_11543720160912_09275320160912_115707And that’s Annabelle at 19 months!

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Emma Grace: 3.25 Years

2 Aug

Emma was 3 ¼ years (39 months) back on July 7.IMG_20160728_172253 (Large)20160526_130356The most notable update for this post is that Emma is about 70% potty trained!

After half-heartedly and unsuccessfully trying several times, we scheduled a weekend to focus on potty training, and built it up to Emma (Big girl undies!). We also bought candy as rewards for going on the potty (Starburst and suckers have been the most motivating). She was really excited at first, and since she’s had practice going on the potty at daycare, she totally knew when she had to go (she only had one accident the first couple of days).

But then the excitement wore off, and she started refusing to sit on the potty. We changed our rewards a few times, with some success. But if she threw a fit about going on the potty, we just put a Pull-Up on her and continued suggesting she sit on the potty. She finally did come back around on the whole thing, and has been wearing undies for almost all awake time for the past couple of months.

IMG_20160729_083832 (Large)Sleeping time is a different story. She has stayed dry for some naps (she still naps from about 2-5 every day), but some naps she wets the bed, so we generally still put a Pull-Up on her for naps and a diaper for bedtime. Up until a few days ago, she was also pooping in a diaper. She’d grab a diaper, bring it to me, and say, “Mommy, I want to poop in a diaper.” HA! So she totally knew when she needed to go, but just didn’t want to go in the toilet. But a few days ago, we were shopping at Herberger’s when she had to go, and Travis convinced her to go on the toilet! She earned a freezy pop for that milestone, and has pooped on the toilet once since then. Hopefully she can keep that going, so we can keep moving away from diapers.

My experience with potty training has been both easier and harder than I expected it to be. I thought Emma would be all about it once we got going, but she wasn’t. I thought dealing with shopping and road trips would be really hard, but it hasn’t been. Sure, it’s slightly inconvenient, but I was psyching myself out on that. (And when they’re so young, even girls don’t mind popping a squat in a grass field on road trips—or at least, our girl doesn’t. J) One trick I’ve learned that has helped a ton is to cover up automatic sensors on toilets with Post-It notes so that they don’t flush unexpectedly.

IMG_20160506_105250 (Large)Matching mommy/daughter pedicures (colors chosen by Emma)

Anyway, moving on… here are some of Emma’s favorite things right now:

  • iPad—Emma still loves watching shows, mostly on her iPad (sometimes on the TV). Her latest obsessions have been the Floating Palace episodes of Sofia the First (which are about mermaids) and the mermaid scenes in Penguins of Madagascar. She has also been watching Alvin & the Chipmunks, LEGO friends, Strawberry Shortcake, Penguins of Madagascar, Minions, Brother Bear, and a few other random shows that she found by herself on Netflix.IMG_20160613_184644 (Large)

She fell asleep while watching Netflix… and pooping.

  • Books at night—After we say goodnight to Emma, she sometimes asks to read books while she “watches moons” (a toy that projects a rotating image on the ceiling and plays music) for 10 minutes. Every once in a while, she enjoys reading books during the day (which I savor when it happens!), but overall, she has too much energy for books. When we do read books together, she insists on holding them but can’t sit still enough for me to read the words.IMG_20160505_075159 (Large)
  • Helping—You name it, Emma likes helping with it. She asks to help with cooking (and won’t take no for an answer), putting dishes away, yardwork, doing things for baby, doing laundry, cleaning, putting things in the shopping cart, etc. I try to let her help as much as possible, but some things are just off-limits (like cutting up raw chicken and cooking on the stove).emma garage crop
  • Running—We’ve taken Emma on a few “family runs” around our neighborhood. She does so well! One night she ran almost a whole mile (with a few walking breaks). I think next summer we might see if there are any kid runs nearby. We’re talking about doing a local 5k as a family in September. I think Emma would have a blast! We got a bike trailer from my parents as a Christmas/birthday gift, thinking we could take Emma and Annabelle out in it. We haven’t tried biking with it yet, but a few short jogs have been a no-go—mostly because Emma’s excitement to ride in it wears off right about the time we reach the end of our driveway. She hasn’t ridden in or on something for longer than a few minutes since she was about 18 months old. She just has too much energy. Speaking of which…20160505_092501 (Large)
  • Bouncing—Emma jumps up and down in place a lot. When she’s excited, when she’s watching a movie on TV, when she’s waiting for me to go outside with her… She just has so much extra energy. She also still does this thing with her hands/arms (she has since she was about a year) when she gets really excited—it’s hard to describe but just imagine a little girl moving her hands like you do in the first part of the Chicken Dance song and waving her arms around in an excited frenzy. It’s hilarious, and so uniquely Emma. She also still does her “leg exercises” in her carseat (moving them in circles), presumably when she’s feeling antsy.IMG_20160716_001550 (Large)IMG_20160602_165216 (Large)
  • Jetskiing, fourwheeling and canoeing—This summer was the first real experience Emma had with any of these things, and she loved them! She hasn’t been a fan of riding loud things in the past, so this is a new development. And we thought she’d move around too much for being in a canoe, but she actually has done great both times she’s been out! Travis is very happy she is starting to like the outdoorsy things that he likes.IMG_20160729_182348 (Large)20160710_171838 (Large)20160618_202048 (Large)20160518_200621 (Large)20160725_093655
  • Being pulled around in a sleeping bag—This is pretty random, but one day, Emma wanted to get my sleeping bag out of the closet. One thing led to another, and pretty soon, I was pulling Emma around our basement completely zipped up in the sleeping bag (meaning she was in the dark). She can’t get enough of it! Her friend Noah likes it too. But it’s a decent workout, so mommy needs to take frequent breaks.
  • Picking raspberries—Emma has asked to pick raspberries every single day this summer (we have lots of wild ones growing on our property). But what usually ends up happening is that she picks a few and then plays with Annabelle or sticks or something while I end up picking by myself. This year, we’ve had an awesome crop of raspberries. We couldn’t pick them all, there were so many!IMG_20160629_170432 (Large)
  • Playing outside and in water—Emma still loves being outside and playing with/in water. The past three months have seen a lot of time at the beach, playground, water table, and cruising around our driveway on her trike (which she can now pedal!) and a new electric scooter we just got her. She also still loves to push/pull Annabelle around in the wagon/stroller/trike. In the past month, she has started to love floating on noodles in the water without her feet touching. She’s a pretty good little kicker too!20160720_201530 (Large)20160720_201517 (Large)
  • Sharing—Most of the time, Emma has a very generous spirit. She will share snacks and toys with Annabelle, me or Travis without being asked. (She still has plenty moments of sharing poorly, though.) One of my favorite things in the world is seeing Emma’s little arm stretched across to Annabelle’s little arm in the car, handing her a cracker or water bottle. It’s adorable!IMG_20160610_092617 (Large)
  • Being like mommy—Emma likes to imitate both me and Travis, but I think she imitates me more because I’m also a “dirl” (girl). She always says “Me have some” as she watches me get ready and put on makeup. She often emerges from our bathroom with some kind of beauty supply, the latest being a cotton pad wet down with micellar water. “I’m washing my face,” she says. Similarly…20160427_102735 (Large)20160601_211600 (Large)
  • “I want mom”—Emma is still a complete mommy’s girl. The only person that can sometimes come close is Nana Beth. Emma loves her daddy too, but for activities like fishing, roughhousing, and outdoor fun. When it comes to naps, bedtime, feeling sick, or getting hurt, she wants mommy only (unless she knows mommy’s mad at her for being disobedient, then she wants daddy!). It’s endearing, but also frustrating because I almost always end up putting both girls to bed. Travis at least does Emma’s bedtime routine though.20160506_183754 (Large)
  • Asking questions—It has begun. Emma asks “Mommy, what are you doing?” about 50 times every hour, even after I’ve repeatedly told her what I’m doing. I don’t always handle the constant questioning the best… more than once, I’ve said, “What does it look like I’m doing?”IMG_20160422_083319 (Large)

But on the flip side, one of the most fun things about Emma’s current age is that she has started saying the most hilarious things that just crack. me. up. Here are a few of my favorites:

Me: “Why do you want to put a ponytail in right before you go to bed?”

Emma: “Why not?”

…

Travis tackles me onto the bed, pinning me down.

Emma: “Daddy, no! Don’t! … She’s too dangerous!”

…

“His hands are red, he’s itching them, and he’s got a pumpkin head!” (talking about an episode of Sofia the First)

….

Emma: “I want to watch my iPad.”

Me: “Not right now.”

Emma: “I want to watch mommy’s phone.”

Me: “Emma, no, you’ve watched enough shows for right now.”

Emma: “iPad! I want to watch my iPaaaaaddddd!!”

Me: “The answer is no. Please stop asking.”

Emma: “Grrrrrrrr!!!”

A minute passes in silence, then Emma looks up with a smile and says in a sweet voice,

“Watch big TV downstairs?”

…

I point out stinging nettle to Emma as we’re picking raspberries, reminding her to not touch it.

Emma: “Mom, that’s what I was telling you about!”

…

Talking about the time she fell off the dock last summer into a few feet of water, Emma said,

“Nana Beth jumped in the wa-wa. Nana Beth saved me. … Nana Beth pushed me.”

(The full story is that Emma was standing on the dock waiting for Nana Beth to get off the pontoon. She backed up to give Nana more room, but backed up right off the dock. She didn’t get hurt and Beth jumped in right after her, so she was fine.)

IMG_20160801_124917 (Large)IMG_20160708_215902 (Large)With cousin Jensen on Papa’s pontoonIMG_20160629_121329 (Large)She loves cutting! The smaller the pieces, the better!IMG_20160503_105204 (Large)I LOVE this picture — from Emma’s birthday party.IMG_20160507_125750 (Large)She’s always trying to sleep in the doorway. I don’t know why?!?!IMG_20160523_133631 (Large)She took all the clothes out of her dresser in search of her pink princess phone.IMG_20160429_083725 (Large)20160526_140341 (Large)20160518_202213 (Large)Emma loves picking flowers. She was very disappointed when we mowed our grass and all her flowers (clover, not the ones pictured here) went bye-bye!

And that’s Emma at 3.25 years!

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Annabelle Lyn: 15 Months

27 Jun

Annabelle was 15 months back on June 27.20160607_112132 (Large)Size

Annabelle had her 15-month appointment last Friday and is now 22 lbs 7 oz (67%), 31 inches tall (62%) with a head circumference of 19 inches (98.8%). She’s still wearing 12-18 month clothing and size 4 diapers.20160613_162601 (Large)Eating

Not much has changed here from last month. She’s still nursing 3-5 times a day, eating 3 meals and a few snacks, and drinking water and occasionally peach tea from a sippy cup.

Annabelle does have all of her teeth now (minus her 2-year molars) and can feed herself with a spoon and fork (an ability she was more than eager to learn– she’d whine at meals until we gave her a utensil of her own).IMG_20160615_085131 (Large)IMG_20160621_123217 (Large)Sleeping

Annabelle’s sleeping has changed over the past month… and not for the better, unfortunately. She has developed what we think is separation anxiety, which means she wakes up whenever we try to put her in her crib and screams at the top of her lungs. Putting her down awake is just as bad. Since her crying is so intense and crying-it-out isn’t my thing to begin with, I usually only wait 10-15 minutes before going in to comfort her (and sometimes not even that).

One reason we think it’s separation anxiety is because she calms down the second we enter her room. But she doesn’t stay calm if we don’t also immediately pick her up. After a week or so of rocking her or holding her for 30-60 minutes (long enough for her to be sleeping deeply when we put her down) and feeling frustrated and exhausted, I moved a mattress into her room and have been sleeping with her on the floor for the past couple of weeks.IMG_20160625_111323 (Large)Another reason we think it’s separation anxiety is that she cries immediately if I try to put her in the crib, but goes right to sleep if I put her down on the mattress on the floor–I think because she associates it with me being in there with her. (She’ll also look to see if I’m still there when I put her down on the mattress.)

Anyway, I’m hoping this is a phase that runs its course quickly so that I can get back to my own bed. Though I will admit it’s kind of fun snuggling with Annabelle. In the morning, she’ll crawl over (she’s usually sleeping on a separate blanket on the floor by then with all the rolling around she does) and snuggle with me. She loves rolling around, burrowing, snuggling, cuddling, even when she’s awake. She often lays her head on her shoulders when we’re holding her. She’s just such a sweetie.

IMG_20160623_160722 (Large)Development

Annabelle is so. close. to walking but just doesn’t have the confidence or boldness quite yet to really try it. She is starting to let go of her support while playing with things, can walk if we hold her around the waist or hold one hand, but is just extremely cautious. She’s had a few minor tumbles while trying to walk that have impeded her progress even more. The gross motor expert we’re working with, though, says another reason for her delay could be because Annabelle’s feet naturally fall inside onto her arches, causing her to work extra hard to maintain her balance, and that she would benefit from wearing supportive shoes almost all the time. We haven’t been very good about having her wear shoes since she’s not walking and it’s summer (hello sweaty feet!), but I’m trying to be better about it since it’s the best thing for her.

She still loves pushing her alligator clacker around, and she can finally turn it on her own too! She loves funny noises and ripping paper, and is in full-blown mess-making mode. Her favorite thing by far, though, is climbing. We move a small stool in front of the couch (it’s just a little too high for her without it) and she amuses herself for 15-20 minutes going up and down. She also loves climbing stairs and slides.

Annabelle also does a lot of talking and babbling, and her favorite word(s) by far right now are Dada (used for almost everything) and Dawdee (Doggy). She also says “Oh” with her little mouth in the shape of an O (especially when seeing something new or interesting), “ah da” (all done), and “uh oh” regularly. She now associates the sign for “more” with the idea of eating. Her receptive language has increased a lot too–we can ask her to come over to her chair to eat and she will (when she wants to eat). We can talk about going outside and she’ll go to the door, or at least look in that direction. She’ll be upset about not getting food right. now. and I can explain that I’m just going to get her tray, or cut the food up, and she’ll settle down momentarily. She can also point to doggies in books. It’s so fun watching kids learn new things!

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Annabelle Lyn: 13-14 Months

2 Jun

I keep falling behind on Annabelle’s monthly updates–each month goes by so fast! Annabelle was 13 months on April 27 and 14 months on May 27.20160414_150436 (Large)

Annabelle is at such a fun age. She’s learning new things everyday, getting into everything, and will be walking any day now. But first things first…IMG_20160416_093614 (Large)

Size

Annabelle is still wearing some 12-month clothes, but she’s mostly in 18-month clothes now (partly because they’re the warmer weather ones). She wears size 4 toddler shoes and size 4 diapers. The 12-month sunhat that we had for Emma at this age doesn’t fit her noggin though, so I had to buy her a 12-18 month size (and even that *just* fits).20160501_170207 (Large)

Eating

Annabelle is still a good eater and I think she went through a growth spurt a few weeks ago because she was packing away the food. Her favorite foods right now are: avocado, banana, blueberries, puffs, toast, crackers, noodles, tomatoes, mandarin oranges/clementines, pears, peaches, pineapple, kiwi, and cheese. She has several other foods that she will eat a small amount of as well. But banana, avocado, cheese, and oranges are the mainstays of her diet.IMG_20160415_183855 (Large)

Annabelle is still nursing, mostly because she has been getting teeth left and right! She now has all 4 molars (the 4th is halfway through the gum) and is getting the 4 canine teeth (between the incisors and molars) all at the same time. She’s been a little crabby, to say the least. She gets a dose of baby ibuprofen every night before bed, and that seems to keep the pain at bay during the night.

20160509_112048 (Large)If Annabelle wakes up during the night (which she still does once on average, though some nights she sleeps straight through and some wacky nights she’s up 3-4 times), I nurse her. I also nurse her right away in the morning, and before her naps and bedtime. Otherwise, she’s just eating food and drinking water. She doesn’t drink cow’s milk really at all… I haven’t tried very hard to get her to, but she doesn’t seem to like it much. I’m not too worried about it at this point.

IMG_20160512_152046 (Large)Sleeping

I really have no complaints about Annabelle’s sleeping habits. Would I like Annabelle to sleep through the night consistently? Of course. Will she eventually? I have no doubt. Am I going to try to sleep train while she’s cutting 5 teeth? Mmmm, no. Since she’s getting all of her teeth (minus the 2-year molars) right now, the end is in sight! And then I will work on weaning, which will hopefully mean her sleeping through the night too. Or maybe without teething pain, she’ll sleep through the night and kind of wean herself. **here’s hoping**

IMG_20160422_084041 (Large)Annabelle waffles between one and two naps a day. I try to get the girls to take their afternoon naps together as much as possible (giving me a much-needed break) but some days, it just doesn’t work. I’d say it’s about 60-40 (nap together-nap separately). If I can see that the naps aren’t going to overlap, I have Emma watch her iPad in her room for 20-30 minutes while Annabelle is napping, so I at least get a teeny break.

Because she still nurses and won’t take a bottle, I still haven’t spent a night away from Annabelle since she was born. But! The weekend of our wedding anniversary (May 19), Travis’ parents watched both Emma and Annabelle for an entire day. Annabelle took a 3-hour nap without nursing. I did end up nursing her that afternoon (so that I didn’t have to pump, and we were back at the house getting the boat anyway), and before bed. But it was encouraging that she went down easily and took a good nap without me. Next up is trying a whole day and night without me… but that might be after she’s weaned. Can you tell that my approach is Less is More?

20160524_151828 (Large)Development

Annabelle still isn’t walking but she’s oh.so.close. Similar to how long it took her to start crawling, I think she’s just being very conservative about things. She pulls herself up on everything and LOVES climbing (she’s gets very upset if she sees stairs and isn’t allowed to climb them right now). She has mastered the art of going down stairs too, and can turn around at the top to go down backward. That is also her strategy for going down the slide on our swing set. One of Annabelle’s very favorite things to do the past couple of months has been push her alligator clacker up and down the driveway. She can walk pretty fast doing it too!

IMG_20160515_133945 (Large)IMG_20160531_155019 (Large)IMG_20160516_161515 (Large)Unlike her sister, Annabelle does not like swinging very much. She seems to enjoy it for about 5 minutes and then wants out. (Emma could swing all the day long.) She hasn’t been a huge fan of grass or sand so far, but each day she gets a little more adventurous. Just today she was crawling around on our driveway and the grass in front of our house (which means filthy pants for mommy to wash!).

20160518_202307 (Large)Annabelle does love water like Emma does, though. She loves being in the pool and tub, and the one time we went to the beach so far this year, Annabelle walked in up to her diaper (I was not preparing for swimming). My parents bought Emma a water table for her birthday and Annabelle has really enjoyed that too.

IMG_20160422_083319 (Large)Annabelle has a handful of words now–dada (dad), dawdee (doggy), uh oh, ma (more), uh (up), ah daw (all done)–and we can tell that she’s comprehending more too. The other night, we were playing in the bathroom and I asked Annabelle if she wanted to take a bath. She looked toward the bathtub, said some gibberish, and crawled over to the tub. She’s also learned the sign for “more” and has used that a handful of times to request more food. She also loves blowing raspberries, just with her mouth and also on my arm. One night, I was trying to put her down for bed, and she just kept blowing on my arm for almost 10 minutes. I was laughing pretty hard.

20160518_203901 (Large)Annabelle still puts up with a lot of rough play from Emma. It is the most frustrating part of parenting right now. Seriously, the choices a toddler makes defy logic. The other night, we were playing with the big lego blocks while watching a movie. Emma took a stack of blocks and dropped it right on Annabelle’s head. WTH?!?! We’ve started using the 1-2-3 Magic discipline approach, but when Emma purposefully or even sometimes negligently hurts Annabelle, she immediately gets a timeout. Is it working? Who knows. Emma has a really hard time keeping her hands to herself. Poor Annabelle gets pushed, pulled, dragged, hit, bit, shoved, hair pulled, toys stolen, head covered with blankets–you name it. I think Emma views Annabelle as her life-size doll to play with. Annabelle also gets a decent amount of head bonks and bruises from her own exploring as well. Thankfully she hasn’t gotten seriously injured yet.

IMG_20160520_142721 (Large)IMG_20160413_135330 (Large)Right before Annabelle turned 14 months, she went on her third airplane ride, this time to Cleveland, Ohio. She did really well! I nursed her on the flight from MSP to Cleveland, and she slept most of the way. More details coming in a separate post about our trip…

And that’s Annabelle at 14 months!IMG_20160414_201231 (Large)IMG_20160406_115553 (Large)IMG_20160407_155607 (Large)20160510_092412 (Large)20160506_184527 (Large)20160503_094602 (Large)20160501_192127 (Large)20160429_130529 (Large)20160422_085150 (Large)20160422_085141 (Large)

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Emma Grace: 3 Years

23 Apr

Emma is THREE! Her birthday was back on April 7.20160407_074733 (Large)

At her 3-year well child check, she weighed 32 lbs (64%) and was 37.5 inches (65%) tall. Emma still takes one nap a day. For a while, she was consistently waking up at 8 am, taking a nap from 2 to 5 pm, and then going to bed around 9:30 pm. But for the past month or so, she has been getting up around 7 am, taking a nap from about 1/1:30 to 3:30 and going to bed at 9 pm. On the days she goes to daycare, she usually goes to bed around 8, since her nap there is shorter and the extra stimulation makes her more tired.

Emma’s general weekly schedule for the past year has been: MOPS on every other Monday, Daycare on Tuesdays, ECFE and Speech Therapy on Thursdays, with Wednesdays and Fridays open for playdates or outings.20160401_071757 (Large)

When she turned 3, Emma was re-evaluated by the Paul Bunyan Education Coop for her speech because she needed to re-qualify to continue receiving services (which was a weekly visit from a speech clinician). Like I expected, she is now in the average range for both expressive and receptive speech, so she no longer qualifies—which is great news! Her articulation is a little below average, but the speech clinician said she expected that to continue developing naturally as Emma gets older.

Here’s what Emma has been loving in January, February, and March:

  • Pink!–She is still obsessed with all things pink, so naturally we threw her and Annabelle a pink party for their birthdays. (Photos and details to come.)20160409_123042 (Large)
  • iPad—her favorite movies/shows right now are Tarzan, Tarzan II, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Mulan II, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, Lilo & Stitch, Stitch the Movie, Sofia the First, Oscar’s Oasis, Secret of the Wings, Mickey’s Magical Christmas, The Pirate Fairy, and Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue. She has developed this annoying habit of fast forwarding or rewinding the movie every 30 seconds, instead of just watching it. Drives me crazy! She is also very adept at finding new shows on Netflix (90% of the movies above she discovered herself) so every once in a while, we find her watching something we end up turning off.20160420_083444 (Large)
  • Dresses – Emma still prefers wearing a dress over anything else. She’s starting to really enjoy picking out her own clothes to wear, and it’s often a t-shirt, pants and a dress—and sometimes a skirt too. (You didn’t know you could wear a skirt over a dress did you?) And she loves twirling in her dressed!20160407_092727 (Large)
  • Girly things—Necklaces, sparkles, ponytails, earrings… Emma loves them all. Though she will still only leave a ponytail in her hair for about 20 minutes. (So I put her hair in a ponytail most mornings, but she takes it out before we go anywhere.) She’ll frequently tell me in the morning “I need to get dressed” and pick out clothes to wear. Once dressed, she’ll say “I need a necklace” and then “I need a pony(tail).”20160401_153650 (Large)
  • Fishing—We (meaning Travis) got Emma a fishing rod for her birthday and she loves casting the rubber fish into the river off our dock. She’s still hit or miss but I’m impressed that she can do it at all!20160401_092955 (Large)20160415_163505 (Large)
  • Ice skating – though she only tried it once, she has requested to go again many times (unfortunately, the time of year for that is pretty much over)
  • Swimming Playing in the water—Emma cannot wait for beach season. We’ve taken her to the pool a few times this winter and she enjoys it, but doesn’t really want anything to do with being in the water if she can’t touch the bottom (she’s just like a leach). Funny story: we went to the waterpark at the Holiday Inn back in January and there’s this giant bucket that slowly fills up with water and then when it’s ready to tip, it starts dinging faster and faster, and pours a deluge of water onto the splash pad. I had never been there before, so I didn’t know that. Emma and I were standing on the splash pad waiting for Travis and Annabelle, and the dinging started. A group of people gathered on the splash pad next to us and the dinging was getting faster and faster. I could tell something was going on, but I didn’t know what (I couldn’t see the bucket from where I was). Before we knew it, we were getting dumped on with water. It freaked me out and my instinct was to run out of the water. I took a few steps before I remembered to turn around and grab Emma too. She seemed to handle it well in the moment, but it is an experience she has talked about a lot since, and she is now terrified of anything at a pool or waterpark that rains water. Travis was very amused by the whole thing and chuckles over how I started running away before I ran back to grab Emma. What can I say? My survival instinct is apparently stronger than my mommy instinct.20160401_104338 (Large)
  • Walking through the woods—This is probably Emma’s favorite thing to do outside right now. She can walk through the woods for hours, looking at all the different plants, trees, leaves, pine needles, acorns, pine cones, “pokeys” (bushes that have small thorns), and animal poop. But once everything greens up, the woods will most likely be too thick for us to walk through them, so we’re living it up right now.IMG_20160321_115402 (Large)IMG_20160321_121240 (Large)20160407_074744 (Large)
  • Bathtime—Emma never needs convincing to take a bath. Some days, she takes multiple baths. Her favorite things to do in the bath right now (much to my frustration) are pour water on Annabelle’s head, wash Annabelle’s hair, and blow bubbles in a cup of soap with a straw. We most often do bathtime after naptime, before Travis is done with work.20160206_181518 (Large)
  • Sugar—specifically pink (strawberry) ice cream, ice cream or fudge bars, suckers, gum, donuts and Starburst. She likes cupcakes too, but only for the frosting—she uses the cake for making a mess. Speaking of which…20160407_081231 (Large)20160415_160502 (Large)
  • Making messes—She has outgrown the whole “pull everything out of a cupboard or drawer and immediately move on to something else” phase for the most part, but now Annabelle is in that phase, so Emma frequently resorts back to that behavior—I guess because it looks fun? But Emma still loves making messes. Her most recent mess mediums have been applesauce, yogurt, chocolate milk, peach tea, paper, books, markers, toilet paper, and Q-tips. I have been trying to teach Emma that it’s ok to make a mess, but that part of making a mess is also cleaning it up. About half the time, she helps me clean the mess up without a fit or fight. The other half, I end up giving her a timeout in her room and cleaning it up myself. Ugh.20160405_171556 (Large)
  • Running away—This is hands-down The. Most. Frustrating. Thing. Emma does right now. It doesn’t matter where we are—at home, in a store, in a parking lot, at the library, at a park, at church, Emma takes off running. She doesn’t look back. She doesn’t listen. Most of the time, I’m holding Annabelle, my purse and a giant diaper bag, so running after her is hard! And the faster I run after her, the faster she runs away (because she thinks it’s a game). She does this with Travis too, so it’s not just me. I’ve tried not chasing her, and just waiting for her to come back. She doesn’t. I’ve tried telling her that it’s dangerous to run off and I want her to stay with me because I love her and don’t want her to get hurt or lost. Doesn’t faze her. I’ve tried bribing her with donuts and candy. I’ve tried spanking, arm twisting, anger, yelling, letting her walk on her own, forcing her to ride in the cart or hold my hand. Nothing has worked. (If you’re reading this and have any ideas, I’d love to hear them!) The most humbling thing is that I can totally see myself in her… she gets an idea in her head and refuses to be deterred by anything. I have been known to be like too… at times…20160415_110207 (Large)20160414_150150 (Large)20160414_151618 (Large)20160414_150535 (Large)
  • Being thoughtful—As a spirited child, Emma does everything big. She does anger and tantrums big, she does independence big, and she does love and thoughtfulness big. She is very observant and will bring Annabelle a toy, blanket or drink if she thinks Baby needs one. She loves feeding Annabelle with a spoon, or giving her bits of what she’s eating. Emma will also do thoughtful things for me and Travis, like bringing us our phone or sunglasses if she thinks we’ve misplaced them, getting us a tissue if we appear to need one, etc.20160421_100651 (Large)20160402_132348 (Large)
  • Hugs and kisses—At Emma’s Early Childhood (ECFE) class this year, the parents move to a separate room for the last 30 minutes while the kids eat a snack and have free play. The past 4-5 times, Emma has anticipated when snack time will start and tell me she needs a hug and kiss, and after she gets them, she says “Ok, bye!” It’s so cute. Also, on Tuesdays when I pick her up from daycare, she squeals with delight when she sees me, then runs and gives me a big hug. At the beginning of March, I spent 5 days, 4 nights down in Rochester with my dad and Annabelle, and ever since, Emma has said numerous times, “You came back! I missed you. I love you Mom.” It just melts my heart!
  • Arts & crafts–Emma loves painting, drawing, coloring, cutting, glueing, decorating, etc. Like her Nana Beth, she calls it her “business.” 20160123_134208 (Large)
  • Pulling/pushing Annabelle–Emma loves to help, especially when it comes to pushing Annabelle the stroller/trike or pulling the wagon/sled. But she also frequently pushes Annabelle over, and pulls her across the floor since she can’t walk yet.20160120_140233 (Large)20160401_163829 (Large)IMG_20160322_191514 (Large)

And that’s Emma at 3 years!

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Annabelle Lyn: 11-12 Months

1 Apr

Annabelle was 11 months on February 27 and 12 months on March 27 (Easter Sunday). I can’t believe she’s ONE!20160327_131923 (Large)Annabelle has changed so much in the past 2 months!

Size

Annabelle is still wearing almost all 12-month size. Through 11 months, some 9-month things still fit but a few days after her birthday, I boxed up everything smaller than 12 months, and got out her 18-month stuff (which is still a little big on her). She’s wearing size 4 diapers.

Her 12-month checkup was today and she is now 29 inches tall (53%), weighs 21 lb 5 oz (72%), and has a head circumference of 19 inches (99.3%).

20160327_125457 (Large)Eating

Annabelle is still nursing about 3 times during the day and a couple times at night (just because of teething). She has figured out how to suck on a sippy cup and tip it up so we’ve started giving her whole milk in an effort to move toward weaning but she seems to prefer water (and nursing).

20160224_114520 (Large)Annabelle’s favorite foods are purees (though we’re trying to be done with those), yogurt, cheese, toast, puffs, strawberries, green beans, mandarin oranges, raisins, pears, peaches, and applesauce. She has tried and liked grapes, cottage cheese, broccoli, corn, peas, and cooked carrots (but we haven’t fed them to her very often). She’s not a huge fan of blueberries, rice, black beans, or butternut squash. When she doesn’t like a food, gets sick of eating it, or is done, she starts throwing her food on the floor behind her. If she wants more, she wails for a bit and then waits to see if you’re listening before continuing. She also gets a kick out of feeding the dogs, and pretending to give you a piece but not letting go of it.

Annabelle has eight teeth (the four in the middle on both top and bottom) and has been working on her bottom molars for what seems like forever (it’s probably been 3-4 weeks). They’re just now starting to peek through her gums.

20160227_121527 (Large)20160302_181722 (Large)Sleeping

Teething means that Annabelle’s sleep is not the greatest. She’s up 2-3 times a night, usually the first time about 3 hours after we put her down, then again 4 hours later, and then up for the day between 6 and 7 am. There has been a night here and there that she has slept through the night, but that is definitely not the norm. The fact that she does is occasionally though gives me hope that once teething is over (or at least stops for a while), her sleep will improve. PLEASE!?!?!?!20160229_130737 (Large)Annabelle is moving toward dropping her morning nap and only takes one nap a day about half the time. If she does take a morning nap, it’s short — 20-45 minutes. When she only takes one nap, she’ll go down around 12:30 or so, and sleep until 2:30 or 3. Which means that Emma and Annabelle no longer nap at the same time (single tear). Emma is moving toward not napping at all, so some days, I just have her do an hour of “room time” (usually 15-30 minutes of reading/playing, and then 30 minutes of watching the iPad) so that I still get a chunk of sans-Bisk time.The benefit of Emma not napping is that she goes to bed at 7:30 instead of 9:30, so Travis and I actually get an evening together! Some days, that’s totally worth no break during naptime. And if I’m taking care of one kid, I might as well be taking care of both of them and have them both go to bed early!

IMG_20160308_145014 (Large)Development

Another potential contributor to Annabelle not sleeping well is that she has exploded in gross motor development! Around 11 months, she started leaning forward on her hands and then sitting back, so that she could sort of scoot in a circle doing that. Then she spent 2 weeks getting in a crawling position, and sitting back down. Then she spent about a week getting in the crawling position, inching forward a bit and sitting back down. Finally, about a week before she turned one, she started crawling for real! Now she’s all over the place and into everything. It’s about time. 😉IMG_20160315_164426 (Large)

She has also gone from sleeping in one position all night, to sleeping on her side, to rolling on to her stomach and getting mad because she (thought she) couldn’t roll back, to sleeping on her stomach 80% of the time by choice. In the past couple of weeks, she has started to sit up in her crib when she’s unhappy, and just this past week started pulling herself up to standing in her crib (and pretty much everywhere else she can).

20160327_184133 (Large)In addition to pulling herself up, she can climb stairs, cruise furniture, and take steps when you hold her hands. She did NONE of this a month ago, and had been so “plateau-ed” in that area, so it is seriously amazing to see her take off in gross motor development!

Annabelle loves to squeal and say “dada” — in a loud voice, normal voice, or whisper. She also likes to whisper “ssss… ssss…” and shout “ha… huh…” noises. She has said “mama” (but doesn’t often) and loves to say “uh oh.” Similar to her sister, she loves being held upside down, spun in a circle, dropped on her back onto a bed, steamrolled, and pulled/pushed in a stroller, wagon, swing, laundry basket, sled, you name it.IMG_20160322_191514 (Large)

Her personality is mostly mellow but there are definitely times when she gets wound up and shows similarities to her boisterous sister.

Annabelle puts up with a lot of rough play from Emma, and has a pretty easygoing personality about most things, but does not like being held up or thrown high in the air. She is also very hesitant about different textures. In the past 2 months, she’s experienced snow, grass and sand, and didn’t like any of them. I also showed her a wire heart covered in garland and she wouldn’t even touch it. These things haven’t really been a problem yet, and hopefully they’re just like her reactions to food — once she experiences it a few times, she warms up and it’s no big deal.12779106_1084627788234209_8896076473531583942_o

Annabelle tasting the frosting on her birthday cake:

She ended up eating most of the frosting, but hardly any of the actual cake.

A few habits Annabelle has that I do not like are scratching my chest and grabbing/pinching my chin while nursing (it seriously hurts!), and also biting me when she wants to nurse.

Annabelle also had her first scrape in the last two months. We were at a local pool and I had placed Annabelle, unstrapped, in her carseat under the watch of my friend while I went to the bathroom to change clothes. Annabelle leaned forward and fell out on her face on the rock floor, got a bruise on her forehead, and a scrape on her chin. Poor baby and mommy fail!IMG_20160304_101758 (Large)

And that’s Annabelle at ONE YEAR!

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Annabelle Lyn: 10 Months

28 Jan

How is it time for another monthly update? Miss Annabelle was 10 months old yesterday on the 27th!

10monthsannabelle

Size

Annabelle can still wear a few 9-month things but she’s mostly wearing 12-month clothes. She’s bursting at the seams of her snowsuit (it’s 6-9 months but runs big), so I’m guessing we’ll have to buy or borrow a bigger one for her before winter’s over.

I’m also thinking about going up to size 4 in diapers for her… will have to do a test run soon. It would make things easier because that’s the size Emma wears too!20160128_111903

Sleeping

This month was still rough in the sleep department, though it has gotten slightly better in the last couple of weeks — slightly better meaning her waking up only once or twice a night. It seems like Annabelle is perpetually sick or teething, which makes for some rough nights!

Annabelle has also started boycotting her morning nap. She’ll fall asleep nursing but then when I try to put her down, she wakes up and won’t go back to sleep. So then I either keep her up until Emma’s nap or she grabs a quick cat nap in the car running errands. She’s still in such a good mood even when her morning nap is short or nonexistent though so it’s not too bad.

Another change this past month is that Annabelle is not nursing to sleep as often as before. Sometimes she’ll let us rock her to sleep but other times, she just isn’t having it even though we know she’s tired. So then our only option is to put her in her crib with the vibration pad going and let her cry for 15-20 minutes. Most of the time, she’ll fall asleep on her own doing that, but occasionally we have to go back in and try getting her to sleep again. I feel bad when my girls cry themselves to sleep, but sometimes they just need to. I really appreciate having a video monitor during those times.20160123_142717

Eating

Annabelle got one more bottom tooth and has been working on another top tooth all month (slowest tooth ever!), which will bring her up to 8 teeth.

She’s been doing a LOT better with eating solid foods this month, though she still is a picky eater. Her favorite foods are puffs, fruity purees, applesauce, strawberry banana oatmeal cereal, apple, cheese, and toast. She dislikes yogurt, green beans, banana, avocado and especially mandarin oranges. Most days, Annabelle eats 2-3 meals. It’s a great way to keep her happy and occupied while I make food for the rest of us.20160122_091310

Development

Annabelle doesn’t like the jumperoo as much as she used to, and since she’s still not mobile in any way, she’s pretty much limited to playing with toys that we give her. We have been trying to be more intentional with helping her have tummy time (even though she’s not a fan), stand up and kneel, as well as get some time on her hands and knees (which she also does not enjoy). For most of her 10th month, Annabelle was still pretty tippy sitting up but in the past week, I have noticed that she is a lot more stable, and she is even starting to pivot a little when she’s on her belly, so that’s something!

We discovered this past month that Annabelle loves being pulled in a sled and pushed in a laundry basket. Emma pulled Annabelle in her sled up and down our driveway all by herself.

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20160118_170348Annabelle’s favorite “word” by far is “Dada” and it is the. cutest. noise. ever. Her cuteness is out of control.

Poor girl also gets lots of rough affection from Emma — lots of sideways hugs (like she’s going to give her a noogie), pulling, pushing and general rough-housing. Annabelle takes it like a champ though — it takes a lot for her to get mad. 20160109_13385520160123_13581020160101_180826

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Emma Grace: 33 Months

19 Jan

Emma was 2 3/4 years back on January 7. Her 3rd birthday is going to be here before we know it!

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That’s a classic Emma face. {her school picture this year}

Here’s what Emma has been up to the last 3 months (Oct/Nov/Dec):

* Corn mazes — We went to two last fall (one local and one in KY) and she enjoyed both. But at the local one, she walked into the corn (off the path) and wouldn’t come out, and at the one in KY, she went into the corn maze by herself so that we couldn’t find her for 10 minutes. Worst 10 minutes of my life.

* Leaves — Emma loved playing in the leaves this fall! She liked laying on a big pile with a leaf “pillow” and being covered with a leaf “blanket”. She also thought it was a hoot to pick up piles of leaves in our hands, count to three and throw them in the air to rain on us.

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* iPad and movies — Emma LOVES watching shows on her iPad and has figured out how to use it all by herself. Her favorite shows are Sofia the First and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. Her favorite movies are Monsters Inc, Frozen and Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue.

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Asleep with gum in her mouth and her iPad playing Frozen

* Dancing — She enjoys a good dance party and at her uncle Matthew’s wedding, she tore up the dance floor. She was pretty darn adorable twirling around in her little dress. (And I do mean little. Apparently, in the stressfulness of getting both girls and myself ready all by my lonesome, I accidentally put the 12-month size on Emma and the 24-month size on Annabelle. I noticed Emma’s dress was really short and a little tight but I just thought she had either grown faster than anticipated or I hadn’t thought to look at the length when I tried the dress on her. Similarly, when I put Annabelle’s dress on her, I thought I should’ve ordered the 9-month size since the dress seemed really big. D’oh!)20151015_104828 (Large)20160101_093156 (Large)

* PINK — This girl is still obsessed with pink everything. “Pink pony” (tail), “Pink poopy”, “Pink snowmobile”, “Pink truck”, “Pink daycare”, “Pink ice cream” are just a few of the endless list of things she tries to request in pink. For her birthday, we are going to throw her (and Annabelle) a “pink party” — everything will be pink. I think Emma will love it!

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* Dresses — Emma loves wearing dresses, which is funny because last summer, she didn’t want anything to do with them. She has gotten more use out of her summer dresses from last year during the fall and winter than she did then! Unfortunately I didn’t know this until after I bought her fall/winter clothes, so most of those have only been worn a couple times so far. Kids.20151026_134729 (Large)

* Crafts — Emma has really gotten into playdough, painting, chalk, drawing, glueing, glitter, etc. She got an art easel for Christmas from my parents and has loved it. She also loves trying to cut with scissors but hasn’t completely mastered that yet.20151227_173712 (Large)20151026_103056 (Large)

* Singing songs with actions — They sing songs at daycare and Emma has started singing them on her own. She knows about every third word but gets the right melody! And when we sing the songs, she’ll join it with the words she knows (she wouldn’t do that before, so it’s exciting to see progress!). Her favorite songs are Slippery Fish, The Freeze, Sticky Bubble Gum, and Fire Truck.

* Blankets — Emma now has 4 blankets on her bed (yet Travis has to go in every night before going to bed to cover her while she’s sleeping because she kicks them all off). She got a Frozen blanket for Christmas from Travis’ parents and she loves it. It has replaced her favorite blankie.

* Sleeping in places besides her bed — She has slept in bed with me on vacation since Annabelle was born (which she still enjoys), but now she also likes sleeping on the floor next to her bed, in the Frozen castle she got from Auntie Cari, or in her bedroom closet. She’ll even close the closet door! “Crazy Crinks,” we often call her. (Crinks was shortened from Crinkleberry. I don’t know how Travis comes up with some of the nicknames he uses.)20151015_111222 (Large)

* Girly stuff — Getting her nails painted, wearing stick-on earrings (we’re planning to get her ears pierced for real as part of her 3rd birthday present), and (sometimes) having me put her hair up with barrettes and pink ponytail holders

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* Playing outside — Emma has been loving snow this year. Last year, she wasn’t sure what to do with snow and just stood in place, but this year, she has helped us build snowmen, make snow angels, and “eat” snow and ice (the clean stuff!).

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* Baby sister Annabelle — Emma still loves having a baby sister, giving her lots of hugs and kisses, and bringing her toys to play with (if Emma wants a toy that Annabelle has, she’ll usually bring Annabelle another toy and grab the toy she wants. It works at this age, and it’s cute that she’s at least that considerate.)IMG_20160116_08402620151031_194449 (Large)20151116_104842 (Large)

* Sweets — I don’t know any kid who doesn’t like sweets, and Emma is no exception! Her favorite candies are suckers and candy canes. She loves chewing gum, and has lately developed a love for “strawberry cake” (angel food with strawberries and cool whip). 20160107_111741 (Large)

* Food — Emma’s favorite foods and drinks the past 3 months have been: mandarin oranges, apple sauce, yogurt, string cheese, baby’s purees and puffs, cereal, chocolate milk, peach tea, peanut butter, fruit snacks and animal crackers. Those are the things she requests the most often. But she also eats most vegetables (her favorites are broccoli and almost any kind of bean), noodles, deli turkey, quesadillas and toast. She eats pretty well for breakfast, lunch and snacks, but dinner has become quite the battle. She won’t eat unless she is sitting on one of our laps and we spoon feed her. I am hoping this is just a phase. 20151205_124030 (Large)

And that’s Emma at 33 months!

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