Emelina's 18 month update

Happy Half Birthday, little Emma!  In the craziness of preparing for the holidays, I almost missed that fact that your half birthday was coming up.  I've been saying you're "a year and a half" for a couple months now because it just saves time, but you are officially halfway to being a two year old.  Cue the waterworks, dread, and cringing on my end.  Two was not an easy age for your sister, and with your current temper, I'm guessing it won't be easy for you either. 

Your newest favorite word is "NOW."  As in, "milk, NOW" or "mine, NOW" or "Dobby, NOW."  (By the way, Dobby is your pet name for Grandma Cindy.  We have no clue how/why you went from not saying anything, to somewhat attempting "Grandma" to "Dobby," but we've accepted that it's a thing, at least for now.) 


You are talking up a storm lately, saying just about anything that comes to your mind, or out of your sister's mouth (you two are thick as thieves and you've become quite the little sidekick these days). Most of what you say is pretty easy to understand, but some of it would be lost on someone other than our family.  "Thank you" and "Please" are always big crowd pleasers, especially when you drag out the Thaaaank yoooooou's. You call Anna "Sissy" which is super sweet.

Size - mostly 18 month and some of Annalyn's old 24 month clothes.  Size 5.5 shoes.

Teeth- between month 17-18 you decided to fill out almost your entire bottom set of teeth, plus your top molars!  Poor, poor girl.

Accomplishments: 

- starting to learn colors (you know pink, blue, and yellow pretty well and sometimes purple and green, too), though you will also argue that something is "pink" when the rest of us would call it orange.  Maybe you just hate being wrong...

- walking down stairs (scares me to death, but especially outside where we only have a couple stairs, you insist on doing them yourself)

- tons of new words, too many to list. Small sentences, usually 3-4 words max. 

- climb up and go down slides on your own at the park

Favorites:

- books - Duck & Goose, You Are My Cupcake, I Love You Through and Through, You Are My Sunshine
- shows - Minnie Mouse, Wally Kazaam ("Waaaalleee"), Sofia the First ("Fia"), Charlie Brown ("Brown")

- foods- pizza, cake, cheese, pancakes, any fruit, most veggies, goldfish crackers, quesadillas

- activities - bath time, playing outside, watching baby videos on our phones, coloring/painting, trying on mama's shoes and sissy's dresses, spinning in circles (aka dancing), helping us cook, climbing in boxes/baskets/hampers/etc.
- clothes - Fia dress (which is any and all princess dresses), socks, anything with a cat on it, shoes, your apron, hats (which also includes your bike helmet in your book)

Dislikes:

- being told no

- fighting with Anna (it really hurts your feelings when she gets mad at you)

- sharing

- crowds, strangers, most people in general
- your first ear infection - got your first antibiotic on your half birthday.  Poor girl!  You are at least really good about taking the medication.
- being away from us/Annalyn, especially if you're being left
- dogs, especially giant ones.  We're working on that...

best part of decorating?  The tree box!

Overall, this is my favorite of your stages yet!  Your unique blend of growly, sweet, sassy, crazy, shy, independent, and cuddly is adorable.  I can't even tell you how much it means to me that you and Annalyn love each other so much.  Sure makes me understand the big sis/little sis roles better!  Oh, and did I mention that you say "I love you" now?  Sometimes even "I love you, too."  Seriously, just try to get any cuter, Emma.  I don't think it's possible.

Love you so MUCH,

Mama 

Much

Our little Emma, you are talking up a storm lately!  Honestly, from the moment you wake up yelling "Mom-meeee, Dad-deeee! Up, up, UUUUPP!" you are a little chatterbox.  Your doctor asked me how many words you were saying at your last appointment and I couldn't even put a number to it.  Um, anything and everything?  You repeat, you demand, you mimic, you even put together little sentences.  It's crazy.  I wrote a post a month or so ago on my current favorite word, "too", but I felt the need to write a follow up now that I have a new one.  Though "too" is still as precious as ever, I must say that "much" has taken its top spot.

You see, your current bedtime routine goes something like this (when you're not trying to get 5 teeth at a time and a little possessed, of course):

1 - brush teeth with Sissy (another contender for favorite word - "Sis-see")
2 - put on pajamas and/or nighttime diaper and sleep sack (Daddy does this one a lot because to this day, you fight me like crazy when I change you.  By the end of the night, my hands usually can't keep up, especially on work days.)
3 - kiss Daddy and Annalyn goodnight
4 - grab blankie and baby, read books with Mama in the rocker.  You are very specific about which book and the order, though it isn't always constant (makes it very difficult!).  Lately, you are obsessed with the Duck & Goose books.
5 - after reading 3-5 books, you get to flip the light switch, then we sit back in the rocker to snuggle and sing "twinkle" and "pur-pur" (which you always demand, oftentimes switching midsong) aka Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Soft Kitty from Big Bang Theory that is your favorite thanks to Anna singing it to you any time you're upset since birth.
6 - once you've had enough of my singing, you look up, say "tiss" (kiss), plant one on me, then proclaim "ni-night, ni-night" in your all-business tone.  I stand up and squeeze as I tell you goodnight and "I love you sooooo much!"  This usually elicits a giggle and the single cutest word in your ever-growing vocabulary:  "MUCH."

I'm not really sure why "much" is the word you chose to start repeating, but it melts my heart.  At first it was unique to Mama, but now you'll say it to Daddy, too.

Needless to say, we love you so MUCH.

Much,

Mama

Emelina's First Year Monthly Photos

Here it is - the culmination of our monthly size comparison photo shoots.  I can't believe how much that puppy shrunk in a year!  I love looking at how much she's changed and stayed the same over these past 12 months. It brings up a lot of emotions, memories, and a whole lot of mama pride.  Take a look...

I miss her dark hair.

I love her chubby, squishy cheeks.

Her crazy hair stage makes me laugh.

I'm so glad we were too tired to take her our of her pj's for this photo...

...or even put pj's on her for this one.

I forgot about those shoes!

I can't get over her big eyes.

Or her huge smile.

She loved her feet so much that she rarely kept socks on, even in winter.

This was the last pic in our old house.  I miss our old house.

But I love our new house.  Especially her blue walls.

And the fact that she sleeps through the night in her own room.

I'm blown away at how grown up she looks and acts lately.

Between her haircut and her wildly determined personality, 

she's looking less and less like a baby every day.

Which I love

and I hate,

and I love.

Emma's Cake Smash Photos

I know it's not even her birthday yet, but I just had to share these adorable smash cake pics!  I like to do their smash cake/1 year old photos in advance so I'm not trying to do them while hosting a party, competing with multiple cameras, and comforting a shy baby with tons of people watching her.  Plus, I really had it in my head that I wanted to take them in our field behind the house and had to do it before the farmer tilled it up and planted beans. 

We started with a few pics of just her in the highchair I painted, without the cake.  This was her initial reaction to strapped into a highchair in the middle of a cornfield on a beautiful day...

But, with a little motivation (had Daddy bring the cake into view) and a direction change (sun was in her eyes), I was able to capture a couple money shots like this...

 

About Aboo: Emelina's 8 month update!

Oh my little Emma Lemma!  All of a sudden I'm seeing these little glimpses of my baby growing up. And it's killing me.  Don't get me wrong, I'm that proud mama that posts every new discovery, including finding the door stop and standing with only one hand on the wall, but that doesn't mean I'm ready for my baby to grow up.  Sure, it doesn't help that your sister is about to turn 3 and that just seems all too close to 5 and her starting school.  But I'm not going to think about that right now.

Instead I'll think about how far, far away 8 months is from 12 months is from the terrible 2's.  Instead I'll suck up every last minute of my favorite baby stage.  Every smile, every new discovery, every big accomplishment, every little nap in my arms.  It's so much harder with baby number two, because I know how quickly it comes and goes. So before it's gone, here's what life is like at 8 months old:

Weight: 18 lbs. 5 oz.
Sizes:  clothing size 6-9 month and 9 month, size 3 diapers

Milestone for Miss Emma

It's one of those iconic baby milestones and I couldn't be prouder.  Yes, it's true, at the ripe young age of 7.5 months, our little Emma...

Has discovered the door stop!! 

On a side note, she's also crawling everywhere, pulling herself up to standing, and starting to walk around furniture. 

But how proud are you of the door stop thing??!! :)

About Aboo: Emelina's half birthday update!

I swear I must be off with my counting because there's no way it's been 6 whole months since my Squishy was born. Plus, there has to be way, way, way more than 6 months until your first birthday. Man, time even flies when you're sleep deprived. This is the start of my absolute favorite baby stage (6-18 months). So many changes and milestones and exciting things to learn. Here's what's new with you at 6 months old:

our little turkey

Weight: 16 lbs 6 oz 
Height: 26"
Clothing size:  Still wearing 3-6, but a few 6-9, too. Size 3 diapers.

Milestones:  Sitting up on your own! Also, you started saying "Mamama" and "Dadada" but not on demand usually.

Teeth:  none. Even though you are trying so hard and we can see them getting closer and closer, none have cut through. I guess you're going to be like your sister and take forever to get them. Grandma Cindy started bribing you with a cheeseburger for when you finally get teeth (I thought her rule used to be 4 teeth = cheeseburger, but I think she had to adjust it for my late-to-teeth ladies.)

chewing on everything!

Breastfeeding:  Well, we officially made it 6 months of breastfeeding! The last couple weeks, I've decided to start weaning from the pump since I don't have any students for the next two months (PS - it's really, really hard to pump while running a retail pharmacy and patients aren't always very kind). I've started by cutting out your evening feeding, and realized that it's been awhile since I've given you a bottle and it really confused you. I've also realized how much harder it is to skip that feeding when I'm with you vs. when I'm at work. But only pumping twice in 13 hours is much better than three times (and way better than four times a day that I started with when I first went back). I'm hoping to get it down to just once a day in another week, which I think will be more manageable. I hate that we have to cut down because of me, not you, but we have a good freezer stash and you don't seem to mind too much as long as you get to breastfeed in the evening.


Foods: So far, you are loving it all! Using the "4 day wait rule", we've officially introduced you to bananas, rice cereal, apples, pears, sweet potatoes, avocado, and butternut squash.  You eat 2 cubes (2 oz.) once daily with lunch, although you'd probably eat more if we allowed it. You have a bit of a sensitive stomach, so we are taking the transition to solid foods slowly.

Schedule:  For the most part, you have a pretty set schedule now as far as eating and napping. When I'm at work, you typically eat 3-4 oz. bottles every 3 hours. We pretty much stick to the same schedule whether I'm home or you're with Daddy or Diana.
- 6 am - wake when I get up for work, breastfeed, then lay back down in your rock 'n play (yep, you still hate the crib)
- 9 am - *bottle (just started cutting out this breastfeeding session), awake and play until about 10:30-11, then nap in rock 'n play.
- 12 pm - 2 cubes food, then breastfeed; nap around 2 when Anna goes down.
- 3 pm - breastfeed; usually stay awake until next bottle, but occasional catnap in there.
- 6 pm - bottle
- 8 pm - breastfeed (usually for comfort, I think), little catnap
- 9:30-10 pm - breastfeed and bed in the rock 'n play (we keep you up late so I can see you/feed you after work)
**I'd love to say you sleep all night until I feed you at 6 am, but still not the case. I usually end up feeding you at least once or twice through the night, too.

***Update:  between the time I wrote this and now, you've actually started sleeping in your crib for naps and little spurts throughout the night! Usually take about an hour to hour and a half naps, and we can even lay you down awake. You usually roll to your side or stomach, but you're plenty strong to get back now if you need to. Hopefully the first step in getting you to sleep through the night.

Favorites:  You love to play with your sister. She can make you laugh just by looking at you. You like to dance in the kitchen with us when we put on kid songs. You really like her little light up piano toy that plays music, and you've definitely taken a notice of books lately (only to be eaten, though). Still a huge Mama's baby, but Daddy is a close second. I love to see how happy you get when he comes home from work in the afternoon. Bath time is a lot of fun now that you sit up and have learned to splash, grab the washcloth, and noticed the bubbles.

even Peanut knows you have to butter up the turkey before you cook it...

oh no! She's going to make "Emma soup!"

Don't worry, little Emma, I didn't actually let her make you into soup.  She thought it was a pretty funny game for awhile though. And you just go along for whatever crazy ride she takes you on lately. Even at 6 months old, you absolutely adore your big sister. To be honest, I'm pretty sure it's mutual. We are all pretty much enamored with you these days. Between your big gummy smile and your infectious little laugh, it's hard not to be. Love you like crazy little baby.

Love,

Mama

Mama's Favorite Baby Items 0-6 Months

I've been meaning to write a post about my favorite baby items for a while now, but I keep forgetting.  It's like I'm sleep-deprived or something... Several of my close friends and family members have asked for advice when starting their baby registries lately, so I figured I'd share with all of you what I've shared with them. Honestly, there's not right or wrong answer when it comes to baby gear. A lot of it depends on your baby, personal taste/preferences, storage space, and budget. And just when you think you've thought of everything and have it all purchased and arranged (and rearranged) in the exact right place, baby comes! Then you spend the next several weeks and months rearranging/exchanging/adjusting to do what feels right. That's ok, it's called motherhood! But, while it's fresh on my mind, after doing it for the second time, here's a list of my favorite baby registry items and must-haves (according to us!). Mind you some of these have changed and been added this go-around. Every baby is so different!

Has it really been 6 months?!

Has it really been almost 3 YEARS?!

1. Diapers: I like Huggies for newborn because of the umbilical cut out.  After that Pampers (less bulky and seem to fit better) except for the nighttime diapers, we use Huggies.





2.  Serta perfect dream crib mattress - good SIDS rating, reasonably priced. (Not sure if this exact one is made still, but this seems to be the newer version of it.) Be sure to have a couple extra crib sheets and mattress covers.  While you're at it, get a waterproof cover for your own bed. Even though baby shouldn't be sleeping in it for awhile, between the chance of your water breaking, breast milk leaking, and future kiddo accidents, it's worth it to protect your mattress.





3. Chicco keyfit 30 infant car seat - highest safety rating out there, lightweight, and also great price!  We got this travel system and I liked it so much, we got the double stroller version now.  Invest in or register an extra car seat base.  It's worth it to have one in each car!  I know so many people who have used this car seat and never heard a complaint.  A friend if mine even used it along with a BOB jogging stroller and an infant seat adapter instead of buying the travel system.

little Squishy ready to come home!

our Chicco double stroller (in Butler colors, of course)

First Words!!

This week little Emma surprised us with her first words!  Apparently she will be the peacekeeper in our family, because believe it or not, she said "mamama" and "dada" for the first time in the same night.  Within hours of each other actually. It was adorable.  She's said "mamama" several times since, usually when she's pleading with me to pick her up or "rescue" her from a nap.  I swear she knows what she's saying, too, because both times she's said "dada," she's been trying to get Mike's attention.  The second time was super sweet. I had just finished feeding her for the night and unlike our usual routine of sleepy milk-drunk baby, she was wide awake and flirting with Daddy. I'm pretty sure she just wanted to stay up and watch football with him (which she absolutely loves). He looked at her and said, "What? Do you want Dadada?" and immediately after she recited "Dadada" perfectly back to him.  Of course, this was his cue to give in, grab her, and snuggle. Smart baby. Smart manipulative baby. Where have I seen that before....<clears throat> Peanut.

For the record, there's also been talk of "babababa," but I think that's just babbling between the pterodactyl calls. Have a mentioned how much I love this baby stage? Truly one of my favorites!

About Aboo: Squishy's 5 months old!

My little Emma, I swear you've doubled in size in the past week!  All of a sudden, you're heavy to carry and there's major chub showing up on your little legs and cheeks.  I just love chubby baby stage. You're a major chatterbox and even talk (squeal) in your sleep sometimes. Your smile makes us melt. It is honestly the sweetest thing ever. Especially when you shake with excitement along with it. Here's a few little updates from the past month:

About Aboo: Em's 4 month update

My little Emma is 4 months already! I can't believe how much you've changed and keep changing every day. We see more and more of your little personality all the time, from the spit bubbles to the constant "talking" (mostly aaaaaaaah's). I love how expressive you are, especially your eyes/eyebrows. We never have to guess what you're thinking. Here's what you're like at 4 months old:

Weight: 13 lbs. 11.5 oz (45%)

Height: 25" (75%)

Sizes: 3-6 month clothes, size 2 diapers

Nicknames: Squishy, Squish, Squishers, Squish-a-lish, sissy, Emma

Milestones:  first bang trim (they were seriously in your eyes!), rolling from back to stomach all the time and from stomach to back a couple times this week.

Before haircut

After haircut

Rolling with sissy

Daddy always makes you giggle

Teeth: none yet, but the drooling/chomping has begun so we wonder if you'll get them a little sooner than Anna (whose first was at 10.5 months)

Eating: still exclusively breastfed (major accomplishment for this mama!), no food yet, but you've really started to notice it when we are eating. On days that I work, you're typically eating 4-4.5 oz. bottles every 2.5-3 hrs.

Sleeping: ugh, not my favorite subject, but a work in progress. Since going back to work, you've decided to make up the snuggle time at night. You wake me up almost every night at 2-2:30am and again at 4:30-5ish. Then my alarm goes off at 5:30... Makes for some loooong 13 hour days. Still can't get you to take scheduled naps, except for a good morning nap. 

Still your favorite way to sleep - in mama's arms

Daddy sneak-attacked us with this pic

Likes: Stripes the bunny, Lambie, burp clothes, your sister, raspberries on your belly, your toes, watching football, "Something 'bout a truck" (seriously, that song is magical), baby-wearing as long as you're facing out

Best buddies in the making... Or major rivals, only time will tell ;)

Enjoying being "pouched up" for our after dinner walk

I don't blame ya, those toes are adorable!

Dislikes: pacifier (except for very rare occasions), car seat (although you're getting much better - made it to Huntington and back without a meltdown or Mama sitting next to you!), waiting for Mama to get home, going to the doctor/shots

I have to bribe your sister to ride with you until you fall asleep - it's about the only way you tolerate the stroller

Wow, I can't believe how much we have to write about already! Just think of what the coming months will bring... Trying new foods, first holidays, sitting up, becoming mobile, first words. So much to look forward to. But for now, I'm enjoying every second of my sweet little baby. Even the cranky times with you are  infinitely better than any minute I'm away from you. We have quite the strong bond already, little Squish. Love you like crazy. (Even if it makes me crazy!)

Love,

Mama