16 Months

I cant believe my little buttercup is 16 months old already. But here we are all...in full blown toddler mode! These last few months she has really blossomed into this little sweet person that has become capable of so much! It's really amazing how smart she is. I know every parent says that about their kid, but she truly amazes me with some of the things she does.

She doesn't say much, but boy does she listen. She follows directions VERY well, that alone impresses me daily. For example, if you tell her we are going bye bye, or she sees me gathering up my stuff and getting my purse, etc. she will go to the shoe basket, dig through to find her matching pair of shoes, then hands them to me, and sits on the floor for me to put them on. Most recently, she has become aware of her poopie diapers. If she has a poopie and you say in your annoying mommy voice "Do you have a poop twos?? (that's what I call it...hahaha)" she will grab her diaper, then head toward her room or lay on the floor to get changed. Or if you tell her its ni ni time and its time to brush our teeth, she goes to her bathroom and waits to get her teeth brushed. She's knows what up!

If you ask her to go get something from a certain room in the house, she will. And if you ask her to put something back in a certain place, she does. She's a listener! But the one thing that still worries me slightly and I have mentioned this before here, is her speech development. I just feel like she should be saying more. We know she is capable and smart enough. She was a late babbler and has never been very vocal baby. Is she just quite, or is there an issue? Right now, she says: dada, mama, cup, uh oh, quack quack, moo, and she tries to say Kay and cat. She will sign eat, more, and all done.

I brought this up at her 15 month appt. Her Dr. asked me a few other questions and then said "I would almost bet on my reputation that this girl is perfectly fine!" So I kinda tried to stop worrying about it so much. But I will say this, as a mother I know to trust my gut. And if at her 18 month appoint I still have concerns, I WILL push for an early evaluation.

Okay onto the fun stuff....

-At her 15 mth appt. she weighed almost 22lbs (25%), was 30 1/2 inches long (50%), and her head was still in the 75-95%. All of this is right on track of where she was at 12 months.
-She takes 1 1.5-2 hour nap per day and sleeps from 7-7:30pm to 6:30am with out any issues.
-She wears a size 4 diaper, 18-24 month clothing, and size 5 shoe.
-We think her hair is going to be curly like her sisters!
-She is very girly already. She loves to wear jewelry and sits patiently to get her nails painted!
-She still eats like a champ, loves all her veggies and fruit. The only thing we know of that she doesn't like is eggs. She just wont eat them.
-She has 14 teeth, including her first 4 molars. This is actually the longest time she's gone without getting new teeth, but I don't think her canines are too far off.

She loves: Music! The WHOLE time we are in the car she is dancing. If we are in a store and there is music, she dances. She loves music, its so cute! Milk, she would drink a gallon a day if you let her! Sesame Street, it is the ONLY show she will actually sit and watch. Her babies doll, she carries around her babies all day. Puts them down for naps with her blanky and her most favorite thing to do is push them in the doll stroller. She will go round and round and round the island in kitchen pushing her baby in the stroller. Blocks, the nanny says she is going to be an engineer because she could play blocks and build all day. She also loves books, but she wont actually sit still enough for me to read her a story, long walks, going to the park, and being outside. And to EAT, she's loooves to eat. If she's not eating, she's not happy!

She hates: Being strapped in her stroller if we are not moving, for example she WILL NOT sit in her stroller at Kay's soccer games, or if we are at a party, or at a restaurant, she wants out! I am kinda jealous of the moms who have babies that will sit calmly in their strollers. I wish! Sharing with her sister, for some reason this is a problem. Not so much with other babies, but she doesn't like to share toys/etc. or even her Mommy with Kay, but of course Kay instigates her at times. I guess that's the way it rolls with siblings.

There you have it! Miss M in a nutshell at 16 months!

1 Year!

 

Lets just call this is 1 year update, cause really my little lady is really 13 months old now :) and my oh my are we full of toddlerness. Is that a word? Toddler-ness? Because that what she is. And I am loving every minute of it. She is so much fun and learning and exploring new things everyday. She is always trying to keep up with her sister, and even though they are 5.5 years apart- they love playing together!  They read books, play house, build blocks, its great! Its what I laways dreamed of. And beleive it or not, they do fight already. Kay will have something that M wants, and she may be 1, but she'll fight for it! It's funny.

She still isn't actually talking much, but has learned to communicate. For example; when she is hungry or wants a snack she will go to the kitchen cabinet and bring you the box of cheerios, or animal cookies. It's adorable. Or when she is thirsty, she will go to the fridge and say "CUH, CUH" (her cup).  She's gained some iindependence, but doesn't quite understand what no means. She's always on the go and wants to explore the world around her. She's not shy, or easily scared but she's a "thinker" like her daddy I can already tell. She imitates a lot now, she will act like she's talking on the phone, or pick up a brush and act like shes combing her hair. Or she will mock her sister. Love this girl and love this age! WORD!

- She weighs 19.6 pounds (25th% and is 28 1/2 (50th%) inches long with her big 95th% head still. She dropped from the 50th in weight (she has always been 50th % for weight) down to the 25th and i was shocked! Literally shocked! This one seriously eats more than my 6 year old- she eats like a  moose! Dr is not concerned at all because she has been walking since she was 9.5 months and because she is such a busy little bee. He said it is quite normal for babies to have a dip from the 9-12mth range because of the increase in activity level. And she is VERY active!

- She wears size 4 diaper and 12-18 month cloths.

- She has 10 teeth!! 4 on the top, 4 on the bottom, and she just cut her top 2 molars! She's a teething machine I tell ya. See's getting ready to cut the 2 molars on the bottom as well. Any day now...

- He does babble, but doesn't say very much yet. She does say cup, cat, and mama on occasion, and Uh Oh when she drops something which is the CUTEST thing btw! y favorite.

- She has become very attached to her blankie over the last month or so. I promised myself that with this one, I wasn't going to allow her to take it out of the crib, that it would only be for nap and bed times because I have spent COUNTLESS hours in my life playing "find the blankie" including the most infamous time at SEA WORLD. Kay is still attached to her lovie (only at bedtime now), but boy it so stressful trying to get it from her to even wash it when she was little. But now, little M stands at her crib and cries for it, which is what I'm sure Kay did. So of course I gave in and let her have it. There went that rule. BUT because I learned my lesson the first time, I bought 2 of the exact same one and we rotate them equally so she doesn't know the difference! She like linus with her blankie : )

- We switched to milk in a sippy and ditched the bottles! I am so proud! She wasn't too attached to the bottle, nor did she rely on it to go to sleep so it was just a matter of doing it.  The first 2 days I offered her milk in her sippy at meal times instead of her usual water (which she LOVES btw), and she wasn't too interested at first. But by day 3, she was drinking milk out of her sippy with no problems. WHEW. What a relief!

- She gives kisses, and is very friendly and social with other kids. She will crouch down and get right in there face. So funny. And at Kindermusik, she likes to stand right in the middle of circle time ; )

- She eats EVERYTHING, but isn't a fan of scrambled eggs. That's the only things we've found so far that she doesn't "love".

- She sleeps from 7:00pm-7:30am and still takes 2 naps per day for the most part. Although, I see 1 nap in our future.

- She loves: blocks, stacking things, elmo, books, baby dolls, and Little People! She also loves cold water, music, other kids big and small, her blankie, being outside, necklaces, hairbrushes, and dinner time :)

-She hates: Getting dressed, when I leave, and when she cant play in her sisters room!

I started writing this post on January 19th btw... 

Oh How You've Grown...

With Miss M's 1 first Birthday just over a week away, I thought we'd take a trip down memory lane.

At birth...

And Kay looks so small : (

And the 2 months...taken with my iPhone because my camera broke, remember?

Stay tuned for the 12 month!

I cant believe how fast it went and how that little teeny weeny baby turned into a walking, talking, baby with 8 teeth in just 12 months that seemed like just a blink of an eye. Here we are on the verge of toddler hood and I look at my two little girls playing and laughing together and I cant believe how far we've come. On this blog, in my life, and as a mother. I just feel so blessed. So blessed to have them. I love having 2 girls! And the bond they already share is such a beautiful thing...Kay told me she loves her sister more than vanilla bean ice cream AND cupcakes. That bond is strong ; )

I'll be posting all about her party details soon, which is on January 8th!  We are doing a snowflake/winter ONEderland theme. I cant wait!! But I must admit it's been a little hard to focus on with Christmas and the holidays. I guess we'll have to get used to that.

11 Months

Well folks...here were are. The last month of her first year of life. I truly cant believe how fast its gone by...and she's just getting more and more fun each day. It's such a joy to see what kind of littler person she is becoming. This last month we have had a language EXPLOSION! If you have been reading this blog, you'll know that I was getting a little concerned about her lack of babbling and talking. She didn't even start babbling until she was 9.5-10 months old and now we cant shut her up : ) She says Mama, Dada, Gaga, says her own version of cup, cat, and Kay! And she just babbles and talks all day long. I'm so proud of her...but I guess when you walk at 9.5 months, you cant be mastering everything at once right?! She's totally made up for that now though and that's all that matters.

Fun fact about Miss M at 11 months:

- She's got 6 teeth. 4 on the top and 2 on the bottom.
- Her hair is really filling in now.
- She 's just moving into a size 4 diaper- although they are a bit big.
- She wears 12 month, or 12-18 month cloths depending on the brand.
- She still takes 2 naps per day. First one around 10:00, second around 2:00.
- She's down to 3 6oz. bottles a day. 1 in the morning, 1 before her afternoon nap, and 1 before bed.

She loves: Kindermusik! The more we go, the more she enjoys herself! It's great fun for her. She also loves music, corn on the cob, bath time, her new singing/dancing dog, my phone, and her family of course!

She hates: waiting for food, getting in the car, getting changed, same ol same ol!

10 Months

That's double digits people! It has been 10 months (and 10 days) since I gave birth to this beautiful little person. I cant believe that in 2 short months my little M pie will be 1- Craziness! Party planning has begun and lets just say there gonna be lots of glitter and glitz ; )

So in the last month Miss M has changed a ton! She's walking, and finally starting babbling! She says "Gaga" "Dada" and "Mmmmmmm" She is really trying and I swear the other day she said Bye-Bye. I also think she tries to say cup, it comes out "Guh". It's so cute! We are still working on Mama, and Baba, and practice with her all the time. She's a little late in the language department and that okay because she's been so ahead of the game physically. But now that she's at least babbling, I'm not worried so much anymore. One of her favorite things to do now is point....

She looks so gangster doing it too because she holds her arm up near her ear. We play a game every night at dinner where we say "Where's Mama?" and she'll point to me. "Where's sister?" and she'll point to Kay...you get the idea. She's very smart! Its so awesome to see her learn new things and man this month she's really grown. She has 5 teeth now (just cutting her 6th). Two on the bottom and three on the top.

We were laughing until we were crying at that picture of her because she looks sooooo funny! She also started doing this thing where she shakes her head back and forth. I DIE. She loves going to Kindermusik and has really opened up there and she also loves Elmo! I DVR Sesame Street and let her watch it in the mornings as she drinks her morning bottle- although she doesn't really watch it for very long, but she instantly gets sucked in once Elmo is on. Its the only part she will really watch. Facts about Miss M at 10 months are:

- She weighs 19.3 pounds.
- She still eats anything and everything.
- She LOVES water. She drinks probably 8 oz. of water a day- out of her sippy of course. We don't even do juice because she really prefers water. Cold water too.
- She still drink (4) 6 oz. bottles a day.
- She eats 3 meals and 1 snack, all table foods. Her favorites are peas, waffles, blueberries (all fruit really), green beans, soy chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, avocado, and she loves tomatoes. Those are just some of her favorites.
- She still wears a size 3 diaper, we tried to move to 4's but she leaked. They are still a tad too big.
- She wears a size 12 month in cloths.
- She sleeps from 7:00 pm to 6:30 am.
- She still takes 2 naps a day, with her longest in the afternoon.
- We moved her into a convertible car seat, a new Britax Marathon 70  which we love!

She loves: to eat, take baths, Kindermusik, going for walks/runs with mom, swinging in her swing, dancing, playing with sister and daddy, and brushing her teeth.

She hates: getting her nose wiped, anything that requires her to be still, when I put her down (she really likes to be held by me and follows me from room to room), and wearing socks. I cant keep socks on this kid- she pulls the right off!!

9 Months!

Well here we are 3/4 of the way to 1!

This month Miss M has learned lots of new things! She waves bye bye, will give you 5, and is very interested in the things around her. She is very into details too...for example she will study my face and try and pull at my eye lashes, she will pinch at freckles, and is very intrigued by eye brows! She will pick up the.smallest.things like fuzz, etc. Last month we hit separation anxiety at full force, and it seems like it's getting a little better. She used to cry the moment she realized I was leaving her at the gym, and now (on most days) she does well! Also, last night she learned how to open the cabinets in the kitchen (she hangs out on the floor with toys while I cook), so cabinet locks her we come! She's a smart one! Here is all about M pie at 9 months:

- She weighs 18 lbs. 1 oz. (50th %) is 28 inches long (50th%) and her head is 18 inches and still rockin in the 90th%!
- She wears a size 3 diaper and size 6-12 month or 12 month cloths.
- Her nicknames are Buttercup and M Pie.
- She takes 2 naps per day; one in the morning around 9:30 and then her longest in the afternoon around 2:00.
- She goes to bed at 7:00 and wakes up at 6:30am.
- She eats almost all table foods, and eats anything you give her! She eats 3 meals and 1 snack per day.
- She drinks (4) 6-7 oz. bottles per day.
- She's cruising all over the place and will take one step.
- She has her two bottom teeth and just cut her two top teeth. They are coming in at the same time, poor girl.

-She loves: to throw everything out of her crib and drop things off her highchair. It's fun! Cold water in her sippy cup (she LOVES water!), the swing at the park, balls, books, and bath time.


-Shes hates: getting in and out of the car seat (I just ordered her convertible so maybe this will get better?), anything that requires her to be still!!

And in other news, at her 9 month well check Miss M got her ears pierced! They do it at her pedi's office and I did Kay's at the same age, so we went for it! She cried for a few minutes, but then she was fine and has been ever since. It's easy, I just clean them 3 times a day at diaper changes and she hasn't messed with them at all....and she looks so darn cute!

8 Months!

Well here I am again- almost 2 weeks late posting this. Little M is 8 months old and is a bundle of fun these days! She's cruising all over the places holding onto furniture and will even stand for a few second without holding onto anything. She's really starting to show her personality. I think she's going to be a lot more reserved than me and Kay, she's a thinker and boy is she STRONG. Nothing stands in her way of something she wants! She's a happy little baby and loves to play. Here is all about Miss M at 8 months:

- She hasn't been to the Dr. but I am guessing she weighs in the 18-19 pound range.
- She wears 9 month or 12 month cloths and a size 3 diaper.
- She has her two bottom teeth.
- She eats 3 solid meals a day and has about (4) 6 oz. bottles a day. We are trying more and more finger foods and so far some of her favs are cheerios, puffs, shredded cheese, scrambled eggs, broccoli, waffles, green beans, bread, cottage cheese, pasta, and bananas. She is a great eater!! She'll eat anything you put in front of her. I haven't started meats yet, and am very hesitant. We are planning on waiting at least until 9 months- or really when she can eat the meat we do. All organic, free range, hormone/antibiotic free meats. Yes, its very expensive (I pay about 13.00 for 3 chicken breasts!) but its the only meat I feed my family. Even though she only eats Earths Best Organic baby food, I still don't trust what meat is in there and don't know how and what it was processed (is it white meat? dark meat? etc.). I want to be able to control what is going into my little babies body! So she's a veggie for now.
-She sleeps from 7 to 6:30-7:00am and we just moved to 2 naps per day. One in the morning around 9:30-10:00, and one around 2:00 (her longest).
-She gets a bath every night now because she is a MESS after dinner!
- She does great with the sippy cup and loves cold water. We just started diluted juice, and so far she doesn't know what to think of it. She prefers water.

-She loves: Peekaboo, dropping things and me saying Uh-Oh!,  the cat water (I cant keep her out of it!), bath time, going for walks, and DVD cases.

- She hates: Getting in the car seat, getting dressed, when mommy leaves :(, being tortured by her sister, and getting her face cleaned off.

1 thing I have been keeping my eye is her lack of babbling. She still does not "babble". I would be lying if I said it didn't concern me a bit. No babababa, dadadadada, or mamamama yet. She does however make noises, blows raspberries, knows her name, makes noises with intent, but she's defiantly not as verbal as Kay. I plan on bringing this up at her 9 month appointment. I'm not too worried yet, as she has been SO far advanced in her physical development, but it is something I am aware of.

7 (1/2) Months!!

I cant believe I am 2 weeks late posting this, but better late than never right? I'll load this post with pictures to make myself feel better, K?

I literally had to take this picture in a flash...and am lucky I even got it...

because she wont sit still even for a second!! There went my paper again...

This month has been crazy! Time is flying by, and she is growing so much with each day. Since last month, she's started pulling up on everything,

Even slowly starting to cruise along the furniture, has got her bottom left tooth and the right just popped through, and has started self feeding. Here she is with some cottage cheese the other day.

So far we've tried tiny pieces of banana, bread, cottage cheese, avocado, cheerios, mum mum rice rusks, and puffs. All of which she loves. She's also getting better with the sippy cup and loves cold water!

I don't have stats, but I am guessing she's in the 17-18 pound range. Fun facts about Miss M right now are:

-She wears a size 3 diaper and 6-9 or 9 month cloths; all of her 6 months are too small, and the 6-9 are getting kinda snug too. 
- She sleeps from 7 pm to 7 am and takes 3 naps per day. First one around 9, then 1ish (both of those naps are about 1-1 1/2 hour long) and then a short nap around 4:00.
- She eats 2 solid meals; breakfast (oatmeal and fruit) and dinner (veggie) and has 4-5 6 oz. bottles per day.
- She isn't babbling yet, but makes lots of noises and is quite loud I must say ; ) Still waiting for the babbling (babababa, dadadada) to start though.

- She loves: Our cat Lucy, I mean LOVES her. Daddy calls her the walking stuffed animal and M does anything in her power to get her when she sees her! She also loves cold water, bath time (although she stands almost the whole time), the pool, Sophie, any toy that makes noise or lights up.

- She hates: Anything that requires her to stay still for any lenght of time; diapers changes, changing cloths, getting in the car seat. Being bossed around by her sister, Kay is always dragging her around and trying to get her to go things and M gets pissed!

6 Months!!

As you can see, these pictures are getting a little more difficult : )  She wouldn't stay still, immediately pulled off the paper, crinkled it up, then took a bite out of it! Then I couldn't find the tape so I said what the hell, I just held it up there and tried to get the shot. She was being so cute though I couldn't help but laugh the whole time...I still don't know where the tape went... 

Out of any months prior, she has by far changed most in the past month! She sits unassisted indefinitely, can get herself to a sitting position from her tummy, is crawling (not super fast though), has started solids, and just yesterday started trying to pull herself up on things! That's a lot of change in 1 month! She's really starting to show her personality and is such a sweetie pie! She also got her first boo boo yesterday : ( She was trying up pull herself up on her bouncy seat and fell backwards and bumped her little big head. Poor baby, she was fine, and I know that's just the first of many to come.

Here are some fun facts about Miss M at 6 months old:

- She is 15 lbs. 13 oz. (50th%) is 25 3/4 inches long (50th%) and her head is still huge at 17 1/2  inches (95th%).

- She wears a size 2 diaper.

- Takes 3 naps per day, one in the morning, one around lunch time (the longest one), and a short cat nap around 4:30.

- She goes to bed between 7-8:00pm and wakes at 7:00 am.

- She has 4-5 5-7 oz. bottles and is eating 2 meals of solids per day. Bottle when she wakes up, fruit and oatmeal after nap, bottle at lunch, bottle in the afternoon, veggie and fruit for dinner, bottle before bed.

- She makes the wet raspberry noises, almost like she's spitting...it's quite funny, except while we are feeding her then its just a big ol' mess!

- She loves: the sippy cup! We give it to her with water at "meal" times, bath time, swim class (we started about 3 weeks ago at the YMCA), playing with her telephone toys (she has 3), and hanging out with Daddy. She just lights up whenever she see's him, its so cute!

- She hates: Getting in her car seat, staying still for diaper changes, getting dressed, her neck stretches, pretty much anything that confines her : ) Oh and being smothered by her sister!

I cant beleive she is a 1/2 a year old already!

5 Months

M Pie is 5 months old!

OMG I love love love this baby! She is so much fun! I don't have stats, but when I took her to the Dr. last week she weighed 14 pounds and some odd ounces. She is constantly chewing on her hands (and toes) and is drooling like crazy. She is laughing up a storm and is rolling around and scooting everywhere! She has started sitting unassisted for short periods of time and is reaching out for toys while playing on her tummy. She knows her name now and will look if you call her. She is grabbing onto everything within her reach...

and tries to put everything in her mouth...

She is sleeping around 11-12 hours at night, going down between 8-8:30 and waking around 7-7:30. She takes 3 naps ranging from 30 min to 1 1/2 hours per day. She eats 6-7 oz. every 4 hours during the day. We haven't started solids yet, but plan to soon. Want a real mom confession here? We were going to start the other day, but the video camera was full and I refused to start without getting it on video (and not just my iphone video) and still haven't cleared it out yet. So we will start soon and you know you will hear all about it ; )

She loves: her sister, no one makes her laugh more or entertains her more than her sister! Sleeping on her tummy, tummy time, her exercauser, this toy, Sophie, and her fingers (the ones attached to her body as well as these!)

She hates: that damn car seat still, getting her nails clipped, and not getting her way. Hey, she may be baby but she knows what she wants!

4 Months

Oh wow polka dots! I love polka dots...

Okay, are we done yet?

I am about a week late posting this, but I wanted to wait until we went to her 4 month well check to get her stats. My little babes is 4 months old now! She is learning new things and growing more everyday! This was the first time after vaccines she ran a low grade fever, but she is happy and in good spirits today. The pedi said we could starts solids anytime between now and 6 months, but for that babies at 4 months of age formula or breast milk is still usually sufficient. So unless becomes ravenous, or starts to show more readiness signs, we are going to wait another month or two before we introduce solids. Well that and because I can bear the thought of her growing up ; )

- She weighs 13 lbs. 6 oz. (50th percentile), is 24 inches long (50th percentile), and her head is a whopping 16 3/4 (90th percentile!) Wowza! Kay had a big head too, but never 90th percentile!

- She eats 5-6 oz. every 3-4 hours during the day.

- She still STTN, sleeping from 8-8:30pm to 6:30-7:00 am. She goes down awake in her crib, I turn on her seahorse, give her a binky and within 10 min. she's out. No fuss, no muss.

- She is still in size 1 diapers.

- She really gets around! She can roll from her back to her stomach, but has only gone the other way once. Usually when I go in her room to get her in the mornings she is on her stomach. She rolls, and wiggles and cant be trusted to stay in one spot now. If you put her on her play mat, within 5 min. she's on the carpet somewhere.

- She wakes up and talkes to herself, she never cries in the mornings. She'll just babble and babble.

- I think we might be teething. She is drooling constantly and EVERYTHING goes in her mouth.

- She is becoming "socially aware" as my pedi called it. She will cry at a unfamiliar face that she doesn't like. (She cried every time she looked at my grandpa this past weekend, and cried when she looked at the pedi yesterday).

- She's found her feet! And even puts them in her mouth from time to time.

- She JUST started laughing this week...like real belly laughs!

- She loves: her Cindy doll, Sophie, bath time, rolling around on her play mat, chewing on stuff, and her feet, specifically her left one.

- She hates: being cradled, her sister smothering her, being on her tummy (for the most part), and getting in her car seat.