Thursday, January 20, 2011

17 Months

Emily is such a joy at this age! I have simply been amazed at her development over the last couple of months. I thought I'd write down a few of her latest accomplishments for the "baby book."

--She climbs everything. She learned how to climb up on the couch at 16 mon. Now, she can climb the ottoman and tries to do flying leaps over to the chair. She has no fear.

--She likes to stack her blocks. She will stack her nesting blocks up and they are taller than she is.

--Emily's spoken words include: mama, dada, hi, hi-dee, bye, duck, bear, bird, dog, cold, hot, doll, ball, baby, car, beep-beep (her car sound), jack (for jacket) and NO! These are words she uses regularly and doesn't count words that she repeats when we ask her to try to say them. Mostly, she gets the first consonant and vowel sound. For example "hot" is "haa" without the "t" and with a concerned look. She also places a hand over the hot object as if she were feeling the steam from it. It is pretty hilarious because I'm sure she has seen her mama do this.

--Of course, Emily understands WAY more than she can say. She understands and can pick out about 10 different animals. She knows the words for most household objects and rooms. She knows most of her body parts and can point to them when we ask her, "Where's your nose..." She definitely understands upstairs/downstairs and inside/outside. As soon as I ask her if she wants to go "upstairs", she is running to the gate--same for diaper changes. She knows where to go and where we throw them away. She understands words associated with food and where we keep the food. She often runs to the fridge and grunts with effort as she tries to open the door. We are working on colors, but it is inconsistent. She usually gets one or two right when asked. Emily LOVES books. She picks out the books she wants read to her from her shelf and then climbs up in our laps. If we happen to be sitting on the floor, she still parks herself on your lap. It is precious.

--She likes to play hide and seek. She loves to be chased. If one of us is playing on the floor and ask her to help us up, she gives us a hand and a push.

--Her new independence is causing temper tantrums when she doesn't get what she wants. We are experiencing more crying lately. We ignore the fits or try to distract her with something else; however, I can see that when she has her mind set on something, she is becoming harder to distract.

--Emily sleeps form 8 to 7 or 7:30. When she gets up, we like to cuddle with her in our bed for a little, and if time allows, we watch a Mickey Mouse Club video on the i-phone to buy mom and dad a little more rest time.

--Still doesn't care for meat. Luckily, she eats beans and eggs and other protein sources. I have tried a lot of sneaky ways to get her to eat it. She will eat a thin piece of lunchmeat in a grilled cheese or a tiny amount of meat in something soft like sweet potatotes. She eats meat in her ravioli. That is about it! She doesn't even like Chick-Fil-A chicken nuggets!

--At 16 mon, Emily started hitting. As I understand, this is "age appropriate behavior" even though you hate to think of your child as a hitter! She was hitting some of the kids at parents day out and her little playmate, Alex, at the babysitter's. She was getting much better at not doing it anymore. Well, last Saturday, we took her to All About Kids for some indoor gym activities. She loved running around and trying out the ball pit, play houses, little tyke cars, slides, stairs, etc. but when another kid was playing on "her toy" she DID NOT like it. She would yell, "no, no, no" and kind of swat in the air at them. Jeremy and I couldn't believe how fiesty she was! I mean, she would even say that to the older 3-4 year olds. Again, she seems to have no fear. We couldn't help but stifle a few laughs, but of course, we took every opportunity to help her learn to take turns and share with others. I think she needs a sibling....


Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Tuesday Blessings

Today is a day to make myself be thankful! hehe. It is cold and rainy here and I just spent about two hours of my "day off" at the pediatrian's office and pharmacy. This morning, the connection from the sink drain somehow became discinnected and when I emptied a full crockpot pan of soaking water, all of it ended up spilling under the sink and on our hardwood floors. I yelled for Jeremy to come down from his home office to help me clean up the nasty, soaking mess asap and Emily cried in the high chair. It isn't easy to be a Mama or homeowner or wife sometimes! Luckily, these are all very minor incidents and I'm determined that they aren't going to ruin my day. Later, I rocked sick little Emily to sleep and she fell asleep cradled in my arms holding her baby doll. She was SO cute. I tried to "whisper yell" for Jeremy to come take our picture, but he didn't hear me. I will just have to imprint it in my mind.

Jeremy and I have been dealing with a lot of questions about how much I should continue to work. We are getting to the point where we hate to drop off Emily for a whole day for others to watch her three days a week. Emily is well taken care of by loving, doting grandparents and a wonderful babysitter. She is doing well, but does seem to cling to me more lately. (Is this a stage? Illness?) I love being with her, but worry about being stuck at home too much, feeling bored, feeling stressed about money, cost of health insurance etc. It is not exactly easy to take care of a toddler full time all the time and I know I would still need some outlets with parents day out or grandma care! So, we are praying about it and trying to figure out what to do.

Today I am so thankful:
51. for Dr. Belza who was so sweet with Emily during her exam.
52. for a 3 day antibiotic that will hopefully have her feeling back to her usual self in no time.
53. for my hubby who rushed to my aid this morning!
54. for the rain that will make KY beautiful---in about 3 more months.
55. for quiet time to eat a late lunch and type out my blessings.
56. that Jeremy and I have a fabulous date night planned at Actor's Theatre with friends this weekend.
57. that Don and Nancy were able to watch Emily on Monday when our babysitter needed the day off.
58. that Mom is going to be here to visit us this weekend.
59. for Emily's learning of language.
60. for Jason and Julie's healthy baby boy that arrived yesterday.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Tuesday Blessings

The last month or so has been incredibly hectic and so I have not posted my usual Tuesday blessings. Once Christmas and New Year's is over, I usually have a day or so when I have the post-Christmas blues or maybe it is the dread of putting up all those ornaments, decorations, presents, and post-holiday returns at the mall? Anyway, I usually welcome a good January snow and a chance to hibernate with my family by the fire! Today is a fabulous snow day! We have enjoyed a yummy breakfast of blueberry pancakes, fruit, and coffee (for me), plenty of play time with toys and books, a nice nap, and possibly some playtime outside in the snow (if it ever stops snowing!) Today I thankful for:

41. my gas fireplace that keeps our living room so nice and toasty
42. that we have bread, milk, coffee, and enough food to last until the streets get plowed a little
43. cuddling with Emily under the covers while we read books
44. for Emily's continued growth and development. Our 17 mon. old has learned to say "No!" :)
45. that we have electricity (we lost power for a week two years ago in weather like this...)
46. that I can so easily keep in touch with friends and family by phone, e-mail, facebook, etc.
47. that I didn't have to work Sunday and was able to attend church with my family. (I was scheduled to work, but hospital census was low and I wasn't needed!)
48. that Emily has made a strong attachment to her Mama! (Which sometimes results in crying if Daddy tries to do something she wants me to do, but hey, it is nice to be needed!)
49. everyone is healthy!
50. a new year, fresh starts, new attempts to do better, set goals, and to dream!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Christmas 2010

Santa Claus visits Emily



Mom, Dad, and Emily at Galt House's gingerbread village

Helping Mommy on Christmas morning

Smile Jer and Emmy!


My birthday pie! Love Homemade Pie Kitchen!

Gingerbread Village

Super Dad--Ed is getting prepped for some serious diaper duty!


Santa stopped in at Grancy and Poppy's



Emmy enjoying her new table and chairs!

Sweet slobbery smiles!

Looking WAY too big for her britches...



My precious little girl! Love this smile.

The Lee Girls!

Modeling our new rain boots. Even Emily got a new pair!

Hunter explores his new toy.

Sweet Mama and baby photo!

Christmas has come and gone and what a Christmas it was! It felt like our first Christmas with Emily because last year was a post-partum blur and Emily was so tiny! This year, Jeremy and I really enjoyed shopping for Emily and picking out her special toys. She was able to dig into her stocking, rip up the wrapping paper on presents, and play with her toys. I was pleasantly surprised that we were able to decorate the tree as usual and she didn't bother the ornaments or presents too much. She had two or three little bell ornaments that she liked to steal from the tree, but I enjoyed her little jingling bell routine so I didn't mind.

We spent Christmas weekend with the Reiss family. Enjoyed a special Candlelight Service on Christmas Eve (Em was all decked out in the most precious Christmas dress and stockings) and later had a chili supper at Don and Nancy's. Jen and Ed and Aunt Karen were all in town which made for some fun celebrating. Christmas Eve night, Jeremy and I didn't have too much to put together. Santa was ready! We read Emily "Twas the Night before Christmas" before we tucked her in to sleep. Christmas morning was special as we both couldn't wait to see what Emily would do. She quietly walked into the living room and noticed all her new toys. The first toy she grabbed was the golden retriever stuffed puppy. (I wasn't surprised...so hard to resist a golden.) We watched her go to toy to toy like she was amazed that it was all for her. We got her a little rocking horse which seemed a little tall for her on Christmas Day, but it took her only a couple of days for her to figure out how to climb on it and swing her leg around like a seasoned cowgirl. So proud! Christmas Day was a white Christmas! We had a wonderful brunch with the Reiss family and exchanged gifts. It was nice to have the whole day together and not have to rush off anywhere that day. Some of Nancy's friends hosted a baby shower for Jennifer on Dec. 30th (Jen is due March 2nd). It was a lovely shower and I really enjoyed the food, the fun, and the friends. I made my first "diaper cake" which turned out very cute. Jer helped me put it together so I have to give him some props, too.

We celebrated Christmas on Dec. 28th with the Lees and spent 2 1/2 days in B.G. Mom had a nice lunch ready for us when we arrived. After all the babies napped, we opened presents. It was wonderfully chaotic with all the little ones! Hunter and Emily were into everything and Cooper was only a step behind. I thought it was so cute how Cooper would crawl after Emily only to have her dash off again somewhere else once he finally reached her! Mom and Nancy both did so well in picking the best age appropriate gifts! Emily got a new little girl table and chairs, a portable DVD player, a little back pack with her name on it, a shopping cart, special books, etc. We are blessed that our families help us shower our baby with love. During advent, I read Emily books about the Christmas season as well as a little book about the true meaning of Christmas. I hope that the secular aspects of Christmas do not become the only thing we celebrate. I hope to be very intentional about teaching Emily the most important things. I need to remember them for myself as well.