Emma: 9 Months

Sweet little squishy,

I am thrilled to say that you are FINALLY feeling better!  You were sick for nearly your entire 8th month of life, so this was a welcomed change.  You are back to napping pretty well (2x per day) but nights have continued to be a struggle.  We started letting you cry it out a little in the middle of the night this month.  The first night we started you woke at 3am and I nursed you for a very short feed and you went right back to sleep.  Then you woke at 5am and Daddy tried to rock you back to sleep and changed your very wet diaper.  That didn't work so we let you cry for 15 minutes or so, which was SO hard to listen to!  I decided to give you a small bottle of pumped milk (in hopes of breaking the nursing for comfort habit) and you drank only a little bit of it.  I put you back down and you cried for about 10 more minutes before falling back to sleep around 6:15am.  It was so hard hearing you cry and knowing that if I nursed you, you would fall back to sleep peacefully.  However, this was one of those moments where I had to focus on the bigger picture and choose the harder option.  The following night we decided it was time to drop to only one middle of the night feeding.  It was a tough night with some crying, gas drops and a bottle of water, but you did it!  On the third night you woke only one time to eat and slept the rest of the night peacefully!  AMAZING!  Unfortunately this was not the end of 2 middle of the night feedings forever as you still had a few nights where you needed 2 feedings, but this was definitely a turning point.  Last night you made it the whole night with no feedings for the first time in your life!  You still woke up once, but I just held you for a few minutes and you went right back to sleep.  Huge progress!

At the beginning of this month we started giving you only finger foods and squeezy pouches of baby food.  You LOVE feeding yourself and eat much more when you can do it all yourself.  The only bummer with this new found freedom is how messy you get, often requiring a bath after mealtime.  Some of your favorites are sweet potatoes, green beans, mango, any carb, peas, and blueberries (not your favorite, but this was your first month ever trying them).  You have a horrible habit of throwing your sippy cup of water onto the floor after every single sip.  This creates a fun game of go fetch with mommy at every meal, which you seem to enjoy.  Stinker!  :-)

Your second tooth broke through this month (bottom left), which explains why you are chewing and sucking on everything these days  You learned how to climb up several steps with no help, have been cruising along the furniture, finally started crawling on your hands and knees, and scoot everywhere on your bottom.  You are a mover!  You are absolutely obsessed with the tv cabinet - always opening the sliding doors and pulling things out.  You started saying the "p" sound this month and have been very noisy the past few days.  I'm guessing that you will be getting another tooth soon, based on how fussy you have been the past couple days.

Baby girl, you are absolutely precious.  You remain a serious baby with limited smiles and giggles, but when you do show us that gummy grin, it melts our hearts.  Your open-mouthed kisses are my favorite and your crazy hair that sticks straight up reminds me that you are still just a little baby, which I love. 

9 Month Stats
- Clothes: 9 & 12 Months
- Diaper: Size 3 during the day & size 4 at night
- Schedule:
7 or 7:30am - Wake, Nurse (5 min), Solids, Play
2 Hours after waking (9 or 10am) - Nap
1.5-2 hours later (11 or 12pm) - Wake, Nurse (4-5 min), Solids, Play
2-2.5 hours after waking (1 or 2pm) - Nap
1.5-2 hours later (3 or 3:30pm) - Wake, Nurse (4 min), Play
6pm - Solids, Bedtime Routine (bath as needed, pjs, diaper)
7pm - Nurse (3-5 min), Bed

Hannah: 3 YEARS OLD!

Happy 3rd Birthday to our "Little Peanut"!!

3 years old....how is that possible?  This past year has FLOWN by!  Your third year of life was filled with so much excitement and so many changes!  The biggest of all was that you became a big sister.  And let me just say that I am so proud of you!  You are such a wonderful big sister!  Emma is blessed to call you "sissy".  I can't believe how big you seem this year compared to last.  There is a huge difference between 2 and 3 years old.  You are truly a little girl now, no longer a "baby".  I have so greatly enjoyed watching you grow this past year and look forward to many more years to come!!  You are such a sweetie, learning to explore your independence (this can be hard at times, but we know it is a necessary skill), loving, cuddly, happy, and full of energy. 

Here's what makes you YOU at THREE....

You are officially POTTY TRAINED!  I honestly didn't think I would be saying that for a LONG time.  We have struggled so much with potty training!  But at the beginning of this month, we tried again and succeeded!  The first few days were HARD...lots of screaming and tantrums and more holding episodes, but by day 4 things were much better!  Peeing is not an issue at all now (AMAZING!) but pooping is.  This doesn't bother or surprise me much as I have always heard this is a struggle when potty training.  Your issue is not that you are having accidents, but that you are holding it for several days saying you are "scared".  Breaks my heart.  You have resorted to pooping in your diaper in the middle of the night which is annoying because of the middle of the night wake up call, but honestly I'd rather you do that then hold it continuously.  I know you will figure it out eventually!

You can now identify nearly every letter of the alphabet (capital and lowercase), although there are some that still trick you up.  You also know every color and shape without a problem.  Your vocabulary is nearly on par with an adult and you are understandable 99% of the time.  You still have trouble pronouncing certain letter sounds correctly, but that is very normal for a 3 year old....and cute! :-)

You are such a wonderful big sister, always trying to help and make Emma happy.  You do all kinds of silly things in hopes of seeing Emma crack a smile...precious!  In the beginning of the month, Emma was very sick and you were just so incredibly sweet.  I spent several days taking care of Emma, meaning you got very little attention.  But you were such a champ and a wonderful helper.  I'm just so proud of the little lady you are becoming!

Your favorite activity is swinging on the swings in our backyard.  You are a bit obsessed!  The only downside is that you refuse to pump your legs and if we can't push you, you have a meltdown.  Not fun.  :-(  You also LOVE the show 'Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood' on PBS. Your other favorite activity is being tickled. :-). Your still obsessed with the color pink, so that was the theme of your third birthday party. :). Pink everywhere!

One negative effect of turning 3 seems to be the whining and sass that come with this age.  I've always heard that 3 is worse than 2 and I definitely believe it.

3 Year Stats

Height - 39.5"

Shoe Size - 8.5 or 9

Clothes Size - 3T-5T (varies by brand)

Diaper Size - 6 overnights & 3T-4T pull-ups for nap time

Today, on your third birthday, I conducted your very first birthday interview which proved to be rather funny.  You didn't quite understand the concept and simply answered the questions with whatever first popped into your head. But isn't that what being 3 is all about anyway?  Here are some of my favorite answers:

- Favorite thing to eat for lunch? "Peas"

- Favorite outfit? "Lovie pants with the kitty cat shirt" (your pjs)

- Favorite game? "Matching game because I do really good and that makes me happy."

- Favorite song? "I Love You", "Lullaby" and "Goodnight Sweetheart" (your 3 bedtime songs)

- Best friend? "Emma" (melts my heart)

- Where do you like to eat? "Pamera" (Panera)

- What is Mommy's job? "Feed Emma and me"

- What does Daddy do at work? "Work, work"

- What makes you happy? "Mommy & Daddy"

Precious girl, YOU make us happy!  Your smile brightens up a whole room and your laughter is contagious.  We love you all the way to the moon and back...that's a lot of love!!!!

Emma: 8 Months

Squishy,

We had a very rough month!  I'm exhausted just thinking about it.  Your first year of life has been filled with sickness and this month was no exception.  :-(  You spent the entire month sick and nearly all of it on antibiotics.  YUCK!  As a self-proclaimed 'natural momma', I absolutely hate that you spent so many days this month on antibiotics (you are still taking them!).  Your latest runny nose started the day you turned 7 months old and turned into a very persistent double ear infection that has still not gone away.  All the congestion and pain has made for some very long days and nights.  You had one of your very worst nights this month - awake and fussy from 1:30pm-2:30am and then up for the day at 5am, followed by only 3 hours of sleep the day after.  I honestly don't know how you stayed awake that long.  I was EXHAUSTED!  Even a steady dose of Tylenol and Motrin didn't knock you out!  We suspect that it was the tiny dose of albuterol we gave you that afternoon to help with your wheezing, so you can guarantee that we will not be giving you that again anytime soon. 

You tried several new foods this month - mango (hated at first, but now you love it), carrots (not a fan of pureed, but loved when I gave you some diced ones), apple, and cheerios (loved).  You love feeding yourself!

Despite being so sick this month, you managed to accomplish lots of new feats - your first tooth popped through (bottom right), you started pulling yourself up in your crib (we had to move the crib mattress all the way down) and on your leapfrog table and on the couch, you officially dropped your third nap (now you nap 2 times per day for about 1.5-2 hours each), you continue to army crawl everywhere, you started doing what we call the machine gun laugh, and best of all you said your first word - MAMA!!!!!!  You have no idea how excited I am that this was your first word. :-)  Since Hannah's first word was "dada" I thought it was only fair that you say "mama" first.  :-)  You also started saying "ehmuh" over and over, which we translate to mean Emma...so smart!

8 Month Stats
- Diapers: Size 3
- Clothes: 9 months
- Shoes: 2 or 3, but not sure since you never wear them
- Weight: 19 lbs
- Height: not sure

Your 8th month was really hard sweet girl, and I'm sorry for that!  It breaks my heart to see you in pain and so sick. :-(  I pray that the remaining months of your first year of life are full of healthy days!  And for everyone's sake, I pray that sleep finds its way back to our house very soon. We love you squishy, snot and all!

Hannah: 35 Months

Hannah,

Sickness, oh sickness. I am SO sick of sickness! You had yet another cold at the beginning of this month. I started something new this time - elderberry syrup and echinacea drops. I'm not sure if it worked or not, but it did seem to speed up the sickness, which is huge! I will definitely try it again next time you are sick, which I'm sure will be very soon!  This sickness was the final straw and the catalyst for a big decision....homeschooling!  We pulled the trigger and decided to take your out of preschool.  Homeschooling was something we had seriously considered but when enrollment began (January 2012) we decided to sign up at the very last minute.  With your little sister coming, I knew it was going to be a crazy time and I thought it would be a good break for both of us.  You loved school, but unfortunately your immune system did not!  You spent the entire time sick, from one cold to another.  Every time you got sick, your sister did to and it was just too much.  Since I had always been on the fence about preschool (especially two year old preschool) I knew it was time to pull you out.  It took you a few weeks to realize you weren't going back because you kept saying, "When I'm better I will go back to school."  But now when I ask you about school you say, "Mommy is my teacher" and you tell me that you would rather be home with me and Emmie.  Love that!  Here's to hoping the sicknesses will subside now that you are away from all the germs!

Our first 3 weeks of homeschooling were great.  I found a "curriculum" online that is bible based and I love it.  You have been excited about "doing school" every day and I have loved watching your eyes light up with excitement when you learn something new!  I think I am really going to love homeschooling!

Another big transition this month was to a full size bed.  You were getting way too big for your toddler bed, so we knew it was time.  We had recently purchased a new bedroom set for the guest room (finally upgrading from a full size bed to a queen) so we moved the old mattress into your room and converted your toddler bed into a full size.  We pushed one side up to the wall and have a guard rail on the other side, in hopes of encouraging you to stay in the bed.  So far you have done great with that.  You have gotten out a few times, but never left your room.  Let's hope that continues!  You look so big in a full size bed and definitely more comfortable!

The age of fears is upon us! You have suddenly started being afraid of everything - the potty, the stairs, sitting on something high (like the counter), anything or anyone touching one of your "boo-boos", pulling a shirt over your head, and more.  The potty fear is still very much an issue and you continue refusing to pee or poo on the potty.  The other day you did trick us into giving you a lollipop by saying you would poop on the potty while you ate it.  I'm willing to try anything to get you potty trained, so why not!?  5 minutes later and you came walking out to give me the stick and said, "I don't want to go potty."  Oy vey!  You kill me child!  You may very well end up being the oldest child in diapers.  However, we did tell you that when you turn 3, the potty fairy will be coming to take away all the diapers.  Can you tell we are getting desperate!?

We started using a chore chart this month.  You have two chores - feeding Bubbles and helping with laundry (pulling clothes out of the dryer, matching socks, putting clothes in the dryer, and "folding" washcloths).  You have really enjoyed helping out around the house and I have enjoyed the help!  Overtime we will add more chores to the chart.  Right now you are perfectly happy with a reward of putting another magnet sticker on the chart, but eventually I think we will have to figure out another incentive to keep you motivated.

Your sisterly love continued this month.  A few days ago Emma was playing with your baby doll stroller and pulled it down on top of herself, falling backwards onto the wood floor.  She was crying and upset when you ran over and grabbed the stroller and said, "Let's get this out of here so Emma doesn't get hurt.  I'm so sorry Emma."  Oh my big girl, you are just so sweet!  Emma is blessed to have such a great big sister!

Your favorite foods this month were pancakes with syrup, "kashi" bars (any cereal bar), apricots, sweet potatoes, cottage cheese, and shredded cheese.  Your favorite snack continued to be the Clif Bars and fruit snacks.

Silly, silly girl.  Your latest favorite saying is "Aka Whack".  Huh?!  I pray that you never lose your silliness!

Other 35 Months Stats:
-You wear 3T and 4T clothes (size 4-6 leotard and size small tights)
-You wear size 8.5 shoes (size 9 ballet shoes)

-You wear size 6 diapers

I am so excited to begin this homeschooling journey with you and be able to watch you learn every single day.  I know just how fleeting these young years are and I will never be able to get these years back.  We may not decide to homeschool forever, but I know that I will absolutely never regret keeping you home this year!  We will just take it one year at a time.  I love you precious girl....oh, and can we stop this whole "mom" and "dad" business!  You are way too young to be using those names!  Let's stick with "Mommy" and "Daddy", okay?!

 

Emma: 7 Months

Emmie,

I absolutely love the first year of a baby's life...so many firsts!  This month was no exception - first Christmas, first time eating finger foods, first allergy, first time trying banana and green beans and apricots and peaches and beans and chicken, first New Years, first time sitting in a highchair at a restaurant, and first time going from laying to sitting and back.  Yikes!  We had a big month!

We started off this month with a bang - CHRISTMAS!  This was your very first Christmas and unfortunately you were sick. :-(  You spent a large part of the day sleeping, with a fever.  Poor baby.  We went back to the walk-in clinic on the day after Christmas and found out your ear infection is now in the other ear.  They upped your dose of amoxicillin (apparently it was too low before) and we were hopeful that that would finally get you feeling better.  To our surprise you broke out in a rash all over your body just two days later.  Back to the doctor we went - thank God for Saturday sick appointments.  They told us that you have an amoxicillin allergy and switched you to azythromicin to clear up the remaining ear infection.  :-(  So many medicines for such a little girl!  Thankfully after a few days of the new antibiotic you were feeling much better.  The bad news now is that you woke up today with ANOTHER runny nose!  I seriously don't know if we will make it through this winter. :-(

Eating continues to be a struggle.  You are just not a big eater - nursing or solids.  You nurse for a maximum of 5 minutes (one side only per feeding) and fuss every time we put you in the highchair to eat solids.  We did have a tiny break through this month when we introduced a few finger foods.  You really love feeding yourself!  I'm definitely looking forward to being able to give you all finger foods so you can be in control.  Come on little teeth! :-)  We are still not very consistent with feeding you solids, mainly because you just don't enjoy them.  So we typically only feed you 1-2 solid "meals" per day.  You are nursing every 3-4 hours during the day and 1 time in the night (sometimes 2).  We did have a couple (very rare) nights this month where you slept 11-11.5 hours straight!  AMAZING!  You nap 2 times per day now, officially dropping the third nap in the beginning of the month.  With only two naps now, we end up putting you to bed fairly early some nights because you just can't make it all the way to bedtime.  My favorite time of day with you is nap time because every time I put you down, I sing your song ("You are my Sunshine") and you put your little head on my shoulder.  Absolutely precious!  I hope you continue that for a long time.

I just can't believe how fast time is flying!  Just the other day we found you sitting up in your crib after nap time.  We had to move your mattress down to the middle height and we decided to take the bumper out of your crib.  You also started army crawling this month, making you officially mobile at not even 7 months old.  I think we will have our hands full with you. 

Your favorite sound right now is "bah, bah, bah".  You say it all the time.  I'm really hoping "mama" will be your first word (unlike your sister who said, "dada" first).  :-)  You do really well playing by yourself (or with Hannah nearby) and rarely fuss when I leave the room.  I'm so thankful that the separation anxiety phase has not hit yet.

7 Month Stats
- Diapers: Size 3
- Clothes: 6 & 9 months (mostly 9)
- Shoes: 1 or 2
- Weight: 17 lbs. 10 oz.
- Height: 27.5"

You are at such a fun age right now.  7 months=perfection.  But I know that I will say that again and again and every age.  The truth is squishy, we just love YOU!  No matter how big you get, we love you!  Do me a favor though...slow down just a little bit. :-)

Hannah: 34 Months

Hannie,

Another month, come and gone.  Just 2 more months and you will be 3!!  Yikes!  This past month was a busy one - Christmas, PT & OT evaluations, and more sickness. 

Leading up to Christmas we were very busy with preparations.  Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Julie, and Uncle Chris all came for Christmas, so we had a lot to do to prepare.  In the midst of preparing, we were dealing with even more sickness (you and Emma).  We went back to the doctor on Dec. 22 and you were diagnosed with a sinus and eye infection.  You were put on amoxicillin for 10 days and a round of eye drops.  It was a nightmare trying to do the eye drops with you.  I don't blame you...they are definitely no fun.  We ended up only do two days of those before we just gave up.  Thankfully the amoxicillin cleared up both infections.  Just three days ago we went back to the doctor for a suspected yeast infection.  You kept complaining about your "girly parts" hurting.  They needed a urine sample, but since you are not potty trained, trying to attain one was impossible.  They stuck a bag on you in hopes of catching some, but you are WAY to smart for that.  There was no way you were going to pee into that.  You were hysterical about having it on you and wanted it off right away.  Amazingly I convinced you to keep it on for about an hour, but after that it was a wasted cause.  I started putting anti-fungal cream on you and thankfully that seemed to clear it up.  Who knows?!?!  In addition to your two doctor visits, we took you for two different evaluations as well.  On Dec. 19 we went for a physical therapy evaluation.  Our biggest concerns were your toe walking and severe resistance to potty training.  They gave us a few stretches to do with you and a plastic brush to use on your arms, legs and back to work on desensitizing your heightened senses.  Overall, they suggested an occupational therapy evaluation for slight sensory issues.  We did the occupational therapy evaluation on January 3.  It was essentially a complete waste of time.  You scored very well in every area, with just a few quirks that stood out.  But honestly, you are just a typical toddler...certain things scare you and you are more sensitive to certain things, but nothing concerning.  They did recommend a few months of therapy, but unfortunately it is not covered by our insurance, so we most likely will not do it.  Of course if we were really concerned we would do the therapy in a heart beat.  Our plan for now is to just keep an eye on things.

Christmas was wonderful.  This was your first Christmas at home and it was so memorable!  We went to the Christmas Eve service at church and it was your first time sitting in the "big" church during a service.  You did great!  You loved all the singing and sat quietly during the sermon, thanks to lots of snacks. :-)  My favorite part of Christmas Eve was at our house when you sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus.  I even got it on video. :-)  We tried our best to emphasize the true meaning of Christmas.  Seeing the look on your face when you came down and saw all the presents on Christmas morning was priceless!  Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa, our tree was overflowing!  Your favorite presents were the Bitty Baby crib, the mobi-go game system, and the Playmobile schoolhouse.  But truly I think you were just overwhelmed with all the people and presents. 

One of your newest fears is "the man".  Every night after we put you to bed, you scream until we come back in and then you smirk and say, "the man" as you point to your curtain rod.  We've started praying with you for Jesus to help you to not be afraid.  You also have a new fear of getting "stuck" in a shirt.  You only want mommy to dress and undress you because of this, but thankfully you are getting pretty good at doing it yourself, which helps ease your fear.  You can nearly undress yourself completely unassisted - socks, shoes, diaper, pants, and shirts.

Your favorite game right now is hide-and-seek.  You love playing with daddy, but you don't quite get the rules and concept of the game.  You are always the "seeker", even when you are supposed to be hiding. :-)  You are still in love with all your baby dolls.  You love to push them around in the stroller, "feed" them in Emma's highchair and change their diapers.  Such a good mommy!

Thanks to preschool, you can now put your jacket on all by yourself.  They taught you a cute rhyme to remember how to do it - "Tag at toes, arms in holes, flip it up and over your nose."  You are just getting so big!

You continue to amaze me with how great you are with Emma.  I overheard you talking to Emma just yesterday when she was fussing during lunchtime.  You said, "What's the matter sweet girl?  It's okay.  One day you will be big like me, Emmie."  So cute!  You just love Emma.  You love to make her laugh and smile.  You are even doing better with sharing with her, but this is definitely still that hardest part of being a big sister.  Sharing is hardest if Emma is playing with something pink.  You always take away all the pink toys because that is your favorite color.

Your favorite foods this month were yogurt in a tube ("Panera yogurt") but only the pink ones, grilled chicken, bread, plain pasta, frozen peas, broccoli (cooked or raw), oatmeal ("oakie milk"), mommy's baked chicken nuggets, shredded cheese, strawberry poky sticks, bean & cheese quesadilla, and candy canes.  Every day you want the same "snackie" after nap time - Welch's fruit snacks and a Clif Bar (chewy granola bars).  You are definitely a creature of habit....typical 2 year old!  Foods that you didn't like this month were (yes, shockingly there are a few things you won't eat) - blueberries, tomatoes, sauce, grapes, anything green (except you do like broccoli and peas), or skin on apples or potatoes. 

Other 34 Months Stats:
-You wear 3T and 4T clothes (size 4-6 leotard and size small tights)

-You wear size 8.5 shoes (size 9 ballet shoes)

-You wear size 6 diapers

 

Welcome to 2013 sweet Hannah Grace.  I can't wait to see what this new year holds for you.  One thing I know for certain - our love for you will grow even deeper (how is that even possible!?)  We love you little peanut!!

Emma: 6 Months

Emma,

We had another crazy month, but thankfully no ER trips were involved. :-)  You are half a year old!  How is that even possible.  Seriously?? 

At the beginning of this month, we started back with solids after taking a break due to constipation issues.  You tried many new foods this month: oatmeal cereal, sweet potatoes, pears, peas, and prunes.  You liked all of the new foods okay, but prunes are definitely your favorite!  However, eating is just not your favorite thing to do.

You had some good and some bad nights this month.  Some nights you went a full 12 hours without any feedings (rare) but we still had to replace your paci multiple times in the night.  But other nights you nursed 1-2 times in the night.  Nothing consistent still.  Your inconsistency is surely related to your many illnesses this month.  You were sick at the beginning of the month and the end.  Lots of congestion and a runny nose.  One night you had to sleep in the rock and play in our room because you were too congested for the paci...a requirement for sleep. Just yesterday we had to take you to the walk-in clinic because you were hysterical at bedtime.  You have your first ear infection and are now taking amoxicillin for the next 10 days.  :-(  Naps have also been hit or miss as a result.  You still eat every 3-3.5 hours during the day, with 5-6 feedings per day.  You continue to be a very fast (efficient) nurser with 5 minutes on one side being a typical feeding.

You can now sit up all by yourself and are starting to rock on all fours...yikes!  When did that happen?  I literally sat you down on the floor one day and realized you could sit on your own.  Oops, guess I should have tried that sooner. ;-)  You can also hold the bottle all by yourself now.  No signs of teeth yet, which for some reason makes me happy.  No teeth means you are still a little baby. :-)

We celebrated your half birthday today with a cake (for the adults), but are truly just in shock that you are already 6 months old.  Slow down, okay squishy?

6 Month Stats
- Diapers: Size 3
- Clothes: 6 & 9 Months
- Shoes: Size 1 or 2
- Weight: 17 lbs. 8 oz.
- Height: 26"

You are so precious Emmie!  If we could freeze time, we would, so we could soak up more time with you being so little.  Yes, we would like more sleep, but you are worth it!  Someday you will sleep through the night and so will we.  Until then.....

Hannah: 33 Months

Hannah,

My beautiful girl!  Your 33rd month of life has been full of ballet, traveling, Thanksgiving, sickness (again), Christmas countdown, and another potty training attempt.

One of my favorite conversations with you happened this month.  It went like this:
You: "Mommy, I like you."
Me: "Hannie, I love you!"
You: "No Mommy, I like you!"
Me: "Well, I like you and love you Hannie."
You: "I love you too Mommy!"
Sometimes, you just make my heart melt!  I will never stop loving you precious girl! 

For Thanksgiving we went to MeMaw and PaPaw's house in Florida.  You did such a great job on the ride down and back!  You even did great when we drove home through the night and had to transfer you into your bed at midnight.  It was so fun to see family!  When we returned from Florida, we wasted no time to start decorating for Christmas.  We started two Christmas traditions this year.  First is our advent calendar with a winter playmobile scene and bible verses that tell the story of Jesus' birth.  You love pulling a new piece out of the calendar to add to the scene every night.  Our other tradition is our Christmas countdown books.  We have 24 Christmas books in a basket under the tree and each night you pick one for us to read at bedtime.  Our first book (on Dec. 1) was "The Bearenstein Bear's Christmas Tree"...a family favorite from when I was little!  We all love spending time snuggling under the tree. :-)

This month you napped more often than not, which was a nice change!  Unfortunately your naps are still very short (never longer than 45 minutes) and you wake up screaming, crying after your cat nap...still tired and yawning. :-(. You are also taking a long time to fall asleep every night (1-2 hours some nights) and waking during the night and early in the morning.  You are just so overtired!  The great news though is that you are still sleeping in your big girl bed like a champ! You have still never attempted to get out of bed on your own...amazing!

Ballet lessons continued this month and you still like them very much.

You truly are the best big sister!  It is very rare that you are mean to Emma and are always wanting to hug her and play with her.  Every time I put Emma down for a nap you say, "Make good choices Emma.  Have sweet dreams.  Wait until your light is green.  Night Emma."  Just so sweet.

You spent most of this month sick with two more colds.  Yikes!  Will we ever build up immunity to all these germs?  Unfortunately all this sickness has been the hardest on Emma and this month things got pretty bad for her.  At the beginning of the month, Daddy went to Vegas for a work trip and we were on our own for the first time.  Scary!  Things got very bad on the second night that daddy was away when Emma took a turn for the worse and I ended up having to take her to the ER in the middle of the night.  I had to call my friend to come over and stay with you (since you were already asleep) and you did such an amazing job!  I ended up having to stay at the hospital with Emma for almost 24 hours (she was fine, but it was just precautionary) and since Daddy was away, you were shuffled around to several different people.  You woke up to Mrs. Asheley and you didn't bat an eye.  You did try to get her to give you candy for breakfast, but who can blame you.  ;-). When Mrs. Asheley had to leave, our neighbors came over to watch you (an older couple that you have met just a couple times).  Again, you didn't have any issue with that.  You just went about as if everything was normal.  So amazing!  When I realized Emma wasn't getting discharged anytime soon, I called another friend/neighbor to come get you.  You went over to their house with no fuss.  Thankfully I was able to get out by about 5pm and come get you at their house.  You were completely fine and didn't want to leave.  I was shocked by how adaptable you were throughout the whole ordeal!  I am forever grateful to our amazing friends and neighbors for being so incredible that day!  And I'm so proud of you for being so big!

Yet another attempt and failure with potty training happened at the end of this month.  Same results...holding your pee all day long.  Back to diapers.  Some day.  We scheduled a physical therapy evaluation to discuss your toe walking and potty training issues at the end of the month.  My guess is that you are dealing with some sensory processing issues, but we will see how it goes.  No matter what the outcome, we know that you are PERFECT!  There is nothing major that we are worried about, but just want to do everything we can to help you overcome these little struggles.

Other 33 month stats:

-You wear 3T and 4T clothes (size 4-6 leotard and size small tights)

-You wear size 8.5 shoes (size 9 ballet shoes)

-You wear size 6 diapers 

You are such a joy and we are blessed to call you daughter! 

 

 

Emma: 5 Months

Oh Squishy,

You are just so squishy that I can't help but call you that all the time!  You are sleeping now and I miss your little squishy face.  You are such a sweet little girl, so laid back and smiley.  Every time I get you out of your crib you give me the biggest smile...every single time!  Love that!!  You have also started the cutest thing - touching my face when I am holding you.  You reach up and put your little hand on my cheek with the biggest smile on your face.  It's like you are trying to tell me how much you love me.  Baby girl, you sure do know the way to melt my heart. 

You generally go down for naps and bedtime very easily now (with just 2-3 paci reinsertions) and with rarely any crying.  I often look on the video monitor a few minutes before the end of a nap and find that you are already awake, just rolling around (silently).  You truly are such a chill baby!  I LOVE this age!  If we could only get you to stop waking those 4-5 times through the night for a paci reinsertion. :-)

You are rolling all over the place these days and moving all across the room just by rolling.  You are very content with rolling and don't really have much of a desire to sit up yet.  You can sit up with the boppy behind you for support but you quickly fold forward, reaching for something in front of you and then end up on your belly, rolling around again. :-)

This was a big month in your life.  You had your first taste of table food this month.  We started with rice cereal on October 27 and you LOVED it!  We then introduced avocado, which you were not a huge fan of.  We tried it for a few days but you continued to spit it out, so we stopped and moved on to sweet potatoes.  You loved those!  Unfortunately you started pooping a lot less so I was worried about you getting constipated (like your sister did when she was this age) so I backed off the solids completely by the end of the month.  We will start again soon with oatmeal cereal instead of the rice, as I think that is probably what is causing the problem.  We also gave you a sippy cup of water for the first time this month.  You only tried that a few times and were mostly just using it as a chew toy, but when a little water would get in your mouth, you seemed to like it.

Not only was this month filled with fun firsts, but it was also filled with some drama.  The first mishap was Halloween night.  We went trick-or-treating with some good friends and you were a champ most of the night, but by the last hour or so you were starting to get pretty fussy (for you).  Since you rarely get upset, it is always surprising when you start getting fussy.  I just chalked it up to you being overtired from being out past your normal bedtime.  I put you to bed as soon as we came home and you fell asleep without any trouble.  But at 10:30pm everything went down hill.  You were wide awake and fussy.  Feedings, rocking, singing, gas drops, or the paci didn't put you back to sleep and I was at a complete loss as to what was going on.  You never were hysterical, just wide awake and agitated.  You were awake until 5am when you finally nodded off.  It was our worst night yet.  Not fun!  The next day you were still fairly agitated and not sleeping well.  When I was changing you out of your pajamas, I took off your socks and discovered the cause of all the fussing....there was a hair wrapped tightly around 3 of your tiny toes on your right foot.  Your toes were starting to turn purple and the hair was cutting into your skin.  I felt so bad and cried hysterically for a full 30 minutes, repeatedly telling you how sorry I was!  I was so scared for your little toes and probably would have taken you to the doctor if my parents (MeMaw and PaPaw) hadn't been here to assure me that you were okay.  I just felt so bad for being frustrated with you the night before for not sleeping and was upset with myself for not finding the hair sooner!  Since that incident I have been checking your toes and fingers very often!

The other drama of the month was your first trip to the ER and admittance to the hospital on November 14.  YIKES!  It is such a long story, but I will try to just give the highlights.  Daddy was out of town for a business trip so I was on my own with you and your sister.  All day you had sounded congested with rattly breathing, but were eating well and happy, with no fever.  So I decided to not take you into the doctor's office, for fear of wasting everyone's time.  I put you to bed and everything was fine until you woke up at 11pm, struggling to breath.  I held you for an hour trying to get you back to sleep.  I took you into the bathroom with hot water on in the shower (steam) to try to clear your congestion....that didn't work.  Then I tried cool air instead...nope.  Tried the humidifier (which had been running in your room all night already)...nope.  I was out of options and could see your little chest sinking in further with every breath.  I knew you weren't doing well.  I ended up calling a friend to come to the house and stay with Hannah while I took you to the ER.  After a breathing treatment and an oral steroid (and a Tylenol suppository for your 102 fever), the doctor was still not seeing enough progress, so they admitted us for overnight observation.  You were diagnosed with croup which really is not a big deal, but since you are still so little they were being extra cautious.  I held you in my arms the entire night and the following day because anytime I tried to lay you down, you were a mess.  I didn't mind all the extra snuggles though.  I stayed up all night and day (38 hours in total) just to be sure you were okay.  Overall it was probably an unnecessary trip to the ER, but when it comes to you and your sister, I will always air on the side of caution.

We finished out this crazy month with a trip to MeMaw and PaPaw's house in Florida.  It was your first trip to their house and your longest car ride yet (7.5 hours).  You did great!  You slept most of the way down and back and only had one minor meltdown when we were just 5 minutes away from MeMaw and PaPaw's house on the way down.  The highlight of the trip was your first Thanksgiving, when you met two of your great-grandmas...Maga (Great-Grandma Hunsinger) and Great-Grandma Schaefer.

Our schedule this month started stretching out a little bit, with 60-90 minute wake times.  You were eating every 3-3.5 hours and napping for 1.5-2 hours after the first three feedings of the day.  We completely dropped the 4th nap and you are awake from around 4pm until bedtime at 7pm.  For the majority of the month you were nursing 1-2 times in the middle of the night, but by the end of the month you had a couple nights where I was able to hold you off until your first morning feeding...so 11-12 hours with no feedings!  YEAH!  Hopefully this trend will continue.  You continue to be a speed eater, averaging just 5 minutes per feeding (one side only) and 30-40 minutes total for the day. 

5 Month Stats
- Diapers: Size 3
- Clothes: 6 & 9 months
- Shoes: Size 1 or 2
- Weight: 16 lbs. 5 oz.
- Height: 26"

Squishy, I sure do love you!  I love your laid back personality and the joy you exude to everyone around you.  I love that you are in no hurry to learn more skills because neither am I.  I want you to be my little baby forever!  Promise?  You are such a bright light in our lives and we love you more than you will ever know!

Hannah: 32 Months

Hannah Banana,

Wow! What a crazy month we have had! We spent the month dealing with more sickness, celebrating Fall and Halloween, starting ballet lessons, voting in the presidential election, and just having fun!

This month started with yet another runny nose for you! :-(. I tried a natural cold remedy that I found online (1T honey mixed with 1t cinnamon four times per day) but I honestly didn't notice much difference. Thankfully you are not usually bothered by a cold and still have a ton of energy and are just as happy as can be. You did have to miss one day of school this month because of all the snot though. :-(. At the end of the month I also noticed a rash on hour cheeks, chest and arms. It lasted for just two days and didn't bother you at all, so not sure what it was....possibly fifths disease or a reaction to a new pair of pjs you wore. Who knows!? During Emma's 4 month check up I also mentioned to the doctor that you are still walking on your tippy toes. She checked the range of motion in your feet and referred us for a physical therapy evaluation at the local children's hospital. We will make that appointment soon.

We took our annual trip to Cagles Family Farm to take pictures in the pumpkin patch and kick off the Fall season. You spent most of the time on the bouncy pillow thing and we had to literally pull you off of it to head home. You would have jumped for hours if we had let you! You were also a big fan of the pumpkin bread we had there for snack. ;-). The next day we went to the pumpkin patch at the church behind our house. Since both you and your sister started melting down the day before at the farm, we weren't able to purchase pumpkins there, so we picked them out at the church. We picked a big one and two little ones (one for you and one for Emma).

I tried to plan several fun at home activities this month. The first was building a pillow tower, which gave you hours of fun. You loved climbing on it and falling off. Lots of giggles and smiles despite feeling sick that day. We also made a sock puppet which you were in love with for several days! You held me hostage for the entire first day saying, "Talk to Hannah" and showing the puppet all of your toys. You also surprised me this month when I realized that you know nearly all the letters of the alphabet now. It had been a while since I "tested" you on them and you knew all but 5 or 6.

Naps were hit or miss this month, with days of napping vs. days of not napping being 50/50. We also noticed a dramatic decrease in your appetite this month. You eat very little at every meal and waste so much food unless it is a "snack", which you seem to have no problem eating! The few foods that you did like this month were feta cheese, watermelon, "oakie milk" (oatmeal), salmon, grilled cheese, candy, sweet potatoes, broccoli, pasta, meatballs, and cheese in general. One of my favorite quotes from this month was after I had a very rough night with Emma and I told you I needed a nap. You said, "Lets go eat. It will make you feel better Mommy." Haha. More of your other favorite quotes this month were, "Mommy, how does your neck feel?" (I have been going to the chiropractor for a while now because of my chronic neck pain), "Oh yeah", and calling me "Momma". Your go-to prayer at bedtime is "Heavenly Father, thank you Jesus for this wonderful day. Thank you for protecting us and making me feel better. Amen."

Your favorite things this month were the moon (when you see it you get so excited and say "hi moon"), going to the "toy store" (any toy that has toys...but you are so good because you never ask us to buy anything and when it's time to go you simply put the toys back and walk away with no problem), your pink lovie (you carry it around everywhere with you in the house but we have a rule that it has to stay in the house or in the car), when mommy talks for Emma to you ("hi sissy"), the song "Children of The Lord", when daddy does "roll the baby" in the towel after a bath, and singing yourself to sleep at bedtime and nap time. One of your least favorite things this month was washing your hair at bath time because of your fear of getting water in your ears. :-(.

We celebrated Halloween in a few ways this year. Our first activity was trunk or treat at your school. You dressed as a princess in one of mommy's old ballet tutus and a crown...so cute! Next was your halloween party at school. When mommy got to the school for your party I saw your class walking down the hallway and you were the line leader for the day! So cute! Our final celebration was on halloween when we went trick or treating with your friend Anne in her neighborhood. You dressed up as Little Bea from your favorite bedtime story because my was way too cold for your princess costume that night! For the first few houses you were very timid but after you realized what was happening, you had a blast and didn't want to stop! You also had a major obsession with our neighbor's blow up pumpkin. You would ask several times each day to "see that man's pumpin" and always laughed at the witch that sticks out of it.

We had your first parent/teacher conference this month at school. It was surreal to be on the parent side of a conference! The teacher pointed out that you are very attached to your friend Hannah and that you really don't play with anyone else. That made me a little sad because I want you to be confident enough to be your own person and not be a follower! But I also realize that not everyone can be a leader or should be. We will just have to be very mindful of the friendships that you keep as you get older as you will likely be very influenced by others! Speaking of friends...you had a very hard time sharing with your friend, Anne this month. She came over for dinner one night with her parents and you spent more than half the night throwing a fit over every single thing she touched. I hope it was just a combination of you being tired from no nap that day and the time change, but whatever it was, I definitely did not like it!

One of mommy's dreams came true this month when you started ballet lessons! Mommy took dance lessons for 15 years and absolutely loved dancing, so when I found out that I was going to be a mommy to a little girl I was beyond excited to pass on my love of dancing. Your first class on on October 29. We went to the local ballet store to buy your first leotard, tights and ballet shoes and you were so excited to be a ballerina! Your first class was a success and you loved getting to dress up as Snow White (each week you will dress up as a different character from a story). You dressed up as Sleeping Beauty in your second class and learned first position.

You came with mommy when I voted in the presidential election and really liked it. However, the only reason you liked it was because it meant that you got to play on the playground at the church (our polling place) after I finished and they gave you an "I voted" sticker. ;-). When I told you that our candidate didn't win (the next day) you said, "Awww, maybe next time." :-)

Other 32 month stats:
-You wear 3T and 4T clothes (size 4-6 leotard and size small tights)
-You wear size 8.5 shoes (size 9 ballet shoes)
-You wear size 6 diapers

Hannah Banana, you make me laugh. I love your sense of humor and the joy you bring us is immeasurable! We love you more than you'll ever know!

Emma: 4 Months

Sweet girl,

I don't know how you've done it, but you have made me fall even more in love with you!  4 months is  by far my favorite age with you (so far) :-).  This month has been a busy one and one of limited sleep, but despite that it has been wonderful.

 

Here's what you were up to each week of your fourth month of life:

Week 15 (September 28-October 4)

 

• Diaper size: 2, Clothes size: 3 months and 6 months
• We took you on your first trip this week!  In the middle of this week we took a trip to Panama City, FL to visit Grandma and Grandpa Vaccaro.  Aunt Julie was there and you got to meet Uncle Chris for the first time!  The drive down was okay, but you only slept for 40 minutes (2 twenty minute cat naps).  You did much better on the way home, taking two 1 hour naps!  A champion in the car seat, rarely fussing.  Such a good girl!
• Unfortunately this is the week your nighttime sleep started going downhill.  You were only eating 1-2 times in the night, but I was having to replace your paci anywhere from 1-4 times in the night.  Exhausting!

Week 16 (October 5-11)

• Diaper size: 3 (only because we ran out of size 2's), Clothes size: 3 and 6 months (mostly 6)
• The first half of this week we were still in Panama City.  Your naps were great while we were there, but nights were rough!
• This week you started "talking" a lot more with high pitched "ooos" and "ahhhs"
• Nights were rough all week, probably a result of travelling.  And naps were hit or miss once we were home.  Always takes some time to get back on track after a trip with kids.
• I weighed you near the end of this week and you were 15lbs!
• You are now starting to grasp toys more easily.
• This week you really started to drool!  
• Your eyes have been very goopey/runny for the past week or more...definitely something to talk to the pediatrician about.

Week 17 (October 12-18)

• Diaper size: 3, Clothes size: 6 months (packed up all the 3 months stuff!)
• This was a week of firsts - your first trip to a pumpkin patch (Cagle's Family Farm), your first trip to the playground behind our house (and their pumpkin patch), and your first time in the doorway jumper.
• By mid-week you had a few good nights of sleep (one night you went 8 hours with only one paci insert) compared to where we were last week.
• You were constantly blowing out your diapers this week....so much poop!
• You continued to "talk" a lot this week!
• You had your second cold this week.  Hannah is picking up so many germs at preschool and bringing them home for all of us.  You had a runny nose and lots of sneezes.  Your sleep was very off (short naps resulting in lots of snacking all day).  
• You continue to nurse on only one side per feeding, for 5-7 minutes total.  Hard to believe how big you are despite nursing for such a short amount of time!  Mommy must have super milk! :-)

Week 18 (October 19-25)

• You turned 4 months old in the middle of this week!
• We had your 4 month check up this week.  You were 15lbs. 3 oz. and 26" long.  Everything looked good!  I told her about your rough nights and she suggested that it might be time to let you cry it out.  Boo!  I was really hoping to avoid that!  You were given two vaccines at the appointment (Prevnar and Rotavirus) and you were not happy about those. :-(. You had a slight fever and were out of sorts for a few days afterward.  Poor thing!  The only good result of the shots was the 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep you did that night.
• Diaper size: 3, Clothes size: 6 months
• Naps were hit or miss this week.  Some days were great and some were awful!
• We had a horrible week of nighttime sleep this week. :-(. You were up to eat anywhere from 1-3 times each night, with the majority being 2-3.  Ugh!  The paci didn't help to get you back to sleep and neither did rocking or walking or bouncing.  So I was forced to feed you every time you woke.  Not fun, but at least it put you back to sleep every time.
• One night this week we had a little nighttime scare.  I heard you fussing around 2:30am but it never escalated, so I just dozed off again and let you work it out since I had fed you less than 3 hours earlier.  After a little while (not sure how long because I didn't look at the clock) I felt like it had been going on long enough so I checked on you on he video monitor.  I saw your little feet facing the camera and you were on your back (I put you down facing the camera on your tummy, so you had flipped over and turned 180 degrees.). I went in to flip you back over and found the blanket over your head!  It scared me to death!  Thankfully it was a crocheted blanket with large holes in it, but it still scared me!  I rolled you back over and put the paci in, fully expecting you to need a feeding to get back to sleep, but you fell right back to sleep.  Poor baby...you were probably exhausted from trying to escape.  :-(
• You are so close to rolling from your back to your belly!  You rolled from your belly to your back several times this week in your crib.
• Your eyes are still goopey and crusty, but the doctor said that it is just a result of your clogged tear ducts and there really was no need to treat them.  The ducts will grow as you grow and the clogging will improve.

Your schedule this month was the same as last.  You were on a three hour nursing schedule with a 60-70 minute waketime after each feeding, followed by a 1.5-2 hour nap after the first three feedings and a short cat nap after the fourth feeding.  By the end of this month we started trying to drop the 4th nap and just keeping you awake after the 4pm (ish) feeding until bedtime around 7pm.

4 Month Stats

- Diapers: Size 3

- Clothes: 6 months

- Shoes: Size 1, I think...but you only wore them at the beginning of the month, so not sure

- Weight: 15 lbs. 3 oz.

- Height: 26"

We love you sweet, sweet girl!  You are truly such a joy!  Despite very little sleep this month, you continue to be such a happy baby and so easy going.  We couldn't imagine our lives without you and are so thankful for God's amazing blessing of you!  We love you all the way to the moon and back (that's a lot of love!!)

Hannah: 31 Months

"Little" Peanut,

Not so little anymore, but as I always tell you, you will always be my baby! Another month has sped by and we are gearing up for a crazy time of year with Halloween, Thanksgiving and then Christmas! It will be 2013 before we know it! Speaking of Halloween, we pulled out all our fall decorations this month and you have two new favorite toys now! Grandma's friend, Mrs. Lori, gave us two large stuffed animals (as talk as you). One is a black cat and the other is a ghost. You love them and play with them every single day. You are constantly giving them hugs and carrying them around the house. So cute!

This month was full of sickness, family and cooler temperatures. At the beginning of this month Uncle Brent and Aunt Lauren came to visit and meet Emma for the fist time and MeMaw and PaPaw came too. It was great to see everyone and you loved all the attention! At the end of the month we took our first trip as a family of four to Panama City, FL to visit Grandma and Grandpa. Uncle Chris came down to meet Emma for the first time and Aunt Julie came home too. We spent a full week down there which was great. You did a great job on the ride down and back (thanks to the portable DVD player!). The four of us slept in the same room while we were there and that proved to be very difficult. You, my dear, are not easy to sleep next to! You snore louder than most grown men! It's intense. Mommy didn't get much sleep that week and decided that I simply cannot sleep in the same room with you. We will have to figure something out for our next visit. But thankfully you did do a wonderful job sleeping in the twin bed while we were there and didn't attempt to get out on your own. Still amazes me!

Preschool has continued to be a favorite activity this month. Still no tears and nothing but smiles when I drop you off and pick you up. This month we started morning carpool and you did great! The only negative part of school are all the germs you keep picking up! You just started your third cold since starting school and you've only been going for one month! Yikes! At the beginning of this month you had your second cold which turned into croup. You gave us a major scare one night when you woke up in the middle of the night gagging and choking with the croupy cough. Thankfully that was the worst of it and it went away after a few more days.

One of my favorite things you have learned since starting school is the prayer you sing before snack time..."Father thank you, Father thank you, for our food, for our food." It's precious! You also have learned "prayer hands" which I love.

Naps have been great this month! You have actually been sleeping for almost a full hour everyday! AMAZING! I realize that many toddlers sleep for much longer every day with no issue but for you, this is a big deal! A solid hour without screaming is amazing. I really think your 'okay to wake' clock is working and I'm thrilled. Of course all the sleeping could also be attributed to the many sicknesses your little body has been fighting this month. (Thank you preschool!)

Baby dolls continue to be a favorite toy as well as little people and other small animal figurines. Your baby dolls are constantly using the potty and wearing your big girl panties, but you refuse to do the same. You would think that as often as you talk about the potty that you would want to use it...nope! We had a few random moments this month when you wanted to wear panties so I let you. However you continue to be scared to actually use the potty so you end up holding it for as long as possible. But one time this month you did actually pee in the potty! This was a big deal for you and I was so proud of you. It took a lot of back and forth and you weren't eager, but you did it and did it all by yourself! I was feeding Emma so I couldn't help you. You kept running back and forth to tell me that you had gone when actually you hadn't. But then you finally did. To help you not be afraid I had put a cloth diaper in the bottom of your little potty and told you that you could sit on the potty and pee in your diaper. Tricky, right?! :-). While it worked for that one instance you were no longer interested the following day and I didn't push it. You will get there on your own and if not I will force the issue next summer. We have stopped all talk about the potty with you and have let you take the lead completely. So any little bit of interest is exciting to me.

This month your fear of bugs really started showing. That apple didn't fall far! Mommy and Daddy aren't big fans either. According to you, all bugs are called bees and when you see one (no matter how small) you freak out. Silly girl! Another quirk that started to show this month is how much you hate having your hands dirty. One day this month you had a complete meltdown at lunch when you were eating a PBJ and your hands were messy. Yikes!

This month we started doing formal time outs with you. Pretty amazing that we have never needed to do them before now. You truly are so well behaved! Unfortunately the time outs did not work very well as you seemed to really enjoy them. After a few days you started trying to get sent to time out. You would do something wrong, like pulling on Emma's arm, and then look at me and say, "I need to go to time out." Stinker! I think it was just the novelty of something new along with the timer that we used during timeout. We often found you sitting on the steps playing with the little egg timer and if we asked you what you were doing you would tell us that you were in time out. So silly. Needless to say, we didn't end up using time out very much this month. For the most part, we are able to discipline you just by talking to you (your communication skills are above and beyond the typical two year olds) or by giving you a spanking when needed.

Your latest silly saying is, "What's the big idea?" We have daddy to thank for teaching this to you. But I have to say that it's pretty adorable!

One thing that you really struggled with this month was sharing with your sister. I fear that this is only going to get harder as she gets more interactive, but we will see. Anytime I try to put Emma in the swing, bouncy seat, exert saucer, etc. you run to grab your baby doll and try to put her in before infer Emma in. When I tell you no you have a complete meltdown. You even try to pull Emma out of whatever I have out her in which is certainly not nice! Thankfully you have gotten a little better with this as the month progressed but it is definitely something we are still working on.

Favorite foods this month were hard-boiled eggs, nuts, bread (not toast) with almond butter, raspberries, baby bell cheese, crackers, squeezy pouches (puréed fruit and veggies), applesauce, sugar snap peas, and cottage cheese. I also made you your first almond butter and banana sandwich which you loved.

Other 31 month stats:
-You wear 3T and 4T clothes
-You wear size 8-8.5 shoes
-You wear size 5 or 6 diapers (6 at night for sure!)
-You weigh 33 pounds and are 37.5" tall (90th percentile)

Little peanut, I love you! You are so special and bring us so much joy! We thank God for you every day and are so proud to call you daughter!