17 months

Note:I wrote this on her actual 17 month birthday, but forgot to post it.

It totally blows my mind, that in one month, Emily will be celebrating a half birthday! Time is flying by so fast! Emily is a sponge these days. She really listens to everything you say and is really absorbing it. She has learned a ton! We have had a rough week or so. Emily was sent home with a high fever last week. She was still acting super happy, but at one point her fever peaked at 103.4, which worried me. We took her to the doctor and it turned our that she had strep. Great. It took about 3 more days before her fever really broke. During that time, we snuggled a lot. She got a little spoiled because I was worried so much about her high fever, that I let her sleep with us. She really liked sharing my pillow with me and its seriously shocking that I didn't get strep myself because she literally was breathing directly in my face every night for 4 nights. As if that wasn't bad enough, the amoxicillian the doctor prescribed really upset Emily's tummy and without sharing too much, we have had some serious poopage in our house. Takes me back to the newborn days a little bit. She has been in the best mood though through it all.

This month:
*Emily seems to be growing. She is able to climb on things a little easier, which is hopefully a sign that she is getting taller. When we weighed her at the Urgent Care last week, she was still only around 21 lbs though. We are a little anxious to see how her 18 month appointment goes.

*She is still wearing size 3 diapers, but I think we are going to make the move to 4s when we run out. She's at the point where either would work, but the 4's may be a little more comfortable.

*She is still in 12 month pants, but they are getting short, so I will have to buy a size up soon and she's in 18 month shirts and size 4 shoes.

*Her hair is getting so long! I am not sure if I am going to let her bangs grow out, or if I should cut them. Some days she loves for her hair to be put up in pretties and sometimes she doesn't.

*Emily has mastered the tantrum this month. If things don't go her way, tantrum city. We do our best not to let her think that is ok, but sometimes it's not worth the battle to give in. It's definitely a balancing act.

*Emily loves to be outside. She could stay out there all day if I let her. We had a cold front come in, and Spring in NM=wind, so we are really looking forward to warmer, less windy days. I am thinking of getting her a little slide because she LOVES the one at school.

*This month Emily learned all about animals and their different sounds. She knows elephant, horse, dog, cat, bunny, sheep, chicken, duck. There are probably more that I don't know about. Her elephant impersonation is the best. I will have to get it on video. You can ask her what sounds each animal makes and she will tell you and if she sees them on TV, she will just start yelling out what their are and their noise.

*She also learned to say yes this month, well more like Ya!, but we will take it. At first she would say ya, to any question, but she is starting to get really good at understanding the difference between yes and no. This is huge for us. It is so nice to be able to ask Emily if she wants something and for her to say yes or no. Her communication skills are really developing these days, which has made it easier on both Emily and us.

*Emily for the most part is a good eater. I find that we offer her the same foods all the time, so I am working on variety. We struggle with vegetables, that is for sure, but it is getting better.

*Emily seriously amazes us every night with the words she learned during the day. Words we didn't even think she would be able to say! Like last night I was making dinner and she was watching me and she pointed and said "Broccoli". Clear as day. Sure enough, we were eating broccoli. She also knows hot and will let us know something is hot by saying and signing it.

*We are really working on saying Thank you and no thank you. She knows how to say both, and understands, but we really want to start teaching manners at a young age. This is important to us.

*She calls all the grandpas in her life Papa. It warms my heart. I wish she said it to them as much as she says it to us. She will see a picture of Paul, Robert or Larry and proudly announce, PAPA! She calls my mom Nani, and we are working on grandma for Sean's mom. We show her lots of pictures of her Aunts and Uncles and are working on all their names. For now, if you ask her to point to Aunt Koley, Aunt Rebecca, Uncle Rich, Aunt Jenn or Uncle Dan she will.

*I can't even tell you all the words this kid knows now. It's crazy. And she is really starting to do well at putting 2 words together.

*Recently Emily has become more attached to her "banket" and "mammy." (Any receiving blanket and Lamby of course). She also loves pillow pets to sleep on. She is so funny, she takes either the edge of her blanket, Lamby's arm, leg or ear, or the fur on her pillow pet, and she rubs it on the tip of her nose for comfort.

*Speaking of being attached to Lamby, she has become quite the mommy to him. She feeds him, gives him "mult-k" (milk), puts him down for nigh-nigh with a blanket, rubs his back, sings to him, and rubs his back. It is seriously the cutest thing you've ever seen.

*Em has mastered the spoon, although sometimes she just thinks her fist works better. It's still messy, but at least she gets the idea. She also is getting pretty good at eating with a fork. She eats with her left hand, which always makes me wonder if she will be a lefty, but I think I read somewhere that they don't develop a hand association until they are like 3 or 4, so who knows.

That's all I can think of for this month! I need to be better about updating more often and I am sure I will think of more.

Happy Easter!

We had a really nice day today celebrating Easter as a family. We "hid" some eggs for Emmy in my moms back yard, but I don't think Em really got it. She seemed to have fun playing with the eggs though and seeing what was inside. It was really cold today so we had to put leggings and a sweater on with her adorable little dress. She didn't get much of a nap and she still had a great day! Here are some pictures. She loves to say cheese and smile at the camera. Love!

Tulsa Pictures

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16 months

It seriously amazes me how much Emily has learned this month. She probably knows at least 40-50 word uses them consistently. She is still itty bitty. She was not feeling good last week so I took her in for a check up and she gained almost a pound (20 lbs. 15 oz) in a month, so that is good. Here is what else she is up to

In the last month she has:
*Learned all the parts of her body (eyes, nose, ears, mouth, tongue, fingers, toes, hair, knees and elbows) and will point them out if you ask.
*Started learning animals and their sounds. She can mimic a dog, cat, cow, chicken and elephant (this one is her favorite and she has hand motions to it)
*She finally will refer to Bodhi by his name and not call him Abby. She also talks about Kiki constantly
*New words this month are -thank you, apple (can also sign), banana (bana), Papa, Bodhi, Lamby (mammy), Auntie, blanket (banket), bubble, mine (my), outside (ou-si), book (can also sign), cheerio (more like shherio and she can sign it), shoes, milk, pig, hot-dog (Mickey Mouse) and Elmo. Her vocabulary seriously is amazing. I know she knows more but I keep forgetting to write them down.
*She consistently signs more, milk, please, apple, cheerio, dog, eat, water, book and all done.
*She calls Zig and I Daddy and Mommy consistently. If she sees a picture of her self, she says baby.
*Speaking of babies. She loves them. Doll and real life. She likes to push her dolls in a stroller and she will rock them and give them kisses.
*She calls the grandpas Papa and my mom Nonnie. We are working on Grandma.
*She runs everywhere and has started tippy toeing.
*She has a stool that she uses to get on the couch, and she can lift and move it to where ever she wants to climb.
*She laughs constantly about silly little things.
*She holds hands with her friends at school.
*She is really starting to love reading books, especially before bed.
*She gives kisses and hugs.
*She is still rear facing and we are sticking to it as long as possible. I was really excited this month when the AAP released a press release updating their recommendation of rear facing for a year and bumping it up to 2. Again, it's not a milestone I am rushing and Emily seems just fine rear facing.
*Says cheese and will give you a big cheesy toothy grin.
*She likes to help get ready in the morning by helping put on her socks and shoes and brushing her hair.
*My favorite, if we tell her shhh, she will put her finger to her mouth and shhh us back. She also tries to blow the bubbles by herself and has a toy pinwheel that she will try and blow on too.

The biggest thing we worked on this week was breaking the pacifier. She was never "dependant" on it and hasn't napped with one at school for at least the last 5 or months. She really only used it at bed or nap time at home and if she was not feeling well. The first night she whined and cried for about 20 mins off and on and we checked on her every 10 mins. The second night, it was more like 15, and then we dropped to 5. Now she is totally fine. It's weird because she seemed to have a harder time with the naps than bed time. We started last Thursday night and tonight she talked to her self for a little bit before falling asleep but she never cried. Woot! It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

I love this little girl more and more each day and I never even thought that could be possible. I am just so proud of the little lady she is becoming. She truly warms my heart!

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Semi-wordless Wednesday

I have a big catch up post coming up. March has been a super crazy month for us. Between flying to Tusla to see the Heggems, a bachlorette party, our cousin's wedding and then my sister's, we are beat! But we have lots of fun memories to share. Stay tuned! For now, I leave you with this little bit of cuteness!