Princess is 18 months old!

Squeezing out lime juice

Dear Princess,

You are now 18 months old! Everyday you bring smiles to our faces and fill our home with love and joy. You are a very happy girl, love to learn, funny, love to dance, and enjoy playing with your brother as well as taking things from him and running away!

You 18 month check-up went very well. You are ahead intellectually and physically. You don't have any signs of learning problems which is a big blessing. You can almost jump on both feet from the ground. You enjoy climbing on things and rocking. You are getting faster at running. And now you like me fixing your hair in pig tails. Also when we get a camera out to take your picture, you immediately smile! You always look so cute!

Here are your biometrics: 

32 inches long

23 lbs, 9 oz weight

47 cm head

You are in the 50-75% for height and weight. Just perfect!

You love books and we read to you often and you have picked up on lots of letters. The other morning we were sitting at the table in the kitchen and a box of LIFE cereal was on the table. You pointed to the "I" and said, "i!" I said that's right. Then you pointed to the "e" and said, "e." Then pointed to the other letters. I asked you where the F was and the L was and you pointed to the correct letter. Although you are unable to say all of the letter sounds perfectly yet, you know a very good amount. You love playing with your Little People Zoo and can match all of the animals with their beginning letters. You also love baby dolls and like to pretend to feed them and give them drinks. You love animals and being outside. We have some bunnies that live in the backyard and you love to call them "bop bop bunnies." At night when we read as a family, after Blue Rock reads a book, you sometimes will insist on reading a book too. You'll grab one and babble along as if you're really reading it. It is so cute! You also love to wave to animals in life and in books and say in the sweetest voice ever, "hi!" You'll also point to things in books and say, "hold, hold." Meaning you want to hold the thing pictured and you'll hold your hands out to hold it. It's adorable! You are a excellent eater and love eating a wide variety of things. You also still nurse 1-3 days a day. You are super healthy and very loved! You are going to make a great big sister!

One more story. You love music and dancing. You have several toys that play songs. You love pushing the buttons to play a song and will dance around the room to the music. If I'm in the room, you'll come grab my hand to dance with you. It is so precious!

Love,
Mom

Favorite Little People Zoo Animal Game/Toy

You love your big brother!

Reading together

Sitting in big brother's chair in the van

4th of July!

This past weekend was our country's birthday. It's such a blessing to live in a free country. We were invited to a few events and planned to take the kids to see some fireworks. Princess has been going to bed way later than she should be so we knew she'd be awake to see them. She also took a 3.5 hour nap earlier. This was her first year to watch them and Blue Rock's second. He used to be in bed before the show happened. 

We started our evening at my brother and sister-in-law's house. The guys went swimming before dinner. My brother and dad cooked out. I stayed inside most of the time since this heat is getting hard on me.

After spending several hours with family we went to a new church friend's house in the country where they shoot off fireworks every year. They said they have a party every 4th of July and so we might make it a tradition. Visiting them and seeing their property made my husband and I want to really move to the country. The kids had so much fun running around, watching the fireworks, holding sparklers, and playing.

We didn't get home until 11pm and we still managed to make it to first service Sunday morning. Happy 4th of July everyone! 

Here are a few pictures. it's hard to get a good picture of everyone. You can see my growing belly!

Big Girl Room!

A few weeks ago we bought Princess some big girl's furniture! Over a month ago we moved her crib out and started letting her sleep in a big girl bed! We moved the nursery furniture to our guest room to prepare that room for the baby and have transitioned her to a big girl toddler-like bed. It's low to the ground and the mattress comes in three parts. When it's all together it's the size of a twin bed. Her furniture is huge compared to her little size but we love her room and she does too!

Some have asked how she's transitioned. Overall good. She only attempted to sleep in her crib at night 3 times. So she wasn't used to sleeping in her room except for naps. She was also used to sleeping in a normal bed, so that has helped. She still wakes up about once a night but is doing better unless she rolls off her bed. Poor thing! She loves climbing into her bed and it's easier for me to put her in her big girl bed than over a crib.

Here are some before and after pictures.

NURSERY:

BIG GIRL ROOM:

CONSTRUCTING HER NEW FURNITURE:

Didn't she do great?! I just realized Collin has the other pictures on his phone. Oh well, I thought these were really cute of her. 

Princess is 15 months!

Dear Princess,

You are now 15 months old! The time is going much faster than I want! Although I am enjoying watching you learn and grow everyday. I feel so blessed to stay home with you, care for you, and teach you. You are so much fun to be with! 

About 2 months ago you really got the hang of the animal sounds. You have seemed to always love animals and can make the sounds for cow, sheep, horse, cat, dog, chicken, goats, pigs, bunny (bop bop), and elephant. You are so cute and sweet when you say them! Your vocabulary is increasing you and know so much more than you can say! You also know most of your body parts as well. Your favorite is showing people your tongue! Your favorite word is "Mama!" I love it! 

You love picking out what to wear each day and finding which shoes you want to wear. You love trying to put your own shoes on. You like bringing me my shoes and trying to put my shoes on me. You will also bring Blue Rock his shoes. We lost one of your shoes at the grocery store one day a few weeks ago. When went back the next week and they had it in their lost in found. You were so happy and excited to get it back!

When Blue Rock does his schoolwork you love to sit at the table with us and draw or work on puzzles. Lately you've also wanted to sit right next to him but when you do you try and take his pencil away! This causes lots of frustration. You love your brother and want to do what he does and be with him most of the time. In fact, you even have a name for him. You call him, "buh buh, or Cay Cay." 

We are working on you sleeping through the night, still. You usually wake 1-2 times. I'm going to wean you soon and you are not happy about it. My milk is drying up and I think it's due to being pregnant with your little brother. You mostly drink water and breast milk and don't care yet for cow or goat's milk.

You are smart, funny, and an absolute joy to have in our family! You love dancing to music and will often dance in a circle and direct with your fingers as the music is playing. You have a lot to say and although we don't always know what you are saying you are working on your language skills. 

You are a pretty good eater. Still very independent in eating and pretty much everything else. You love fruit, - pretty much all but some favorites are watermelon, bananas, apples, kiwi, and strawberries - meat, oatmeal, green beans, and crackers the most. Also sadly French fries. I'm not too happy with who ever gave you a french fry because now when you see one that's all you want! Those are not healthy!

You sleep about 11-12 hours at night and usually take a 1-2 hour nap during the day. Your 15 month check-up went great today. You are growing and developing very well. You are 30 inches tall and 22.6 lbs. They measured your head wrong and we all forgot to get it remeasured. Your doctor said you look fantastic and are developing beautifully. We of course already knew that!

So far your second year of life has been a lot of fun. You are getting faster, can climb the stairs well, can get off the couch by your self now, and love being on the go. You've gone to sleep in your room at night 3 times now. We are transitioning you to your room and it really is bittersweet. You prefer to sleep right next to me. I love having you near me but as my pregnancy continues progressing, my belly is only going to continue to get bigger and bigger. The first night you made it until 2:30am, the second night 3am, the third night 1:30am and you were up for over 2 hours! It is an exhausting process. But will be worth it! I know you will love sleeping in your room at night soon. You have taken naps in there for months. 

You are very friendly and outgoing but prefer to have your mom or dad with you around people you don't know well. You started throwing little fits sometimes. In fact, the other day, we were in my bathroom doing something and you got upset. You were crying and starting stomping your feet. You were so cute but obviously upset about something. You love playing with other kids and smiling and waving at people as well. You also love being outside and everyday you want to look for our backyard bunny. 

We love you sweet girl!

Love,
Mom

Eating a sno cone, yours was just ice!

Playing in the playroom

Banana tree from our neighbors

First time in a bounce house

Your brother loves making a wagon for you and giving you rides

At the zoo with Opa

Swinging in the big kid swing

Helping Dad in the garden

School work time!

Silly faces!

Fun at the park

You love slides