Wednesday, September 24, 2014

11 Months for Little e

Another month closer to the big milestone bday.  You are becoming such a little person.  You have all sorts of opinions about what you like (stuffed animals, fruits, touching everything) and what you don't like (veggies, diaper changes, walking).  You sign the word "more" for everything...you use to let us know that you want something...food, toys, something you see.  Although you've started using push toys to "walk", you have little interest in actually walking.  You can cruise around furniture and use the extra "standing" height when needed, but crawling is your preferred mode of transportation.  If Daddy holds your hands and encourages you to "walk", you buckle at the knees and cry a most miserable wale.  It appears you are a pretty strong willed person.

You are now completely formula fed.  It seems to be a good thing for all of us.  You are consistently sleeping from 8pm to 7am with two solids naps (one in the morning and one in the afternoon).  You are pretty easy going though if we miss a nap.  Your patience it still appreciated for the times when we just can't meet your needs first.

As for food, your 5 little teeth help crunch through most things.  But you don't seem all that motivated by food.  You tend to be indifferent at meal times.  You definitely are picky about what you eat.  You are up for trying new foods but prefer the sweets.  And never seem to melt down due to food.

In addition to the baby sign more, there are other ones that are starting to appear.  The most recent is milk.  All the other signs (dog, milk, all done, fan and light) are more situational than your use of "more".  You can tell that the use of "more" is your first way to communicate your needs and wants.  Speaking of signing, we have started the third round of baby signing class.  It is the one time a week that you are around little people your size.  We sing and play with toys.  You like crawling all around the room (visiting different parts and people) and you like the singing.  You play well with others and seem to enjoy the company.

You share your affection and are good about giving kisses to those you love.  You seem to also include all animals among your most loved.  Whether they are stuffed, real or on TV, you squeal with delight when there's an animal around.  The stuffed kind seem most open to your affections.  When you receive an stuffed animal, you immediately reach around the neck and give the biggest squeeze and then with such excitement, you kiss their little faces.  You have favorites (horse, bunny and monkey) but all animals are accepted.

Your hair is just reaching into your eyes so I've started the search for a way to manage the bangs while your hair grows out.  Clips don't last long.  They are quickly pulled out and chewed on.  I've started to make a little pony tail that sits on the top of your head with the little plastic hair bands.  But in fits of frustration, those come out too.

Your eyes seem to be slowly reaching a hazel of some sort.  And your hair maintains a strawberry blond color.  You still seem like a robust size, although we won't know how much so until the one year visit.



Monday, September 8, 2014

Ellie's 4 Years Big

After months of asking if you were four, you have officially reached the day!  You are four and a big four at that.  You are wearing size 7 tops and size 6 bottoms.  You are almost 50lbs and a size 11 shoe.

You are all girl now.  There's no more round little toddler tummy.  On certain days, your lean, mean tummy looks six packish.  Your legs have "prickly" hair (in your words) all over.  You recently received a "hockey tooth" from a swing.  We cut your long, thick hair to shoulder length to overcome daily arguments about getting your hair brushed.  You love having your nails painted (each a different color). 

Parenting victories this year include de-pacifiering, fully potty trained, reducing the obsession with milk (only 2 cups at bedtime), you have been sleeping through the night for a month now (!) and introducing a sibling without going to the crazy house (came close though). Your food habits are no better than last year though.  You would much prefer dairy and breads to fruits and veggies and meats.

Speaking of a sibling.  You love Eva (and are soooo excited for her to play with you) and she ADORES you.  She wants to be near you and wants your acknowledgement all the time.  It was a hard transition though.  Who knows what begot what but we struggled with defiance (we thought 2 was bad...three was way harder) for months this year.  But with lots of good counsel and reading and trial and error, we seem to have found a good place for our family.  We all seem much happier and having so much more fun these days.

Your comprehension of the world continues to astound us.  We have to watch what we say and how we say things.  You can pick on the context of conversation and apply it to your own dialogue.  You continue to love figuring out how things work.  We spent much of August traveling around Michigan doing all sorts of things (zoo, festivals, air show, etc.)  But your favorite visit, by far, was to the Ford Rouge car factory.  You loved all the machines working to assemble the various parts of the F-150 truck.  You loved the conveyors running over head.  You asked really good questions about why things were they way they are.  You ran from one section to the next out of shear excitement and curiosity of what would come next.  We laughed with glee since it's something we love too.  We came home and introduced you to the "How it's made" TV show and you watched for hours as they show how each thing comes together.

You and your Daddy bonded in a way that was very sweet this year.  You two have always been close but with Eva's arrival and my nursing duty, I just wasn't available in the same way.  I do get jealous because most of the time your response is "I want Daddy to do it".  But I'm grateful that you have such a great male role model.  I hope you end up with someone as special and amazing as your Dad.

At school, you have found your stride at Community Daycare.  They love you and you love them.  They tell us how well you play with everyone.  Boys, girls, older kids, younger kids, everyone.  It doesn't surprise us.  You love people.  You love talking to anyone and everyone.  Our neighbor goes for a walk twice a day, you love watching for her and running to the door screaming "Hi, Alice!" sometimes (with or without all pieces of clothing).  I think your warmth endears you to adults...you are refreshingly loving to all.

Don't get me wrong, you are all preschooler too.  Not always the sweetest person.  You can be a big handful when you are hungry or tired.  You will not budge if you don't want to....for anyone or anything.  Daddy and I have become much smarter about when and how to pick our battles.  You can melt down with the best of them.  Daddy and I recorded you saying " I don't want to" for at least 5 minutes through screams and tears recently.  Yes, you are all child too.

My hopes for this upcoming year include, more bonding as a family unit (I want to get rid of Mommy/Eva and Daddy/Ellie divides), get us all to a place where we eat the same dinner (overcome the food controlling stuff), continue to build your relationship with Eva (siblings are some of our most important friends) and prepare you for beginner-garten next year (we've already decided that we're going to wait for kindergarten, deferring a year, since you're a bubble kid).

I love who you are becoming and am trying so hard to remember "the days might be long, but the years are so short".

All My Love, Mommy





Monday, September 1, 2014

10 Months and Counting for Eva Gail

It's been a busy month of vacationing.  We've been here there and everywhere in Michigan exploring all sorts of fun places.  Connecting and reconnecting as a family of four.  All the while, Eva continued her march to toddlerhood.  She's signing multiple words, got 2 more teeth (for a total of 4), started pulling up to standing, learned to clap, play games, follow simple commands and verbalize her sounds (ma, ba, da).  We don't have a dr's appt this month but from the look of it, she's leaning out. 

Sleep has graced our house after such a long time away.  Eva's down to one wakeup and will go all through the night if the conditions are just right.  So we are a much happier set of parents.

We also learned that she loves, loves, loves animals.  She squeals with absolute delight when she sees one close by.  Her favorite seems to be dogs (she'll excitedly sign dog if you watch closely).  If you give her a stuffed toy animal, she'll bury her face in it and will squeeze it nice and tight.  It's a sweet personality trait developing.

With all the time we've spent together, Eva and Braden have strengthened their bond.  Plus, I'm only nursing once a day so she's being fed equally by me and Braden.  She's still more likely to come to me but she's also starting to seek comfort and playtime with Daddy.
 
Ellie and Eva also created their first game.  They bounce on a bed taking turns flopping on pillows.  They both laugh and laugh and are really patient with each other.  Eva started clapping the first time they played the game.