Emi's 24 month update

This kid has kept us laughing the last few months. She has a personality that is unmistakable. She will definitely be a strong willed child, but that’s okay. She’s loving and wants to help all the time. She wants to help with the dishes and put your shoes on you if you take them off.
 She’s constantly giving kisses. Dropping her off in the mornings right now is awful because all she wants to do is hug and give kisses, which makes me hate leaving! She puts her shoes away when we get there and then comes RUNNING back to give me a hug. It’s so cute.

Her attitude is a mile high! This month she wanted Anthony to read a book. She kept handing it to him saying “read please.” He kept telling her to read it to him, and after nicely asking a few times, she slammed the book in his lap and said “read, please, NOW!”
She says “tink you” after you give her anything meaning “thank you.” It’s so sweet.

Little body/Big Attitude

She’s a stinker though. She’ll do what she wants when she wants, and she wants to do everything by herself! She’s spent countless times in time-out because she thinks she’s in charge.

I remember when she was nearly one how much she drove me crazy. She couldn’t do anything for herself, but wanted to and couldn’t express what she wanted so she screamed a lot. Now she’s talking and taken on a personality that’s all her own and it’s so fun seeing her change and learn new things. I asked her what she was doing the other day when she was playing with kitchen bowls. She said “I cook.” I think it’s crazy how she knew exactly what she was doing and we never really worked on learning that word.

We love her so much, terrible twos and all!

Weight:
24 lb 14 oz 

Height: 

35.5'  or 2' 11.5"

Percentiles:

in weight: 44%

in height 88%
weight/length combo: 12th%

Favorite Foods:

Apples and Bananas. She says  “APPLE” all the time when she’s hungry.

Banana is a word that sounds likes she’s saying “nahnahnah”. It’s not quite “nana”.

She still loves beans and rice.

She really likes pork chops, which I thought was weird.

She loves all fruit.

She loves cheese.

She loves bacon.

Least Favorite Foods:

It’s hit or miss with chicken. Some times she likes it and other times she eats everything around it, even if it’s chicken nuggets.

The veggies were a struggle this month. She’d much rather have fruit or meat than each squash or carrots.

Bedtime:

Bedtime has gotten later recently. We are still shooting for 8:00, but several days she’s not in bed until 8:30 and she talks to herself until 9:00 and later. If she’s not in her crib by 8:30 at the latest she struggles to fall asleep.

Awake:

This depends every day. Sometimes it’s as early as 6:30 and as late as 8:30. She usually tries to sleep in on the days we can’t, and on the days we can, she’s up before 7:00.
Hopefully this summer she’ll learn to love to sleep in! ;)

Clothes:

This is tricky. She’s tall, but skinny. She can still wear some 18 mo clothes, but if it’s pants they’re WAY too short!

Some 2T stuff fits like tops and dresses, but the bottoms seem to be too big.
24 months is probably best, but it’s hard to find those. I can usually find 18 mo or 2T.

Words:

Goodness… She’ll repeat anything. And by anything I mean ANYTHING!!

My favorites though are:

“hel me” which is “help me.”
"hode you" which is "hold me."

“peeease” which is “please.”

“tink oo” which is “thank you.” 

“yes am” which is “yes ma’am.”

“wuv oo” which is “love you.”

She can say all of her grandparents names.

She loves the word “happy.”

She’ll say “sissy” but not Bella.

“Mommy” changed to “mum” this last month. Apparently she’s British.

“mulk” is milk.

She’ll say “oocy” which is her friend Lucy and “eye-ee” which is Ellie.

She can also say cook, juice, daddy, no, yes, outside, bye-bye, potty, eww, diaper, shirt, shoes, socks, dog, kitty, donut, bath, play, down, eat, now, read, go, tea, ice, and I’m sure there are many more I’m forgetting right now.
She can also put together 2 and 3 word sentences. This week she stuck her butt out at me and said "Mommy I poop." haha. 

Favorites:

She likes to put things in the trash. It’s helpful sometimes, but she tries to sneak things in there when I’m not looking. I’m sure I’ll realize something is missing soon enough.

She loves to put on clothes when I’m folding, especially someone else’s panties. She’ll put on 3 and 4 layers.

She likes to do things herself like put her shoes on or pick out her cup. And forget trying to feed her. If she doesn’t do it herself, she won’t eat it!

Let's Eat!

She loves ice. I know this is a bad habit, but I have no idea how she started asking for ice.

She loves to play with her baby dolls and pretend like she’s feeding them or putting them to bed.

She loves going to the park or being outside.

She loves her motorized car she got for Christmas.

She loves trying to delay bedtime as long as possible!

She loves feeding the dogs. She puts pieces of food through the kennel when we put them up.

Latest Accomplishments:

She started using the potty since I last updated. She does really well at school, but at home it’s been a struggle! She screams like you’re killing her. But this last month we’ve had more and more successful attempts at home.

She can blow her own nose. And she thinks it’s hilarious. I gave her a rag to clean up her spilled milk the other day and she took it and blew her nose. She’ll sometimes blow it without any rag or tissue.

She spent her first 8 nights away from Mommy. She stayed with Nonni and Aunt Maggie in Burnet while we were on our cruise. She did great, but drops offs at day care became a little more sad because she didn’t want Mommy to leave. She has just started to not be so clingy after that.

Sick little girl!

Struggles this month: 

She caught several bugs this last 6 months.

She also has several boo boos because she doesn’t look when she walks

Potty training as also been a struggle although we are improving.

We NEVER sit still so taking a picture is a comedy act! The arboretum and bluebonnet pictures were a joke!

Romans 8:28

 Miscarriage. 

It's an ugly word that I get the feeling you're not supposed to talk about. I've now been on both sides. I get it.  No one knows what to say. Do you bring it up or wait for them to bring it up? Will bringing it up make it worse or better? Will it look like you don't care if you don't mention it or would they rather just hold it in? And no matter what you say or don't say it doesn't make it better. If you have cancer it would be normal to ask someone "how are you feeling today" or " how's your treatments going" or "what's the latest news from the doctor." But with a miscarriage what are you supposed to say? "How's the bleeding today?" Gross!

We found out we were expecting surprise baby #2 in October. February 26 we were supposed to have a normal first visit. I had no reason to think otherwise. No spotting. No cramping. I even told Anthony since we took a half day the day before for a builder meeting he didn't need to take off early again. Then the doctor made a strange face. The mother-to-be goody bag was taken away and she started spitting out facts, statistics, and general information. "It's normal." "1 in 3 pregnancies ends this way." "There's nothing you did or could have done." And although I know she's right there's nothing normal about how you feel in that moment or the spectrum of emotions you feel afterwards. Because I went on a Thursday we had to wait another week for the blood to confirm it. Still no symptoms to suggest she was right. 

Since I had a week to prepare myself I thought I was ok. Until the call came. Then the real emotions came. Sadness. Embarrassment. Guilt. Shame. Some rational and some irrational. 

Guilt is mostly what I've felt. Since this came as a surprise unlike Emi I wasn't immediately excited. We had a cruise planned for spring break and I wasn't going to be able to drink, get a massage, go snuba diving, sit in a sauna etc. My first vacation without Emi now involved another life. I complained and whined and rolled my eyes every time someone would mention their plans. So on the cruise every time I enjoyed a glass of wine, the sauna, a massage, I felt the pain of guilt that this was all I had really wanted to begin with. All those complaints. I know my complaining didn't cause a miscarriage. My child was loved despite my attitude. But guilt is powerful. 

Comparison is another irrational feeling. I have spent a lot of time thinking about everything different between Emi's pregnancy and this one. Some silly things and some legitimate and wondering if those caused anything. Like last time I didn't like eggs of any kind but Anthony has trained me to like eggs over easy now. I didn't realize that undercooked eggs have bacteria that can cause miscarriages. I used allergy meds because I caught a bad sinus infection. I ate the one deli meat sandwich. I helped carry a heavy mattress upstairs. I was using esssential oils that I didn't have last time. I could go on and on. Again silly but real. 

Confusion. We weren't planning this. With Emi I had it down to the day. 6 weeks maternity leave that led into summer vacation. Emi was 14 weeks when she went to day care the first time. I figured if this was supposed to be, there was a reason. Then it was over. I know God's plan is good even when we don't understand. 

Embarrassment. We told so many people!! Both Anthony and I aren't good with secrets so almost everyone we saw face-to-face knew. Even our home designer. 

The cruise was good timing. Complicated at times as I've realized this isn't a one day process but at least there was fun going on and I wasn't allowed to sit on my couch and sulk. 

We are disappointed but not destroyed. We have had high moments and low moments but after we move and get settled into our new house we'll try again. Next time we may just be a little more tight lipped until certain mile stones. We trust God's plan is meant for good and not to harm us so even though this sucks we're ok. I know I'll still have to tell my non Facebook friends face to face and we still have to tell Bella but since work starts tomorrow I figured this would be the easiest way to face it. 😊💗

18 Month Stats

18 Months

Weight: 22 lb 7 oz

Height: 34"

Percentiles:

in weight: 50%

in height: 97%

Favorite Foods:

More of the same: beans, cheese, apple sauce, bananas, berries, salad

Least Favorite Foods:

She tried bell peppers the other day and wasn’t really a fan.

Bedtime:

Since school started she’s usually in bed by 7:45 and maybe 8 or 8:30 on the weekends.

Awake:

She’s usually up around 6:00, but this time change has messed with her.

Naps:

Since she started back to school she’s only taking the 1 longer nap in the afternoon. But on the weekends when there isn’t as much going on, she usually takes a really short mid-morning nap for just 45 minutes-an hour.

Clothes:

She’s finally in 12-18 month clothes and some 18 month. She could still wear 12 month, but pants are too short so we buy 12-18.

Words:

She didn’t really add any new words the last 3 months. She is babbling a lot more and having conversations in her own language.
She can say “dog”, “dada”, “daddy”, “mama” and “go”

Favorites:

She loves putting on and taking off shoes. Especially other peoples.

She loves eating.

She loves her new car seat.

She loves her baby doll.

She loves dogs.
She loves to climb the stairs.

Latest Accomplishments:

She’s running now.

I taught her “sic em bears” hand sign.

If you tell her to dance she will bounce her booty up and down.

We got over the struggle of going to day care and to the gym day care. Now she enjoys it.

Struggles this month: 

18 Months

Getting dressed in the mornings. She thinks she needs center attention as soon as her feet hit the floor which makes it difficult to get dressed.

She’s learned to express frustration by screaming.

She’s fallen A LOT this month!

15 months