Monday, April 27, 2009

Bye Bye Bottles!

Laura had her last bottle last evening at Grandma and Grandpa Clark's house - we poured the milk from that into a sippy we're borrowing from G+G's kitchen cupboard and when we got home - she took 5 ounces from it without a fuss. Then this morning we didn't even have to address the morning bottle issue as she slept until 7am and didn't wake for the early morning bottle when she's been coming into bed with us (like 6am) ... she didn't want any milk when she woke up either. Took only the sippy to daycare today and when I picked her up, there were maybe 2 ounces left in it and they said she didn't fight it at all. She took another 7 or so ounces from the sippy tonight before bed. No fussin'.

Bye Bye Bottles! I have dumped all the avent bottles and nipples and rings and caps and etc etc into a big bag and they will be going OUT! I hate them. I will not reuse them for the next baby - too much leaking and I really want something BPA Free next go around. I see Target has some nice glass bottles in stock now - maybe we'll go that route? Maybe we'll find something else.
Oh, and today Laura is 19 months old. So I can say we kicked the bottle habit at 18 months, right? :)

Sunday, April 26, 2009


Laura LOVES being outside. Doesn't matter what time of day it is, she wants to be outside. As soon as the weather started warming up a bit, she was all about putting her boots and coat on and she was the first one ready to go out. Now that it's warmer - who needs boots and a coat? We just go! Yep, even if it's just in PJ's... This was Friday night after she had her bath and still had 20 minutes or so before bedtime. The weather was still warm and we have the nice big deck to play on now - it'll be the perfect spot to hang out this summer :) So glad it's (nearly) all done!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Snow, Juice, Bubbles, Poop and A New Friend

Yeah, I know - random title, huh?

Just a few random updates -

She has 10 teeth now - a few days ago, the tooth on the outside of the canines top and bottom on the right side popped through...

We were getting ready to eat dinner Wednesday night and Laura made the grunt face (come on now, I don't have to go further with that, do I?) ... anyways, I asked her "do you have to poop?" and her response was to grab the front of her diaper (she was sitting) and she said "oop" with a quizzical look on her little face. I again asked her, "did you poop?" and same response "oop" with a little grab at the diaper. She didn't make anymore grunt faces and we went on eating our dinner. Throughout the rest of the evening, she'd occasionally say "oop" and grab the back of her diaper - like she had to go, but she didn't end up going that night. It definitely was the word of the day though. **Mental note: Buy a potty seat!!! She's getting ready!

We woke up Thursday morning and started our morning routine. I grabbed Laura a glass of "duce" (her word for juice, even though she's drinking water). She climbed up onto the dining room chair to drink her "duce" and started excitedly pointing outside through the sliding glass door. She started saying "oop oop oop!" I looked out the window to see what she was looking at, and I'm glad to say, it was not "oop" but rather - Snow. Cold wet white snow falling. April snow. I explained to her that what she was looking at was snow, not "oop" and she started saying "no" "no" "no" over and over and over. On the way out the door that morning, I tried to teach her the "s" sound to put in front of "no"... then it came out like this "Shhhh-no" ...she's getting it! I made sure to tell Lynne and Jenna that if she was saying "no" over and over that day, that she was talking about the snow outside :)

This week Laura has learned all the parts of her face - eyes (her favorite! - she loves to poke us in the eyes when we ask her to show us where they are), nose (which she sticks her fingers up to show us where it is), mouth (sticks her tongue out), chin, cheeks, and ears and she's known feet and hands and belly button for awhile now. So, while she may not know all her animals and colors yet, she does know her body parts!

Bubbles are probably her top "toy" right now - she is all about the bubbles - which she says pretty clearly too. She even tries to blow on the stick to make the bubbles herself.

I have to keep reminding myself to slow down - we'll be walking somewhere and now that she's good on her feet, I try to let her walk holding my hand more often - and she gets so distracted - breeze blowing by, noises in the distance, a car driving by, a squirrel going up the tree, the bird flying overhead, the ball in the neighbors yard at daycare - she is just taking it all in - and I try everyday to remind myself to slow down and let her take it in. I love this age where everything is fascinating to her.

One last thing - I think she has a new friend. We have seen this particular lady a couple times in the past few weeks. She is always at the Salvation Army when we go. You'd think she could be an employee she's there so much! Well, everytime Laura sees this lady - Laura's hand shoots up in the air and she smiles and waves to her. She just waves a couple of times and then Laura looks up at me with a confused look on her face - like she doesn't understand why the lady is so stone faced and won't wave back - although she has a smile all the time. Laura's new friend is the mannequin they have posed wearing the evening gowns near the children's clothing. **Mental note: Take camera next time and get a picture!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

TuTu Cute!

Laura's first Tutu.Having a blast running around on an Easter candy induced sugar high.

Said sugar high hit about 45 minutes after eating a peep bunny ear and a peep bunny butt, about 16 licks on a lolly pop and 3 jelly beans.


So I guess at 18 months old, leg rolls are still considered cute. Super cute.
See? New teeth! :)

Ok, sugar high is coming to an end - so ready to move on...

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

18 month update (Just a few weeks overdue!)



Laura had her 18 month well visit on 4-3-09. Saw Dr. S again and we really like him :) He even remembered we went on a cruise and asked us how it was! I love the feeling that he remembers Laura from visit to visit.

Important stuff:

Weight: 25#9oz ... 68th percentile

Height: 33 1/2 inches ... 92nd percentile! This is up 2.5 inches in just 3 months - and she jumped from 60something perscentile up to 92nd! Wow!

She's a bundle of jibber jabber lately. Getting new words everyday, but still not a lot consistenly understood. She copies sounds a lot so if I say "van" she tries it or today I said "flea" and she tried to copy the sound - if you just heard her say the words on their own though, you'd have no clue what she was saying.

Her smile just melts my heart. Her dimples are getting more prominent - or maybe it's just that her teeth make her smile different? I dunno, but she is just too cute for words.
She loves to dance. Has this little hitch in her giddyup and she'll usually dance spinning in a circle pivoting on one leg and bopping her head back and forth.

She wears mostly 24month and 2T clothes. I was hoping 18 month clothes would work for the summer since we have a ton from the cruise in that size, but because she's gotten tall, a lot of the shirts are short now.


Shoe size 5.5 still... although she can fit into a 6 too. Her sneakers that she got in November still fit her!

Diapers: We have a new favorite diaper the past couple of months ... Huggies Overnights! The only way to go with a toddler who still drinks a bottle of milk just before bedtime. She's wearing a size 5 now. I hate the cost of them, but LOVE not having her wake up wet. Oh yeah, daytime she's still wearing medium fuzzibunz! They've been in use now for 15 months! Still going strong! Some are showing some wear, but they still have lots of life left in them. We did have to add another layer of a soaker pad to them as now when she wets, she floods - but with an extra layer they hold most of the time. Yep, her bum is a little bigger and we have a hard time finding jeans that fit over her cloth bum, but that's okay. I figure she has lots of years ahead of her to look cute in jeans. We've found that Old Navy jeans fit her bum best.

She has excellent receptive language skills. She follows simple directions: Put your milk in the fridge, put your diaper in the garbage, put the empty bottle on the counter, get your shoes/shirt/diaper etc...

She has mastered climbing and decending stairs!

She has 8 teeth. The last two popped through in the past 2 weeks.

She loves to wash her hands. Loves to floss her teeth. Loves to wear her boots and shoes. Loves to be outside. Loves to swing. Loves her daddy in the mornings and her mommy in the evenings. Loves riding in daddy's truck. She loves to floss her teeth. She loves riding in her wagon.

She loves eating. Eats a great variety of foods.

Still rides rear facing in the van, forward facing in the truck.

Loves daycare - goes right to Jenna every morning and wants to be picked up - barely has time to blow me a kiss most mornings as she is so engrossed in what else is going on. Yes, that makes me a bit sad that she barely notices I'm gone. ~sniffle!~

She sleeps through the night! WOOO! She started this consistently about a month after we got back from vacation. Bedtime is about 7:45pm and she wakes up anywhere from 5:50-6:30ish... if it's the earlier side of that timeframe, I bring her into bed with us and give her a bottle. Sometimes she falls back to sleep for a bit and other times she's up for the day. She loves sleeping on her belly.

She is growing up too fast. I want to freeze frame her right now. I hear so many people say that "18 months is my favorite age" and while I'm enjoying it, I can't say it's any better or worse than any other ages she's been...but I'll miss it when it's gone. I look at my baby neice now and can't remember when Laura was that little. (Good thing I took a couple pictures along the way as reminders, huh?) :)