20 months

Allie, you are 20 months! I cannot believe how fast this second year is flying by! I am loving everything about this wonderful stage you are in.. that is except for the tantrums. Although I am thankful that they are getting fewer and farther between. At least now they are. But I love that I can comfort you out of your inability to communicate, which I know is why you have the tantrums. I know that must be so very frustrating to not be able to verbalize how you are feeling, but I know that will change soon! You are picking up so much and are saying more and more words.
So Thursday, December 12 we were so excited. You, Daddy and I got up early, got dressed in coordinating outfits and were ready to leave. See daddy and I had a great day planned to celebrate your 20 month birthday. We were going to Lenox Mall to see Santa and ride The Pink Pig. As I was packing your diaper bag and Daddy was getting you in the car G-Da called me. He asked what we were doing and I told him. He said that Nanny and Paw Paw were in a car accident and it was bad. He told us to go ahead and go to the mall, but just to keep in contact with him throughout the day. I was scared and worried, but we got in the car and backed out of the garage. Then Grammie texted me and asked me if we were on the road yet. Instead of texting her back I just called her. I told her we were backing out of the driveway and were on our way to Lenox. She told me the accident was really bad. She said Nanny was really hurt, but that she was going to be okay. She then told me that they didn't know about Paw Paw and that everyone was headed to the hospital. I got off the phone and bursted into tears and told Daddy we had to go to the hospital in Columbus.
Two hours later we arrived at the hospital. We walked into the ER. Many of our family members were already there and you could tell they had been crying. We walked in with Mommy's cousin Ryan. G-Da pulled me aside and told me that my Paw Paw didn't make it. I fell apart. Here is the link to the article that tells about the accident.
http://lagrangenews.com/view/full_story/21118242/article-Roanoke-Road--Vernon-wreck-leaves-1-dead--3-injured?instance=search_results

I know that this isn't the typical entry about everything you are doing this month, but I wanted you to know what did happen on the day you turned 20 months. I love you Allianna!

19 months

Allie, you are 19 months old. You are the most beautiful little girl in the world and I am loving watching you grow and change each day.
You weigh approximately 27 pounds.
You wear a size four diaper, a size 6 shoe and are wearing 2T clothes. 
You were sick for the first tim this month a week before Thanksgiving. You had strep throat. Luckily we caught it early and you had a slight case of it so we were able to knock it out in just a couple days. 
You hate going to the doctor and I don't blame you. When we went when you had strep they swabbed your throat. You and I were both in tears when they were done. It broke my heart. 
You hate band-aids. You had a little scrape on your hand so I got you some neosporin and a princess band-aid and put it on. You screamed until I took it off!
You HATE to have your hair rinsed in the tub. Daddy used to lean you back and I would rinse it. Now you refuse to be laid back. So we are struggling not to dump water down your face.
You love to eat Cheerios, Simply Maize, Earth's Best blueberry waffles, peas, Annie's macaroni and cheese, apples, bananas, grapes, blueberries, waffles, craisens, bread, Annie's bunny snacks, yogurt and yogurt covered raisins. 
You are so cute, when you eat raisin toast you pick out all of the raisins first and then eat the bread!
You absolutely hate getting out of the tub. You like to sit in the tub until all of the after has drained out and play with your toys. You kick, scream and make yourself extremely difficult to pick up. It breaks mommy and daddy's heart to see you like that. 
You are sleeping better at night, only waking to nurse and you typically go back to sleep. 
You take one, two hour nap a day. 
You are still nursing about three times a day: before you go to sleep, in the morning and then in the afternoon. 
You love to watch Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Doc McStuffins, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Octonauts. 
You still need and want your sass most of the day. 
I am loving watching you discover new things each day. 
You are the kindest, most loving baby I have ever met. I hope that never changes. 
I love you lady bug!

18 months!

Allie you are 18 months old. I can't believe my sweet little baby girl is already a year and a half old! Here is what you are up to this month:

You wear a size four diaper.
You wear a size 6 shoe!

You weigh 26.5 pounds according to our scale at the house!
You wear 24 month pajamas, 18 month shirts and jeans and 24 month leggings.
You LOVE ring around the rosie. You are not fond of the "falling down" part, but you love for me to sing and for us to spin in circles.

You do not like stickers! You aren't sure what to think about how sticky they are.
Your favorite fruit is still blueberries. You would eat them at every meal if we would let you!
Your favorite vegetable are peas, although you also like carrots, corn and butternut squash.
You like to watch football.
You still love Chesney and have a new love for Zoe.

You love to pat the dogs. We tell them "night night" after bath each evening and pat each of them. You grin from ear to ear.
You love Earth's Best apple cinnamon oatmeal.
You are learning to feed yourself with a spoon and I am loving watching you.
You LOVE to slide. You can climb up the steps, pull your legs out from under you, sit on your bottom and slide all by yourself.

You love to walk around the house and open all of the cabinets. You have recently found the tupperware one and you like to pull out pieces and strategically place them on the kitchen floor.
You also like to rearrange things in the house. You will pull the picture frames off of the coffee table and place them in the floor around the house. You also move the dogs bowls and place them around the house. Daddy has a scavenger hunt every evening before feeding the dogs!

You like to "feed and water" the dogs. You will reach up on the cart and pull down the water pitcher and the food cup and walk from bowl to bowl. You will also hold them out for the dogs to lick.

You LOVE to help Mommy around the house. There are two that are your favorites. One is laundry. I sit you on the edge of the washing machine with your feet dangling in and you put all the clothes in for me. You love to put them in and even to help me close the lid... but when I put you down and we close the door you lose it. You cry and are so upset that it is over. Breaks my heart! You also love to help me unload the dishwasher. You will pull out your spoons and forks and walk over to your drawer. I pick you up and then you place them in the correct basket. You are so smart! You will stand next to the dishwasher and help me unload your cups. I hand you each of the pieces and you place them in the cups one by one, I put the lid on and hand you another cup while I put away the completed cup. You wait ever so patiently for me to come back for us to do another one.
You love to open the dishwasher and shut it again.

You also love to open the cabinet under the sink. You love to carry around the Bath & Body Works soaps.

You love all the Halloween decorations that we have put up and you like to carry the figurines around the house.
You will play in your playroom, but prefer to walk around the house!
You will walk into your room and try to climb into your crib. You like to get in and play!
You can easily climb up into the recliner and turn yourself around and sit down. You can also climb up on the couch, then you like to climb up the cushions to the back of the couch to look on the counter.
One of your fish, Fishy, died this month. We aren't sure what happened, but we think he had swim bladder disease, although we aren't sure how he got it. You still have Oh-Oh though!
You enjoy it when we pull out your princess cars or lawn mower for you to ride on and push around the house. You can peddle yourself on your princess cars! You are getting so big.

You give the best hugs. You wrap your arms around us, squeeze, say, "mmmmm!!!" and hold on so tight. Please don't ever stop! Melts mine and Daddy's heart because you will walk up to us and throw your arms around our legs and just squeeze!

You really enjoy pulling DVD's off of the shelf and putting them in the floor. You haven't quite mastered putting them back.
You have a few favorite toys that you have to play with each day: the animals that go with Noah's Ark, your Ariel and Eric seahorse drawn carriage and your two soft bristle brushes we don't use on your hair anymore. You like to chew on the handles.

You have a few favorite books: When I Grow Up and Baby Animals.
You are cutting some back teeth, I am not sure of which ones because you don't like for me to mess with your mouth, but I hope to see soon!

You can spot an airplane we can barely see in the sky. You are so very observant! You point with your sweet first finger and your thumb untucked. You are just the cutest thing!
You have three favorite movies: Toy Story, Toy Story 3 and Tangled.
You like Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Doc McStuffins, Handy Manny and you like the intro to Octonauts.

If someone makes a silly face at you, you will make it back!
You love to wear my lipgloss! It started in Florida because it has spf in it. But if I ask if you want some you will come running. Then you open your mouth and stand so still while I put it on your lips. It's simply precious!

You do this new thing where if I ask you if you want to nurse, eat lunch, want a snack or something to drink you will raise your arm and lean your head to your shoulder. It is the cutest thing. We say you're "broken" because you look so silly!
You also still do your "old man walk" where you bend your knees and walk really slowly hunched over. I don't know why you do it, but I love it!
You are not a fan most of the time of having your diaper changed, but if I can distract you (normally by balancing something on your forehead) you will stay still.

You nurse 3-4 times a day depending on whether your gums are hurting and how sleepy you are. Typically in the morning, after your nap (around 3) and then before I rock you to sleep.
You still absolutely love bath time. Your favorite toys are your boat, captain and your stacking cups. You also love to play with your wash cloth. You will put it on Daddy's head, move his head up and down and take it off and do it again. You also will stand up and sway back and forth with a big smile on your head and will wait till Daddy and I mimic you. It's so sweet!

You love to drink milk in the mornings and prefer water the rest of the day. You occasionally with drink juice, but you would much rather have water.
You like to push the Rainbow around the house. You will grab the cord and unplug it, then either drag it by the cord or push it.

You do not like for your hair to be in your face. You try to brush it out of the way and then when we put a clip in you sometimes grab it and yank it out. You're a mess!
You are throwing a few more tantrums now, but most of them occur in the house when you aren't allowed to do something (such as carry crayons around the house) or are being made to do something you don't want to do (such as lay down while I lotion you and put your pajamas on). Typically I can distract you and act silly and you calm down. But you will kick your legs and scream.

You "talk" and babble most of the day. You aren't saying many words, but Momma is the most consistent of them all.

You still need your sassy most of the day, especially when in the car, nap time and bed time. And you still LOVE when you have two or more you can switch around.
You have been sleeping better lately, but are typically up for the day around 6 or 6:30.
You wake up, nurse and around 8-9 you eat breakfast.

You then have a snack, usually yogurt, but sometimes jell-o around 11.
Depending on what time you woke up and how tired you are you may nap before lunch, but if possible we eat lunch around 12 and then you go down for a nap. We have cut back to one nap a day you big girl!

After nap around 3 you nurse, we then eat supper around 5:30 and then starts our bed time routine.
You are generally in bed between 7-7:30.
I love watching the adorable, intelligent toddler you are becoming and I pray that I am raising you in the way God would have me. I pray that I am the best Mommy for you and that you will always know how very much I love and adore you. Love you baby girl!

lazy rainy day

Ever since we got back from our beach vacation we have had lazy days. And they have been so nice! Allie has either played in her play room or wandered around the house. I say wander like she has no idea where she is going, when it is us that are the clueless ones. That girl is on a mission from the moment she gets up in the morning until she goes to bed at night. She knows when she wants to go and where. I love watching her face light up as she walks around the house and does her thing. It rained for the majority of the day here and playing with my little girl was exactly what I needed. I'm so very thankful that I get to stay home with my baby girl. All I have ever wanted to be was a stay at home mom and I love every lazy day.

I am trying to figure out when I need to start working with Allie on different skills she will need so I can have her ready for kindergarten in three and a half years. Where did the first year and a half of my baby's life go? I haven't missed a single tear, a new food, a new skill mastered, but it feels as though the time is flying by. She is so busy and is learning so much, I just want to make sure I am doing everything as her mommy that I am supposed to be doing to prepare her for life. I watch her as she learns new things and I smile knowing she is right where she needs to be. But then the fear I am sure every mom experiences sets in. Is she really where she needs to be? Is she mastering the skills she is supposed to? Is mom365 really accurate or are they talking about the super advanced toddlers? All I want is for her to be learning and growing just as she should be. I follow Kelly's Korner blog and if you haven't ever read it, you should check it out! (www.kellyskornerblog.com) She said in a post the other day she would rather her kids love Jesus and be kind to others than to be the smartest kid in the class. I totally agree with this, but a part of me wants them to maybe be a little bit above where they should be academically. I want my baby girl to be successful and to go on to be whatever God has created her to be. I know she will need to graduate high school and go on to college to be the successful girl he designed her to become. As a former kindergarten teacher I know what she needs to know by the time she starts school. I know the skills she must master to be successful there and into first grade. However I want her to still be a baby too. I want her to play and have fun, be creative and enjoy being little. I know that school won't always be enjoyable for her and I want her to have fun learning memories with me at home. It's funny I was always an advocate for public school. Teachers are like me, they care about their students and want only what is best for them. They will carry them from the playground the office when they fall at recess, skin their knee and are crying. <--- definitely did that with one of my little ones. :) But after talking with my best friend, whose daughter unfortunately has not had such luck, I find myself toying with an idea I have been against my whole life... home school. There are so many advantages and disadvantages to both. Do I want my daughter to be a social outcast? No. Do I think it would be waaaaaay cooler to SEE the American Symbols rather than learn about them based on a picture? Yes. Two of my first year kids are homeschooled. Both because they were not being challenged enough in the regular classroom. I know each and every child is different. I know they all have different needs that need to be met. But I can say I have a fear that what if my baby is the one that falls on the play ground, is crying and just needs a hug and to maybe be carried to the office for a band-aid? And what if the teacher she has tells her, "We are going inside in five minutes. You can wait." Irrational? Maybe. But something I have been thinking about lately.
I love my little baby with all of my heart and I will do anything and everything I can to make sure she is the most successful where ever she is, whether that is in a public or private school or at home with me. Guess I need to do some praying and trust that God will lead Nick and I to the right decision for our baby girl.

So right now I am relishing in the fact that I have at least three and a half more years at home with my princess (that is if I decide not to put her in preschool... eek! another fear!) before I have to make the decision. I am enjoying these lazy days where I watch her innocent eyes take in our home and watch with amazement as she discovers opening cabinets and moving the blinds to see outside.

Love. Love her, love my job, love my life.

17 months

Allie you are 17 months old! I cannot believe how big you are getting and all of the new things you do each and every day. All of these pictures are from September 12 while we were at the beach. Happy 17 months my little love! Here is what you are up to this month:
You wear a size 4 cruisers diaper.
You wear 18 months clothes, but mostly 24 months pajamas.

You laugh as you fall asleep. (Daddy says I do this too!)
When I am rocking you, you will grab my face and turn it to yours and want to snuggle.

When you wake up from your nap you need Mommy snuggles to wake up a little before you go play. 
When I am rocking you to sleep you hold on to my shirt or play with the snap on my bra strap. You also still spin your sassy around as you fall asleep.

You like to have your sassy at meal times often.
You LOVE to drink out of your Tinkerbell cup and you are very good at it! You've only dropped it off of your tray once and it was an accident. You love to play with the straw.
You also like to play with my hair, mostly to keep you awake, as I rock you to sleep.

When you don't want to do something (i.e.: get dressed, leave an area, etc.) you will arch your back, raise your arms and squeal, making it impossible to pick you up. However if Daddy is trying to move you and I walk over I can pick you right up without much of a fight.

You love to walk to your room, open your closet and get out your brown & pink shoes and your silver sparkly ones and carry them around.

You enjoy playing in your play room, but you'd rather be out walking around the house.
One of your favorite pass times right now is balancing any and everything you can on your foot! You will sit on your bottom, lift your leg into the air so that your foot is off of the ground, pick up a toy and put it on or try to balance it on your foot. It is so cute! The other day you put a teething ring on there and stood up and tried to walk with it still on your foot!

You love to push the button and the screen on the security panel for the alarm system. You think it's the greatest! You pushed the button to the elevator while we were on vacation.
You are so funny when you have had socks on and we take them off. You will spread your toes and pick out the lint!

After you get out of the bath tub and I put lotion on you help me rub it into your feet!
You grab and hold my hand, pulling me to where you want to go. 

While on vacation you really began pointing at everything. You loved the birds and all the helicopters that flew by. You don't tuck your thumb, so it is so cute when you point.

When you want to eat or drink something you will pick it up and hand it to me. I love when you do! However while in Florida you were eating some of my chips, picking them up, handing them to me and letting me break them off for you. Well you picked one up off of my plate and just ate it! Daddy and I cracked up!

You LOVE blueberries. They are by far your favorite fruit.
You also love peas, they are definitely your favorite vegetable.

You are my "snacky shopper". You are content as can be as long as you have melts or shreds or bunny shacks to eat while we shop!

You recognize packaging, such as your bunny snacks, cereals and the bag of frozen blueberries.
You love to splash in the tub. You like it even more when we say, "splash splash!"
When we got you in the pool in Florida you were kicking your feet and then you started putting your hands in the water and reaching, making a swimming motion, to get to the wall you wanted to go to.

You are a little copy cat right now! If shown how to manipulate a toy or make a face you will do it too.
You nurse three times a day: before bed, middle of the night and after your second nap.

After we brush your teeth you like to rinse your toothbrush under the running water. You are so cute as you place it under the water then hand it to me to be put back in your holder.
You love to be rocked. It is the only way you will fall asleep and only Mommy can rock you to sleep.

You give the BEST hugs. You wrap your little arms around me or Daddy and squeeze! Melts my heart. You were extra lovey in Florida and I am so thankful it has carried over to home too. I love how you come up to me and snuggle into my chest.

You got so spoiled while we were in Florida because you slept in your pack n' play next to our bed. When you would wake up in the morning you would stand up, reach over and put your hand on my face and giggle. It was the sweetest way to wake up, except when it was 1am! You didn't sleep very well in your pack n' play and I can understand why. The mattress isn't really a mattress at all and I think it was uncomfortable. So you slept in between Daddy and I a good bit. (You did this the first night home too, I'm curious to see if you wake up to do it again tonight.)

You absolutely LOVE the movie Tangled. You laugh and smile and are completely captivated while it is on. You still enjoy watching Toy Story and Toy Story 3 too.

You like Jake and the Neverland Pirates, but not nearly as much as you used to. You enjoy watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but only for a little while. You also like Doc McStuffins (which is my personal favorite show on Disney).

You love to play with my heart necklace Daddy gave me after you were born as you fall asleep.
You have the BEST fake laugh! You can make anyone laugh when you do it. Daddy can fake laugh and get you to do it back and y'all will go back and forth.

You loved the beach and the ocean! (I was so scared you were going to hate it!) Playing in the sand and running into and out of the ocean are your favorites. You love watching Mommy and Daddy chase your beach ball too. You loved chasing the birds and looking at all of the helicopters that flew by.
You tried yoohoo and loved it!

You like to brush your own hair now, not just your baby dolls hair. It is so cute!
You try to put on your shoes. I came home from getting my toes done and you had your tennis shoes on. I asked you if you and Daddy had been outside and Daddy said, "Nope! She wanted to put them on, so we did!"

You also will pull your clip or bow out of your hair and then try to put it back in. So sweet! 
You love your animals from Noah's Ark and love to line them up on the arm of your chair and then try to rock without them falling off. 
You love remotes and like to carry them around the house.

You love any and all technology. You love to push the keys on mine and Daddy's laptop, you love to press the home button on our iphones and you like my ipad as well!

You loved your shovels and other beach digging tools. You would shovel the sand, tile in the condo and ground outside.

You are very good at taking "big steps". You will lift your leg so high to step over something. 
You go up and down stairs like a pro and take them one at a time, you do not put two feet on one step at any time.

You rarely ever trip and fall anymore. You have really good balance!
You will try any and everything that is on my plate.
You love to stand in your rocking chair and wait to see who is watching. When we tell you to sit down you will sit really fast and then stand back up. You think it is a game.
You love to see who all is looking at you. If there is a group of people you will look from person to person to see if their eyes are on you.

You do this bashful thing when a stranger says hello to you. If I am holding you, you will put your head on my shoulder while looking at them. If you are standing you raise your arm and rest your head on it. It's precious.
You love the dogs and Chesney is still your favorite. I think she is slowly coming around to you!
Your favorite sounds/words right now are "bah bah" and "Momma". You love to talk to me and I love it too.

I have recently decorated for fall. We have a glass candy jar in the shape of a pumpkin and you love to touch and pick up the lid. 
You love to put the Barbie sunglasses that Mimi gave you on your pig that Grammie gave you. We put them on and say, "ooooohh piggywood!"

You were not into wearing your sunglasses or hats at all until we went to the beach. Even when you would pull them off you would stand very still and wait for me to put them back on! You love to wear your sunglasses even in the car now! And I must say you look SO cute when you have your Babiators on! We say, "oooooh Hollywood!"

You like to drink out of water bottles and are really good at it.
You are definitely still a Mommy's girl. When you get hurt or are sleepy you just want Mommy. You LOVE your daddy though and enjoy doing things with him, like being outside. 
While at the beach you would hold your arms out away from your body when you got sand on them, but even after we rinsed them in the ocean you would hold them our away from you.

In the mornings you love to eat raisin toast, Cheerios, Cascadian Farms Fruitful-O's, Cascadian Farms Cinnamon Crunch, Earth's Best French Toast and Earth's Best blueberry waffles.
You eat yogurt for snack after your morning nap. Your favorite flavors are banana and pumpkin & banana.
We have lots of nick names for you, but the ones we use the most are: Allie-poo, lady bug and booga. 

Lunch varies depending on your mood and the day. But you love the Jammy Sammies by Plum Organics. The blueberry and oatmeal is your absolute favorite.
You still LOVE melts and eat them by the dozens. 
You really like grilled chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-A.

You drink 2% Organic milk in the mornings, although Friday is juice day so you get that with breakfast. The rest of the day you drink water, which you prefer over everything else.
Your favorite restaurant is still Panera. You love their bread (and like your Daddy can put A LOT away!) and their broccoli cheddar soup.

You are very independent and love to do things by yourself and to figure them out all on your own.
You are looking more and more like your Daddy, although you still have my facial expressions.

You are a typical hoarding toddler. Any toy you see you want. You will also collect and hold as many toys as you can and get aggravated when you can't hold all of them at once. 
You climb on everything! Especially if it is behind the couch in your playroom or by the window. 

You are the happiest baby. It is so very easy to make you smile. Everything on you is ticklish from the palm of your hands to the tips of your toes. Your smile brightens my day and I listen by your monitor for you to stand in your crib and say, "o-o-o" making the short "o" sound. You rarely ever cry when you wake up from naps or in the mornings, you just talk until we come get you. I love everything about you Allie and I am so grateful and thankful God chose me to be your mommy!