Vivian At Age 3 (37.5 Months Old), Joanna At 14.5 Months Old

We officially have a 1 year old and a 3 year old!  How on earth did that happen??!!  It's been a circus around here, but fun, so much fun.  We spent 5 weeks in Mississippi with my parents and the girls had the best time!  Vivian celebrated her 3rd birthday while there and Joanna learned how to walk.  I knew Memom would have her walking before we left :)  Now for a little stat update!

VIVIAN

 Age: 3 years old

Stats:  Weighing around 27-28 pounds (we have her well-check tomorrow), height 36".  She's wearing 3T tops and dresses, pants 2T, shoe size 6.5/7.

Sleep:  Bedtime is usually around 7/7:30pm and wakes around 6:30am.  She does AWESOME with her Ok To Wake clock which is set for 6:25am.  There have been several days she sleeps past her green light turning on, which is great considering she use to wake-up for the day at 4/5am.  Naps are no longer.  She hasn't napped since we've returned home the end of July.  

Milestone:  WE ARE OFFICIALLY POTTY TRAINED during the day.  Wearing a pull-up at night, but isn't very wet, but usually dry.  Potty training happened on its own.  While in MS, she practically went commando or just wore a shirt, so that really helped.  After we returned home we left the diaper off and went from there.  She has done great thus far, only 3 accidents.  High five!!

Developmental:  She is one smart cookie.  She already knows her right and left hand/foot, knows our actual names (not just mommy and daddy), can put her pants and shoes on, shirts are still a working progress, can count to 20, sing her ABC's.  She has a great memory as well.  I'm amazed by some of the things that she remembers

Attitude:  Little miss independent, cries at the drop of a hat, needs a band-aid for everything, loves saying 'no', strong-willed, defiant, loves her JoJo or sweet-sweet that she calls her.  

Loves:  Nursery rhymes!  Loves, loves, loves to sing.  Also loves dressing up, saying she's beautiful/gorgeous/pretty, playing chase and hide-and-go-seek, pretend play, painting/drawing, playing with other children, riding her tricycle to the duck pond, loves "packing up" which means piling up all her toys on the couch or table.  

Favorite Shows:  Max and Ruby, Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig.

Favorite Food: Cheeseburgers, ice cream, cheddar bunnies, strawberries, smoothies, pancakes, asparagus, fish sticks, cheese.  Your standard 3 year old palate :)

 Age 3 has been going so well thus far, better than age 2.  She speaks well, gives the best hugs and kisses, has the heart of gold.  She truly is the BEST 3 year old in the world!!!

Joanna

Age: 14.5 months old

Stats:  Weight 18.4 pounds, height 27".  Our next well-check isn't until December.  Wearing size 12 month in clothes along with a few 18 month sizes.  Size 3 diaper.

Sleep:  Wakes between 6:15-6:45am, but I don't take her out of the crib until 7am.  We are down to 1 nap, right now starting at 12pm and lasts 1-2.5 hours.  No matter what time she wakes, I leave her in the crib for a full 2 hours starting from the time she falls asleep.  If she naps for less than an hour and 15 minutes, I go in her room and let her know it's still nap time and tell her to go back to sleep.  Bedtime, she goes in her crib 4.5 hours after she comes out of the crib at nap time and usually takes 30 minutes to fall asleep. So she's usually asleep by 6:45/7pm every night.   We are very scheduled on our sleep, HA! Our routine for nap and bedtime, sleep sack, book, songs, goes in her crib wide awake.  The 3 songs I sing to her before bed: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, You Are My Sunshine and My Girl.

Eat:  We are only nursing once a day, in the morning, which is huge since she never took a bottle.  Only me!  Loves pasta, fruit, veggies (except cream potatoes), smoothies, steak, hamburger, cheese.  Just about everything.

Milestone:  Walking!  She took her first steps in MS and has been non-stop ever since.  Napping on her own.  She went from napping on me and nursing the entire nap to napping in her crib by herself. 

Talking:  Mama, kitty kitty, tah for thank you, bah for ball.  B tries to get her to say, 'dada', but will only say, 'mama.'  

Loves: Peek-a-boo, sliding, crawling on top of me, following her sister, being tickled, giving kisses, playing with the toilet paper, shutting and opening doors, tickling me under my chin, playing outside, bubbles, balls, riding her rocking horse, riding Vivian's tricycle and scooter.  

Dislikes:  Riding in the car, shopping cart and sitting in a high chair for too long, being told 'no', baths, diaper changes.

Attitude:  Girl can throw a tantrum when life doesn't go her way, feelings get hurt very easily.  If you say the word 'no' crying happens immediately. She gives the exact same facial expressions as Vivian.

Nicknames:  JoJo, sweet-sweet, q-ball and peanut head.

My Favorites:  Watching you walk.  You'll walk with your hands behind your back and poke your chest out.  It is the cutest thing ever!!!  Especially when you are walking around in your birthday suite :)

Both you girls have brought so much joy and life into our home.  I can't even imagine life before becoming parents.  I thank God every single day for blessing us with such beautiful, sweet, silly, loving girls.  He knew y'all would be a perfect fit for us.  He had a GREAT plan!  Boy did we luck out!!!!  I love you both oh so much and looking forward to the joys you will bring each and every day.

 XXOO
 

 

 

 

Labor Day Weekend

What a relaxing weekend we've had.  We kicked the weekend off by having dinner at Elijah's.  We rarely make it downtown since Vivian has been in our lives.  We tend to eat closer to home rather than making the 20 minute drive.  We sat outside and Vivian loved watching the little birds that were waiting for a little crumb to drop.  I had the crab on english, B went with the catfish sandwich and little miss gobbled up her fish n' chips.  We had an older gentleman that had to come over to our table and speak to Vivian.  Never fails!  I think she enjoys the extra attention.

  Saturday morning we hung around the house. We played, played and played until naptime. The perk having your 14 month nap on you is that you can't get up to pee.  

After her 3 hour nap we went to lunch at Carolina Ale House with all of us supporting our Mississippi State Bulldogs.  While waiting to be seated, a patron walked by and told Vivian that she shouldn't let her parents dress her in clothes for a team she didn't get to decide to choose to like.  Ha!  

We ate, colored, had a drink before heading over to Lowes Foods to pick up makings for Buffalo Chicken Dip.

We did some more playing until bath and bed.  The State game didn't start until 7:30 so Vivian didn't get the chance to watch any.  I watched until halftime before heading to bed myself.  Final score State 49, Southern Miss 0.  Great way to start the season.

Sunday morning was another lazy one.  We are going to hold off church until Vivian is a little older since nursery is difficult for her.  Instead, we watch Dr Charles Stanley together.  

We also played in her closet for a bit.  She loves the closet!

After her nap, we all three went to the grocery to food shop.  We grabbed some steaks to grill for dinner.  That pretty much summed up our day.

Today we went to the pool for about an hour this morning, took our 'nap' stroll, ate lunch, swung, tossed the football, went back to the pool, ate dinner at Cookout, went on a bike ride, bath then bed.  It was a fun day!!

To me, Labor Day means the end of summer and fall is at our doorstep.  Ready for some cooler weather and all things pumpkin!  So, farewell August and hello September :)

Bubble Bath Fun

Miss Vivian loves her baths.  She loves to splash, play with a cup and play peek-a-boo with the shower curtain.  

We were in Target the other day and browsed their bubble bath selection.  California Baby was on sale and I figured I would give it a try on how she would enjoy them.  She loves regular bubbles so I figured she would like a bubble bath.  I was right, she had a ball.  Plus, California Baby comes with a wand to blow actual bubbles. Score!  Only thing, don't blow the bubbles in the face because it will sting the eyes.  First hand experience here.

Since having the bubbles, we've had a bubble bath every night.  She's always so happy...she becomes camera shy.  I swear, she'll have the biggest smile on her face and as soon as I point my phone or camera towards her, that smile goes away.  I promise, she's a happy toddler!

14 Months Old

Happy 14 months to this one!

Oh little one, you are an 18 pound little ham with a lot of attitude.  Your personality is shining more each and every day. 

You have have learned on your own on how to throw a tantrum.  Seriously.  If things aren't going your way, you will toss something down onto the ground, cry hysterically, and times have pinched.  We are working on how to behave when life isn't going your way.

On other days, you are an absolute sweetheart.  You do love to give hugs and the occasional kiss.

 You still hate being left in church nursery.  You're fine for about 10-15 minutes and then you realize I'm not there.  That's when the water works begin.  You are worn out by the time we get home.

You aren't saying any words yet.  You do point to Brody, a ball or a bird and go "bah."  You have; however,  have said out of the blue "daddy," "mommy"(you said that chasing after me) and "all gone."  When "all gone" came out of your mouth you where eating blueberries and you ate the last one.  After it was gone, you tossed your hands up by your face and said "all gone!"  It was amazing to hear.

Even though your aren't saying words (you babble), you do understand when we talk to you.  You cry or get really upset when we say "No," I'll ask you to bring me a book and you'll get me one to read to you, you know to throw trash away in the trash can...you even know that your dirty diaper goes in the diaper pale and not in the kitchen trash, I'll tell you to go to your room and I'll follow and you will lead the way, tell you to love Brody and you'll pat him on the back, give polar bear (your big pink teddy) a hug and you will run over to him and love him, and I'll ask for hugs and you'll give them away. 

You are an excellent eater.  We typically have oatmeal, yogurt and fruit for breakfast.  You snack on fruit, Annie's cheddar or bunny grahams.  Lunch we'll have pb&j on Ezekiel bread, cheese quesadilla on whole wheat tortilla, Applegate turkey with cucumber.  Dinner you eat what we eat.  You love veggies!  Broccoli, cauliflower and green beans are your favorite.  You also love fish, guacamole and pasta!

You are an EXCELLENT pooper!  You poop 2-3 times a day.  All those fruits and vegetables keeps things moving.  You still won't drink anything but water.  I think that also helps keeping things moving.

You love helping mommy around the house.  Especially taking the silverware out of the dishwasher and handing them to me to put away.

You love being outside.  If you could stay outside all day, you would.  That's your happy place.  

   
You are better about your carseat.  I think it helps we get out of the house everday.  You love going to the indoor play area, Tmuffins.  You love playing on the slide and holding as many balls as possible.

You love when we read to you.  You'll grab a book and sit in our lap.  Some books we'll read two words and you'll close it shut, but the one's you will listen completely are 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Who Do You See?' 'Pat The Bunny,' 'You Are My Sunshine,'  'Butterfly Kisses' and 'Peek-A-Boo.'

You have 8 teeth, practically running, can walk backwards and climb down the stairs all by yourself.

    You have weaned yourself off the bottle completely.  We now have our bath, lotion up, get into our jammies and straight to bed.  You don't want mommy to rock you.  Made me so sad, but that showed me that you are growing up.

Everyday is an adventure with you my sweet darling.  We love watching you grow!  You are one AMAZING little girl and we love you oh so much!!!