Three Years Old

Mae is three (+1 month)!   She is so excited.  She wants to be bigger, older, taller, and sassy-er every day!    She's adorable and we love her.

Favorite things of M's quirkiness in the last few months have included:  she refers to Gatorade as Alligator (see convo below,)  she loves to hear stories about chipmunks - you'll be hard pressed right not to get away with a story that she doesn't at least throw a chipmunk into - but often she'd prefer the main staring character to be a chipmunk (we have no idea where this fascination came from.)    She loves for me to sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow to her at bedtime, she doesn't seem to have a favorite book - and the girl can't help but interrupt every 3 words with something to say (related or otherwise) during a story.   Summertime seems to be when the end of naps happened (whimper!)

M: "Can I have more alligator?"
Me: Excuse me?
M: "Can I have more alligator to drink?
Me: Blank Stare
M: "More crocodile?"
Me: Um... what?
M: "More Gatorade!"
Me: Oooh I get it now. Yah you can have more of that. lol

Mae and sleep in these last six months has been great - better than her brother if I am being honest!   She might have a few off nights where she pops up and refuses to go to sleep right away, but after the initial bedtime routine (that still requires mommy's tummy to be touched) she is happy to go to bed and rarely wakes up.   

The biggest change since the last report has been POTTY TRAINING!!!  Yes, little Mae in October began her journey toward bathroom independence.   She did great and after a week or so she got to have the ceremonial jaunt to the store to purchase her underwear! And while she officially was three for 5 days - I would also like to say that she was pull-up free at night by January 15th! No accidents yet at nighttime.   Mae Mae is officially potty trained!!   This mommy couldn't be more ecstatic.

Mae is doing so well on language and talking.  She recognizes most of the alphabet - and honestly she probably knows it all, but she's too stubborn to show me.   She can count to 12 pretty easily and can count objects up to about six and then she just starts saying random numbers.    She loves to play on her leappad that we got her.  She is a huge fan of Doc McStuffins, chipmunks as mentioned, and princesses.    She's enjoying Calico Critters a lot and loves to build (and destroy) things with blocks.  She still is 100% attached to her bear and takes it everywhere - and it gets into the same antics and excitement that she does. 

You see once upon a time on Halloween when Mae was having quiet time - she was overly quiet for a long time - I assumed she had fallen asleep... but then a long time went on past brother's quiet time and I decided to look in on her to see if she was getting in a good snooze... upon entering the room I found her like this...

Yes, at some point in her quiet time she had managed to sneak across the hall into my room and found (THANK GOD!) a dry erase marker.    She went to town and every inch of her body was covered... every last bit...  I'm not exaggerating.    I have to give her kudos though her face design was very nicely done - she explained that she wanted to be a tiger for Halloween and had given herself and her bear (and other friends) tiger stripes.   Along with her mirror,  her dora doll, nearly every FP Little Person...  Brother was a big help and went to work with some wipes and cleaned up all of the plastic items that were drawn on - the easiest items to clean.   Never mind on on top of it all I found her IN her sock drawer (something I hadn't seen her attempt before, nor is she sanctioned for such locations!)     Mae got a bath, the neighbor loaned me her rubbing alcohol and I got underway scrubbing stuffed animals to get them clean.   While dry erase marker comes of plastic and people pretty easily - stuffed animals - not so much!     Bear and her bunny both have some scars and the other two friends I didn't even really try to get clean.     Upon finding her she said that it made her happy!    It was really impossible to be mad at her.  ;)

There is so much I could elaborate on and perhaps I'll come back and add more to this post - but I feel Mae can say it best.  ;)   So below are some conversations and then her debut interview (which I did do on her birthday, I'm just woefully behind on the blogging!) I memorialize conversations and silly things that she says on the social networking site - so a few gems and musing that I captured this past year I've jotted down here.  
December 3, 2013
Mae was awake when I went to check on her just now, so I snuggled into bed and let her touch my tummy (her comfort thing) and I ran my fingers through her hair and laid there for a while and then gave her a hug and a kiss and tucked her in and said good night and she whispered as she was falling asleep "You're a good mom." So sweet!

November 26, 2013
"I know everything in the whole world."  - Mae

November 22, 2013
Writing cards on what we are thankful for and Aiden wrote 'For God' and said: "I'm going to give this to God." To which Mae grinned, held up hers, and said: "And I'm going to give mine to Egypt!" 

November 12, 2013
"For Christmas I want to give Barbies! Pink and Purple ones. I'm going to give one to Grammie and one to Mr. C!" - Mae  

August 16, 2013
A: There was a scary noise downstairs!
M: Don't worry brother - Jesus will protect you with his powers.
A: Sister come down with me.
M: I'm not Jesus! I'm not going down there!  

July 2, 2013
"We love Jesus more than lollipops and lemonade!!! ... and I love lemonade.... a LOT!" - Mae

June 14, 2013
My daughter says "I'm disney" or "Woah! I'm so disney!" whenever she feels dizzy. I love it!

April 2, 2013
Scene: Aiden trying to get one egg from Mae's Easter basket hooked on her arm.
Mae: NO IT'S MINE! NO, BRUDER! NOoOOoooOOoo!!!
Me: M, who does everything belong to?
Mae: Jesus
Me: And what do you think he'd want you to do?
Mae: Hug my heart.
Me: ::giggle:: and what else might he want you to do?
Mae: ::SIGH:: share with bruder and be kind.
Me: It's true! Is that what you want to do? (Fully expected a confidant "NO!")
Mae: (Gives brother her whole Easter basket, smiles, and skips off to something else.)  

January 11, 2013
"One, two, free, four... six, seven, eight, nine, bast off!" - Mae  

See bunny cleaned up pretty well, although he's much more dingy than he used to be!

 Mae's Interview:
 
1. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE T. V. SHOW? Daniel Tiger

2. WHAT DID YOU HAVE FOR BREAKFAST?  Umm.. Pickles!  (No you didn't)  Tuna sandwich, and bread, and tuna is my favorite (Yes, but what for breakfast this morning?)  Um, um, a smoothie and oatmeal! (Yes, yes you did!)
 
3. WHAT IS YOUR MIDDLE NAME? Said first and middle name together... claiming it was her first name!  ;)

4. FAVORITE FOOD? Pickles  (When have you ever had pickles??) Tuna sandwich (I'm sensing a theme)

5. WHAT FOOD DO YOU DISLIKE? Pickle juice (Well that's perplexing)

6. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?  Purple! (Yes, very true!)

7. FAVORITE LUNCH?  Jamba Juice!

8. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO? Watch Daniel Tiger (You sure?)  I like the Party Game its my favorite game in the whole world.

9. IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD ON VACATION, WHERE WOULD YOU GO? With Uncle Kai and Aunt A (Yes, but where with them?)  to the movie theater.

10. FAVORITE SPORT? I played soccer once with my dad!

11. WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY? On January, mom!

12. ARE YOU A MORNING PERSON OR A NIGHT PERSON? A morning girl.

13. PETS: I have Pixel, that's our pet, mom!

14. ANY NEW AND EXCITING NEWS YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH US?   Playing hippopotamus when brother's gone.  
 
15. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP ? I want to be um superhero uh the Green Lantern.  The Marshmellow Hunter.  (That sounds exciting!)
 
16. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CANDY? Um donuts!  I mean oreos. 
 
17. WHERE IS THE FURTHEST YOU'VE EVER BEEN FROM HOME? In our neighborhood. 
 
18. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK?  Tinkerbell story?  I mean the lion story (She's just listing movies....) The princess!  (That is book.)

19. WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?  "You building the hardwood floor  (But mommy didn't build it)  who builded our hardwood floor (the installers... what are YOU most proud of about YOU?)  I am most proud of my bear.

20. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE?  Turbo Fast 
 
21. WHICH CAME FIRST, THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG? The Egg.  The egg, mom.  (Why?) Because it IS! 

A Big Girl Bed

I have to say - I have been quite remiss in journaling Mae's journey toward independent sleep compared to how well I documented Ace's.  Perhaps because this mommy is tired after two littles who aren't huge fans of sleeping.   Nonetheless it is Mae's story and I should write her story and how it plays out. 

And so a bit of back story to go with the post.  :)    When Mae was 11 months old we got her a 'floor bed' - went a bit of the way of the Montessorri line of thinking and found her a 3" mattress and placed it on the floor.  Never having had a crib since we co-slept this was a good height to start out with.    She nursed to sleep the first night and slept the first stint of sleep in her own bed. 

This worked pretty well for a few weeks but she would wake up seemingly quicker and quicker.  I recall that Ace seemed to have trouble staying asleep in his 'bed' when it was just a mattress on the floor and so I went on the hunt for a toddler bed that was low to the ground and when she was 13 months old she got her first (mini) big-girl-bed. 

As she got older, she got wise to the fact she could get OUT of the bed and often that led to a power struggle and so one day I broke out the pack and play and she quickly went to sleep 'on her own' and with 'self soothing' - no tears required, just got bored and slept.   As a result the second half of her second year if she wasn't co-sleeping with us, she was asleep in the PnP and often she'd sleep through the night in there.   Almost always napped there.  

I decided I need to break that habit and she also was starting to grow up enough that she needed the space in her room and the PnP needed to be retired as a permanent fixture in her room and so with much hesitation mommy folded it up and returned to the disciplined efforts of Mae sleeping in her toddler bed and starting in February we started the slow process of total elimination of sleeping in our room at any point in the night.  (Very slow.)    This also meant that when she got sick in March I chose to sleep in her room so that we wouldn't lose the ground we had gained on the effort to keep her in our own bed.   It was then when I decided she needed a bigger bed so there'd be room for mommy too!

Her final nap in her toddler bed.

So the hunt was on - everything was procured and I put her bed together.  She was so excited to have a big girl bed and very much following in suit with her brother - she's slept every night (nearly) all night since she's gotten her bed.   She's growing up and is doing so great!   We are all so proud. 

 

Mae loves to climb on her bed, she's only fallen out once (we put a bean bag down below so it's a soft spot to land) and she's a quick learner to avoid it in the future.   She's adorable and I love her.   Although I already miss looking over at her and seeing her smiling in her sleep, or having her cuddle me as we sleep.   It's one more sign my baby is growing up.  Although to help me not miss it as much I can focus on moments like these that we went through.  Oh sweet girl.

Two Years Old

My baby girl is growing up and with fresh snow on the ground she turned two a two weeks ago.   It's been quite the year of joy, advances, and challenges.    Overall it's been a wonderful year.

Firsts for the 24th month: Lots of sentences!  Fully weaned from mama milk, and sleeping through the night, early stages of potty training.

Yes, I'm calling it -  Mae is sleeping through the night.   Now that said it's not every night and often she still fusses enough that we have to go in and hug her once or twice - but she has stayed in her own room almost every night.    She's been sleeping in the pack-n-play and she loves it in there - must simply feel more secure than her little bed.  I'm happy with it - it creates confinement.  :)    So sleep is slowly coming to our house.   Hooray!!

Mae herself has also began to show interest in potty training - this mommy isn't quite ready to go fully force into the adventure - but Mae shows signs of being ready.  Like a week or so ago she stripped off her diaper, went potty in the little potty, and then came and told me that she had gone potty... and she had!!  Much rejoicing and many more times attempted but we haven't repeated this awesome spontaneous event.    She is pretty adorable and will sit there sometimes for a while and repeat what I've told her "takes time"  which just sounds so cute coming from her.    Mae also is happy to sit there while we sing Row Row Row Your Boat and play Patty Cake.  :) She does the motions and it's so cute to watch her try to 'roll it'!

Over Christmas we went and visited her  Aunt and Uncle and she fell in love with Uncle Kai!  Yes she is in love with Uncle Kai and when her birthday got closer I asked what she wanted for her birthday and she said "Uncle Kai...come here... come home!"   she also was very specific on what she wanted for her birthday cake:  "Purpul cake!" Our little princess got what she asked for in a quite birthday party themed to My Little Pony and family.  :)  A post to come on this specifically.

Mae's vocabulary has expanded a lot and she's doing great communicating to us what she needs, wants, doesn't want.  :)   It's nice to understand her with most things - although occasionally she still has her own language squeaked in there.     She and her brother love to laugh together and in the car they've very recently started to tell knock knock jokes to each other - there is nothing that is legitimate that anyone else would label these as jokes - besides "Knock Knock... Who's There"  but they enjoy saying weird things - most often Mae says "Cookie Monter" in response to 'Who's there' - somehow Ace works that out and doesn't tire with it.  Although he does tire with the Knock Knock game and will attempt to change it to "I Spy" which Mae doesn't engage with and so then the two of them are in the back simply saying "knock knock... I spy"  back and forth over and over.    Depending on my tolerance level, their volume level, and the length of the drive that tends to be stopped by intervention.   They also play pretty well together at home and Mae has gotten very good at playing hide and seek - which is great because then they can entertain each other when I'm trying to cook dinner!   They enjoy each other's company most of the time.  Most of the time.  ;-)

Health wise - Mae has had a pretty good run the last few months.  In general her 2nd year of life was an adventure.    She no longer has a food allergy though and we're quite thankful about that!!   She's itty bitty like her mama and weighs in at 19.4lbs and 30.3" tall (if you're wondering that's just a tad bigger than Ace was at 1.   However, I weighed 19lbs and was 30" at 2 as well - so I'm not concerned with her tiny stature.  :)

Favorites for Mae include at the moment: Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (she'll stand perfectly still and engaged (zombied?) for a solid 10 minutes just watching it.)  She loves Printhesses, Ponies!!!, and her babies.   She's quite girly and loves to carry around her purses, wear hats, and change her clothes often - although her favorite outfit is simply a diaper.  It can be freezing cold and she'll be content (yet cold) wearing only a diaper - no matter how many outfits or layers we try to put on her - she'll strip them off quickly.  I hope this is a short lived phase.  She loves to read and some of her favorites still are Good Night, Moon,  Good Night, Gorilla, Fancy Nancy books, and the "Princess Book"  which is His Little Princess: Treasured Letters from Your King -  she loves to sing and clap and her dance is adorable.   She loves to say prayers to Jesus and has started to be repetitive in prayers.  She currently loves to touch my tummy as her go-to comforting option.   She's a joy.  

She eats like a bird, but can jug milk from a cereal bowl in no time flat.  She is adorable and we love her joy, her laugh, her smile, her scowl, and her strong willed personality.  :)  We can't wait to see what Year Three brings us!  No diapers is on this mommy's bucket list!   Happy 2nd Birthday, Mae Mae!

Twenty Three Months Old

"Ok!"  "Jellybutter!"   "No... NOT!"   are just a few of the words and phrases that are floating around this household these days.  Yes, Mae is growing up fast and her vocabulary is exploding!  She is regularly stringing together 2 word 'sentences' now although occasionally will get stuck in a loop of one word repeat for example:   Say 'Please, up.'  "up" ... 'Please, up'  "pease"  - it's adorable albeit frustrating at times (although rarely.)    Things that are frustrating are her ever increasing desire of the use of "NO!"   Ace never was 'that child'  he skipped over the outright defiance for the sake of it (he has plenty now with purpose, but just the NO! phrase never was his cup-o-tea.)  Mae however has embraced it like a budding two year old would.  Yeck.     We still find her sweetness to outweigh her two-ness. 

Newness for her 23rd month?   A dentist appointment where they brushed her teeth (her first appointment they don't really do much,) the stomach flu, breastfeeding weaning, semi-consistent sleeping through the night,

Let's tackle that list backwards.   Sleep.   Yes, M has taken an interesting course on the way to independent sleep.    She's been sleeping in a bed for nearly a year now for at least one stint in the night but for over the last month+  she has been electing to sleep in the pack and play instead.   We're not sure why she prefers it, but my objection is little as there are many nights that she will sleep until nearly 6am before making a peep.  It's not regular or every night but I'll take what I can get.   She's taken to wanting all her friends tucked in with her and around her.  Piggy and Bear Bear are still prominent figures but she has a rotation of other friends that join her at night as well ranging from owls, princesses, bunnies, minnie or mickey mouse.  :)  It's cute and sometimes a tad excessive.    

Less than thrilling excitement on the sleeping front is her continued desire to strip off all her clothes.  She does this during the day as well but at night she adds an additional prize element of stripping off the diaper as well.   BOO!   So we have taken to putting her in onesies and on some nights she still strips those off and on other nights we put her pjs on backwards.       We are slowly trying to get her to go back to her bed and sleep there all night.  We'll see how that ultimately goes.  Last night it was ok and she didn't show up in our bed until 4:30am. 

In other areas of sleep is weaning from breastfeeding.   At the beginning of December I invoked a strict schedule of  morning, nap, and bedtime feedings only.   This was met with some particular protest, but like with Ace, I simply encouraged the notion that mommy never runs out of hugs, but she does run out of milk.   At the end of the first week of December after much preparation and explanation leading up to it - Mae and I enjoyed our last feeding before bed.    We replaced it with rocking and for the first several nights she didn't ask once for milk when it was time for bed.  I was really proud of her.   She loves to rock and often uses it as a stall tactic in asking for more.  It's sweet and I'm glad that element of the transition has been going smoothly.  

After Christmas I will remove the morning milk from the rotation and leaving us with only milk before naptime (an option that she already for the most part doesn't demand too often.)   I suspect the hardest milk will be that first thing in the morning milk.  She loves it and I do too.    I'm sad that our time with mama milk is drawing to a close, but I am so thankful for the bonding time we've had and my ability to do it.    I'll write more on this in a separate post - so moving on! 

The flu.... yes in November while on vacation poor M caught her first tummy bug and for several hours on the floor of my Aunt and Uncle's tile floor she threw up over and over.  Poor thing was very sad and doesn't like to throw up at all... all she wanted to do was sleep.    Diapers for the next week were quite icky and it ran it's course through our household and all the guests that visited for Thanksgiving.   Yeck! I am very thankful that we've all recovered from that one.

Also in Cali we got to enjoy lots of family, cousin play, and yes more Disneyland!   It was a lot of fun and she loved the Pirated and would sing (and still does)  "Yo ho, Pirates! ... and ME!"   It's adorable and it's so fun to see her excitement - she'd wave to all the characters in the parade saying "Hiiiii and Byeeee" as they went by.   She covered her ears at the fireworks say "Loud"  but watching them with excitement.    It was a lot of fun!  

M enjoyed her second visit to the dentist office and did very well after some initial trepidation to the visit.    Eventually, she let them clean her teeth and she was excited to receive her rubber ducky as a gift in exchange for her compliance.  :)

Mae is such a sweet girl.  She loves printhesses, PONIES!!!! (My Little Pony), and to change her clothes a zillion times a day (most happy when she's wearing nothing at all!)   I love that she calls peanut butter 'jellybutter'  and that she has learned to nod and shake her head in affirmation or dissent to something.       She has lost the phrasing of Pih-Ul  and now calls him "Pisal" which is adorable and she loves to pet him.   She yells at him (in a very eerily similar vocal tone)  KIATE! (quiet!)  whenever he barks.     She is communicating what she wants very well these days and it is such a joy to watch her vocabulary expand, her understanding increase, and her excitement as well.   She's trying to count.  She can hold up 3 fingers and say "Free"   she knows when there are two of something (but not so much 1 or 3)  she has properly identified letters when given the option on Super Why (a favorite of hers.)     And her absolute favorite song right now is "JINGLE... ROCK!"   Yes, Jingle Bell Rock is requested nightly and only is substitute for "Frosy NoMan"  a second favorite.      If Jingle Bell Rock comes on the radio she squeals and screams "JINGLE!!!"  

She is fascinated by the Christmas tree and loves to touch all the ornaments.  She is gentle enough with them.  :)    She loves for mommy to take pictures of her and is a very happy model most of the time.     I'm so excited to see her this Christmas season and in her final weeks before she turns two.    She's a hearty 19lbs 3oz - something that makes me quiet excited to hear.    She dainty and healthy and we are so thankful for her health.  

Twenty Two Months Old

Goodness gracious!  How have we ventured to this point?!   We are two months away from Mae turning TWO.    Time goes so fast and it's such a fun adventure.   

Mae's first for her 22nd month included:  trick-or-treating, sleeping through the whole night*, lots of new words and phrases.

Yes, Mae's vocabulary is really exploding and aside from being quite the parrot for anything her brother or the rest of us say she's doing great coming up with things all on her own.   It's really cute because after she poses for a picture, takes medicine, anything really she wraps up with 'gud job' which is often what we tell her.    She love to say prayers now and she will offer up prayers in one word sound bytes that then she wants us to say "Dear Jesus, thank you for..." "dad"  "Thank you for dad"  "bruder" "Thank you for brother"  and if we don't pray and thank Jesus for what she has said she repeats it until she does.  Her prayer list typically always includes:  Dad, Bruder, Mom, Pehul, food.   Others that aren't as consistent include: bed, nap, sad (not to be sad), kind, lov-u (loving), Pop Pop, Grammie (I think she's lumped all grandmas into this prayer), piggy, printhesses, diapers... and the other day she was stuck on needing to pray for butt and poop.   It was one of those I tried to skim past, I know I'm editing her prayers, gasp!  But we prayed for them once... I figured it was enough.  No we prayed for them several times.   This went on for a few days - who knows if it will return.   It's adorable and I love that she wants to talk to Jesus every time she lays down for a nap or to go to bed for the night.  

Speaking of sleep this is where the * comes in.   Yes, I know I have blogged once upon a time in Mae's existence that she slept through the night... but it's been soooo long I feel we've reset and so I am going to happily celebrate the fact that she was asleep last week for 12 hours straight.   Put her to bed and she talked to herself for a bit and then she was asleep and I awoke before her to by an hour - insured she was breathing and went back to lay in bed for another free hour!   BLISS... looking forward to when that ever becomes consistent.  Most nights she's awake every 3 to 4 hours.  No milk breaks but still very much wanting it and so the wake ups are often more time consuming then when she was nursing.    She's slowly getting there and heck even if she's on her brother's time line of independent sleep we only have 14 more  months to go.  I think I can, I think I can...

Mae has really started to take a liking to certain things - she for a while was very much in mommy-mode and was loving on her babies and feeding them a lot.    This month she has been very attached to 'printhesses'  which is cute.  She does NOT like Cinderella (not sure why)  and she isn't a huge fan of Merida - but she loves Rapunzel, Belle, and Aerial.   It's cute she lugs around her 20" stuffed princesses and loves them.  If she sees one on tv or in a book - her eyes get wide and she screams "Printhess!"  it's cute - and as Loving Husband pointed out an expensive love.  :)   We'll see.   Her main focus might shift once again.  :)  We haven't even begun to explore My Little Ponies!

In Mae's 22nd month of life and Pixel's 6th month - Mae broke the dog.   I sound dramatic?  No really... she broke the dog.  Fractured his left knee at the growth plate - so to be fair it was a softer bone area that is more prone to injury - but Mae has once again proven she's freakishly strong.  The thing is that she wasn't trying to hurt Pixel.  She was trying to get him up on the couch... by his hind leg.  It didn't work out.   Pixel is on the mend after xrays, a visit to an orthopedic team of doctors and some good narcotics for the pain.  No major intervention was required and we now have pet insurance as he's proven to be a tad too fragile for Mae.     NO hard feelings are left between the two of them - in fact much to our dismay - Mae and Pixel like to enjoy kisses.  She sticks her face down close and puckers her open mouth and says "kuuusssss' and Pixel licks her and then she covers her mouth and giggles and says "Awww coote'  (cute) over and over again.   It would be sweet if not totally gross.  ;)

Mae and her brother are doing well and more often than not are a great pair - she misses him when we drop him off at school and often requires giving him a hug and a kiss before we leave.  In fact she just assume stay and often toddles over to a table or the play bins and just joins the fun with out a care in the world as to what mommy is doing.  :)   Ace and Mae still have the more traditional relationship of siblings where Mae has found her voice (read screaming high pitched yell) and her brother screaming "That's hurting my ears, sister!!!"   It's delightful to discuss patience and lovingingness and kindness in those times.      They play well together and she of course wants to do everything that Bruder is doing.   Including going down the stairs on a broken down cardboard box... "Watch this sister!"   Oh boy!   

Size wise M is growing and getting bigger each day it seems - although she's still super tiny.   We love to watch her grow and develop today she even said a compound word (sunshine) and we were so proud as often any phrase that we say to her she often only repeats one of the words.   She's really getting quite the personality and is adorable.    We love her and I can't wait to see how she enjoys the holiday season this year!

Twenty One Months Old

It's hard to believe that my little girl is speeding towards two at such a rapid pace!   She's gaining such a vocabulary, expressions, beauty and amusement as her personality develops and every day is fun.     She has her first doosy of a cold of the season but she weathered it well.  

 

Firsts this past month:  jumping, first midnight snack, yes she woke up in our bed and her father was eating fritos and so M enjoyed a few and eventually returned to sleep after her request for more was sadly denied because they were all gone, finally letting us leave her bedroom after saying good night.

 

Yes, the sleep department for Mae is trending very similarly as it did for Ace.  For months we've had to sit for close to an hour sometimes until she finally falls asleep and we can creep on out of the room.   Still waking at the end of one sleep cycle 3-4 hours later.   Finally in this past month she's been willing to let us leave the room and sing her a song at the door.    She still gets up 3-4 times to request another song but rarely protests our telling her to return to her bed.   The freedom of my evening is a sigh of relief and a sign that there is light at the end of the tunnel for this conundrum our children call sleeping through the night!   This past month she once returned to wanting Piglet around all the time at bedtime - the month prior she wanted nothing to do with him.  She also attached herself to 'Bear Bear' a teddy bear and both have been required at night.  'Piggy' also occasionally accompanies us during the day places as well.  

Mae loves to play 'wee wees' (This little piggy went to market) and 'cake' (patty cake) and very recently asked me to do 'knuckles' and she showed me her fist.  hehe silly girl.   She asks to have her picture taken and LOVES to give hugs.   It's so sweet.  She's gotten really good at them too with the bear hug around your neck.    She LOVES her dada and spending time with him, but mama still reigns supreme.  She loves to hug her brother and spend time with him as well.

Mae loves to color and 'ride bikes' even if riding the bike involves someone pushing her, as she cannot yet pedal.   She loves to do anything her brother does and loves to watch shows.    She learned to jump this month and is full of energy.   She loves her baths and finally is feeling comfortable enough to even lay on her tummy with her brother in the tub too (which often is like a simulated wave pool with the him in there as well.)    She is pretty fearless!

Just before her 20th month we cut out mama-milk at nighttime and she's been doing pretty well with that.   She still wakes every 4ish hours asking for it but most nights is content to have a sip of water and return to sleep (usually in our bed after that first stint every night.)       She has entered the "broken record" phase which we are praying is short lived - you know the phase where she just says one word over and over and over again - yah it's super not fun for those that have to hear it ;)  but there are worse things and we assume she'll out grow it and we won't be left too scarred by it.

She loves to read, brush her teeth, and color.  She is growing up so fast and it's so much fun to watch her change and advance.   She loves to have her hair brushed and loves to have bows put in her hair - but they never stay there long.     She is a joy and we love her.

Seventeen Months Old

As the days speed past us every day is new and more of an adventure with Mae.   She is becoming her own little person.  Gaining speed, vocabulary and attitude!   :)  Her smile is huge, her laugh is adorable, and her scowl is just plain funny and so pronounced!

New things in her 17th month:  Attended her first baby shower and was an adorable little lady, and lots more words!

Mae has had an explosion of words in this last month.  She's really gotten the parroting thing down and tries all sorts of new words.  Her favorite is "NO!"  She says it with a cute sing-song melody often and it's adorable, but for the connotation attached to it. :)   She also really likes the word 'lello' (yellow) and GO!   Other words she squeaked out this past month include:  puppy, booo (blue), kieee (kitty), eat, skoo (school), sheee (sheep), loouv (love... she curls her little tongue up and it's so adorable to see her try), blow, two (which is her amount for anything and everything when you ask her how many?)  you, boo, choo choo...

Yes, if you're familiar with children's literature those last few words will be a bit more obvious in theme.  They are all words from the book Peek A Who?  Mae loves to read this book over and over and over during the day and she can say all the words except when I prompt her to say 'moo!'  she says 'MEEEE!'   It's adorable and silly and I love it.  Her other favorite book is Good Night, Gorilla.   She is adorable when we read it because when we get to the part opening her eyes in the dark after all the animals say good night back to her,  Mae every time will mimic the gasp sound that I typically make on that page - although for Mae it's more of a grunt and it's adorable.

Mae loves to say her prayers.  She folds her hands and closes her eyes and often will repeat the beginning of the prayer 'De-Ja' (Dear Jesus) and then at the end she will say 'Mon' (Amen)   it's adorably sweet and this past few weeks when we're done praying she will sign for more and fold her hands awaiting my starting of more prayers.  It's seriously the most adorable thing and I love that her faith, while likely not growing in understanding just yet, is growing in eagerness and anticipation!

In trending toward two, Mae has started to enjoy and invoke the rite of passage with some tantrums.   She is extremely dramatic and a slight grievance is often met with massive yelling, screaming, water works - her physical self seems to remain mostly still - although she has gotten down and laid on the floor a time or two for dramatic affect.   To date though she's avoiding the head banging that Ace did during this phase of his life.

Growth wise she is still itty bity - 17lbs and 8oz.   She just had a weight check at the doctor and to check for an ear infection which she was cleared of, apparently she just likes to tug on her ears.  :)   Her coughing continues and we're working through yet another cold.   She still just has the 4 teeth although I can start to see the bulges where the molars are going to come in.   She still loves her mama milk on demand and I'm happy to oblige - although I'd really love for her to sleep through the night! 

Sleep wise she's no different - still wakes a few times a night wanting milk or comfort.  She does start out in her own bed every night but often is in our room by midnight.   Rarely do I get to bed before she's coming into ours.   But I don't complain.  This season is fleeting and if she trends like her brother then we have less than a year before she's in her bed full time.  We'll see though :)  

Speaking of her brother - she loves him.  She loves to climb on him, crawl on him, play with him, get in his way, smack his head, and lay in his bed.   She is a typical little sister and Ace is very patient and loving with her.  

She continues to be my climber - she can freely get herself on the couches, beds, and now knows how to use those heights to get other places.    Eating wise she is very opinionated on the subject.   She's not picky - she eats spinach, she LOVES pasta, and has easily eaten 4oz of steak (I'm not exaggerating!)  in one sitting - but there are times where she just doesn't want to eat without a battle.   To say it's frustrating is an understatement, but I'm hopeful that we're on the downward trend of this phase as well and I'll continue to endure her stubborn ways... I don't really have a choice otherwise. ;)

Mae is a great hugger, she's got a good grip around your neck and she likes to say 'blow' when she blows kisses.  Even if she kisses your cheek she will do it as she says 'blow!'   It's adorable.   Her hair is crazy long but sparse and thin and WILD!  She likes when I do her hair and she leaves it for about 3 seconds.  :)  She loves to try and put her own socks on and she can successfully put on her own pants.   She wants to dress herself often and loves purses, hats and her stuffed animals.  Piglet remains the top favored friend, but she loves to rock and cuddle lots of different ones.   She is adorable and we love her!

Fifteen Months Old

15 months old!  Such a big girl and in such a tiny frame!  Yes at 15 months and 2 days old Mae weighs 17lbs 6oz (0.38%) she is 28.5" tall and her little noggin is 44cm (14%) for a bit of comparison her mommy was also 28.5" and weighed 16lbs 8oz.    Her mommy reached a great height of 5' so Mae appears to be trending in the same way. 

New firsts for this latest month include:  welcoming dada home from a deployment, a few more words clearly spoken: peease (please), and the most amusing MEEE! which she says with great passion whenever she wants something, thinks its hers, or occasionally when she wants up.  Yes, she's saying "me" :)  It's adorable, but I understand the dangerous potential for it to lose it's cuteness really quickly. hehe.

Illness wise Mae was quite under the weather off and on again this month.   She had two colds that were pretty icky and diagnosed with bronciolitis again. Very sad for her.   For the most part she doesn't let the colds slow her down.  She seems to be catching everything her big brother brings home from preschool - as a result I've deemed it the "preschool plague"

In spite of illness though Mae has really blossomed into a social butterfly and loves to toddle all over the place with (or without) her brother.   If we go to a playdate she rarely is clinging to my side, she's mostly off and about and keeping up with the bigger kids.   It's great to see her gain confidence and independence.  

Mae as far as eating and sleeping go is about the same as last month.  Not so great.   She isn't sleeping through the night, she isn't eating three square meals a day.  This may be a result of breastfeeding on both accounts, so when she gets to feeling better we might start do some nighttime weaning - as I recall with Ace it's not fun and so that is certainly a big part of my delay.  :)   Mae also has QUITE the flare for dramatics and she can wail like no other if she's trying to convey displeasure, so whenever we do wean I'm certain the dramatics won't be lost. 

Giggles are also plentiful though around here.  She's getting more ticklish.  She laughs at her brother's silliness, she giggles as she chases him.  It's so stinkin' cute!   She's still so tiny and cuddly.  For the most part she is wearing 9 month clothes and a few 12 months and in some cases a few shirts that are 6months.   She finally has outgrown in her feet the 6 month sleepers.  Yes, JUST outgrew them. 

It's been a great month and a lot of fun.  Mae loves shoes, hugging dolls, and climbing onto anything she can scale.   She "blows" her nose by making a similar noise with her mouth and still absolutely loves to brush her teeth. Piglet and her blanket are still often clutched in her arm, but quickly ditched as to not slow her down.  She's such a joy and every day is a different adventure. 

Fourteen Months Old

Little Miss Mae is 14 months old and counting!   She's precious.  She's expressive.  She is on the go! 

New firsts for Mae this past months:  a new bed, her first dentist appointment, and attachment lovies.

Mae has really regressed in the sleep department in the last week - but I have to give her credit for sleeping in her own bed for the first stint of the night.  Yes, Mae is sleeping in her very own toddler bed.  I'm still working on a post on Mae's sleep, but in general she falls asleep on her own without milk about 40% of the time.  For the first two weeks in  her new bed she never got out of it - but in the last week or so she's figured out that she can just get up - so she gets out of bed a few times on some nights.  Lately she's been sick and as a result needs more snuggling, so she's been waking up a lot more frequently.  As mentioned in her 'firsts' list she has new lovies that she snuggles with.  Piglet and a little blanket.  I have since purchased a second set of them and they are rotated - already washed due to illness.

Yes, poor Mae has been pretty sick this past week with another virus.  Lots of vomit from a bad cough.  Lots of laundry has been done and many-a-piglets washed.  It made for long, icky nights last week - but she's on the mend and although the cough is lingering and nights are still sad to some extent she's much happier in the day.

Vocabulary is starting to eek out of our little girl she now says: mama, dada, bruda, boooh (book), mooorrre, mek (milk), teef (teeth) and every now and then she will say UP! My favorite by far is "cheeeese" and then she smiles and wants her picture taken.  Yes Mae poses for the camera, yes this mommy knows she's created a monster ... and I love it!  Her signs are about the same.   She also communicates by listening very well and follows instructions. I love that she's so intent on listening to us and following instructions.   Mae loves to play peek-a-boo and singing If You're Happy And You Know It Clap Your Hands!  And she loves to give high fives!

Mae has started to enjoy reading more and even has gotten her own Tag Reading system with some board books.  She loves to push her pen onto the book and make it talk.  She gets so excited.   Mae LOVES her brother, loves to follow him, help him, be with him and hit him in the head. It gives her a huge smile and Ace screams for his sister to PLEASE STOP SISTER!   Ah it begins.   For the most part they do great together.

Size wise she still is happily in 9 month sleepers and at her doctor's appointment last Monday she weighed 18lbs with clothes on.  Doctor isn't worried and neither are we.  She still nurses most of the time and eats about 2 meals a day (we try 3 or 4 times a day but she isn't interested most of the time!)  and has cows milk in the morning.  

Mae is a sweet girl, but she gets cranky.  She's not been a good napper lately and she gets quite angry and overtired.   She also can throw herself a good ol' fashion tantrum when she doesn't get her way.  But the good always out weighs the bad and we love every second with our Little Miss Mae.  We're looking forward to what this next month holds!

Thirteen Months Old

Miss Mae is growing up faster than ever!  She's so smart and is really gaining quite the personality! It's hard to believe that we are already starting a season of 'seconds' with her.

New for this thirteenth month: first pinata, first chipped tooth, first time being babysat by her Gran & Pop Pop, first time brushing her teeth with a big girl tooth brush.

Mae is adorable and knows it!   She is such a sweet heart and is growing up so well.  She's still an itty bity thing and wears 9 month clothes well - and while not swimming - certainly has plenty of growing room in 12 month ones.    She is doing much better at eating 3 times a day.  Although it varies from day to day on how much she actually will consume.    Some days she wants 'people' food and other days is totally content to simply eat her jar food.    She's regularly drinking cow's milk in the mornings now and so we've lessened the amount she nursing just a tiny bit.    Things that her favorite right now are puffs, sweet potatoes, and often she'll eat any chicken that we put in front of her.  Surprisingly, she also likes raw broccoli.

Mae loves to cuddle in her giant pillow while her dada holds her and at the beginning of her 13th month would often start her night time sleep that way.   Half way into the month though we started to work on a bit more of a night time routine for her and she started to get ready for bed at the same time as her brother - so while Ace got his pjs on - I changed her diaper and put her pjs on and then they both head into the bathroom for teeth brushing.  She LOVES to brush her teeth.  She gets very upset when it is time to be all done.     After we finish with the teeth brushing it's into brother's room we go for songs, book reading, and prayers.   We say good night to brother and then  head into our room to put M to sleep.       I am writing this blog about 10 days post her 13th month 'birthday' so at the time of that - she was still nursing to sleep and on occasion taking HOURS to do so.  However, a lot of that seems to have been the illness and as of the 10th of this month she had 3 nights of under 20 minutes to go to sleep!   A post specifically on her sleeping progress is in the works!

Mae has gotten extremely good at listening!  She has been since before she turned one, but considering how young she is - it's amazing at how well she will listen (when she wants to!)   If we are nearby her diapers and I ask her to bring me one she will get me one.   I tell her to lay down for a diaper change she will go into her room and lay where we change her diaper.    If she has something she isn't suppose to, I will ask her to bring it to me and she 90% of the time will.    She's a good little helper.   She doesn't always understand what I am asking of her, but she is listening and we are in awe of her comprehension and execution of requests.    She'll blow kisses at you when you ask, wave goodbye, and play peek a boo with her dad (and well anyone really who will entertain the idea.)   She also has taken to walking over to a certain wall in our living room and posing for pictures.    It's too darn adorable! 

She loves her brother!  Mae will play with him any and every time he is willing to do so.   He loves her without question and wants to be on him and be everywhere he is.    Ace tolerates and (most of the time) loves it.   She without fail will run into the bathroom if it is open and climb up onto the stool (likely because she wants to brush her teeth) - Ace will yell for me to come retrieve her.

Language wise Mae is starting to further form the words already in her vocabulary - milk is a little closer to 'meee'  rather than 'ma ma',  book is 'boo' rather than 'bah',  brother still has 'ba' most of the time but occasionally she'll squeak out 'burda'.   Me as 'mama' hasn't really been heard around these parts in a while, but I'm hoping it makes a comeback.   Her sign language has really improved a lot. She has started to use "more" with more regularity and is very good with "all done" at dinner time.  She also knows (our version) of "I'm sorry" (her brother tends to require signing it to her regularly and we make her do it as well when she has wronged him.)  "Thank you" also is there, but often confused with her blowing kisses, but it's kind of a gratitude statement, so we'll take it.  :)    She loves to help sing songs at bed time and in church and it's just too darn adorable.  

Mae is also very into making various facial expressions.  She has a sly smile, a goofy grin, and a giant cheesy smile too.  They're all adorable.  She's also got a mean frown, an annoyed look to the side, and a host of others that very easily describe what her opinion of the various things happening to and around her.  :)      She is such a joy.   She loves to brush her hair - which is adorable and I am so pleased to see that it's finally starting to thicken up.  She's developing a love of hats, headbands, etc... but none stay on very long.  Hair bows are not long for wear and most of the time not even attempted yet.    She likes to rip them out and then try to set them back on top of her head.  It's cute, but it can go on forever if we let it.  :)

Sickness wise - Mae got herself another doozy of a cold, along with her brother and her mommy.   We were all down for the count for over a week.   The cough  is still lingering even still, but hopefully it's residual and not symptomatic of it worsening.   Otherwise she's a healthy and very happy little girl.   She now has 4 teeth - and sadly her second top tooth got chipped somewhere (which honestly is no surprise since she falls regularly from the great heights she's scaled!)  although it has now come in further and looks like it has a crack in it - so I think a trip to the dentist is on the horizon very soon!

We're already well into our 14th month of Mae's little life and she is such a joy and changing daily.  Can't wait to discover more with her as she grows and changes.  :)

One Year

Happy First Birthday, Mae!

It seems impossible that one year has passed since my little girl was placed in my arms.  She's still pretty tiny, but she's far more mobile, expressive, and if possible more adorable as when she entered this world. 

Mae's 12th month brought more firsts:   first time sleeping in her own room,  first Christmas, first allergic reaction, first 911 call, first bout of bronciolitis, first New Year's Eve.

Let's start with Mae's chomper count:  3 total for her first year.  Her second top tooth has broken through the gums, but since it isn't truly visible we will leave the total count at 3.   She's doing well to use them on appropriate things.  Although she does bite when she gets really mad.  Doesn't bode well for preschool, so hopefully she out grows that tantrum.

Mae is putting those teeth to good use in the food department and has started to eat things like sliced turkey, cheese, and even her first McDonald's nugget! She does drink a little goat's milk daily, but nothing terribly measurable and she does so in a sippy cup.  We've skipped bottles entirely - in spite of the $ that I dropped on several fancy ones. Ah well.   She still eats like a baby bird and relies mostly on mama milk.  I think she's going to trend like her brother on the very little food consumption for a bit, making her mama count calories and be nervous.    She is growing though.  She weighs 16.14lbs (2.02%) and is 26.52" (1.70%)  so while she's nearly off the charts she is gaining weight, in spite of illness.

Yes, this last month has been quite the challenge for Mae Mae.   She had a cold when she cut her tooth that seems to be pretty normal for her teething routine it seems, but after the cold (or during?)  we discovered she had an allergy and had to go through the process of handling that, allergist appointments, and carrying around epi pens.  After the immediate reaction we followed up with her doctor who diagnosed our little girl with bronciolitis because she just sounded so junky in her lungs.  By New Years she was feeling much better and when the allergist listened to her lungs, she was totally clear and over it (a week later.)  

I mentioned earlier that Mae slept in her room for the first time, and to date, the only time.  She developed  her cold right after that and this mama bear likes her baby close when she's got a cold. After that it was the allergy, then the bronciolitis, and well now to be honest, her room needs to be cleaned and reorganized again before we can place her in there again.   :)    In general Mae's sleep is not ideal.   She's doing decent napping - sometimes we'll get 90+ minutes out of her - that seems to be once every 5 days.   She is pretty much down to one nap sometime in the afternoon.   She does car nap pretty consistently though.   Her nighttime sleep though is quite dramatic.  As in it takes forever to get her to sleep.  No routine, lighting, or mood can get her to become unconscious unless she a) wants to or b) screams until she's unconscious in our arms.   The doctor yesterday said that is most likely a separation anxiety issue and should pass with time.   Here's hoping sooner than later!

Vocabulary wise we don't have much more official words.   She really doesn't say 'mama' much anymore unless she's upset and reaching for me (and even then it often is only one 'ma' and that is milk)   Although her 'ma' for milk is morphing into 'meee' so she's getting closer to actually getting the real word out.    Same with 'brother' - it often still is 'ba'  but she is on occasion says 'bru da'  - she still utters 'up' but mostly she just reaches her arms up and fusses.   We try really hard to not automatically give her what she wants so that she does need to exercise the language skills.    I have been working with her to say 'please' in sign language and what's really cute is that she signs 'please' on me when she wants it - which for her is just waving on my chest back and forth.    It's sweet.      She is very good at waving hi and bye and on occasion she will say both of those words.   

Development wise, she sort of knows the color red.  I'd say 70% of the time she can show me something red if there are three choices to choose from.   She does really well at eye contact and seeking my approval or disapproval on her actions (or the actions of others.)    She can also put things in and out of a container.     She loves to follow her brother and play with him.   They are starting to get into a bit of a tussle every now and then over a toy, as Mae seems to find it her right to simply take anything and everything her brother has.   He does ok with the process most of the time.     Mae also has started to shake her head 'no' some times when we ask her to do something.   It's cute (currently.)  Mae most of the time is adorably happy,  big smiles and giggling.  However, she does have quite an explosive 0-100% mad gauge. She has easily moved into tantrums without much issue. Whole body going stiff, beet red, and mad mad mad. She recovers quickly, but my goodness she can express her displeasure like no other.

Mae is fully walking now and has some decent speed with it too.   She climbs everywhere she can get to and even tries to climb some places she can't.  While cute- she certainly is going to make me go gray.    She is now quite proficient at climbing up and down the stairs - which makes me much happier that she's mastered these skills.  She still on occasion likes to stand right at the top of the stairs and dance - which is cause for a mild-heart attack by this mama, but overall she has avoided tumbles and mishaps.  But this little girl's guardian angel does certainly work overtime! 

Toys and play:  Mae still loves her little baby doll, and her Sophie giraffe (which lives in the car), and she loves baby dolls and soft stuffed animals.  She likes to carry them around and play peek a boo with them.   She also really loves to put blankets, pants... anything on her head and walk around that way.   Also LOVES to put anything around her neck that she can fashion into a scarf...  she really is my danger child.   Trust me, she's never out of my sight in light of these 'hobbies' of hers.   She's adorable though when she's behaving safely.     Mae really hasn't taken an interest in any particular show or movie.  She for the most part couldn't care less when the tv is on, other than her interest in climbing up onto the table the tv is on.    She still loves to chew on things, but has moved past putting EVERYTHING into her mouth... but she still puts plenty in.      She loves to play the 'upside down' game with her dad,  playing he her room with her brother, and poking noses with her mama.    She's just so happy.  Mae also likes to sing along when we sing songs with "ahhhhhs" in various notes. Pretty cute!

It's so hard to believe that a whole year has gone by!  I can't believe it.  It feels it went even faster than Ace's first year.    She's so special, and is certainly developing into her own personality in this family and we love to watch her do so.    Happy Birthday,  Owlie!  Mommy, Dad, and Brother all love you so much!!