In Toddler News | Part Three

Dear Pemberley,
I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again: this is absolutely, without a doubt, my favorite age! You are learning so much these days (and getting into so much trouble!), and it's so neat to watch you grow up. It's also very bittersweet, don't get me wrong, but it's just so damn cool, too.

Let's start with the best: watching you eat. You probably know this by now, but you love to eat. And lately, it's quite hilarious to watch you master the art of using a fork. I realize that giving a 20 month old spaghetti and a fork is kind of ridiculous (I mean, let's work on stabbing the food before we twirl it, right?). You apparently thought so, too, because you threw your fork to the ground and went at your spaghetti family style!!

Aside from eating, your next favorite thing to do is watch Justin Bieber music videos on YouTube. Allow me to explain how that came about, before you start judging me, okay? :)

I was trying to teach you how to say "baby" for the longest time before Wavie got here. You would make the "b" sound, but absolutely refused to say the entire word. One day I had on iHeart Radio, and "Baby" by Bieber came on as we were walking upstairs so I could put you down for your nap. I'll be damned if you didn't start saying, "Beebee, beebee!" when you heard it! After that, you were addicted. You've gotten really good at singing the chorus, and even add in the "Ohhh!" at the end, as well. It's quite possibly the cutest thing ever. You will take anyone's phone and unrelentlessly go, "beebee, beebee, beebee, ohhhh! Beebee, beebee!" over and over and over until we put the video on for you. Bieber has entertained you for many minutes throughout the day while I take care of your sister. Here's the look on your face when you see the video begin. Pure. Joy. (And don't get me started on how cute those pigtails are!!!)

Here's a quick video of your relentless request. Sooooo cuuuuteee!

You've spent a lot of time with your Daddy lately while I take care of little sister. I love watching the two of you bond! We went to the park near our house on Memorial Day, and I captured this picture of Daddy pushing you on the swing. You are definitely a 'play outside kind of girl', and you had a blast swinging and bossing the other kids around (you are NOT shy when it comes to talking to other kids). The look on your face when you see your Daddy just melts my heart :)

Another favorite thing you like to do, aside from spending time with Daddy, is cause as much trouble as you possibly can. You need to be watched like a hawk every waking moment, or I find you dancing with a roll of toilet paper...

...or standing on top of an unstable play kitchen...

...or sitting in an Amazon box with some snacks after trying to eat the dog food...

...or stepping on Meagram's tail because you have your sunglasses on...indoors...

...or putting yourself and Rusty in doggy jail after I chased you down for taking a bag of Cheez-Its out of the kitchen pantry and crunching them all over the floor...

...or taking out every single wet wipe as fast as you can before you get caught...

...or, lastly, forcing me to play peek-a-boo, even though right before I took this picture, you got caught splashing in the pet fountain yet again.

We seriously need to do a better job watching you.

I love you so much, sweet girl. Seeing you toddle around and get into stuff has been one of the biggest highlights of the summer so far. A close second is hearing you talk and learn new words. You've learned to say "Hep! Hep!" when you need something ("help"), and you love asking to go on a walk. Although it doesn't *quite* sound like "walk" just yet...

We'll keep working on your "w" sound this summer.

With so much love,

In Toddler News | Part Two

Dear little one,
I hardly know where to begin. You're learning and growing by leaps and bounds and it's hard to catch up! It seems like every day your Daddy and I figure out something new that you learned, or realize that a pair of pants that fit you the night before are suddenly too small. You're growing up before our eyes and it's so bittersweet to see! Where oh where to begin...?

Let's start with the pets. You walk around the house going, "At! Aaaaat!" You're of course yelling cat, but Meagram chooses to ignore you and Disco runs away in fear that you'll step or sit on her. You also LOVE to meow back at them. We'll ask you, "How does the cat go?" And you make literally the.most.adorable attempt at a meow. I'm going to miss it when you start "for real" talking; your translations are just too cute! I'm also very pleased that you like the cats, while Daddy shakes his in disbelief that you said the word cat before the word doggy - haha!

#catloverlikehermommy #futuretroublemakingBFFs

Of course, your love for all things feline doesn't stop you from spending quality time with the dogs. Here you are, after just having eaten breakfast. I was in the living room for a minute when it occurred to me that you were very quiet. Too quiet. So I got up to find you and Rusty, hanging out in the dog crate. I managed to get this picture right after he bolted and right as you were crawling out. Safe to say you've found a little hideaway...

You also love sharing food with the dogs, and by sharing, I mean giving your food to them and eating theirs as well. Daddy bought a new huge container for the dog food and put it next to the dog crate in the breakfast nook. I swear I was only in the bathroom for five seconds when I walked out to find that the following had gone down:

1) You opened the top of the container and got out the cup we use to measure the dog food with, 

2) Rusty and Dolce were feasting as fast as they could on as much dog food as possible, and 

3) You can fit a hell of a lot of dog food in your mouth in the time it takes me to walk from the hallway to the kitchen. 

Daddy was proud when I told him what happened.

So, about food. You're still my little chunker when it comes to eating. You have gotten maybe a little pickier in the past few months, but it's really hard to tell if it's you actually being picky, or me just being a terrible cook. By and large though, breakfast is your jam. You can pack away six mini pancakes, a whole banana AND some yogurt with z-e-r-o difficulty. We've recently begun giving you a toddler spoon to help you start learning how to use silverware. Let's just say it's a skill in progress :)

Helping me in the kitchen is also a new favorite way for the two of us to bond. I can't help but smile when I'm unloading the dishwasher, and I look over to see this::

See what I mean? Little. Miss. Trouble! I actually bought you a pink play kitchen, but Daddy hadn't had time to put it together just yet. I'm hoping once he does you'll be more inclined to play with it, instead of in our drawers...

Other things you've learned include how to open the door from the hallway to the garage (so you can let big fat Meagram escape, and it's totally adorbs when I tell you, "Daddy's home!!" and you run to open the door for him), how to 'wear' my glasses, to walk over to the changing table when you need a diaper change, and how to crawl up the stairs at lightning speed. I'm a proud mama when I can say, "Pemberley, let's go upstairs!" and you walk right over to the baby gate and wait for me to unlock it. (I'm also a very thankful mama, because carrying you up the stairs and being 34 weeks pregnant is like, the opposite of easy.)

I've also come to adore how much you love your new car seat! The Graco Size4Ever straps just weren't working out for us. We'd buckle you in, make sure they were the correct tightness, and then by the time I got to daycare in the mornings, they'd be slack. As much as we're on the road, I didn't want to chance anything happening to you. We upgraded to a Diono Radian RXT and you LOVE it! It helps you do crazy things with your hair when you pull out your ponytail...

...and it has enough space that you can comfortably sit with your blanket, a cup of water, and a book. This picture warms my heart...it gives me hope that someday you'll become an avid reader and lover of books just like your mommy! (Even though I'll admit the only thing you were doing with that particular book was searching and yelling for the picture of the "aaaaaaaattttt!")

I think my favorite thing you've learned to date is where your belly button is, though. We'll ask you, and the cutest little smile flashes across your face before you lift up your shirt and show us. And girl, you are not shy! You'd walk around showing off your tummy all day if we let you ;)

You've become quite the Daddy's Little Helper, too. I love to see you follow him around and try to mimic what he's doing - banging on the walls while he nails something up, 'hammering' something down, or even picking out paint at Home Depot.

Last is your affinity for anything electronic. You love the Endless ABCs app on my phone, and you love to cue Siri on Daddy's phone and ask her about the "aaat!" I caught this adorable picture of you playing on Daddy's phone right before bed. (Excuse your outfit...a dress I ordered for you had just come in the mail and I couldn't wait to try it on you!)

You're quite our little princess, as you can tell. We love you so much, and get so excited the more we watch you grow. You're such a smart, beautiful little girl and we are so lucky to call you our daughter!

With all of the love in the world,

In Toddler News | Part 1

Hi little one,
Toddler News. It's weird to write and even weirder to say out loud. You're getting so big, and learning new things every day. I know I kind of suck at updating your blog, but I promise I'll get better. I mean, I have to--you're doing so much new stuff and I don't want to miss a thing!

First. You just look older. You're losing all of your adorable chubbs baby fat now that you're walking everywhere (and sometimes trying to run...especially when it's away from the dogs). And did I even mention the fact that you're walking yet?! It's the weirdest thing, to see you randomly stand up and just take off. Like...when did my big girl get so BIG? Here you are at Oak Park Mall looking way older than you actually are, and you're getting ready to dig into some Original's Pizza. Which brings me to my second point...

Second. Food. You are definitely your father's child when it comes to food. You love to eat! And you're not picky. Watching you scarf down Brussels sprouts, chicken, broccoli, Cheerios, bell peppers (as evidenced in the picture below) makes your father smile every time. And man, can you eat! Daddy sometimes worries that we overfeed you, but I just remind him that you're constantly on the move so you need all of the fuel you can get. As of a few weeks ago, you were almost 22 pounds!

Third. Dress. You still wear a majority of your 12 month clothes, even though you're 14 months old now. The 18 month clothes (and pajamas in particular) are too long in the arms and too big in the waist in most brands. Since turning one, you've rocked a fur vest AND a leather coat, so you're quite the little mini-fashionista-in-the-making. Until I let Daddy dress you. Then you look like this:

Never again will your Daddy be allowed to pick out your clothes. I promise.

You love to rock your gold glitter moccs, as well as your leopard print kicks. Grannie is already planning to buy you your first pairs of Uggs and Wellies, and I must admit--I'm SO EXCITED to see you wear them someday! Baby shoes melt my heart.

Of course, doing every day things wearing absolutely nothing but a diaper is also totally normal for you. For example this time, when we found you eating Daddy's protein powder. I swear I thought I locked the pantry up before I walked into the laundry room. People weren't kidding when they said to never leave a toddler alone for any amount of time...

Fourth. The car. You are still rear-facing in your car seat, and you don't mind it at all. You usually fall asleep within minutes, but when you don't, it's not totally rare for you and I to have full conversations while I drive. You're a babble machine (just like your mama)! You're also all smiles when I go to get you out. See what I mean? Face.of.an.angel.

 

But Daddy and I also take you out of your seat and let you test drive the car from time to time. You can't *quite* reach the pedals just yet, but you know. #lifegoals

Fifth. Last. Sleeping. You're making up for all of the sleepless nights you had between birth and your first birthday. You are the BEST sleeper! And as much as I wish I could tell you the magic secret, I think it just boils down to us having to wait until you were ready to sleep through the night. Now that you do, though...what a difference! 12-14 hour stretches are commonplace, and on weekend mornings, I LOVE IT. I'll admit it. I feel like less of a "mombie" (mom/zombie) and more like myself. And you're happier too:: when you wake up, you have the best smile on your face!

But you have started doing a kind of weird(?) thing while you sleep, however. Someimes I'll wake up to pee and I'll check in on you via the Dropcam monitor. Many times, you're sitting upright in your crib, like Paranormal Baby or something. You never make a sound or give any other indication that you're awake, and it's seriously the freakiest thing to see you just sitting there, hanging out in your crib at midnight.

So, that's it. You're a big girl, and getting bigger every day. You love bringing me your baby when I ask for it, and you recently learned the word "up". You yell "UP!" after you walk to your highchair and indicate that you're hungry. You repeat "UP! UP! UP!" until we pick you up and set you on the couch with us. And you love to throw the ball to Rusty in the living room and then try to take it out of his mouth when he gets it. It really does make my heart swell when I see you doing such big girl things.

We're going to get ready for your second Christmas in about a week. I will of course keep this updated with all of our Christmas break shenanigans, and I'm too excited to post pictures of your adorbs Christmas dress!!!

I love you so much my big girl,