2.5 part 2

by David Howie

Carrie forgot a few things that Aubrey is doing at her 2.5th birthday, and of course I have a different perspective on some things. At age two and a half, Aubrey is also...

...very precise. Example conversations include:

- "Look at that red car." "That's a truck."
- "There's Gramzie's car." "Gramzie has a van."

- "Don't poke your finger in Jude's eye." "That's a thumb."
- "I like your red shirt." "That's a dress."
- "Let's rinse the soap off." "That's called shampoo."
And many more. I love it.

...happy to see her daddy. When I get home from work, she comes running to the door giggling. It's the most amazing thing ever.

...a great big sister. She loves Jude. She'll lay by him on the floor and tickle him. She's very helpful in fetching things for him like his paci, a toy, or an extra diaper. And she loves having him sit in her lap. It's super cute.

...a Beauty and the Beast fanatic. She got the DVD for Christmas and didn't watch it at all for months. She's not much of a tv girl - too active. But when we were all sick, we put in the DVD. Carrie said, "You think she'll last 15 minutes?" I think she watched it like 5 times over the next 3 days. Yesterday she watched it 3 times. It's nice to have something to take her attention and keep her quiet, but we don't want her to be a tv zombie. Plus I hum "Be Our Guest" to myself at work now. I comfort myself with the fact that she's so into the movie because we started with reading the book to her.

...an outdoor lover. She's always ready to go outside. It's about the only thing she likes more than watching Beauty and the Beast. She likes to play on the deck and walk on the sidewalk. She's good about not going in the street. She's much more wary of Knightly now. She used to be fearless, but now she understands what it means to be knocked down by a crazy dog.

...a little big bigger than average. She's about 29 pounds and 36 inches tall - both 55th percentile.

...my precious little girl. Don't grow up so fast.

2.5

My sweet little baby girl is two and a half years old, as of today! That really blows my mind. I cannot believe that she is half-way to being THREE. I really feel like we literally just had her second birthday party about a month ago, and now we're half-way to another one. In honor of her half birthday, I wanted to "write down" some things that she's up to these days now that she is practically grown ;-)

At two and a half years old, Aubrey...

...Is potty training! We've been working on it all week, and she is really doing great! We're still figuring out the best way to go about it, so I'll post more details when we have it all figured out. (What am I saying? We'll never have it all figured out!) :-)...Is super attached to her "baby Belle." You'll notice the doll in most of these pictures. She is a little Belle doll (from Beauty and the Beast), and Aubrey got her for Christmas. She decided that Belle is her new best friend recently. That doll goes just about everywhere with us. She just LOVES Belle. She tries to "blame" things on Belle, which is so funny to me. Sometimes if I tell her to do something that she doesn't want to do, she will say, "But Belle doesn't want to." Ha! Of course she doesn't get away with that ;-) ...Still sleeps in her crib. She climbed out of her crib once several months ago, and I thought for sure that the crib days were drawing to a close. She hasn't climbed out since, though, and I'm SO thankful. Mommy just isn't ready for that transition just yet! She sleeps great, but she has been waking up earlier and earlier lately. She usually gets about 12 hours of sleep a day, including her nap. ...Has strong opinions about what she likes to eat. She can usually tell me exactly what she is "in the mood for" for a meal. Sometimes I let her pick what she wants (like for breakfast or lunch), but other times she just has to eat what I give her. Or NOT eat it, as is usually the case ;-) In the nursery at church, they get a little snack, and they sometimes give them little gummy snacks. Aubrey loves those things and begs for "yummies" all the time. I got her some little fruit chews for special treats to have at home, and she thinks that is just awesome. Her favorite thing to drink is "yemonade" (lemonade). ...Talks non-stop. We have real conversations now, and I just love that. I think it's so fun that she has a mind of her of own now and can express her own opinions. She doesn't just repeat phrases that she's heard us say; she comes up with things all on her own now, and it's HILARIOUS. I told David the other day that I really feel like she is my little companion now. I've always enjoyed her company since the day she was born, but it feels more like I have a little buddy here with me everyday (as opposed to a baby who doesn't provide a whole lot of [verbal] feedback). It's so fun!...Knows her colors. She gets blue and green confused sometimes, but she is very good at identifying colors. Of course her absolute favorite color in PINK. She tells me frequently, "Mommy, I love pink." She also loves purple and red :-)...Loves to point out when things "match." If we both have on blue jeans, she will put her leg up to mine and say, "Look! They match!" She will do the same thing if we're wearing the same color. If we're both barefoot, she will put her foot next to mine and say, "We both have 'naken' (naked) feet!"...Enjoys reading books. She loves it when we read to her, and she picks out which book she wants us to read to her before nap and bedtime. She has little names for her books, and she can recite pages from memory on her favorite books that we read the most often. I'm so glad she enjoys books and hope she always loves to read. ...Loves playing with her Legos! She will sit and build "towers" with her Legos for the longest time. I love them, too, because they are a nice quiet toy ;-) She builds "arks" for us, and she usually does some kind of pattern with the colors. She's quite artistic with her Legos. Ha! ...Reminds me to pray and thank God for her food if I forget. I love this. She will also randomly thank God for things. I love to hear her talk to God. I pray that the Lord is working in her heart even now to draw her to Himself. I hope that she loves the Lord more than anything and never remembers a day when she didn't love and talk to Him about everything. This is our greatest prayer and hope for our children. There is nothing I want more than to know that my children are His.

This little list really doesn't even scratch the surface about how funny and cute and smart we think Aubrey is. She and Jude are the apples of our eyes, and we think everything they do is spectacular. (Except the temper tantrums and disobedience of course! ;-) Second only to my salvation, Aubrey really is one of the biggest blessings in my life (along with David and Jude), and I am humbled and blessed to call her my daughter! Happy HALF birthday, sweet Aubrey! I love you so much! :-)

Jude at 6 Months Old

I mentioned that when I took Aubrey to the doctor last week, I went ahead and scheduled Jude's 6 month checkup at the same time. And by the way, I do not recommend taking two children to the doctor by yourself if one of them is sick and fussy/clingy/freaking out. Not the best decision I've ever made. Plus, they made us sit in the sick waiting room, which I understand since Aubrey was sick, but usually they let us sit on a little bench in the hall when one child is sick and one isn't. The whole time we were in that full waiting room, all I could think about was stomach bugs, and the flu, and strep throat (oh my!).

Anyway, onto the point of this post: Jude's stats! ;-) He weighed approximately 19 pounds. I say approximately, because Aubrey was having a meltdown while we were trying to weigh him, and so they didn't make me take his clothes off and just deducted a few ounces for his clothes. He was 28 1/2 inches long. This puts him in the 75th percentile for weight and length. I'm not sure about his head circumference, but those numbers don't really mean anything to most people, anyway ;-)

Developmentally, the doctor said Jude is doing great! He is able to sit up; we just need to work on balance a little bit more. He is alert, and grabs EVERYTHING. I was really worried because he still has never rolled from his back to his stomach. He's rolled onto his side, but he's never gone all the way over. The doctor said as long as he rolls one way (and he's been rolling from his tummy to back since he was about 2 months old) she doesn't worry. Plus, he really is so close to rolling all the way. He just honestly doesn't get a lot of time on the floor to practice these skills since it's quite possible that he would get trampled if I turned my back for half a second. Ha! Poor child will probably never crawl ;-)

I asked the doctor about Jude's 20 minute naps hoping for some sage advice, and, well.... I didn't really get any. She said if he sleeps well at night (and, at this point, she said waking up once a night would be considered "sleeping well") and still only naps for 20 minutes, he might just not require a long nap. If his naps are sporadic AND he doesn't sleep well at night, he's probably over-tired, but since that isn't really the case...well, I guess this might just be "the norm" for Jude. That wasn't really what I was hoping to hear. It's kind of exhausting to only get 20 minutes of quiet time a day (Aubrey is awake during his first 20 minute nap). If that's all he needs, though, what can you do? He's way too young to understand any sort of "you have to stay in your bed for at least an hour for quiet time" concept, and I'm not going to just let him cry if he isn't tired. So, we just get lots of one on one time in the afternoon while Aubrey naps. Which isn't all bad :-) I do love spending time with my little man. I'm not convinced that he doesn't need more sleep, though, so if anyone has any tips on extending naptime, I'm all ears! Haha.

Jude has been a little congested lately (darn sick waiting room!) (just kidding -- I'm sure it's from all those big sister kisses), so he hasn't been sleeping all that great at night, either. He's been sleeping in his bed for the first several hours and then waking up stopped up. At that point, after feeding him and trying to get him back to sleep, we usually just end up putting him in the bed with us so that we can get a little sleep. Not ideal, and I'm afraid if this goes on much longer, it's going to be a hard habit to break when he doesn't have a little cold. Getting up in the night and then being energetic and sweet to a very ACTIVE 2 year old is not something I'm great at, so I'm praying this passes soon! Mama needs her sleep! Haha!

In spite of the sleep issues that we're still having, Jude is such a JOY, and we are so thankful for our sweet little baby.

What's for Dinner?

Thank you for your encouraging comments on the sleep post. Sometimes, for me, one of the hardest parts about being a mother is second guessing myself or comparing myself to other moms. It's so encouraging to be reminded that I'm not the only one going through sleep issues, or toddler temper tantrums, or what have you. In the end, we're all trying to do what we feel is best for our children, and we should all try to encourage other moms and be supportive of each other. I'm going to try to be intentional about being an encourager :)

On a lighter note, Jude had his first taste of baby food yesterday! He's been eating rice cereal for several weeks, but this was his first "real" food (if you can even call it that ;)). He had sweet potatoes mixed with cereal. He was.... well, a little unsure about it. Haha! His facial expressions were cracking me UP!

"Mom, what are you trying to sneak into my dinner??"

"I'd rather eat feet than that stuff." (And yes, he was busting out of his clothes. The snaps on that outfit just would NOT stay snapped.)

"Have mercy on me, please! No more!"

In spite of the terrible faces, he did eat a good amount of food. He ate even more tonight with quite a bit less drama :) I can't believe he is eating baby food already! My baby is so big!

Four Month Stats & A Shopping Trip

Jude went to the doctor for his 4 month checkup today. He doesn't actually turn 4 months old until next week, but we went ahead and had his appointment. I'm in shock that my baby is even near 4 months old already! Jude got a great report at the doctor. She said he seems very alert and happy, and we can start rice cereal if we want to. Food from a spoon?! No way is Jude that old! ;) We'll probably wait a while before we start cereal because Aubrey really didn't have much interest in it until she was older. We also found out that Jude is a growing boy! :) Here are his stats:

Weight: 15 lbs, 5 oz (75th percentile)
Height: 25 1/2 in (75th percentile)
Head Circumference: 43 cm (75th percentile)

In other words, Jude is a very well-proportioned boy! ;)

After the appointment, I thought it would be a good idea to do a little shopping. We were already out of the house, and it was nowhere near naptime, so I thought it was a good a time as any. We are having pictures made on Friday, and I'm searching for clothes for all of us to wear. Finding something that doesn't make me look 6 months pregnant and 300 pounds is proving to be a challenge. Haha! Our nice little shopping trip wasn't quite as fun as I had hoped.

My normally happy, content little baby was having a meltdown as soon as I parked the car. I was hoping he would settle down when I got the stroller moving. He didn't. I finally came to the conclusion that he must be hungry since he didn't eat very well before we left home. So I had to hightail it to the nearest dressing room to feed Jude. When I got him out of his seat, he had a blowout diaper. Being the unorganized mother that I am, I didn't have a change of clothes for him. Of course. I was able to get him clean enough, though, but he was NOT happy by the time I finished with the diaper. I finally got him calmed down enough to eat, and we were just about to leave the dressing room when I smelled Aubrey. So, I had to stop and change dirty diaper #2 in the dressing room.

I was wishing we had just gone home at this point, but I was hoping things would be ok now. Aubrey decided to take her shoes off, and she dropped one as I was strolling through Belk. I stopped the stroller to pick it up, but before I could grab it, an older lady tripped and about fell over it. Thank GOD she didn't fall, but I felt terrible! She said, "Oh, Honey! That scared me so bad! I thought it was a baby!" I apologized and got out of there :-/

Later, I was paying for something in Old Navy, and just as I had put my card back into my wallet and my wallet into my purse, the cashier informed me that he needed to see my card and ID. WHY do they always wait until you have everything put up before they tell you that?? I dug it back out and held my wallet up for him to see my ID. As I held it over the cash register, a penny dropped out of my wallet and fell into the slot where the receipt prints out. Oops! I apologized profusely, and he and another lady had to practically take the register apart to get my penny out before they could print my receipt. Oh my gosh.

After all that, I still don't even know if I like the stuff I bought for our pictures. I have some options, because my method was to pretty much grab anything that looked like a remote possibility and take it home to decide if it worked. So, that means I have some returns to make. I think I'll be doing that without the children ;)

Checkups, Smiles, and Pacifiers

Aubrey and Jude both had checkups today. Our pediatrician does a checkup at 6 weeks (Jude didn't get shots today though) and Aubrey had her 2 year checkup (how is she that old?!). I'm happy to report that Aubrey and Jude both got a clean bill of health!

Aubrey is right where she should be developmentally. She weighed 28 pounds (75th percentile) and she was 33 inches tall (50th percentile). We are now going to switch her from whole milk to 2%. Our doctor said to "toddler-proof our house to the extreme." She said that most accidental childhood deaths occur between the ages of 2-3. Our house is pretty toddler-proofed already, but it was a good reminder that you can never be too careful. As Aubrey gets older and more independent, it's easy to get a little lax about how carefully she still needs to be watched. It's always good to be reminded! :)(She would not put that darn lotion down for the picture, so I just went with it...)(... which was apparently hilarious! :)
According to our doctor, Jude is sleeping and eating just right for his age. He weighed 11 pounds, 13 ounces (75th percentile) and was 23 inches long (75th percentile). It's crazy to me that Jude has gained over 4 pounds since he was born! He is getting so big already! Poor little Jude's face has been so irritated lately. At first I thought it was just baby acne like Aubrey had, but it's just gotten worse instead of better. I was glad that his doctor was going to be able to look at it today. She said he seems to have super sensitive skin, and the rash is probably from rubbing against people's clothes that haven't been washed in Dreft. She told me I could put some medicine on it a couple of times a week to get him some relief -- it looks very uncomfortable. Poor little guy. She said I also might want to try eliminating dairy from my diet to see if that helps. His rash always looks worse right after he eats, so he might be sensitive to dairy. We'll see if that helps. Hopefully it will clear right up with this medicine. Aubrey used to have very sensitive skin too, and she's grown out of it for the most part, so hopefully Jude will too. I feel bad that I've been telling everyone that he just has acne! Haha!Jude is getting more and more alert. He loves it when I talk to him. He just watches me and smiles. Last night, I was finally able to catch some of his sweet smiles on camera! (You can see how irritated his little face is... he is still beautiful to me though, even with a rashy face!)
Aubrey is still loving Jude. She is always very concerned about his pacifier. If it's in his mouth, she pulls it out. If it's out of his mouth, she tries to force it in.

Exhibit A: (He had it in his mouth... you can see his little lips are still sucking!)Exhibit B: (She is now trying to put it back in his mouth.)Good thing Jude is a pretty laid-back child ;)

I love these sweet babies so much! Thank God for two precious, healthy children! We are so blessed!