How is my baby girl a year and a half old?!?! Time is flying! This was a big month for Emma- this was the month she became a sister. Her world was rocked and I would love to say that she adjusted beautifully, but every day is a new day with a toddler- some days are great, some days are more trying.
Height: 31 1/2 inches
Weight: 22 lbs 9 oz
Skills: oh my goodness, her vocabulary took off this month. I was so good at keeping detailed notes about all of the words that she knows in my phone, but then my phone crashed. Alas- I will have to go by memory. Her new favorite word of the month is baby. This is how she refers to Everly most often, but she will also call her sister and Everly when prompted. In addition to the other words I have mentioned previously, she knows how to say ball, please, yes, no, oh boy, go dog go, hi Everly, potty, mine, bath, water, ice cream and cheese (I am sure there are a ton of words that I am forgetting). As far as animal sounds go- she has been able to make the monkey, bear/lion/tiger, and elephant sounds for awhile. This month, she added mooing like a cow, neighing like a horse (my favorite) and whoing (sp?) like an owl. We are working with her on colors, but she is just not getting it yet.
Likes: Emma continues to love getting a bath and this month really started to love swimming as well. We have been very lucky since I have been on maternity leave- we have been able to spend a lot of time with Emma at the pool. This is the most that we have used our pool since we bought the house- which I am loving! Emma's favorite food continues to be cheese and watermelon which she will ask for on demand. She has become a pickier eater, but will still consistently eat eggs (with cheese), sausage (breakfast, smoked and bratwurst), ham, strawberries, blackberries, bananas, cantaloupe, avocado, pasta, potatoes, refried beans and corn on the cob. She also loves her milk- drinking about 25 - 30 ounces a day. The only other thing she will drink is watered down Gatorade. She loves the elephant auto insurance company commercial and can pick up on it even when she is not in the same room as the TV. She moves her arm like a trunk and growls. She loves to read- her favorite books are The Foot Book, Go Dog Go, her baby Bible (that my parents got her for her Baptism) and a book of prayers (that my friend Natalie got Everly). When I am nursing Everly, we do everything we can do to get Emma to read with Daddy which solves most of our problems. Emma likes going places and does very well when we are out and about (especially if we have snacks!). We have been making a point to get out of the house at least once a day (even if it's just to go to the park) and Emma almost always behaves very well. Emma loves, loves, loves giving her baby sister kisses. This is the thing she is most obsessed with- that and holding her sister!. We try and let her give as many kisses a day as she wants too- even when I am nursing because we want to show her that it is a great thing to love on your sister so much. However, this has caused some very stressful moments and sheer panic (remember, we only kiss on the lips) on my part when she goes in for these kisses!
Struggles: As you can probably imagine, our biggest struggle with Emma this month is being gentle around the baby and the jealousy that comes with being a big sister. While she does give Everly the best kisses and she has never attempted to actually hit the baby, she is a very rough and tumble toddler. Emma's jealousy shows through mostly when I am nursing Everly (which can be every 45 minutes sometimes during the day!). Emma will walk over and hit me on the head or try to kick me with her feet. She has tried to nurse herself sometimes- at which point, I tell her that ship has sailed! She also doesn't like for me to change her diaper. She will try to run away and when I pin her down she will try to kick me. I try to calmly tell her, "Emma, I am your mommy which means I am the boss and I am going to change your diaper". I am sure you can tell how well that goes over. Luckily, she changes her diaper much better for Wes. She also doesn't eat out in restaurants very well, so we just don't take her anymore (unless we go to chick-fil-a). If we want to go somewhere, we now go to lunch while she is at preschool and my in-laws have graciously kept her for a few dates (we currently take Everly everywhere with us since I am nursing).
Miscellaneous: Emma is still in size three diapers, wears 12 - 18 month clothing and her size 4 Toms (which I adore). She got her bottom two molars this month- bringing the total teeth count to 11 teeth. Her pediatrician noted that her teeth come in very slowly :(. Emma still takes her pacifier at night and sometimes even during the day. She enjoys stealing Everly's pacifier (if we can ever get her to take it for five minutes). She had her first sleepover this month at Nonni and Grandpa George's house. From the reports that I received- they had fun during the day, but the nights were trying making everyone slightly grumpy. Also, since then, Emma has not consistently slept through the night. This has much more to do with Everly and teething than spending the night at my parent's house. It is my personal mission to get her back to sleeping through the night before I go back to work (I will elaborate on this in another post).
We love our sweet, spunky toddler to the moon in back :).
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