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Wednesday, October 21, 2015

15 Months


Height: 32.75 inches (96%ile)
Weight: 26 pounds (94%ile)

Oh, sweet baby girl, you are 15 months now and are getting soooo big (as you are demonstrating below).



You are a girl on the move and practically run everywhere you go (probably because you are trying to keep up with your big brother). You can climb up and down stairs and love sitting in chairs at tables. You've earned the nickname "go go girl" at ECFE because you just love exploring every inch of the room.

You still just have your two top and two bottom teeth up front, but all four of your one year molars have broken through now. You're teething a little out of order, but the dentist assured me that you will get your other teeth eventually. Ha! Anyway, you're getting by just fine with the teeth you have for now. You are an excellent eater! As soon as I bring you downstairs in the morning, you walk over to your high chair (which is your way of telling me to feed you). You will eat pretty much anything we put in front of you, which I am so thankful for. Much to my surprise, we are not done nursing yet. At this point we're down to one nursing per day or even every other day. Most often this happens after your nap. You point to your rocking chair and pull down my shirt while grunting... That's my cue. As I said before, I am savoring these moments.

Your hair is getting longer (and curlier). In fact, it is now long enough for a cute little pony tail!


Your little personality is really starting to emerge- you are extremely sweet, funny, sensitive, and tough. You LOVE to give out random kisses and hugs! You're also talking more, well it's more like babbling, but I'm starting to make out more words. You say dada, mama, Ja (for Jax), KG, hi, uh oh, ba (bottle, blanket), mo (more), ya (yes, but you usually just nod yes), and no, no (again, you usually shake your head no, except when you're really mad, then you use your voice), and wee (your favorite). Most recently you've been saying "o is it?" while pointing to or holding up and object. I have a feeling it won't be long until you're talking non-stop (like your big brother).


Your sleep schedule is still pretty predictable. Your bed time and wake up time have shifted a little earlier to account for us getting Jax to school by 9. You typically are asleep by 7:30pm and sleep in until 7:30 or 8am (or until I have to wake you up). You are down to one 2 hour nap around noon. You seem to love your bed and go down without a fuss (most of the time). (I know I shouldn't even be mentioning that because it could change any day, but I am crossing my fingers that it stays that way!)

The most exciting event over the past few months was your Aunt Nicole's wedding! It was in Tofte, MN along the North Shore. We spent the long weekend in a beautiful condo, overlooking Lake Superior, with grammy and papa. We were a little nervous for the 5 hour drive because you have never been in the car for longer than an hour or two at a time, but you did great (until the last half hour or so). Thankfully, most of your ride was spent like this...


We did make a couple fun stops along way to stretch our legs, including Franconia Sculpture Park....


...and Jay Cooke State Park.


The wedding was beautiful! I was standing up for Auntie Nicole throughout the ceremony and was afraid that you'd start crying for me, but you behaved yourself. Thankfully, you were even able to sneak in a little cat nap between the ceremony and dinner! (You were getting a little feisty at that point.)


A couple of weeks later we headed up north again with our family friends. We visited Itasca State Park where you got to ride on daddy's shoulders through a redwood forest.


You also got a tour of the Mississippi headwaters (led by your brother). I think he was hoping that you would dive in with all your clothes on (like he did on his first trip there), but you were much more civilized cautious.


Besides that outing, we spent most of the time at the resort. You had a great time playing with your friend Camden and her big brother. You loved sitting at the beach and playing with the rocks and sand, but didn't really like getting wet (except for your toes).


You were also not a big fan of your life jacket...


...or sleeping in a pack and play. We have been so spoiled by your excellent sleep habits, that this came as a bit of a shock. You basically would only sleep ON me... (Which meant I got no sleep). I would try to transfer you when I thought you were sound asleep, but you would wake up shortly after. Unfortunately, the lack of sleep caught up with daddy and I and we ended up leaving a day early. It was a bummer, but we were all in desperate need of our own comfy beds.

Some other adventures over the last few months included your first trip to the State Fair in August...


...and our first trip to Dearfdorff Orchards to kick off the Fall season. We picked apples (well you picked apples off of the ground)...


...and played in the hay.


You LOVED looking at the horses and goats.


However, I believe the highlight of your trip was getting to eat your first honey stick!


We also made lots of visits to the arboretum. In my opinion, Fall is the BEST season to explore there! You loved the scarecrows and pumpkins.


 And, of course, strolling through the gardens...


...and playing in the leaves (since we don't have any in our own yard to play with).


We made our annual trip to Minnetonka Orchards, too, but you were having a bit of a rough day...


...maybe because you were too little to do all of the fun things your brother got to do. For example, you had to sit on this pile of hay while he road on the kiddie train.


Or maybe you'd just had enough of all of my "fall activities." Little do you know, Halloween activities are just starting to begin... Thankfully, your costume is in hand! You make one cute little lady bug!


It is unbelievable how much you've grown and changed over the past three months. We love you more every day!


Happy 15 months, sweetie!
Love, Mom

Monday, September 7, 2015

4.5

 
Height: 46 inches 
Weight: 52 pounds

  1. What is you name? Jackson
  2. How old are you? 4.5
  3. What is your favorite thing to do? play tackle with my dad and go outside with him
  4. What do you want to be when you grow up? maybe a scientist
  5. What is your favorite food? sushi
  6. Who do you like to spend time with? dad and you and Iz... and my whole family... and my friends
  7. What do you do really well? somersaults
  8. What makes you laugh? silly faces
  9. What is the best time of the day? middle of the day
  10. What are you afraid of? nothin' ...I'm not afraid of anything
  11. Who is your best friend? all of my friends... maybe Christopher
  12. What is your favorite show? Ghostbusters and Georgie
  13. What do you like to do with your family? everything! Children's Museum and the beach
  14. What do you love to learn about? animals
  15. Where do you like to go? up North and Mall of America
  16. What is you favorite book? Georgie books
  17. What is your favorite color? orange
  18. What is your favorite song? Ice Ice Baby... dad sings it to me when I go to sleep
  19. If you had one wish, what would it be? always seeing dad every day so he didn't have to go to work
  20. What are you looking forward to the most this year? going to Florida for my birthday!
Love you, sweet boy!
 

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

12 Months!



Height: 30.5 inches (81%ile)
Weight: 24 pounds (94%ile)

Oh my sweet, sweet baby girl I cannot believe that you are already one. I know I've said this a million times throughout the past 12 months, but I cannot get over how fast the time has gone. It has been so amazing watching you grow from an 8 pound tiny infant, to a bubbly, sweet, WALKING toddler. That's right- you're officially walking now! You started taking several steps in a row about a week before your birthday. You're not super fast yet, and you look a little like Frakenstein because you hold your arms straight out, but you definitely walk more often than crawl. It's so cute!

Over the past month your hair has gotten longer and curlier (and even a little blonder). You've also gained two top teeth, bringing the total to 4 teeth (plus a little bit of a molar). I still always hear what a beautiful baby you are and that you look just like a doll or the Gerber baby.

You continue to be an excellent eater. You'll eat just about anything that we put in front of you, except for bananas and avocados. I think I may have fed you too many of them over the past couple of months.


We've also started to introduce whole milk and have started to wean you off of formula. My goal was to make it to a year nursing, but now that we're here I don't think either one of us is ready to be completely done with it. Most of the time you seem to prefer a bottle, but you let me know when you'd rather nurse (by pulling my shirt down). This usually happens first thing in the morning and before bed and sometimes after your afternoon nap. I'm savoring these moments because I feel like we're nearing the end.

As far as sleep goes, you've gotten into a pretty predictable routine. You typically go to bed around 8:30pm and get up around 8:30 or 9am. You like to sleep in like your mama! (I don't think your brother has ever slept past 7am in his life, which is just like daddy). When you wake up, you like to just hang out in your crib for a while babbling and singing. On the weekends, if there's time, I bring you back into bed with me and we snuggle and nurse for at least another half hour. I savor those moments. Thankfully, we've had the luxury of slow mornings this summer. It's going to be a little trickier this fall when we need to get Jax to preschool by 9am four days a week. 

We have had all sorts of fun this month. We went to another pizza night at a Two Pony Gardens. The theme was honey bee pizza night. You loved exploring the gardens and watching the animals (especially the chickens and horses).


We also celebrated your last "first" holiday- the Fourth of July! It was a nice hot day and we got to spend it at your great uncle's pool. You aren't a huge fan of being in the water, but you floated around for a little bit...


You seemed much more content lounging by the pool...


Of course the most exciting event of the month was your first birthday party! We celebrated with family and friends the Sunday before your birthday. It was all things pink and gold glitter!! (I had just a little fun planning and decorating!)


The only snafu at your party happened when it was time to sing happy birthday and blow out your candles. Mommy was busy snapping pictures and daddy set your cake in front of you. Jackson was trying to show you how to blow out your candle, but you touched it instead and burned the tip of your pointer finger. You didn't want anyhting to do with your cake after that...


The next day we tried again because I really wanted to do a little cake smash session with you. Well, I think you had a little PTSD because as soon as we set the cake down in front of you, you started screaming and crawled away, knocking the cake over in the process. Poor girl! I hope you're over it by your next birthday!


On your actual birthday we went to Lake Harriet and played at the park, followed by ice cream at Sebastian Joes! You got to try some of mommy's all time favorite ice cream- raspberry chocolate chip! You loved it!


You have brought so much joy to our family over the last year. We all love you so much, sweet girl! Can't wait to see what the next year has in store for you.


Happy first birthday, sweetheart!

Love, Mom