Rose-18 Months

Of course this is late (in fact, this started as a 15 month update then time became what it was). Turns out-having 2 toddlers (and in a pandemic!) is hard! But here is an update on our sweet Rosie Pose. She's growing up so fast!

Date: 18 months on August 20, 2021

Height: 31.3 inches, as of August 26 doctor's appointment. 

Weight: 24 lbs. 1.5 oz. (as of most recent appointment)

Sleeping Pattern: Rose transitioned to 1 nap shortly after she turned one and it's settled into a pretty good routine. She starts getting ready around 12:30pm and is usually down in her crib (and usually asleep) by 12:40. The ideal is for her to nap for about 2 hours but it's a complete question on any day how long she will sleep (she keeps teething so that makes for some bad nap days). She always just goes to bed early however long she was shy of 2 hours for her nap (so if she sleeps 1.5 hours for her nap then she goes to bed 30 minutes early). Bedtime's ideal is to start at 7pm but it's usually earlier than that because of the naps not making it to 2 hours (recently we've started doing 6:30 as the earliest her bedtime would start.) But once she's down she usually sleeps fine all night until morning.

Eating Habits: Up until July we were still doing 2 nursing sessions-morning and night. Mostly so that I could potentially give some antibodies to Rose since I got fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in May. A couple weeks ago, though, I fully weaned her off (and she was absolutely ready for it, she didn't mind at all lol. It probably was more emotional for me than for her.) Rose also eats 3 meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and 1 post nap snack. She's still a really great eater overall, though definitely more selective than she used to be. Meat doesn't seem to be her favorite, though she'll eat some. She really loves guacamole, carbs, fruit, Indian food, beans, and most vegetables. Every day is different on what she's going to want to eat and how much but she's pretty easy actually. I'm usually fairly confident she'll eat some of most things offered to her. And now that she can communicate better she'll tell me us if she wants more or is all done or pretty much just anything since she just fully talks now lol. 

Development & Firsts: A LOT has happened since lady turned 1. Rose now has 12 teeth (3/7 she got her top left lateral incisor, 4/19 she got her top right later incisor, sometime in May her top left 1 year molar cut through, 6/4ish she got her bottom right 1 year molar, 6/6ish her bottom left lateral incisor, 6/25ish her other 2 molars, and 7/16 right lateral incisor). Lots of teething has been happening (and still is-those canines haven't come through yet!) Rose started walking in earnest like right after she turned 1 and now just walks and runs (usually chasing James) everywhere. She also tries really hard to jump but, so far, no luck lol. She loves to dance and twirl (usually until she gets dizzy and needs to sit). She can play on her own now and frequently likes to yell "hide!" and hide in the play teepee we have, or "build" and build with blocks. She pretty much wants to do everything the rest of us do-which results in her picking a lot of things up very quickly, and also being entirely too influenced by her brother's antics at times. She drinks out of an open cup, uses utensils to eat, runs and gets shoes and tries to put them on when we go outside, tries (and sometimes somewhat succeeds) to put her clothes on, puts headbands on, looks at books as if she's reading them, puts things away (while saying "put away!"), tries to help clean, etc. Communication is just fully there at this point-I'll get into it more in the talking section but she's saying more and more words every day and comprehends everything and can communicate and respond. She'll do what you ask her to do and ask for what she wants and answer when you ask her questions. And potty training snuck up on me. Around 15 months she started asking to go to the potty (even taking herself to it/taking her own diaper off) and so we started letting her use it when she asked and that eventually evolved into using it before her naps and bedtime too. We started potty training her for real not long after she turned 18 months and she's been doing really well!

Mischief:  So Rose isn't really mischievous but sometimes I think she looks mischievous because even if she does something she shouldn't she just is perpetually pleased and pleasant and smiley so it seems like mischief buuut she's not usually big on doing things for which people will get upset. She may think something is a game at first but if she knows you're unhappy then she tends to get unhappy. Most of the time it's either her exploring (aka getting into) everything or imitating something her brother did. She does make a lot of loud yells and noises too and of course when she's mad she will scream and tantrum it up also. She'll also frequently respond to questions (usually about if she has to go potty) with, "Me? Noo." She is absolutely assertive and full of emotions-but mischief isn't the big one lol. 

Cuteness: All the things that have always made Rose a cutie remain true-she's just a sweet and snuggly and affectionate little dumpling. She is definitely looking and acting more like a toddler than a baby (*sob*) but I so so love this age. It's so much fun and so adorable. Rose has such a fun and silly sunshiney personality. She's always talking and singing and exclaiming things like "ta da!" She's even started making up her own songs ("little baby dodo in the skyyyy!") and emphatically demanding we sing or play her favorite songs--which include Hey Mickey, The Greatest Show, Let it Go, and Do You Want to Build a Snowman. She'll even move her lips if she knows the song she's hearing someone sing. The lady is definitely not shy about telling us (or yelling at us) what she wants. I get frequent demands of "picture!" (usually because she's doing something that she has figured out/decided is cute) and then "le-me-see" so I must show it to her. She loves looking at pictures of herself in the photo albums too-she'll point and call "Baby Ro! Baby Ro!" After learning how to say her own name, it took her almost no time to begin walking around and pointing to things she wanted with a declarative, "Ro!" Now she'll also proudly and amusedly inform us "Ro do that" (like if she did something...or if she wants to do something) or "James do that" (either because she's impressed by something he did or thinks it's hilarious he did something he should not have). Speaking of James: I mean there cannot possibly be a brother and sister who love each other more. She always asks for him if he's not around, she loves to play with him, they're still always hugging and smooching. Watching them chase each other around and giggling is just the sweetest. One time after getting them both up from nap, they were going downstairs together and Rose just declared, "I love you, bruhbah." And he said, "I love you too, Rose." She came back, "I love you so muuuch!" "I love YOU so much Rose!" and yeah you know my heart grew a million sizes. She's the most ride or die wingman for him. He was randomly running around with a toy mop singing one day and she just took one look at him and immediately grabbed a toy broom and started running and singing with him, fully committed. She also still loves loving on pretty much any toy or stuffed animal, but especially their baby doll. She loves to grab it to dance with-holding it in the air and spinning. She's also enjoyed showing the baby how to use the potty lol. Somewhere along the way she started being able to play by herself, which is super cool. Definitely getting more independent and always trying to help ("Ro put away" and then running to put whatever it is away). She's still such a snuggle bug too, though. She'll frequently put her arms up for "uppa" or "carry you". Or she'll just say so sweetly and emphatically, "Myyyyy mama, myyyy dada, myyyyy bruhbah." (Once, after she had badgered James for a piece of his cheese and he eventually gave in, she exclaimed, "MYYYY cheese!") It never takes long for her sweet to turn to silly lol. She legit has tried to hug the water during her baths (she also enjoys laying in it, just relaxing and not wanting to get up sometimes). Her frequent desire to just lay and cuddle with the ground, or whatever really, has been given the name of "mmm, down" by her. Anytime there's sunshine on the ground is a favorite occasion for "mmm, down." Poor baby isn't gonna be too pleased with fall. On one of the first fully cloudy days she walked all around the house calling, "Sunshine? Where are you sunshine?" Oh our little sunshine. I'll never get tired of her laying her head on my shoulder, sucking her thumb, then removing her thumb just enough to say, "I love you mommy." 

Nicknames: Rosie, Rose Rose, Roses (Michael's mom calls her this), Rosie Posy, Rose Pose, Pose/Posy, Baby Rose, Miss Rosie, Baby girl, Pretty girl, Lady, Young Lady, Chunk/Chunk-a-munk, "The Chub/Chubby/Chub-a-lub" (James' favorite nicknames for her), Hey You (which she repeats), Pork buns (when her hair is in 2 buns), Sweetling, Sweetie-girl, Sweetie pie, Cutie-girl, Silly girl, Honey girl, Honey bun, Muffin, Little miss, Missy, Ma'am, Sweetness, Love, combinations of all of the above, or whatever pops into our head in that moment. She also calls herself "Baby" and "Ro"/ "Rosie". 

Talking: Like I said earlier, we're really able to communicate with Rose now-which is so cool. A big turning point was her learning how to say no (or, more accurately, "nnnNOoooo") so she could actually answer yes or no questions. Then she started repeating like every word she heard and her vocabulary just exploded. She then started saying sentences ("Rose want pillow", "I don't think so", "I love you, brother-so much!" etc.) and yeah she's just a person, talking away, telling us her thoughts and desires and stuff. She can identify all the colors (and is starting to work on counting to 10, she usually skips 4 and 7 for some reason lol). I love her little voice and being able to start talking with her is the best! We've got very verbal kids, go figure lol. 

Favorites: James, mommy, and daddy. When James reads to her or kisses or hugs her or does something she thinks is funny. When daddy plays with her and makes her go "dadaaaa!" Snuggles. Kisses. Belly buttons. Books. Dancing. Singing. Dresses. Shoes. Headbands. Bows. Accessories/dressing up in general. Outside and going on walks. People. Babies (still especially her little cousin Juliet) and her baby doll/any toy or item or character from something that looks like a person or baby. Animals and making animal sounds. Stuffed animals, pillows, and soft blankets and snuggling them. The sunshine. Toys. Food (especially certain foods. Her reaction to guacamole is hilariously intense- "mo! Guac-a-moleeee!") Helping. Doing anything James does. Affection and attention and fun and happiness and love!

Dislikes: Being kept or taken from what she wants. Being yelled at/scolded. Getting hurt. Teething. 

Concerns: Ya know, COVID and COVID related stuff. As per usual. Crossing my fingers we can get the baby girl vaxxed before her 2nd birthday. 

A Day in the Life: (This is pre-potty training since we didn't start until after she turned 18 months) Everyone's up around 7:30 (sometimes they may wake up earlier but that's when I wake up lol). I get James then we get Rose (who is very happy to see us). We go downstairs and give the kids their waters and they play while I get their breakfast ready (usually fruit and something else like yogurt, cereal, toast, etc.) Then we play for a little bit before lunch time at 10:30. After lunch we play some more and then at 12:30 Rose goes potty, washes hands, brushes teeth, we put her in a diaper and pjs + sleepsack, then lay her down in her crib. Usually I get everyone up from their naps around 2:40 and then give Rose (and sometimes James) a snack. We play some more, I make dinner, then we eat around 5ish. After dinner we hang out for a bit-maybe do a video call or someone's bath-then bedtime starts around 7 or earlier to compensate for a short nap. Michael and I take turns every other day-one person says goodnight to things downstairs (including James), then does potty, wash hands, floss teeth, brush teeth, diaper, lotion, pjs, sleepsack, and reads to her. The other person comes up and sings to her, says goodnight to the various elephants in her room, then lays her down for bed. Sometimes she falls asleep fairly shortly after and oftentimes she talks for a bit in there before falling asleep. And that's it!

Email List Change

 Hi everyone,

Long time, no post-I know! It's hectic here in toddler-land, I'm so sorry. But I have an update for all of you who subscribe via email. Feedburner (the old email list provider) is going away so I've switched all of you to follow.it (and if you haven't signed up but would like to receive emails whenever I do manage to write a new post you can do so here!) Nothing should change-we will never sell your emails or information and you should only receive emails with my blog updates. I just wanted to give a heads up!

Thanks for still following me on this journey, hopefully I'll have something tasty coming to your inbox soon!

Rose-12 months!

This update took me forever to write because 1-there's so much and 2-I've been insanely busy. So a lot of things have changed since the beginning of me writing this but I'm going to try to keep it as true to where she was when she was just turning 12 months, ok? Ok! (Also-MY BABY IS 1 *sob*)

Date: February 20, 2021

Height: 28 inches (this is approximate, we measured her ourselves when the measurement from her doctor's appointment didn't make any sense. They said she was 29.5 inches-no way lol)

Weight: 20 lbs. 15.1 oz. (as of her doctor's appointment on the 22nd)

Sleeping Pattern: Same 2 nap routine (10-11am nap and 2-3pm nap)! She started taking a little longer to fall asleep/waking earlier recently-ish so now we're working on a 1 nap transition but this past month

has been mostly smooth sleep-wise! Rose's sleepy time pose is still here, also, if anyone was wondering. Right thumb in mouth, left hand twirls her hair. If she's tired (or sometimes if she's upset or teething) she'll assume the sleepy pose. 

Eating Habits: Pretty much the same-she definitely is starting to wean herself and not nurse as much though, especially during her middle 2 feedings (since writing this both of her middle of the day feedings have been dropped). She drinks and then tries to roll away or just play with me when she's done (she's a particularly big fan of sticking her fingers in my mouth, eyes, nose, etc.) Solids are good too! She's been doing 3 meals and 1 snack. She'll eat almost anything, she is always impressing me. The other night she went CRAZY on some (pretty spicy) guacamole and she'll happily gobble up veggies, fruit, and carbs. Meat is still a little more meh for her but she'll still eat some. She has unfortunately fully entered the food throwing stage (usually when she's either done, isn't into the food right then, or wants attention). She is generally happiest though when she's eating like us, so she prefers to have adult utensils and even requests a plate sometimes. Her yelling for food requests have been helped slightly by teaching her the signs for "please" and "thank you"--now she'll earnestly sign please (or sometimes a preemptive thank you lol) to ask for something or more of something. It's VERY cute.  

Development & Firsts: I remember this from James, too-something about turning 1 seems to just come along with lots of firsts and big development leaps! Obviously, Rose celebrated her 1st birthday! She really enjoyed herself, lots of attention=happy Rosie. She had her 1st chocolate chip cookie (her reaction was thoughtful, unsure, and overall pretty mild lol). She also smashed her (albeit only fruit and maple syrup sweetened) cake with great enthusiasm. We had a little Zoom party with her grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins for singing Happy Birthday and watching her eat her cake. She got her 4th tooth (top right central incisor) on 1/22 so now she has an even 4 in her cheesy little grin. She starting standing for a long time independently and then on 2/12 took her 1st (two) steps! She's still only taking a few steps at a time and overall seems not terribly interested in it. She usually does it when reaching for something and then she either gets it or decides to plop on her bottom and crawl to it. She is also now able to stand from any position, she frequently will drop down into little squats then come back up. I can feel the real walking is so close, she just needs to want it lol. Before she took her 1st steps she kept faking us out-she'd put her arms out to us while standing and make like she'd walk but then PLOP on her bottom. In other developmental news, Rose has become SO communicative and can very clearly tell what's going on.  One time James was going potty and asked for me to bring him a book, he was describing the book and before I'd figured out which one it was Rose had already grabbed it and was crawling with it to the bathroom to give him. She'll bring us books to read to her all the time and will often do motions with them (she'll hold out her hands, drum, hum, etc. in "Hand Hand Fingers Thumb", shake her head for the "no, daddy" part of "Hair Love", etc.) She also does animal noises for any animal she sees. (She can currently do fish, bunny, dog, cat, elephant, tiger/lion, dinosaur, dragon, giraffe, crocodile, monkey, cow, chicken, rooster, sheep/goat/llama-"ahhh" for all 3, pig, duck, butterfly, penguin, frog, horse...I think that's it lol). She's starting to identify body parts (she has nose mouth, hair, feet, hands, and belly down--since starting this post she also has become very into belly buttons which she calls "beh buhs". She usually gets eyes and knees also. The rest we're working on lol.) She's saying more and more words, too, but we'll get into that in the talking section (we've also taught her to sign "please" and "thank you/your welcome"). She's started coloring with crayons and actually does super well with it! Oh and 1 thing happened that just blew my mind (technically a week after she turned 1): she was taking a bath and started grabbing the letters they play with in there. She kept holding up letters and pointing for me to identify them. After the 3rd letter I realized they were all orange (there are like 5 different colors) and I asked her to get the rest of the orange ones. And she did. She proceeded to pick all the orange ones and put them together. Like-WHAT? She's a smart little girl and is always watching and paying attention and learning all the time.  

Mischief:  Rosie is still not super mischievous (even though her big brother did say to her "Rose you've got some mischief on your face" lol). She still has fun being playful and crawling extremely fast away from you. But honestly the biggest things are her dropping food (annoying but could be worse. Usually it's just when she's pretty much done,), and her ear piercing yells/cries when things don't go the way she wants. So ya know...she's a toddler now. Doing a tantrum. It's always very loud and very sad. For being such a happy sunshine girl most of the time when she is upset she is UPSET. 

Cuteness: Look. Just....Rose loves to snuggle. LOVES IT. Soft thing? Must hold it and cuddle it and say "mmmm." Ray of sunshine on the carpet? Will lay face down on that patch of sun and say, "mmmm." Is that a baby doll? Calls "baby!" (well, "behbeh") and hugs it, rocks it, and pats it, while humming, "mmmm." Sees her adorable new baby cousin, Juliet, in a picture on my phone or on Facetime? Probably screams in excitement and says "hiiii" and THEN grabs it in a hug and says, "mmmmm." She has an actual hug pose that she'll use to tell you that she wants to hug something (she folds her right arm towards her face as if she's holding and snuggling something). If she sees anyone else hugging-she also needs a hug. If James is being sweet to her or has a soft thing himself-she will snuggle him (and if he hugs her back or kisses her-which he 99% of the time does-she will double down on the intensity of her cuddle and also kiss him and/or also give squeals and laughs and grins). If she's sleepy she will lay her head on your shoulder while she sucks her thumb and twirls her hair. Sometimes after I've fed her, before I put her in her crib at bedtime, she reaches up to find my face and leans forward to give me a big but gentle kiss. She loves to climb into James' bed and they'll snuggle and give each other kisses (or play and laugh and play peek-a-boo with the blankets lol. Nobody makes her laugh as hard as he does. They are the cutest together, it makes my heart so happy.) Sometimes he'll also get in her crib with her and she grins so hard and laughs and bounces up in down in excitement. Sometimes she'll mush her face against ours in like a face snuggle--one time she mushed my face to hers extra close and said "yay!" I DIED OF HAPPINESS. She also likes to make Michael and I kiss. We'll give each other a big kiss in front of her and go "muahhh!" and she'll smile and then immediately push our faces back together (saying, "muah!")--she's quite strong. Sometimes she'll join the kiss or ask each of us for a kiss and then push our faces towards each other again. It's freaking adorable. Her little grin with those 4 little teeth is just too much. Especially how she scrunches her nose up into her little "snoot" face or when she starts sniffing because she sees flowers or a bunny or for no apparent reason just because she's a cute little silly. It's so cute how she climbs up into the little kid-sized rocker we have or when she grabs a book and brings it over and climbs into your lap for your to read it. It's so sweet how much she loves Hair Love (and the head shaking for "no daddy"). She also loves to play with the doctor kit and will put the stethoscope to her chest and say "bum bum". She also tries to put it around her neck so she's the doctor. I'm completely obsessed with how cute it is when she signs please or thank you. It's hard to resist that little hand rubbing chest ("please") with her big pleading eyes. One time after Rose had a bad nap and I went to get her she gave me such a huge smile of relief and signed thank you (hand on mouth--looks like blowing a kiss) to me and oh my gooooodness. That sweet baby. I love how she just wants to be like us. She just wants to play with James or do what we're all doing. She rubs her hands together when she sees me putting lotion on or James washing his hands, she'll pretend to spit after she watches him brush his teeth, she wants to use grown up silverware and even have a plate on her tray because she just wants to be a big girl and do what her family is. Too cute. She just loves people so much. She will enthusiastically wave and call "hiiii!" at every car or person or dog she sees happen by. She will demand to be a part of any video call happening (to the point of crawling over and calling "hiiii!") and just treats whoever is on that call with big happy grins. My brother had his 1st baby, Juliet, at the end of January and Rose has been completely enamored with every picture of her or anytime we get to video call with them. She gets so excited and she wants to hug and kiss her, it's the cutest. She'll hug and kiss the phone on the regular, really. Her little affectionate mind will be blown when she's actually able to give her grandparents a real hug or kiss. I just love how she manages to make every person feel special and loved. It's a very magical superpower.

Nicknames: Rosie, Rose Rose, Roses (Michael's mom calls her this), Rosie Posy, Baby Rose, Miss Rosie, Baby girl, Pretty girl, Lady, Young Lady, Chunk/Chunk-a-munk, "The Chub/Chubby/Chub-a-lub" (James calls her that), Pork buns (when her hair is in 2 buns), Dumpling (mostly Michael calls her that), Sweetling, Sweetie-girl, Sweetie pie, Cutie-girl, Silly girl, Honey girl, Honey bun, Muffin, Little miss, Missy, Ma'am, Sweetness, Love, combinations of all of the above, or whatever pops into our head in that moment. 

Talking: This month Rose has really turned a corner with her speech and understanding. Like...we can genuinely talk with her (sort of) now. In addition to using the sign for "please" to ask for things (for example: point to coat, point to door, signs please. She's asking to go outside,) and responding when we ask for something, she is saying more words that are starting to be more identifiable. She'll ask "dat?" or "dis?" about things to find out what they are. She definitely says mama, dada, bruhbah (brother), James (ITS SO CUTE OMG), dog, dolly, baby, ball, book, hiii, yeah, buh bye, doctor, done, beh buh (belly button), bum bum (sound of a heartbeat), uh oh, and muah (kisses, of course). There are other words we sometimes think we may hear but unsure still (like we think we've heard her say "please" once...but we'll see if it happens again). And, of course, all the animal sounds I mentioned earlier. It's just huge how much she understands. She really gets more than I can believe! Her toy dog said "give me a hug!"-and she hugged it. She pays such close attention to everything that we're all doing and I think she learns a lot. It's so amazing to watch.  

Favorites: James, mommy, and daddy. When James is being sweet or funny or just existing pretty much. Snuggles. Kisses. Belly buttons. Being held. Books. Dancing. Singing. Daddy's guitar. People and video calls (she now insists on saying hello when anyone is on a call). Babies (especially her new baby cousin, Juliet! She's obsessed with her,) and animals and making animal sounds. Stuffed animals, pillows, and soft blankets and snuggling them. The sunshine (she'll lay down and-you guessed it-snuggle in the warm sun). Toys. Smiling and laughing and playing. Little girl just loves to be loved-she just wants to be given attention and affection and to have fun doing whatever seems fun to her in that moment! 

Dislikes: Being interfered with when she wants something (particularly picked up and moved). Being yelled at/scolded. Getting wiped down after eating. Not being attended to in a quick enough manner (attention in general or food usually). Being left by any of us (if she sees someone walk up the stairs it frequently ends in her standing at the baby gate crying and being generally distraught.)

Concerns: Same old same old isolation + COVID-19 life. Not super pleased this is still where we're at a year later. 

A Day in the Life: (This has changed now but this age this is where we were at)-Kids get up around 7:30. We go downstairs, I nurse Rose, change her, then feed them both breakfast (usually fruit, yogurt, toast, etc.) Play for awhile then change Rose and put her down for nap around 10am. She's then up around 11 and I nurse her, give her lunch, then we play some more until 1ish when we get James ready for his nap. He goes down then Rose gets changed and down for her nap around 2. Both kids hopefully sleep to 3. Then snack for James, nurse Rose, snack for Rose, and we play/I make dinner. We eat around 5/5:30 as a family and then hang out (and/or do baths) until Rose's bedtime routine starts at 7. We read, say goodnight to things around the house, brush her teeth, lotion her, change her, then I nurse her and sing to her then put her down. She sleeps all night. And that's it!

And there it is. 1 year of the sweetest baby girl. I could never have dreamed of such a wonderful daughter. She's the absolute perfect addition to our family and it's impossible to not adore her.