November Update - 9 Months Home!

I didn't get around to taking a November photo. Darn it. This one will have to suffice.

Nine months home!?! Wowza!

What's new with my big girl?

Well, she loves school, her teachers, playing with her tea set, doing puzzles, Neigh and her other stuffed animals, playing dress up, Chapstick, lotion, drawing, listening to stories, baths, swimming, being outside, singing, dancing, Elmo and eating carbs!! lol

On my bathroom scale she weighs 33.8 pounds. She is sooo heavy! She looks adorable and healthy but she is seriously a couple of pounds away from me not being able to lift her. She is already at the point that I have to put her down after about 5 minutes and I can barely get her into her car seat. She is also growing out of her clothes at an alarming rate. My colleague donated a ton of clothes just a couple of months ago in 2T and she has already grown out of most and is more comfortable in some 3Ts. She is only getting one or two wearings out of clothing. This is problematic.. What am I going to do?!!

She is learning so much and getting so big! She loves to count but usually starts with 3. All day long I see her pointing to things and hear her saying, "Three, four, five!" I can notice a dramatic change in her language development. She understands almost everything I say and I have started speaking to her more normally and acting things out less. She is also communicating with me a lot better. She just starting asking questions (one or two word questions, not complete sentences but questions nonetheless). We are almost at the point of being able to have conversations. I can't wait!

She's constantly telling me about her "owies" or asking me if I have any. My little hypochondriac.

She is a little rascal. I have to keep my eye on her every minute. Look what she did to my carpet:


And Aunt B's wall:


And her belly:
Oy. She is soo two! Luckily the marker was washable. The big burn in the carpet? Here to stay.

She no longer says "yeah" but now says, "yesh".

She will spontaneously say, "thank you, mommy" when I do things for her like putting her in a chair or giving her a graham cracker.

She is obsessed with the ABC videos on Youtube and as sick of that song that I am, I indulge her almost every time. She is starting to learn sounds in school and I am informally reinforcing that home.

She can do puzzles all by herself. Just a couple of months ago I showed her how to match up the edges or the colors and now she can complete them all alone. She will be so proud of herself and say, "I di' it!"

She loves to color. When she wants to do it she will say, "Ivacallah" which at first I thought was 'avocado' but now know it means 'I want to color.' She loves when I draw kitties and 'neighs' and butterflies for her. Here is some of her art: (oops! need to post some)

She sings all. the. time.

She loves warm drinks and will constantly ask for "frafee" like in this photo.


The co-sleeping thing? Didn't work out so great. Sometimes we will sleep together but I can not deal with the constant kicking! I honestly don't know how people do it! Really what I discovered is that she really just likes my bed. I am sure it is way more comfortable and she likes the pillow. It is time for her to get a toddler bed or a twin but I'm on the fence about it. Sleeping is so easy for us that I am afraid to change up. Though, that said, when I put her down in my bed she doesn't get out so maybe it won't be an issue. I just tell her night night and shut the door and she goes right to sleep. When I am ready to go to bed, I do the transfer. She sleeps so soundly that she doesn't wake up. It's been working out pretty well. For now I am going to stick with what works.

Me?

Still tired, but not exhausted. Yay! I'm doing quite a bit better, actually. I still parent 24/7/365 which isn't fun and I miss doing crafts and I would LOVE to have time to go on some dates, but it's all good. Maybe in the new year. In the meantime, I am trying to stay present and enjoy her age. It goes sooo fast! Like I read somewhere, the years are short but the days are long. That is so true for me. I can't believe she's been home nine months, yet I feel every.single.day.

But at the same time, I am happy. My little pumpkin is funny and affectionate and sweet. She will ask me if I am ok and rub my back and she looks out for me. We are a team, she and I.

And on we go..