January Update

Eleven months.
Has it really been almost a year?!
What is most noticeable is I feel a shift within myself. I feel the old me coming back and she is so welcome. I missed her! I told myself in 2011 I would focus on balance and I can feel my balance slowly starting to return. And it feels good!

Now onto updates on the bambino...

* Height & Weight -- not exactly sure. She doesn't go to the doctor regularly because she's all caught up on vaccinations (and man, I wish I hadn't done all of them now but it's too late). I think kids only go once a year after the first year so I guess I will have to rely on the bathroom scale. According to my scale she is still about 33 pounds. She must be a little taller though because she is more comfortable in 3Ts, especially the shirts. Pants are often still too long but we roll them up because they fit more comfortably around her belly. :-D

* She is dry most nights. So often that I don't even send her to bed with a diaper anymore! Yay! I basically consider her completely potty trained. She will even dump the contents of the potty into the 'big potty' if she goes when I am not around. Such a big girl!

* Lately, I have discovered, she doesn't fall asleep easily in my bed unless I am there so we pretty much only use it for weekend naps. Otherwise she goes to bed in her crib. Fingers crossed, but going to bed at night continues to be relatively drama-free.

* She likes to clean. If she spills something often she will ask for a wipe to clean up her mess.

I am teaching her to put her toys and books back when she is done and she is learning where things go. (Now if I could only learn to do the same with my things!)

* Speech therapy. I got a letter from Early Intervention. Once I return the paperwork they are going to set up a formal evaluation. I have been requiring her to say 3+ utterances and she's doing really well at mealtime. She will stop and try it on her own when making requests for food because I have modeled that one a lot since we eat frequently. When it comes to other things, though, she isn't quite as successful and I have to have her repeat me. The interesting thing is she knows what I expect and she will really try to repeat me and claps when she can do it.

* Her new thing to do is scream. It's so relaxing. * rolls eyes * She will wake up and scream, "Mommy!!!" or just make loud screeching sounds. Not the best way to wake up from a peaceful sleep. This doesn't happen during the week because I am up before her. No, just on the weekends. Fun times. Oh, wait, and let's not forget the growling. This is especially sweet and endearing when she does it to strangers at the grocery store.

* She likes to be so independent. I used to be afraid for her to go down the steps because she would try to go down forward. I taught her to go down backwards and she loves being able to do it all by herself. I don't worry about her on the steps now.


* Babysitters! Yay! I can't stress enough the value, the importance, the necessity of babysitters to a single momma!! I went out twice in January, just like I planned, and it was great!!!!

* She still loves to take care of Neigh. She gives him haircuts.

And shots.

She really loves him. So sweet.

* Our special song. Sometimes my little one needs extra snuggles and reassurances and love so I take her in my arms and sing her our song and she calms right down: "Mommy loves her baby. You are Mommy's baby. Mommy loves her Pumpkin. You are Mommy's Pumpkin. Mommy loves Naomi. You are my Naomi. Mommy loves her Almi. You are Mommy's Almi"
and I repeat it a few times til her breathing becomes in sync with mine and relaxes into my embrace.

* She likes snow, especially how it tastes.

* She learned the word, "Ouch" and says it a lot. Though sometimes she uses it at funny times like when she walking in the snow: "Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" lol

* She has learned about Daddies from somewhere. When reading books and there are men in them she will point to them and say either "man" or "Daddy."

* She has learned different emotion words. She will now talk about being happy, sad and scared. Someone gave her a plastic bug and she does not like it. She would see it and come running up to me and say, "Show me, bug!" (scare me bug) meaning the bug scared her.

* I never emphasized Santa because I wasn't sure what I wanted her to believe but she learned about him from daycare. But she asks about him all the time. "Santa coming?," she'll say and I will tell her, "no, not today" and she will get really sad. Sometimes she has me open the door to see if he is there. So now I have to say, "No, not today but he will be here next year on Christmas because Santa loves you very much" and then she is happy. So I guess we are believers of Santa in this household after all. Of course usually the next question from her is, "Cannee?" (candy?) She got some in her stocking so really I think she wants him to return to give her some more!

* She really hates brocolli. Like really. Like gags when she is trying to swallow it. She still loves spinach though so I will just serve that to her for awhile. (I also throw some in our morning smoothies). But in general she continues to be a really good eater. Healthy appetite!



* She has enough attention span that she can now sit and watch an entire video which is a life saver for me!! I can pop in Elmo and go prepare dinner and she will sit on the couch happily and not be underfoot.

We're doing great over here. Thanks for reading!