We’re Home!

…. With  a 20 month old!

How on Earth do we leave for a simple fun vacation with a 19  month old and come home with a taller, older, smarter and best of al cuddlier and sweeter 20 month old?!

I mean can I get a blind sided!?!?

So a quick “Dear Lola” update so I can tackle the recap of our AMAZING trip to Ireland…

So  what’s new with our  big 20 month old baby girl?!?!?

You love to drink out of a big girl cup, with or without a straw!

You are FNALLY getting SO cuddly (which is obviously THE most important update ever)!!!

You have actually started to sit (in certain settings) and watch certain TV shows… in the morning  you want to cuddle in bed with me and ask me to put on the “penguins” which is a  movie “The Penguins of Madagascar” and when you eat breakfast in your chair we have to watch Paw Patrol every morning… like I said, creature of habit!

You literally grab my head and my hair and just make out with my face… you also LOVE scooting your back and butt up against me when you sleep (but you still don’t like my arm wrapped around your stomach)!

You love shutting doors, trying to dress yourself, putting my make up on, talking to Aunt Taytay on facetime.

You love being a mommy, burping the babies and changing their diapers.

You love animals inn general and you love playing Milly!

You love the suspense of being chased or playing hide and go seek! Your favorite thing in the world is being scared! You are definitely your daddy’s daughter!

You now wear shoes with LACES (which i think should be a whole milestone in life) and you simply sit down ANYWHERE when they come untied.

You are now saying “help” when you need assistance and you point for almost EVERYTHING you need!

You are VERY clean and mommy calls you OCD… everything has a place and everything has a certain way to be done.  Your favorite thing to do is clean and wipe things or sweep!

You love to throw your head back to make yourself go upside down when we pick you up and  you LOVE to hold hands now!

When we go out to eat we BEG for a booth instead of a high chair now because you typically just stand next to mommy  or daddy the whole time you “eat”…

Speaking of eat… your diet pretty much consist of candy corn, chicken nuggets,  macaroni and cheese, yogurt, blueberries and hot dogs!

You would much rather feed Uncle Billy carrots and hot sauce than eat yourself though!

You LOVE other kids and pretending your a teacher! You love pointing to things and telling us what to do!

You hate when you think we are leaving you and you are VERY clingy to mommy right now (which I can’t say i haven’t waited my whole life for)!

You still or should I say “we still” crawl into your crib for every nap and every night night….. we still aren’t sure what we will do if anyone besides us has to put you down in the near future because I don’t think anyone would crawl in that crib! Our “progress” with this method is we no longer wait for you to fall asleep.. we just lay with you until your tired and you fall asleep on your own (unless  your daddy puts you to sleep- he falls asleep in your crib VERY time)… see people baby steps!

Your comfort is still your paci and lovie and you sleep with both of them every night! They are MOST helpful with traveling and you pretty much have to have them accessible at all times when you aren’t in your environment!  

You are also still in love with dressing yourself and even trying to put pants on (or shirts on as pants)! You also still love  wrapping yourself in my scarves and blankets!

You recently became very interested in “wiping yourself” and infatuated with going to the bathroom! I think you may be an early potty trainer!

You say  “Fruff” when you see a dog EVERY SINGLE TIME and we think your trying to say “ruff”!

Your favorite thing to do in the morning is come to bed with me and watch “The penguin movie” Madagascar March of the penguins… you watch about 15 minutes which is a lot of sitting still for you and then we go down for breakfast!

You want the same thing for breakfast EVERY morning! Raisin Toast with lots of butter and we watch paw patrol!

You still love being a mommy birping and changing the babies diapers…  you even throw them in the trash!

You love dancing and  you love when Mommy dances with you!

Speaking of which, you mimic everything i do! You talk on the phone and hold the phone with your shoulder… you carry way to much laundry to the washing machine and purposely drop some (because i do that every time!).. You also started salting chips at Mexican… of GOd. I am in for it!

I know I have said it before but you are genuinely so sweet spirited and such a good girl…. you love to please and LOVE to learn new things!

You are our heart Lola and we honestly could not live with out you in our life. We still contemplate almost daily what we ever did before you and to this day your mom and dad biggest complaint is never being able to get “enough” of you!

Though still we aren’t sure the answer to the question, What did we do before you? 

All we can come up with is we watched a hell of a lot of TV.

Love you more than life baby girl! 

Happy 20 months!

Love, Mommy and Daddy

XOXOX

Dear Lola,

Since I didn’t do a formal update for you at 18 months since I was still on the floor of the closet, I thought I would do an update now that you have officially been to your 18 month check up!

You weigh 21 pounds and 31.5 inches!

You have only gained one pound since your 15 month appointment, but grew 2 inches!

Can we not talk about how BIG she looks here!!

Before this post ends before it starts due to another closet melt down lets move on…

Here is what you are up to these days…. besides well, everything!

You Love:

- Playing Dress up, with jackets or mommy’s sweaters!

-Wearing necklaces (still) and now bracelets!

- Your Paci!

-Doing whatever mommy is doing and mimicking every move i make- literally, you watch me like a hawk!

- When we go up to your room to get your pajamas on, you get so wound up but when I ask if you want to change your diaper you lay down a by yourself!

- Going to gymnastics, you start kicking and screaming in the back seat when you see the building!

- Picking up the ice that mommy inevitably ALWAYS drops from the ice maker!

-Watching music videos on our phone, your favorites are Taylor Swift, Jason Derula (trumpets), Megan Trainer and you also loe watching Hooplakids on daddy’s tablet!

- Going to the square and playing on the choo choo!

- pulling things behind you (like walking a dog)

- Looking out the front door and spying on all the neighbors (Mr. Henry and Mr. Raj)

- Holding hands (finally yay!) and pulling mommy places!

- Teasing Milly with food or her baby

- Carrying ALL the bags

- Getting your teeth brushed, it gives you the giggles!

- You run to get a towel when you sill drinks and wipe it up like mommy

- Jumping in the pool or lake to daddy!

-Mommy’s make up bag (and lipstick)!

- Anything with a lid, you love putting caps on things or plugging things in!

- Being around family and friends! You love being a socialite, you also HATE seeing anyone leave, it is currently what causes mommy the MOST stress!

- Today I found you in the kitchen getting the dust pan and broom when i followed you in the den to see what you were doing with it you were cleaning up a cookie you dropped!

- Your favorite thing to do now (since baby Jadyn was born) is to carry around a bag (with balls in it) and push the stroller with strawberry baby in it… You also feed the baby her bottle and birb the baby.

  No clue how to turn this the right way! 

 

 

Talking!

- Our favorite thing you say now is “I love you!”

- You are signing “More” all the time now and you started shaking your head for “no” which is new since usually everything is “yas”

- You are pretty much saying any word now that either we ask you to say or that you pick after hearing us say it…. so far you have said: butterfly, again, Jen, dada, maaaaaaaaaah (mom), apple, bus, cup, up, open, Mimi and the list goes on!

Sleeping!

- You are such a sensitive sleeper! There is no “transferring” you to your crib or to and from the car anymore! You refuse to sleep anywhere anymore even in the car unless it’s after about 10pm!

- ON a good note your daddy and I always say if you miss your nap your still usually happy as can be and it doesn’t seem to phase you!

- We are still and have been climbing INTO your crib with you to help  you fall asleep at night… so far we have gotten you to sleep at night twice without climbing in with you but and you have done we but as soon as we shut the door we give each other meltdowns and guilt trips “Oh my god I can’t believe I left her in there!” then the other follows with “It’s ok it’s not  a “new” thing, she still needs us, we will lay with her again tomorrow!” And thus- is precisely why you have only done it twice !

- On a good note your afternoon naps are usually BIG and long! Sometimes mommy even has to wake you up!

 

All in all your daddy and I are still pinching ourselves! Literally we say it all the time, we got so lucky just having YOU and as if we needed anything else you really are SUCH a good baby/toddler and so smart! We have to say that right ;) No really, You remember everything and have so many routines because of it! You are also VERY OCD with where things go and how things should be done! Like really good! When we go places you love to see everything and touch and test out everything. We always say how good you are about leaving and even putting things back that you REALLY like so that we can leave.

Moms with other kids your age always ask how old you are after seeing you interact or do something and they are so shocked when i say 18 months…. your pretty that Lola, Shocking.

We love you baby girl and happy, happy 18 months!

Love Always,

Mama and Daddy!

Dear Lola,

Well mommy is writing this from the floor of my closet in a puddle of salty tears and tissues because well…. I now have a little girl who is closer to being 2 years old than she is to being one year old.

Did I mention I was never actually okay with you turning one in the first place?

The truth is, as much as I absolutely hate it…. I don’t hate it at all. I love it, I love every ounce of it EVERY SINGLE DAY.

All these year and all this time; I have you, your here and you are even more than I ever dreamed you would be (and i dream big).

What “I hate” that I refer to at every milestone is that every day I enjoy with you is a day I can’t look forward to enjoying with you anymore.

I feel like there is an imaginary calendar in my head and each day we spend together and every night I put you to bed is a day that I have to check off.

Each check makes my total number of days with you less.

There is really no way to explain it other than that.

I think this  “way of loving” has it’s ups and downs…. for now it’s been more up than down so we’re going with it.

People come up with a lot of expressions and you will hear a lot of them in your life baby girl. Some won’t make much since, some are only for old people to get, some will come and go and some will kind of stick with you and repeat themselves in the back of your mind.

The two that stick in my mind the most since you have been born have been:

“Don’t blink, they grow up so fast”

and

“Live like you were dying”

Now I don’t feel like I have picked either of these but more that they have picked me.

They are a blessing and at times a curse.

A blessing because when you are awake we are ALL YOU. I feel guilty even looking at my phone (unless I’m taking your picture)or having a TV show on that i may enjoy while your awake. 

Every moment we’re outside I’m showing you new things, birds, butterflies, airplanes, flowers, cars, sounds, neighbors etc.

And the grocery, well it may as well be an amusement park.  I mean whoever went there just to shop…. it’s all bout you too. I actually told the bagger at Publix today that i didn’t need help getting to my car because I knew we had planned on taking you to see the Fire truck that was in the parking lot before going to the car.

Yes, really.

A curse because there is a not a second in the day where my brain goes into autopilot and I just shut it off. This “lack of autopilot” is also what I contribute(and i think most moms agree) to losing the rest of my memory since you came along.

I will say I am making steps towards “normalcy”… Just this month I have started for the first time ever letting you watch cartoons in the morning while you eat breakfast.

This was SUCH a big deal- I have never not sat at the kitchen table with you and talked with you and stared at you while taking your picture the entire time you ate breakfast (that was probably pretty annoying huh). Who knew I could actually use this time to do the dishes!

Baby steps people, baby steps.

So you can imagine, if at 18 months being in the same room with you and not directly interacting with you is a big deal- I think it may be fair to say “I haven’t blinked”- so why are you still growing up?

I mean hello? I did my part.

In a way this is where the second phrase comes in “Live like you were dying”…. you see Lola- people may have their opinions about your mom and dad and I’m sure they do but when you live like your dying ask yourself this….

Would you miss a lunch with a dying person?

How about a pool date?

A tea party?

Would you go out of town and leave them and possible miss a smile, a new noise, a colander that fits perfectly onto their head or an opportunity to see them fall in love with something new for the first time even if that’s a new book or a drain in the sidewalk that looks fun to step on?

Hell no you wouldn’t.

So yes, before I had our girl I thought I would leave and do lots without her. Alex and I had actually agreed to have date nights once a month (in a fairy tale land where baby sitters are frequent and free). In the big picture of raising her, I thought “what is a night ever so often or even a weekend get away”?

Well when your counting down days with someone it’s EVERYTHING and your every day moments with them ARE the “big picture” .

I may have it all wrong.  It’s not that I want to think this way about our relationship Lola. Quite frankly it’s pretty morbid and it scares the living hell out of me to think we have a number of days together.

I have no idea what that number is but considering it took me  4 months after you were born to buy a bulk pack of wipes and a bigger than travel size bottle of Johnson an Johnson baby wash I think I’m doing pretty good just letting you ride in the back seat by yourself.

I guess i just thought once i got “use to you” i could look at the big picture and “loosen the reins” a bit. Well we’re still pinching ourselves and there is no “use to you” in sight!

Sure we have gone a handful of places without you… Weddings, birthday parties, hospital stays in Switzerland (that’s one way to break in our first night without you- ugh) etc but if we can leave you by choice and not sacrifice time without you by going after your asleep it’s a no brainer.

We have been going places together for 16 years without you so it is still so fun to experience every place with you! Every day and weekend we still think -but we haven’t been to “such and such place” with you at this very stage and “this very stage” changes daily.

I realize this may not be completely sustainable but like I said, we are clinging on to every bit of you that we have while you are still our one and only baby girl.

So, your daddy and I have been talking a lot about “our way of loving” since Tucker died and we have come to terms with one thing:

We love hard, really, really hard.

So what i have discovered with you baby girl is that the one thing that scares me more than knowing our number of days we have together is the amount of love we have for you. 

I don’t think i have ever been more afraid of something in my entire life.

Your daddy always makes fun of me because there is not one single day of your life that has not been documented by, at minimum, 30 pictures.

Mark my words and check the hard drive. There is no exaggeration in my voice.

I remember thinking it was normal the first few weeks, even months… you were new… and this is what new parents do.

Well someone please let me know when the newness rubs off because girlfriend my phone stays filled up, I have gone through two computers and Daddy Lou has bought three back up hard drives.

 

We are by no means perfect Lola, we are simply doing the best we can at this thing called parenting.

We love you and this is how we love.

It may be completely exaggerated, overboard, controlling, mushy and consuming but it’s our love.

We love you sweet girl.

Happy 18 months from your (kicking and screaming every step of the way)mama and daddy.

(I know I normally do an update on your dear Lola’s but that will have to wait. Mama is way too emotional and scattered brained for that.)

I’m off to devour another tube of cookie dough now.

Dear Lola,

I know I typically wait until even number months for the updates and “Dear Lola,” but i can’t resist!

It literally seems like you have gone from a baby to a toddler in one week since we got back from the coast!

Lately you have been so uncomfortable with us trying to rock you- your such a big girl now! So in hopes of transitioning to just “laying you down” without enforcing the “cry it out” method your mommy came up with a great idea of us laying down in your crib with you until you fall asleep!

It’s pretty much the sweetest part of our day!    When we rocked you, it would take about an hour or so of rocking to get you down and if we didn’t “get it” on the first try it was at least another half hour trying! It made for some long nights trust me! Now we fight over who gets to lay with you to put you down because your getting so cuddly!

My absolute favorite part of this crazy new climbing into the crib thing is that  if I sit up or pretend i’m getting out, you jump up and put your hand on my shoulder to push me back down. Then you hurry up and lay down as if to show me you will

Heart Melted.

If I do it more than once you put both hands on top of me and try to lay on top of me to hod me down… so naturally I try to get up as much as possible to get extra loving.

Only kidding.

Kind of..

The thing I can’t even bare talking about is, that the night we decided to give this new idea a try, meant that the previous night was the last time i would rock you to sleep…

I remember reading an article when you were only a few months old about how we never think about doing something for the last time with our kids…

It’s so bizarre to think i didn’t even know the last time i rocked you would be “the last time i would rock you” it may be a good thing because i would have never let go!

The article also talked about there being a “last time” you will pick them up and have them sit in your lap… i can’t bare to think of it, I may need lots of alcohol to get through this whole growing up toddler thing!

Other little things we just adore:

You have started kissing again (we hope it’s here to stay this time!) and  the other night when i was laying in your crib you crawled up close to me and landed a big wet (snotty) one right on my mouth- and held it for a second or two! It was so sweet!

You are talking more and more repeating what we say! You say “mama” all the time but you LOVE to say it as your crying which is the worst! Naturally we give you ANYTHING you want when this occurs! You also say:

Apple

Bus

Bad- wonder why? ;)

Water

Yes

Dada but it sounds like “ahya”

 

When we leave you and come back home to you-  you get SO excited now and come running to the door with anything you can offer us (paci, food, sippy, remote- you always want to gve us presents) and as soon as you give it to us you run back away! Its like you don’t know what to do with your excitement energy until when hold you and then you realize that’s what you wanted and et so excited!

You give us your paci as soon as the car stops (I used to take it from you when we got out the car) so now you are SO eager to give it to us! You also do this with my phone if your watching a video- which your favorite is Hooplakids!

You love kicking balls and doing hand stands everywhere! We think you might be a soccer player or a gymnast! Daddy says you have a god throwing arm too!

You LOVE to help!! The other day you broke a tea cup and ran into the other room to get the broom… you LOVE being able to bring me something when you know where it is!

So much changes so fast with you but one thing remains the same… we ALWAYS think the absolute best time with you is RIGHT NOW! We love your EVERY stage and we love being your mommy and daddy!

Happy 17 months baby girl!

We love you!

Dear Lola,

Mommy is so late but I wanted to write a few things down about what your up to at 16 months!!

One of our happiest and fun new things you love is the pool! You are getting much more brave which is good ad bad! I’m so glad your becoming a water worm like mommy was when she was little! I’m also so glad that it wears you out more than anything else and you take BIG, long naps afterwards!

You love to say “UT” when you drop, spill or break anything and it’s the cutest thing! You do this  LOT but its hard to get frustrated once the “ut” comes out because it’s so cute and innocent!

You love playing pretend with mommy now especially when we have tea parties or picnics in the den. You our tea and pretend to sit it, stir it and take bites out of our play food! You also feed mommy and the other baby dolls joining us!

Your absolute favorite thing to do at home or when we go anywhere  is to have your stroller, grocery cart or as of today- lawn mower to push! You love pushing ay and everything around! 

You are officially diagnosed by your mommy as OCD!!! Only kidding baby girl but you are very particular with everything! it actually started with the grocery cart- I was cleaning the room one day and put some random things in it: a stamp pad, a (pretend) banana a baby dolls outfit and a cell phone case. To this day NOTHING else is allowed in the cart except those four items… We always play jokes on you by testing you and putting something in it… you stop what your doing immediately and take it back out!

You are the same way with shoes, keys and cell phones… you are constantly handing everyone their shoes as if they need to put them on or put them “up” where they belong! No one is ever allowed to hold anyone elses’ phone and it’s the same with our keys. to our advantage you love putting things back where they belong! The other night when i brought you to bed you refused to come before you put your toy back in the toy box! No complaints here!

You love to say “mama” all the time! You even say it when your crying which means i pretty much melt and you get ANYTHING you want!

We sit down and eat dinner with you every single night and we both take you up to put you to bed every single night! You have learned to expect it and look forward to it and we do too! It’s actually our favorite time of the day, just before bed time! You get so exited and wound up playing with us and you jump into your pink chair and fall into it over and over! You also LOVE when daddy tries to “get you” and you come shrieking into my arms *(which i love)!

Your new nickname lately is “Sister” I don’t know why but it fits you, more than that it fits us.

Speaking of name mommy has pulled out the middle name about 50 time a day lately! You are so independent and everything is funny or a game! Especially when we want you to come towards us!

You started gymnastics class and you love going!! You get more and more brave each time and you can stand on your hands ad hang on the bar with mommy’s help!

You never, ever sit in your stroller anymore and you hate shopping carts! I have to bribe you to sit in the shopping carts now!

You are SO clingy to us at certain times during the day, usually morning and when daddy first comes home. You have to have both of us in you sight or you scream bloody murder!

Your favorite things are still lovie and paci, animals and wearing your necklaces!

Your still a pretty picky eater but your getting better- at least with fruit and mommy is so thankful for that!

We love you so much sweet girl and if we could bottle these moments up forever we sure would! Until then I will continue to blog as much as i can so I can remember all the little things we love so much about you that change so quickly!

Love always baby girl,

Mama and Daddy