18-month checkup

I took Aubrey to the doctor today for her 18-month checkup. After she tried to be dramatic by falling down on the floor so I couldn't take her to the back, the nurse took her measurements and I was amazed at them. She is 31" tall (30%), 24 lbs 12 oz (60%!), and her head is 47.5 cm (75%). That means she's added 3.5" in length and 5 lbs 9 oz (normal toddlers gain 5 lbs in a year!) since January. The doctor came in and said she looks fine and didn't seem too worried about the chunkster's weight. She said she'll continue to slim down as she gets more and more active. Aubrey decided to become Ms. Fussy Pants while the doctor was trying to do the exam and didn't want the doctor touching her. And when she went to check her ears, you would have thought she was killing her the way she carried on. She was impressed with Aubrey's language and said everything else looked great. Then the nurse came back in the give her the last 2 shots until age 4(yippie!!) and the water works began. Luckily, she calmed down after I picked her up and she only cried for 30 seconds. All in all not a bad visit and I am glad we are done with shots for a while.

Aubrey's first pillow

Completely unoriginal title, but between the a/c going out last night and her hacking cough that I heard all night, I am really too tired to think of more original titles.

Anywhoo. So, I kept Aubrey home from daycare today due to above mentioned hacking cough and her not getting any sleep. She actually slept until 8:00, which for her is a pretty good sign she was exhausted. During one of her coughing fits last night, I brought her into our room and let her snuggle with me and she kept flopping onto my pillow. She also loves our throw pillows on the couch so I made a mental note the next time I went to a store, I would try to find a pillow for her. Little did I know that trip to the store would have to be today because I realized we had 1 diaper in our house. That never happens. I always have an extra box laying around here. But, on day where I really don't feel like going out, I have no extra diapers. And I refuse to buy them from the grocery store because they mark the price up so Target was the destination. After I picked up the diapers, I decided to peruse the aisles, just in case anything new has been added since my last trip....this past Friday. Walking through the toddler bedding section, I found this cute little toddler throw pillow that looked liked it would be perfect for Aubrey to lay on. I think it has Tinkerbell on one side, but the other side is some soft fluffy material. I gave it to her in the store and she immediately placed it on the handle bars of the buggy and laid her head down on it. Love at first sight, which led to screaming when I took it away from her so the cashier could scan it. I gave it to her when we got home and she threw it on the floor and flopped right on top of it. I thought she might be tired still so I tried to lay her back down in the crib with the pillow, but that was a big fail. I somehow got the pillow away from her to eat and take a bath, but when it was bed time, she dove for that pillow. Glad to see to likes it a little bit.

18 months

I seriously think the last 6 months have gone faster than the whole first year. I cannot believe Aubrey is 18 months old today. I think this age has to be the best because she is soooo much fun because she is walking and talking and learning so much.

This month's milestones
**Turned her car seat to foward-facing--she wasn't quite sure what to think at first, but she seems to enjoy it now
**Has said about 30ish words--her favorites right now are hot, wok(walk), mommy (darn, I hate hearing that!), wow, and doggie
**She is obsessed with walking everywhere. She will grab your finger and say "wok" and we end up walking laps around the house and she would walk more if we let her
**Ditched the paci
**First overnight visit with Gma and Grandpa
**She now wears a size 4 in all of her shoes
**Changed daycares..again (another long post)
**Had her first scraped knee at daycare
**Started carrying a purse
**Discovered crayons and loves drawing
**Went down her first waterslide and loved it
**Started rocking the Pebbles look--which she hates by the way
**Outgrew some of the 12-month bottoms, but still wearing a good mix of 12 and 18 month stuff

Her first ride facing forward

The Pebbles look

It's hard to think we are 6 months from 2. How is that possible?!

Good-bye evil pacifiers!!!

I've been dreading it for months now, but I knew it was coming. Aubrey was going to have to ditch the paci and I knew that the longer we let her have it the harder it was going to be get rid of it. She had been weaned from it at day care (which I was promptly reminded of one day when I tried to give it to her as I left, but that's a story for a different post). We were working really hard to only give it to her in the car, while we were out shopping, and to sleep. Her 18-month check-up is next week and I knew it would come up in discussion, so I made the decision on Friday to give it the boot from our house. So, we put her to bed on Friday night and all hell broke loose. She has never slept in that crib without that paci and to say she was unhappy without her beloved paci is a major understatement. If she could spit nails at us, I am sure it would have happened. She cried for an hour before she finally gave up and went to sleep. That was such a long hour but I knew it would do no good to give in. She paid us back on Saturday morning by deciding 6:00 AM was a good time to get up when she couldn't find her paci to go back to sleep.
She did ok on Saturday through the first shopping trip to Concord Mills, but there was plenty to keep her mind off it while we were there. The 2nd shopping trip to Northlake didn't go so well because it was getting closer to her bed time and she was bored. She cried about 35 minutes when we put her to bed Saturday, but it didn't help she was overtired from having only 2 20-minute naps. She must have slept longer because we woke up at her normal 7:30, which made for much happier parents. Sunday night was easier and she cried about 20 minutes. Tonight she only cried about 10 minutes but sat in the crib and talked to herself for another 20 minutes. So, I think we are completely done with the paci and I could not be more happy. I hated worrying about it and constantly making sure she had one in reach most of the time. She loved it and it served its purpose for 18 months, but it had overstayed its welcome and will find a place in the trashcan soon! (Just because I took it away from her doesn't mean I am ready to throw it away just yet. It's another sign she's growing up and it makes me a little sad, so I'll just look at it for a few days (ok, or maybe weeks!) before I toss it.)

The paci's good ol' days

Aubrey at the pool

We had our first pool play date with my friends and their babies over the weekend. I remembered the camera, but forgot the memory card (smart move, Amber) but I did have my phone so I got some video and pics.







Aubrey like the pool, but she loved the sprayers that filled the pool up more. She didn't have the greatest of naps before we left so she was over the pool after about an hour, but hopefully we'll get to take her back again soon and she can play some more.

4th of July weekend

It has been fabulous to have a long weekend with no serious plans. We've been so busy the last month that we needed a few days to rest and refresh. And that is exactly what we did.

Our only scheduled event of the weekend was going to Mooresville to see the fireworks on Saturday. Aubrey decided that was not in the agenda for her because she decided to throw up most of the afternoon. It is not easy to watch your baby being sick, no matter how much you watch it. She could not keep anything on her little tummy and just laid on the floor, which is completely not like her busybody self. We put her to bed around 7 and amazingly she slept all night with no upchucking.

Laying on the floor looking all pitiful

On Sunday, she decided to throw up one more time for good measure but ate her usual 3 pancake breakfast and appeared to be fine the rest of the day. We hung out around the house most of the day, grilled some fantastic steaks, and then decided to brave the downtown Charlotte fireworks. I was not sure how Aubrey would handle the noise, but she was fascinated with the lights. But, somehow, she managed to fall asleep about halfway through the show. Ahh, to be able to sleep that easy again. Sigh.

Hanging out in the stroller with a cold beverage

I decided to try a new hairstyle for Aubrey today because I cannot stand her hair in her eyes and she refuses to keep a bow in her hair. So, the Pebbles hairdo has found a new place in our home.

Not quite perfect, but have you ever tried to fix the hair of a squirmy toddler?

Today was spent hanging out around the house some more. We did go on a nice walk in the AM before it got too hot to breathe outside. I am so glad Aubrey loves to ride in her stroller. It makes life just a tad easier since she is not quite a speed walker, yet.

I decided to fill up the baby pool for Aubrey (ok and my feet) to splash in for the afternoon and that was fun. It still amazes me how much she loves to splash and play in a foot of water.


Around 4:00 the boredom set in, so we decided to go for ice cream. As a general rule, Aubrey does not like cold stuff, so we really did not expect for her to enjoy her ice cream. Um, wrong. She loved licking her baby cone of vanilla ice cream, so I stand corrected. I guess that will have to be more of a tradition now.


All in all, it was a pretty good weekend. I hate that Aubrey spent part of it feeling so badly, but we tried to make up for it with the other 2 days. Now, I wish we could have a whole string of these lazy carefree days to just enjoy ourselves, but work is sadly calling us back. Boooo.