20 months and vacation

The past month has been so busy for our entire family. We have been going non-stop for what seems like months now, but its really only been a few weeks. Some things were adult only, like our 2nd trip to Atlanta, but others were for the whole family, like our vacation to North Myrtle Beach, SC.

Monthly fun:
**Aubrey has become obsessed with puzzles. Which means we are constantly looking for puzzle pieces behind the couch, inside other toys, and even inside our vehicles.
**Her last canine tooth finally(!) came in. Hopefully we are teething free for a few months until her 2 year molars start.
**She now tells us after she has done a number 2. She's still in the same place with sitting on the potty, but that is a huge step towards training. After she's done with her business, she looks at us and says "potty" or "diaper" and we know its time to change.
**She is thisclose to learning how to jump off things. She hasn't quite figured out that both feet need to go together, but it should happen soon. Joy.
**She learned the word up gets her on the couch and uses it as her new favorite game. So, we put a step stool by the couch so she can get herself up and down as she pleases.
**I've lost count of her new words but she loves to use them over and over and over and over....
**When she wants to eat she looks at us and says "eat, eat" which is then followed by her walking to her chair and scooting it out for us to put her in it. And we better not ignore her because she gets louder, whinier, and more insistent as she goes.
**She is starting to love Yo Gabba Gabba on Nick Jr. She only watches tv for a little while on the weekends, but when that show is on, she actually manages to sit still for about 30 seconds at a time, which is pretty unusual for her at this point.



We spent the last week on vacation and it was pretty awesome. We rented a condo behind the Barefoot Landing Resort so we could cook and bring the dogs. Its been a long time since Todd and I have been to Myrtle Beach so we were excited. We did the ocean a few times, the pool a few times, Alligator Adventures, Barefoot Landing, and Ripley's Aquarium. Aubrey seemed to like everything, even the ocean after 3 times of trying to get her in it. It was nice to spend the week together and I am sure she will hate me in the morning when I leave her at daycare. Hopefully it won't be too long before we go on our next vacation because once a year just isn't enough.

Where did my toddler go?

For giggles, I decided to put Aubrey's hair in pigtails for the first time. She doesn't have enough hair in the back to make it work, but the sides went up pretty well. But, she was not happy with me tugging and pulling at her hair. Actually, that's a gross understatement. She despised me putting her hair up. So, it wasn't exactly even on each side, but I loved it. I then put her backpack on her and was shocked when I realized she looked like a 1st grader or something. I didn't have fast access to my camera right then so I grabbed my phone and this is what I got. She is growing up so fast and I sometimes forget that until I see her like this.

19 months

Another month gone. 5 months til 2! Aghhh, that just doesn't seem right. We are learning everyday how smart she is and we are amazed. I sometimes forget she understands a lot more than I think she does. Like I was angry at her and told her to quit being a punk and she scrunched her little nose up and started crying. Not one of my better mommy moments. But, we are learning together and I am just glad she won't remember these early mistakes later on.

Highlights:
**She has become a parrot. I was driving home from daycare and someone cut me off and I said "crap" (luckily that was the worst I said this time) and the next thing I hear from the back is "cwap." Ugh, must work on child friendly words for road rage. (Are there any?!)
**She has fully learned the word no and loves to use it. She also shakes her head just to add emphasis.
**She is pretty consistently eating with a spoon. Until she gets tired and then she'll use her hands for a bite or two.
**She has become a ketchup and salsa fiend. She loves to dip her food in either one of these and makes a huge mess in the process.
**Diaper changes have become a beast. As soon as you pull the diaper out from under her, she flips over to her belly and sticks her bottom up in the air. It was cute the first few times, but now its just a pain.
**Still working on those bottom canines. She has been miserable the past few weeks with the worst of it the past few days so we hope they are coming in soon.
**She started potty training at day care. Right now they just sit her on the potty and she cries, but its a start. We are not pushing it too much at home yet, but we are gearing up for it.
**She has started to become attached to stuffed animals. I bought her a sock monkey from Target and she insists on carrying it around with her (see picture below). She still loves her blanket as well.
**Still in some 12-month and some 18-month clothes. She is in trouble when it gets cold because the 18-month pants I have bought so far are way too long for her short little legs. But, 12-month things are getting pretty tight around her belly. I may need to up my purchase of a sewing machine because I may have to start hemming her pants (at least she'll learn that frustration early).
**She loves to help us do things, whether its taking off our shoes and taking them to the closet, shutting a door while you're halfway standing in it, or sliding chairs back under the table. I just hope she remembers how much she loves to help later when I start expecting it.

18 month pics

Here are a few of our 18-month pics from last weekend. I am pretty excited how they turned out.









This was not really part of the shoot, just thought it was a sweet picture of Todd and Aubrey.

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?!