Summertime and 15 months old

Well, hello there. I think I almost forgot I had this blog! I have to admit I've been more in living and enjoying life mode instead of living and recording life mode... but I don't want to neglect these updates too much. Poor Lila's baby book is pretty pathetic so I have to keep up with the posts on here or we will forget everything!

Lila is 15 months old now! She is in full toddler mode complete with mini-tantrums, teething and hilarity. She is just SO funny and full of personality. She is a handful but we just love her to death!


Lila's BFF/boyfriend Emmett turned 1 on May 19 and had the cutest little outdoor party. Lila is jealous of his spring/summer birthday... her February birthday pretty much guarantees snowy weather. Emmett seemed like he had a blast splashing in the baby pool, playing with his cousins and opening his presents. Lila was being prissy and didn't want to play in the water and just walked around in her swimsuit! I just can't believe baby Emmett is ONE. Our babies are growing up!

 Lila had another egg allergy incident a few hours before the party at my parent's house. I don't want to go totally into it because I'm still traumatized, but I'll say a few things: Morningstar Black Bean Burgers ARE NOT Vegan and contain EGGS, my parents are probably going to have to get new carpet in their den, and I vow to read every single food label twice before anything gets remotely close to my child. Her egg allergy is severe and extremely frightening. Poor Lila.

Lila's been loving the outdoors lately and has been playing in the sand, dirt and with her new water table. She is going to have such a blast this summer! We can't wait to take her to King's Island and the Cincinnati Zoo.

As far as updates for Lila, she is just getting smarter and more funny all the time. She has learned a few new words this month: cracker, cookie, hot (and asks if her food is hot before she eats it), outside, and can meow like a cat. She understands so much stuff and tries to mimic us a lot more. Tries to put on shoes, brush her own hair, etc. She can eat very well with a spoon now, I even let her feed herself oatmeal this morning and she does very well.

She is drinking out of the sport bottle type cups now which she really seems to like. She is still drinking milk from a bottle 3 times a day, morning, lunch and bedtime. I didn't think she'd still be drinking a bottle at 15 months but I'm not ready to let it go yet. After her 15 month appointment (which I haven't even scheduled yet) I may cut out the morning bottle for a cup and start working on the other ones after that.

Lila is a great eater! She loves yogurt, smoothies, oatmeal, peanut butter, bagels, crackers, meatballs, ground beef, chicken, mac and cheese, peas, broccoli, beans, carrots, teddy grahams and animal crackers. She does not like cottage cheese, melon, strawberries, or anything too sweet like cake (even egg-free cake).

She got her 7th tooth, bottom left lateral incisor. She is getting them in the textbook order that they are "supposed" to arrive. The molars are next, eek!

She is totally on one nap now (12:30-3:30 or around about there), unless she is super crabby and then she might take a little morning nap. At night she usually sleeps from 8-ish to 7-ish, but I've been much more lax with her sleep lately. I know she gets enough, so I need to stop obsessing about it!

So everything is going pretty well for Miss Lila bean! We are excited for a Memorial Day weekend at home and for our cabin vacation next weekend in Indiana! Life is good!

Lila at 14 months

This little girl is changing so much I don't even know where to start. She turned 14 months old on the 23rd. We've been having such a great time with her. She is practically running around everywhere and is so solid on her feet now. She can squat and get back up and walk, climbs much better (help me), and  is talking up a storm. She is still a sweetheart but the girl can throw a mean tantrum if she wants to.

Weight/Height/Sizes:

We don't know exactly, but I think she's 20.5 lbs from weighing her on the scale with me. She looks a lot taller so I am betting 30 inches. Still wearing 12 and 18 months clothes and size 3 and 4 shoes. We are letting the size 3 diapers run out and will be getting size 4s next.

Talking:

Her language and vocabulary skills are going crazy! I can't keep track of all the words she knows and understands. Here are the ones I remember off the top of my head:

Mama, dada, baba

Bye, hi

No (of course)

Dog (and will bark back at dogs)

Baby

Duck (and quack)

Uh oh

Oh

Car

Truck

Balloon

Eye (can identify)

Ear (can identify, but not every time)

Bubble

Ball

Look 

Book

Shoe

and more I can't think of at the moment..

Phrases: I want it, I got it, What's this, etc..

Developmental stuff:

Knows some body parts. Can point to head, hair, eye, ear, nose (sometimes), shoulders and belly.

Can identify some animals and sounds: Barks like a dog. Baa for sheep, Moo for cow, quack for duck, "sniffs" for bunny, monkey sound for monkey. 

Lots of outside play lately! She loves to play with chalk, bubbles, ride on toys and her play lawnmower. She also likes to eat chalk, dandelions, dirt and mulch. I try to discourage that!

Tries to put on hats/bows, socks and shoes herself. Loves to put things around her neck like a scarf.

Can throw her own diaper in the trash when I ask her to. But this has backfired on me with her piqued interest in the trash can. I've found her clothes, the remote, and sippy cups in there!

Follows directions like "Bring mommy the ball", "Take the doll to daddy" "Go to your room".

Can throw and kick a ball! Not very coordinated though.

Getting better at simple puzzles, stacking games, sorting things, can put lids on things

Loves to carry baskets and boxes around the house

Hugs, rocks and pats dolls and other toys. And says "aww".

Will sometimes give us kisses and hugs if we ask. She pats us on the back when we get hugs!

Still scared of some men. Like terrified. Still a little scared of the vacuum.

Dances all the time. She has so many crazy moves. Our favorites being "Deep and wide" arm movements, head banging and the butt shake.

Tries to sing the ABCs (of course she is way to young to know her ABCs.. she just tries to sing along) and the Bubble Guppies song.

She is a super happy, expressive, funny and social child. I love her personality! She's a lot like Neil and I... silly and laid back. She fits in really well. 

Motion:

Walking readily. She is so adorable!! She's almost running. Pivots around in a circle! Dances. Can squat and get up. Climbs up to standing on her kids size chairs. Tries to climb in and out of the tub. Still can only go up stairs and not down. We've taken her to the park and an indoor play place Jump n Jacks and she is loving her new freedom and skills!!

Sleeping:

Still mainly 2 naps a day. Short one in the morning, longer after lunch for around 2-3 hours total. 11-12 hours at night. 

Eating:
Still eating very well, especially at lunch! She is completely on cow's milk now (will only drink 2%, not whole), but its still from a bottle. Still 4oz 3-4 times a day. If she gains weight at her 15 month appointment I think I might ditch the bottles for the cup. She will only drink 1-2oz of milk from a cup each time and I still worry about her weight, so I'm okay with her taking a bottle until I know her weight is okay.

She loves yogurt, meat in any form, peas, broccoli, graham crackers, beans, bananas, peaches and applesauce. She is getting pretty good with a fork and spoon. And I'm starting to let her use a plate.

I wish I could find my camera bag so I could post some of the photos I took from the last month or so. All I have are these crappy phone pictures. I have some really cute ones from Easter. Oh well!

Well, I think she is doing well all in all! She's happy and healthy. Our next steps are getting rid of the bottle. Probably dropping the morning nap in the next month or two, and we'll be getting a potty soon just to start exposing her to it. This is a super fun age. We are just having a blast with her.

Our Walking Girl!

So I've been a bit MIA lately, but wanted to post that Lila has reached a big milestone! She is a walker! She took her first steps at 11 months and has been cruising and walking a few steps at a time since before Christmas. It took her until now, a few days from turning 14 months old, to put it all together! I'm so proud of her and she is clearly very proud of herself.





On top of walking, her language and level of understanding is just exploding! It's so fun to see. She can point to some body parts (she is particularly fond of "eye" and poking people in the eye), can identify some animals and their sounds, and says phrases like "I want it" or "what's this?" all the time. She is just hilarious. I missed out on doing a 13 month update post, so I hope to write up an update for 14 months. She is such a little toddler now!

Just say no to... Eggs?

Just in time for Easter, we have without a shadow of a doubt that Lila is sadly, allergic to eggs.

She had what we thought was a little reaction to eggs a couple of months ago, but with Benadryl she was fine. At the time we weren't totally sure it was egg that did it, but after ruling out other things she'd had that day we figured she had a mild intolerance... possibly. I have avoided giving her eggs since, but really just figured she didn't like them and maybe had a slight sensitivity. She eats things with eggs in it, like cake, muffins, pancakes, etc. with no problems that we've noticed.

Well, Wednesday morning I made myself an egg white omelet. I used the whites in a carton which I buy sometimes because its quicker and easier than cracking and separating eggs in the morning. I gave Lila two or three small bites of the omelet. She seemed to like it okay, but then started coughing a bit so I gave her some water. She wasn't interested in eating more. A few minutes later I noticed she had a small rash around her mouth and chin.

I watched her closely as I continued to get ready, but she was acting normal. She was happy and playing and the rash faded by the time I dropped her off at Amanda's. Well pretty much as soon as I got to work Amanda called me to say that Lila had thrown up everywhere during her nap and that it was probably the eggs that did it. I told her to give her Benadryl and call me back if it got worse. Well I got a call a few minutes later from a very concerned Amanda that she had hives everywhere, was not breathing normally and her feet and hands looked kind of purple. With that I dashed to my car and my 40 minute drive to her house was about 25 minutes. During that time I called my pediatrician and Neil and my mom and tried not to speed too much or cry while I was driving.

Luckily when I got there she looked much better and the Benadryl was doing its job. Most of her hives were gone but you could see some on her back. As soon as I got to Lila I just cried. It's so hard to be away from your child when she needs you. Both times when Lila has had reactions like this I have not been there. On one hand its good, because I'm not sure how I'd do in that situation, seeing Lila like that and obviously Amanda did a great job handling it. But on the other hand, I was not there to help my daughter when she needed me!! I was 40 minutes away at work! Cue Mommy guilt x100! It was terrible.

I was going to take her right to the ER, but I decided to just observe her for a little bit before I put her through anything else. I'd talked a nurse at the pediatrician's office and a friend with a child with a peanut allergy and they both said if the Benadryl is working they won't be able to do much more at the hospital. So I went to Walmart with her to buy more Benadryl (just in case I didn't have it at home) and to just kind of watch her.

Luckily, she did fine the rest of the day. I wiped her down with a wipe when I got home, as I was told that a bath could exacerbate hives, and just looked at her body and she really did seem okay. She took a 3 hour afternoon nap and I cleaned, made brownies and sat outside and read Catching Fire while she napped. She got better as the day went on, thank goodness.

So, no eggs for Lila. Since I've heard that subsequent exposure to eggs can cause worsening reactions, we are going to be extra cautious and really avoid all egg products and anything that has eggs in it. Hopefully by avoiding eggs all together she will not have any more reactions and will eventually outgrow it.

My poor Lila. I'm just glad she recovered pretty fast and that Amanda reacted so expertly and quickly. I'm also thankful that I was able to leave work and go be with her for the rest of the day. So no hardboiled eggs or deviled eggs for my girl this Easter. No eggs at all... not for a long, long time.

Spring and sickness

I've been loving the nice weather we've had recently, but this week has kind of been ridiculous! We've had record-breaking 80+ temps here in Ohio. Lila has been enjoying her time outdoors and I've been loving dressing her up in cute new outfits! Luckily I already had some 12 and 18 month summer stuff for her and I've been getting a lot of things secondhand. I cannot wait for yard sale season to really get going. My favorite time of year! I love getting deals!

In her hand-me down outfit with her crocs

But yes, we are so loving this weather! Lila loves the outdoors! Of course Lila gets most of her outdoor time at Amanda's, where she spends her days while mommy and daddy are at work. Can I tell you how thankful I am to have this daycare arrangement!? Lila is thriving there and I love all of the opportunities she is getting!

She is getting exposed to so many fun things.. feeding ducks, petting zoo, the park, story time at the library, arts and crafts, playing in the water and with dirt, and of course interacting with the other kids. My girl is usually a sunblock-caked, dirty mess when I pick her up after work, but I LOVE it. She is clearly having fun and is learning so much!

Of course, all this fun in the sun while I'm at work is bittersweet. I would give almost anything to be home with her, at least part time. This is hard to admit, because I really never pictured myself wanting to be at home... parenthood changes you, people! I feel like I'm missing out on so much, and while I value my career, I find that it's only getting harder to leave her each day. The hardest part is my commute... but that's an entirely different post (one I may or may not write) but I know she is in good hands and this is our reality right now, and it may always be. Moving on!

But of course we've been taking advantage of the time we do have with our Lila bean. She is staying up a bit later these days and that coupled with the time change means more time outside with our girl. Now all she needs to do is walk on her own and she'll be set!!

Yep, our girl that's been crawling since she was 6 months old is still not walking at almost 13 months! She takes about 4-5 steps on her own, runs with her push toys, climbs stairs with ease, crawls on top of chairs and stands and jumps on them... but is still not walking. I know I shouldn't rush her and it's totally a confidence issue, but come on, Lila! You can do it!

We usually multi-task on the weekends... Playing outside while daddy weeds the garden!

Anyway, it hasn't all been sunshine and roses around here. Our little girl was pretty sick over the weekend. On Saturday, I got back from a big consignment sale around 9:30am (we got there super early and I felt like a bonafide crazy person - booyah!) and Lila was clearly not herself. She didn't sleep well that night and she seemed like she was getting a cold the day before. Well, Neil had texted me during the sale that they weren't having a good morning... that she was was lethargic, wouldn't eat, and the weirdest thing of all - she fell asleep on his chest for 20 minutes. Very unlike her (though I'm sure he enjoyed the snuggles).

When I got there she was very fussy, had a bad cough, felt feverish (but we couldn't get an accurate temp), wouldn't eat any solid foods and barely would drink any milk. She seemed miserable! Most concerning to me was her wheezing and labored breathing. She seemed like she could not really get a good breath. And as someone who has asthma, it looked all too familiar. We called the pediatrician's office (love those Saturday hours) and got in for the last appointment of the day.

They thought she had RSV or even pneumonia, but after checking her oxygen levels and doing a 10 minute breathing treatment she perked up a lot. We got a prescription for a breathing treatment and she's been doing so much better ever since!! After her follow up yesterday, the doctor is pretty sure she has asthma and that when she gets a cold it goes into wheezing/asthma symptoms. Poor girl!

Luckily she is so much better now and we are having a pretty normal week. I can't believe Lila will be 13 months on Friday! She is so funny and we love her so much! I hope to write a monthly update at some point because she has changed a lot since her first birthday! I cannot believe she is already 13 months old! It honestly just keeps getting better and she just keeps getting cuter!

Lila's 12-Month Update!

Lila turned one year old on Feb 23rd, and had her one year check up today! She seems more grown up to me everyday. She is just so much fun and makes us laugh all the time.

Weight/Height:
Well, we almost made it to 20 lbs! Lila was 19lbs 11 oz today and 29 inches. They measure her standing now, so she is .5 inches shorter than last time, which is normal I guess. This little peanut has not gained much weight in the past 3-4 months. She was 18lb 1 oz at 8 months and 18lb 15 oz at 10 months. I was really hoping she'd be over 20 lbs today. I know she is healthy, but I kind of wish she’d chunk it up a bit! She seems to be getting much taller, but not much fatter! She is just really petite. The doctor was not worried at all and said she looks and acts very healthy!

Sizes: 12 month onesies, pjs, and some shirts/onesies. 18 month pants/jeans and most tops! Still size 3 shoes. I put 4s on her sometimes but they are really big!

Talking:
Lila talks all the time. I’ve noticed if she’s in a new situation or if there are a lot of people around she is quieter, but for the most part she is constantly jabbering. Half the time it sounds like she is telling people off or yelling. She is very emphatic!

She has a decent vocabulary for a 1 year old, but most of what she says we have no idea what it is.

She says all the time:
mama, dada, baba, ball, uh oh, bye, yay, dog

She says often:
balloon, baby, dis? (this)

has said a few times - might have been a fluke!
monkey and makes monkey sounds, kids, cake...

I’m sure there are others I’m forgetting!

Motion:

Soo close to walking!! She's taken a 4-5 steps a few times toward us, but still not walking fully on her own. Seems to do better at walking outside!!! Probably because she doesn't want to get dirty or touch the grass.

I know she can walk because she barely even holds on to our hands, but she is still not sure of herself enough yet. She is going to be such a cute little walker!

Sleeping:
Typically 2 naps per day. One shorter one in the morning around 10 and a longer one at 1 or 2. Sometimes she will take just one nap per day after lunch. She is napping great for us at home on the weekends or on days off. The other day she slept an hour in the morning and 2.5 in the afternoon.

Sleeps 7:30-7:30 typically. Starting to sleep with a lovey, “Ellie”, a stuffed elephant. We do put a blanket on her sometimes at night but it never stays on. Still sleeps mainly on her belly (with her butt up in the air) but we occasionally catch her on her back (usually with feet and arms sticking through the bars).

She had a terrible night's sleep this past Saturday! We had to take out her crib bumper to wash it and she couldn't sleep without it and was just getting really mad. She kept waking up and just screaming. Not fun! Needless to say we put the bumpers back in ASAP.

Still sleeps with her paci and does take a bottle right before bed but falls asleep on her own. We are hoping to phase out this bedtime bottle (and all bottles) soon.

Eating:
Loves her “baba” and drinks around 4 oz 3-4 times a day. She is getting much more independent and wants to hold the bottle herself and not be held.

Sometimes I’ll skip the 4pm bottle and she doesnt seem to care, so might drop that one soon and just give her a snack and water.

Loves drinking water and juice or crystal light from a cup... And when my mom was watching her she even drank 1-2 oz of formula from it! She's also had milk mixed with formula at daycare.

We are hoping to transition to the cup (for at least the daytime bottles) in the next month or so.

Lots of new foods this month! She is doing very well at eating a variety of foods. She is not too picky and is a good eater!!! She eats mostly table foods and loves to feed herself. She still eats baby food veggies and prunes occasionally... and will let me spoon feed her yogurt for breakfast.

Some favorites:

yogurt, banana, meatballs, hamburger, chicken especially chicken nuggets, pasta, baked or mashed potatoes, anything with cream cheese on it, goldfish crackers, oyster crackers, rice, ravioli, vienna sausages

Tried peanut butter this month. She loves it!

Might have an issue with eggs.. had a reaction with splotches on her face and had to have benadryl. Also had a possible reaction to grapes of all things. I gave them to her with dinner and she threw up during the night and had a rash for the next day and a half.

New things:

Still 4 teeth for now! Her lateral incisors are almost coming through.

Very clingy to me again this month. She is being nicer to Neil though!

Gives hugs and kisses often and blows kisses. She is much more lovey and cuddly this month! She even gives fellow babies some smooches!

Points all. the. time.

She is extremely happy/pleasant most of the time but she has a temper. If you dont give her what she wants, she will let you know! She will occasionally hit herself when I tell her no... which is awful! I guess its slightly normal.. but still concerning to me. She even bit herself once on the arm! I have no idea where she gets that!!!

Is still scared of men sometimes!

Loves to dance! She dances to everything.. any type of music... she loves to dance to Neil’s cell phone ring and always dances to the dryer running!

Favorite toys:

Books especially ones with flaps, textures or sliding pieces

Plastic Easter eggs

Leap Frog fridge farm

Her new ride on toy from Grandma and Grand-dad

Her crawl-through tunnel from Mamaw and Papaw

Anything that's not actually a toy: pots and pans, boxes, shoes, etc

And of course, books!!

Lila is growing up so fast and we love her more every day!

Lila 1 year photo collage

In early February our friend Joe took some fun birthday shots of Lila. I am pretty much in love with them all, but here is a collage of her "smashing the cake"!

We had Lila's first birthday party this past Saturday! It was wonderful to have friends and family together to celebrate with our girl. She had a blast and was terribly spoiled with lots of gifts and ate cake and icing with a spoon! Unfortunately, the following days were spent mourning the passing of Neil's grandmother. Saturday's party was followed by Sunday's visitation and Monday's funeral. We take the happy with the sad.

I'm working on posts about Lila's party and also her 12 month update! She goes in for a checkup on Tuesday, so I'll probably wait until after that. I can't wait to hear what they say at her checkup. I want to know how her weight is doing (she only gained 14 oz between 8 and 10 months old) and I'm curious how she is doing milestone-wise and what the pediatrician has to say about formula/milk and all that good stuff! She is still drinking formula from a bottle 3-4 times a day (16-20 oz total) and I know the ped will want us to move her to a cup soon! Fun!!