Aubrey 13 Months!

This month was a rough one in terms of A's teething, which in turn caused her to act like a crazy lady! Legit crazy. That's no joke. It was Angry Elf to the max many days. And nights. 
But, despite that, she still managed to make us laugh and smile many days, and we are amazed at how much older she seems (and thinks she is!). Despite some hard days for you this month, Aubee, you truly are a joy!

Happy 13 Months Aubrey Lynn!

13 Month Highlights:

-Let's talk a little bit about the teething I mentioned above!  When I say you turned into a crazy lady at times, that was no joke. You would literally be playing happily on the floor one minute, and the next you stand up, scream at the top of your lungs and top of the register, then ball your fists up, shake your body, and finally slam your body of the ground screaming and shaking. Yup, fun times I tell ya.  There was very little that would console you. You didn't want to be held or rocked, and ultimately you wanted to play, but when the pain got too much, you just didn't know what to do. We felt so bad for you! And after all of that I was expecting to see about 10 new teeth, but nope, just a canine popped through. That being said, I know you are working on some molars b/c your gums are just as red and swollen as can be!

-You loved all things Christmas this year and it was just so much fun watching you get excited about Christmas lights and all the ornaments on the tree (which you really did a good job "touching with only 1 finger" as opposed to grabbing and ripping!). Jingle Bells was totally your jam and you would chime right in every single time you heard us singing it!  

We went to the mall to ride the train which was a bust b/c it was broken that day, but we still had fun walking around looking at all the Christmas sights. And you 3 just loved running all over the place in a mostly empty mall!

 -We all got a lovely stomach virus that knocked us out for about a week. Talk about no fun!  And man, can you throw up with the best of them! I'm talking vomit all over your wall, your crib, your mattress, yourself, the carpet.  Loads of fun to clean up, especially when it was after a dinner or black and raspberries!

-We went to the Atlanta Zoo and you loved it this time (last time we went you were 5 months old).  You loved growling with the lion, and getting super close to the fish tanks.

-You love clapping, and somehow this month your clapping turned into using one open hand and hitting it against your opposite hand pointer finger. So dainty : )

-Although we spent quite a good amount of time indoors with all the sickness, we still took advantage of GA weather and the fact that we can play outside in jackets in the middle of December!

 

I love seeing your friendship grow as you both get older! You two have your moments with each other, but you really do love being together!

-You love baths, but I think you love running around naked even more! You get so excited to get in the bath you practically rip your clothes off, but then you don't tend to want to stay in the bath more than 5-7 minutes. You are pretty fearless in the water and I have to keep an insanely close eye on you because you will just dive bomb in the water, try to run all over the tub, and you don't really care if you splash your face or fall in the water!

 -And, there were plenty of jammie days which were just fun to run around, play in the playroom all day, and relax.  Bella would do that everyday, and while I don't think you have much of an opinion on the matter just yet, you look so stinking cute and snuggly in fleece footie jams!

 

Sleeping: Bedtime was still around 7pm and you usually sleep until 6:30 or 7:30am, with one or two wake ups to eat.  That being said there were a couple nights a week that you were just teething so bad you would wake up multiple times and just wanted to be rocked.  We would rock you for 30 minutes, put you back down (asleep), only to have you wake up again 15 minutes later to repeat the process. Long nights! 

Naps are still all over the place. There have been some days where I think you are finally getting into a groove, and then the very next day it's completely different. I would say about 75% of the time you do take 2 naps a day, usually around 9 or 10, and then again 3-4 hours after the first one. With both naps, you usually sleep about 2- 2.5 hours, and on the days you take 1 nap, it's usually 2 hours long. So over all, you sleep a good amount, it's just not consistent in when and how long. That's ok...it gives Mama a little more flexibility in her schedule!

Breastfeeding: You are officially down to just nighttime/early morning feeds, so most nights that it twice.  You'll either wake up at 11:30 or midnight, and then again at 4, 5 or 6. Or, you will eat around 1 or 2, and then get up again around 6. And honestly at this point, even at 6 am, it's so much easier to breastfeed you than go downstairs and make you breakfast, because you are refusing to drink frozen breastmilk, regular milk and even formula from a sippy cup!

Aubrey Loves:
-Reading books

-Singing songs and listening to music

-Dancing (Joyful Joyful, Wheels on the Bus and  Book Shakalaka really got her moving this month!)
-Musical puppy toy

-Being outside, running around (literally, running!)

-Being pushed on the trike or pushcar

-Puzzles and stackable rings toys

Aubrey Hates:

 -Teething

-Having things taken away from her

13 Month Stats:

 Height: 29 in (30th percentile)

Weight: 17 lb 12 oz (2nd percentile)- This was on the MD scale and I'm not sure if she truly lost 1 lb over this last month or just a difference in scales, although with teething and a stomach virus for a week I wouldn't be surprised at the weight loss

HC: 17.5 in (23rd percentile)

*Wearing 9 and 12 month clothes. Still using size 3 diapers.

*We have a new tooth- lower right canine popped through!
 

Aubrey's Firsts this Month:

-You are officially climbing onto everything, including stairs, and are actually able to do it...eek!

Christmas 2016

This year, Christmas had it's ups and downs.  The ups were just enjoying the Christmas season looking through the eyes of a 1 and 2 1/2 year old, being with family, and (eventually) enjoying good food and fun.  The downs were a nasty stomach virus taking us all out. Literally, every single one of us, including Mimi, Pops, and Tia (somehow Dani Leigh managed to escape the craziness, and Uncle G was in Costa Rica the entire time)! For almost 2 weeks (since we all didn't get it at the exact same time). Major bummer.

Either way, we still managed to celebrate, on our own as we were quarantined over actual Christmas, and then again with everyone for our "Christmas New Years" weekend. 

On the real Christmas day, we woke up still not feeling well, but wanted to make the most of the day. We stayed in jammies, went downstairs to turn on the Christmas parade, and just relaxed. The day was filled with saltine crackers and bread, lots of Christmas movies, and chillin' to the max.  We let Isabella open one present which was a HUGE hit! Despite her never even watching the movie, Frozen, she loves all the songs and has fallen in love with Olaf. So she opened a pillow pet Olaf with a projector and she immediately hugged it, and said "I love Olaf. You're my friend." And then she was inseparable with it for the next week or so!  She loves to sleep with it, and I must say it's a win win because on mornings she wakes up early, he certainly keeps her preoccupied with the projector!

We then decided we all needed to get out of the house for some fresh air. We went to Suwanee Town Center and just walked around, let the girls have a picnic dinner, and run off some energy.  It was nice to be outside in t-shirts in the middle of December (still, after 2 1/2 years, this amazes me!), and being able to look at all the Christmas lights on display.

The next weekend, we celebrated Christmas Lerma/Vega/Allard style and had an appetizer and movie night on Christmas Eve.  Christmas Day was once again pretty laid back and we ate a yummy brunch, played cards, watched Elf, opened a TON of presents (despite previously agreeing to only get the girls 1 things each!), and capped the evening off with an incredible prime rib dinner.  

I must say the holidays felt so much more festive and fun than they have in awhile. The girls were just at such a fun age where they started to understand what Christmas is, and were in amazement of all the lights and things that go along with Christmas. It flew by, but I am learning that this phase of life just does that.  Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Isabella 30 Months!

My oh my, what a little lady you are becoming! At 2 1/2 you are a sweet, affectionate, strong willed, goofy and funny kid, and we just love you to death. You try our patience more than we have ever known. And yet you fill our heart with a love we have never known.  Here's to 2 and a half!

Happy 30 Months Isabella Rae!

 30 Month Highlights:

-We took advantage of great GA weather and it still amazes me that we can play outside with a light jacket on!  You love being outside, running around and riding your car.  

 As a side note, you are a great big sister (though you do have your moments!), and it's so sweet watching you two together!

-We also took advantage of some lazy, stay and home and stay in our jammies kind of days. Those are nice sometimes!

-Our heat broke for 2 days (unfortunately they happened to be on the coldest 2 days so far!), and we enjoyed lots of snuggles in front of the fire, in several layers, and under blankets : )

-We made cookies together for the first time and you LOVED it!  You always love "helping" in the kitchen and you were just in your element. Not to mention, I gave you a beater to lick at the end!

-Probably the highlight for you all month was setting up our Christmas tree, singing songs, and just getting into the spirit. You LOVE the Christmas lights, and every morning your first request is to turn the tree on.  

"Touch it Aubee, it's beautiful!"

 

-You also got to meet Santa for the first time at our annual church Christmas luncheon. I expected you to be afraid and have some tears, but you were so excited and asked about 10 times when we could go see him! You marched right up, sat on his lap, and not a tear was shed. You did stare him down skeptically the entire time, but I was proud of you!

 

Sleeping: You have definitely lost your groove in sleeping this month, and naps as well as nighttime sleep have been all over the place. We still put you down around 7:30pm but you haven't been falling asleep until 9 or 9:30 most nights!  We started using the door lock again b/c the whole game of you coming out, us putting you back, was NOT fun. About 52 times a night, not fun! Since we started using that it has helped a ton, and you just sing in your bed (for almost 2 hours...still amazes me!) or play occasionally. You usually wake up around 7 or 7:30 am.

You nap at 1pm and it lasts an hour and a half to 3 hours!  And no, you don't fall asleep any sooner at night if you take a shorter nap...we tried!

 

Eating: You love oatmeal with berries, runny eggs and toast, squeezies, fruit (ALL DAY EVERY DAY!!), greek yogurt with berries or fruit preserves, fig bars, green smoothies, olives and cherry tomatoes. Outside of those things, one day you may love something and the next you hate it.  You're just fickle like that. We are also still working on you eating whatever I make for dinner, and once again, sometimes you devour it and other times not so much.

Isabella Loves:
-Singing, dancing, listening to music

-Daniel Tiger, Dora, Word Party

-Christmas movies and music (thank you Daddy)

-Playing outside

-RUNNING! Anywhere...through the house, in the yard, at parks!

-Baths

-Coloring with a pen

-Reading books

-Snuggling and rocking

Isabella Hates:

 -Not being able to do something independently

30 Month Stats:

Height: 36.5 in (approximately 50th percentile)

Weight: 29.7 lbs (approx 50th percentile, no weight gain again this month)

*Wearing 2T pants, 2T or some 3T shirts
*Size 5 diapers at night