18 months

I never did get around to posting Mackenzie's 15-month update. So I was determined not to skip the 18-month one. Granted, I'm about 10 days late, but that's close enough. And if I don't get this stuff down, I'll forget it. Plus, one of these days I'll do an 18-month layout, and I'll definitely need the info. (Some of these things actually date back to the 15-month update, but I'm lumping them all in together.)

Mackenzie loves being outside. As in throws a fit, lays on the floor, kicks and screams and cries when we have to come in. It's not pretty. When we're outside, always runs away, many times heads straight for the road. Likes to play with the toy lawnmower, chalk, ride-on toys.


She's still a light sleeper. There's no going in and checking on her unless you're okay with her being up for a while.

She's still taking a 3 hour afternoon nap. So thankful for that.

Loves shoes. Especially Emma's orange Crocs. So we got her her own pair. And she likes them. But not quite as much as Emma's.

Mac's finally talking! At her 15-month appt., she wasn't really saying anything other than Mama. And even then that wasn't because she necessarily was calling for me, she just said it a lot at random times. So the doctor said if she wasn't saying anything by 18 months, we'd see about a speech therapist. Now, I know not all kids are speaking at this point, but she was behind in general with fine motor skill types of things - she babbled late, waved late, etc. Of course, she was ahead of the game when it comes to walking/running/jumping/climbing. And I know that a lot of times children focus on one thing (walking) and the other (talking) lags behind. I wasn't super concerned, just a bit. Anyway - at her 18 month appt. she was saying mama, dada, yeah, uh oh on a regular basis and had said once or twice Emma, up and hot. In the last week, she's added more, out, book, read and no. Yay!



She gives five, blows kisses, gives hugs.

She knows her head, feet, toes, eyes, belly, mouth.

She's pigeon-toed. Enough that it causes her to trip and fall. Her right foot turns in quite a bit. But anymore, doctors don't really do anything about it. Kids usually grow out of it and unless it's severe, it is left alone. If she's still tripping and falling at her 2-year appt., her ped. said we'll do something about it, but for now we're just watching.

She's a dare devil. Fearless. Climbs everything. Including the rock wall at the playground. Likes to jump from a chair to the couch, or off the fireplace onto the bean bag.

Monkey see, monkey do. Whatever Emma does, Mackenzie does, too.

Loves her monkey. It was ugly last month when we lost it for two days. We know have two back-ups. Still using her binky. Really need to try to wean her off it. I could do it cold turkey like Emma, but she really really really likes it. I think I'd feel bad.

Loves Dora. And Diego and the Backyardigans, too. Gets super excited when Dora comes on. Starts pointing and dancing and squealing.


Suffering from a bit of separation anxiety at the church nursery and kid park (fitness center), although I think the kid park is more of her wanting to go in the big room with Emma and not in the small room with the babies/under two toddlers.

Is a hand holder. Loves to hold hands all the time.

Fights getting in her car seat 90% of the time. It's fun. Also hates getting her diaper changed and shirts pulled over her head. Honestly, would prefer to be naked/in just a diaper all the time.

Is sneaky. And a rotten little thing. But oh so cute.

Likes books, blocks, piggy bank, crayons, balls and any toy Emma might have at the time.

Went through a strange anti-bath phase of about 3 weeks @ 16/17 months old. She would be excited to get in the bath, then within 2 minutes of getting in, would start to cry and try to get out. Thankfully that's over.

I'm growing out her bangs. Which means she has to wear a barrette everyday. Usually she leaves them alone, although today I caught her eating it.

Is a great eater. Will eat almost everything. Doesn't like broccoli, or jelly sandwiches. Also doesn't want her food cut up. Wouldn't eat bananas until I started giving them to her whole. Her favorites: grilled cheese sandwich, yogurt, cheese, grapes, bananas, vanilla wafers, carrots, corn, green beans, mac and cheese. When she's done, she takes off her bib and stands up in her high chair.

Currently has four teeth coming in.

Recently had her first bout of hives. They were crazy big. Seriously. I took pictures. As big as my palm on her thigh. It was nuts. Turns out that you can get hives with a virus/fever. Never knew that.

Is still a tiny little thing @ 31 inches and 22 pounds.

(All pictures taken at the park 5/2/09, one day after turning 18-months-old)

Love you, munchkin!!!

@ the baseball game

Monday we went to Michael's game, where the girls spent most of the time picking beautiful yellow flowers. Or, what we call weeds.






Before leaving, Emma ran the bases. Twice.

I actually updated the other blog. Ya know, in case there's anyone out there actually interested in it. ;)

Just some layouts

Not a ton of scrapbooking going on here, but I thought I'd post a few recent pages. Next on my ever growing to-do list is an album for Emma. I have a Cinderella 8x8 album I got quite a while ago from Scrapbook Trends. I remember when I got it I wondered what in the world I'd ever use it for but now I know: an album for Emma of all her favorite things. One she can look at and play with. One using all sorts of theme embellishments, like puffy Scooby Doo stickers, Cinderella papers, 3D Dora stickers. One filled with pictures of all her favorite things including seeing Dora Live, her favorite restaurants, her friends, etc. One that's bright and fun and interesting. One that isn't done for me, but for her. I can't wait to start it!


Everything is American Crafts, plus the Fiskars Upper Crust punch.


Basic Grey polka dot paper, My Mind's Eye floral paper, American Crafts Chit Chat Thickers, MOD buttons.


Making Memories dot paper, American Crafts blue stripe, MOD multi-strip and floral, Making Memories Tiny Alphas, American Crafts Thickers alpha and accent.

Ten on Tuesday

And they're back!


1. Sunday Emma and I went with Beth and Caroline to see Dora Live!, and the girls loved it. I'm so glad we went. Seeing the Emma's eyes light up, her joy, her excitement. It was awesome. One of the best experiences I've had as a Mother, being able to do that for her. Just awesome.



2. Met my new niece Corinne Saturday. (It was crazy windy that day, hence the crazy hair.) She was just one week old here, and absolutely adorable. I love babies. My babies are big now. I really liked holding this tiny little baby. Sigh...

I realize that you really can't see her very well but it was sunny and windy and the only close-up I have, um, just isn't postable.


3. Speaking of the windy day, I learned you should not apply spray on sunscreen on these types of days. I know this because my back is bright red, except for little white dots where sunscreen actually landed on me. The rest was blown away by the wind. It hurts.

4. I also am not a very good sunscreen-putter-on-er at this time. I also missed spots on my shoulder, Emma's shoulders and her left calf, and Mackenzie's shoulders and a forearm. I suck.

5. The custard place is open. I never thought I'd like frozen custard. But when they opened last year I discovered I did. It's yummy. And they have great smoothies. And they're just down the street. Good excuse for a walk a couple nights a week.

6. We were there Sunday night. Emma started off with a cone, but once it became apparent that it was all going to melt before she ever ate it, we put it in a bowl and gave her a spoon. She hasn't quite gotten the hang of ice cream cones, yet.


7. Have I mentioned Mackenzie's a crazy little monkey. She climbed up the rock wall on the big kids playground Friday night. She also attempted to walk down the slide. Multiple times.

8. Emma has a new favorite song - Tunak Tunak Tun... by Daler Mehndi. We do a Bollywood routine in Zumba and now that Emma's heard it, she loves it. She calls it the "Da da da" song. Take a listen on itunes. :)

9. Has anyone read the House of Night series by PC and Kristin Cast? I just finished the newest one, #5. They're a lot different than the Twilight series, different from any vampire series I've read, actually. But I like them. I wasn't sure about them at first, but they've grown on me.

10. Emma had her last swim lesson Monday. Yeah...she'll be back in beginner pre-school when they start back up in June. Not that that's a surprise. :)

Keeper of the Snacks

Clair, Mackenzie, Malachi and Emma at Michael's double-header Saturday. While Emma took her job as snack-hander-outer very seriously...




...Mackenzie thought she'd just help herself.

Reason #17 I like Gap

You can order one shirt, two tank tops and two pairs of shorts...


...and it'll come in this nice little package that fits in your mailbox. No big box that's half empty. No wasted packing peanuts. That makes me happy. Because it's super annoying to get a big box with one little item in it. (In all fairness, Land's End did this, too, with Emma's bathing suit. So I love them, too.)


And a funny picture. Mackenzie fell asleep shortly after we left Michael's double-header Saturday. But Emma made it most of the way home. In fact, she stayed awake until we were about three minutes from home. And then she was out. And I couldn't wake her up. So I shut the garage door, undid her seat belt, left the door open and the light on and went in the house. I finally had to literally pull her out of her seat on to the floor to get her to wake up. She was so out of it. Four hours of running around in the sun will do that to a girl. I wish I'd been sleeping. Alas, I had to drive.


Ok. So I've just decided that Gap (or is it The Gap? I do both. "I got the girls these cute outfits at Gap." or "I got this super cute dress that makes me look 10 pounds thinner at The Gap.") is a weird name for a store. You know how sometimes if you say a word over and over it seems to lose its meaning and then just seems strange. Like it's not a real word? I could totally be the only person who does this. But all of the sudden Gap seems weird. The name. Not the store. Love the store. Gap. Gap. Gap. Gap. Gap. Gap. Gap. Gap. Gap. Gap. See, weird.

Four Product Challenge

I've got a layout up at the American Crafts Studio blog for the four product challenge. Here's a little sneak peek of my page:




I know I haven't been blogging much. I've Menu Plan Monday on hold for awhile. It's baseball season, which means Michael isn't home much and when we attend games we usually eat out. Plus, with the lovely weather in Ohio, games get cancelled and rescheduled often enough that menu planning right now just doesn't work. I'd end up ignoring it. It'll be back once baseball's over though.

And I guess I just haven't been in much of a blogging mood. Some days I have ideas for posts but then don't get around to posting them, other days I've got nothing to say. Then I wonder if I even want to keep the blog going. Maybe I should take a break. But I won't. I need to keep blogging if only so I have things recorded for scrapbooking. I just pulled up a post from March for a layout last night. :) And if you're one of the three people who read Erin Hates Running, you'll see I haven't posted there in a few weeks. I will get back to it, and this one, on a more regular basis soon.

She really liked the slide.

And the swing, too.

Meet Daphne

My sister's cat. My Mom is watching her while my sister's in Florida. (Where it's warm and sunny and 84 degrees, unlike here where it's cool and rainy and in the 50's.) Daphne, or Daph-a-nee as Emma calls her, just might've been the highlight of Emma's stay at Grandma's. She was fascinated by the cat. And it's not like this was the first time she's met her, but this time was different. She followed Daphne around, needed to know where she was at all times, and, of course, kept trying to grab her tail. Because a moving tail is hard to resist to a 3-year-old. Poor Daphne. I have a feeling she was very relieved when we left yesterday!

(I didn't crop the picture because it makes me laugh. My mom is trying to hold Daphne still, Daphne's trying to escape, Mackenzie's climbing because, well, that's just what she does and Emma is so happy to have Daphne in her lap that she's oblivious to it all.)

Ten in pictures

1. Sunday we celebrated Easter with Michael's family since he'll be in Florida and we'll be at my mom's. The best family picture we could get. Better than nothing, I suppose!


2. Emma showing off her eggs...in the Christmas basket.


3. Mackenzie only found a few. She was more interested in just running around.


4. Checking out the candy.

5. Looking in the Easter basket bag.

6. Trying to jump rope. It was pretty funny.

7. Falling off the motorcycle...

and a serious (or grumpy?) face.

8. This might be one of the funniest pictures I've ever taken. Anna (top row) and Claire (bottom) wanted nothing to do with the picture taking. Emma kept clapping and in later pictures Mackenzie was laughing. Ben kept a smile on his face while Malachi wasn't sure what the heck was going on. And Rachel kept trying to calm Anna down. I love it.

9. Emma on the phone with Aunt Tara last week, telling her all about ballet.

10. Riding the train at the mall last week.

Mackenzie got excited every time Emma came by.

Ballet

Today was Emma's first ballet class at Missy's studio. So, so cute. She loved it. And didn't want to leave when it was over. Which, by the way, seems to be a phase she's in right now.



(Please excuse the not-so-good pictures, they were the best I could get with my small camera, I forgot the other one.)