Eighteen Months

Janie is eighteen months old! She is in full-fledged toddler mode though I continue to call her my baby. She is growing so incredibly fast. I am sure that just going through her updates since her first birthday will put me over the teary edge. We are so proud of her and love our little Janie so much!

We will visit the doctor later this month for her official well check so I don't have her stats right now, but am very curious as this girl eats a TON! She has moved into 18-24 month clothing but I don't know whether it's because I haven't been able to stomach buying toddler sized clothes for her or if it's because they are still too big. Nora has a lot of 2T in her closet still, so it looks like I will be moving items from one closet to the next!

Janie Elizabeth, 18 months old

WEIGHT: 24 pounds

HEIGHT: 31 3/4 inches

Drinks soy formula from a sippy cup four times a day Well the switch from soy to regular milk went off without a hitch. We have had Janie on regular milk since we tried it for the first time, right after her first birthday. It seems as if she has grown out of her dairy intolerance! We have been able to successful use a variety of cups with Janie as well since she turned one. She can use a soft or hard spout sippy cup as well as a cup with a straw, though she still likes to turn it up which sometimes causes spills. I think she has been able to drink out of a rimmed cup but it has only been accidental as she has grabbed one of Nora's, so I'm not entirely sure. We mostly offer her milk at meal times and water throughout the day, but she does like an occasional juice!

Eats three meals plus snacks of table foods We offer Janie everything we eat really except for hard foods. She still eats extremely well and I sometimes wonder if that's normal. She has been a bit more particular about what she eats. Veggies are more of a challenge than fruits. She eats a ton of certain foods but then won't touch macaroni and cheese. We haven't been able to totally figure out her likes and dislikes when it comes to food since she tends to change her mind about things day by day.

Loves her yogurt! And all things breakfast...

Does not eat dairy products Janie is not restricted from any foods. After milk went well, we phased in yogurt and then cheese so that we know she can tolerate each of the different forms of dairy. I've had a few moments of concern when Janie developed a rash (this happened twice over the last six months) but both times have not been related to food allergies.

Takes 1 nap a day Janie is still taking one good nap in the afternoons. Janie is really good at falling asleep quickly and usually sleeps about two hours. She's predictable and we love that!

Sucks her thumb & rubs her head This habit is still sticking around. I can count on it to happen in the car whether she's tired or not, so I never put in bows for car rides. It will definitely happen if we're watching something on TV. And it happens before she sleeps. It's cute now but I know it won't be in a few years. It's on my list of things to talk to the pediatrician about this time around (again...)!

Crawls and walks to move around Janie all but runs these days. She moves around very quickly. She likes to dance and say "happy feet" while she hops and spins in circles. She can climb up and down the stairs unassisted, though it still makes us a bit nervous. She has no trouble keeping up with her big sister!

Janie and Nora running around the house.

Has 6 1/2 teeth We've really jumped up in the teeth count! She has 14 teeth currently. Janie has all of her first round teeth except for her canines, though two of those have started to creep in so I counted them. She got all four of her first set of molars and so now we just wait for the other two canines and her little smile will be complete! I'm sure once we get those in, her two-year molars will start to come in essentially not giving us a break from teething whatsoever.

Can say a few words, like "up," "hi," and "bye" Janie has made lots of physical strides in development over the last six months but she has also made TONS of progress in her communication & speech. She did have tubes put in about three months ago and whether it is that she can hear that much better or that she is just picking up a lot being around Nora and other people all the time, she has become quite the talker. She says SO many words and even puts words together sometimes to make little mini-sentences. We are very impressed with Janie's vocabulary and can't wait until she can start telling us stories like her big sister!

Janie repeatedly offering me her food... "Here go"

Waves Janie hasn't been as shy as Nora was at her age when it comes to waving hello and goodbye to people she doesn't know. She usually waves and accompanies the wave with a word or two. She also likes to point. She often says "What happened?" just like Nora does these days. She will put her hands up like she's asking a question. Janie also LOVES to give hugs and kisses. These gestures have become her favorite these days.

Loves music & dancing Janie LOVES to listen to music and dance. She likes to dance in circles and since we started watching the movie "Happy Feet" she references that a lot. She requests to listen to "Shake It Off" and "Let It Go" in the car, just like her sister! When she hears a song that she likes she immediately starts bouncing around.

Janie sharing insight about Elsa & Nora singing.

Janie dancing!

Signs "all done" and "more" and "please" Janie hasn't been signing nearly as much these days as she has started to really communicate more with words. We also haven't really taught her a whole lot more than the basics. I know she knows some color words and animals, but we don't press it much around here (second child??) and being that she communicates so well with her words, we're not missing the sign language.

Plays Peek-A-Boo and Chase Janie will still entertain us with a good game of peek-a-boo, but she is way more interested in what Nora is doing these days. She will play dress up with Nora, go to a "restaurant" with Nora, pack a bag to go on a "trip" with Nora, and whatever else Nora can convince her to tag along with. She isn't as into the things Nora was at this age, but she has a different influence! It's funny to see Janie try and interact with Ford the way that Nora interacts with her when Nora is having her rest time. Janie likes to have a playmate. She also loves to play with electronic things - remotes, phones, the monitor - whether they are the real ones or not!

Frozen dress up time with big sister Nora!

The girls playing dress up!

Is a great snuggler Janie is still my little snuggle-bug and I love it! Our bedtime routine with Janie still consists of a good rock-a-bye time while with Nora, she was ready to go lay in her bed immediately after her story and songs. It's not something I'm hoping will go away any time soon!

Loves her mommy/Separation Anxiety Janie had gotten really good about staying with her teachers at school and going to the nursery at church until just a month or so ago. I think the pendulum has swung back into the separation anxiety phase. For the most part, Janie is pretty good about having a little independent time from mommy, but she still has her moments!

Has learned what "no" means We have definitely had to implement the time outs with miss Janie. She  knows exactly how to make Nora upset and chooses to do so on occasion. Janie has incidentally learned also how to say she's sorry using both words & gestures... She is generally pretty agreeable though. As feisty as she seems to be at times, when we ask her to do something she agrees and usually says "alright" or "okay" which can I just add how much I love the way she says "okay" - it's adorable.

Cute girls in the car!

Janie doing art at school. 

Janie's eighteen month snapshot:

Eats meals & snacks with the family
Takes one nap a day
Sucks her thumb & rubs her head
Rock-a-byes before bed
Climbs up & down stairs
Has 14 teeth
Strings words together
Repeats most everything you say to her
Plays everything with her big sister
Loves dancing & music
Some separation anxiety

Doing her art at school. What a cutie!

Playing outside with her friends!

Phrases Janie says often:

"I want it."

"I hungry."

"Hey ______." (mommy, Ford, Rora aka Nora, daddy)

Possessive statements: "Nora eggs." or "Mommy shoe." or "My baby."

"Drink mommy."

"Eat ____." (eggs, bar, aussie bite, berries, yogurt, etc.)

"Watch Buppies (Bubble Guppies)."

"What happened?"

Silly girl sitting in Ford's bed, chewing on a pretend cupcake, and reading a book!

We are so excited to see what progress this girl can make in the next few months! We are having a blast with this little ball of personality!

Bartley

For many years my sister and I asked our parents if we could get a dog as a pet. We knew cats were out of the question as they were not my dad's favorite animal. We had fish for a long, long time. We had a pet guinea pig that had about six names. Mom always said she didn't like the dog hair and wouldn't clean it up so we thought getting a dog was out of the question.

When I was fifteen years old, my dad brought home a puppy. He surprised us all with the super cute, clumsy, yellow labrador retriever that we decided to name Bartley. He ended up being HUGE and as it would turn out, his heart was bigger than his body.

Bartley Baker 

2002-2015

Bartley not once bit someone out of anger or fear - only playful accidents. He would give out big sloppy kisses to whomever came around. He would lay on the floor with you and rest his paws on your arm or leg. He would literally smile even when he was most tired because he was happy to be with his "people." He loved to play catch or fetch and to swim in the pool as long as you would let him. He was full of energy and was literally the sweetest puppy dog in the whole world.

He did have his moments. He ate half of a sheet once while my dad was out of town - probably an act of rebellion. My mom would cover the couches with sheets to keep the dog hair off of them. I don't think she did that much after he had to have surgery to remove it from his stomach! There was another time he ran after a golf ball that someone was playing fetch with and when he came back, it was gone... another surgery.

He also had surgery on his knee and his hip as he got older. He never wanted to stop playing with a ball or rope or whatever you might throw his direction. He was so big though that his body couldn't keep up with his spirit. Eventually, he got to the point where he was not able to get up very easily and most of what happened after that I'd like to not remember him by.

Saying goodbye to Bartley was one of the hardest things I've had to do in my adult life. He was our family friend, a faithful companion and a source of joy for us all. I'm sure Bartley is feeling much more his youthful self right now, eating all the rawhides he can manage while chasing after tennis balls and jumping into warm pools of water. That's what I would think Heaven would look like for him and all dogs really do go to Heaven, right??

Nora giving Bartley some sweet pets.

Hanging out with the sweet puppy.

Krista giving Bartley bacon for his last breakfast with us.

I've compiled some pictures that I have of Bartley that make me most happy.

Bartley's favorite past time: fetch & swimming!

Our family's favorite picture of Bartley.

Bartley meeting Austin for the first time.

Bartley meeting Ford for the first time!

Bartley & Ford playing in the Lake Grapevine

 a few years ago - Memorial Day weekend.

We will miss you, Bartley!

Summer Week Three

Being that it was Father's Day weekend, we took advantage of just hanging out around the house this past weekend. That meant, lots of pajamas, dressing up in Anna & Elsa dresses, and some movie time. We went out to eat and saw family and were fairly busy celebrating all the special dads in our lives.

I decided to take the girls to the zoo this week and Pops and Auntie Krista came along with us. It was a pretty day, and although we left before one, it did feel pretty warm even for a morning in June.

The girls were excited. We packed sandwiches and snacks and some ice water, made sure the wagon was in the trunk, and headed to Fort Worth to check out the monkeys, elephants, and giraffes.

Janie navigating...

Janie loved to see the monkeys, or at least talk about them, the entire time we were there. She said "monkey" on repeat until we were far enough from the monkeys to forget about them. She made monkey sounds {loudly} and was generally entertaining.

Baby monkey!

Janie with Pops: "Where's the monkey?"

Cutie!

Looking at more monkeys.

Gorilla watching with mommy.

Nora loves to see all the animals, too. We got to see baby animals of many varieties while there this time: monkeys, lions, giraffes, and elephants - that I can think of off the top of my head. We fed the ducks by the giraffes. We ate a little bit of our sandwiches and a lot of our goldfish snack and stopped in the cool aquarium on the way out of the zoo. Nora again liked the elephants best and is excited for when she can go again, "with Mimi this time."

Walking to the elephants!

Looking at giraffes!

Feeding the ducks.

Feeding the ducks.

I took the girls to the library to check out new books. Nora was on a mission to get "The Very Busy Spider" and a funny shark book but while we were looking at the spider book, a Clifford book caught her eye so that's the second one we took home. Janie picked out two new books from the board book collection and I was pleasantly surprised that she did not rip books off the shelves while we were there. I tried to talk to them in the car about that on the way there, but I had no idea if Janie would really understand or be able to "contain" her excitement.

We were going to attend story time, but there was a special program of a traveling theatrical program about Jack and the Beanstalk. So, we sat through that and both girls did well. Nora asked "What's happening?" so often that the girl behind us started asking her own mother the same question every time Nora would. Sorry about that...

We headed to the car and went home for naps, which have been such an ordeal lately. Janie has hit the peak of separation anxiety and cried off and on for about 90 minutes before actually falling asleep. I went in there multiple times, patted her back, sang her songs, rocked her until she was literally conked out... she would still wake up and cry. UGH. Nora has been not into napping so much these days. She seems soooo tired but then just lays there and reads and eventually gets up and starts playing with something. Or going to the bathroom. This week we struggled. And I really need nap time.

We went to our weekly summer movie at the theater with Mimi & Pops. This week we got to see Rio 2 which the girls both seemed to like. Nora laughed quite a bit and Janie sat pretty still and quiet through the whole thing so I assume she was entertained.

We also went to the Grapevine library for story time & music class later in the week. This library has some pretty great things for the kids to play with in their children's area, which I really appreciate as a mom. Nora enjoyed doing some puzzles and Janie liked to play with the big blocks with different twisty-turny parts and beads on wires.

Janie had fun with the scarves and everything really!

Nora participated, which I was very happy about...

Sorting shapes!

It was a good week! We spent most of Friday at home so that I could pack for my trip to Colorado. I will miss my sweet munchkins but am looking forward to spending the weekend of the 4th with them!

Water Wednesday: Painting with Water

This week I took the girls outside to paint with water on the sidewalk. I wanted the freedom to be able to go back in the house to check the timer for dinner or refill water cups, so we opted for the backyard rather than the drive way.

The girls each got a plastic cup of water and a few paintbrushes and we went to town on the paver stones. Nora seemed to like it but it didn't keep Janie as entertained as I would have liked. She ended up spilling lots of water on the pavement and then on herself.

After about 10 minutes, we ended up heading back inside as both girls wanted to come in and play. My plan is to introduce more activities with water each time we go out in hopes that they might spend more time outside doing all of the activities that we've tried together! Overall, I think they liked doing the water painting but for whatever reason today it wasn't as successful. We will try again soon!