22 Months!!!

Thank you soooo much for all your support and comments on the children's book project! I really appreciate all your encouragement and book recommendations, etc. I feel a lot better about tackling this with you guys on my side!!

A few weeks ago (I'm a bit behind), Maura turned 22 months. That means that in less than two months, she'll be 2!!! What?

Here's the last two months' bunny chair pics:

{yes, this is really how she is a lot of the time!!!}
{yikes, this hair is really starting to get out of control, its growing so fast now!}

She's definitely more like a real big kid now (how did this all happen so fast?). And she's in some sort of phase (terrible twos come early?)...lots of tantrums and meltdowns and I want it my way fast. I'd say about 85% of the time she is awesome, an angel, really fun to be around, she's my best friend and then the rest of the time...I don't know what to do with myself - cry, ignore her, laugh hysterically at how dramatic she looks. When is real discipline supposed to start?
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We've been keeping busy...I find that this helps keep the rough times to a minimum...plus, summer is just fun...so we've been hitting up the beach, playground, splash pad, etc. I love playdates...both for the adult interaction for me and the whole socialization, sharing, etc. thing for Maura. We usually have at least one a week.

{a bit of an aggressive hug with Morgan in our pool}
{with Jack in his backyard}

{picnic lunch with Jack at the park}
{with baby Emerson and her cool mama, the infamous Holly}
As far as developmental stuff goes, Maura learned how to walk up and down stairs on her own!! It's so cute to watch (she holds on to the wall/railing with one hand, and holds one of our hands with her other hand). She also got three more teeth in, both bottom cuspids and one of the top ones. (I guess teeth shape is genetic?!, because she totally has her Dad's!!!) She's still taking one nap a day (thank goodness) in the middle of the afternoon for about two hours. She is getting up earlier in the morning than she used to though and usually ends up going to bed later because of all the fun summer stuff we've been doing (which usually pushed nap time back which pushes bed time back).

On the food front, Maura has moved to a booster seat at the table - she really likes it and I think its helping her eat more/sit longer. She also loves eating on the stools at the kitchen island. She's getting much better at eating things you hold in your hand like corn on the cob (loooves it!), hot dog in a roll, sandwiches, burritos, etc. She had her first (and subsequent) Popsicle and Chipwich (ok, I got this one for me, but who in their right mind can resist ice-cream sandwiched between chocolate chip cookies?!) and she now likes eating apples whole (although she doesn't get very far into them).


This summer was the first (and second, third, fifth, eleventh) time that Maura rode on a carousel...and man, does she looove riding those horses around and around!!!


In June, we finished up her series of swim lessons at the local YMCA. For some reason, she loves the ocean, bath time and our friend's pool, but not so much the deep end at the Y. Oh well, I'm definitely still glad we did it:)


Maura recently inherited this play kitchen from her cousins who are a bit too old for it. She is loving it, it keeps her busy for awhile - yay! Unfortunately, they couldn't give us any of the food or pots and pans, so I have to go buy her some of that, but for now I've just stocked it with stuff from the real kitchen or fake food from some of her other toys.  She doesn't seem to mind:) Some of the other stuff that she's into now are still her cars from the movie "Cars", anything "Thomas the Train" and Disney's Pixie Hollow fairies like Tinkerbell and her whole nature-helping gang. She just watched her first princess/Barbie movie the other day and its killing me, but she is soooo into it!!! (Ugh, I was hoping to put off that whole princess thing for another few years!)

{OMG, you guys, these ikat shorts slay me, they are so cute!!! from Gymboree}

Here's some more random pics that I couldn't resist:

{picking the yellow "flowers"...I didn't have the heart to tell her they were weeds!}
{watching a plane fly by}
{reading at the book store with Dada}
{helping me plant flowers...since this post covers the last two months, some of these are from May, when the weather was still really iffy here}

I really can't believe that the next time I write one of these posts will be for her second birthday! I still look at her every day and am in awe that she is mine...that I helped create this unique little human being...that she is going to be a part of my life forever and that I get to see her change and grow through all of it...and I just feel really lucky to have her:)

Ps. Sorry, I totally meant to have this written and posted on Monday, but I keep getting sucked into staying up late watching the Olympics, so then I get nothing done at night.

Pps. Did you guys realize they were bringing back some of the previous contestants on Design Star All-Stars? It just started last night. Anybody watching? How did you feel about the winner of Design Star this season?

Comments

  1. Whoa, two? That is crazy! Do you guys have any sort of party plans in the works?
    I am pretty sure I started discipline with Cameron around the age she is now. I found 1-2-3 magic to be an incredible and effective form of discipline. It uses time outs instead of spanking, and allows you and (and your kid) to be on then same level as far as what type of behavior you expect out of them. Before hand, I'd get to a breaking point with Cameron, and out of frustration I'd raise my voice and ship him to time out. With 1-2-3 magic, I say outloud, "Cameron, that's 1!" and he immediately knows it's a warning and he's doing something obnoxious or something he shouldn't be. If he continues, its a "2", and if he still chooses to act out, it's a "3" and a time out. Most times we don't get to three- because he gets a chance to correct his behavior by himself, and he doesn't like time outs! Anyway, this still works pretty great for us at almost 4 years old. Good luck with whatever you start doing! :)

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  2. Good tip Leslie - we've been doing time outs but I like this idea. Sheila is having meltdowns too and it's usually over something silly. she's been really clingy lately too so maybe she is getting her 2 year molars - who knows. Maura's hair has really grown - it's so cute. They are just so much fun - aren't they? And where did your cousin get that kitchen from? I really want to get Sheila a kitchen for her birthday but I haven't found the right one yet - and that one is awesome. She loves playing with her tea set and baking set so I know she would love the kitchen. She just got into Toy Story, and occasionally she'll play with her dolls (same here - I'm hoping the princess thing holds off for a little while). I love these updates. We're doing a gym party for Sheila on her actual birthday, so should be fun.

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  3. I love watching Maura grow up because she's so close in age to my Nora! We are nearing the end of our swimming lessons for the summer. She loves the splash park and is always so excited to go but once we're in, she's hesitant. But like you said, I'm glad we did it. We're getting Nora a kitchen for her birthday this month and I can't wait to watch her play with it. She's just started the pretend play this summer so think this will be the perfect gift for her.

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  4. Maura is such a cutie! My Norah (guess this was a popular name family over the past 2 years?!) is only 15 months, but she is also having tantrums/meltdowns/I want it my way and fast moments ALL THE TIME. We are still trying to figure out a disciplinary approach too, because she just seems so little! But she has also started biting us, and that has to stop, so we are doing brief "time outs" but really just removing her from our proximity and ignoring the behavior for a minute.

    Love the play kitchen - what a nice one! In a little while we would love to get one for Norah, too, always on the lookout for cool, non-plastic, not $$$ ones. Awesome that you scored it free!

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  5. Maura looks just like you Sarah :)
    Are you excited for this weekend? I can't wait.

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  6. This: "the rest of the time...I don't know what to do with myself - cry, ignore her, laugh hysterically at how dramatic she looks" made me LOL. Same thing at our house!

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  7. Maura is adorbs. I love her little tantrum face in the top picture - so cute!!

    I love reading these updates, but she is just growing up way too fast.

    Slow it down, k? Haha!

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