Paige at 15 Months

I decided to do posts every 3 months now that Paige is over a year. I keep notes on my phone to keep track of her milestones, like new teeth, new words, and things like that.

We went to the doctor for her 15 month check up this last week. She did great with her shots and showing off for the doctor. She makes me so proud!

15 Month Stats:

Weight: 20.8 lbs  35%

Height:  30 1/4 inches  35%

Size Diaper:  Size 3 diapers at night, but cloth during the day

Size Clothes:  Mostly 18 months, with some 12 months

Size Shoes: 3 1/2, but I think she's really a 4

Teeth: 12!!!! It's a mouthful!

Words: She can say Mama, Dada, Papa, Adelyn (her cousin), Ethan (cousin), Ball, Bye, Hi, All Done, Up, and Dog. Those are the ones I can understand anyways.

Sleep:  The last week or so has been off. She goes to bed anywhere between 6:45-7:30, depending on her day and naps. Ugh naps......she still does awesome morning naps, from 9:15/9:30-11 am. But her afternoon naps are awful. She will play in her crib for 2 hours and then be really cranky the rest of the afternoon sometimes needing a catnap at 4. I tried going to just one nap a day, but she is in pure meltdown mode by 10am, and only sleeping an hour and a half, then being cranky the rest of the day. I'm not sure what to do right now. 

Feedings/Food:  We are fully weaned! I dropped the 11am and 3pm feedings in March, and nursed morning and night until the end of April. It was pretty emotional, and will be a separate post. Now she is on whole milk at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and before bedtime. She eats pretty much everything we do except peas and carrots. She's a little picky when it comes to veggies. For breakfast we alternate oatmeal with eggs and toast. I want to add in sweet potato blueberry pancakes more often too. 

Here are some big firsts from the past 3 months:

Feb 25- First Fever

Mar 15- first time to feed herself with a spoon

Mar 27 - first time to feed herself with a fork

Apr 16 - starting using a straw

May 2- said All Done

Paige isn't too much into stuffed animals, but she LOVES her babydolls! She drags them everywhere, and is so sweet with them. She tries to feed them her bottle, pats their back, and gives them hugs and kisses.

Paige is definitely extroverted. She will wave to anyone or anything. It doesn't matter if it's a stranger, a bush, rocks, bugs- seriously the girl will wave or talk to anything. I love that she is shy at first when she meets people, but warms up really quickly. She is good buddies with my parents' neighbor.

The weather has been warmer lately, so we broke out the swimming suit.

I love how she poses!

She loved being outside, but was a little surprised at the cold water from the sprinkler.

Paige still loves being outside. We try to take walks and play in the yard as much as we can, while we can. We know that green space is hard to come by when we go to back to Asia, so we are soaking it all up.

Back to diapers......we are still using cloth and have had a few changes recently. Since coming to the States in November, Paige has battled continuous HORRIBLE diaper rashes. I have seen 4 different pediatricians over the past 6 months and have tried about 10 different creams. Nothing helped at all. It was awful and I felt so helpless. I finally got in to see a dermatologist, and quickly found out that Paige has a sensitivity/allergy to baby wipes. We thought it might be a specific ingredient in the wipes we were using, but I have tried multiple brands and so far none of them work. So we are back to using cloth wipes, which is what we used in Asia. As long as we use cloth diapers and cloth wipes, she does well. It does make going out a little difficult, so I am still on the hunt for the perfect baby wipe.

Memorial Day, Paige was in her first parade! She waved to everyone and was so good! 

love. her.

Our focus is still on learning some boundaries. It's interesting to see her understand so much of what we say, even when she can't really communicate what she wants to. I do look forward to when she is more verbal and can tell us what she wants or if something hurts. I have a feeling based on how much she jabbers, that she will be a chatty kathy!

That's Paigers at 15 months!!

This and That

Well, it's been a little bit since I've blogged. But FIRST, let's talk about my new blog design, I LOVE it!!!!! Tricia was so great to work with, head on over to her site and check her out!

Daniel and I went to South Carolina for a few days for meetings, and it's been pretty busy since we've been back. We were there over Mother's Day, and I was super sad not to be with my Paigers.  I snuggled her really good before we left.

We had a great time in SC, and got to meet up with an old friend of ours, Amanda. She's so much fun and we loved catching up.

My parents met us for the last couple of days, and then we drove back with Paige. It was about 13 hours in the car, and Paige did great until the last 30 minutes. She doesn't sleep too well in the car, but when she does, it's adorable!

This past week we had a family day at the St. Louis zoo. It was our first time to go, and we loved it! I also loved that it was free!

The weather was perfect! We didn't get too hot and it wasn't too overly crowded. Paige got to play with the animals in the Children's Zoo.

I had to tell her "No Kisses!"

She cared less about petting the guinea pigs, because she was too busy waving to the bunnies.

Two little monkies!!

We had so much fun but we were worn out! I love having all the green space and letting Paige run around and enjoy it.

Big Girl Paige

As long as the weather is nice, we go outside to play at least once a day. Paige LOVES being outside.

My parents are doing some work in their yard which involves a lot of dirt. And a lot of dirt makes Paige happy! My mom got her a little shovel set and wheelbarrow and we put her to work :)

I've been working with Paige on Blanket Time. I first read about it in the Duggar book and then again in Babywise. It's basically training her to stay and play on a blanket and learn boundaries. It's been harder than I thought it would be, but I hope the benefits will be worth it. 

I wasn't very consistent in the beginning, which looking back, I would say is KEY. Now, Mon-Fri at 8:15 in the morning, we do blanket time. We've used different blankets and been in different places. I put her on the blanket and tell her to stay and play. I switch out a couple of toys every few days. Every time she gets off, I put her back on (I stay in the room). We are now up to 8 minutes, and she does SO well! I still have to remind her to stay on the blanket and put her back on a few times, but she's improved so much.

Paige has been quite the "helper" around the house. She's great at vacuuming and emptying the dishwasher. 

What would I do without my big girl helping me?

Such a cutie!

And speaking of "helping," Daniel and I both have heard noises coming from Paige's room recently but couldn't figure out what it was. The other day I checked on her video monitor and realized what it was.

She's been opening and closing her PJ drawer, and finally found a way to get her jammies out.

I keep wondering what she was going to do with all of her pj's once she got them in her crib, ha!

Unrelated, Daniel and I need to travel to South Carolina for meetings, so we are leaving tomorrow and come back next Thursday. My parents are keeping Paige, and I'm super sad I won't be with her for Mother's Day :(  It will be the longest time we've been apart. (separate weaning post coming soon). I know she will be fine, as long as Papa is around.

Paige LOVES my dad! She stands at the bedroom door and bathroom door, just waiting for him. It doesn't matter if I'm in the room, she wants Papa to hold her. Every morning after my dad leaves for work, Paige smells like his cologne. I can always tell when she's been with my dad, ha!

I hope everyone has a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day!!! 

love

laura

Newlyweds, family, and dedication

We had a wonderful weekend! We had great weather and great time with friends and family!

My parents get together with a group of their friends every Friday night. Everyone takes turns hosting and it's a big potluck dinner. This week it was my parents turn to host, and it was a special game night. One couple prepared all the questions for us to play The Newlywed Game.

There were 7 couples who played, and it was SO much fun! We were by far the youngest couple, with the oldest couple celebrating their 61st wedding anniversary that night. Daniel and I enjoyed ourselves so much!! We won the game by 1 point!!! 

On Saturday, Daniel's parents drove up from Oklahoma for a quick trip. They got in right after lunch, and Paige was excited to see them! We spent the day playing outside, the weather was beautiful! 

This morning we did Paige's baby dedication at my parents church. It was extra special, because my dad is the pastor. 

We were really thankful it worked out for both of Paige's grandparents to be here for her dedication. We didn't get great pictures, but oh well! That's why we tried to take some before we left the house.

Sundays are usually the hardest day for us, as far as Paige and her schedule. Sunday mornings I'm always rushed and trying to get a good picture of her, which usually doesn't happen, ha! I love this picture just because it shows how things normally are.

I just finished watching Call the Midwife (love that show!), and am about to get ready for bed. Hopefully a long run in the morning!

love

laura

Wake up Call

We've been at my parents house in Illinois almost 2 weeks now. Paige is doing SO great sleeping at night and sticking to her 2 nap schedule. We've been mostly around the house, so she hasn't really had to miss any naps. 

My mom has been a member of a gym that is geared towards Senior Citizens for a while now. It's not only for senior citizens, but most of the people are over 40. Anyways, her year membership is amazingly low and I found out I could join at a prorated amount for the time we're here.

I have always loved spin class. Back in the day when I was single and working, I worked out at 24 hour fitness and loved spinning! I've gone in Asia too, and really enjoy it.

However, the spin class is offered at 5:15 in the AM or at 5:15 at night. Working out at dinner time is pretty inconvenient. So for the past week, my mom and I have been waking up at 4:45 to go to spin class on Tues/Thurs and Kettle Bell on Fridays. I've also gone to yoga twice and plan to go again tonight. I had never done yoga before, but I'm really enjoying it!

I have LOVED waking up early and working out! And having a work out partner makes all the difference! Even if I sleep bad and am really tired, instead of turning my alarm off and sleeping in, I get up because I know my mom is waiting on me. And then we're home by 6:10, so I can get in my shower or quiet time before Paigers wakes up! It's pretty ideal.

I'm also trying to get back into running. I've run twice in the past week, and hope to get another run in tomorrow after kettle bell. (the gym is less than 3 miles away, so my plan is to run home tomorrow from the gym). And can I just say, I am LOVING kettle bell. It is so much fun!!

My run pace is slow, but I don't mind. I know I need to stick with it if I'm ever going to get my mileage back up. My hope is to be at 5 miles in the next month or so, and to do that I need to run at least twice a week. 

It's cool here today, but the weather is supposed to warm up starting tomorrow. I know Paige is ready to get back outside and play and go for some walks. 

Tomorrow night my parents are hosting a game night with some of their friends, and we're going to play the Newlywed game. I am determined to win! Hopefully Daniel and I can bring our A game!

love

laura