Up and Down

Trying out undies, sort of.

Playdoh horse. She had some help from Daddy, they make a nice team.

So, notice anything about the two pictures above? Same exact expression, green suckie in mouth and hair twirling. This is what Amelia looks like when she's tired. But the fun ensues regardless.
I think the blogging has slowed, not because there is nothing to write about, but because there is too much to write about. One and a half is an exciting and fun and busy and challenging age. I'm just not sure how to choose a topic these days, there are so many.
So a brief run down on what's new...

Amelia is talking A LOT, lots and lots of new words and two word phrases at the most. She tries so hard to speak in sentences, bless her heart, it's just not quite understandable yet, she's getting there. The language development is a constant source of entertainment for me. Love it.

The potty is intriguing these days. We read potty books and she gets excited, points at herself, climbs down off of my lap and runs to the bathroom to look at her little plastic potty (which has never been used) and then runs back to finish the book. She does not want to actually use it yet, but she's making the connection.

Amelia was sick for 2 weeks upon our return from Michigan. Boy, that was a challenge. She had a viral bronchial infection with a fever that lasted the whole first week. She was absolutely miserable. Of course, the mommy was sick too, oh my. Neither of us were sleeping and we were both pretty cranky. This was the sickest she's been in her short little life and it lasted the longest as well. What comes next is too long of a story and a bit too graphic, but midway through the illness, we were introduced to the big wide world of toddler constipation. Scary at first as Amelia was having episodes of severe belly pain and I did not know why...who would think constipation? She poops every day! And to make it even more exciting, the first episode occurred on a Saturday which meant our pediatrician referred us to Vandy ER since the office was closed...Vanderbilt Children's Hospital ER on a Saturday evening...not fun. They were able to get to the bottom of it (no pun) and were able to get things moving in the right direction (again, no pun...awful). The whole constipation thing was actually a big surprise to me, like I said, she never gave me any cause worry about this. So, now we rethink the diet a bit, cut way back on dairy, she loves, loves, loves cheese...and add more fiber. Things seem to be working themselves out and she's pretty happy these days! Poor kid. What a crappy few weeks...the puns just keep flowing out...i don't mean to, really...

Okay, what else...books continue to be a huge influence in her life. So many real life scenarios will remind her of a story or a book we've read and she'll smile and laugh and say "book!" and try to tell me which one. It's so cool to watch her wheels turning. She's also making the connection between herself and the outside world by pointing at herself when she recognizes something she has, or does or knows. She is also getting into her opposite books these days, recognizing up and down, near and far, happy and sad, etc. She likes to act them out even. She's taking interest in learning colors, counting, and letters as well. So fun.

Next...while in Michigan, much to my devastation, she picked up the undesirable behavior of hitting. Not hard luckily, but it's still hitting...herself, me, Ford, and other kids. I wasn't ready for that one...even reading in several of my toddler books that hitting and biting (luckily she is not into biting) are a normal part of a toddler's development did not make me feel better. Thankfully, the behavior has subsided since returning home to TN. We've been working on it but I also think she was a bit overstimulated by the traveling, many visits and and new environments while home for the holidays. Hopefully it's over, keep you posted on that one. Oh, if she hit any of your kids while in MI, I am so sorry. She's not a bully, really...

One other challenge that keeps coming around, and I know I am not alone on this, is sleep. One and a half seems to be an in between stage...getting almost a bit too big for a crib but not big enough for a big girl bed. On one occasion, while upset and not wanting to be in her crib, she figured out how to swing her leg over the rail while exclaiming "out! out!" and managed to actually make it out...and not gracefully I might add. Scared me silly. She was totally and completely fine and I don't think she'll do it again, as I think it scared her too, but now I am like lightning to her crib side when she wakes up as to not give her the chance to even think about it. This is a challenge, as well as very tiring, since she is not quite ready for a toddler bed and I'm not ready for her to be wandering around the house in the middle of the night! Although she has not attempted it since, I am exploring different options...any suggestions would be appreciated...???

See, I could keep going on and on with the daily happenings...this blog would be a mile long and I'd never ever get any sleep... and you'd be bored to tears probably, but think of it this way...someday Amelia will read the pages of this blog and maybe, hopefully, find it pretty interesting. She might like to learn about the many exciting happenings during her young life, the things she did and how old she was when she did them, how cute and smart and funny I think she is, how challenging and scary and rewarding and wonderful being a parent is, and how totally miraculous it is to be her parent.
I'll just end here for today.