Leila at 15 Months

Er....more like 15 1/2 months at this point! Where has the time gone? I feel like the past 2 weeks have just disappeared before my eyes.

With Christian starting Preschool Tuesdays and Thursdays and his gymnastics on Fridays, we are all finally back into life and routine. We go to bed at a reasonable time and wake up at a reasonable time. It is crazy! Is this what real life is supposed to be like? 'Cause if so, I want my money back.

This is Leila at the park while her brother is at preschool. I think she is loving the one-on-one time with mama.

Leila at 15 months is absolutely THRIVING. It feels so good to say that! For 5 months, since she started crawling, she has been the most horrible, difficult, frustrating baby EVER. EEEEEVVVVVVVVVEEEERRRRR. I actually cried to my mom about a month ago because she was so hard that I was struggling to have a relationship with her.

Bam. There. I said it. She was like my biggest nightmare. When she started crawling, she stopped sleeping for more than 2 hours at a time. We are talking newborn status. She was starving, mostly, but she wouldn't eat any food. She would follow me around the house screaming and crying for hours every day. I would hold her, snuggle her, try to feed her, try to nurse her, try to put her to sleep. Nothing. She was inconsolable about 12-15 hours a day for 5 months.Don't get me wrong. There were some good days sprinkled here and there...I usually write blog posts and post pictures on those days ;)

And then a great thing happened. She discovered she liked rice! And peeled grapes. And that has led to more and more willingness to eat food. Hurray! We are down to 3 nursing sessions a day (still 3 more than I want, but hey, baby steps!) and she is regularly sleeping 10-12 hours a night. Usually she wakes up 2 or 3 times, but she is able to settle herself within a few minutes. Can I get an AMEN!?

Things aren't perfect. We still have a long way to go in terms of getting her to transition to full solids, but I am happy.

At 15 months she is walking like a champ...and getting fast! She loves to snuggle stuffed animals and her brother's blue blanket. Her favorite foods are rice, crackers, bananas, and Cheerios. She still loves water and won't touch milk or juice. She can say, Mama, Dada, Heago (Here you go), Peas (please) and we are working on UP! She loves to snuggle anyone and everyone, although she does tend to cling to me quite a bit lately. She and Christian are pretty much inseparable...much to Christian's chagrin. But he is fairly sweet to her most of the time. Until he has had a enough and kicks her in the head or something. Oh brothers....

All in all, things are going pretty well around here. I am striving to enjoy the time that I have home with the kids, but I can't enjoy every moment. Just trying to enjoy the moments I CAN!

Christian's First Day of Preschool and turning 3 1/2

This morning Christian woke up really excited. He knew today was his first day of Preschool and he couldn't wait to get dressed. Melanie planned to do pictures today and so Jared helped Christian get dressed into something other than a Lightning McQueen t-shirt. When he came out of his room, I almost laughed. He was wearing super cute grey shorts, my favorite button-up shirt of his in a periwinkle blue, and....a Lightning McQueen red shirt peeking out from underneath. lol Some things just don't change!

My mom came over to watch Leila so that I could take Christian to school and stay with him, if needed. We took a few pictures in front of the house, at Jared's request, and then hopped into the car. When we got to school, Christian went in with no problems at all, but all of the other Mom's left, and Melanie's helper is sick, so I felt bad leaving her there alone. I am glad I stayed! It was nice to see how things were run and also I think it was nice to have someone else to help. Things could have, very easily, gotten pretty crazy!

They had practice tracing their names, phone numbers and nicknames. They did song time, went over the letter and number of the day, the weather and day of the week. She had snack and recess and the First Day of School pictures. It was great! I am so glad that we decided to put Christian in this school. I think he will flourish. And I am so glad that Leila and I can have a little one on one time two days a week for two hours.

In other news, Christian is officially 3 1/2.  Sometimes I am shocked that he is 3 1/2...and other days I can't believe how slowly time is moving ;) He still eats great, sleeps wonderfully and is healthy and happy. He is getting more confident and active and I love watching him try new things. He is in a gymnastics class which has really been helping him strengthen his body. It has been so fun! Here are some pictures of him dressed as a pirate.

He is 95% potty trained during the day and often wakes with a dry diaper, so we are working through that still. His best friends are Elaine, Ellie and Brooklyn. His favorite foods are ice cream, macaroni and cheese, grapes, and yogurt. He still loves the movie Cars (and Cars 2) and has just fell in love with The Lego Movie. He can do a somersault and is working on his handstand. I am grateful for Christian. I am one proud mama seeing how he interacts with others and how quickly he is learning. Love him.

The Promised Walking Video

Here she is in all of her glory. This was taken a couple of weeks ago, but I kept forgetting to upload it. Isn't she cute!?

A Little Comparison

I was looking at my kids today and was struck, again, by how much they resemble each other. So many people make comments about how Leila is a "mini-Christian" and I smile, because I know they look alike. But sometimes I forget HOW MUCH they looked alike at the same age.

Leila is softer and her eyes are a little bigger/rounder. But look at the cheeks. The hair. The smile and teeth! Amazing!

Haha. Had to throw this in, just because!

14 Months and walking!

Leila is officially 14 months old and has been "walking" for several weeks now. I put it in quotations because although she CAN walk, she still chooses to crawl about half the time because it is faster. I will say, though, that when she does walk it is pretty much the cutest thing I have ever seen. I will try to capture a video of her doing it. It is a crack-up. She doesn't just walk...
she sashays. Everything about this girl is slow and deliberate. However, with that being said, I would say that she is a lot more determined than Christian ever was. She will watch and then as soon as she knows she can do it, she takes off and never looks back!

This video is an example of her determination. She was watching Christian and his friends climb the play structure at Chick-Fil-A. I let her kind of climb around a little bit and all of a sudden she just took off. She climbed all the way to the top and went down the slide by herself. I was in shock! I was so nervous, but I held back and just let her do it (and yes, it almost killed me!). Luckily Christian is an attentive older brother and I knew he would stay with her. It was so exciting and I was so proud of her for doing it!

She constantly surprises me, and that has been fun. Her demeanor is so subdued and she tends to take a little time to warm up to new people and places that I think she will be "shy". I am learning more and more though, that she isn't shy at all. She just goes at her own pace!

I wish I could say that at 14 months she has finally figured out how fun eating can be, but alas, it is not so. I did have an epiphany Saturday though. We were having breakfast and all of a sudden she reached over and grabbed a piece of bacon off my plate. Very crunchy (my favorite!) bacon, I may add. I was kind of shocked, but didn't react. She ate the whole piece. All of it! It was like a light bulb went off in my mind. She has texture issues. She likes crunchy things. THAT is why she didn't want to eat mushy baby food. This is why she will really only eat crackers and dry cereal...unless it is SWEET. If it is sweet (like the ice cream she would eat without issues), she is fine with a softer texture. It all made sense. The complication, of course, is that she still is working on her swallowing therapy so she may want hard and crunchy foods, but she has a hard time eating them without choking. *Sigh*. Needless to say, we are still working through this, and I have a feeling we will continue to for a while.

Okay, now on to the fun stuff:

At 14 months Leila can walk, crawl and loves to climb. I will often find her climbing onto the ottoman so she can reach things she shouldn't. Her favorite toys are whatever Christian is playing with. However, she loves music and so she has a little toy "boombox" that she will constantly play and dance with. Her favorite food is probably still Cheerios, but rice and crackers aren't far behind. She has decided that she does LOVE bananas though, but only if she can hold it herself. And only if it is whole, if you slice it, she usually isn't interested. Her favorite drink is water. She loves to play peek-a-boo and will often cover her own eyes to play "Where's Leila". Her voice is still deep and husky, and she has learned what Jared and I affectionately call the "fat kid laugh". Think Fat Albert as a smoker. It is hilarious.

She still hates most foods, and getting her finger and toe nails clipped. She will scream and SCREECH if she wants to be picked up and you don't do it right away. She hates having bows in her hair and will rip them out immediately. Since she looks so homeless when her hair is in her face, this is a constant battle between us. She can't even see when her hair is down because it covers her eyes...think sheepdog!

All in all, she is a sweet, fun, exciting, loving girl and she makes everyday more special by being a part of it!

Here are a few things I never thought I would EVER say (Or Hear!)

****Warning: We use correct terminology for all anatomy in our house, so if that makes you uncomfortable, please do NOT read this post :) Oh, and if potty talk makes you squeamish this post is also not for you!

As Christian is getting older and more independent, there have been quite a few learning experiences for both of us. He is always trying to figure new things out and since I am trying not to be super controlling or a micro-manager, that sometimes leads to some interesting situations. Here are a few examples. And yes...these all happened within the past 2 days.

1. "Christian! We do NOT put our bums into the toilet water!"

We are in the midst of potty training still. He does pretty well for the most part, but still needs help wiping, etc... Yesterday I walked into the bathroom and he had lifted both seats and was slowly lowering his tush into the toilet water. And yes, he had already peed in it. Gross! 

2. "Christian, do NOT pull toilet paper out of the water once you have used it!"

Bleh. Self-explanatory

3. "Christian! Don't pee on the floor." followed closely by, "Oh no! Leila! No! No! Leila, don't crawl in it!"

I was in the shower. All suds-ed up and Christian had an accident resulting in pee all over the ground. And of course, in comes Leila traipsing through it on her way to find out what all the noise was about. Needless to say, both got pulled into the shower with me. 

4. "Hey. I know you want to wear the butterfly wings, but it is time to share."

At gymnastics today, Christian got to wear a butterfly wing headband and he did NOT want to share!

5. And the finale. 

Me: "Christian, what are you doing?"

C: "Nothing."

Me: "What is that?"

C: "It's just bread."

Me: "What!? Why are you rubbing bread on your penis!???"

C: "Uh...."

Me: "Gross. Give that to me" (and I walk over to take it)

He TAKES A BIIIIIIG bite.

Me: "Ew! Don't eat it! We do NOT rub food on our penis and we definitely DO NOT eat it!"

Horrifying! He will kill me for recording this one day, but hey...that's my job, right!?

Learning Love, Humility, and Compassion From a 3 Year Old

Being a SAHM is hard, trying, exhaustive work. I am constantly running around wiping hands and faces, washing dishes, cooking (I have probably cooked more in the last 6 months than I have in the past 6 years combined!), cleaning, putting kids in and out of booster seats, high chairs and car seats. I have chased them, tickled them, played with them, disciplined them, and snuggled them. There are days I long for working, not because I actually want to work, but just so I will not be solely responsible for these two kids and their never-ending needs. But I would be missing SO MUCH if I went back to work.

I have been reminded recently about what incredible kids I have. They are sweet, kind, and loving. By no means are they perfect, but they are good kids. Today I want to focus on Christian. I want to have this written down so I don't forget how amazing he is at this age.

Not every parent can boast having a truly compassionate toddler. I used to think his genuine goodness had to do with some kind of good parenting I was doing. He shares well! He doesn't fight or kick or hit! I must be doing something right!

Ha.

He came this way. It is becoming more and more apparent that I have taught him nothing; the goodness and love he shares are his gifts. I remember in his baby blessing the word "joy" being used again and again. In fact here's an excerpt from part of the blessing I jotted down:

"Christian, you will be joyful on the earth and your smile will bring joy to all those around you....you are blessed with the personality of a peacemaker and will want others to have peace as you have peace..." 

Like I said, he came this way! As he is getting older I find myself in awe of him. I feel like I should start taking notes because I can pretty much guarantee that he is going to teach me more than I ever could him. Here are a few things he has done recently that I want to remember:

-He accidentally smashed Leila's fingers. Instead of running away because he thought he would be in trouble, he ran to her, sat down, pulled her into his lap and held her as she screamed until I could get there. 

-He loves to help me get dressed, and especially to help me put on my shoes. He will ask me if I want shoes or sandals, run and get them and then kneel down in front of me so he can help me put them on. 

-He is fiercely loyal to his friends and sister and will defend, help, and protect them however he is able.

-The last example actually comes from a sweet woman in our ward. Christian is still in nursery and he is by far the biggest in there. There are 3-4 kids who turned 3 toward the beginning of the year and so they kind of group together because the rest of the group are the "babies" (aka the younger nursery kids). On Sunday this older group of nursery kids came into Primary for sharing time. They had them come to the front of the room so we could sing a welcome song. Since I play the piano for Primary, I didn't see what transpired, but I am grateful that Melanie relayed the story for me.

 "I have to tell you about your sweet Christian, yesterday during the Hello song. Not sure you could see from behind the piano what I saw. So they stood up there, SO cute, and Gwen and Aaron were noticeably nervous. Bodies shaking and eyes wide open. Christian sensed this and put himself in the middle and wrapped his arms around both and squeezed! He held them for the entire song and immediately took away their fear. It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen! He melted my heart...You've got a very special little boy."

When I read this I actually cried! Christian will never be the stereotypical boy. He doesn't usually run and shout or play in the dirt or take things apart. He doesn't fight or climb like crazy. But that's okay! What he will bring to the world will be an even greater blessing. He reminds me so much of his Daddy. Jared is the nicest person I have ever known, and I have a feeling that Christian will be following in his footsteps. I must have done something right to deserve him. I love you Christian Douglas!