Oh the Things Toddlers Say

Everyday Lily is saying more and more.  It is very rare for her to not be speaking in sentences of at least 4 words.  While I understand most of what she is saying there are still times when she will be jabbering on about something and I am completely lost.  Unfortunately those are the times when she typically ends whatever she is saying with "Okay?" and I never know if I should say yes or no because I have no idea what I would be agreeing to.

There are times when she says things that are just absolutely hilarious.  For example the other day she was playing with her stuffed pig and bunny.  She turns to me and in a very serious voice says "Piggy sad".  I respond with "Oh no, why is Piggy sad?".  She says, "Bunny tooted and it stinky".  I really had no idea what to say to that.

She has also started to recognize some letters thanks to this amazing puzzle that I found for her.  Every time she finds all the letters for a word she asks me to spell it and points to each letter and repeats them after me.  There are a few that she gets on her own including "t", "g", "k", and sometimes "n".  She also knows "me" and "double me" aka "u" and "w"!  Every time she points to one of them and I say either "u" or "w" she repeats with "me" or "double me".  It is really cute.

Evie is growing up so quickly.  She loves being down on the floor trying to crawl.  She can't get up on her hands and knees yet, but she can turn her body around if she wants to get to something that is a different direction (she kind of pivots on her belly).  She also loves being in her excersaucer.  I think she doesn't want to miss a thing that is going on so she loves that she can be upright and looking about in that thing.  She is gaining so much more control of her movements and will purposely grab for, and hold on to, toys.  Evie also loves grabbing her toes.  Evidently feet are the most interesting and hilarious thing ever.  The other day she kept holding on to her feet and staring at them and then would start laughing.  Lily and I would then also start laughing which would make Evie laugh more. 

Evie 5 month growth picture

Evie 5 months

Such a happy baby

Lily showing off all her teeth

Lily helping find the correct number for Evie's photo

Blowing bubbles outside

Playing outside

I am making bins to organize the girls' closets.  This is the first completed one and I am quite happy with it, especially since it was originally just a diaper box!

Siblings

Lily and Evie are definitely falling into their rolls of older and younger sibling.  Lily has recently decided that there are times when she doesn't want her younger sister touching her or looking at her.  I hear "Evie no, don't ______" a lot through out the day.  The main problem with this is that Evie obviously doesn't understand "no" yet and just keeps doing whatever she feels like doing at that moment.  She also LOVES looking at her big sister. She is constantly watching Lily and smiling and laughing at her.  This definitely annoys Lily when she realizes her little sis is doing it.  Evie seems to want to be wherever Lily is and is very interested in her.  It will only be a matter of time before she is following her around the house and annoying her on purpose!  

As much as Lily gets annoyed with her sister she also seems to like the attention she gets from her at times.  If Evie happens to fall asleep out the the family room Lily will randomly yell "EVIE!".  Of course Evie jumps awake which makes Lily look very proud of herself and exclaim "Evie wake up!".

Rainbow Rice!

Today Lily and I colored rice into a bumch of different colors. She had a ton of fun scooping and pouring. When I first dumped them in all the colors were seperated and she was naming all of them.  It wasn't long before they were all mixed together though.  The best part of this activity is that I can put a lid on the tub and store it away for another day and it will be just as exciting then.

Consistently Inconsistent

I have decided that the phrase "Consistently Inconsistent" very accurately describes my life and our girls right now.  While I am loving my new job and being able to set my own schedule, it isn't always as easy as it seems.  There are many times that I want to work, but the people I need to meet or work with are not available.  I have had two pay periods with the company.  In one I worked 12.75 hours and the other only 2.5.  I can't wait until I am more independent and get a few more clients because then I can really set my own schedule and have more consistent weeks and paychecks.  

Lily is still working on potty training.  I believe that she could actually be done with diapers now if she really wanted but that there are some control issues going on and therefore there are many times when diapers are necessary.  She will go a whole day with using the potty and having a dry diaper the whole day and then the next she refuses to even go into the bathroom.  While I feel kids shouldn't be pressured into potty training when they aren't ready, I am frustrated because I know she can do it.  I keep trying to step back and not pressure but it is hard when the day before I didn't have to change any of her diapers.  Consistently Inconsistent.

We have moved Evie into her own room and that is helping someone at night.  While I still have to get up to feed her (and now have to walk across the house instead of just getting her out of the bassinet beside my bed) the time that we are sleeping is much more restful.  The monitor that we use is a sound activated one so it doesn't pick up all the times when she is just moving slightly, but will let me know if she is really moving a lot or crying.  She usually goes to bed the same time as Lily, so around 7pm.  Sometimes I will go in and feed her before I go to bed anywhere between 10pm and midnight.  Most of the time she doesn't even wake up for this feeding.  Then she will sleep till around 5am when she wants more food.  Then she will sleep (or at least lay quietly in her bed) until about 6:30am.  Then there are the nights like two nights ago when she wakes up almost every hour from midnight till 6am.  I really don't mind getting up and feeding her, in fact there are times when I like being able to just sit and rock with her in the quiet house with no distractions, but I would really like to know before bedtime if it is going to be a night where I am doing that once or twice or six plus times.  Consistently Inconsistent.

On another note, I am going to try cloth diapering with Evie.  It was something I wanted to do before Lily was born but there were many reason that we didn't.  Now that I am staying home more I feel like it is a very doable option.  I have been doing research online and there is so much info out there that it is a little overwhelming.  I found a couple different types of cloth diapers at a consignment sale the other day so we are going to start with those and then go from there.  I have also found a bunch of websites that have patterns and tutorials on making your own cloth diapers so once we pick a type that we like then I plan on doing that to save even more money.  If anyone has any tips, advice, stories, or anything about cloth diapers I would love to hear them.

Photos

Here are a few photos from Easter

Family photo

Lily loved looking for Easter Eggs.

Especially when she found out there were treats inside.

5 years

Yesterday Sean and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary.  We didn't go out and do anything special, just hung out with the girls all day, had a nice family dinner at home, and watched some tv.  Basically it was like most evenings in our house but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.  Yes wedding anniversaries are about us as a couple, but to me they are also a reminder of the day we became a family and therefore spending the day as a family was great.

There really isn't much else to update on around here.  The girls are as adorable as ever.  Sean is working a lot.  I am starting to work a bit more and am really loving my job, but also loving my time home with the girls.

Lily showing Evie how to play with her Exersaucer

Checking out all the toys

Impromptu photo shoot that didn't go so well.

4 month old Evie

Being silly

Lily was pretending to take pictures of Evie too so I had to snap a quick one of her.  She has quite an imagination.

Sister loving time

Evie laughing at her big sister

Beautiful!

4 month stats are in

Today Evie had her 4 month well check.  The doctor is very impressed with her development.  He was very surprised when I told him that she was rolling over just before 3 months.  He did say that we are going to hold off giving her solids till around the 6 month mark.  He says that most babies start solids at 4-6 months but that he likes to hold off for the extra two months for babies that have been exclusively nursed.  

Here are her stats:

Weight: 12.47lbs (25th percentile)

Height: 24in (40th percentile)

Head Circumference: 15.75in (24th percentile)

We are going to be moving some things around in the house so that Evie gets her own room.  We had been hoping that the girls would share a room, but since Evie isn't sleeping through the night yet and the girls are so different in their temperature preference, we think they need their own.  My task for the week will be to organize, clean, and move everything from the computer room into the basement.  I am hoping Lily is happy with not having to share her room.  Right now she keeps talking about the crib that is still in her room and how it is going to be where Evie is going to sleep.  

Lily is doing great as well.  She loved looking for eggs this weekend and would squeal every time she found one.  I think we are going to do a few more egg hunts in the coming weeks just because she likes them so much.  I can't believe how much she is talking now.  You can carry on a whole conversation with her now.