HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEAN!

You made it!

I wasn't sure you would since you started trying to shove everything known to man in your ears, nose and mouth; but you did it.

You're talking more and more- to the point where I'm probably going to stop keeping track of all of the new things you're saying. While that makes me a little sad, it's exciting to think that you're catching up and communicating with us about all the stuff you see!


Margaret likes:

• giraffes
• puzzles
• visiting Mr Jim and Ms Lynn
• lip gloss
• picking Poppa's tomatoes
• riding in laundry baskets
• dancing
• having her nails painted
• playing in the sand box
• going to the playground

Margaret DOES NOT like:

• having her hair brushed or washed
• having socks on

HEAD!

You keep doing things that confuse me. You'll say something and then start moving your hands, arms, legs or whatever. For the first few minutes I have noooo idea what you're doing.

A few days ago you were trying to bumble bee me, it was adorbs.

TODAY! You said head and put both hands on your head! Then you did a little wiggle and started to dance. Then both hands were on your head again. Suddenly I realised you were doing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. I sang it for you and you super impressed me with all of your moves. You didn't quite get the shoulders in there, but you got damn near every other body part- color me amazed!

Now we're getting somewhere!

Tonight when you got out of the tub, you were sad and decided that you needed to have a daddy carry you, not me. When I opened the door to leave the bathroom you said "oh no da-dee wah zoo" OOOR "oh no! daddy, where are you?"

I'm beyond thrilled! You're putting words together!

AND!

When daddy went to leave for work, you said "bye da-dee uz ooze" OOOR "bye daddy, love you!"

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sad that you said it to him and not me, but the fact of the matter is: you said it. So it's only a matter of time before you say it to me. : )

I also think it's super sweet that if you ask for UP and you get picked up, you'll pat our back and say, "Oh, nice. So nice."

You're going to give me a heart attack, or kill yourself, NBD

You must have some labrador or terrier in you because you're chewing EVERYTHING.

I'm not sure how many crayons you've eaten in the last week, let alone your entire LIFE. You keep putting toys, books and body parts in your mouth. It's vexing my mommy brain so.

Today, you decided that there was something you needed to taste before the day was done: teal. The marker, the color, the ESSENCE. You've put the tips of markers in your mouth before, so that wasn't surprising. What was surprising was the marker coming out of your mouth, without a tip.

There you sat, happily chewing away on the tip of the teal Crayola Pip Squeak. I must admit I was so shocked that it took me a minute to realize I should yank whatever I could out of your mouth.

I don't know why we're back to chewing on most things and licking everything else, but it would be the highlight of my year if you could stop.

Early Intervention

I've been avoiding this. I don't want you to think that there's something wrong with you. I don't like the social stigmas that come with that kind of statement. You and I were both getting frustrated, I couldn't understand what you were trying to tell me and I could tell that you had something you felt you needed to tell me.

This morning Ms Jackie and Ms Julie brought two fantastic bags of tricks and toys. You got right down to business playing with them and exploring everything they had in their bags. We found out that you have done very nicely developing your motor skills- you're 10mos ahead of where you should be! We also learned that some of what I had suspected was right, your speech and communication is about 10mos behind.

At 19mos old your vocabulary sounds more like a 9-12mos old. Hearing that crushed me. I didn't know that most of what I was counting as part of your word base were what are referred to as declaratives or exclamations. Things like "uh oh," "no," "what's that," don't count as words on the evaluation. I was pretty sure that I was going to cry when I heard where they placed your speech.

I keep reminding myself that now:
1. You're going to get the help you need.
2. You're young enough that the delay shouldn't be apparent by the time you're in kindergarten.
3. I did what I was supposed to.

I'm having a really hard time not feeling guilty or upset about this. Logically, I know that your hearing was affected because you had ear infections which kept fluid in your ears. You had a hearing screening and birth but you didn't have another hearing test for the next 15mos. There is no way for anyone to accurately gauge when your hearing was affected, all we can do now is help you.

So that's what we're doing.

I had a hunch- and I was right

Tonight I climbed on the scale with you because you seemed heavier these past few days.

I was right.

28.2 lbs

I am so very thankful for that number. You lost a whole ton of weight this past fall when you were walloped on by multiple ear infections in a row. You never really seemed to catch up from that. You'd been hanging out around 24 lbs for ever. Pants that used to fit you were falling down and taking your diapers with them. The only thing that has me feeling even remotely hesitant is the thought that this may be your next growth spurt.

Which I am in no way ok with. I don't have a 3T stock pile! I'm also glad that you managed to stay in 24,/2T clothes for over 6mos. My wallet thanks you for that.

I'm curious to see how tall you are at your check up on Friday. I'm pretty sure you're closing in on 36" by now. But I could be wrong.

It's going to be a long day.

Before 6:00A today you:

• colored in a book, not a coloring book
• swiped my waffle
• snuggled BOTH cats
• drank the last of the orange juice
• pulled 10+ wipes from the box
• ate way too many grapes
• prefected your gymnastics floor routine
• drank from a cup, all by yourself
• licked my plate clean

Certainly an interesting and ROUSING start to my day.

A note from your 17mos old self

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 iscfjkdsncf   ffffffffffffffff lskd

Building a better you

Today we went to see an Ear Nose and Throat doctor. She checked out your earns, nose and throat; like any good ENT should. Unfortunately it wasn't so pretty in there- but I expected that. So now January 12^th you'll be having tubes put in your ears and your adenoids taken out.

She's going to use a camera to take a peak down your throat to see if there is something in there that has been making you cough.

On the one hand, I don't want them to find anything terrible or gross when they take a peak; but I know that chances are they'll be able to fix whatever they find. I'm just very nervous at the thought of you having to endure more surgery, so for now we'll hope that it's something they can fix right then and there or something that can be corrected / maintained / mitigated with medication.

Happy Thanksgiving, again!

I tried to sit you at the table like the rest of us, but that only seemed to confuse you. You wouldn't touch your plate until I put it on the tray of your high chair. So I guess you're not quite ready to sit with us at a table, but we'll get there.

While you could eat anything and everything your little hear desired this year, you only wanted to eat one thing: cranberries. You kept asking for more and eventually you gave up the spoon to shovel them in to your mouth with both hands. That change in delivery also lead to a discovery: cranberries are good for squishin'. So from that point on you squeezed and squished them to bits.

Poppa came over for dinner and daddy even woke up early for the occasion so you had almost double the number of adults you normally have a meal time. You kept asking Poppa to give you food and he was more than happy to oblige. However, you weren't too impressed with my turkey cooking abilities but you did like licking all of the gravy off of your fork, so that'll have to do for now.  Maybe next year you'll learn how super awesome Thanksgiving turkey is.

It's incredible to me how much has changed since last year. Today, I am thankful for all of your crazy, independently formed ideas. That's one awesome melon you've got there.

Yes, you are a sillykins

Tonight marked a very important first: You got yourself dizzy, on purpose.
After your bath you just kept walking around your room. Eventually you ended up behind the door trying to look in to the mirror at yourself. At one point you tried to turn around quickly to run at daddy, but instead you made a small circle and turned all the way around. You didn't look surprised but you smiled and did it again.
You started to wobble a little, but you did it again. And again and again and again... you get the idea. You were stumbling every which way and giggling. You started to fall and daddy went to catch you, but that made you pretty upset. You seemed to think he was trying to stop you, which made you cry. But soon you were on your feet again making your lopsided circles.

Happy Birthday Bear

It's been awesome watching you for the last 365 days. Sometimes it's hard for me to believe just how long it's been. I keep thinking "..remember when she was little?" I have to remind myself that to the rest of the world you ARE little.

After just 365 days here you are 1/30 my age, 1/4 my weight and 1/2 my height. Pretty impressive in my opinion.

Today you got to share cupcakes and pudding with your friends at school- and I got a filling. : / After dinner we went out to Condrell's with Grandpa. Grandma was stuck at work- some day we're going to have to go rescue her and make her have some fun. We can worry about the when's and how's of that later though. For now let's worry about the fabulous, shall we?

Margaret can SAY:

• balloon [boo-n]
• this [dis]

Margaret can:

• get the correct end of a utensil IN to food and then her mouth
• carry objects while walking
• stand from a squat
• climb on to the couch
• climb a ladder

Margaret likes:

• ice cream!
• Star Wars
• pudding
• spinning in the yard
• going for walks
• pancakes
• hide and seek
• mud
• hot dogs
• mommy's sunglasses
• having her picture taken
• ketchup
• visiting the bigger kids at school
• Tangled
• reading books to people

Margaret does not like:

• raw broccoli
• hamburgers
• kiwi
• wearing her own sunglasses

I'm so excited we're starting year 2. This past year really has been an amazing adventure- I can't wait to see where you take us to next. Sooner rather than later you'll be the one calling the shots and we'll just be supporting players. Don't be afraid to remind us of that if we forget- it's all about you now.

So, where are we going?

We knew this was coming

I thought we had more time. But today, a week before your first birthday, you were sent to school in an entire 2T outift. Your arms were a tight fit in to the 18m shirts and your shorts have been getting tighter so I knew my days were numbered.

$5 says you're in 3T before your next birthday.

Eleven Months

I can't believe I'm sitting here doing this. I feel like we've already spent a lifetime together, but truthfully, this is where all of the fun starts. You've developed this awesome and sassy personality, I frustrate you daily- but you get over it. You got teeth 8, 9 and 10 this month. No stats until 12m, which will be more like 12.5 since we won't see your doctor until the middle of September, let's not dwell on that, let's just talk about how awesome you are. Ok?


Margaret can SAY:

• all done [ah duuuh]
• that [dat]

Margaret CAN:

• walk, not well. But she gets it done
• open and close doors
• flush a toilet, thanks honey
• climb stairs

Margaret likes:

• Taco Tuesday
• Despicable Me
• sprinklers
• hot dogs
• watermelon
• carrot cake
• slides!

Margaret does not like

• whole raspberries
• peas, we sort of knew that
• putting on shoes

I'm so glad you're here. You make some fabulous faces that make me make equally awesome faces. And while you're sometimes a challenge, you don't ever let me get bored. Thanks for that boo bear.

Whoooa Nelly!

You walked. Over 8 feet. Through the kitchen. You didn't even fall- you quite gracefully lowered yourself to the ground when you got to the end of the kitchen.

I'm in trouble now.

This is what they call, strong willed.

We'll blame it on that little bit of Livernois, because after all, there are fewer of them around to contest. You've clearly had your own agenda from the very beginning. You don't seem to have it written down though and most importantly, it changes frequently and often.

While all babies develop at their own pace and in their own time, you embody this in the most fantastic of ways. While I was pregnant, at the end I would have contractions that were 5min apart and lasting for about a minute. My doctors use the 5-1-1 rule; which is 5mins apart, 1min duration for 1h. They would only ever run for a maximum of 50min. It felt like you were mocking me silently. You showed me that you knew how to go, but you weren't done at the party yet. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't annoyed.

When you were learning to roll over you'd get your torso turned but your hips and legs would be stuck. Almost as if your diaper was too heavy and you couldn't possibly move it. This went on for over a month, until one day you rolled. You rolled like you'd been doing it for years. Sometimes you'd catch me watching you and flash a proud smile. But those weren't terribly often.

Learning to crawl was terrible on everyone. You were so frustrated, you wanted to move. You were in the big baby room at daycare; so you saw all of them moving. You tried so tirelessly to figure out how to get everything to do what you wanted. You'd move a few feet and then plant your face in the floor to have a good cry. I think you wanted to cross the room in seconds and you couldn't figure out why you were still staring at the same old toys.

Once you learned to pull your self up cruising along furniture came within a day.

But walking? It's taking forever. You take somewhere between 2 and 6 independent steps a day. Some days you look so proud and amazed, other days you look down right terrified. You've been doing it for well over a month and you still insist on holding 2 hands when walking. If you're only given one hand to hold you get, mad. I'm not sure what the hang up is. But I know you'll get there in time. And I'll be watching with a happy heart the whole way.

Perfect Ten

Ten Months- and you're talking. Mostly gibberish, but some words. Which is, in a word, best.


Margaret can SAY:

• hi
• mommy
• daddy
• yes
• no

Margaret can:

• clap!
• cruise with one hand
• take 3-4 steps

Margaret likes:

• pickles
• peek a boo
• blanket tents
• REAL tents
• the zoo

Margaret does not like:

• being on grass

... least it wasn't no

Today, you said a word. Not blabber or gibberish. A word. Kitty, to be precise.

It even had context! You were trying to pet Spite! So not only did you say something, you know what that something you said was.

Keep firing those neurons, baby.

Eight Months

I'm more than amazed at how much you've grown and everything you can do. When I think about how little and helpless you seemed, that all seems so silly now. You're hell bent on doing whatever you can, as often as you want. That may not go over so well shortly- but for now, we'll ride it out.

We have no stats this month other than weight, 23lb 14oz. You're not climbing the scale as steadily these days. A lot of that has to do with your insane desire to wiggle. Once you figured out how to crawl, self propelled motions became the name of your game

Margaret can:

• crawl
• pull to a stand
• stand!
• cruise!

Margaret likes:

• standing and watching Sesame Street
• standing in the front yard
• yelling at cars as they drive by

We don't yell at all of the cars though. We sit outside and wait for daddy to come home most mornings. You get soooo stinking excited when you see him pull in the driveway. It's more than a little adorable.

I was going to wait...

...but I can't hold it in.

You crawled.

A real crawl.

Heeeeere we go!