Is it the teeth?

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but Della has pretty much been a champ sleeper since she started sleeping through the night around 2ish months old. But lately something has really been throwing her snoozing out of whack.

It started a couple weeks ago. We do her usual bedtime routine – read a few books in her chair before bed, take her books and little toys to bed, say night-night to all the characters on her wall, she turns on her little musical/nature sounds thing that hangs on the side of the crib, then we put her blanket on and voila. Sleep.

Now, however, once we leave the room, the cries start. As soon as we get back to the living room and sit down we hear, “Mama, Dada, Mama, Dada….” And instead of trailing off as she falls asleep as they have in the past, her cries just get more persistent. So one of us will usually go in, rock her for a minute or 2 since she always stands up and says “rock” at that point, then she’s usually good for the night once back in her crib. Sometimes it does take a couple rounds, but most often if she cries like that it’s just once we go in and then done.

It used to be like this for her naps too, but fortunately those have gotten better. Now I can usually just put her down and that’s that, as it used to be.

I can’t figure out what’s throwing the little girl off so much. At first I thought maybe it was not having her daycare routine in place anymore and being home all day with me. Then I thought maybe it’s her 2 year molars, since all 4 of those have come in during basically this same poor-sleep time frame too.

Oh, she’s also started waking up about once a night most nights now too. That seems to have coincided with this crying bedtime routine window as well.

Any ideas? Do you think it’s her teeth? Growth spurt? Just annoyed? I’m all ears, because within the next couple weeks we also need to transition her into a big bed to get the crib moved into our room for Dv2.0. Hopefully that doesn’t completely make her head explode.

 

 

24 month stats

this was the best we could get for her official 2 yr. picture. somebody insisted on being silly

TWO!! That’s how old Della turned last week, and I swear she turned into a miniature person overnight.

What does the life of a 2 year old look like? I’ll tell how this one’s is, anyway:

  • Official measurements at her well check on her exact 2 year birthday: height – 36.25″ (97%), weight – 25.7 lbs. (25-50%), blood pressure – 83/47 (yes, they actually put the cuff on her and everything! it was so cute, she just sat there perfectly still and let the nurse do it). Her doctor said she was amazed because D was so cooperative, acting like and the size of a 3 year old, that it was so weird seeing her in a diaper and knowing she’s only 24 months old.
  • Motion is constant. She’s always running, jumping, spinning, dancing, climbing, or playing with something. Apparently walking is not on the list of things to do for 2 year olds.
  • Language is exploding. Just in this past month or so alone she’s begun stringing 2 words together all the time. We’ve gotten a couple 3 word phrases, but usually she sticks to 2 in a row right now. Some of her favorites include:
    • big ouch
    • big truck
    • big lake
    • big boats
    • me outside (as in i want to go outside, mom!)
    • me night-night (translation: i just woke up)
    • big poop
    • bye-bye poop (when you flush. yes, potty humor starting already)
    • orange juice
    • more milk
  • Other new words since the last update include (and i’m sure this list is severely lacking, but i can’t remember more right now)
    • walk
    • rock
    • dark
    • duck
    • stuck
    • poop (sounds like poot)
  • If she doesn’t want you to sing/whistle/hum along to some song she’ll wave her hand at you and say “No, no no”.
  • Potty training. She shows interest, so we got her a little potty seat that goes on the regular toilet seat but can also turn into its own stand alone chair for her, but she hasn’t actually used it yet. She more likes to climb up and just hang out on the seat. However, once during our little vacation a few weeks ago she did poop on the toilet, but I think it was more of a fluke that I asked her if she had to poop when she really did than anything. She did just turn 2 though, so I’m definitely not going to rush into or push this one. When she’s ready, she’ll be ready.

Hmm, I think those are the major things for this time. More than anything, I just can’t believe how big she’s getting! I have a feeling full sentences are just around the corner, and then it will be hilarious to hear what she thinks she’s really saying now. I love this girl more than anything and am really looking forward to all the time we get to spend together these next couple months. Happy birthday, peanut!!

first trip to the zoo on her birthday was a hit!

the official 2 yr. height measurement. look how much i’ve grown!

 And here’s a little comparison to see just how much has changed in the last year. Apparently the shirt hasn’t, though…

 

 

23 month stats

Yes, this post is over 2 weeks late. But do you know what that means? Della will be 2 years old in just over 2 weeks!!

Excuse me while I pick myself up off the floor because I just fainted at that thought…

official 23 mo. pics

This child amazes and entertains me more and more each day. I am, however, starting to get a little nervous about what life will be like when there are 2 of them.

Besides growing like a serious weed, there isn’t a ton of new stuff going on since the last updates. I will refer you to the 21 month and 22 month stats for her ever-growing vocabulary, because I don’t feel like typing them all out again. Oh come on, you know I’m lazy.

Since then, however, there have been a couple new additions:

  • hammock (which she says surprisingly perfectly. guess she finally learned that “k” sound after all)
  • truck (which she has also had in her repertoire for awhile now, but it’s been perfected)
  • Hemmy (her friend Hemingway at school. this was the mystery “emmy” word that took me months to figure out)
  • Nay-nay (her friend Nathan at school)
  • No-no (her friend Noah at school)
  • up! (when she wants to be picked up)
  • PaPa (pronounced paw-paw, and what she calls all of her grandparents. so we have to distinguish between which grandma and which grandpa, just to make sure who we’re talking about)
  • Mo-mochs (my mom and stepdad’s dog is named Mocha and we often call her “Mochie-Mochs”. so this is d’s version)
  • mine & me (actually her new favorite phrase is “no mine, della’s!” her “della” still sounds suspiciously like “dada”, but when she yanks whatever it is you’re dealing with away while saying this, you know she’s definitely talking about della. almost 2? yes)
  • starting to learn black, green, and brown instead of calling everything she doesn’t know “purple”
  • heavy (been saying this for awhile, i’ve just forgotten to list it)
  • empty (same as with “heavy”, and sounds very similar)
  • rag (pronounced more like “rye”, how she refers to the burp rag with which she sleeps)
  • almost (doesn’t say this one often, but will repeat it after you)
  • outside
  • broke
  • hot dog (have i listed this one before? she’s been saying it forever)
  • mouth (sounds like “moushe”)
  • nose
  • neck (another one that doesn’t really come out on its own, but she’ll repeat it very well)
  • starting to count, even though her “1, 2, 3” sounds more like “oo, doo, eee”

I’m sure there are more, but her sibling is currently feasting on my brain cells and not allowing me to recall them for you at this moment.

She’s also become fond of standing with her back against the height board Ryan made for her 1st birthday last year and seeing how much she’s grown since she turned 1. It’s so funny to watch because she’ll just back up against it and wait for you to measure how tall she is.

2 years old. Wow. I seriously can’t believe it. It still doesn’t seem like these past 2 years have flown by like time usually does, but saying we have a 2 year old just blows my mind.

Here are some pictures from the past couple weeks. Her 4th of July outfit was so cute with those stars on her shorts, but I felt bad for the poor kid – it was about 470 degrees outside and she’s constantly in motion, as evidenced by the blur factor below.

my little flower…

naked baby alert!

There’s a ghost in our house

The other night I sat D in the bathroom sink to wash her hands and feet. At some point she must have stood up and planted her left hand on the mirror for balance, because later in the night I found that little reminder above. A reminder that yes, a munchkin lives in our house.

My first thought was to just clean it off, but then I realized that never again will her hands be that exact tiny size. So what else was there to do but take a picture?

And do a little comparison.

They don’t show up extremely well, and it was hard to even capture the hand prints at all with a white ceiling and bright lighting, but I tried to see just how big mine was next to her 22-month-old hand.

Della and Mommy.

Not ghosts.

 

 

Anyone else ever heard of this?

Parents of kids who’ve had hand, foot, and mouth, I have a question for you. Or adults who’ve had it themselves too, I guess. Anyone with any experience with HFM, please come over here.

Did any of your kids’ fingernails or toenails fall off after a really bad case?

Yeah, I know, that’s disgusting, isn’t it? Here’s the thing…

The index, middle, and thumb nails on Della’s right hand have all been looking like they’re going to fall off this past week. Discolored, kind of thick-looking, and starting to separate from the cuticle area. My first thought was she must have gotten them slammed/stuck in something at daycare, because we never heard her cry about it at home. But there’s never been any bruising on any of the fingers or nail beds, just these weird nails.

Then this weekend Ryan noticed that both of her big toenails are doing the same thing. So gross!

He typed in “toddler’s fingernails falling off” in Google yesterday, and apparently a bunch of the comments about it were from parents who saw it as a result of severe cases of HFM. Bingo! That must be it. D’s 2nd case was definitely much, much worse than her 1st, and I would call it severe. Wouldn’t you?

Has anyone else ever experienced this or even heard of it? Those dangling nails are really grossing me out.

 

 

22 month stats

21 mo. pics late, but she’s such a screwball i couldn’t resist showing you.

D turned 22 months old last Friday, and that means she’ll be 2 in less than 2 months now! How in the world did that happen?

I just gave a pretty comprehensive update post for her 21 month stats not too long ago, so I’ll just supplement that one with developments since.

  • New words:
    • mess
    • baby (pretty good timing, i’d say)
    • milk (sounds more like moosh)
    • pink (sounds kind of like pish. i guess she likes her ks to make a sh sound)
    • yellow
    • oh no! (complete with hands out to the side and everything)
    • night-night
  • Adores singing the wheels on the bus song (has for awhile now, i just forgot to mention it), and is excellent at saying “shh” when the driver says, “shh, shh, shh!”. She even puts her little index finger up to her lips and everything. Too cute.
  • Knows to cover her mouth when she coughs, which they must have learned at daycare. When I saw her doing that I also taught her to sneeze into the crook of her arm. She doesn’t do that for real yet, though, only for fake sneezes.
  • Will imitate a burp or a fart. Has also been doing this for awhile now too, so ladylike.
  • Simply revels in shouting, “No, no, no!” and squirming away when you try to get her to do something or pick her up to brush her teeth/change her diaper/get her in the bathtub/etc. She’s not really serious about her No!s yet, more just imitating the word, but I can only imagine where it will lead in a few months. We discovered she picked this up at school too one day last week when we dropped her off and one of the little boys in her room was shouting “No!” over and over again. Excellent.
  • Loves playing outside, and has been a wonderful little helper in the gardens this spring. R built an entirely new retaining wall along the whole back garden, and she was out there at every opportunity, usually stomping around in her puppy flip-flops, swim suit, swim shirt, and sun hat. Very helpful.
  • Still having some bedtime issues with crying after we put her down, but I hope this is just a phase. She had gotten so good at reading her night-night stories and just going right into her crib to fall asleep, but for about a month now she insists on starting to cry about 2 minutes after you leave her room. Sometimes I’ll wait just outside her door after I put her down to watch and quiet her from afar if she starts whining, which seems to work, but I’d rather not have to do that either. I want the easy bedtimes back.
  • Thankfully she’s illness-free right now (knock on all things wood around you!), but her hands and feet peeled something wicked after that last round of HFM. Her poor little feet and toes are still really peeling; her hands appear to be almost finished. It’s like she was molting or something. Very odd.

I really can’t believe how big this little one is getting. She’s an adorable, hysterical little girl, and I can’t wait to see her as a big sister. I will always cherish her big fish lip kisses and giant bear hugs as only she can give.

official 22 mo. pics. doesn’t she look HUGE? where did those gangly arms & legs come from? still as goofy as ever, though!