deuce-deuce

Big changes are upon us and the little. Tomorrow we will be embarking on our biggest adventure yet. We are moving down south! {And just in time for Chicago's first snow storm--thanks Chicago, PREESH!} Anyway. Miss Mills is 22 months {and a week or so} old. That's almost two years old for the math-deficient. Which also means I can probably stop referring to her age in months. Big deal! No really it is! Does this mean I will stop posting {somewhat} monthly updates? Not sure. Guess we'll all have to wait and see. Pins and needles!

Back to Amelia Lee: She is a wild thing. She has hair {finally!}. She communicates fairly well and knows what I mean when I say, "Use your words." She sleeps well and eats well {finally!}. She likes people {especially her best friends Lola/Yaya, Bowen/Bubba, and Willie/WeeWee my parents dog}. She hugs and kisses. She laughs hysterically when you tickle her or hold her upside down or do something silly. I love to make her laugh. {And I love how easy it is.} She colors and draws and attempts to name colors. She counts {two and six, mostly}. She likes to sign songs {or for me to sing songs while she does the hand motions}. She likes down time. She likes to run and hop and jump. She likes to sit in Millie-sized chairs and at Millie-sized tables. She likes to push strollers and take care of babies {including undressing, dressing, feeding, rocking, soothing, etc.}. She likes to be held. She likes to jump on our bed/her bed. She likes to pretend to go to sleep {after saying, "night-night...bye...i love you"}. She likes to point out cars, trucks, tractors, buses, trains. She eats hummus with a spoon. She wakes up happy and plays in her crib {this is AMAZING and a new development}. She loves her mama and her daddyO {she calls Brad DaddyO and I die of the cuteness}. She loves dogs and cats and crouches beside them and attempts to pick them up. She hates getting her hair wet {still}. She loves her grandparents. She is obsessed with books {especially: Not a Box, Where the Wild Things Are, I am a Bunny, In the Garden, Everyone Poops, ABCs, and Go to Sleep, My Love}. She sleeps with like 17 babies/animals {really only 6}. She still wears a sleep sack {with the bottom opened up because she's too tall}. She calls it a "seep-sap." She has a flair for drama. She stares. She likes going to the gym daycare and sometimes ignores me when I arrive to pick her up and I have to go and physically get her {major burn}. She likes to be held and cuddled when she wakes up from her nap {1-3pm-ish}. She likes necklaces, sunglasses, and my engagement ring. She doesn't mind making a scene. She still talks about our Christmas Tree.

I hope this great transition goes smoothly for her little sensitive soul. She is learning new words every day. Lately I've been focusing on beach and sunshine. We can't wait.

20&21

Uh, whoops. Really dropped the ball there for a while, huh? {I'm pretty sure I've said that same exact phrase not too long ago right here. But it still applies, so dewai.}

Well the little miss is 21 months old. That's like, seriously old in baby/toddlerdom, right? I don't even know where to begin. She is doing so much, saying so much, acting a fool so much, being a little love so much, learning so much, teaching me so much, moving around so much, making her opinions known so much, playing so much, coloring so much, throwing things so much, smiling so much, laughing so much, climbing so much, jumping so much, jabbering so much. She's just a real live little person. And don't you forget it!

We went through a rough sleeping stage a ways back. {That I'd like to document for my own reference. Deal with it.} Yeah. That was BRUTAL. She resisted naps and bedtime and resisted strongly and loudly. She would cry and scream and call for us. And she started waking (more than once) in the night. No fun I tell ya. Especially after over a year of pretty smooth sleep sailing. But our easy-to-sleep baby is back. THANK GOD. Like a lot of baby-related-routines, they like to switch it up every 2 weeks or so. Which sounds like a looooooooong time when you're in the midst of it, but not so much in the grand scheme. So that happened.

Next! She is picking up new words every day and I have to admit, this is my most favorite thing so far: teaching her to say funny things! {Or just things in general!} Her little voice saying "I love you" and "purple" and "apple." I just can't get enough. She's started saying some phrases {"up please" and "help me"} but mostly she will just say one word followed by "yeah" when she wants something. And you must must must validate whatever it is she is saying or the repeating begins and it will not end. Nope. No end in sight. Tree, lights, truck, tractor, off, diaper, wipes, cheese, wa-wa/water, yellow, book, mama, daddy-o, mommy, baby, bebe, willie/wee-wee, bottle {for the baby}, potty, up, car, bike, BUS, eat, oatmeal, snackies, hold me, trash, ticks/stickers, cow, owee, puppy, kitty, night-night, bubba, and UH-OH are the usual go-to's at this point but that's just off the top of my head. Lots of animals noises, random grunting noises, and indistinguishables as well.

She loves: coloring, BOOKS {even the "big kid" real paper books! She doesn't even try to destroy them!}, sorting things, school, gym daycare and having the babies drive the shopping cart (?), when DaddyO gets home/is home, her BUS!, climbing into chairs/stools, jumping in her crib, feeding baby, sitting on laps, playing with friends {Bowen/Bubba, Lola/Yaya, Griffin, and Charlie} and their toys, babies in general, pointing out cars, bikes, buses, trucks, and tractors, ripping off her bib when she's done eating {or thinks she's done}, putting stickers on things and then taking them off and throwing them in the trash {clearly not a pack rat...yet}, picking lint up off the floor and throwing it in the trash, blowing her nose and throwing the tissue in the trash, {I think you get it}, putting things in different containers, tearing the paper labels off crayons {and you guessed it...throwing it in the trash}, CHALK, closing doors, running, jumping, bows, going for walks, swinging, sliding, park-going, reading, saying MINE and pointing to herself, yelling MAMA/MOMMY, feeding herself, making crayon soup to feed baby, and a bunch of other stuff.

Eating is still a struggle over in these parts. She eats and she eats good foods, but just not the quantity I'd like her to. I mean, some days she eats like a HOSS and then other days she acts as if food is poison. The same exact food she just gobbled up the day before. It's lunacy. But apparently completely typical toddler behavior. Maybe because they ARE lunatics. Maybe? When she obliges, she eats oatmeal, banana, and cinnamon {basically every single morning}, eggs, cheese {only the special grass-fed sharp cheddar or string cheese}, avocado, cucumber, spinach cakes, hummus and carrot, rice crackers/cakes, rice, mac&cheese, edamame, pasta, yogurt, berries (raspberries are a BIG hit}, smoothies every day {where I sneak in spinach/kale/greens}, pizza, satsumas, um, yeah I think that's about it. Oh, and obvi any "snackie." Especially if it belongs to someone else. I also let her have a cookie. FAN.

Her Montessori school program just ended and I am so glad we did it. She really learned so much and had fun there. On our last day, we pulled up and she just kept repeating "happy! happy!" over and over. So yay for that. We'll definitely be continuing on the Montessori path if at all possible. She seems to thrive in the child-led environment since she's a motivated little learner and oh so curious. She got to know the routine so well: up the stairs by herself, take off shoes/boots and put them in the cubby, hang up coat on the hanger, find some work, put work back on the shelf, find more work, etc. etc. The only aspect that she never warmed up to was "circle time" at the end where the whole group came together to sing. It continued to surprise me because she LOVES the songs we sing and asks for them all day long. IDK. Rebel?

We've started initiating "quiet times" into Millie's life, when necessary. This usually occurs after hitting one of us or throwing toys. We remind her not to do the unwanted behavior and then if she continues we ask her to go to her room for a quiet time--basically just to cool off. Sometimes she puts up a good stink about it but really I think she's mostly thrilled. She likes her alone time {as do I} and she typically just goes in there and pulls a million books out. I go in when she's quiet and we have a little talk to remind her it's not okay to hit people or throw food/toys/books/etc. It seems to work so we're sticking with it. She's a fairly good listener and can follow directions {puts her boots away when she takes them off/put her shoes on when it's time to go/hangs her coat up on her little rack/gets a book when asked/puts her toys away} when she wants to. Which, you know, she's 21 months so is not all that often. But hey, we'll take it.

I still think that she's one of the smartest, sweetest, funniest, coolest, spunkiest person I've ever known. And I'm so so so glad she's mine. Er, ours.

19er

People. We've got some problems. Hitting, biting, swatting, NO-ing, whining, tantrum-ing, attitudey-ness, and insert other dreadful toddler behaviors here. I'm not joking when I say it's a damn good thing she's cute. And honestly, she really is so cute. Sometimes I just want to smoosh her face and eat her up. But MY GOD she is a challenge. I love her spunk, but holy wow there is a LOT of it. She's still sweet and silly and snugly (sometimes) and thoughtful and funny. But she has a mean streak and it can come at the most inopportune times dude. Like, mostly in the middle of quiet, peaceful Montessori class. Or whenever we do something she doesn't want us to do or ask her to do something she doesn't want to do. Basically whenever something isn't quite going her way. Yeah, then. However, I know it's developmentally appropriate, yada yada, a phase, it will pass, etc. etc. That doesn't really help when she's basically attacking me in front of 10 other toddlers and moms who are staring at me wondering why I can't control my 20 lb child. Oh hey how about YOU GIVE IT A GO.

So, that's happening. We say no, tell her it's not nice, show her the "ow-ee" and move on. Occasionally I'll take her for some quiet time, if that's doable. Basically it sucks. Here's hoping she learns quickly and learns to express her frustration in another way.

She is strong-willed. And freakishly strong. And confident. And headstrong. And other strong things. She will do what she wants to do when she wants to do it. But I'm thisclose to teaching her to say "I love you," so there is THAT.

She's picking up new words every day. Including shit. WHOOPS. Who said that?! She will repeat most of what you ask her to say, in her own way of course. She's got a few of what I refer to as her "universal words." Haven't quite identified what they mean yet but they sound like, "Shasha" and "Ceci." This morning, completely unprompted, she pointed my mouth and said, "mouth," then pointed to my eye, ear, and hair and identified them correctly. I was slightly to majorly (absurdly) excited. She says lots of other stuff too and it's so fun to hear her little teeny voice. My favorite new word is, "Yeah," which she actually says quite a lot. I guess she's a keeper.

Oh, and she likes wearing hair bows! Which is a double bonus because it means she actually has enough hair to wear a bow!

Okay! Pictures!

{Our new "view." Womp, womp.}

{Off to collect berries in Bebe's garden.}

{She ate them all.}
{She freaks.}
She climbs stairs solo. {And standing now!}

{She cheeses it up for Daddy.}
{She kisses boys. (?!)}
{She goes to big kid birthday parties.}
{She walks in heels better than me.}
{She plays with her cousins.}
{She shows giraffe a picture of a giraffe.}
{"MmmmmmmAH"}
{She grows up.}

Year and a Half

18 months old. She's 18 months old, that little rascal. So very wild, this whole growing up/watching your baby grow up thing.

So much has been going on in this past month. For one, we moved. Only across town, but to a new home in a new neighborhood with a whole new room for Mills. It took a bit of getting used to, but she's back to her easy-to-bed self and we're relieved. The place is just fine. (For the most part. We've got two (loud but nice) young dudes living upstairs. I had forgotten all about the dorm-style-living. Not that I needed to be reminded.)

Some stats:

*She's got a full set of (baby) teeth. As in, 20 chompers. AND had her first visit to the dentist. (Not her favorite.) And we're brushing those teeth on the daily.
*Not sure how much she weighs, but I'm guessing right around 20lbs. Yup, still a lightweight.
*Her hair is coming in. No really, it is. Bald baby no more!
*Just like the baby books say, her vocabulary really started to explode right around 18months. Some of my favorites include: tractor (still), star, hi!, bye! truck, bike ("bipe"), bubbles (buh-buh), octopus (ock...pos), nice, mama/mommy, daddy (dah-eeeee), lola (wo-wa), vrrrooom vrroooom for car, WEEEEEEEEEEE, wa-wa for water, Bebe, Pop, and Wee-Wee (Willie), ball, Bowen (which sounds like buh-ba), and she still uses lots of sign language (more, milk, banana, baby, waves, pounds it out, cheers, etc. etc.) and a lot of animal noises (my favorite is "tweeeet!" for birds).
*Bath time has become a bit of a struggle these days...not sure why. She still detests having water poured over her head. So the hair washing? Torture.
*She eats a lot. Which is good. She's loving hummus SO much right now. Obsessed. Others: banana, oatmeal (every.single.morning), peaches, cheese, broccoli/spinach potato cakes, smoothies, eggs, guac, chips (oops), cucumbers, apples, grapes, well, any fruit basically. So yeah, she eats.
*Sleeping. She's a pretty good sleeper going to bed around 7pm (talking and singing herself to sleep for 30+minutes) and getting up between 6:30-7am. She naps easily as well, from 1-3ish. Sometimes less, sometimes more. She needs both her sippy of milk and a banana to munch on during each nap/bedtime routine. She likes at least three books (always holding up one finger to ask for "one more") and then to be sung to before spontaneously giving us a smooch and pointing to get into her crib. Still in a sleepsack and still relying on the "sleep music." Our routine is going strong.
*Sharing. Still struggle with sharing her toys with friends. On Tuesday we start a Parent/Toddler Montessori class where "sharing is not advocated," so we're hoping we learn some new "turn-taking" skills.
*Climbing. She's a monkey and can climb up onto the couch, the chair in her room (where she hoards books), and up the stairs. She's learning to scooch herself down.
*Miss Independent. She's great at playing by herself and exploring the house. She likes to walk down the street by herself too. But will usually hold our hands when requested. She tries to put on her own clothes and shoes ("shoooos"). She's still a little unclear about the purpose of various articles of clothing though--she tries to put everything on like pants. Baby steps, people.
*Outside. Loves it. Wants to be out there ALL THE TIME. Even though we don't have the roof, we've got grass and a little front yard! Bubbles and sidewalk chalk on the daily.
*Dancing?Music. Still a big fan.
*Holding hands champion. She actually prefers to hold both of our hands and walk between us. Can't say we mind much.
*Helping. She puts away her toys before we leave home. She's mildly to majorly obsessed with "keys!" so she likes to "help" us lock and unlock doors. Even those that do not belong to our house or our car. She's not too picky. Oh, and folding clothes. She's a real big help.
*Reading. We're so pleased about this one. The girl loves to read. It always calms her down if she's having a moment. (We have lots of moments around here.) Anyway, books are cool. Some favorites at the moment: Goodnight Moon, Is Your Mama a Llama, Counting Kisses, My First Things That Go Book, Goodnight Chicago, Who's in the Garden, I am a Bunny, and more.
*Cleaning. She takes after me in this department...she wipes up spills, wipes her face with a napkin, and picks up random fuzzies off the floor. She also likes to put things back in their proper place (after moving them all around the house of course).
*Drama Queen. She has a super dramatic sad face and can fake cry with the best of 'em.

She'e one of us and we adore her silly little sassy self.

16-17 monthers

Whoops. Kinda fell off the TATB wagon there for a bit. Life has been busy. And challenging. (Not all because of the Millster, but yeah, she's been a handful.) There's been plenty of decision-making and mind-changing and big life moments going on around here. Also, surgery, illness, and general anxiety. GOOD TIMES. No but really. We've also had a sunny summer on the roof and with friends and family and it hasn't been all sob story. Just a healthy mix.

ANYWAY. The bean is now 17 months old. That's almost a year and a half. Which is close to two. Which is blowing my mind. She is a real live kid person. And a spunky one at that. Strangers (on the street) like to inform me that she's got a lot of personality. Yeah, you THINK?! Honestly, it makes me proud. She stands out. All 2 1/2 feet tall and 20 lbs of her. (Guestimating on those stats, btw.)

She's starting to mimic more and more of what we say (guess we really need to reign in those f-bombs and s-hits). She does countless things to make me laugh each day. Examples: she gives me this look when she is disappointed in what I'm doing/asking her to do/not doing {wonder where she got THAT from}; she feeds herself {successfully and unsuccessfully--I'm learning to get over the mess}; she puts away her toys {sometimes} without even being asked; she puts on her own hats {haphazardly, which makes it all the more cute}; when she's mad she crosses her arms and holds them there {...}; she plays jokes on us/tries to startle or surprise us; she loves to play chase; she helps me do laundry; she waves bye-bye to the potty when I flush the toilet; she carries her baby everywhere; it's 7:49am and she's still sleeping; she likes cheese {extra sharp cheddar--the pricey kind}; she smiles at bigger boys; she loves the garden and picks her own {not-always-ripe} berries; she runs to the bath when I ask if she wants one; she runs to her room when I ask if she's ready to go night-night or read stories; she can point to all the animals in Brown Bear, Brown Bear; she stacks blocks and loves to read; she enjoys her alone time--playing in her room for extended periods of time by herself; she calls every moving vehicle a
"trac-terrrr;" she loves being outside, especially on the roof; she still says "cheese" when I take her picture {which is a LOT}; she loves dogs; she likes to climb up slides and slide down backwards; she fills buckets with water to drink or pour on herself; push around her baby in her {borrowed} baby stroller; etc. etc. etc.

She's also been called a bully by the gym daycare attendant. That was not fun/easy/cool to hear. She knows what she wants and she goes after it. She is not very good at sharing her toys. Not very good at all. As soon as one of her friends touches anything she immediately takes it away as if she was JUST about to play with that exact toy. It's embarrassing. But normal. I know. But it doesn't make it any easier. She's always been assertive, so I don't know why I'm surprised in the slightest. She swats our faces and yells. She pulls my hair. I have a hard time not laughing. I'm trying. She doesn't listen when I ask her to come inside from the car/garage/elevator/hallway. She finds in hilarious. She picks live flowers/pulls unripe tomatoes/peppers after she sees me deadheading/harvesting. I can't get angry at her for that. She's also getting her 4 i-teeth basically simultaneously. That's gotta hurt. The two top and one bottom have already poked through and the 4th and final one is bulging. It's going to be a happy day when the teething mission is complete.

She is my best buddy these days. We have daily adventures together. And I can't think of a cuter mini best to accompany me each day.

The Toddler Bus

So, remember that time when I was all, "15 months is AWE to the SOME!" And, "Millie is the coolest kid in town!" Yeah, about that. I'm pretty sure she's been reading my blog (genius!) and wanted to prove me wrong or something because HOLY HELL this past week has been ROUGH. And yes, the CAPS are necessary. All of them.

The tantrums? They've multiplied. The shrieking? It's out of control. The rambunctiousness? The recklessness? The wildness? Yes, yes, and YES. We've got it all. She knows what she wants and she wants it RIGHT NOW. And when she doesn't get it right away she is not at all shy about sharing her, um, extreme displeasure with the world. Or the Whole Foods shoppers. Or the innocent bystanders at the park. Or on the street. Or the kids and moms at playgroup. Or, IDK, ANYONE. (Yes, that includes you.)

As I've read and heard, 15-18 months can be tough. (I can now verify that it indeed IS tough. So far.) They have so many emotions and feelings and desires and want to communicate them but they don't yet have the ability to do so. I guess I would be pissed too. I mean, I get peeved when the boy doesn't respond to my question within 2.2 seconds. I get it. (Kinda.) But whoa man, I feel like I've been hit by a bus. And actually, I kind of have. In the form of a 15-month-old rowdy ball of energy and opinions. I guess this wasn't the week to quit drinking.

Additional Stuff to Brag About

After I posted yesterday I was like, OH! And she does this cool thing. And that's pretty awesome too. So I figured it best to write it down when the writing's being written. Or something.

Other Stuff That Makes Millie Cool:

• She helps me get her out of the car seat (usually by switching the snack trap/toy/sippy from one hand to the other) while taking off (or putting on) the straps. Remarkably this is a huge help.
• When I say, "arms up" she does as asked and therefore makes getting her dressed/undressed easier.
• She cleans the floor/table/fireplace/etc with a towel/cloth/coaster/etc. Clearly she's seen me doing that a time or two (MILLION).
  
• She waits by the door for Daddy to come home and then runs to hug him. I DIE of cute.
  
• She drags around reusable bags and loads them with random stuff.
• She waves hello and goodbye and blows kisses.
• If she sees me across the room, she excitedly points at me. And then I point back at her. And it's fun.
• She's handled the one-nap-transition like a champ (KNOCKS ON WOOD).
• She likes to play by herself.
• She hides things under seat cushions. (Hmmm...brag-worthy?)
• She likes to sit on small perches.
• She's climbing stairs like a big girl. And sometimes even by herself. WHAT.
• She fills up buckets with water. (That's some sort of skill, right?)

Annnnnnnnnnnnnd I think that's it. (For now.)