21 Months

The timehop app once again got me with a 1 year ago post. This time last year, my little girl was only 9 months, crawling, barely standing and obsessed with spoons (haha). Flash forward to today, 21 months, running, talking, wearing glasses, and full of energy.. and full of sass. 

She is still very clingy to me. If I'm in the room, she will go to me and no one else for more than 5 minutes. I'm calling it a phase but it has been like this since my Christmas break with her. I feel so bad for my husband. I'm thankful (and I'm sure he is too) that he gets time with her in the afternoon before I come home from work. 

A lot has happened in this short month. 

She was diagnosed with Coloboma last month and we got her glasses on Wednesday, March 9th. She officially LOVES them. We personally think it is because she can actually see things now. It helps that Dustin wears his glasses daily and I wear mine occasionally. We are a family of four eyes. While I was feeling like a big fat failure of a mom for her having this birth defect (like I could have done anything about that), I'm now grateful because it is helping her see, her right seems to be stronger, and she looks absolutely adorable in them. Just goes to show you that God has a plan for everything and He definitely put my mind at ease with how well she has adapted.

With spring coming and going as it does in Tennessee, colds are very common right now. My mom was watching Emma when we were at our small group and noticed that she was not her typical crazy fun self, so we took her to the doctor on March 14th and she was diagnosed with pneumonia. Poor thing, can't catch a break. So with that, Dr Moss gave her antibiotics that she needed to take for 10 days. WOW. Easier said than done. Like most kids, Emma hated the taste and we basically had to pin her down to give it to her. Around Day 3 she threw up in the car (pretty much all medicine and milk - imagine the smell), so stripped down and waited for daddy to pick her up to take her home. Wednesdays are my busy days and I couldn't miss work. I cried. Needless to say we are all thankful that is over and happy to say she is all clear. 

Enough with the bad, now with the good...

Her vocabulary is expanding daily, words are becoming clearer and she is in the repeat/imitate phase. I'm loving this stage in her life. She is obsessed with books and is trying to say almost every word. It of course comes out as the cutest thing you have ever heard. 

Some words/phrases:
I love you - "I la oo"
What are you doing? - "whacha dune"
Applesauce - "app saw-sh"
Glasses - "gasses"
Peanut Butter - "peena budder"
Robin - "raw in"
Brent (my brother) - "Bent"
Ava, Davis, Amelia (my brother's kiddos)- "Aya" "Day is" "Me-ya"
Tristan (Emma's cousin)- "Tis-an"

Those last words really shows how much she is loving her cousins lately. Now that she thinks she is a big girl, she wants to play with the big kids. They dance, chase each other, tickle/tackle (sorry Davis), and love on each other. It is a really sweet sight. 

Her eating is fantastic at daycare, but at home not so much. She is now officially obsessed (more than my husband) with peanut butter. Her snack every day when they get home from daycare is now peanut butter. What she will eat at home- pizza, applesauce, yogurt, peanut butter and jelly, pouches (still), veggie chips, chicken nuggets, ravioli, and spaghetti. At daycare - name a food, she has tried it and probably liked it. I'm very thankful for the variety in food she is experiencing during the week. Thank you PCA. 

This month also marks the first month of her being away from us overnight while we were out of town. We celebrated Spencer and Sarah's wedding in Knoxville, so Emma got to stay with Grammy and Paw Paw. We had so much fun with all of our friends, maybe too much! My parents were exhausted, but she was great. They stayed inside most of the time because it was a little chilly and she slept from 8p-815p. Something about Grammy's house... comfy and cozy. 

Well... I had a moment this week where I got emotional at how much she has grown up. Dustin and I decided it was time that we started doing prayers with her before bed. So we've been keeping it simple and saying "Dear Jesus, thank you for...(this is when Emma says everyone and everything)... thank you Jesus" Prayers plus she is now asking for her bed ("bay"). On Monday, we were saying our prayers and its like she knew what she was saying/what she was thankful for and then she pointed and said "bay", laid down and fell asleep. I was in awe (kind of sad but also happy) and I thought where did my baby go? I, of course, told Dustin and texted my mom friends and my mom. They all said similar things... welcome to the club, its a roller coaster and the emotions will never go away and I don't want them to. 

You don't really realize how fast time goes by until you are a parent. Seeing your child go from a crawling baby to a walking, talking toddler is surreal. Life is way too much fun with my Emma bug, so I'm taking my mom's advice and treasuring every moment. 

xoxo

Spring Time + St Pattys

In typical TN spring time fashion, it was in the high 70s for a week and then dropped down to the 40-50s for the actual welcoming of Spring. But hey, we are enjoying every second of it. Walking outside, playing outside, being outside... outside is the name of the game these days. Emma loves it and her daddy and I do too, vitamin D is the best! 

So... when you get pictures from your amazing husband of your daughter learning how blow dandelions in the wind. You melt. 

.....then you get home to find them walking on the sidewalk talking to each other. 

OH my heart.

.....then your baby sees you, comes running towards you and gives you a purple flower. "our mama". Is this real life? 

Its amazing what brightens your Wednesday afternoon. 

Those little moments are what matter most. I'll never forget it.

Since it is March, we also celebrated St Patty's Day by wearing all of our green and being a complete goofball at school. All red heads have fun on St Patty's Day! 

Happy Spring everyone!! Bring on the longer days, flowers, warm weather, and long neighborhood walks with the family. 

xoxo