Getting Rachel to stay still for one of these pictures is quite the challenge as you can tell by these photos!
The biggest change from 13 to 14 months is that Rachel walks everywhere now. She hardly ever crawls anymore. It's so fun to watch her walk, she still does this sort of "Frankenstein" stiff like walk. It's so cute. Other updates:
New words include monker (her stuffed monkey which is her lovey and she carries with her everywhere), duck, bowl (she just said that tonight as we were reading Goodnight Moon, okay (everything is ok! ok!), bird, (She's been saying momma, dadda, and Bella for awhile. All cats, and sometimes other animals are BELL-AA. She sounds like a little Italian baby).
She can wash her own hands and often tries to wash herself for bath time. Speaking of baths, they are challenging too most nights. She just does not want to sit in a bath for 10-15 minutes. We've been doing 5 minute speed baths. Any ideas on what to do? (We have plenty of bath toys).
She'll let us know when she's done eating now. She starts to take off her bib and she starts to throw her food on the floor. Good thing we left that tarp under her high chair after her birthday!
She growls and "talks" like Froggie from The Little Rascals. I wish we could get that on video, it's really funny to hear.
She has figured out door handles and can open doors now. (She's loved closing them for awhile!)
The move to the toddler room at school was really great for her. Her skills have increased incredibly this last month. She really loves being there and we have a hard time getting her to go home because she's having so much fun. She has little friends now and the little girls come up and hug her when she arrives for the day. It's getting easier and easier to drop her off in the morning now. She used to cling to Johnny's leg, but now she can't wait to get her coat off so she can play with her friends. Her teacher says she is doing really well following along with the other kids and is loving art. Unbelievable, it's pretty easy to get her down for a nap there too I guess. She just walks over to her little cot and goes to sleep! So why does she scream when I put her down? Sigh.
Timing is an art. If you're not ready, you might regret leaving. If you're SOO ready, it can be tough leaving too because you're bitter at that point.
I had dinner with a friend of mine last week. She recently started a new job and was about three months in. It sounds like it wasn't a good move for her and she was cautioning that the grass isn't always greener.
I've been a bit busy. On the 31st, we had a couple friends over with their kids for pizza and beer...it was a lot of fun and we all had a great time. But then, the next day, Rachel got really, really sick. It started with a fever and sluggishness...and then led to vomiting and breathing/coughing issues. We took her to an emergency place and discovered she had an ear, eye and respiratory infection. Eek!
When we took her to the Dr during the week, they told us we had to give her these breathing treatments with a nebulizer. At first, they didn't seem to help too much and we had to call the Dr because her lips were turning blue! Then it finally kicked in and she was doing better. But it was such a scary five or six days. She was so lethargic, she'd just lay on me and watch cartoons. It was so sad.
She's much better now and only has to do the breathing treatments for another week or so. Just as she was getting better, I got violently ill though.
So...I've just been finally getting back into the swing of things. I still have to post pictures from Christmas and I never did my 2009 wrap up this year. Oh well.
In other news, we had a great visit today with my college friend Erin and her two amazing daughters. Last week, I also enjoyed the movie Up in the Air with my friend Kathy. (Great movie...it was so fun to see Omaha in so much of the film too). Oh, and I read the entire Twilight series on my new Kindle. And like a big dork, I read the draft of Midnight Sun and Stephanie Meyer's Web site. And yes, I totally giggled when I saw a Robert Pattison movie preview before Up in the Air! Ah, I'm in lust with a teenage vampire! Speaking of books, I also just finished The Lovely Bones yesterday. Disturbing, but many parts were really comforting too. I really enjoy reading books about Heaven now.
Oh and today Rachel is 14 months! I'll post her update and photo this week. She is walking like crazy and is moving up to the toddler room on Tuesday. Yikes! My little baby is...a little girl! Eek!
Johnny's brother, Dan and his girlfriend Adrianne came to visit last Sunday and Rachel was a little suspicious of the beard, but she warmed up after awhile! :)
Other updates....
Like all children everywhere...it's not really the gift you give they spend hours over, it's the huge box that it comes in which becomes the major plaything! Here are some fun pictures of Rachel exploring her new "toy."
Well, our little daredevil took a dive a couple weeks ago and received a buckle fracture, which means the bone bent a bit but didn't break...it's really more of a "baby" sprain the doctor said (out of 1-10, it's less than 1) so she can wear a splint if we want her to, but she really doesn't have to since it's healing pretty well and it should be all healed in the next 2 weeks or so. I've been beating myself up over it, but people keep telling me their kid daredevil stories so I don't feel so bad now.
Rachel has almost all her teeth now and as these pictures shows, I think she believes she can eat just about everything now!!
We're hoping to spend Christmas with my family, but the weather is just not cooperating. If you're reading this, say a little prayer for us ok?
Rachel has been taking one step here and there this week, but this afternoon while we were playing in the family room, she walked two steps to me from the coffee table!
She is also standing a lot on her own for longer and longer periods (five seconds to 15 seconds).
Aren't these pictures cute? Looks like Rachel wrote her own card this month! Rachel has such a personality these days! Here is a highlight of all the things she can now do at 13 months old:
Rachel has always liked to be held. Now she lets you know that she wants you to pick her up by holding her arms in the air and saying, ugh, ugh...
She's been waving bye bye for awhile now, but now she actually says the words as she's waving.
We've said "good girl" to her so much that now she says it and knows when TO say it. Crazy! She also likes to clap too when she knows she's done something she's proud of.
She can stand on her own, but only for a few seconds. She's still cruising along on her feet while holding onto furniture, including plastic walking toys. Any day now and we'll probably have a walker on our hands.
Rachel likes to pretend as if she's eating food. She'll take one of her plastic spoons, find a cup and mock eat. It's hysterical. She also "drinks" out of cups.
She does enjoy music and will bounce to the songs she likes.
While getting dressed or undressed is still difficult, she will sometimes help me out a little now...she is also fascinated by the whole shoes and socks process and will sometimes try and put them on herself.
She still adores the cats...but they don't adore her back sadly. Today she "gave" her monkey, Monker, to Bella. I don't think Bella understood the significance of this act!
Rachel loves soft things. She likes to jump into pillows or comforters.
She can spend hours opening and closing doors.
The days of two naps are numbered...or non-existent. She's now mostly napping just once a day for about two hours. This actually started the day of her birthday party. That was the first time she only had one nap and it just kind of continued. There are a couple days here and there where she takes two, but for the most part, she's become a one nap gal.
Overall, she's a pretty happy little girl who loves to laugh a lot, especially when she's playing with Dada! She is still teething though...but there are very few teeth left to come in at this point. She has almost all, if not all, of her bottom teeth and is currently working on filling up the back top of her mouth.
