Stubborn Bugger

I feel like I have been saying for months that Maisie is days away from walking. Well, guess what, she is NOT walking. I swear she has been pulling herself up, walking around furniture, taking a couple steps to objects, and walking with push toys for forever. But yet, she won't take that leap. That final release where she knows she can do this. Where she knows that life will never be the same. Where she  is no longer the baby.

She is so cautious. So unsteady when she realizes she is standing by herself. I swear it is a confidence issue more than anything else. Is that crazy?

I am basically positive she has the ability, but yet she holds herself back.

Now, don't get me wrong. I have enjoyed having only one walker for so long. Not sure what I am going to do when they are both running away from me. But Gosh Darn It, Maisie, it is time for you to walk.

And then there is the bottle. She refuses to drink from a sippy cup. For Calan, I just started to cut out his bottle. I just wouldn't give it to him at meals anymore. I have done the same with Maise, and the yet she will just go without till I give her a bottle in the afternoon. I give her a sippy cup with milk and a bottle with water and she refuses them both all morning.

She is just not grabbing on to the whole sippy cup idea. She just bites. I have tried all different types of sippy cups, but if any of you have a go to, PLEASE share. We are just getting no where. She is quite attached and completely not willing to move forward.

Have I mentioned that she is a bit of a stubborn bug. Can't decide if this trait is like my husband who just hates change, or like me, who no one can make me to do anything I don't want to do. Or, God help me, BOTH.

Dear Maisie

Our little Bug, well, we made it. You are no longer a baby. You are on your way to being a full-fledged toddler. You turned 1 a week ago. I can't believe it. You came into this world as a joy and you are still my joyful little girl.

You love to clap and dance. Anytime there is any type of music playing you will stop what you are doing and clap or dance for it. You love to be praised. You light up with every loving word.

You are a determined little girl and are not easily distracted if there is something you want. You know what you want when you want it. (Very girl of you.)

You seriously think your brother is the coolest kid you know and try to be around him at all times. You and him say "da, da, da" back and forth all the time. He says it to you, you say it to him, and you both laugh so hard at it. It melts my heart.

You love to be touched and kissed and hugged. You squeal with excitement and giggle with joy. You are so precious.

You are days away from walking. Not sure if we am ready for you to be taking your first steps, but it will be so fun to watch you run all over the place. You are very cautious, so hopefully you will have way less injuries than your brother.

This birthday letter is a little belated because on your birthday you gave us quite a scare when you had a seizure on our way home from Charlevoix. While later in life you might find it cool that you rode in an ambulance, it was not a fun experience. We hope to never have a repeat. You are much better now. Thank goodness.

As you grow, we pray that you continue to explore your world and continue to find joy in the simplest of things. We pray that you maintain your happiness and always know how loved and adored you are. You are so amazing and the prefect addition to our family.

We love you,
Mommy and Daddy

Happy Birthday Party Day

The special guest of honor

Well, I am done. My party planning for the year is done. Maisie birthday was celebrated with friends and family. My little girl played, got covered in cupcake, and smiled the whole time. It was perfect.

The amazing desserts. I made the strawberry cupcakes, Bob's mom did the adorable cookies, and Bob's aunt made the amazing cake. Everything was delicious too. 

The dessert and gift table. I'll break down both Calan's and Maisie's party tomorrow on where I found ideas and what I did for them. 

Our best attempt at a family photo. One day these will be easy again and not torture, right?

My baby girl. She turns one July 29. Can't believe it.

Really was so happy all day. It made all the work worth it.

I kind of sped through opening gifts because it had started to get pretty warm and we needed to get inside to cool off. 

She investigated everything.

Singing Happy Birthday and another look at her adorable cake.

Getting her first taste. It was love at first taste. 

Love her face here as Calan started to move in on her cupcake. 

She ate all of it. 

(For all my friends and family who have already seen all these pictures on Facebook, sorry for showing them all over again.)

Tomorrow I will breakdown both parties and share links to recipes and how-tos for everything.

2 years / 11 month update

I am the mother of a 2 year old. Seriously, Calan is 2. I thought his first year went by quickly, but this year has flown by. Maisie is going to be 1 soon. Seriously, soon I will be the mother of 2 toddlers and not 2 babies.

This morning Bob had to go to work early, so it was just me and the kids and we sat on our large chair snuggling. I loved every second of it. I love being a mom and love watching them get so old. Though it does make me sad. Time is going by too quickly. I think every mother feels that way. So much happens so quickly those first years, I am so happy that I have been here for everything!

Eating

• Calan is still my finicky eater. I swear he regresses all the time. It is always 1 step forward and 2 steps back with him. I do get him to try everything at dinner, but man is it a battle the whole way. Not sure if it is the time of day or what I am feeding him, but it is just the worst meal. I dread it completely. His appetite is still less, which means at least meals aren't too long. (Yeah.)
  I am working on getting him to stop playing with his food. Everything is either a boat or car and then he makes the hugest mess. Again, such a pain. I just wish meals were easy. One day, right?
• Maisie is an amazing eater. She does not even question it. If it is on her tray, she eats it. Though if after a few bites, she isn't a fan, she starts to drop it on the floor. The little stinker literally smiles at me when she does this. She is eating basically everything that we are. No more purees, which is making life a lot easier. She drinks four 6 oz. bottles of formula each day. I am behind on introducing a sippy cup, so hopefully she transitions OK in a couple weeks to milk. I just have to start being consistent about it. 

Sleeping

• Calan is sleeping a hundred times better. He still rocks, but 2-hour wake ups are becoming fewer and fewer. I can only remember 2 or 3 this month versus 2 or 3 a week. He has been taking a longer and longer time to fall asleep. We have started to give him a sippy cup of water and that helped a little, but now has become another thing he stays awake with. I have started going in there not saying a word and just resetting him and that seems to have helped a little. 
• Luckily, Miss Maisie sleeps through it all. She is out quicker than I can turn off the light. She is awesome when it comes to sleeping. Down at 7:30 and up just after 7 in the morning. No peeps, no rocking, no nothing; just pure sleep. She is still taking 2 naps, an hour in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon. They still nap separately and I probably won't change that till Maisie drops her morning nap. 
• Room sharing is still going great at night. No complaints there. 

Milestones

• Maisie got glasses this month. Little cute pink ones that will hopefully strengthen her right eye so that she doesn't go cross-eyed while focusing. She does really well with them and leaves them on her face most of the time, and to my utter shock, Calan leaves them alone too and tells me when they have fallen down. Crazy right? She will hopefully only need them for a year or 2. 
• Calan's birthday was a success. We had family and friends over for a fire truck birthday party and he loved it. The kid loves his trucks to say the least. 
• Maisie is up to 7 teeth right now and I am pretty sure all of Calan's 2-year molars are in (it is impossible to get in his mouth to check). 
• Maisie is clapping, repeating noises, and dancing (shaking her head or butt to a beat). No words yet. She is pretty quiet, so not sure when that will happen.
• Calan is fearless at all the parks we have been too. Love how active and fun he is. 
• Maisie is getting a bit more balance, but is still just walking along furniture. What is it going to be like having 2 walking kids? I'm a little scared.

Schedule

Still a bit all over the place with so much going on, but here is our base schedule:

• 7/7:30 - wake up, 6 oz. bottle for Maisie
• 8 - breakfast
• 8:30 - Pack-and-play time for Maisie and room time for Calan
• 9 - Maisie nap; Calan free play
• 10:30 - Maisie up; outdoor play or playdate usually. 
• 11 - 6 oz. bottle for Maisie
• 11:30/12 - lunch
• 12:30 - nap
• 3:00- wake up / snack; 6 oz. bottle for Maisie
• 6 - Dinner
• 6:30 - Bath and dad time
• 7:15 - stories
• 7:30 - Bedtime. (Calan usually falls asleep closer to 8 or 8:30, but Maisie is out like a light at 7:30)

Overall

Our summer is off to a great start. We are taking full advantage of the weather and where we live. We are having as much fun as possible. I am already dreading the winter months. Let summer last forever. 

The new jungle gym - our family room chair. 

First wagon ride around our neighborhood

My mini Elton John on our way to the park

The birthday boy!

Anything to do with water and my kids love it!

Cooking for 4

Teriyaki chicken with green beans and roasted potatoes.

I am now cooking for our family of four. We cut out Maisie's purees about 2 weeks ago. We kind of went cold turkey and just stopped giving them to her. She has done fine with all types of food and is seriously the best eater.

I still struggle to get Calan to eat different types of foods, but for Maisie, the second we put it on her tray, it is in her mouth. She doesn't even question it. If it is food, she is good to go. 

I am hoping Maisie's eating influences Calan's stubbornness. His toddler picky-ness is killing me. I am so tired of every mealtime turning into a battle. I promise him every night that my food won't kill him. The continuous playing with his food rather than eating it lands him in a time out, but does not seem to fix the eating issue at all. I dread dinners with him. So frustating. But, I keep trying. 

Maisie only has a month till we start phasing out her bottles. I can't wait to buy my last container of formula. I still need to work on sippy cups, but I know that she will get there. 

As we gear up for our summer vacations, it is nice to know that food is not something I need to worry about. I will be able to find something for Maisie wherever we go. And I know that she will eat basically everything too. So nice.

Cooking for my family is just another sign of how big my babies are getting. (Sniff, Sniff, Tear)

I am an adult, I am an adult, I am an adult

I know that I am married; I know that I have a mortgage; I know that I have children; I know that I am in my 30s; I know all of these things, but rarely do I feel old enough for all of them. 

This weekend, I felt more adult than I have in months. We used our first babysitter. A high school girl that I had to pick up, pay, and drop back off. 

The whole time I was picking her up, I kept thinking to myself, "How am I old enough to be picking up a babysitter?" 

I babysat a ton when I was a teenager. I loved babysitting. And now, we have a babysitter. The whole thing made me feel old.

Luckily, we then hung out with friends who quickly made me feel like a kid again with wonderful immature conversations. We laughed and talked and laughed some more. 

The night went by too quickly, but with our babysitter's tab growing, we headed home to a quiet house. Kids sleeping; dog sleeping; and babysitter playing games on her iPad. 

We love that we have family that will babysit the kids, but it is nice to have another option for date nights. It was weird leaving the kids with someone we just met, but we all survived and had a good time in the process. 

And now I have accomplished another mommy milestone.