Emily at 17 Months Old

Our little girl is becoming better at communicating with mommy and daddy and letting us know what she is feeling or wanting.  Baby sign language has helped so much in trying to figure out what Emily needs at any given time.  Not only is she using the sign language but also trying to say what the gesture means.  When she is all done with food, she will make the sign and then try and say "all done".  She is also great at pointing at what she wants and trying to say the name of the object.  The names are not clear yet but you can decipher what it is she wants, which is very exciting for us.  Brian alone jumps up and down when he can understand what Emily is saying to him.

Emily is learning new songs at school and the names and sounds of animals.  Her teachers tell me that she is very observant and will interact with them when trying to teach new subjects even when her other peers do not.  Emily suprises me all the time with things she learns at school.  When asked, she can now make an elephant sound and raise her arm like a trunk, wiggle her hands in a slithering motion and make a sound like a snake, and rub her belly and scratch her head while making a sounds like a monkey.  She also interacts with her peers at school very well and has become well adjusted to her teachers and classroon which worries me because she will be moving up to a nwe classroom with new teachers within the next couple of months.

Aside from new things learned at school, Emily has become increasingly more aware of Avery being apart of our family and being her sister.  Every morning when Emily hears Avery's cries or squeaks she looks at me and says "sister" and will run to where she hears sister's sounds.  At school when I am taking both of them home, one of the teachers will once and a while help take Avery to the car, and lately Emily will become upset when they take sister away from me.  I have to assure her that sister is coming home with us and no one is taking her away.  So sweet!

Potty training is still a little ways away, but Emily has now started to show signs of heading in that direction.  Sometimes she will grab her diaper and say "poo poo".  I'm not sure if she learned to do this at school or if she just did it by herself.  Most of the time when she says "poo poo" she is either wet or pooped and then on other occasions she is dry.  She isn't consistent but she is learning about herself and is more aware of her body.  I've gotten some great advice to let Emily try and train herself to potty instead of pushing her so that she has an easier transition.  Plus, I don't want to confuse her by potty training her early and then having her regress because her next classroom doesn't have a restroom.  The preschool doesn't help to potty train until she reaches the 2 year old classroom.  Either way, we are proud of Emily and how much she is learning.  She never fails to surprise us.




Emily loves wagon rides.  The tear stems from her thinking she saw daddy across the street and wanting to be with him.




Wagon riding with sister Avery



Loving her wagon



Sisters with Auntie Andrea



Helping mommy cook pancakes in the morning.

 

Avery's First Cookie

My first taste of cookie

Don't take my cookie away!

I love my cookie!

Mmm, cookie taste good!

Mom can I have cookies all the time?



Avery at 6 Months Old

Today Avery had her 6 month checkup and vaccinations. She weighs 14lb. 2 oz. and 26 in. long and is right on track with her development.  The pediatrician was delighted that Avery could go from a sit up position to a stand up position when tugging on her hands.  Avery was charming as she cooed and ahhed and smiled for the doctor and her assistant.  Milestones hit this month include grasping objects and transfering them from hand to hand as well as turning her head to sounds.  She can also sit with assistance such as her boppy or mommy's legs or even Emily.

Avery has had allergy problems since she was around three months old and hasn't been able to shake off the bad cough she developed.  Today we got a perscription for Zyrtec and hopefully this will be able to help her get over her allergies, although she still needs to use her inhaler when she has coughing fits.  My baby got three shots and an oral vaccination along with a finger prick to check her hemoglobin levels.  Of course she cried with the shots but she got over it quickly.  Afterwards her doctor came back and told me her iron levels were low, so I will be giving her a multivitamin with iron in a liquid form for three months.  We go back next month to make sure that she is doing well on the medication and to check her iron levels.

This month Avery will be starting on solid food so mommy bought her some rice cereal and some bananas, sweet potatoes, green beans and carrots.  So far Avery likes the sweet potatoes but made a face when she tried the bananas.  I think she will open up as she gets older.  She has done really well with the new tastes and hasn't had any allergic reactions as of yet.  Avery is still on formula and will be until she turns a year old but we can start giving her water and juices, although I'll probably wait to give her juice until she is older.

I am so proud of our itty bitty! We sit her in her walker and bouncer and she does really well and will play with her toys.  Her daycare teachers tell me that she is very alert and interacts when engaged.  Lately she has been laughing and giggling when Emily jumps in front of her, she loves it.  Avery loves to be on her belly and I'm sure she will want to start crawling within the next month.  She already rolls in her sleep and has very strong leg kicks.  Mommy takes Avery and Emily on wagon rides through the neighborhood and Avery loves them so much she usually falls asleep by the end of the ride.  When Avery is really excited she does a small high pitch scream and her eyes light up.  She is so adorable!




Laughing at herself in the mirror



Daddy feeding Avery bananas



Not sure she's liking bananas



Bananas are sour



Can we try something else?



Mischievous Emily

Emily grabbed a coke can I was drinking from after I had asked her not to touch it.  While mommy was playing with Avery, Emily so slyly snatched it and spilled what was left in it on her while trying to drink from the can.  At the start of filming I ask her to bring the can back to me and she decided she was going to tease me with the can.  When I change the tone of my voice suddenly she jumps which made me burst into laughter and then she burst into laughter.  Oh man, she's going to be a handful!

Funny Girls

I love when my girls interact with each other and this is a particularly funny video of Emily making Avery laugh.  Excuse the noise in the background, we were at a restaurant at the time of filming.