Laura and I are suckers for sweets. So after lunch, we indulged in some cupcakes at the Sweet Tooth Fairy. The girls had way too much fun.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
hogle zoo
We love free days at the zoo! I wasn't sure if all the animals would come out to play since it looked like this outside. But they were all active and put on a show for the girls, including the elephants and wolves. I was surprised to see the elephants and camels looking so comfortable since they live in hot climates. We were bundled up and still cold, those poor guys.
stats
Leila had her 18 month checkup last week and I must say it was the best appointment ever...and that's because we had a new doctor.
I don't think I have good luck with doctors. When I was pregnant, everyone told me how much they LOVED their OB. I liked mine, but he wasn't my favorite and I wished I'd shopped around a little bit more when looking for doctors. So when it came time to find Leila's pediatrician I made sure to find someone I loved...and I did. He was way more personable than my OB and he seemed to really care. But after a couple checkups I just started feeling like a number to him and I didn't feel like he cared to thoroughly answer my questions, his visits were short and cold.
Because of this, I was excited when we moved to Murray because that meant we were forced to find a new pediatrician. But I didn't want to have to search for one, I mean where do I start?
Thankfully, my good friend Ashton, who lives in Salt Lake, recommended her pediatrician who has an office just 4 minutes from my house. She raved about him and said he's kinda hard to get into but he's the best doctor she's ever met with. That's a big deal coming from her so I took her advice and called Dr. Ralston. Luckily, he was accepting new clients but he was booked a month out. Good sign?
Well, we went to the appointment and Ashton was right. I could go on and on about how amazing this doctor was, but I'll just say it was a great visit and I left very satisfied. I appreciated how he listened and thoroughly answered my questions. His responses were so in depth that we didn't get to all of them but that's okay because we had good conversation. I'll just look up babycenter for the rest.
He watched Leila play and analyzed our interaction together. He screened for autism and explained exactly why Leila doesn't have it. When I told him Leila is attached to her binky, his response was "good" and related the binky to us, her parents. He said he doesn't know why babycenter said the prime age to get rid of the binky is 18 months, but he thinks it's 2-3. This whole time I've been stressing over the binky and he made it seem like it was no big deal, that it's okay and not to worry about getting rid of it before she's ready. He gave me ideas of how to slowly wean her off of it too. I feel so much better.
Overall, he said Leila is a very, very healthy girl. Her stats are:
Height: 32.2 inches 80th percentile
Weight: 22.7 lbs 20th percentile
Head circumference: 19 inches
I don't think I have good luck with doctors. When I was pregnant, everyone told me how much they LOVED their OB. I liked mine, but he wasn't my favorite and I wished I'd shopped around a little bit more when looking for doctors. So when it came time to find Leila's pediatrician I made sure to find someone I loved...and I did. He was way more personable than my OB and he seemed to really care. But after a couple checkups I just started feeling like a number to him and I didn't feel like he cared to thoroughly answer my questions, his visits were short and cold.
Because of this, I was excited when we moved to Murray because that meant we were forced to find a new pediatrician. But I didn't want to have to search for one, I mean where do I start?
Thankfully, my good friend Ashton, who lives in Salt Lake, recommended her pediatrician who has an office just 4 minutes from my house. She raved about him and said he's kinda hard to get into but he's the best doctor she's ever met with. That's a big deal coming from her so I took her advice and called Dr. Ralston. Luckily, he was accepting new clients but he was booked a month out. Good sign?
Well, we went to the appointment and Ashton was right. I could go on and on about how amazing this doctor was, but I'll just say it was a great visit and I left very satisfied. I appreciated how he listened and thoroughly answered my questions. His responses were so in depth that we didn't get to all of them but that's okay because we had good conversation. I'll just look up babycenter for the rest.
He watched Leila play and analyzed our interaction together. He screened for autism and explained exactly why Leila doesn't have it. When I told him Leila is attached to her binky, his response was "good" and related the binky to us, her parents. He said he doesn't know why babycenter said the prime age to get rid of the binky is 18 months, but he thinks it's 2-3. This whole time I've been stressing over the binky and he made it seem like it was no big deal, that it's okay and not to worry about getting rid of it before she's ready. He gave me ideas of how to slowly wean her off of it too. I feel so much better.
Overall, he said Leila is a very, very healthy girl. Her stats are:
Height: 32.2 inches 80th percentile
Weight: 22.7 lbs 20th percentile
Head circumference: 19 inches
Monday, February 6, 2012
18 months
Leila is 18 months, and for the record, over the last month she:
-Does a little two step/crouch/hands behind her back dance when she gets excited.
-Loves to twirl, especially in a tutu.
-Likes to point at "pretty things" and knows when things are pretty. Examples, tutu's, my jewelry, when she brushes her hair, etc.
-Repeats EVERYTHING. She's like a little parrot. If I ask her to say something, she'll usually repeat it, and does a pretty good job of it. I've been doing better at speaking to her in Spanish, I have to, her brain is like a sponge right now. I can't believe how much she is learning because her vocabulary has doubled since the last letter I wrote. She can now say:
-Her most favorite toy are her stacking blocks. She loves knocking them down.
-She's always over stuffs her face before she's finished chewing...like a gerbil. Pops in one piece of food in her mouth after another. We really need to learn CPR.
-Her favorite thing to do is read. She loves to be read to and read to herself. I love that she loves books.
-Top 4 favorite books in order are: Corduroy, Olivia, Brown Bear, Potty. She always brings me Corduroy, Olivia, and Potty to read to her, and I always find her reading the Brown Bear book alone. It's her favorite because she knows how to say every animal in that book. We read those 4 books everyday.
-Top 3 favorite songs in this order: Old McDonald (sings the part "ee i ee i oh" and of course the sound of the animal), The Wheels on the Bus (does the motions for "round and round"), Head Shoulders Knees and Toes (does most of the motions to this song). She also knows the motions to the Little Old House in the Middle of the Woods song - this is a new one Grandma Fuessel taught her.
-Loves being chased around the house, especially by the popper toy.
-Is obsessed with her baby dolls and loves to give them kisses.
-Speaking of kisses, she loves giving kisses, knuckles, and high fives to people she loves.
-Is the most cuddly she's ever been and actually lays her head on my shoulder when she's tired or wants to snuggle.
-Is currently a social butterfly because she's enrolled in gymnastics, goes to wiggle worms weekly, started nursery on the 1st Sunday of 2012, attends daycare at Golds Gym, and loves every single one of these activities. She gets lots of playtime and interaction with other kids in different places.
-Last letter I said she LOVED holding our hand. That time has now passed because she refuses to hold either one of our hands when walking anywhere and continues to prove she is independent.
-Parkour's with her Uncle G all the time.
-Is obsessed with bath time. We now have to spell it out because if we say, "bath" she starts taking her pants off, runs to the bathroom, and points to the tub.
-Is off the bottle but not off the binky. Oh the binky. It's a curse and the best thing ever at the same time. We were going to try to get rid of it when she turned one, but Leila is way too attached to it and we just couldn't do that to her; and we were't ready for the screaming. We've done our research and have talked to several moms about this subject and we decided that the best thing to do for our child is wait until Leila's 2 to get rid of it. At that age kids are old enough to understand a little more and are better able to give it away themselves. I don't want to put her through the torture of putting vinegar or chili on the nipple or even cutting it off, like I had originally planned. Many moms I know have waited to get rid of it until their kid is 2 and when they did that, they never asked for it again (maybe only once). I like the idea of doing it on their terms because 1. it will be much less dramatic for them and 2. they can understand that they need to give it away because ____(insert story here, example: other babies need the binky or the binky fairy is going to take it and will replace it with a toy). Leila just loves her that thing too much and it's her comfort so we're waiting til she's 2 and I'm going to ignore all the dirty looks. She's still on the newborn size and I've read that the smaller size doesn't run the risk of jacking up their teeth up as much, so at least there's that going for us!
-Every time someone she's her, they always compliment or mention her gorgeous eyelashes/eyes.
-Her sleep schedule is as follows:
bed time is 8-8:30pm
wake up at 7:30-8
nap time is at noon for about 2 hrs
-Now that we have room for her rocking chair, she could read books on my lap in the chair all day long.
-Is a total mommy's girl...but still loves running to the door when she hears Daddy come home from work, and no one can play with Leila the way Daddy does.
-Seriously love her.
-She is the sweetest little girl and I can't get over her.
-I feel like my heart is going to explode just thinking about how much I love her.
-Does a little two step/crouch/hands behind her back dance when she gets excited.
-Loves to twirl, especially in a tutu.
-Likes to point at "pretty things" and knows when things are pretty. Examples, tutu's, my jewelry, when she brushes her hair, etc.
-Repeats EVERYTHING. She's like a little parrot. If I ask her to say something, she'll usually repeat it, and does a pretty good job of it. I've been doing better at speaking to her in Spanish, I have to, her brain is like a sponge right now. I can't believe how much she is learning because her vocabulary has doubled since the last letter I wrote. She can now say:
- "Leila" so clearly.
- "uh oh"
- "wow"
- "tickle"
- "bath"
- "bubble"
- "wow"
- "blocks"
- "bum"
- "whoa" especially when I turn tight corners in the car.
- "no" was dreading the day she learned this word.
- "why" don't think she quite knows what this word means yet but Eric taught her how to say it.
- "down" when she wants down, uses this word all the time.
- "more" or "bite" for more food or when she's hungry.
- the body parts she can say are "toes", "nose", "head", "belly", and "eye". She points the body parts on herself, me, or daddy. She loves to lift up her shirt and point to her belly, we're trying to get her out of that habit so the whole world doesn't see her bare stomach. Thanks Uncle Greg.
- says "night night" when she's tired and ready to go to sleep, or says it as we're putting her down. Love that she can tell us when she's ready for bed.
- "book" when she wants you to read her a book.
- sometimes she get's "mommy" and "daddy" confused because sometimes I'm daddy and perfect strangers are daddy too.
- "please" whenever I ask her to say it (after everything) and now she is starting to put two words together, like "more please", "gotch you", and "what's that".
- occasionally she'll say "thank you" after I ask her to.
- says "poo poo" when she's going #2
- says the sounds to the animal noises she knows whenever she sees it, her favorite sounds are "tweet tweet" because everything in her room has a bird on it, "nay" for horse, and "quack" for duck. Can clap for an alligator, say ribbit for a frog, and we're still working on "oink" for pig and "ooo eee aahh" for monkey.
- every time she see's or hears a dog, she yells, "PUPPY!".
- Whenever she says, "lights" or "please" she has a little lisp.
-Her most favorite toy are her stacking blocks. She loves knocking them down.
-She's always over stuffs her face before she's finished chewing...like a gerbil. Pops in one piece of food in her mouth after another. We really need to learn CPR.
-Her favorite thing to do is read. She loves to be read to and read to herself. I love that she loves books.
-Top 4 favorite books in order are: Corduroy, Olivia, Brown Bear, Potty. She always brings me Corduroy, Olivia, and Potty to read to her, and I always find her reading the Brown Bear book alone. It's her favorite because she knows how to say every animal in that book. We read those 4 books everyday.
-Top 3 favorite songs in this order: Old McDonald (sings the part "ee i ee i oh" and of course the sound of the animal), The Wheels on the Bus (does the motions for "round and round"), Head Shoulders Knees and Toes (does most of the motions to this song). She also knows the motions to the Little Old House in the Middle of the Woods song - this is a new one Grandma Fuessel taught her.
-Loves being chased around the house, especially by the popper toy.
-Is obsessed with her baby dolls and loves to give them kisses.
-Speaking of kisses, she loves giving kisses, knuckles, and high fives to people she loves.
-Is the most cuddly she's ever been and actually lays her head on my shoulder when she's tired or wants to snuggle.
-Is currently a social butterfly because she's enrolled in gymnastics, goes to wiggle worms weekly, started nursery on the 1st Sunday of 2012, attends daycare at Golds Gym, and loves every single one of these activities. She gets lots of playtime and interaction with other kids in different places.
-Last letter I said she LOVED holding our hand. That time has now passed because she refuses to hold either one of our hands when walking anywhere and continues to prove she is independent.
-Parkour's with her Uncle G all the time.
-Is obsessed with bath time. We now have to spell it out because if we say, "bath" she starts taking her pants off, runs to the bathroom, and points to the tub.
-Is off the bottle but not off the binky. Oh the binky. It's a curse and the best thing ever at the same time. We were going to try to get rid of it when she turned one, but Leila is way too attached to it and we just couldn't do that to her; and we were't ready for the screaming. We've done our research and have talked to several moms about this subject and we decided that the best thing to do for our child is wait until Leila's 2 to get rid of it. At that age kids are old enough to understand a little more and are better able to give it away themselves. I don't want to put her through the torture of putting vinegar or chili on the nipple or even cutting it off, like I had originally planned. Many moms I know have waited to get rid of it until their kid is 2 and when they did that, they never asked for it again (maybe only once). I like the idea of doing it on their terms because 1. it will be much less dramatic for them and 2. they can understand that they need to give it away because ____(insert story here, example: other babies need the binky or the binky fairy is going to take it and will replace it with a toy). Leila just loves her that thing too much and it's her comfort so we're waiting til she's 2 and I'm going to ignore all the dirty looks. She's still on the newborn size and I've read that the smaller size doesn't run the risk of jacking up their teeth up as much, so at least there's that going for us!
-Every time someone she's her, they always compliment or mention her gorgeous eyelashes/eyes.
-Her sleep schedule is as follows:
bed time is 8-8:30pm
wake up at 7:30-8
nap time is at noon for about 2 hrs
-Now that we have room for her rocking chair, she could read books on my lap in the chair all day long.
-Is a total mommy's girl...but still loves running to the door when she hears Daddy come home from work, and no one can play with Leila the way Daddy does.
-Seriously love her.
-She is the sweetest little girl and I can't get over her.
-I feel like my heart is going to explode just thinking about how much I love her.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
#febphotoaday day 2: words
Thursday, August 19, 1965
"Utah's most fashionable shopping center".
"Cottonwood Mall...but first...step inside the mall...out of the sun...it's cool...it's comfortable...it's climatized".
Our contractor found this old newspaper in our attic when adding the recessed can lighting. It's from 1965 when Cottonwood Mall first opened.
The newspaper is rad and super fragile. It's ripping everywhere so we plan on getting it framed to hang it on our wall.
we have a reader on our hands
This girl has a love for books.
She loves to be read to.
She loves to read to herself.
If she finds a book, you better believe she's asking you to read it to her or starts reading to herself. She'll point and say, "book!".
My favorite thing to do is to spy on her while she's reading. I think she's actually trying to read because she studies the pages, looks on both sides, then turns the page.
We checked out 10 books at the library this week, but she still never tires of her old ones.
She loves to be read to.
She loves to read to herself.
If she finds a book, you better believe she's asking you to read it to her or starts reading to herself. She'll point and say, "book!".
My favorite thing to do is to spy on her while she's reading. I think she's actually trying to read because she studies the pages, looks on both sides, then turns the page.
We checked out 10 books at the library this week, but she still never tires of her old ones.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
tuesday night date night
Yes, it was the last day of the month but we made it to the temple for January. Our trips to the Temple usually end up falling on the 30th/31st...we're kinda last minute people that way. It's usually packed on the last day of the month too, but was surprisingly chill last night.
Side note: I love how sweet the Temple workers are. I enjoy hearing, "Hi sister, it's so nice to have you come to the temple tonight, thank you for being here." We really need to go more often than we do.
#Febphotoaday
Do you instagram?
I do.
Since I failed at Project365, I figure I'll participate in the Feb photo a day, because today is Feb 1 and why not? I'm a junkie for this sort of thing.
Seems like most of my pictures come from my phone anyway so why not take pictures from a different point of view.
Day 1: a view from my front door.
Erin is an avid instagramer, so I knew she would be all about it doing this challenge with me. Anyone else amongst my small8 (that's probably a little high) 5 readers doing this too?
I do.
Since I failed at Project365, I figure I'll participate in the Feb photo a day, because today is Feb 1 and why not? I'm a junkie for this sort of thing.
Seems like most of my pictures come from my phone anyway so why not take pictures from a different point of view.
Day 1: a view from my front door.
Erin is an avid instagramer, so I knew she would be all about it doing this challenge with me. Anyone else amongst my small
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