2 Year Update

Yup, we have a two year old on our hands.  And man, are we knee deep in two year tantrums.  Tantrums over the wrong snack, the wrong sippy cup, the wrong book... generally speaking, a tantrum can happen at any time over any issue.  It's not all doom and gloom though.  While Izzy does a great job of testing my patience almost daily, I wouldn't trade it for the world.  Some days I might trade it for five minutes of peace when she has been imitating a tornado siren for 15 minutes while flinging herself on the floor!

I realize this post is several weeks behind her actual birthday, but life happens.  The last month has been intense.  I had midterms for one of my classes and a large writing assignment due right around her birthday, so that took priority for a minute. 

We just went in this week for our big two year checkup, so we are officially weighing in at 31 lbs (it took some doing to get her to even stand on the scale).  She is measuring right at 3 ft tall.  Still in the 90 + percentile for both height and weight.  She is in size 2t and 3t clothes.  2t pants and 2t and 3t shirts depending on the length.  Hello long torso (sorry kid, you get that from both mom and dad).  I thought she was going to be in size 6 for shoes this fall.  WRONG!! She pretty much jumped from size 5 to size 7 over the summer.  It's harder to tell in sandals, but when I went to buy her tennis shoes for the fall and winter, I realized her feet had grown more than I thought.  Needless to say, there were a couple pairs of shoes that she never wore.  She is still solidly in size 5 diapers.  Daycare is working with her on potty training, and she tells us now when she needs a diaper change.  Progress, but we aren't forcing the issue at home either. 

She is a chatter box from the minute she wakes up until the minute she passes out at night.  Her vocabulary has grown leaps and bounds over the last several months.  She is counting to ten, knows her ABC's (for the most part), is pretty solid on her colors, knows most of the primary body parts and some of the more obscure ones like eyebrows. 

Her personality continues to shine through more and more each day.  She has never really been overly affectionate, but she's big into mommy snuggles right now.  Some days when I feel like a punching bag to the adult world, there is no better feeling than a big hug from Izzy.  She reminds me often to stop and breathe.  She's quite observant of people and will often come hug my leg when I'm stressing over something.  Note to self, you may think you're holding it together, but kids are more observant than we give them credit for; even at a young age. 

Some of her favorite things are: being outside, jumping off of things, books, coloring, stickers, balloons, fruit snacks (just got a lecture on that from the dentist this week), water, owls, Elmo, and music.  Not so favorite things: brushing teeth, being told no, and sitting down to eat a meal. 

Even though school has kept me busy, I try and make sure we are getting out and about on the weekends. We were able to get two year photos done in September.  It may have taken us two weekends to get them done thanks to a rainstorm, but I think the end result on both accounts was great!  I can't say enough great things about Chelsea Kyaw Photo.  She was amazing to work with and I love how all our photos turned out!  I can't wait to get them printed and up on the walls. 

Looking ahead to the next few weeks (since we are that close to the end of October), we still have a busy couple of weeks.  I'm excited for Halloween fun with Izzy this year, including carving pumpkins from our trip to the pumpkin patch this last weekend. 

23 Months Old

One more month... one more month until we hit the terrible twos!  I look back at pictures from a year ago and can't believe how much Izzy has changed.  Last year she was just starting to walk and she wasn't really talking.  Now she's a walking, talking machine.  

She's holding at 30 lbs; she feels like quite the load when I pick her up.  She's right around 36 inches tall; once again on upper end of the range for her age.  She's in size five diapers still; have I mentioned I'll be glad when those are a thing of the past?  She's holding pretty firm at 2T clothes.  Some pants she still wears 24 months in.  I have a feeling we might run into issues with pants for her this fall.  Some of the 2T shorts she has are too big in the waist, and end up being around her butt by the end of the day.  I'm guessing 24 month pants are going to be too short for her this fall, so we might have some pant falling down issues.  We've already encountered issues with dresses being too short... even though it's her diaper sticking out the bottom of dresses, we don't need to start that trend now.  

Izzy's amassing quite the shoe collection.  She ranges between sizes five and six for shoes.  Size six shoes are a little too big still, but she has some awesome size 6 boots to wear this fall!  This weekend, we are getting her two year pictures taken, and I'm totally excited!  Although, I really hope she cooperates a little better than she did with her first year pictures.  In her defense, we took those photos the day after getting back from vacation last year and she had been stuck in the car a lot, had too much fruit (hello upset tummy), and was working on a couple of teeth.  This year, we are only working on a couple of molars that have so far been a non issue.  Fingers crossed the happy Izzy shows up for photos! 

This girl loves music and loves to dance.  She isn't afraid to get her grove on and shake her booty.  She cracks me up; she can't sit still when a good beat comes on.  I often see her wiggling in her car seat while we are driving.  She also always has a book in her hands.  She loves to have me read to her, but she's starting to get particular about reading her own stories too.  Most nights when I pick her up from daycare, she sitting in the corner reading.  Speaking of daycare, she is doing quite well.  Now that summer is over, they are getting back to a curriculum.  Although she isn't in preschool yet, they are working with her the basics like numbers, letters and colors.  The other night she blew me away when she counted to three unprompted.  She still gets her colors confused, but she's cute when she shows me a red leaf and tells me it's purple.  They have also been working on potty training at daycare.  I'm not pushing the matter at home just yet.  As she becomes more aware of the concept, however, she has started announcing whenever anyone goes to the bathroom, so that's fun!  If you come over, prepare to have it announced when you go to the bathroom... you've been warned.   

I finally got Izzy's first dental appointment on the books.  Better late than never.  It's still a battle to brush her teeth, so I'm hoping the dentists office isn't totally traumatizing.  Luckily, the appointment isn't until October, so we have a little while to prepare.  Now that we are rounding the corner into September, I'm looking forward to all the fun fall things with Izzy in the coming months.  Hopefully we will enjoy another trip to the pumpkin patch in October, and some trick r treating at Living History Farms.  I hope we make it out to do some apple picking this fall too.  

Things at the house got a little crazy two weeks ago when my law school classes started.  I'm busy, but it's a good kind of busy.  I love being back in the classroom.  I love the mental exercise; I love the challenge.  The days are long with all the readings and trying to get time in with Izzy while putting in as much time at work as possible, but I wouldn't trade it.  I'm beyond grateful for the opportunity I have to chase a long time dream.  I know Izzy wont remember the long nights and the stacks of books covering the house.  Hopefully what she does remember is  mommy loves her and made time for her and to always chase your dreams even when the path isn't clear.  

22 Month Update

Again, I'm a week or so late on this update... it's getting harder and harder to get these things done on time, and life is weeks away from getting even crazier.  Izzy is constantly on the go these days.  I am grateful that she can entertain herself for a bit; it allows me to get some things done while she is awake.  Although, she is never too far from my side. 

She's grown a fair bit this month.  She shot up to 35" and is weighing in at just over 30 lbs. this month.  She is wearing size 5 diapers.  For clothes, she is mostly in 2T.  She has a few 3T things that she wears. Mostly tops for the length and dresses.  The 24 month items she wears are mostly shorts.  For shoes, she's in size 5's and some 6's.  I'm finding there is quite a bit of variation in sizing for the different brands of shoes.  I think for the fall, she will probably be wearing 2T and 3T tops and 2T pants. 

 That face!!!

Have I mentioned Izzy's love of all things water?  She loves splashing around.  I bought a bigger pool for her for the last part of the summer.  She loves it!  Every morning she looks out the patio door and says "bye bye splash splash". 

Izzy's other favorite thing is bubbles.  I can't hind them from her; she finds them no matter where they are at!  She hasn't quite figured out how to blow bubbles.  She gets it every once in a while, but mostly we just drench the deck in bubbles. 

This month we also tried out a bath bomb that we got on Amazon Prime day!  She wasn't sure what to think at first, but loved it after it started to color the water.  It smelled amazing too!

We experienced a bit of my childhood with the Summerfest parade.  We actually made it to two parades this year.  She was better prepared the second time around for capturing candy.  Mostly, I think people loved her adorable face and just threw some candy her way.  I told her she might have to work for it at some point!

We tried our first corn on the cob this month!  The first bite she ate only the end, but she got the hang of it quickly.  She made pretty good work for it for her first time around!

 Izzy's first selfie!  

Izzy's room at daycare is working on potty training.  She's gotten pretty good about telling us when she has gone number two and immediately wants out of her diaper.  Seems like potty training might be in our future... HELP ME!!! 

Her vocabulary has really expanded this last month.  She started stringing words together and chats up a storm now.  I've started monitoring my words more because she has started to repeat the things I'm saying.  It's hard to believe we are rounding the final corner on two years old!  

This next month is going to get crazy!  Law school orientation starts on the 14th and classes start on the 20th.  I'm terrified, but excited!  It's been 8 years since I was in school, I hope I remember how to study... 

20 Month Update

Alright, so once again I'm late on this post... life has been a little crazy the last few weeks with a vacation thrown into the mix.  Just before my 31st birthday, Izzy passed the 20 month mark.  Is it possible we have already entered into the terrible 2's?  Meltdowns have ensued over pretty much nothing.  Offering the wrong snack is apparently the end of the world now.

Izzy hasn't grown at all this month in terms of her height, and has actually lost a pound.  I think it's from all the running around outside she does.  At daycare they tell me she is quite the busy bee.  They always ask if she ever sits still at home.  The answer to that is NO! 

She is still measuring in just shy of 34 inches and about 28.5 lbs.  She is wearing 24 month and 2T clothes.  She is in size 5 diapers at this point.  Her feet are between size 5 and 6 for shoes.  It depends on the brand and style of shoe.

This girl is into everything outside these days... she loved helping me plant flowers this year.  This included throwing dirt around, and helping us weed the flower bed. 

An unintended dip in the river.  She will find water wherever she can!  "Splash splash" she always says.  I guess the lesson here is always have a swimsuit on hand or a change of clothes. 

 Being her cute self.  She isn't always throwing a fit about something.  Sometimes she's cute and smiley!

 Girl getting her shopping on.  Teaching her from a young age! 

Those eyes get me all the time.  She has her daddy to thank for those (and her mama's DNA for not ruining her chances for blue eyes).

Her vocabulary is really taking off these days.  Many words, including "no" she is very clear on.  More is another word she knows quite well.  Please is a sometimes thing.  Mommy and daddy are quite clear these days.  There's nothing better than having her come running toward me at the end of the day when I pick her up from daycare as she yells out "mommy", it always puts a smile on my face!

This month has been filled with excitement so far.  Izzy took her first plane ride!  More on that in the 21 month update.  We actually go to the doctor for her 18 month checkup (yes, I realize it's a little overdue).  I hope to take in all the fun summer activities with Izzy this summer.  On our summer bucket list: take in a baseball game, play at a splash pad, go to the pool, visit the farmers market, go to the zoo, and eat lots of ice cream!!  She does have her mamas sweet tooth!

19 Month Update

Only a few weeks late on this one... April mostly seems like a blur and life around here is still odd without Buddy around.  Izzy still asks about Buddy, which hurts.  We try to explain to her that he went to sleep and is happy now; something a 19 month old doesn't really understand.  We know with time the pain will get better.  Maya is adjusting to the new normal remarkably well.  She and Izzy have become quite inseparable.  Maya has taken to guarding Izzy while she's in the bathtub and being her companion in the yard.  She also claims her spot on the carpet in front of Izzy's crib each night while I put her to bed.

Izzy shot up this month and is measuring in at 34 inches tall and weighs just over 29 lbs.  We are finishing out the last of her size 4 diapers and moving on to size 5.  She's still in size 5 shoes, and has been for a while now.  I'm fine with that because she still has a pair of sandals from late last summer that she can wear!  I have put most of her 18 month clothes away.  She still has a couple of 18 month dresses that fit.  For the most part, I'm buying 2T clothes for her now for the length.  Pants are a little long, but she will be in shorts most of the summer, so I'm not too worried about it.  Hopefully by the fall that length on the pants will be just right.

If there's one thing this kid loves, it's being outside.  You cannot tell her no.  The minute her feet hit the floor in the kitchen after coming home from daycare, she makes a mad dash to the patio door.  She and Maya would run and play for hours.  It's really about the cutest thing ever!  I'm glad they have each other although I do miss having the ever vigilant Buddy around to watch over all of us.  This last month, Izzy had her first skinned elbows at daycare.  The kid plays hard, and is afraid of nothing.  She gets her daredevil trait from Andrew.  She can be a total pistol when she wants to be, but we love her.  They love her at daycare too.  She provides them much entertainment with her array of facial expressions.

The big step this month for Izzy is moving to the toddler room at daycare.  It's a good move for her and she will be in the room with kids similar to age and slightly older than her.  I think this is where she learns and grows the most.  Right now, she is running the show in her room as some of the kids aren't even walking yet.  We do continue to love her daycare as does she, so that makes leaving her there easier.  Although, I look forward to pick up times and her excitement when she sees me walk in.  I miss that on days dad or grandma pick her up.

Just this morning I had a photo pop up from a year ago, and I'm amazed at how much she has grown and changed over the last year.  In addition to changing rooms at daycare this month, Izzy gets to take her first plane trip (help us all).  If anyone has tips on traveling with a toddler who has to be on the go all the time, please feel free to share them.  This kid does NOT sit still.  We are planning to bring her car seat to sit in.  She's good with car rides, so hopefully she will be alright on the trip.  We are headed out to California to see some friends who moved out there a few years ago.  I'm excited since it's a state I haven't been to.  Izzy is already becoming quite the traveler, but that's how we want it.  We want to expose her to new things and people and ideas as much as possible.

Izzy is chattering much more these days.  "Bus" is currently her favorite word.  There's a school bus that goes by her daycare room each morning, and she loves looking out and waving as it goes by.  She says mommy and daddy clearly now.  She knows Maya, night-night, bye, apple, pickle is gherkle, cheese, cracker, and several other words.  She can identify most of her major body parts, and knows a couple of her colors.  Her little mind amazes us!  She loves to read and would let us read every book on her shelf before bed each night if we let her.  She continues to be an amazing sleeper, and for that we are grateful.

As if life wasn't chaotic enough, I'm striking out on a new adventure in the fall.  Earlier this year I took the LSAT with the hopes of going to law school.  In April, I was accepted into Drake and will be starting in the fall.  It's been eight years since I was in school, and I'm scared out of my mind, but I'm excited for this opportunity.  All the details are still being worked out.  It will flip life upside down for a while, but in the end the sacrifice will be worth it.

17 Month Update

They say life is all about various seasons.  Today I went to a baby shower for a long time friend.  I miss the days of baby things: tiny toes and fingers, staying in one place for more than two seconds, silence!  While I sometimes long for the days when my tiny (she was never really tiny) squish could curl up on my chest, I'm also really thankful for the season we are in.  Izzy can communicate with us a little more now and tell us more of her needs.  She will get her snacks out of the cupboard and bring them to us.  She can sign for milk, she can pick up her toys when asked and when she feels like it, and she knows her overall schedule.  We feel eternally grateful that she is such a solid sleeper.  On the weekends, she will go to bed at 7:30 and sleep in until 8 or 9 am.  She still takes a solid two hour nap through the middle of the day, and will sometimes take a short nap in the late afternoon. She's good about telling us when she's tired.  She will grab her blankets and crawl up to her crib, or curl up in the dog kennel.  

This month is another one that flew by.  Andrew was gone for a week for work, so that always speeds time up it seems.  While Izzy's milestones aren't quite as major these days,we notice the small changes.  Probably the most notable this month was her experimentation with expressions.  She makes a mean duck face and can furrow her brow with the best of them!  I'm just waiting for the hands on the hips and the sass factor will be at 100%.  

In terms of growth, I think she is going through a bit of a spurt right now.  She gained another pound this month.  She grew about a 1/2 inch in length this month as well.  She is still in 18 and 24 month clothes and size 4 diapers.  She is wearing size 5 shoes and has quite the shoe collection (I might have a shoe problem).  She loves to "put her shoes on"... she hasn't actually figured out how to put them on though.  Luckily we seem to have moved beyond the phase of fighting me in the morning to put her shoes on.  Unfortunately, we haven't moved beyond the "pull my shoes off the minute we are in the car" phase.  This week she surprised us by figuring out how to go down the stairs on her own.  Honestly, most of the major skills she has accomplished to date are things she has completely figured out on her own.  We never really worked with her on crawling, walking, etc.  My mom always said I did things in my own time when I was little.  Seems Izzy is a bit of a mini me in that regard.  

Izzy is quite the destructo child.  Most of the time it looks like a tornado went through our living room.  There are toys everywhere.  Frankly, we have given up on picking them up until after she goes to bed.  There's no point.  Our current struggle is with teeth brushing.  In the mornings, she's pretty good about chewing on her brush, but that really only covers her front teeth.  At night, I let her do it her way, but I end up holding her down so I can get to her back teeth.  It's a struggle every.single.day.  #sendhelp!  By all accounts from daycare, she is quite the busy bee there as well.  She loves music time; I catch her dancing all the time!  The girl has rhythm too.  

I can't wait to get outside more as the weather warms up.  Izzy loves it outside; Andrew hopes he has a new hiking buddy in the making.  He has talked about camping out with her in our backyard this summer.  We will see if anyone gets any sleep!  

16 Months Old

It's safe to say we are in full on toddler mode at our house.  Meltdowns and attitudes are a common occurrence.  Yesterday we had a meltdown while trying to get out the door to daycare... I wouldn't let Izzy spend 45 minutes putting her shoes on.  She has yet to actually figure out how to put her shoes on, so it wasn't something that was eventually going to happen.  I can't imagine where she gets her independent attitude from.

Our first milestone this month was celebrating Buddy's 14th birthday!  It's hard to believe he is 14; most days he acts like he's 5.  He has been battling pain in his back again the last month or so.  It started just before Christmas.  I was hoping we would be able to kick it with a quick round of steroids, but this took a full on round of meds and acupuncture treatment.  Luckily, I think we are finally coming out of it and he seems to be doing well.  As usual, we celebrated with a pupcake for both he and Maya.

Izzy continues to develop her personality.  She loves to dance; she must have my genes.  Daddy is already a little concerned about some of her dance moves.  I have assured him they wont last.

We seem to have some discrepancies on Izzy's height.  At her 12 month appointment with the doctor, she measured 32".  When I measure her at home, she is only measuring about 31".  I'm guessing she moved her head the last time we measured her at the doctors office.  She was due to go back to the doctor at the end of December for her 15 month checkup.  With all of the germs floating around right now, I have no interest in taking her into the clinic.  We will get there once this round of germy winterness passes.  Until then, we will say she is measuring just shy of 32".  Needless to say, I'm not sure she has really grown much since turning a year old.  She did actually gain a pound this last month and is now up to 26 lbs and 4 oz.  I can explain this by the pound of green beans she ate just before I weighed her!

Meal time is always a treat with Izzy.  One minute she loves cheese, the next day she wants nothing to do with it.  She was totally into goldfish crackers for a while.  I bought a bunch at the store and suddenly she wants nothing to do with them.  I can't keep up.  I'm sure you experienced parents are laughing as you read this and thinking, "welcome to the club".

We are still in 18 months month clothes, but I have pulled out a few 24 month things.  I stock piled quite a few 24 month winter clothes that I want to make sure she gets some use out of before the end of winter.  I thought I had been collecting some clothes for this summer, but when I went through Izzy's clothes this week I realized I don't have near as many things as I thought.  Before I hit up my favorite consignments shops for spring and summer clothing, I'm going to wait and see if this little sassy pants is about to go through another growth spurt.  I have a hunch we are going to land somewhere in the 24 month to 2T range for the summer.  Shoes are another tough one right now.  We blew through size 4 shoes quickly, so I stocked up on size 5 shoes for the winter and a few size 6 shoes for the summer.  However, her feet have slowed, and now I'm not sure she will make it to size 6 by the summer.  At this point, I've stopped buying clothes for the next season!

This month we have been lucky to enjoy some time outside.  Izzy had her first exploration in the snow.  She couldn't really move in all of her snow gear, but she seemed to enjoy it anyway.  She chased after Maya while Andrew threw snowballs.  Buddy stayed inside and enjoyed the warmth.  With his old age comes an intolerance for the cold.  We have a busy February in store for all of us.  I have a big test coming up next weekend, Andrew has some travel for work, and Izzy will have her first Valentines Day party at daycare.  Through it all, I try to remember to enjoy to the day to day.  She's growing up quickly, and I don't want to miss a minute.