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  • Bloggity Blog Blog

    Another thirty-something mama writing about my three and a half year old daughter, my one year old daughter, breastfeeding, birth, car seat safety, motherhood, photography and family. Come see what's going on.

Dear TT – 11 Months

Dear TT,

For the past few months I have meant to write down your MANY accomplishments and changes on the blog but time is moving along at warp speed and here you are, about to turn 1! So, this post is going to be a catch up post before your big first birthday post.

The week of July 31 at 8 months old you started full on crawling, transitioning from crawling to sitting and started pulling up to standing. You also started drinking from a cup and started swallowing what you put in your mouth instead of just pushing it out as soon as it went in. I was so happy and relieved!

The week of August 4 you got your first tooth which was quickly followed by the second! You turned 9 months and you went from crawling slowly to being a very competent crawler and you let everyone know that you did not want to be left behind! You started following me and Q wherever we go. You also started sleeping really well around this time and I knew that our time cosleeping was coming to an end. It was a bittersweet realization even though I was expecting it since you kept trying to crawl off the bed! The weekend of August 16 you and I drove to Cleveland for the memorial service of your Great-Grammie. It was the first time you were able to meet a lot of the extended family and you won hearts right and left. When we returned from Cleveland we decided it was time to move you into Q’s room! You kept sleeping well, Q didn’t adjust fully for a few more months. That was ROUGH! Now you both sleep better when the other is there. By the end of August you were cruising along the couch and you started waving! You also started signing “Milk” and become obsessed with Signing Time, just like Q!

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In September we took walks in the stroller almost every day. It was so great to be outside and have the weather start to cool off. You loved swinging at the parks and people watching. You thought Q is the bees knees and follow her everywhere. She started preschool and now we have three mornings a week together. We went to music class together on Tuesdays and you LOVE it. You are so into the songs and the CD (Flute Collection) will immediately calm you in the car! You love George and he puts up with your tugging and prodding and body slamming! At the end of the month we drove down to see Mimi and Tutu and you loved playing with the dogs and meeting the horses. While we were there you said “Hi Judge” and “Hi Bails” to the dogs. All three of us heard you and we were so impressed! You also had your first sign/word combo with “All Done”! On September 30th you said and signed “Mama” while we were walking around Costco. I was so happy that I cried.

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October started with a bang. On 10/3 your first top tooth broke through, you signed “More” and you started clapping! Later in the month we had a special nursing photo shoot with Dani and I’m in love with the photos. I try to have special times where it’s just me and you instead of always playing second fiddle to Q. You continue to love music class and now you pat your knees when you hear the Hello song! My smart girl!

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I’m having a much harder time with the idea of you turning one than I did when Q turned one. I’m cherishing babyhood in a different way the second time around. It’s going SO fast and it makes me sad. I LOVE watching you grow and learn new things. It’s so exciting to see you wake up to the world. At the same time, I keep asking myself, “Where did the time go? Where is my little baby??”. My little baby is growing into a gorgeous toddler who is silly and fun and always exploring.

I love you so much, T. SO much. I miss sleeping with you at night and having that quiet time alone with you just watching you sleep. The transition to you sharing a room with Q has been hellish but hopefully we’ll get the big payoff where both of you are sleeping well and you will share a special bond from sharing your space. Time will tell!

Love you the mostest,

Mommy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Water Beads for Sensory Play aka Preschooler Crack

Q's latest obsession during her screen time is watching YouTube videos of people unwrapping and showcasing toys. She's particularly fond of anything to do with Lightning McQueen, she likes watching Kinder Eggs being opened and Cars toy sets. One video that she keeps coming across is for Orbeez, little gel balls that grow in water and can be played with. Q loves water, loves balls and loves watching these videos so I decided that I should get her some. It turns out the Orbeez are just a marked up brand name of water beads that are used for floral arrangements. Score!

$5.50 on Amazon gets you about 1000 and hundreds of hours of fun for your preschooler!

 

You soak the little beads in water and they grow into balls of gel that feel really neat in your hands, bounce on hard surfaces, and are just plain fun. Q played with them for 2.5 hours straight until we had to stop for bed. Now they are soaking overnight to see how much bigger they will get!

Go buy them for your preschooler. The suggested age is 5 and up but with supervision this is great for the three year old crowd. Keep the babies away though, major choking hazard!

8/1 Update- Here's what they look like after soaking all night. Pretty darn cool!

 

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Q’s Construction Party!

Q’s third birthday was construction themed. She loves diggers and trucks and all things about construction sites. Sometimes we’ll go park by construction sites and watch the diggers at work. It’s one of her favorite things to do. So, the choice of party themes was a no brainer.

The party was 3:00-5:00pm so we kept it to snacks and cake. We had (clockwise) Cheese & Cracker “Shingles”, Rice Krispie Treat “Bricks”, Mixed Nuts & Party Mix “Nuts & Bolts”, Grapes as “Wrecking Balls”, a dump truck with Mum Mums for the babies and Pretzel Rod “Logs”. The best part was the Construction Site Cake. She’s still talking about it.

I’m so proud of this cake. It’s a chocolate sheet cake from Costco, a 5 pack of diggers from Target and crushed oreo “dirt”. It was a hit!

She thought it was SO cool that we were singing to her.

THERE is that smile that I try so hard to capture in photos!

Hard Hats for Everyone! Q with her Papa. She loves her digger shirt from Etsy and wants to wear it every day!

TT was rocking her hard hat and her dump truck onesie. She totally looked like a boy but who cares? 🙂

Q had a blast running around with her friends and cousins.

This kid and her belly. I die. I just want to munch on her.

My gorgeous little TT. I’m glad at least one of my kids loves the camera!

They love each other!!!

And a family photo! It’s not perfect but I’m thankful to have it!

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Dana M - July 11, 2013 - 9:14 AM

Q’s face with the cake in front of her is PRICELESS. Your girls are so cute. Happy 3rd bday to Miss Q. 🙂

Grace - May 4, 2016 - 9:10 PM

I found this off of pinterest and I love the idea! My digger obsessed son would love this for his birthday.

Morgan - May 12, 2016 - 2:39 PM

It was a hit! Have fun with his party!

Dear TT – 8 months

Dear TT,

I can’t believe you’re already 8 months old! I feel like you’re barely a baby anymore even though you are still very much one. You are the happiest little girl and such a blessing to our family. I love seeing your big, open mouthed grins and hearing your giggles.

You have been sitting up on your own since right before you turned 7 months and now you’re going from sitting to hands and knees and you’re rocking back and forth! We know what’s coming next! I anticipate that you’ll be crawling in the next few weeks, something Q didn’t do until 10 months! You’re SO ready to get around on your own. You roll over during diaper changes, you lunge for toys or to “pet” George (aka eat him), and you can spin all around on your tummy to get what you want. Mobile TT will be a definite game changer!

You love to sit and play most of the time. You like toys that you can shake and toys that you can chew. You don’t have any teeth yet but I think we are close. You are still getting the hang of eating as well. I don’t know if that has anything to do with your lack of teeth but you don’t really swallow much yet so we’re just going to keep offering until you get the hang of it. You’re also learning to drink from a straw sippy cup and a regular cup. I’ve pretty much given up on offering bottles at this point but Daddy keeps trying. We need to figure something out since Daddy & I will be leaving town for a kid-free weekend in 5 weeks! That’s soon! I can’t help but wonder if you’re just not getting the same level of exposure to food and practice eating/drinking that Q did at this age. That must have something to do with it. The good news is that you’re super excited about food and drinking so I know you’ll catch on soon.

You still love music and certain songs like “Way down yonder in the paw paw patch” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” always make you smile. You like to babble and “talk” and “sing. Sometimes you just growl, which is hilarious. You don’t seem to be angry when you do it, just intense. You rarely cry. Thank goodness. If you do, we know it’s because you are tired or hungry and those things are easy to fix. Although, you’ve recently started complaining and getting upset if someone takes a toy from you and if I walk away when you want me to stay.  You like to watch Q run around and you especially like it when she jumps in front of you. Pretty soon you’re going to be jumping too! You laugh when we tickle you or blow raspberries on your belly. I love your laugh!

We’ve learned this summer that you love water and the pool. You think it’s the best thing ever. You’re a little more eager than I’d prefer but it’s adorable. You’d take five baths a day if we let you. You get a bath every night after dinner because you make such a mess!

You’re still a pretty big girl but I feel like your chubbiness is giving way to height. You are so long! You are still totally squishable and kissable but you don’t have rolls upon rolls anymore. I think you are destined to be long and lean like the rest of us.

Your hair is still a peachy blonde and your eyes are BRIGHT blue. You probably know this by now but I LOVE your blue eyes! Daddy and I joked that we would keep having babies until I got my light eyed child but here you are! I hope it’s safe to say that they will stay blue, or at least that they aren’t likely to turn brown at this point. It’s superficial but I’d be sad if they changed now! You are an absolutely gorgeous baby. Just looking at you and seeing you play gives me so much joy.

You are such a precious gift to this family. I love you to the moon and back.

Forever Yours,

Mommy

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Dear Q, 3 Years Old

Dear Q,

Three years ago at 2:01 AM on July 4th I met my daughter for the first time. The week that followed was one of the hardest of my life but it resulted in us coming home and becoming a family. Three years later there is no sign of that little baby in my vibrant, brown eyed, curly haired, long legged, darling girl but the amazing family is stronger than ever.

What are you like at three? Well, you keep me on my toes, that’s for sure. You love to run, jump and climb. You love to sing songs that you have learned and songs that you’ve made up. You also like to speak a crazy made up language sometimes. You LOVE being a big sister. Playing with TT is one of your all time favorite ways to pass your time. She loves you back too. I hope you continue to become closer as you grow up and if you’re reading this as an adult I hope you two are still close. You are able to make her laugh harder and more often than anyone else. I could watch the two of you play all day long.

You are going to start pre-school in the fall and you just “graduated” from the Mom’s Morning Out Program that you have been attending since November. I’m excited for you to start school. I think you’ll flourish and it’ll be great for you to make some new friends who are your age. You know all of your letters, colors and shapes. You know animals and sports and tons of other things. Your MMO teacher, Miss Gina, told me that you will be a “breath of fresh air” for your teachers next year. It sounds like you’re a bit ahead of the curve which is great. You’ve just started using scissors, glueing and coloring a little more within the lines. You also love to write “Q” over and over. You’re really excited about writing “T” as well but your “T” looks a lot like your “Q”. 🙂

You’ve been potty trained for almost 4 months now. Not much to say about it except that I still get so proud seeing you in your little girl underwear. It’s just another reminder of how you’re growing up!

You sleep in your big girl bed and usually wake up once or twice a night, STILL ,but you usually just want someone to walk you back to bed and tuck you in. We are planning to move TT into your room with you so we’ll see how that goes!

As much as you like to run and jump and swing you still love to cuddle and be close to me, which I cherish. There’s so much big girl in there that sometimes it’s extra nice to cuddle with you and remember that no matter how big you get you’ll always be my baby.

You’re a whiz with the iPad/iPhone. You love diggers and construction and emergency vehicles. I love that you’re into “boy” things. I wonder if going to preschool will change your interests since you’ll be around more girls. We shall see. You love to do things by yourself these days. That independence is both helpful to me and a little scary to me sometimes when you do things like open up the front door and tell me you’re leaving! (At least you told me!)

You speak clearly and use complete sentences most of the time. Crackers are still “quackers” but other R sounds are clear. Scissors are “zissors” and… I can’t really think of more right now. You pronounce most things really well! It amazes me to see how much you’ve grown up this year.

I’m so thankful that you are healthy and happy. We really hit the jackpot with our firstborn. Keep being amazing and always be yourself!

I love you forever and ever and ever.

Yours,

Mommy

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