Sunday, January 12, 2014

14 Months!

Sweet Iyla Grace, today you are 14 months old! It has been a BIG month for you- as you are now officially a walker, talking away & exploring everything around you. You are still such a good, careful, cautious, sweet, deliberate kiddo…. I totally trust you walking around out of sight, as I'll usually find you just looking up at the Christmas tree, playing with your dollies, or walking circles through the house. It is actually easier now that you are mobile, as you can go wherever you want all by yourself! You were never a big crawler, so this has been an awesome milestone for you.

Just hanging out by the tree

Here are your 14 month updates!

How big? Here you are next to Sam!




Sleep? You are such a good sleeper! You take 2 naps a day, usually about 60-90 minutes each, and sleep from around 7:30pm straight through to 7:15am or so.

Eating? Another big milestone this past month was that we officially weaned you from breastfeeding. You now happily take 4 bottles of milk a day- in the morning, before each nap, and at bedtime. I put a little breast milk from a mini pump session in a bottle for you, and you flat out pushed it away- wanting your whole cow's milk ONLY. You have adapted well!

You are also an excellent eater. You devour your scrambled eggs every morning (which I make with onions, cilantro, lots of spinach, & a little cheese). You love chicken, fish, shrimp (if we serve you shrimp you will NOT eat anything else- you love it so much), broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, and cauliflower.

I love the curls that are starting to come in!

You know where we keep your bibs and will go fetch one when asked, delighting in bringing it back to the table for meal time. Such a smart girl!

Potty time? Now that you can walk, you can also stand up from your potty all by yourself- which has made things a bit more challenging. I moved your potty from your room into your bathroom and just that change has really helped. You still usually do #1 and #2 every morning and if you have to go when sat on the potty, will go.

Teeth? Still absolutely NO signs of any!

Words? This month you started saying "Mama" and "Dada" purposefully, and absolutely know those words go with BC and I. It melts our hearts! Some other words you consistently say: kitty, keys, baby (day-dee… you exclaim this every time you see a picture of a baby or when you pick up your doll!), Mama, Dada, Iyla (eye-ya), Mimi (when you see the picture of Mimi on our fridge), please, quack, duck, snack, cheese, walk ('gauk'), up (said constantly as you tug on my pants!), Lily, & Lee. You love signing milk, book, all done and more, and will pant whenever you see a dog.

Milestones?

*Walking. As per the norm for you, once you were really confident and ready, you just broke out the walking like an expert. No real toddling around, just full out walking wherever you pleased, often carrying random items with you.

We've been appreciating the open park space right down the alley from our house!


*Weaning to whole cow's milk

*Following directions! We can ask you to go get something from another room, like your water bottle or dolly, and we always know when you find it because we hear you exclaim "AH!" You understand so much.

*You are definitely going through some attachment and separation anxiety right now. Whenever a new adult comes over you typically cling to me and cry hard for a couple of minutes before warming up. You still absolutely need your own space and time with people… and need to be given the freedom to approach others on your own terms.  The exception? Other kids. You LOVE any and all kids and will go to them immediately. Our little social butterfly!

Favorite things:

*Carrying objects around the house

*Your books

We had just finished reading that pile of around 20 books, and you could have kept going!

*Watching videos of kids- especially kids singing

*Walking and playing outside

Taking a break during a family walk

*Riding on Papa's bike

*Having other kids over to play

You saw your friend Harper for the first time since you were both 3 months old! 
So fun to see how much you've both grown.

You also play with your buddy Henley several times a week. He is only 1 day younger than you! I'm so grateful his family lives right in our neighborhood, and have become good friends with his Mama Irene.

*Putting on a hat and admiring yourself in the mirror


Not so favorite things:

*Transitioning to a new activity if you are still engrossed in whatever we are doing
*Diaper or clothes changes
*Having people who are not me, Papa, or your nanny try to hold you or get too close too soon

Not happy about cousin Miles trying to hold you down for a photo. 
The expressions in this photo are priceless!

*Patience. Especially when I am cooking!

Postpartum body?

*BC and I have been doing a cleanse and taking a couple of weeks to eat extra healthy. It has definitely made a difference already, and I am now again below my pre pregnancy weight.

*My chest has deflated a bit with the weaning, though this past month I had some fullness and discomfort as everything adjusted. Weaning was definitely a bit sad, though liberating at the same time.

*'Knocking on wood'- my Mommy Thumb has been GREAT since the last steroid injection! It definitely helps that I am picking you up less now that you are mobile.

*I've been doing 30-40 minutes of yoga in the evenings while you play with Papa, and it's felt great to get back into an exercise routine.


We love you so much sweet girl, and are delighting in every step of your journey!


2 comments:

  1. I always love reading your blog because Iyla is so close in age to R. It is fun to catch up and see where she is at. We just weaned this month too....although R hates cow's milk and won't touch it...or pumped milk....so for now is not getting any which freaks me out!
    She is still so darn cute! And I love that she loves her books - R loves her books but unless it is bed time, she can't even sit through 2 whole books!

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