Milestones
1/1/08: Happy New Year! We spent the day driving home.
1/2/08: Back to work for all of us. This afternoon, Andrea's little friends came over - Ronan and Camryn. The kids don't like to share with each other, they prefer to share with the adults. Ronan tackled Andrea to the ground. At first Andrea thought it was funny but then she got mad about being held down.
1/4/08: Andrea had a good day today. She took her first nap at work and a nice second nap at home. She is such a good little girl. She has been waking a little early, but it will be easier to fix that over the weekend. For meals today, she had homemade yogurt with strawberries, a cheese quesadilla with pineapple salsa, oranges, and for dinner she had bean soup and peas. She also had some snacks of organic crackers and cereal in between, but overall it was a really yummy day.
1/5/08: Andrea had a nice time at Grandpa E's today. She was wary of Ashley (dog), but played catch with her a few times. She ate chicken with rice, vegetables, and Grandpa's applesauce.
1/6/08: All 3 of us went sledding today with Ronan, Lisa, and Ray. We went up to white pass and had a lot of fun. Andrea was awfully serious but we think it was because she felt weird and constricted in her snow suit. Ronan and Andrea both have these little infant sleds that you can belt them into and pull them around in. There was a steep hill for the adults, but Mommy had to create a new hill for the little ones that wasn't as steep.
1/8/08: Mommy and Andrea saw a movie today at the local theatre. We had lunch and watched Mr. McGorium's Wonder Emporium (I think that is the title). Some of our Mommy/Kiddo friends were there as well including Ronan and Camryn.
1/9/08: We had a playdate at our house today. Mommy set up a bunch of empty boxes to make a back and forth tunnel for the kids. There were three toddlers: Andrea, Ronan and Camryn. They had fun. Ronan picks on Andrea more than Camryn because Camryn is tall for her age and therefore harder to push over. Andrea takes it in stride most the time, but often tries to make it to an adult before he can tackle her. This evening, Andrea had her second swim lesson. This time, she got dunked! She didn't like that much but did okay.
1/10/08: Andrea wanders around the house with her arms in the air sometimes. She is so funny. We don't know where she learned it from, but it seems to be fun for her.
1/11/08: Andrea is so funny. She really likes attention. She will smile and laugh at strangers. It is fun that she makes others smile.
1/12/08: We went to the Portland Zoo today. Andrea seemed to enjoy the animals. We had a nice afternoon.
1/13/08: Grandma and G.G. visited today. Andrea enjoyed all the attention and was sweet as usual.
1/15/08: Andrea likes to run away when you get her coat out. She thinks it is a game and her arms go in the air. She squeals and laughs at her game. Yes, it is annoying when we are in a hurry, but it is too cute.
1/16/08: Andrea was tired for her swim lesson today and got too cold. She got to go down a slide into the pool though. Mommy caught her so she didn't go under. We also had a playdate today. Andrea is such a mild child compared to some of the other kids. She isn't too shy like some or too aggressive like others.
1/17/08: Andrea is still doing pretty good with her schedule. Some days are better than others, and waking her up a little early for work isn't helping much. It is only about 40 minutes early but it is consistent and means she is not getting quite enough sleep. On weekends she wakes up at the early time as well because she is used to it. Here is her current schedule: wake by 7:20am, nurse, go to work with Mommy, eat breakfast at work around 8:30am, nap at 10:30am, wake up no later than noon, nurse, go home for the day and play, nap around 2:30pm, wake about 4pm, snack, dinner between 5 and 6, bath at 7:10pm, nurse, bed by 8pm.
1/18/08: Each day we read Andrea a story and sing her a lullaby before she goes to bed or a nap. She loves the story. Before bed at night we add in one other ritual of saying good night to her prayer doll, "Annie". Annie says a prayer when you squeeze her. Andrea knows and likes this routine. She points to features of Annie's face so Mommy can identify them. Mommy then has Andrea give Annie a kiss and Andrea has Mommy give Annie a kiss. She usually repeats this a couple of times then knows Annie is supposed to go back in the little rocking chair. If Mommy doesn't do it fast enough, Andrea literally throws her towards it :)
1/19/08: Andrea received tons of attention for our neighbors Harry and Tracy tonight. They brought over their niece, Shawnee, who we are going to use as a babysitter in the coming months (yeah!).
1/20/08: Andrea has become attached to her dolly again. She pulls her out of the crib with her in the morning and after naps. She tried to feed her a snack this afternoon as well. It was cute. She is getting to that stage where she likes dollies/babies and brings them to us to play with.
1/21/08: Andrea got really cold at swim class this evening. I felt so bad as she shivered and yelled at me. Next time I'm not going to shower her first and see if that helps. She is so passive during the lessons. She gets less and less active with each lesson. I'm not sure why, but she really doesn't participate, it must just be her nature that has her watching rather than jumping in.
1/22/08: Andrea loves Mommy's healthy muffins - whole wheat and blueberries. She's love to have several a day if we let her. Happy 15 months, Andrea!
1/23/08: It helped to avoid the shower before swimming tonight. She didn't enjoy the cold after swimming but she wasn't shivering the way she did after previous lessons.
1/24/08: Andrea's potty training is messed up because of work, we don't really try to keep up with it at work. She did bring me a diaper today when she needed changed though.
1/25/08: "Bye bye" is really Andrea's only discernable word so far. She waved and said it so well today that it was really cute. It is still more like the typical "ba ba", but who doesn't get excited when their kids are this age?
1/26/08: Andrea and Daddy found a new game that he calls "fort". It basicly involves a large blanket going over Daddy to make a fort for Andrea to crawl in and out of. They even got Mommy involved to make a bigger fort. Andrea was very disappointed when it was time to stop and go to bed. Another funny thing Andrea did today was create her own music for dancing. Her little kitchen has a light switch that can turn on about 10 seconds of music so she would flip it and dance, then when it went off she would flip the switch off and back on again to dance some more. Mommy thought it was hilarious.
1/27/08: Andrea does really well in the church nursery despite it being her nap time. After church today we went out for chinese food and Andrea loved the fried rice.
1/28/08: Andrea's doctor appt went well this morning. The doctor thinks Andrea is great. Andrea had her charm turned on and smiled and talked a lot. Andrea is healthy and very much on track for her age. Her measurements were perfect. Her weight was 40th percentile. Her height was 49th percentile. Her head was 47th percentile. I'm very happy with these numbers and the doctor was pleased as well.
2/1/08: Andrea got scratched by a cat at a playdate today. She has one scratch on her face where the kitty got her. It didn't stop Andrea from chasing our kitties when she got home though.
2/2/08: Andrea is signing again. She actually signed without me prompting her to today. She is signing "all done" and uses the sign for "milk" to request any type of food.
2/3/08: Andrea has learned that we turn off the light after reading and before going to bed. She reaches for the switch and likes to turn it off herself.
2/4/08: Daddy took Andrea in the pool for her swim lessons tonight. Mommy took pictures and enjoyed being dry.
2/5/08: 1st Molar! It is on her top, right side. The left side is just under the surface. She didn't even fuss about it.
2/6/08: Andrea is signing "please" for me today.
2/7/08: Andrea's second molar didn't come in yet. She had a long day today. We had a playdate that was more for the mommies than for the babies. We made lots of valentine treats. There were 5 mommies and 7 kids here - crazy! Andrea was hit by one of the kids and refused her nap so she was a little fussy.
2/8/08: Andrea went to the chiropractor with me today and quickly found the buttons that raise the table up and down. Mommy had to hold her hand throughout the whole exam. Andrea was actually very good, she just thout those buttons were fascinating and we couldn't risk her fingers getting pinched.
2/9/08: Andrea loves when Tracy and Harry come over to play. She is very much in love with throwing her balls back and forth with anyone who will play.
2/11/08: We had another playdate today. Andrea is such a good child. At one point, she was sitting on the couch with one of the moms and the mom did not realize that Andrea does not yet climb on the couches. The mom left her sitting there. Andrea just sat there sweetly swinger her legs a little until Mommy saw her.
2/12/08: We went to Mommy's chiropractor again today. This time Andrea sat in the stroller. We also went to a new swim class today. There is a new teacher and lots of other kids (about 12). Andrea did really well. She has definitely learned what kicking is. She does not hold her breath yet, we hope she learns that soon.
2/13/08: Andrea is running a fever today.
2/14/08: Andrea is still sick today. Her fever is still low-grade but she is tired. We spent the day running from one appt to another but we managed to fit in a visit to Grandma and G.G. and to Grandpa and Grandpa Estep.
2/15/08: Andrea is still running a fever today, around 102. Her second molar just popped through today though, maybe that was the cause of the fever. Yeah for another tooth!
2/16/08: Andrea used a fork to eat for the first time today, successfully. She stabbed her waffle herself and put it in her mouth. Andrea was still running a fever of over 102 around 2pm today so I finally gave her some Tylenol. This evening she is doing great with no fever. Harry (neighbor) bought Andrea a new toy today. I think we will take it to work to play with.
2/17/08: We went and saw Grandpa and Grandma Estep today. Grandpa won over Andrea's affections by giving her a new treat (freeze dried fruit). yummy! Andrea's signing skills are taking off quick. She can sign "all done" and "please" still. She just started trying to sign "eat" (which is fingers pinched together and to the mouth), she signs it with the palm of her hand to her mouth. She tries to sign "more", but instead of bringing her fingers together she brings her palms together like a clap. She signed birdie a couple of days ago when daddy pointed out some birdies that were on the television.
2/20/08: Andrea stayed home with Grandma Sharon today while Mommy went to work. The two of them had fun.
2/21/08: We all went to a Mommy luncheon today (Mommy, Daddy, Andrea and Grandma). Andrea had fun watching the other kids. She generally keeps to the side though. Afterwards we went for a walk. Andrea absolutely loves walking throughout the neighborhood. Joe, the kitty, goes with us and Andrea keeps track of him. She doesn't like when it looks like he is going in a different direction.
2/22/08: Andrea spent her third morning home with Grandma this morning. Grandma has her spoiled with walks. If you mention a walk she quickly goes to the door. If you mention her coat she will go to the closet. She doesn't like coming back indoors. :)
2/23/08: Andrea signs "Daddy" by pointing at the top of her head. She says "Dada" at the same time. She does this often when she is looking for him and/or wondering where he is. Today, we went to see Veggie Tales a the local theater. Afterwards, Grandma Jan and G.G. joined us and we had dinner. It was a nice day.
2/25/08: Andrea started saying "please" today. Mostly you can here her say "eeze" but she says it while signing "please" so we know for sure what she is saying. It is cute. We went to a farm today. It is a great little place with animals you can feed and touch. Andrea had a nice time, although the goats scared her a little. There were 2-day-old goats, and she got to pet one.
2/26/08: Andrea got another tooth. She got the 2nd one on her front, bottom left.
2/28/08: Andrea got her 10th tooth, the 2nd one on the front, bottom right. Soon she will no longer have just those two teeth on the front bottom anymore when she smiles.
3/1/08: I finally figured out that Andrea signs and Mommy the same way she signs Daddy. She is also signing "more" now, along with "eat", "all done", "ducky/birdie", and even signs potty a little.
3/2/08: We went to the zoo today. We had a great time. Andrea got to sit in back with both Mommy and Daddy for the first time. We squeezed into Harry and Tracey's vehicle.
3/3/08: Andrea had fun at Odyssey in Tacoma today. We went with part of our playgroup and had lots of fun climbing in balls and through tunnels.
3/4/08: Andrea has a new way of entertaining herself. She walks around in circles. It is a preliminary to spinning. She walks in as tight as circles as she can, usually looking at the floor and making herself dizzy. She seems to have fun. Andrea has the same cold that Mommy and Daddy have right now, so we all stayed home from work today.
3/5/08: Andrea and Mommy stayed home from work again today. Andrea is having trouble getting on a 1-nap-a-day schedule. She hardly ever takes a second nap in the afternoon anymore, so we tried just moving her morning nap back. Unfortunately, she just shortens her nap up even more because she is too tired when we put her down at noon. Not quite sure how we are going to handle this yet. For dinner tonight, Andrea gobbled up her spaghetti and meatballs, yummy! Of course she also spread it in her hair and eyes.
3/6/08: Andrea loves to make noise now. Running around the house screaming as she chases the cats is a regular occurrence.
3/7/08: We drove to Grandpa E's tonight. Andrea slept well in her playpen at Grandpa's house. It has been a few months since we slept in the same room as her, but Dave saw her stand up in the crib at one point and fall asleep, thus falling over. She then woke up again and got back up before getting down and going to sleep. :)
3/8/08: We had breakfast at Grandpa's. Andrea liked the pancakes. Later we had lunch with Grandpa and G.G. joined us at Shari's. Andrea was too tired and too "excited" during lunch, but it was nice anyway. We drove home and she napped during that time.
3/9/08: Andrea loves going outside. She will go to the door if you say "walk" and whines if you don't hurry up. If you tell her to get her coat, she immediately goes to the closet. She will do the same thing with shoes if needed. It is cute, but can be annoying if your didn't really intend to go for a walk :)
3/10/08: Potty training continues to go well. Andrea poops in the toilet about once a day. She still doesn't tell us when she needs to go, but if you catch her in time, she will.
3/11/08: Andrea's vocabulary is growing, both signs and words. I love that she is doing both. Often I can verify what she wants because she is doing both at the same time. She now says doggie, which is one of the few words she says but doesn't sign. Her signs for kitty, mommy, and eat all look very much the same - fingers to mouth, so it is good when she says it too :)
3/12/08: Andrea and Mommy stopped at the park today to look at the birds. There were lots of seagulls to walk through. They let us get within a few feet of them. Andrea still won't venture into the grass alone, so she wandered up and down the sidewalk going after the birds that were in that area. She loved signing "birdie" over and over.
3/13/08: Andrea likes her swim classes. Today was the last lesson of our second session. Mommy signed her up for another session though. Currently, Andrea will kick her legs and float on her back with Mommy. She loves the floating, but she is still holding out on blowing bubbles, kicking well, holding her breath and having fun.
3/15/08: Andrea is throwing up today. Mommy is sick too. It is an awful day.
3/16/08: Andrea had an egg hunt today. She seemed to be feeling better so we decided to still go. Andrea love opening and closing the eggs and finding fun surprises in them. After they were all emptied, she continued to open them. Soon she learned the word "empty" and would say it after opening them. It was cute. We had lots of fun, but now Daddy is feeling sick tonight.
3/17/08: Andrea and Daddy spent the night throwing up. Mommy took care of Andrea while Daddy took care of himself. Poor Andrea, we felt so bad that we took her outside yesterday, we just assumed that her symptoms were following the same timescale as Mommy's. Plus, Andrea plays as normal between being sick, who knew?
3/18/08: Andrea and Daddy are both doing better, although not great yet.
3/20/08: Andrea still seems to feel sick. Her appetite is still not back to normal. Mommy's tummy still hurts too, so it makes sense that Andrea's does. Andrea is also teething her bottom molars and has a runny nose. Poor little girl, it makes her so grumpy.
3/21/08: Andrea threw up again today. It was prompted by gagging on too much food in her mouth. She seemed fine afterwards. I think her tummy is just more sensitive than usual. Mommy understand because her tummy is still "off" as well.
3/22/08: This morning, Mommy cut Andrea's bangs. It makes her look a little older. Daddy and Andrea spent the afternoon together while Mommy went to a bridal shower.
3/23/08: Happy Easter! and Happy Birthday to Mommy! We had a nice day. Andrea got an Easter basket with toys in it. We had people over for an early dinner and Andrea enjoyed the company.
3/24/08: Andrea's signing is getting much better. She does really well when she remembers to sign and signs the following: eat, more, all done, Daddy, Kitty, shoes (her favorite right now), help, and we are working on cheese.
3/27/08: Andrea was so funny this morning. She has never really taken a special liking to any of her stuffed animals, but this morning when I offered to have her bring a toy to work with us - she picked up her new stuffed bunny and held it close. She hugged it all the way to the car. By the time we got to work though, she didn't want it anymore. Silly girl. This evening, Daddy brought out some paper and a box of crayons. While Daddy drew and colored a couple of pictures, Andrea repeatedly emptied the crayons from the box and put them back in.
3/28/08: Andrea took her doggy to work today (the one that sings and talks when you push on him).
3/29-30/08: This weekend was spent painting G.G.'s house. We stayed with Grandpa and Grandma Estep. They made us yummy food and gave us a warm place to rest. During the painting, Grandma Jan and G.G. entertained Andrea. We sectioned off the dining room just for Andrea to spend time in. Andrea even took a nap with Grandma.
4/1/08: Andrea now has her bottom molars. Both of them poked through within the last two days. I think her left side was just this morning and the right was probably yesterday since I only checked the left side yesterday, silly me.
4/2/08: Andrea continues to pick up a stuffed toy to take in the car. Usually it is the doggy, but she has taken the bunny twice. It is really cute.
4/3/08: Andrea and Mommy went to a great playdate today. We made pizzas and played with playdough. Andrea made hand prints for Mommy to keep. We went past naptime, but Andrea did really well.
4/5/08: Happy 85th birthday GG! We painted today then went out to dinner with grandma and GG. We went to Sizzler's and andrea ate lots of yummy food.
4/9/08: Mommy and Andrea were looking at clothing today and one of the shirts had a ducky on it. I asked Andrea what it was and she did her sign for ducky and said "quack quack". It was really cute. I think she picked that up from swim class when we sing: "Little Ducky Dawdle, sitting in a puddle, sitting in a puddle quite small. It doesn't really matter how much we splash and splatter, 'cause we are duckies after all. Quack, quack, quack" There are gestures for it, including signing when we sing the quacks.
4/10/08: Andrea is sick again. She starting throwing up last night and has thrown up twice today. Mommy and Andrea stayed home today and watched many movies.
4/11/08: Andrea is past the worst of her sickness but now Mommy is sick. We spent another day at home and Mommy tried to keep Andrea entertained while we both rested.
4/12/08: It was such a nice day that Daddy and Andrea went for a walk today. It was over 70 degrees outside.
4/13/08: I thought this would be a nice chance to make a note about our bedtime routine. Mommy puts Andrea to bed every night. Daddy prefers to give Andrea her bath each night at about 7:15. Before bed, Andrea still breastfeeds. Then we go into her room and find a book to read. Andrea loves reading. After reading, we grab Annie, her doll, and press on her stomach to say a prayer. Annie goes to bed in her chair and Andrea gets to turn of the light before mommy grabs her blanket and sings her a lullaby or two. Finally, Mommy lays Andrea down in bed and says goodnight. This routine has worked great for a long time and almost perfectly since Andrea was a year old. Andrea is a great night sleeper. She hardly ever wakes at night - only when throwing up or we forget to turn on her night light. She wakes up around 6:30 in the morning lately.
4/14/08: We were back to work today. For caution, Andrea did not go to swimming though.
4/15/08: Today was Daddy's 34th birthday. Happy Birthday, Daddy! We had dinner at the Spaghetti Factory, yummy!
4/16/08: Andrea said "car" today. She is getting better at mimicking words. I pointed out the window and said "car" and she repeated it back to me. She tries this with many words, some are just easier than others.
4/17/08: We went to a playdate in the park today. Andrea attempted to blow bubbles and chased them.
4/18/08: Andrea is almost always a great sleeper. There are exceptions of course, but she is still sleeping 10 1/2 hours at night and talking two naps during the day. It won't be long before she switches to only one nap, but I think she is still on 2 because of the slightly shorter nights (should be over 11 hours if it was perfect, but she has gotten used to our work schedule).
4/19/08: Andrea fell asleep in GG's arms today. It was very cute.
4/20/08: Andrea is getting more and more forward about what SHE wants. She throws little miniature fits over the slightest issues. We are trying to ignore it and just get through this phase.
4/21/08: Andrea decided to eat diaper cream today, just a little, yuck!
4/22/08: Andrea was so cute at her doctor's appt today. She was talking to the nurse and gesturing like she was really telling her something. The nurse thought it was adorable and it really was. Andrea was an adorable toddler while we were there, running around and playing but also being good when needed. Her statistics were great with all of them being just slightly below 50th percentile. Weight was 23lb 14oz (~48th %). Height was 31.25 inches (~45th %). Head circumference was 46.5cm (~49th %).
4/24/08: Andrea is getting much better about saying what she wants. She signs "eat" so often that it is a wonder she can't say the word yet.
4/25/08: Andrea signed "ball" today in the parking lot and I couldn't figure out what she was trying to tell me. I didn't see a ball anywhere around or even a balloon that might be mistaken for a ball. We came home and went for a walk and she signed it again. At first, I thought she might be trying to sign something other than "ball", but then I saw it - our neighbors have an antenna ball. I laughed and told Andrea she was doing great. :)
4/26/08: We had a great time at the zoo today. Andrea had very little sleep but she did really well. The weather was perfect.
4/27/08: We finished working on Grandma's house today, at least we hope it is done. Andrea has a lot of fun playing with Grandma and G.G. though.
4/28/08: Andrea has mastered climbing on and off of our couch.
4/30/08: Andrea is just amazing lately. She is learning so much and it shows tremendously. Her words are not clear so I don't honestly know how many she has learned in the last couple of weeks, but I'm sure the number is large. Her signing has also taken off a lot in the past couple of weeks. She looks at things and signs them or says them or even both. It is always such a surprise. She stills says "please". "All done" is really cute. "Car" is a good one. She can sign and say "baby". What is cool is that she does them on her own as where we always had to prompt her before.
5/3/08: We went to the "youth" fair today. Andrea had a safety packet made, including feet prints and a video. Andrea did great for the video. She said and signed: "daddy", "ball", and "bye bye". She signed kitty as well. The packet is just in case she is ever lost.
5/4/08: Andrea fell on the pavement and skinned her nose today. Aww! We also got out a bubble maker and Andrea squealed and ran after those bubbles. It was a beautiful day and lots of fun.
5/5/08: On top of Andrea's skinned nose, she fell inside today and hit her chin. She has a dark bruise now.
5/6/08: Andrea can say down now and she has been saying bib (says it without the last "b") for a shot time. Our friend, Lisa, watched Andrea for a short time today while Mommy was gone. She had fun. There was a playdate going on with arts and crafts.
5/7/08: Andrea mimics lots of new words: up, tree, bear, and more.
5/8/08: Andrea had fun today. We went swimming with the mom's group and then to the park. At the park, rather than play on the toys, she ate rocks. Well, not the whole time but most of it! This morning at work, Andrea was too tired to wait until nap time and I found her napping behind my chair at work. I let her stay there :)
5/9/08: Andrea can climb up on the dining room table now. Ugh! She pulls out the chairs, climbs up on them then makes her way onto the table. Nothing is out of reach now.
5/11/08: Happy Mother's Day!
5/12/08: Andrea threw up this morning. We noticed a small temperature last night and she hasn't been sleeping well, but I had hoped that it was just teething. Oh well. She took a long nap this morning and seems to be doing well.
5/13/08: Andrea is managing well today. She is a bit more demanding but no more fever.
5/16/08: Andrea skinned her knee for the first time today. She fell on our front porch. It isn't bad, but she keeps pointing to it and saying "oww".
5/17/08: Andrea played on the ocean beach for the first time today.
5/19/08: I went to check on Andrea today during a nap. She was not going to sleep and had her music playing. I opened the door but she was laying on her tummy so I quickly shut the door. As the door was shutting I noticed an unusual sound. I opened the door a crack again to listen and realized it was Andrea singing/humming. It was funny. I listened for a minute then went away.
5/20/08: Andrea is going through a biting phase. She doesn't even do it out of anger most times. It is almost as though she is experimenting to see if it gets our attention. Hopefully we can stop it without it getting worse, she has only tried it on Mommy and Daddy. (updated about a week later to say that this is over with, she hasn't done it since)
5/22/08: We had a day at home today. Andrea loves following directions. Even simple directions like picking up a plate and putting it in her drawer makes her happy. She just loves personal time with Mommy or Daddy.
5/28/08: Andrea and Mommy both have colds. Yuck!
5/29/08: Andrea and Mommy were home most of the day today. Playdates were canceled because of our colds.
6/8/08: (Sorry, I know I haven't updated this week. We have been consumed with details for moving and buying the house. Also, I just finished details for printing the first portion of this year's scrapbook. I get a little focused when I have projects going on.) Andrea is doing well. She still does not have the last 4 of her baby teeth. I keep a watch for them, but they are slow like the rest of her teeth. She loves to talk lately and will even say a few words on the phone. Her favorite words are "car", "more", "Momma", and "Dadda". She still signs, but not quite as much.
6/11/08: Andrea learned how to really blow raspberries today. She was laying on the floor at work and blowing them on her arm. I thought it was funny.
6/12/08: We moved today. Andrea now has a new bedroom.
6/14/08: Andrea went on her first camping trip today. We went with Ray, Lisa and Ronan. It was lots of fun. We used our new tent and they used our old one. Ronan and Andrea had a good time with us and exploring. We roasted marshmallows for the kids and made s'mores for the adults - yummy! There were squirrels and chipmunks to watch and logs to run on. At night, we put the kids down in the tents and they went to sleep fine, but after 45 minutes Andrea woke up and wanted to play. I'm sure the vehicle partially in her tent made it confusing for her. :) Eventually (after Mommy and Daddy both took turns trying to put her back to sleep) she finally fell asleep again on her own and slept for the rest of the night.
6/15/08: Andrea's new bedroom is huge. It will make a great playroom as well as bedroom.
6/16/08: Andrea blew raspberries on Mommy's tummy today. Mommy laughed and laughed.
6/17/08: Andrea does really well with the stairs at the new house. The excitement of stairs has worn off though and she generally prefers to be carried or at least for us to hold her hand so that she can walk the stairs rather than crawl them.
6/18/08: Grandma Sharon was here today to watch Andrea. She had a great time with Grandma.
6/20/08: Andrea has been accident prone this past week. She has fallen out the garage door twice since we moved in. She is not used to having stairs into the garage. Yesterday she fell out of the stroller (thanks to Mom not strapping her in). Needless to say, she has a bump or two on her head.
6/23/08: Yesterday was Andrea's worst fall yet. The fall itself was just tripping, but she came down so that her face hit on some stuff in the garage and scraped her eye. She has a big rug-burn type gash on her eyelid and the eyelid was swelled almost closed this morning. She looks really sad.
6/24/08: Andrea's eye now just has a scab on it, much better.
6/30/08: Ronan got to spend a couple of hours with us today. He and Andrea played in the pool together. I was surprised by how well they did, although there were a couple of little spats over toys. Andrea's version of "mine" was to say "me, me" but she got her point across.
7/1/08: We went to a playdate today. Andrea had fun exploring a new yard and playing in their pool. She still keeps to herself. The pool was only fun for her when the others were not in it.
7/2/08: Andrea learned how to say "mine" today. She is also getting good at saying "cracker" although it sounds more like cocker wirh a silent r.
7/3/08: Andrea is sick again. She has a fever over 102. Daddy is sick too, so the 4th of July will be spent at home this year.
7/4/08: Happy 4th of July! We spent the day at home. Andrea's fever is still holding at 102-103.
7/5/08: Andrea still has the fever. This will be Mommy's first night away and it is sad that it is while she is sick.
7/6/08: Andrea is feeling better. The fever is gone. She is still tired, but recovering. Daddy says she can now say "eat".
7/11/08: Daddy played on the beach with Andrea while Mommy was at the wedding rehearsal this evening. Andrea collected shells and played on the swings. She ran daddy ragged.
7/12/08: Andrea was adorable in her dress at Jackie's wedding today.
7/13/08: We went to Alan's (a playdate friend's) first birthday part today. Andrea had fun.
7/14/08: Andrea didn't sleep well last night. It seemed nothing was going well for her, but at least she slept in this morning. This afternoon was a playdate at our house. There were lots of kids here, including our new neighbors. It was lots of fun.
7/18/08: Andrea's vocabulary grows daily. She can say so many words including: stuck, down, eat, cracker...
7/19/08: Andrea saw her first parade today. She also one two frog dolls at the fair and loves them.
7/20/08: Andrea is getting so big. It really hit me tonight as I held her and put her into the crib. She actually fits in the crib now, I can't believe what a difference since we first started putting her in there. When I hold her, she is so much bigger and actually has to curl up to fit well in my arms.
7/24/08: Today, Andrea learned how to guide Mommy where she wanted me. She came up behind me and grabbed my legs to turn me around and pushed me back towards the step she wanted me to sit with her on. It was pretty funny.
7/26/08: Andrea got to ride on Grandma Louise's 4-wheeler with Grandpa and with Daddy. She also got to ride around in big wagon. She loved it, she kept asking for more rides. Grandpa's property is fun.
7/27/08: So Daddy goofed up with the potty training this morning. He put Andrea in the bath first thing this morning and after a moment she told him "poo poo" but he didn't follow up and she poo'd in the bath tub. Oh well, guess Daddy learned a lesson. It gives me hope that potty training will go well next month.
7/30/08: Andrea climbed into her high chair herself today. This was the first time of many.
7/31/08: We are going full force with potty training today. Today's success: 2 poo's in the potty, only one in the underwear and that was while we had guests and mommy was distracted. Failures: Lots of pee pee on the floor.
8/1/08: One poo only today, but it was in the potty. Two pees made it in the potty as well, but also a few on the floor.
8/2/08: Started of good with a poo in the toilet this morning. I've lowered her high chair today too, thought it was safer if she climbing on it for it to be a foot of the floor instead of 3.
8/3/08: Andrea has rebelled against the potty training. Plus, she is now ill, so I think we will take a break and come back to this later.
8/6/08: Our monthly illness is a nasty cold this month. All 3 of us have it. It is yucky and would like to wish it away.
8/8/08: Andrea now makes kissy noises when she kisses. She is so cute.
8/10/08: We all still have crud from our colds, but I don't think we are contagious anymore.
8/17/08: Andrea's favorite movie is "Journey to Big Water" a short sequel to Land Before time. She will go to the VHS tapes now and recognizes the movie. The other day she pulled out each video one by one until she found her favorite. She wants to watch it everyday.
8/23/08: We went to our co-worker, Dustin's, wedding today. Andrea was cute as always.
8/24/08: Mommy and Andrea went to Grandpa's today. It was raining so we didn't get to have the fun outside time we planned on, but we had fun anyway and Andrea loved puddle jumping for a little bit. Grandpa's food was yummy too.
8/25/08: Andrea can say so many words and phrases now. They are so hard to keep track of. Daddy absolutely loves that she can say "please", "thank you", and "you're welcome". She loves to tell us to "go" when she wants to do something herself. She knows "mine" of course and about 50 other words.
8/28/08: Andrea put toys all over the kitty (Joe) today. He is much more patient with her now than he was 6 months or so ago.
8/29/08: Andrea still loves milk. Whenever she is hungry, she often likes to ask for "milk" or "crackers".
9/4/08: Andrea take sone nap right now from about noon to 1:30. If we are out driving she falls asleep in the car and I can usually carry her to bed. If we are going to the store, she can sleep through the whole shopping trip. That is tough on Mommy or Daddy - needing to carry her through the whole store. :)
9/5/08: Andrea had fun playing with Faith (5-year-old neighbor). Faith would throw the frisbee and Andrea would "get it". It was like a game of fetch, but they were having fun.
9/6/08: Andrea and faith found a hold to dig in today. They filled up the bucket and Andrea was covered in dirt.
9/7/08: Andrea takes one nap right now from about noon to 1:30.
9/11/08: Andrea has a good memory. Daddy threw away her ball and she helped put it in the garage. An hour or two later, she remembered it and went to the garbage can to say "bye bye, ball".
9/12/08: Andrea is having lots of fun with the grandparents. We are staying with Grandma Halvorsen. Andrea still sleeps in her playpen really well. We spent the afternoon and evening with Grandpa Redden, G-Gma and G-Aunt Vicky. Andrea loved Vicky's room. Vicky has fun little stuff and shiny stuff. Andrea, Vicky, and Mommy spent about 20 minutes just moving blue, glass rocks between different containers. Outside, Andrea loved picking fresh tomatoes and finally understands to pick the red ones. Grandpa showed her a decorative squirrel coming down the tree and she was fascinated by it and stared for a few minutes.
9/13/08: Andrea is in the middle of teething again. She is finally getting her canine teeth. The one on her top left is just barely under the surface. I can feel the point of it. The one on her bottom right is also coming in, but is just a tad lower. The other two should be close as well. Andrea's teeth come in really slow though, so it has been a few days already and it doesn't even seem like the teeth are moving.
9/15/08: We went to a playdate today to make cookies. We cute sugar cookies and decorated them. It was fun. Andrea did really well. I'm glad she is used to playing with others. She had a great time playing with Alan's toys, etc. She doesn't really play with the other kids yet, but typical of her age she will interact some and play around them.
9/17/08: Andrea has come down with a cold. She slept poorly last night and her nose runs like a faucet today. We hope this will be the only illness for this month and that it passes quickly. It seems we have an illness every month, so September is no exception.
9/18/08: Andrea started running a fever over 102 this afternoon. Poor little girl. She seems happy enough despite being sick.
9/19/08: Andrea had a fever most of the day. It finally broke and went away after a dose of tylenol this afternoon.
9/20/08: Andrea love when Grandma and GG come over. She can't say Grandma at all and is confused so she calles them both GG even though she seems to know that Grandma is not GG. :)
9/22/08: Andrea is definitely in the "2 stage". She wants to do things in her own way and in her own time. Mommy goes a little nuts some days.
9/23/08: Andrea's "eye teeth" still come in slowly. None of them have broken the surface yet although there are now 3 that are clearly visible with white points at the surface. I hope the slow teething means it is less painful for her.
9/24/08: Andrea's vocabulary grows so quickly. She is not a huge chatterbox, so I don't always catch on to how much she knows. This afternoon, she was awake from her nap and I took my time getting to her (sometimes it is best to give her a chance to fully wake). On the monitor, I heard her say "where'd you go?". It was so cute, so I immediately went to see her.
9/30/08: Andrea loves to speak in phrases now. She asks the following questions all the time in slightly different forms: Mommy, where'd you go? what you doing? Where are you?
10/9/08: Two of Andrea's eye teeth have finally come in (her top, left tooth and her bottom, right tooth). They finally broke through. She really does have some slow moving teeth. The other two are close, but it could be weeks???
10/11/08: Andrea met cousin Izzy today (Izzy's dad is Mommy's only cousin on one side of the family). Izzy is about 10 months older than Andrea. We went to see Mommy's aunt who is losing her fight with cancer.
10/12/08: Andrea is sick again. This is the second cold this month. It is definitely cold season now.
10/13/08: Andrea had a good day today. We went shopping with little Alan at Walmart and then he came back to nap and play. At one point we noticed that they seemed to be playing together, but then Andrea ruined it by casually sitting on his back. :)
10/14/08: Andrea still has a cold. She took an extra long nap today. I think a 3rd tooth has come in as well, but did not torture her by trying to get a good look today. It may just be under the surface still.
10/15/08: Andrea counted to 9 on her own today. It was the first time I've heard here count the whole way correctly. She often skips a couple numbers but today she went through all 9 numbers deliberately. In fact, she is sitting on the stairs practicing right now. :)
10/16/08: I forgot to put on here last week that Andrea knows some of her shapes. It took me a minute one day when she kept pointing at the fridge and saying "circle", but I couldn't understand what she was saying at first. Eventually it dawned on me that she wanted the circle magnet. When I pointed at it she said "yep" and smiled. She did the same thing today. Way to go Andrea!
10/17/08: Mommy has been helping Andrea to practice say that she is 2-years-old. When asked how old she is going to be, she replies "2 baby". So cute!
10/18/08: Andrea's birthday party was today. We had a full house of family and friends. There were 5 two-year-olds here at one point! Just imagine! :) They were pretty good. Andrea had a zoo theme and seemed to have a good time. She was given lots of very nice gifts.
10/21/08: Andrea started swim lessons again. She did not like it. The only part she has fun with was jumping in. Otherwise, the floating and kicking wasn't for her. She kept telling Mommy to "carry" her and would flip around so she could cling to Mommy's neck.
10/22/08: Happy Birthday Andrea! Andrea had a good day. We had some kids and moms over this afternoon for a ladybug party. We had prizes for the best decorating of a ladybug cupcake, for finding a real ladybug, and for finding the most paper ladybugs that Mommy had dispersed throughout the yard. It was a beautiful day for Andrea's birthday. For dinner, we went to Applebee's with Harry and Tracy. :)
10/23/08: Swim class went much better tonight. There were still some moments, but she found out she can touch the bottom of the pool (not well, but possible). Overall, she was just more comfortable and had a blast jumping in again (and going down the slide!).
10/24/08: Andrea had her 2-year pictures today. She was not happy about being made to pose. About halfway though she started sobbing to leave. She just didn't want her picture taken anymore. We bribed her with crackers and made her laugh with the animals, but overall the session was cut short.
10/31/08: Andrea had her 2-year check-up today. She cried and cried through the entire appointment. The doctor tried so hard to calm her, but she just wouldn't have it. Overall, she is healthy! Her weight and height are both about 65th percentile, so she is perfect! Her talking is on or ahead of schedule. She did get to shots: flu and Hep B
Happy Halloween! Andrea went trick-or-treating through the neighborhood. Cami, Ronan, Silus & Sidney joined us. Then we all went to the trunk-or-treat at the church. It was lots of fun.
11/1/08: At night Andrea has learned how to ask for "Twinkle Star". It is so cute.
11/2/08: Andrea had a busy weekend with Aunt Amanda and Uncle Aaron visiting (plus Nana and GG). She seemed to love it but was really tired today.
11/3/08: Andrea has been making me read the same book over and over every night and for naps. A week ago, it was a Veggie Tales book, but now it is a "Look and See" book from my childhood where you guess what animal lives here. I honestly can't wait for a new book!
11/4/08: Andrea can climb out of the kids pool on her own now and loves jumping in. Of course Mommy still catches her but it won't be long. She loves to walk around the pool. The pool is just shallow enough that she can walk around the shallow end on her feet and barely can touch in the deep end.
11/5/08: I forgot to report that Andrea has all of her "eye teeth" in. The 3rd one came in about 10/19, and the last one came in just a few days ago. Next teeth will be her 2nd molars, but probably not for a while.
11/6/08: Swim lessons were so much easier last winter than they are now. Andrea would allow me to float her around on her back when it was time and generally went with the flow. There is no "going with the flow" now. She seems to always have her own agenda and it rarely meshes with the class. Overall, she has fun, but we go head to head a bunch too.
11/7/08: Andrea had a busy day today. We went to a playdate at a gymnastics center today and she ran and ran. In the afternoon she stayed with Cami while Mommy went to the dentist. The report was that they did great and read to each other. :)
11/8/08: A family party really wore Andrea out yesterday. We spent several hours at Grandpa's house with everyone there to celebrate Uncle Aaron being home. All the people, kids, and noise was just too much after a few hours. She was generally a sweetheart as usual but definitely had some rough moments.
11/9/08: Andrea conned Daddy into getting her up early this morning. If she wakes before 6, Mommy lets her play and she falls asleep again for a short while. Daddy didn't know this and got her up. :) Oh, and Andrea is starting to climb more. She uses toys and other objects to get at things on the higher shelves (ie: books or movies).
11/10/08: Andrea continues to take one nap from noon to 1:30 each day. Sometimes it is a little longer, but not often. At night, we put her down at 7:30pm. She usually wakes up between 6:30-7am.
11/15/08: Andrea went to her first movie-theater movie today. Although we have been to the local theater with couches and kid-friendly atmosphere, Andrea had never been to a big theater. Today was the day. We saw Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa. Andrea did really well. She watched the whole thing with great attention and ate lots of yummy popcorn.
11/16/08: Andrea is doing well at the church nursery. Today was the 3rd time at this church. She got down and played. Mommy had to come change a diaper, but then she played again without complaint.
11/17/08: Andrea had a rough night last night. She woke up a couple hours into sleep and we couldn't get her to settle because of a plugged nose. Daddy and I thought we should let her sleep with us. For the most part, she slept well. Daddy, with Andrea's feet in his neck, and Mommy, with Andrea's head on her neck didn't sleep as well.
11/20/08: Andrea does have cold with runny nose and cough. Despite that, we had a busy day today. We had a playdate with our neighbor's this morning, went to Charlie's Safari this afternoon where we took care of Cami and brought her home with us, then swimming this evening. Hopefully, Andrea will sleep well through the night.
11/21/08: For a while now, Daddy and I have been waiting for Andrea to say "I love you". We say it so often to her but have never heard it repeated back. 2 days ago, I gave Andrea a hug and said "I love you". I wasn't even really thinking, but focused in quickly when I thought I heard: "I love you too, Mommy". Wow! Part of me was not sure I heard her correctly. I told Daddy but neither of us heard it again that day. Then today as I was getting Andrea dressed, I gave her a hug and said "I love you". Loud and clear, Andrea said back: "I love you". When I looked at her she immediately said again: "I love you too, Mommy". Awww, so sweet and precious!
11/23/08: Andrea ran and ran this evening. Her vocabulary is getting so big. She says things like "Run, Mommy", "I'm coming", "where'd he go?", "where's Mommy", and many more.
11/25/08: Andrea's favorite night-night song is "Twinkle star". That is what she calls it and she requests it every night. Last night she sang a few of the lines with me. Today, at work, she randomly started singing it on her own. She was missing many of the words, but it was very obvious what she was singing. So cute!
11/27/08: Happy Thanksgiving! Andrea did really well today. She seemed to enjoy a little of the turkey, but she really liked the marshmallow salad :) During dinner, Daddy set up the tripod and camera to take a picture. Afterwards, Andrea found the tripod (broken down) in the living room and started pretending to take pictures. She had it all set up and would play with the dials then run in front of it and pose. After a moment she ran back. I got a little on video, but it was better in person.
11/30/08: Andrea just loves to sing "twinkle, twinkle" with me at night. She is getting more and more of the words right. At first I thought the singing combined with lots of hugs might be a ploy to avoid bedtime, but it is not. After singing a few rounds, she actually said "bed" tonight and went right to bed without another peep :) Oh, and I accidentally left the side of her crib low last night, but she didn't notice or didn't care to climb out.
12/1/08: Andrea has a bacterial infection. It started off as a diaper rash, but has not responded fully to topical medications. We went to the doctor today and she decided that it was a bacterial infection and to treat with oral antibiotics. I haven't picked up the medicine yet, but plan to tomorrow if the infection is the same or worse.
12/2/08: Andrea started the oral antibiotic today.
12/5/08: Andrea's infection is not gone yet, but it is getting better finally.
12/7/08: I laughed so hard last night. I went in to check on Andrea before we went to bed and I found her lying on top of the covers with her pajamas off. So funny! She has never taken her clothes off before and pjs are not the easiest to remove!
12/14/08: Our new church has the children stay for worship, then they tell a story and the kids depart. During worship today, we were praying and I was holding Andrea. I had my eyes closed and the pastor was praying when Andrea said very loudly "Wake up, Mommy". Oh my, so funny.
12/17/08: It is snowing. This afternoon, Mommy and Andrea built two small snowmen. Andrea loved the snow. I made her a snowball and she carried it around. She was very upset to put it down at all. In the evening, the power went out. Andrea loved running around and playing with the flashlight. She went to bed fine without a nightlight.
12/18/08: Daddy got to play in the snow with us today. We built a big snowman. Andrea love it.
12/24/08: Since the snow prevented Grandpa and Grandma Estep, Grandma Nana, and GG from coming down for Christmas Eve, we headed to Kennewick early. The drive was snowy and yucky, but Daddy is a great driver and there were not too many cars on the road. We arrived around 8pm. Andrea saw the presents and kept trying to open them, so Grandma found one for her to open early before going to bed late.
12/25/08: Merry Christmas! Andrea woke up early this morning at Grandma Halvorsen's house. She stood up in the crib and told Mommy and Daddy to "wake up". Ugh, Mommy didn't want to get up at 5:30, but we did. We went over to Grandpa Redden's house and Andrea had a wonderful time playing with the brass deer that Grandpa keeps in the window. She seems to love crawling up with Great Grandma, they have a great time, although I'm sure Andrea wears Great Grandma out :) Andrea seems to think that all presents are for her to unwrap, and "helped" with most of the presents. She got some cute clothes and a great little trike. Presents made her hungry then she took a nap in Grandpa's room. Christmas evening we returned to Grandma Halvorsen's and opened presents. Again, Andrea tried to help Grandma open her gifts. She also loved touching all the balls on Grandma's tree. Mommy tried to not allow it, but it was Grandma's tree, so her decision. Luckily, none seemed to get broke.
12/31/08: Andrea went to bed before the New Year tonight. Maybe in a year or two she can celebrate with us.