Dear Sirena,

I really can’t grasp the fact that we have an 18 month old on our hands!  You’re a full-fledged toddler now and the little person you’re becoming is pretty amazing.

Unfortunately, your eighteenth month started off a little rocky.  For four days you were vomiting and had diarrhea, you couldn’t hold any food down and that led to you being really dehydrated.  We took you to the doctor’s and we had to make the decision to give you an iv to get fluids in you.  That experience was one of the hardest so far in this adventure we call parenting–it was downright torturous for you but it was also pretty traumatic for me and Daddy who had to help pin you down while they put the needle in and then try to comfort you as much as you could handle while the iv did its job.  Luckily the torture was not in vain and you recovered pretty quickly after that.  But then you developed a double ear infection (your first experience) so now you’re on antibiotics (your first experience with that too) and it seems that you’re finally on the mend.

On a lighter note, Daddy and I are blown away by the vocabulary you’re picking up on each moment of the day.  You’ve begun naming things yourself and some of me and Daddy’s favorites are: Baby (blankie), baba (pacifier), boo-boo (booty), Lalo or Laloo (Lola), and “Maaah-meee” (Help please, More please, Yes please, Up please).

Christmas is only a couple of weeks away and you are really getting into the holiday spirit.  Every time you see anything vaguely related to Christmas (picture of Santa, Christmas tree, Christmas lights, etc.) you quickly exclaim, “Ho, ho, ho” like the little Christmas elf you are.

Love,

Mama

Monthly Photos

See past photos in her mini armchair here:

One Month ::  Two Months ::  Three Months

Four Months ::  Five Months ::  Six Months

Seven Months ::  Eight Months ::  Nine Months

Ten Months ::  Eleven Months ::  Twelve Months

Thirteen Months ::  Fourteen Months :: Fifteen Months

(No Sixteen Months!)  ::  Seventeen Months

Dear Sirena,

Lately you have been the littlest walking contradiction–one minute you are in the very depths of your (early) terrible twos and the next you are mama’s little helper and little miss manners.

You get frustrated really easily when you can’t do something (like lift a heavy object and place it on a high step or you can’t open up a drawer on your own) or you don’t want to do something (like some mornings you are just so famished you are too tired to walk yourself to the kitchen and just want me to carry you there) and at times you proceed to cry the biggest tears and loudest wails I’ve ever seen/heard.  It’s gotten bad a few times where you throw your body on the ground or against the wall of your crib and, to be honest, it’s pretty unsettling to watch you do that.  But after getting down to your level, giving you a hug (which you always so desperately want in those moments) and validating your frustration and telling you what good things are on the horizon for you, you luckily shake it off and are back to your happy-go-lucky self after a few minutes.

On the flip side, you are one of the most helpful people I’ve ever met.  Anytime I ask you, “Can you help Mama with __?” you are quick to stop whatever you are doing to come to my aid.  You help clean your highchair after meals, you pick up and put away your toys and books when I ask you to, and you help feed Lola her food every day (which I consider your first chore!)  And for the past couple of months we’ve been working on your manners by saying “Please” (“More, please!” and “Help, please!”), “Thank you,” and “Excuse me, Lola” (instead of pushing her when she gets in your way).  In the last two weeks I have heard you say “Help, please!” and “Thank you” completely unprompted and that has made me so so so so so so proud of you!

There are so many parts to your personality that we are discovering each and every day and although at times all we can do is cross our eyes in total bewilderment by your quirky behaviors, overall we consider ourselves so proud and lucky to call you our baby girl.

Love,

Mama

The Seventeen Month Rundown

Milestones (The list is longer this time ’round because I missed her sixteen month post, oops!)

• Tiny dancer: You love to move and shake your body and you have got the best rhythm and moves I’ve ever seen.  Your absolute favorite song to dance to is Cookie Monster’s “Share It Maybe” to the tune of pop song “Call Me Maybe.”  As soon as that music starts up you start shrugging your shoulders, lifting your arm back, tapping your feet, and shaking your booty.
• Friends: Your friend Amelia and you are two peas in a pod because you spend two whole days together at daycare each week.  Amelia calls you “Suri” and when I say her name you get all excited.  She has taught you how to spin around in circles and you two give each other high-5’s which is so adorable to see.
• “No”: You say this word a lot lately and you are very matter-of-fact when you say it.  In addition to saying it when you don’t want something, you also say it when you’re uncomfortable or scared.  At Halloween when people had masks/hats on, you would say “No” meaning you wanted them to take it off and be normal again.
• “Mommy”: You also say this word a lot, but not necessarily meaning me as your mama.  You say it when you want something or when you’re excited about getting something.
• Other words you can say: Bubbles, Moon, Ball, Banana, Lola, Shoes, Eyes, Nose, Mouth, Names of some people
• Buckles: You are getting really good at buckling yourself into your car seat, stroller, and grocery cart chair (and luckily you haven’t learned how to unbuckle yourself yet!)
• Night, night: Around 7pm every night you get really sleepy and the way you show us that it’s time for bed is you get your blankie or pillow or Dumbo stuffed animal and lay down on the floor with your booty up in the air.
• “Milkie”: At 16.5 months we stopped breastfeeding.  I knew the end was coming for about a month or so because my supply had dropped quite a bit and it was hard that month emotionally to come to terms with it.  I was sad that we wouldn’t have that sweet, quiet bonding time any more…it was the only time I could get you to sit still and just be with me and it was the only time I could watch you fall asleep.  I had to go away for 3 days to Sacramento for a work trip and the timing was just too perfect so we basically stopped cold turkey the day before my trip.  It was physically painful and uncomfortable for about 5 days but when it was all said and done it felt like the right thing for us to do.  I am so proud that I was able to breastfeed you for as long as I did and I am so grateful to have all of those memories with you.

Monthly Photos

See past monthly photos in her mini armchair here:

One Month ::  Two Months ::  Three Months

Four Months ::  Five Months ::  Six Months

Seven Months ::  Eight Months ::  Nine Months

Ten Months ::  Eleven Months ::  Twelve Months

Thirteen Months ::  Fourteen Months :: Fifteen Months

(No Sixteen Months!)

Dear Sirena,

You have been testing out your independence more and more these days and it’s really fun to see you attempt to navigate the world without Mama or Daddy right by your side showing you how to do things.  You’ve begun giving yourself tasks to accomplish and it’s entertaining to watch you–you will go into your dresser and grab out a handful of diapers, carry them across the room, and pile them on top of your little armchair; or you will tear up little pieces of toilet paper and stuff them into a container and dump them out to start all over again; or you will take out every item from the shelf and then stuff yourself into the shelf afterwards (but you haven’t quite grasped the task of clean-up afterwards).

You’re a busy little person who’s got a mind of her own with a whole lotta people to see and a whole lotta things to do.

Love,

Mama

The Fifteen Month Rundown

Milestones

• “No”–You have quickly mastered this word and everything it signifies.  Sometimes it can be frustrating (“Did you go potty?” “No” even though we know you did) sometimes we have to hide our expressions of amusement when you use it because it is so entertaining to see a little person who is so sure of herself and what she wants (or doesn’t want).

Monthly Photos

See past monthly photos in her mini armchair here:

One Month ::  Two Months ::  Three Months

Four Months ::  Five Months ::  Six Months

Seven Months ::  Eight Months ::  Nine Months

Ten Months ::  Eleven Months ::  Twelve Months

Thirteen Months ::  Fourteen Months

Dear Sirena,

There are so many new things that you are learning every day and it just blows me and your Daddy away how much you soak it all in like a little sponge.  Your love for airplanes, helicopters, buses, and trucks has truly blossomed this month and it is so neat to see how much joy those big machines bring to you!  Every time you hear an airplane you point up in the sky and search for it and that could not make your Daddy, the-airplane-mechanic-who-runs-out-of-the-house-every-time-he-hears-a-jet-fly-overhead, happier.

The sweetest moment happened last week when I picked you up from daycare–it was a Tuesday afternoon, trash day, and you started shaking and made a “hmm” when you saw the big recycling truck approach so I decided to pause and let you watch it do its thing.  You watched in total and complete awe as the big mechanical arms came out and picked up the recycling bins and dumped their contents into the back of the truck.  Then when the truck approached I told you to “Say hi” and you waved and then the driver excitedly waved back at you and honked his horn which made you so happy!  It was such a neat moment and you seemed to have both made each other’s days.

I can’t wait to see what your interests are…if you’re going to be a little scientific, mechanical thinker like your Daddy or someone who loves art and the humanities like your Mama.  Heck, why not both?  We don’t want you to ever feel limited in what you can do and feel passionate about.

Love,

Mama

The Fourteen Month Rundown

Milestones

• She’s a walkin’!! She took her first 3 steps on 7/19, then took 10 steps on 7/30, and by the next week she was walking across the room. She still looks like a drunk sailor when trying to keep her balance but she’s getting the hang of it more and more.
• Blowing kisses & giving people high-fives when they ask for one
• Nodding her head “yes” and shaking her head “no”…she even says “yeah” when she’s nodding her head
• Copying us and saying “mooo” when we ask her what noise a cow makes
• When we chase her she sometimes “plays dead” by laying flat on the ground and waiting for us to approach her
• She went on her first amusement park ride (the carousel) at the OC Fair!
• She’s a turbo eater–she will stuff some food in her mouth and then ask for or grab another handful and try to put it in her mouth without having swallowed the first bite! We’re trying to teach her to chew what’s in her mouth first and she will mimic the chewing noise we make and then when we say “Let me see” she’ll stick her tongue out to show us that her mouth is empty.
• And I think we might be entering some early stages of the “terrible twos”–she throws a tantrum every time we want to change her diaper (arching her back, squirming around trying to escape while crying really loud) and she occasionally will get really upset when she doesn’t get her way (once at a grocery store when I wouldn’t give her the balloon she wanted and once at the park when I told her we were all done with the swings). We’re doing our best not to give in to her demands because we feel she’s just testing our boundaries and we’re hopeful it will pay off in the end.  😉

Monthly Photos

See past monthly photos in her mini armchair here:

One Month ::  Two Months ::  Three Months

Four Months ::  Five Months ::  Six Months

Seven Months ::  Eight Months ::  Nine Months

Ten Months ::  Eleven Months ::  Twelve Months

Thirteen Months