15 Months Old, 22 Weeks Pregnant and Christmas

We've got a lot going on in the Kellogg home. June is officially 15 months old, baby Theo has been in my belly for 22 weeks now, tomorrow is Christmas and yesterday was Thomas' and my one year wedding anniversary. I wanted to write a quick blog about it all but I have a feeling this will turn into something longer. You can pick and choose what you read, I promise I won't be mad.

June is 15 months old. It blows my mind how she's like a real mini human now. She's had a pretty bad cold for the past week and it's very sad. This is the first time she's been sick like this and while it's not quite as bad as the Hand Foot and Mouth sickness went through (thank God!), she's miserable nonetheless. She has a wet cough that sounded a lot like croup to me so I took her to the doctor last week and it's just a virus so we're doing Motrin, some Benadryl to dry her out and lots of cuddling. She's started sleeping in our bed and while I always dreamed of co-sleeping with my kids - it's much different than I expected! She's not a cuddler and takes up most of our king size bed. Most mornings I wake up with a foot in my face or a head in my shoulder blades. I really don't mind it but I do worry a little about when Theo is born and how our transition will go. I planned on co-sleeping with him because I'll be nursing but now that June has invaded our bed I don't want to have a newborn and a toddler in there at once. Any advice? 

Let's take a look at our Baby Center Milestone Chart. 

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)

Plays with ball Uses three words regularly Walks backward

Scribbles with a crayon Runs Adopts "no" as his favorite word

"Helps" around the house Puts his fingers to his mouth and says "shhh"

(Can I pat myself on the back real quick for not messing up the chart this month? Holla!)

So June LOVES throwing and kicking balls. I wish I knew how to link to a video because our dear friend Leo was cracking her up by kicking a soccer ball the other day. It was possibly the cutest 4 minutes of my life. She uses the words Momma, Dadda and yeah. She's starting to babble a lot more but still doesn't have a ton of words. I'm not too worried though. Walking backward? Honestly, I don't know that we've ever had a need to do that. I guess I have seen her playing with her cousins and if they push a toy with her standing at the back she will walk backward with it. But does that count? 

June LOVES crayons. We just started coloring this month and she's really into it. She's been running for two months, wild girl. I don't think she says no yet. Thank goodness. I'm sure that's coming.

She does help around the house. We can tell her to put her clothes in her hamper and she will do that as well as kind of picking up her toys. I'll have to test her with the "shh" thing. I don't think she's ever seen us do it so we'll see!

A week ago we had our official gender scan for baby boy. Our perinatologist was easily able to confirm that Theodore is a boy! Baby boy wasn't shy and gave us a show! He was also much less active than June was at this point. I'm praying that holds true for after he's born too. The ultrasound was amazing. As many of you know, I have a syndrome called Asherman's. I'm not going to go into it again but look around the blog and you'll find lots of info about it. So Dr. Risky (not his real name, I'm dubbing him this because he's a high-risk doctor...and it makes me laugh) showed us all of Theodore's body and his organs working in perfect form. These ultrasounds are my favorite because you get to see, in depth, the inner workings of their tiny bodies. It's absolutely amazing to watch them stretch their muscles and rub their eyes but then to see their heart beating away and their kidneys flushing fluids. During this ultrasound we also saw that the gestational sac grew around the scar tissue I have left. I only have two strands of thick scar tissue left in my uterus as this sweet baby has opened it almost all the way but there's one larger one that the baby is growing around. It's hard to explain and Dr. Risky had to show us from several angles for us to fully understand what was going on. But, basically, the baby implanted in a great spot and then grew around the scar tissue which slowly pushed all of it open. So this last hold out strand of tissue is being pressed on by the sac. He said it may open and stretch or it may be too thick to get through. Either way, the baby is growing perfectly and using the space he has to keep moving and growing. It was all pretty insane to see in front of us. 

Our c-section is officially scheduled for April 23 at 715am. That's my dad's 50th birthday and he is very excited to share his special day. We also have more than a few double (and triple) birthdays on each side of the family so this is an exciting tradition. My sister was born on my grandmother's 50th birthday too! April will be here before we know it! 

Christmas is upon us and I am so excited to see June's reaction to presents. She wasn't interested in opening things on her birthday but we'll see this time! We even have a few things under the tree for Theo. 

I hope everyone has a safe and fun Christmas! 

June looks so sad. At least she's showing emotion! (Also, my Grandpa is a real beard Santa - he is the best Santa ever. Seriously.) ((Also, why does my belly look so weird?!))

June and Santa having a staring contest.

SHE'S ALMOST SMILING.

(From L-R) My mom (Lisa), my dear friend Stacy, me, my sister Emily and my sister's dear friend Kelsey. We made the Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls and they were incredible!

It's A...

BABY! 

With June I had dreams, lots of dreams, that she was a girl. I had one dream where we found out at the ultrasound but not through her genitalia but through her teeth. It was weird. This time I have only had one "premonition." I was falling asleep and lightly dreaming (I could write a whole separate blog about dreams), a baby was placed into my arms and I just knew it was a boy. 

And I was right. 

Theodore Louis Kellogg will be joining his big sister on April 23, 2013. We're going back and forth on his nickname - I like Teddy and Thomas likes Theo. I think we'll see what fits him best when he arrives but for now we've been calling him Theo. And Theo is a very, very low kicker!

I believe that we have the best model for raising opposite gender siblings close in age - my brother and sister. Emily was born November 28 and not two years later, on November 12, Ian was born. Emily was tiny, Ian was big. They were mistaken for twins nearly every day. Emily and Ian did everything together. They played with toys designed for one gender or the other but more often than not, they created their own games. Emily often called herself "Big Sally" and Ian was "Little Nick." Their games required very little - just one another and imagination. Growing up and playing sports together, they had each other on the field to keep each other company.

I cannot wait to see June take Theo under her wing. I'm excited to see her show him the world through her passionate eyes. June has my very strong personality and I'm so curious if Theo will have Thomas' laid back attitude. 

We are so excited to meet baby Theo. 

Baby Theo at nearly 12 weeks. His nose is what tipped us off that he's a boy...

Emily and Ian at probably 3.5 and 18 months. They have such a special bond.

Boy or Girl?

I want to write a whole blog about the old wives tales and make this fun declaration of what the tales tell. But frankly, I'm so worn out. Holy moly, I went to Walgreens and barely made a lap around and had to sit down. It was so silly! I do have this side by side picture of me at 19ish weeks pregnant with June and this picture from yesterday (19 weeks 3 days). I feel like I'm carrying super low, like incredibly low. I promise I'll announce the gender next week! 

So make a guess! 

Oh belly.

Keeping Up with the Kelloggs

I'm sitting here writing this from the comfort of my couch, a heating pad at my back and our Christmas tree all aglow. From this idyllic picture you would never know that I'm also contracting like I'm in labor. That would be super cool if I were 39 weeks pregnant. But I'm not. I'm 19 weeks and 3 days. And actually, labor would be bad for my body even at 39 weeks. That's beside the point. 

Back to my contractions - they got bad enough last night to send me to the emergency room. In addition to contractions I was also feeling light-headed, a little short of breath and just not right. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. At our local hospital they don't send you to Labor and Delivery until 20 weeks. I'm a few days shy and L&D didn't want me up there. Super sad face. I waited, had blood drawn, waited, had an ultrasound, went to a room, waited, had my OB check my cervix, waited, had a shot of pain meds, waited and finally came home at 1am. 

The outcome of this little jaunt was kind of a question mark. Dr. Man has never had a patient with Asherman's syndrome nor has he ever heard of a patient with Asherman's syndrome getting pregnant. All of this was pretty funny to me - Dr. Man had never really addressed my future fertility while I was going through all of my surgeries and now it seems that he was trying to figure out how to tell me that we would never get pregnant. I think he was hoping that every surgery would fix the problem but as it got worse I questioned it less and he was less reassuring. I knew the diagnosis of Asherman's was pretty bad and that fertility was pretty slim. According to Wikipedia's page on Asherman's the pregnancy rates are as follows, "Pregnancy and live birth rate has been reported to be related to the initial severity of the adhesions with 93, 78, and 57% pregnancies achieved after treatment of mild, moderate and severe adhesions, respectively and resulting in 81, 66, and 32% live birth rates, respectively." My initial adhesions where somewhere between moderate and severe. So those rates aren't great. And the live birth rates are even worse. (Why the hell did I even choose to read that again NOW?!)  

<sup>The point of all of this is that Asherman's is rare and I'm basically a guinea pig in this pregnancy. Now at 19 weeks and a few days they think I'm in preterm labor. The major theory in why this is happening is because of the extensive scar tissue in my uterus. While the baby has completely opened my uterus, there is still quite a bit of scar tissue lining the top. I had over 30% of my uterus that was scarred shut so when that opened it created a scar tissue covering that's now starting to stretch. A normal uterus stretching can cause a little bit of pain and discomfort but scar tissue stretching can be very painful. My poor uterus is in a ton of pain and is very irritable. For normal preterm labor they can give a myriad of drugs to stop contractions but because I'm only 19 weeks they're really not sure what to do. My "prescription" is for bed rest as much as possible and pain medication.  I'm still going to work during the morning as I was and rest in the afternoon however I can.  

So friends, please keep up that good juju for us! We had a great ultrasound where baby showed us their gender and is still measuring a full week ahead. We're keeping the gender close to us for now but you're more than welcome to take a guess! We'll probably "announce" it sometime next week. We're keeping our fingers crossed that our sweet baby continues to grow and stays put for 20 more weeks.</sup> 

^{Really not the best picture of me but a pretty cute one of the belly. Take note of the size, shape and general highness or lowness.}

 

Supportive Mommas

This evening I was doing some light reading and researching on breastfeeding. When Junie was a baby I was under an insane amount of duress and breastfeeding just didn't work. You can read about that here. I still have some trace of guilt about that especially because my supply was so amazing. I breastfed her for three weeks, developed mastitis, then had my first surgery, then a blood transfusion, then mastitis again and after 2 weeks of exclusively pumping I had had enough. My body needed my attention to be on my own health and after one more surgery and having to pump every three hours just to dump all of that precious milk, I broke. I was done. I could not possibly dedicate one more tear filled hour to trying to feed my baby. I woke up dreading June waking up and having to feed her. I didn't do much research about breastfeeding before she was born because I was very focused on the birth rather than the food. I assumed it would come naturally and that we would be a professional breastfeeding team. None of my plans came to fruition. Not a drug free birth and not breastfeeding.

So this time, knowing that I will have a c-section, I am doing more research. I am taking classes. I am reading books. I am chatting with other moms. In looking for a good nursing bra I came across a great resource - Bravado. They have gorgeous nursing bras (even in my size! woohoo!) and a wealth of information. The article that really caught my eye was this one about the role that your own mother plays in your breastfeeding success. My mom was amazingly supportive of me while I struggled to breastfeed June. She called her friend, a former lactation consultant and baby nurse, to help me with our latch. She called my doula when my nipples were cracked and bloody. She brought me food when I was crying in the corner trying to feed my baby. She had nursed all three of us (my brother was breastfed until 13-14 months and she only stopped because he wanted to) and loved that special bond that it created. Just the other day she said, "I really hope you can breastfeed this baby. It's so special!" All of this support and love without the passing of judgement when I made the hard decision to bottle feed June. I wish everyone had this same level of support that I had.

I rarely faced any negativity when it came to breastfeeding. The closest I came to that was an older family member telling me that it was okay to feed June a bottle and that all of her babies were fed with formula and they were fine (which was debatable). It came out of a place of honesty and care though - she saw me struggling and I'm sure was trying to be reassuring. 

So ladies, what are your thoughts on that article? Was your mom supportive of your breastfeeding? Were you breastfed as a baby? Do you agree that beside your partner your mother is the biggest important supporter of breastfeeding? Let's get talking about boobs!

I at least know this much.

18 Weeks and Some Change

Not literal change like things are changing but change like "and a few days."

I guess literal change too. My body is definitely changing, so there's that.

After I had June I lost all of the 47 pounds I gained fairly quickly. I was breastfeeding as well as on the verge of death so that helped shed the weight pretty fast. The only problem was that after that initial loss, my weight stayed the same for a while and then started creeping up again. Having a baby plus stress plus more stress plus a brand new job apparently leads to a little weight gain. My official starting weight was 179. 

The first trimester was rough on me. I was pretty sick all day, nearly every day for the first 12 weeks. One morning I was sitting on the couch struggling to get ready for work, crying and having a small pity party. Thomas asked what was wrong and I replied, "I just don't remember it being this hard!" His response, "I do." Poor guy. He didn't forget watching me throw up every morning and evening, trying to find food that tasted okay and keeping my body fed. At my 8 week appointment I had lost 5 pounds. At my 14 week appointment I was still down 2 pounds.

Then I got the flu, twice. The first one wasn't so bad, beside the constant puking for three days straight. I didn't quite feel sick but I couldn't keep anything down and was quickly becoming dehydrated. This was around 15 weeks. I stepped on the scale at the hospital and I was down to 172. 7 pounds from when I got pregnant. I started feeling better but got hit again with the flu this past weekend. Friday was a day of vomit for me and a day of runny tummy (diarrhea) for June. It was rough. Luckily it was only a 24 hour bug and we both felt okay by Saturday. My appetite was somewhat back by then. 

Today I had an appointment with Dr. Man. I was convinced that I was going to have gained at least 8 pounds from my 14 week weight. I just feel my belly betting bigger and my hips expanding. Imagine my shock when I stepped on the scale and I was only 180! I've only gained one pound, officially. I truly want to watch my weight during this pregnancy and would love to stay under 200 pounds. That would mean I would have to keep my weight gain to 22 pounds. I know this can be done. Dr. Man suggested I look into the diet that gestational diabetics follow. It's basically a low carb, high protein diet. It sounds hard to me only because I love sugar and that would be something I have to keep in check but at the end of the day, if that means that I keep my weight gain to a minimum and still grow a healthy baby, I can do it. 

Has anyone ever been diagnosed with gestational diabetes or followed the diet? I will be officially tested in about 10 weeks but with June I failed the one hour and passed the three hour. I would love any advice or suggestions you have from experience! 

And now here's a little timeline of my belly:

I somehow lost week 16. I just cried about it. Don't worry. I'm okay. Just an emotional wreck.

 

Thankful

Last Thanksgiving was rough for the Kelloggs. You can read about our troubles here. The past year in general has been full of triumphs and tribulations for our family. Between giving birth to the most amazing child to having our dream wedding and then the blow of four surgeries and my health sharply declining, we hardly had time to catch our breath. 

Following my last surgery in March we were advised to try to get pregnant right away. We figured that it would happen naturally, like June. We gave my body some time following surgery to rest and started trying at the end of March. I've been tracking my periods for several years now and have become really in tune with my body so I didn't want to bother with any of the tests. April's period came and went. It was shorter than my periods had been before I had the baby. I thought it was just my body changing.

We tried again in April and this time my ovulation was confirmed via ultrasound by Dr. Latino. I was dead on about figuring when that was and it was pretty cool. I knew we had timed everything perfectly. But May came and I got my period, it was very short though. No worries, we had only tried for two months. 

I really wanted a February baby so I started to get serious about things in May. I started using ovulation predictor kits and tested the week before I thought I would ovulate. It turns out I was ovulating a few days later than what I assumed. We tried in May. In June, I got my period. It was even shorter than May's. I wasn't getting my February baby.

In June I started taking my temperature to measure my basal body temp. Another step in becoming serious about conceiving. All of this was becoming tiring and we were only four months in. But I desperately wanted June to have a sibling so I stopped thinking about it as a hassle and started thinking about it as what we had to do, a part of life. The week before my period in June I began to get depressed. We had just moved to our new home and being a full time stay at home mom left a lot of time for me to browse the internet. I read countless stories of women with Asherman's syndrome getting pregnant and losing the baby at all points of pregnancy. 

I had decided to take charge of the situation and call Dr.Man to discuss further tests. We had talked about a hysterosonogram - a test to see how open the uterus is as well as the fallopian tubes. I called to schedule the test and it had to be two weeks after my period.
My period came. It was only one day long. This was even more depressing because I knew this meant that my uterus was progressively scarring more and more and my chances of getting pregnant were becoming more slim as each month passed. I called to schedule the test and I found out that my insurance had been cancelled. This was adding to the increasing stress I felt. 

In mid-July I got my new job. I didn't have insurance, I was stressed and I needed to re-evaluate everything. Thomas and I talked for days on end about what we were going to do. We decided to stop trying to conceive. June was enough for us and we were lucky to have survived all of my health problems. We had been trying for 5 months and my body was telling me that it just wasn't going to happen. I put away all of the tests I had left, I unsubscribed to the trying to conceive newsletters and put my energy into work. 

At the end of July I had a 3 hour period. Yes, 3 hours. I sobbed. Not because it meant I wasn't pregnant but because that was the final straw of my body telling me that it was done. My uterus was closing for good.

August was busy. Work, family, the new house, I was planning for June's 1st birthday party, I was in a wedding, etc. I knew that my period was due at the end of the month but I had stopped really thinking about it. I figured it wasn't going to come and that when I finally had insurance again I would have to call Dr. Latino and figure out where to go from there. I didn't get my period. 

But I felt weird. Like something was off. Thomas and I were driving home from a family birthday party and I decided I should get a pregnancy test. It made me so sad though. The thought of testing again and it being negative again was just killing me. When we got home Thomas put June in her bed and took Henry on a walk. I built up the courage to pee on the stick. Tears ran down my cheeks as I stared at the test in disbelief. Nearly immediately it turned positive. We had given up. We were pregnant. 

The first few weeks were rough. I was constantly sick. I had the fear of losing the baby. I bled, I cramped, but everything was fine. They set my due date as May 5, 2013. 

As I got farther along, the ultrasounds starting showing that I was farther along than we thought. 

I saw a high risk perinatologist at 11 weeks. He sat with Thomas and I for nearly 30 minutes and went over every question we had. He proceeded to do an ultrasound. The baby was perfect. My uterus was perfect. I was nearly completely healed. Even the doctor called it a miracle. This baby is a miracle. 

Our due date was moved to April 29 and baby is measuring a week bigger than that as well. We find on December 14th if baby is a girl or boy.

June and new baby Kellogg will be 19 months apart. We are overjoyed and thrilled and will never sleep again.

Fourteen Months!

My darling child is fourteen months old. 

June is a crazy, busy, fun girl. She loves her daddy (mommy too but she's a daddy's girl). This past weekend she was pretty cuddly with me and it was wonderful. She's usually too busy to cuddle!

This month she's kind of kept the status quo with her abilities. I can tell she's trying to talk more but not really any more definitive words. Sleeping has been rough but she's also getting several teeth. Poor kid has gotten 3 teeth in the past month and two more are breaking through, including a molar.

So let's take a look at our milestone chart:

Child's Age

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do

 

14 months

Eats with fingers Empties containers of contents Imitates others

Toddles well Initiates games Points to one body part when asked Responds to instructions (e.g., "give me a kiss")

Uses a spoon or fork Matches lids with appropriate containers Pushes and pulls toys while walking

June has been eating with her fingers since 6 months, she's got that down! She loves emptying (and refilling) containers of their contents. And definitely can imitate others.

She is full on running these days so I'd say she toddles well! She loves peek-a-boo and can clap along to songs. She is also really good with instructions. She can bring us her shoes or socks when we ask.

She's starting using a spoon and fork this month! She's been doing really well with both! I don't know that she can match lids, we don't really have anything to test that with - only wipe containers. She can surely push and pull toys while walking and has for a few months. 

It's been a really fun few months in the Kellogg house with June really becoming a toddler. She is so passionate and curious. (Right now she's coming over and pretending to kiss me but runs away when I try to kiss her. She thinks it's so funny to psyche me out with her kisses!) 

Now for some cute pictures.

Yeah, I know.

June's first football game. UNIMPRESSED.

Also, come back Thursday. I have a blog about what I'm thankful ready to post!

Halloween in November

Halloween was a while ago. Like almost two weeks ago. But that's not going to stop me from giving you the play-by-play of June's first (real) Halloween night.

The day before my mom had a very fun Halloween parade with all of the daycare kids. We had two Spidermans, a family of Bees, a Merida, a ninja, a German beer girl, an Air Force pilot and my little Katniss Everdeen. June has been teething for what seems like months and her nap schedule has been all over the place. Unfortunately these two days - the day before and Halloween day - her sleep was pretty bad. So my baby Katniss was snotty and sad but still adorable. 

Our dear friend, Ashli, made her bow and arrow for her birthday which is gave me the idea for the costume.

Halloween night Thomas and I loaded up June and we went to my mom's house. We had dinner, got June dressed, I did my make-up and we headed out. I was dressed as Effie, June as Katniss and we put a blue bow on Henry to make him Lady, the goat. (I realize that if you've never read The Hunger Games little of this makes sense but trust me, it was cute. Also, Thomas was supposed to be Haymitch but we couldn't find his wig. Sad.) My mom's friend, Maryann, lives two doors down so we went to her house to trick-or-treat first. We walked up, June knocked on the door (she loves knocking on pretty much everything), and Maryann answered. She was thrilled to see June dressed up. June, however, was confused. She tried to walk into Maryann's house and was terribly sad that we didn't let her. I think what was going on in her head was that when we knock on doors, we are allowed to go into the house. Why on earth would we not go into this house? The lack of sleep, the teething, and the confusion of our first trick-or-treating outing had gotten to her. We thanked Maryann for our two Twix bars and walked back to my parents' house.

This was before we headed out. Excuse the fact that she was in the bathroom. For some reason she was singing If You're Happy and You Know It in the bathroom with my mom.

June loved watching what few kids came to our house from the porch. She cuddled with her Auntie Em and looked at the boys and girls walking by. Our night ended when we got home at 730. I put up a sign on our door that said, "We don't have any candy and our baby is sleeping. Please don't knock." I felt like an old scrooge but Junie needed her sleep! 

I hope next year June gets the hang of candy and costumes. Overall, she was cute, went to bed and slept through the night so I guess we can't complain too much!

One Year and One Month

I'm not only surprised that June is 13 months old but that a month has passed since her birthday. What have we been up to? Beside working a lot and enjoying that immensely, we've done a whole lot of nothing. I know we've been busy but I honestly can't think of anything we've done in particular. 

This weekend we went to the pumpkin patch and June was neither pleased nor upset about the experience. I've come to realize that that's how she deals with new situations. She likes to take in the scene before getting involved. I think that comes from Thomas. I feel like I jump into new things faster than he does. 

Yep, this was her face, just like her beach face.

Instead of trying to make her smile like me, I just copied her face.

Our little Frankenstein's monster.

This was the best we got. She was more interested in the bale of hay we were standing on and I don't think she appreciated the irony of her milking me.

June's new favorite thing is to walk Henry. She will get his leash and try to put it on him and walk out of the house. We call it her baby chore. He doesn't seem to mind and she gets very upset if we take him out without her. I like to think that they're bonding.

She's a helper!

The Baby Center milestone chart was funny this month - she's now on the 13 to 18 month chart! 

Child's Age	Mastered Skills (most kids can do)	Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)	Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
13 months	Uses two words skillfully (e.g., "hi" and "bye") Bends over and picks up an object	Enjoys gazing at his reflection Holds out arm or leg to help you dress him	Combines words and gestures to make needs known Rolls a ball back and forth

 So let's see - June is talking much more! She uses the words, "hi" and "momma" and "daddy." I am so thrilled that she's calling me momma and mommy. I waited so long to hear her say those words! At first it was just when she was mad but she's started to say it in her "conversations" now too. June can definitely bend over and pick up objects. 

Just today we were laughing how she was all into looking at herself in her grandma's mirrored closet doors! She was kissing herself and just having a ball! She reluctantly helps us get her dressed. 

She doesn't quite put words and gestures yet but is a pointer girl for sure. She loves rolling balls back and forth as well as throwing them. Quite a little athlete!  

 June is becoming such a big girl. She loves playing by herself in her bedroom. She goes in there and reads or talks and laughs to herself. I am so thankful that she can entertain herself and play alone. I know not every child can do this and I am so grateful!

 Halloween is just around the corner and I can't wait to share her (our) costume(s). I'm not really telling people what we're going to be because I don't want it to not work out and then feel dumb. 

So, friends, I have to write a new blog for Parenting OC. What are some issues or things you're facing these days? I'd love some suggestions for a new blog post over there! Thanks!

(let's ignore this again.)

A Year of June

I've been putting this off because much like her birth story, I felt if I didn't put it into words, it wouldn't have to be real. If I didn't talk about it, she wouldn't actually be a toddler now. But the reality is, she is a toddler; a feisty, sassy, saucy, busy toddler. 

We celebrated her actual birthday at my parent's house with my mom, dad, brother, grandparents, and our dear Galarzas. By the time I got there from work she had already opened her present from my grandparents and would not stop playing with it. They got her a ride-on grocery cart type thing. It makes noise and she is hilarious with it. She loves flinging her leg over it and pushing herself forward and backward all over our living room. Our dinner on her real birthday was pizza and while it wasn't the first time she had had it, she was pretty into it this time. Then was the part I had been waiting for - cake. I was so anxious to see her reaction to her first real dessert. My mom had made a cute little funfetti cake just for her and we put a candle in it and sang. She loved the singing part. She clapped along and smiled bigger than I've ever seen. The candle blew out and she smacked her hand into the frosting. She immediately looked at us with a face that said, "what the hell is this?" She wiped it on the highchair and tried again. Still didn't take a bite or seem interested. I finally took a little bit of the cake itself and fed it to her. She was unimpressed. So much for her first cake. 

Her birthday party was a day of emotions for me. I was stressed, sad, happy and anxious. The party turned out amazingly well. I had lost sight of the fact that all we really needed was our near and dear and my baby doll, June. Her second exposure to cake was just as stoic. I really don't think she likes the fact that it was so messy. She melted down about 30 minutes before the party was officially over due to lack of a morning nap and being around too many people. Luckily her adoring public understood. 

We also had her one year check up the Friday between her birthday and her party. She's a big kid, I'll say that much. My little lady has been in the 95th percentile and above for both height and weight her whole life. And she's showing no signs of slowing down. Let's take a look at our handy Baby Center Milestone Chart:

12 months

Imitates others' activities Indicates wants with gestures

Takes a few steps Says one word besides "mama" or "dada"

Walks alone Scribbles with a crayon Says two words besides "mama" or "dada"

June is a big imitator and I mean that in a good way. She indicates wants with gestures like pointing, which is the cutest thing in the universe. 

She's walking pretty much full time but her language is developing a little more slowly than I expected. 

She walks alone and would probably go for walks around the neighborhood alone, if we'd let her. We've honestly never tried a pen or crayon to see if she would scribble. She does use a fork fairly well, though. And again, the language is a little slow. 

I actually had a few concerns about her language that our wonderful pediatrician addressed. She calls Thomas "Dada" very consistently but doesn't really use other words consistently. We've heard her say things like, "yeah" and "bub" and "Lisa" and "Pop" but not all the time. Our doctor said that some kids won't say their real first words until 15 months and that as long as she is vocalizing, she's okay. I think I was putting pressure on myself (and her) because she's always been very advanced in every other area that I assumed she would talk early too. I've also always talked to her all day long and I know my parents do when she's there too. We just talk to her about everything that we're doing. that's the best way for them to develop language. So it almost felt like I was doing everything right and yet I was still failing. I know, that's silly. But that's what this weird mommy guilt/emotion does to you sometimes. 

So friends, my dear baby is one. And here's my favorite picture of her in recent times.

No Offense?

I gave my opinion over at Parenting OC. What do you guys think? Let me know over there!

11 Months!

          June is eleven months old. This is the first month where I have felt more on the side of "she's been in our lives forever and ever" than the side of "how is she growing up so fast?!" She is growing up fast but as we're nearing a year, it feels like we're about to hit thirteen instead. June's...passion...shall we say, is becoming more and more evident by the spectacular fits she has been throwing. It's amazing to me that such a small human can have so much emotion inside of her.

         She has started to "kiss" us. It's a rare occurrence but every so often I can ask for a kiss and she'll come at me open mouth and smother me. This has caused the greatest joy in my heart. For a girl who is so anti-cuddling it means a lot to her highly affectionate mom that she's starting to love a little bit.

          Before I overload you on overly adorable pictures, let's take a look at our handy Baby Center chart.

11 months

Says "mama" or "dada" to the correct parent Plays patty-cake and peek-a-boo Stands alone for a couple of seconds Cruises

Understands "no" and simple instructions Puts objects into a container

Says one word besides "mama" or "dada" Stoops from standing position

          June calls Thomas "Dada" and me...nothing. Unless she's mad and then she yells, "MAMA!" Which usually means she wants me. She's a huge fan of peek-a-boo. Stands for more than a couple of seconds and does nothing but cruises.

          She definitely understands "no," not that she likes it but she gets it for sure. She loves taking things out of a wipe container and them putting them all back in. 

          Junie says a lot of words: hey, hi, yeah, bub (Henry, our dog), Lisa (I'll explain that one in a minute), Pop (my dad), and baba (bottle). She can definitely stoop from standing and uses that to horde toys. 

          My mom runs a family daycare out of her house and that's where June goes while we're at work. My mom's name is Lisa. The other daycare kids call her Lisa. June now calls her grandma, Lisa. It's hilarious. I don't know how to correct her when she's around other kids that don't call her Grammy all day! I've thought of trying to figure out a cute nickname that goes with Lisa so that Junie can call her that but nothing is working. At least she even calls her something. I still don't get a name unless she's angry.

          June's favorite thing to do, beside stand and hold as many things in her arms as possible, is reading. Books are her activity of choice. I currently write for Parenting OC and just chronicled my love of books and the hope I have for June. I'd love if you'd pop over there, too. 

          And now, some pictures of my hilarious, sweet, smart and precious ELEVEN month old!

She loves books, I wasn't kidding!

We needed a break at the beach.

She LOVED crawling in the sand. This is a huge change from our last beach day!

Some wild hair and her constant companion, bunny.

Are you even kidding me with this face? I don't know how I got so lucky to be her momma.