Cuddlebugs

This morning was our first trip to the library since before Christmas.  The girls had so much fun.  Addison played and did a craft while Alyssa flirted with a little 13 month old boy.  Here's the LINK to a video.

Turning 4

Maggie and Avery both had birthdays this month!  They turned four and now every day Addison asks me if she's four yet.  Really, every single day, she asks this question.  I'm tempted to tell her yes...

Maggie and Addison

First Trip Home in 2012

We had a playdate with Bella while we were home last week.  Bella is 10 days younger than Alyssa and is the daughter of a childhood friend.  

There will not may be a trampoline in the backyard of our next house!  The trampoline at my dad's house is pretty old, but the girls really enjoyed it last week.

Our main purpose of the trip home last week was for Avery's FOURTH birthday!  Her party was Saturday and everyone had a wonderful time celebrating with the little birthday princess!  Shame on me for not getting a picture of Addison and Avery together!

Sleeping Beauties!

This Dora was outside at my mom's house during the Christmas holidays and the girls loved it.  Well, when we pulled up at memaw's last week they both went to the front yard looking for Dora.  Even calling her name!  It was so cute!  Of course, memaw will do anything to make these babies happy, so she went and got Dora out of storage and put her in the living room!

We were able to have a quick visit with Erin and Parker too!  Quick visit is better than no visit!  We miss them terribly and don't see them nearly enough.  I think we are all looking forward to spending some quality time together at the lake this summer!

Addison has used my old iPhone for a while now and Alyssa has really started showing interest lately.  She got the phone and took it to my dad to help play Dora!  Luckily, I'll be getting a new phone in March, so Addison will get my current one and Alyssa will get the one Addison uses now.

Not the best picture, but you can see that Ara (my great-niece) is bigger than Alyssa!  Ara is 15 months old and 21lbs 4oz, 29.5 inches.  

Alyssa's 18 month well-visit

Alyssa hasn't grown much at all, but she's very healthy and developing great!  She's in the 5th percentile for both height and weight.  The pediatrician said as long as Alyssa is eating and developing then she isn't too concerned and feels Alyssa is just a small baby.  There was only one shot today, the first Hep A.  Alyssa cried for half a second and then I showed her a sucker :)  She took a few licks and then I gave it to Addison.  

Addison	18 months	10/26/09	24.6	31 ½
Alyssa	18 months	01/25/12	20.8	28 ¾

I had to fill out paperwork at the doctor's office for 2012.  While I was focused on reading and answering questions, Addison helped herself to my lipstick.  She was so PROUD too and said "look mommy, I put on a little lipstick.  Do you like it?"  Of course, I loved it (and promptly wiped it off).

 They love the Pooh room.  Who am I kidding?  They love all the rooms at the doctor's office.  Pooh, Nemo, Thomas, Dr. Seuss, there's one more, but the theme has slipped my mind.

The Magic of the Magic Eraser

We got Addison an easel a couple of years ago and it held up well until a week ago.  The dry erase markers seemed to be staining the board and nothing I tried would get it clean.  I had decided to throw it out and get a new one for her birthday.  Well, as I was picking it up to take out to the trash, I realized that it turns into a table also.  I can't believe I had totally forgotten about that!  Ha!  So, I stuck it back in the corner and put some coloring books on it.  Yesterday, a friend shared a picture of her little girl drawing on a dry erase board and it looked stained too.  I asked her about it and told her ours was ruined.  She said that hers wasn't stained and suggested I try a Magic Eraser.  Another friend suggested chalkboard paint.  I decided to try the Magic Eraser, since that's less work than the chalkboard paint!  WOW!  I'm not a spokesperson for Magic Eraser nor did I get reimbursed for talking about the product.  The pictures below speak for themselves!

 We took Addison to her first movie (Alyssa went too, but she slept the whole time).  Addison loves the Chipmunks, so Chipwrecked was a must see for her.  She did really good for it being her first time in a theater.  After about 30 minutes she began to move around and get antsy, but still totally into the movie.

 Alyssa has a habit of grabbing things out of the fridge while I have my hands full getting food in and/or out.  Today I was getting something out and she grabbed the blueberries.  This is what happened.....

MDO, Cupcakes, & Molars

Alyssa is getting her bottom first year molars right now & she's having a really hard time.  I've been doing everything I can to give her some relief.  She has a total of 8 teeth right now, not including the molars.

I've been saying since September that Alyssa would be ready for MDO full-time this month & guess what?  She IS!  This week she has stayed all day, both days!  So exciting for us all!  She isn't napping very well, but that doesn't surprise me since Addison didn't either.  As long as I can get her to nap for a bit when she comes home, it's fine with me.

Here are a few pictures from our cupcake baking this week.  Watch out Betty Crocker!

 Don't let the picture fool you into thinking our 

cupcake baking was like this the whole time!

 Silly cupcakes!

 She will be making her own breakfast before much longer!  I've already taught her how to turn on the tv and put the channel on cartoons, if I'm not out of bed yet!

 I was pretty nervous about letting her hold 

the mixer, but she did a great job!

 Concentrating!

A Little Something I Came Across

Addison 2009 and Alyssa 2012 - both 18 months old and both wearing the same outfit :)

Crib Transition for Alyssa

Alyssa has slept in my bed since she was born.  Every nap has been taken in my arms or in the car.  There have been a couple of rare occasions where she has fallen asleep on other people, but like I said, rare!  It was the same way with Addison and I don't have a single regret.  They are only babies for short period of time.

B & I decided it was time for the BIG move since Alyssa is almost 18 months old.  We are doing the transition much later than we did with Addison.  I think mostly because Alyssa is still nursing.  Addison was weaned at 12 months and moved to her crib at 14 months.  I wish that I would have documented her transition better to compare with what I'm doing now.

1/3/12 - Ferber failed me today.  I tried to get her to nap for 30 minutes and it never happened.  I'm not giving up though.
1/4/12 - 12:30 I nursed her for 5 minutes and then put her in the crib for nap.  The first 10 minutes she resisted, but I stuck to it and eventually she settled down.  I told her it was time for a nap and to lay down and I would put cover on her.  She laid down and instead of leaving her again, I patted her and she fell asleep pretty fast.  I know that staying in the room isn't part of the Ferber Method, but I modified it with Addison and am doing it again with Alyssa.  You have to find what works best for you and your baby.
She slept for 1 1/2 hours and I was so proud of us both!

1/5/12 - 12:05 in the crib.  12:12 first check.  12:19 second check.  12:30 third check and I nursed her for a few minutes.  This is much harder than the last two days!  It's supposed to get better....  12:49 got her out.  I'll try again in an hour or so.  If she sleeps today it will be in her crib or not at all.  3:13 just finished a snack and a short nursing session.  She's so sleepy and can barely hold her eyes open.  I put her in the crib, so let the countdown begin, again!  Went in for first check at 3:18 and she had a dirty diaper, so I changed her and rocked her for a few minutes.  Back in the crib at 3:28.  Another check at 3:38 & I just don't think she's going to nap today.  I'll do one more check and then get her out.  Well, she never took a nap.

1/6/2012 - I had to work in the nursery at MDO today, so I knew Alyssa would be getting a late nap.  There's no way I was about to let her cry in the crib and disturb the other babies.  When we got home I nursed her for a few minutes then put her in the crib at 2:45.  2:50 first check.  3:00 second check.  3:10 third check and I nursed her for 5 minutes.  3:30 check (I'm no longer counting the checks at this point).  3:38 another check and nursed her for 2 minutes.  She went right to sleep when I put her in the crib!  What a relief!  I was about to give up on a nap for today too!  She slept for an hour.

1/7/2012 - 12:00 nursed and rocked for 5 minutes then put her in the crib.  She cried, but not like the last few days.  12:11 first check - she had a dirty diaper.  I think she is saving her poops for the crib to try and postpone the inevitable.  Changed her diaper and rocked her for a few minutes.  Put her in the crib at 12:26 with a little whimper and she went right to sleep!  She slept for 45 minutes.

1/8/12 - 11:35 rocked and nursed Alyssa then put her in the crib (drowsy, but awake).  11:45 first check and of course, she had a dirty diaper.  I see a pattern here!  11:53 rocked her for a few minutes then put her in the crib.  12:00 asleep!  She slept for 1 1/2 hours!

1/9/12 - 12:30 rocked and nursed Alyssa then put her in the crib (drowsy, but awake).  12:40 she wasn't crying at all, but I still went in to check on her because she was standing up and not about to lay down on her own.  I rocked her for about 3 minutes and she almost fell asleep in my arms, but I quickly moved her to the crib and she drifted right off to sleep.  It's a dark, gloomy, rainy day today.  I wonder if she will sleep longer today since this is great sleeping weather!  We shall see...  She slept for 1 hour and 40 minutes!

1/10/12 - 12:12 in the crib.  12:21 first check = dirty diaper!  12:30 back in the crib.  12:40 second check.  12:54 third check and all it took was a little pat on the tummy and she was asleep.

It's been a week, so I think I'll stop documenting our journey with the transition to the crib for naps.  Stay tuned for our next journey - the bedtime transition!  I'll probably start that in a week or so.

My Pretty Babies

Sisters

Almost 18 months old already!

She gets prettier every single day!

 I said I wanted pretty duct tape for Christmas and I got it!