The sweetest

My goodness...blogging is not on the short list right now unfortunately.

As for doing the Insanity workout I last posted about - well, I didn't even make it through the first month.  Two weeks in, I realized I had a foot (tendon?) injury - plantar fasciitis (man, I sure miss the days before I knew what that was....)  Seems to be better with orthotics now, finally - all I know is, after (starting) insanity, picking up spinning when I learned I couldn't really put weight on my foot, and then doing a LOT of swimming when I finally decided to listen to the doctor and completely rest my foot to let it heal, I FINALLY reached pre-baby weight and FEEL like I'm still there, if not better (can't drag myself to get on a scale after the beach, whatever).  The irony - I'm fairly certain that without getting plantar fasciitis, I would not have put my body through those varied and different workouts, and it probably would have taken me much longer to lose the weight, if I ever did.  Not a small reminder that God works in mysterious ways.  Regardless, I'm thrilled to be fitting well in almost all of my clothes, although of course I'd still love to lose those five last 5-10 pounds.  But isn't that always the case?

Anyway, on to the important stuff - right now and over the last few months, Bailey has done so many cute things and her vocabulary has literally EXPLODED!  Plus, I keep thinking of the stuff I should have written in the 18 month post. So here goes a list of a bunch of different things......roughly in order of occurrence, but who am I kidding, a lot of these don't really have an order and are continually developing and changing, seemingly by the second.  Yes I realize this is way too long and mostly not at all clever, but this is really just for my own records more than anything, and I know I'm going to want to look back at these things one day.  Also, I swear I'm going to get better at writing down these cute things when they happen....

Babysitters - or lack thereof:  B still has only had a single actual "babysitter" who was not related to her by blood.  (and that babysitter was Miss Carmen, a teacher at Bailey's spanish immersion daycare in Memphis, who said she would just stay with her while she slept when I tried to tell her how to work the remote for the tv and whose arms Bailey would jump in when I took her to school, which I openly loved and only jealously disliked a little bit.  Bless her.)

Bailey's "swagger": I can't believe I haven't posted this before, and I've probably also failed to get a decent video of it, but Bailey's way of walking is an absolute production.  The arms and hips swing, the feet fly.  It is pure swagger and utterly exudes confidence and busy-ness.  Like her beautiful red curls, I hope it stays forever.

Bows/clips in her hair:  When Bailey was a few months old, I started putting bows in her hair and of course, it was undeniably adorable.  As soon as she figured out how to take them out, however, she did almost immediately despite my subtle attempts to persuade her to keep them in, which literally led her at one point to answer the question "what makes you so pretty?" with the response "bows!"  So much for my persuasive technique, as she still takes out just about everything I try to put in her hair within seconds.  I swear one day I'll win the battle of the bows, but her crazy beautiful hair gets  more difficult to control every day (the gravity-defying bedhead is seriously a sight to behold) so a hair trim (do not say cut do not say cut do not say cut) will have to be done soon  because as her hair has gotten longer and longer, she looks like a (beautiful) sheep dog with her bangs covering her eyes  as soon as she takes out whatever I've put in to hold them back. 

CIRCLES!: One day when Bailey was less than 19 months, I started to draw a flower on her drawing board, and as soon as I drew the middle circle she yelled out "circle!" and started drawing circles on the board (and went on to draw them everywhere, especially in the bath with her bath crayons, which is where she especially likes to name the person for whom she is drawing the circle - as in, circle mama, circle dada) Now she draws lines too (thanks to dada, who loves to teach her new "tricks").

Favorite color/colors in general: Bailey's first favorite color was purple.  I discovered this when she was about 18 months old and I randomly asked her what her favorite color was and she responded "puh-pull," a word I'd never heard her say before.  After that, even though she could pretty much always give me the right color block or toy and point out right color, she called everything puh-pull.  Her next favorite color was blue, so everything was blue, but then when we were at the beach in June she got it and would name the correct color. Now her favorite color is (usually) puh-pull again.

Baths and bath toys: Bailey loves baths for the most part (although she hates having water poured over her head).  She loves to color in the bath tub with crayons (circles) and loves "bubbles." Also loves colored baths, which I think are the coolest, with boats.

Baby talk:  When Bailey first started talking, she loved to do a blabbering-type noise that sounded kind of like blablablablablablablabla with her mouth abd tongue moving all over the place.   We loved it and would do it back, and then one day it turned to - Mamadadamamadadamamadadamamadadaaaaaaa! (said very quickly in an auctioneer voice - unfortunately I never did get either one of these on video.) Now she changes it up and will do dadamamadadamamareillyBAILEY and all kinds of other combinations.

"Tutch":  When we walked up the stairs to the condo we are currently living in, Bailey would always want to reach out and touch the wall and say "Tooouuuch . . . Tooouuuch" (pronounced "tutch" as in Dutch.)

DADA! (said loudly and while pointing at strangers):  When Bailey first learned to say dada, for some reason she thought that was every man's name (I think it was because all the men who would pick up her classmates were referred to as "dada.")  So she would call random, and sometimes strange, men "dada" very loudly, in public - especially at the grocery store.  Which would make me giggle awkwardly and say "OHHHH you want to go HOME to see YOUR DADA soon" very loudly, so that the man would hopefully hear me and not think I was training a toddler to pick out potential father figures.

"No know": Instead of saying "I don't know" Bailey first said "I no know."  Not sure why this makes me so happy - somehow there is a simple logic there that speaks to me.

Not hepful:  Bailey is certainly growing in independence every day, and whether it's the playground, getting a spoon out of the drawer, or putting up blocks, she often wants to do it on her own and says "no hep me!"  Of course, she then tries to assert this independence while climbing and/or swimming, and she has to learn to accept the "hep." 

Almost: Bailey loved to play with her blocks and try to put them in the right holes on the top of the bucket and she would say "ALMOST!" in a very determined manner every time she missed.  This sounds so boring, but I promise it was really cute. 

Best (school) friends forever:  Bailey's bffs at school appear to be a pair of twin boys named Beau and Tate.  As in, the answer to my question of "what did you do at school today?" when I pick her up is often, and almost automatically, "BeauTate."  She's now diversified a little and will talk about playing with Hudson or Grayson too, and I've seen her play with Paxton more than anyone else when I come to pick her up, but she does not appear to have much interest in playing with girls. 

"Maddie book me" - when we first got to the beach, Bailey was thrilled to learn that her cousin Maddie could read her books and (thankfully I caught this on video) looked at me with pure joy and said "Maddie book me!"

Mamadada:  For a long time, Bailey would often (but by no means always) refer to Scott and/or me as "mamadada," like we were a unit, and would only sometimes correct herself to say one or the other. 

Taroline:  Similarly, Bailey also seemed to think of Maddie and Caroline as a unit, and chose to refer to them singularly as "Taroline" (as in, "I see Taroline now?  I pay (translation: play) Taroline?"  Even if it was just Maddie, she called her Taroline.

Sea Turtles:  At the beach, Caroline told Bailey that sea shells were sea turtles.  Sweet little gullible Bailey walked around all week getting so excited to find sea turtles, and completely disregarded everyone else calling them shells.

Beach toys:  For the most part, on our beach trip Bailey would only stay on the beach for 10-15 minutes, after which she would want to go play with the hose and foot bucket on the porch.  For hours.

Fearless and fearful: At the beach Bailey touched a real live star fish and loved sticking her hand in the minnow bucket and pulling it out and yelling "it tickle me!!!" and giggling excitedly.  However, she refused to go on the tube with mama or dada in the creek (she finally did it a few weeks later on the big boat in the lake).

Helpful lessons from cousins:  At the beach, Bailey started using the term "stopit!" which we've tried to delicately change to "stop please" or "no please."  She also learned the joy of closing doors which has continued even though one of her helpful cousins managed to shut her fingers in one while at the beach (which was thankfully treated only by emergency bandaid by dada while mama was not around).

NO CARS!: We started teaching Bailey about stopping on the street before you cross to look for cars awhile ago, but she didn't really get it until the beach, where she would yell out "NO CARS!" before crossing the street to get to the dock (she didn't necessarily look before yelling it, but at least it showed that she knew the concept.)

Duh:  For awhile, Bailey would  ask what something was and when you'd answer she'd say "ohh" or "ohhhhh yeah!"  (like she obviously knew that already and had just forgotten for a second) or "yeah" (like, obviously I knew that, I just wanted to make sure you did).

Soon and Now:  Bailey learned the concept of "soon" almost exclusively as it related to Peppa Pig (her favorite show until about a week ago).  As in, when we got home in the evening she'd want to watch Peppa, which we don't do til after dinner, so I'd say no and she responded by saying "Peppa soon?"  She first demonstrated her knowledge of the concept of "now" by demanding that "mama pay (translated: play) NOW" while mama was folding laundry.

OINK:  Bailey started watching tv at around 18 months, and the only thing she would actually sit down and watch was Peppa pig for some reason.  During the height of her Peppa obsession, Bailey started saying PEPPA PIG "OINK!" in a manner that was scarily and impressively identical to the way Peppa says her name in the opening and the realistic pig noise that follows it.

So friendly:  Bailey loves saying "hi" not just to strangers and children who enter her general area, but also to inanimate things - "hi dada car" "hi cottage cheese" "hi cup."  Same with bye-bye.

Night Night Songs:  At night, we've always sung songs before we leave her to go to sleep.  However, a couple months ago, my normal "sunshine song" (translation: you are my sunshine) or altered lyrics to "the Lord's been good to me" song (my lyrics:  ohhhh the Lord's been good to me/ and so I thank the Lord/ for giving me the things I need/the sun and the rain and my sweet Bailey/the Lord's been good to me) were no longer enough.  Bailey demanded a "night night song" which I made up on the spot and which I'll post later.  Seemed to make her happy, which made me happy.  Over the last few weeks, however, the only night night song she regularly requests is her dada's rendition of  "Rocky Top," and he literally sings her every single verse as she sings along and actually impressively gets a number of words right (not moonshine yet, unfortunately).

So Exciting:  Bailey gets very easily excited about just about anything and very clearly exhibits that enthusiasm by saying loudly and with a smile "EXCITED!" or "FUN!"  As in, "Bath soon.  I excited!"  or talking about going to the lake "FUN!"

Mmmm mmm good:  Bailey loves to eat most things and will say they are "dewicious!" or "yummy in my tummy!"

Boats and Dreams:  Bailey loves boats and loved getting on "Dada Boat" when we took it to the beach.  Now that we often go out on the lake at Norris with Mimi and Pops, she mostly talks about "Pops' boat" and tells me that she dreamed about pops' boat at night, where she was with mama in the wawa going fast!  More recently, in the last couple of weeks, her dreams have involved horses, which is kind of interesting considering I don't think she's ever seen a real horse and the closest she's gotten to riding one is the horsey in her room which is not exactly realistic.

Dr. Bailey:  Bailey started LOVING babies a few months ago, and about 6 weeks ago she started lining up ALL of the babies at Mimi and Pops' house, which is a lot, and say "Sick! baby need medcine!" (that is not a typo on the spelling of medicine, that is exactly how she says it.) Now she does this very frequently and her babies are "sick" all the time.  Maybe she's not the best doctor.....

Cheese!:  Blame instagram, blame my craziness, it doesn't matter, but I am the first to admit that I am almost constantly trying to take pictures of Bailey and somewhere along the line, Bailey developed a "cheese" face, which is a very unnatural looking smile with her eyes mostly closed.  When she sees my phone or another camera pointed at her and doesn't want her picture taken, she says "no cheese me," sometimes while making the cheese face.  Thankfully she will also make a "happy face" that is a more natural looking smile.

Swim lessons:  At her first swim lesson, they taught blowing bubbles, which I demonstrated to Bailey,  only to have her yell "NO DRINK THAT WAWA MAMA!" every single time I did it, no matter how much I defended myself and assured her that I was not, in fact, drinking the water.  Of course, then when she finally tried to blow bubbles, she pretty much ended up just drinking the pool water.   

Baby pooh:  After swim lesson, we would always go to the outdoor baby pool, which Bailey loves and refers to as the "Baby Pooh."  She also referred to her swim lesson as her "pooh lesson."  Thankfully, she never poohed in either one.

Right and left:  Daddy is already trying to teach Bailey right and left, and to my surprise she gets it right somewhat consistently.

Reilly:  Bailey now refers to our dog almost exclusively as "REILLYDOG."

Can't say I didn't warn her:  Bailey will try most foods - but sometimes she is more adventurous than others. For example, one night I was making a recipe that called for garlic powder while sitting at the table with Bailey as she was eating her dinner.  Despite my warnings, she demanded to try some, and then made a disgusted face and kept telling me "it's in my mouth!" until she finally followed my advice to drink milk to get the taste out. 

Hugs and kisses: Bailey has never been overly affectionate, unless sick and/or tired.  In fact, she would often refuse to give me and Scott kisses and hugs saying, "no hug me mama" or "no hug me dada."  In the recent weeks, however, she has started expressing her love more openly -  she loves to give super snuggly hugs and grab mine and dada's faces and give kisses, and makes me and Scott give each other a kiss, and she LOVES family hugs.

Here's "ooking" at you:  Whenever Bailey is doing something she thinks is cute and thinks no one is paying enough attention, she'll say "ooka me ooka me" (translation: look at me, look at me).

Boo (insert fake scared reaction here.  Repeat 737 times):  This is what Bailey refers to as "booin'" (as in "I booin'") which is loosely translated as: I'm going to go behind something like a curtain for .5 seconds then shout boo then forget all about actually pretending to hide and just continue to shout boo at you and be thrilled if you react in any way such as shouting boo back or pretending to be scared.  It never, ever gets old.  To anyone.  Ever.

She was running!:  Bailey has started loving to run.  However, after starting, she insists upon stopping to make a panting "ah ah ah" sound.  I'm guessing school taught her this?  She'll keep going, however, especially if you let her run in circles, which combines two of her favorite things.

Achoo: Most of the time when someone sneezes, Bailey says "achoo" instead of bless you (recently she's sometimes started to say bless you, but rarely).

BOTH: if given a choice between two things, Bailey very early learned that normally she would prefer both even if that was not exactly an option.

Picky picky: Sometimes Bailey will order me (or Scott, but not as frequently) not to come somewhere.  It started at the beach, and I would stay where I was, as long as I was closer to the water than she was.  She sometimes does it for bathtime and story time too, although she always ends up asking the parent she'd formerly kicked out to come back in about 30 seconds later.  Not sure why she does this, but we try to respect her opinion. 

Favorite foods and drinks: COTTAGE CHEESE is just about the only food Bailey will eat anytime, anywhere, and in an amount large enough to fill her tummy.  Bailey also loves yogurt and will now eat two yobaby yogurts (she used to pick between two, but of course now wants both, with two spoons or a spoon and a "spoonfork") for breakfast.  Yogurt and pancakes are about the only foods she will eat for breakfast.  Bailey started loving peanut butter at the beach when her cousins were eating it, but she seems to like it only by itself and will lick it off whatever vehicle I try to put with it, such as apples or banana or pretzels, even though she likes all those things too.  She loves fruits, especially blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, apples, grapes, mandarin oranges, and bananas.  She loves avocado and peanuts (and cashews, which she refers to as peanuts).  The only vegetables she'll consistently eat are corn and green beans, which is probably my fault because they are convenient and easy - she used to eat sweet potato and squash but now pretty much refuses them when I take the time to make them.  Her favorite snack is white cheddar cheese popcorn, just like her mama.  She'll usually eat a good bit of spaghetti, but sometimes not, and recently loved my sausage pasta bake for the first time.   When offered juice and/or gatorade, she will take  few sips but not really drink it, but she loves to drink water and milk and will frequently make an "ahhh" sound after taking a long drink.  The only sweet things she really likes are m & ms and mini reeses cups.  She doesn't like, and refuses to eat, ice cream and popscicles, even though she LOVES plain ice (I don't get it either).  Bailey has recently decreased the amount she eats over all, at least at school - they used to consistently circle "heavy" to describe her eating at lunch, but now she's usually medium, and sometimes light.

Books:  Bailey loves to read books and would probably rather do that than anything else.  She loves the Sandra Boynton books especially - Moo, Baaa, Lalala, was her first favorite book, and she still loves it.  She loves to act out the Barnyard Dance with mama, and recently started loving Happy Hippo Angry Duck.  She shocked me and Scott by knowing "Doggies" almost by heart a few weeks ago.  She loves nursery rhymes, especially riding mama and/or dada's leg for the "Grand ol' Duke of York."  She loves the Elmo, Goodnight Gorilla, and Stinky Face books.  She loves for daddy to read her counting book, but not so much mama. 

Yemma Yemma:  (yes, this is also about books, but deserves its own space)  For awhile, Bailey would ask for yemma yemma sometimes at night.  Thinking it was a song, I asked the music teacher at school, who had no idea.  Finally one day they were reading a Llama Llama book in her class when I picked her up, and Bailey shouted "yemma yemma," so I realized that she loved those books and dutifully ordered several of them from Amazon because that is what good mamas do, right?  Well, I know they are very popular, and Bailey loves them, but I have to admit that I hate them.  First,  "Llama Llama Misses Mama" literally made me bawl the first time I read it and while we still read it because she loves it, it still makes me tear up every single time I read it (don't tell Bailey but sometimes I have to skip pages in order to make it through without ugly crying - talk about sending a spear straight into a working mama's heart).  Then, we had to hide "Llama Llama Red Pajama" because it was making Bailey get super panicked about where Mama Llama was, and it was just not worth it.  We still read "Llama Llama Mad at Mama" but I'm not a big fan of Llama's tantrum and the potential for Bailey to think that is appropriate behavior.  So anyway, I know the rhyming is great but couldn't Anna Dewdley have written some more upbeat stories?  I like Sandra Boynton better, hands down. 

Nighttime Routine:  Well, after months and months of stressful evenings with numerous screaming bouts and multiple trips in to give more hugs, fix a blanket, get a new book, have one more tiny sip of water, etc., I realized that it was not good for me or Bailey to have her learn to scream at me until I came back in after saying night night.  So, the last few evenings we have enacted a tough love, cry it out, whatever you want to call it regimen.  She cried off and on for 42 minutes the first night, 12 minutes the next, 6 minutes the next, then very little the next night (although it was way past her bedtime, so that's probably why).  Then she regressed a little last night and cried off and on for 25 minutes last night.  It's absolutely heart wrenching and miserable to hear your name being called out but I am determined to stay the course and hope we can eliminate any crying when mommy and daddy leave her to go night night.  I absolutely, positively hate not going in there and getting those sweet hugs and I miss them immensely but overall, the stress it was causing to all of us was just not fair or worth it.

PHEW!!!  Well, that's all I can think of for now, and this blog post literally took months to write.  And, I'm pretty sure that no one but me and Scott and maybe Bailey will probably ever read it in its entirety, but that's enough for me.  Can't believe Bailey will be 2 in a little over a month, but I'll get all sentimental about that when the time comes.  For now, here's a picture of our beautiful girl looking way older than her years this morning before leaving for school:

Insanity

Well, Scott and I have started the insanity workout.  We took "before" pictures and everything - we're nothing if not ambitious.  We've only done the fit test and the first day, which was some kind of plyometric cardio cycle.  

As for the fit test, I have to say it was not so much a test as much as a way of pointing out exactly how out of shape I am.  I couldn't do a single pushup.  I fell out after a few seconds of high knees.  And there was something I was supposed to do in plank position that just made me literally fall over. 

As for the workout tonight - I have to say, even though I've only done one real day of it, the title of the insanity workout is not a misnomer.  I asked Scott, out loud, more than once, what this guy (the annoyingly fit Shaun T who apparently thinks everyone has a rock solid "core" who can keep them in "proper form") was smoking.  

I'm also doing a few other things to, as Fergie would say, "work on my fitness." Not sure why, but every six months I tend to hit a motivation point and this one feels pretty good, so we'll see what happens.  

So, in the words of the text I sent my sister after completing our plyo cardio whatever - hot damn I hope I can walk tomorrow.   

Highs and lows and Easter cuteness

Y'all, we have had serious highs and lows this week, but the cuteness has been pretty darn consistent.

First, a definite high: last weekend B had a play date with Will Kizer.  Their first play date was almost exactly a year ago, when they looked like this:

(also, at last year's play date, Bailey was in a teething/kissing phase - she would kind of gum us to kiss us, and she TOTALLY kissed Will when they were leaving.  I freaking love that story.)

Well, this year they looked a bit different, but they still had a blast together: 

To quote AK, I "love everything about this"!

They also worked in some lovin' - thankfully for B, it was a little more 2 sided this time, as Will finally made it clear that he returned her affections: 

Clearly, they are both excellent huggers.

Even though B had been growing fussier (which I chalked up to teething, as she has at least one big ol' tooth coming in), she and I headed to an Easter egg hunt with Will and other friends on Sunday.  It was Bailey's very first one, and she picked up on it very quickly: 

She MAY have picked up on it a little too well, actually - at one point, right after I'd asked her if she wanted to hunt more eggs and she said "NO," she began to grab Will's eggs out of his basket as soon as he turned around.  Sneaky girl!

 Scoping out her target while Will checks out the donkey at the petting zoo, where B was fearless as usual.

Late last Sunday afternoon, Scott arrived back in Knoxville (he spent last weekend at a bachelor party in Saint Simon, GA, while Bailey and I spent it with Pops while Mimi was out of town).  Of course, B was back to her old self - she must've saved up all her cuteness for him just so that my many texts to him from the weekend regarding using tv to get a break from the fussiness and/or wtf is this baby's problem probably seemed ludicrous.  Until, that is, the next morning, when Bailey's fussiness showed it's true cause - she was pretty warm and very lethargic, so I stayed home with her.  After attempting a trip to the grocery store during which she whined the ENTIRE time even when I resorted to googling Peppa Pig clips on youtube to play for her on my phone in order to get some peace (judge away - I'm fairly certain I would have judged myself for that act up until the moment I realized I was going to have to do it....) So after Bailey immediately passed out in her car seat while we were still in the Kroger parking lot and then laid on mommy and/or the couch for a few hours, our day finally reached a type of high which was really definitely a low - as in, B's temp reached 104.6: 

Poor baby :(

I love the cuddles, I hate the reason behind them....

Thankfully (and typically), only a few minutes after Scott got home from work on Monday, the fever seemed to have broken and we thought we were out of the woods, as she's had several fever viruses which have lasted a day or so (he did get to see some of her most pathetic moments of the day, but I swear, dads have some kind of miracle healing powers, which are awesome but also make mamas go what?!).  

We headed to her 18 month checkup on Tuesday morning, where she was a happy baby and had a minimal temp (and was 75 percentile in height and weight and 85 percentile in head size - must be the big brain!) and Scott's mom came to watch her that afternoon since she couldn't go back to school until her temp had been gone for 24 hours.  Well, unfortunately, just as I was on my way home from work, Bailey's temp spiked again and she threw up all over :(  Even though she'd taken Advil an hour or so before I got home, her temp was still 104 when I took it after getting home.  That one stayed pretty darn high and didn't break until 9 or 9:30 that night, so we watched many Peppas while trying to console her, as I was far too afraid to put her to bed for fear that the fever would spike yet again.  Thankfully, she woke up Wednesday morning with no fever whatsoever and got to spend a fun (and vomitless) day with her Mo (Scott's mom).  

But, even after going to school Thursday, B's fussiness (and, sure enough, my fussiness) seemed to reappear Friday.  We had to get BOTH B's 15 AND 18 month shots that morning (yes, we are terrible parents.  We had no idea there was a 15 month appointment until she'd been 15 months for awhile, and when I called to make the appointment, I didn't think about the fact that it was basically already on her 18 month appointment date.)  So, needless to say, that was a rough start to our Good Friday (mommy may have shed a few tears with Bailey....).  We spent most of the rest of the day at Mimi and Pops' house while Scott put the finishing touches on a Boston Whaler he's been working on (more on that later...).  On Saturday, we took B to the zoo, and she seemed ok, but not great.   

So, Scott and I went out to celebrate Loucinda coming in town on Saturday night since we were all going to spend the night before Easter at my parents' house and they wanted to babysit her (and dye eggs with her - Pops is all. about. dyeing eggs for Easter, which is pretty darn cool):

  

Bailey woke up on Sunday to some fun surprises from the Easter bunny, who may have gotten a little bit carried away (but it was pretty much stuff she would have gotten anyway...... so stop interrogating me!): 

Her "cheese" face.  We're working on it. 

So, after eating her Monster Mix (or *cough* just picking out the m & ms) for breakfast, we got ready and headed to church.  After my car failed to start and we got it jumped (twice....), we got to church in time basically to hear the last hymn.  Happy Easter indeed.  We stuck around for the Easter egg hunt  and although B had somehow lost her egg hunting skills, she had fun and outsmarted everyone again, finding a bin of (I think thrown away/used, but whatever) Easter eggs after pretty much refusing to at all participate in the actual hunt, though she loved being on the big kid playground which I don't think she gets to get on while she's at school.   

Today (Easter) B has seemed pretty rough, and I ended up having to call the ped to figure out whether, and to what extent, I should be concerned about her extreme fussiness (she ended the day in my arms, on the couch, watching the Masters - not her style).  She seems to be having a pretty rough reaction to the shots on Friday, and we're hoping she'll be better tomorrow.  

But I know she would want me to wish you all a HAPPY HAPPY EASTER :)

18 months and counting!

Bailey, you are 18 months old!  I can hardly believe it.  Where did my baby go?

In the last 6 months, you officially became an East Tennessee girl, which makes your mama, who will always be an East Tennessee girl at heart no matter where she is, so happy.  While this meant transitioning from your former school where you were immersed in Spanish spoken by native speakers all day (a sad day for you and your parents, as we all loved that school, especially including your favorite teachers - we will never forget sweet Ms. Miriam, Ms. Yolanda, and your all-time favorite, Ms. Carmen, who I think almost got a little teary when she found out you were leaving), you've done a great job in your new school which is, awesomely, one of the best preschools in town AND part of the church your mama grew up in.  You've loved your teachers, and while you've had some issues with biting, which we're still trying to straighten out (I think the count is up to 6 or so bites you've inflicted, while you've received only two), overall you've loved school and seemed to do really well.  Although you've had a few phases of crying when I drop you off off, mostly when you're transitioning to a new class or when you don't feel well, recently you have been hopping out of my arms, giving me a hug, and starting to play while I leave.  I'm pretty sure I'm sadder than you at the separation, which is probably a good thing in the long run, but it still hurts my working mommy heart a little bit.  And, when I come to pick you up, you're happy to see me but you're still so happy at school you usually tell me "no" when I ask if you want to go home with me.  So, I usually have to pretend I'm going to leave without you if you don't come in order to have you go willingly.  I sure hope that doesn't make you end up with abandonment issues, because I use that tactic A LOT.

Your belly laugh is so darn cute that it cracks me up when I hear it and makes me smile just thinking about it.  You can point to just about every part of the body we ask you about (including head, shoulders, knees, and toes, but you haven't yet put that song together).  You  love to dance, run, and hold hands (especially with both your dad and me when we do the 1, 2, 3 SWIIIING).  You're a great hugger (you and Will Kizer hugging is cuteness overload),  you've recently started sittting still for longer periods of time, and you will even use a crayon on paper instead of just sticking it straight into your mouth (most of the time).  You just recently started watching television - your very favorite show is Peppa Pig, and it's pretty much the only show that will hold your attention.  You've started picking up your "babies" and rocking them and trying to feed them whatever you're eating.  You still sleep with JR and bunny (who really needs a new name but I'm going to let you do that) and numerous blankets every night, and you usually want to take a couple of those items with you when we take you out of the crib in the morning.  You more or less sleep through the night, but you consistently have what we call "shout outs," where you cry out and either immediately fall back asleep or fuss and cry for a minute or so before you fall back asleep - I've stopped going in to check on you, as you're either still asleep and I wake you up, or it makes you stay up longer because then you cry when I put you back down. 

You recently started wanting to sit on the "big" potty, so we let you pick out a potty for yourself.  You LOVE to sit on your potty and you've amazed us by going "pee pee in the potty" almost every time you sit on it!   You have done so well, I think that we are going to have to consider some serious potty training in the next six months or so, which is pretty early based on what I read.  Such a smart girl!

We've implemented a "time-out" routine, which mostly gets used when you decide to run away from putting on clothes and/or getting a diaper change or decide to yell "no" repeatedly to something that was not a question, and while you don't always fully cooperate, you know what it means and, strangely, sometimes seem to decide on your own that you need it (as in, you will do some smallish thing and I will ask if you need time out and you will say "yes" and go sit in your chair).  After you sit a minute or so, you're always thrilled to see me and listen (again) to why you had to go to time out, then you agree that you are going to listen and that you're sorry.  So you get showered with kisses and hugs :).

It seems like your vocabulary increases every day.  You say please and thank you really well and often without being reminded (we both LOVE when you give an unprompted please or thank you).  You say mama and dada allll the time, sometimes acting like its one word, and you have said "I love mama dada" at least once VERY clearly.  You will parrot back just about any word we ask you to say, but still won't say your own name or your Mimi's name, which is surprising (you usually say "no" when we ask you if you can say Mimi.  You just ignore us if we ask you to say Bailey.)  You'll say the names of your other grandparents, and it makes Pops especially happy when you say his name and hand him yet another Corduroy book or the "sing a song of sixpence" book and climb up in his lap.  You try to say all your aunts', uncles', and cousins' names.   You like to say "bye bye" to everything, whether its animate or inanimate (although if it's a person, you'll usually wait til they turn their back and/or are out of earshot), and you tend to say it every time I get off the phone, or when you want me to get off the phone, which is pretty cute.  You have a very cute way of saying "hiiiiii" and Pops just taught you to say hello (or, more accurately, "hewo") which is now a fun game for you - you say "hewo," wait for someone to answer, then say it again, varying the length of the "o" on the end. 

You're still a little inconsistent with pointing out the right colors when asked, but you're pretty darn good at it when you focus, and while you don't pronounce the colors very clearly yet, you will try for us.  

We spend a lot of time talking about sounds the different animals make, especially ducks, birds (you make a "tnn tnn" noise almost every time we go outside and it took me forever to realize you were saying "tweet tweet" when you heard birds.  I'm not very quick.), dogs, bears, cats, lions, snakes, bees, and so on.  You love to make all the sounds (especially quack and woof, those were your firsts and favorites), and I'm amazed at how many you know.

Speaking of dogs - oh, B, you just love them.  You love to help feed Reilly and give Reilly (sometimes unprompted) hugs (and also orders - Reilly hears "NO" a lot from you). You say "woof woof" every time you see a dog and you always want to say hi to them (which basically means getting near them and standing there, as you don't really "pet" yet).  

One of mine and your dad's favorite memories so far was when we were on the boulevard playing with Reilly and you wanted to say hi to a dog we didn't know for the first time (which you indicated by whining and pointing).  We asked the dog's owner if it would be ok, and he said yes so we put you down.  You picked up a stick and then tried to give the stick to the dog when you got close enough.  This was a completely unprompted and unprecedented act on your part - it was like you just instinctively knew it would be nice to bring the stick to the dog to break the ice, probably from watching Reilly eat sticks and giving them to her. 

That story is the best way I can sum up your sweet, intuitive disposition - you just seem to have a gift of knowing what to do in just about any situation, even if you've never been in it before.  You are sweet and gentle with babies, and silly and playful with adults and dogs.  You can be reserved and shy at first, but when you decide to turn on the charm, your sweet and bubbly personality and energy just shine.

You make me and your dada soooo happy, and every day it just gets better.  We love you, we like you, and we will always be the best parents we can be for you.  Thank you for being a sweet, fun, happy, and sassy little girl.    

The first year

(Yep, this is two almost three months late.  We've had a helluva three months, and the next year or so is looking like more of the same.  Will update on that later.  Probably.)

Bailey,

You are one year old.  I cannot believe it.  This has been the most amazing year of my whole entire life.  I still remember the first time I saw you, when they laid you on my chest in the operating room.  To my surprise, I didn't see the baby I had pictured in my mind.  I saw you - a little mini-person, whose emotions, personality, and ideas were completely, and for the first time, separate from me.  I was so very much in love, and so very terrified. 

I'm not going to sugar coat it, B, those first few weeks were rough.  When we first got home, you wouldn't sleep for more than thirty minutes or so without being held, so your dad and I would trade off holding you on couch so that we could all get a few hours of sleep. 

I was bound and determined to nurse you, as I thought it was essential to have that close mother and baby bond, and nurse you did.  Almost all of the time.  For hours and hours.  Sometimes while screaming and red-faced, and even hitting me with your fist.  Baby, you just never got full.  We had numerous anxiety-ridden weight checks with your wonderful pediatrician, Dr. Geiger, and after two weeks you had still not gained nearly enough weight and your dad and I just couldn't torture you and ourselves anymore, so we started feeding you my milk out of a bottle.  You were STILL the most finicky milk drinker I've ever seen, taking an hour or more to finish a single bottle, always on your own time. 

Once you got a full belly, though, you were the happiest baby I'd ever seen.  Your smiles were random, but they lit up our world.  You were so content, and loved to sleep in your vibrating chair borrowed from your sweet cousin Preston.  You loved to lay on your play mat and would go to anyone who would take you.  You began to regularly sleep through the night for around 10 hours at about week 8, thrilling your parents. 

As you got older, your smiles became more frequent and your all-around happy disposition began to be obvious.  You loved your jumperoo and exersaucer, and you made both me and your dad feel like the best parents in the world every day, as you would light up with the biggest smile and jump up and down whenever one of us walked in the room, even if we had only been gone a second.  Even when you were tired or sick or had an ear infection (and you had TONS of ear infections), you were like a little pageant queen when you saw someone new - you would charm them in a second with a smile and giggle and they would never believe that anything was wrong with you.

Your teething and ear infections began at around 5 months, and so went the amazing sleep we had so come to rely on.  You would cry and cry when I tried to put you down to sleep after you'd woken up in the middle of the night and were obviously still super tired, so I would sleep with you on my chest when the pain wouldn't stop.  Oh, sweet girl, those were wonderful times.  We would cuddle up and sleep together and I loved every second (even if your dad was super paranoid and always thought I would roll over on you - thankfully that never happened, haha!).

You began to crawl and first pulled yourself up while we were at the beach, Pawleys Island, with your Mimi and Pops, Aunt Angie, Maddie, and Caroline, and the Greggs, our family friends.   While we had some wonderful times that week, and you LOVED the ocean and beach and were fearless with the waves, that was also a bit of a challenge, as you had a double ear infections that week which would just not be taken care of with antibiotics.  I will never forget the morning that your Mimi and I spent at the pediatrician's office at Pawleys singing to you to calm your obvious extreme pain while we waited for the doctor.  B, I'm so sorry that it took me so long to realize what was going on, but I'm so glad we were able to fix it by getting tubes put in your ears.

After you got tubes, however, you were, again, a different baby.  While you had some trouble coming out of the anesthesia, you just needed to take a nap and then it was happy Bailey - alllllll the time (except maybe for teething, but no one can blame you for that).

Although you STILL have a hard time and wake up when you're getting a tooth - and you got all 4 of your first year molars in the first month we were in Knoxville (which was also the time you had the grossest virus ever that shall not be named, as it made you scream for 5 days straight and also made your mother nearly lose the very little sanity she had), which was a little rough, and we're still trying to figure out how to fix your diaper issues, you are, by far, still the happiest and coolest baby I've ever known.  I know that sounds silly and cheesy, but it's the best way I know how to describe you.  You love people, dancing, and dogs, and you just have the best time and make the best of things, no matter where you are.  You're super cute, and you instinctively know how to entertain and make people smile and laugh, and you KNOW it.  You are not afraid to assert yourself when you need to, but you still want to please and get your feelings hurt somewhat easily, and you're pretty good at understanding us and trying to do what we ask.  I honestly don't know where your personality came from - you seem to have the best of both your dad and me, but at the same time you have awesome traits that we don't have, so you seem like the best of everyone on both sides of your family.  It is so fun to watch.

I love you, Bailey - but more importantly, I like you, and I will do whatever I can to be the best mom I can be.  I love to see you learn something new, which happens all the time, and I love the moments, which are becoming more and more frequent, when I look at you and know that we are connecting on a level that we've never connected on before, and we just sit and learn from each other.  We certainly have our moments - you're testing our limits, I'm not the most patient person ever, and sometimes I know you and I need more one on one moments of learning, because when you focus, you are amazingly smart.  There is no better way I can think of to spend my time than reading you books (your absolute favorite activity, bar none).  You have been through some major changes this year, and you've handled them like a champ.  I cannot tell you how special you are, or how much we love every day with you.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for being such a positive, fun, happy, and sassy little girl.  You are so much more fun and we love you so much more than anything I ever dreamed of, and I could not imagine being more bonded to anyone (except your dad, but we're all bonded together, so that is even more amazing).  So, sweet girl, thank you for being you.  You are amazing - and it just gets better every day.

Love you,
Your mama :)

Personal Request

This is hard to write.  But I need to write it, because my brother in law, my sister, and my nieces deserve it. 

My brother in law is being and/or has been deployed to Afghanistan today.  My sister and nieces are in California. Bailey, my mom, and I going to visit them the weekend of September 10th. 

Please, please, please, just say a prayer for them.  Think about them.  This is one of the hardest things any of us have ever experienced.  We all love this guy, and his little girls love him as much as I've ever seen anyone love anyone.  And they are old enough to understand, at least a little bit, what is going on. 

Please, please, please just send up some happy thoughts for this family.  I love them more than cake and I truly can't wait to see my girls in just a month.  

Sorry I'm a bad blogger, but this is important.  To ALL of us.  Maybe I'll blog more about it later, but I'm not going to lie, my blogging light has been off instead of on lately.  So, we'll see.  

But This. Is. Important.  

And Bill, if you ever read this, we love you.  And, we all sincerely thank you. 

God has a sense of humor

Just a couple days after this post (which was super whiny and pointless and not funny and I kind of wish I had never posted it but oh well) where I complained about my "fat pouch" and talked about how my body seemed to be like a kangaroo's in that it is keeping a pouch for Bailey to hop back into if she decides to, this book arrived in the mail for Bailey from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library (which is super awesome and sends Bailey a new book every month):

  

Sorry the picture is blurry, but as you can see, that is a book about a kangaroo pouch.  In the story, a kangaroo mama has a baby who keeps exploring farther and farther away, then jumping back in mama's pouch when he gets scared until he finds a little buddy kangaroo and isn't scared anymore. 

I'm pretty sure there's a lesson in there for me somewhere....

The stages of pregnancy....

[EDITED TO ADD: Just so that there is no possibility of confusion, I'm NOT pregnant.  Not even a little bit.  Just thought it was fun to remember this, especially since I'm NOT pregnant.]

So I just read this post from a pregnant friend who has reached the inevitable "the end is in sight now I might freak out" stage of pregnancy. 

I loved her post and it reminded me of all the various stages of pregnancy.  The good thing about these stages is they kind of actually DO prepare you for being a parent, but only in that as soon as you get used to one stage and think you can maybe handle it, it all changes again.  Welcome to parenthood!

While I started to make this post an open letter to answer her questions, instead I got a wee bit carried away with writing about the stages of pregnancy so I'll do a post with the answering later (or, if not, I'll at least send you a fb message Lauren!)

So, here's my take on the stages of pregnancy....(yes, I realize I've only had one pregnancy and that pregnancy ended almost a year (A FREAKING YEAR!) ago, so some of this may be out of order, and I also know that I'm not an expert and that everyone goes through things in different order.):

1. Positive! The test was positive!  I'm pregnant - oh geez I  am so excited even though I have NO idea what to do.  All I DO know is that I just can't wait to have a cute little baby bump :):):).

2.  Ohhhhh man, why does everything STINK (if you walk in my office with a cup of coffee again, I'll cut you) and why do I feel so terrrrible ALL THE TIME?  Sleep....I just neeeed to sleeeeeeeeeeep......zzzzzzz

3.  Oh my gosh that is NOT a bump, my pants are just tight, I think the extra snacks are catching up with me?  I still feel terrible but now I also feel super fat and ALL I can think about is what is this baby what is this baby what is this baby? Girl....I think it's definitely girl.  No, I had a dream about a boy last night, so it's definitely a boy....only 61 days til we can find out!  Also, I'm sonauseousIcan'tbreathe uhhhh.

4.  FINALLY I feel somewhat human again....wait, there's some nausea....no, it's ok, much better.  And, I have a baby BUMP!  Ok, maybe no one else can see it but me but THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT'S NOT REAL.  Also, I'm starving and I need a snack. NOW!!!

5.  Did I just feel the baby move?  I swear I felt something...or was that gas?  Yep, it was gas......  Only 28 days and 5 hours until we can find out what this baby is!  I'm going to take another online quiz that will help me decide what I think it is....and check out that chinese gender calendar to see what it says.  Maybe I should by that intelligender thing?  I wonder if I know anyone in the medical field that could get me an early ultrasound.....

6. Ok, now I definitely feel something.  And the clerk at Target told "both of us" to have a good day!  That is total proof that MY LITTLE BABY BUMP IS SO CUTE!  But wait a second.....this shirt is feeling tighter on my arms....and my thighs seem to be expanding....that's not supposed to be happening. Oh well I JUST FELT THE BABY MOVE AGAIN!  And only 6 days and 2 hours until we found out what this sweet baby is!  YAY!

7. IT'S A BOY/GIRL!  I KNEW IT ALL ALONG!! SHOPPING - ALL I WANT TO DO IS SHOP!  Look at all these cute clothes!!!

8.  Man, is it hot in here, or is it just me?  And wow, this bump is . . . . . big.  And getting . . . . .bigger!  And these maternity clothes somehow seem to be getting . . . smaller?  Who cares - we must find nursery furniture!  And learn what the eff all that stuff is in babies r us so we can register before our shower! And paint the nursery (wait can I be around wet paint? I don't know let me google that real quick....)

9.  When did everything get SO dirty?  I MUST CLEAN IT ALL.  And OUCH, baby, that really hurt, please get away from my . . . whatever you just kicked.  And NO, baby, that did not mean to move to the bladder. Yep, now I have to go to the bathroom again . . . Also, can someone please turn up the A/C?  And get me a snack. 

10.  WHAT AN AWESOME SHOWER WE HAVE THE CUTEST STUFF EVER!  Our friends are amazing look at all these cute gifts and clothes and stuffed animals and the nursery looks so cute . . . but wait.  We need diapers.  And diaper rash stuff.  And some bottles just in case.  And ohmygosh we still need one of EVERYTHING in babies r us!  But my feet hurt, and I'm burning up, so let's make it quick....

11.  Ok, baby, that really HURTS, and oh, yep, that's my bladder again.  And why do I have random shooting pains in my groin area . . . THIS BUMP IS NO LONGER CUTE.  IT IS HUGE AND IT KEEPS GETTING BIGGER AND I CANNOT STAND UP WITHOUT MAKING OLD PEOPLE GRUNTING NOISES.  Only 35 days til the baby comes, yay!

12.  AHHHHH!!!!  OH MY GOSH ONLY 35 DAYS UNTIL THE BABY COMES. I mean, another person.  Is going to be here.  With us.  All. The. Time. And that means that first - THE BABY HAS TO COME OUT OF MY BODY.  Hopefully the normal way....wait, I don't know, that sounds like it hurts.  But a c-section doesn't really sound so awesome either.  And then when it someohow gets here the baby is going to have to survive and drink stuff . . . which means the baby is going to breastfeed because everyone knows that BREAST IS BEST.  That seems like it's going to feel . . . . funny.  I mean, won't that feel kind of weird?  No, of course not, it's natural and it's good for the baby and that's all that's important.  I'm going to read all I can and I'll be so prepared and it's NATURAL, right?  I mean, they didn't have formula for zillions of years look at how many babies survived.  Of COURSE it will work and I will be awesome at it!

13.  I'm done.  I'm ready to meet this child and I'll pull it out from between my legs Kourtney Kardashian style if I have to.  And I'll stay up all day and night with that child as long as it will just COME OUT!

And then you have a sweet little peanut and after visiting with the oh so handsome and sweet little baby Henry Tuck and his parents this past weekend, I have more thoughts on the slightly terrifying and definitely overwhelming "newborn stage" I've previously written about.....maybe this blog drought will be broken yet! 

Wait, I just jinxed myself, didn't I?  Happy Monday!

Bailey's 8 month, wait I mean 9 month post!

Yes, I'm still catching up on old stuff.....sorry about that.  

And, there's absolutely no way I'm going to remember everything that she does now but didn't do then.  So, I'm just going to remember what I can, and please forgive me if I'm boring and/or repeat.  Thanks in advance!

Anyway, the important thing is that Bailey has made it to 9.5 months!

Which means that we made it past 8 months...

At 8 months, Bailey: 

Was starting to get SUPER busy - as in, those pictures almost cost both of us life and limb, because keeping her in a chair without straps is virtually impossible these days.

Had 6 teeth (4 on top, 2 on the bottom).

Was not yet crawling - she did a bit of an army crawl, and was rocking back and forth on her hands and knees like a wild woman, but had not yet done any actual crawls.

Loved to bite, pinch, hit, and pull her mama's hair  - especially very first thing in the morning - and she was already so strong, it actually reallllly hurt!

Had an ear infection that would NOT go away (hence her mother's lack of blogging energy - yes I know, excuses, excuses).

.....and.....that's about all I've got right now for 8 months!  

 So then we hit 9 months....

At nine months, Bailey: 

Still had 6 teeth, and still was putting everything in her mouth and continually making us think more were on the way.

Was crawling everywhere like a madwoman AND pulling up on everything (she started doing both of those at the beach - such a fun memory).  

Was doing some poses that make us think she's on her way to walking (still SUPER busy):

(for some reason this picture cracks me up and makes me think of the high school yearbook pictures of cheerleaders - although my dad (Pops) thinks it looks like she's doing a football pose, of course.) 

Started doing this sweet dance move (she's bringing breakdancing back....again) (also - LOVE Preston doing "ballet" in the background of this video):

:

Was loving spaghetti, green beans, bananas!, and other assorted finger foods: 

Would still listen to me when I said "no" - as in, "no, Bailey, let's not grab the cords.  No, Bailey, that's the remote.  No, Bailey, that's mama's phone....ahhhh, now the cords again, let's go find one of your 1,378 toys...." She would give me a sweet smile and head toward the next source of danger thing that looked like fun.  

Was continuing to exhibit what I call her "pageant girl" personality.  Not that I see pageants in her future, but she has such a fun ability to put on a happy smile no matter how bad she feels or what is going on.  If she needs to push herself to stay up or do something when she's tired or when she doesn't feel good, she does it, and with a pleasant attitude.  She definitely didn't get that from me, but I absolutely love it!

Is already showing some smarts, even according to the neutral "experts."  At around 9 months, her sweet teacher, Miss Yolanda, told us that Bailey is "very smart. Not that the other children are less than smart, but even though Bailey has less months, she is VERY VERY smart.  AND always happy!"  Then, at her 9 month appointment, our amazing pediatrician, Dr. Geiger, reiterated that B "really pays attention and knows what's going on.  All babies are great, but you can tell that she is really smart."  Now those are words that will warm a parent's heart!

Had tubes put in her ears on her 9 month "birthday" exactly:

All ready for surgery with JR as her ever-present companion

She was such a trooper - she got a little antsy after not getting any breakfast while waiting for surgery, but she was still charming all the nurses and smiling at everyone.  She picked out her very first "doll" in the toy store they took her through before surgery.  She did have a rough time coming out of the anesthesia - she was very confused and fussy, and screamed for probably about 30 minutes more or less straight before she finally fell asleep and took a good nap.  However, after that she was almost immediately back to her new self, babbling and smiling all over the place!

Bailey is honestly one of the smartest, sweetest, and most fun babies I've ever seen.  She's definitely figuring things out more and more, and I just can't believe how big she's getting or how fast she is growing up.  

We love her SO very much - we are so lucky to have her and I honestly feel so incredibly blessed to be her mom!  I just can't wait to see what she does next :)