Archive for category: Baby Mama

This month has flown by. Eva turned 15 months on March 8 and I’ve tried to take pictures of her a handful of times but this one above was the only one that worked out. This kid just likes to move. Today at church, all she wanted to do was run. Run and run and run some more.

Eva does really well entertaining herself with random things. We are currently in Kentucky visiting my parents and she has loved trying all their new toys and going from room to room playing with something different. My mom this morning was getting ready for church and couldn’t find her shoe because Eva was trying them on and then hid it when she was done. We were late to leave because we had to search the house (it was under the bed). She’s a mischievous one and knows when she’s doing something she shouldn’t be doing. Her latest stunt is to climb up on anything and give this big cheesy grin and when you go over to get her down she runs away. I’ve tried scolding her and putting her in time outs on my lap, but I finally found a solution that sticks. One day she tried to climb on the fire place a dozen times. (This was AFTER she had already hurt her nose on the fireplace-you’d think she’d learn!) After a handful of time outs on my lap and her running right back to the fireplace, I put her in her crib for about twenty minutes. Guys. SHE HASN’T GONE BACK TO THE FIREPLACE SINCE! Everything could change tomorrow, because she’s a crazy kid. But it’s been a couple days of success, and that counts for something, right?

This month Eva has started being a little more cuddly and learning how to relax in my lap. She has fallen asleep in my arms several times this month, and throughout the day will give me little pats on the back, rest her head on my shoulder, cling around my legs, and give me open mouth (sometimes biting) kisses. I fall in love with my Diva Eva every more every single day.

This month we have 100% transitioned to one nap a day. I was pretty sad about it, but it’s actually more convenient when we have busy days. She finally has a good routine again and sleeping well every night. We had a couple weeks in there for a while where she’d get up once or twice through the night and I was feeling like a zombie. It’s much harder to let your baby cry it out when they’re crying out “MAMAAAA” and “DADDAAAAAA.” I’m getting to be quite a softie! But T.J. helped and everyone gets to sleep regularly now, horray!

Once we get back to Utah this week, I’m going into Operation: Switch Eva off of Bottles. She is way too dependent on them, I’ve realized, and asks for it like most babies ask for a binky. Wish me luck. And send me your tips please!

Eva is still pretty quiet, but she has started to say a couple of words. My sister thought it would be hilarious to teach Eva to point and say, “Ghost!” in an effort to scare me in the future. I didn’t think Eva would catch on. But sure enough, Eva now (if prompted) will point and say, “Goooh!” Let’s hope she doesn’t randomly say it in the future when it’s the middle of the night. She calls everyone “Dada,” is always requesting a “cah-cah” (which is a cookie or a cracker-pretty much any treat) and is starting to learn her animal sounds, thanks to my mom and all of her children’s songs she sings. Eva is finally starting to respond to me, usually by saying no or shaking her head. It’s so cool to be able to start communicating to her!

I’ve said it every month, and I’m saying it again. This age is the best. She is a doll and I love my little Eva Kay with my whole heart!

Likes

Dancing, singing, running, being outside, riding in the wagon, playing with her babies, feeding her babies, hiding things, wiping everything off of her high chair tray, getting tickled, riding on my back, tickling, knocking over towers, brushing her teeth, playing in the bath tub, drinking her “baba,” looking at other kids, going to the park.

Dislikes

Diaper changes, leaving the park, being held when she wants to run, sitting in her little stroller (she likes the jogging one much better), wearing bows and clips (she rips them out!).

Fourteen Months
Thirteen Months
Twelve Months
Eleven Months
Ten Months
Nine Months
Eight Months
Seven Months
Six Months
Five Months
Four Months
Three Months
Two Months
One Month
Two Weeks
One Week

I can’t count exactly how many teeth Eva is getting right now, but it’s a lot.
Swollen gums. Bright red cheeks. Bite marks. Tears.
Lots of love. Extra treats.

This post is about two weeks overdue, but I haven’t been in the mood to write much recently. Plus, every time I try to take a picture of Eva, it’s blurry because she’s always running around the house. That girl is fast.

So, not too much has changed since last month. Eva continues to be more and more independent every day. She wants to walk everywhere, instead of being held. We used to carry her out to the car, but she insists on walking there by herself. At least she will hold our hand. That part is adorable. She will grab my hand at home and pull me somewhere to show me something. I could do that all day long. It’s so exciting to see her understanding more. Although she cannot communicate with many words, you can tell her brain is comprehending things and she’s trying to let us know what she’s thinking. Today she said, “I did it!” and, “Ta-dah!” when opening up the Easter eggs. I pretty much freaked out over the, “I did it!” I’m not sure if she knew what she was saying, but I’ll take it! Her little high voice is so sweet. A couple other words or phrases that she says are: All done, Mama, Dada, Papa, Uh-Oh, and, Dunno (I don’t know). But mostly, she just points at things or shakes her head.

Eva loves picking up books, pointing at pictures on the pages, and “reading.” Other favorite activities include feeding Minnie Mouse her bottle, brushing her hair and pulling out any bow or clip, dancing and twirling, trying to eat the bubbles in her bath, building towers with her blocks and then destroying them, coloring, and “cooking” with me. I don’t think we have laughed more together ever before. In fact, we were at Costco and I kept tickling her leg while she was sitting in the cart. She was laughing so loud that a woman turned and said, “Wow, that’s quite a baby laugh!” It was hilarious.

Right now Eva has eight teeth. Five on the front top, two on the front bottom, and one top molar that popped it’s way through this week. Two more are about to come through, as well. So, we have had a bunch of 3 am parties this past week.

We finally weened her off of formula completely and switched her to whole milk. It’s so great on the budget and, on most days, helps her to eat more regular food. Another change is that Eva is pretty much taking just one nap day. If she wakes up early enough and has her first nap before 11, then we can squeeze a second one in later, but typically she wakes up at 8:30 and then takes a 2-3 hour nap around noon. Part of me really misses having both naps, especially because I try to get most of my work done during her naps, but it is nice that she can be happy and awake longer when we are out or have plans.

There have been some days lately where Eva has been a total doll. We have the best time together and after I put her to bed, I start to miss her and think, “Maybe I should go in and look at her… maybe I could even rock her some more!” Then I come to my senses and realize that’s ridiculous, she wouldn’t be too pleased to be woken up. On the other hand, there also have been days where she has had FULL BLOWN, melt down, body on the ground, kicking and screaming, tantrums. Those are usually few and far between (and I really do think it’s because the teething was hurting her), but on those days, I beg T.J. to come home and have a turn with our child who is living up to her “Diva Eva” nickname. She’s a drama queen just like her mama.

That’s about all I have to report for now. Here are a some pictures from a week ago:

Last week, a friend gave me a suggestion of how to switch Eva over to cow’s milk. Everything we had tried hadn’t worked yet, so I was skeptical. But guys, we’re almost all the way switched now!

The suggestion was to use milk instead of water with the formula. Then, slowly decrease the amount of formula. My sister also told me to warm the milk and I think that has made a huge difference. We are down to one scoop for each bottle, instead of three. I’ll probably continue to give her one scoop until she’s a solid eater.

Anyway, thanks for all your advice guys! It’s already saving us money! Horray!

And now, here’s a funny milk graphic for you to look at…