14 weeks: here we go again!

This is actually from last week but you get the idea. Belly = Huge!

I'm pretty sure I started these updates at 14 weeks for London so I'm going to try to keep up with them for this baby too. Try, being the key word. 

How far along?: 14 weeks

How big is baby?: the size of a naval orange

Weight gain?: more like weight loss: 3lbs

Stretch marks?: none

Maternity clothes?: wearing a few maternity tops because they're comfortable; my jeans are still huge! Looking to invest in some maternity leggings this time, any recommendations?

Sleep?: awful already. Need to invest in a body pillow I think! I'm using an eye mask and ear plugs but still waking up at least once, normally to pee around 3am, then again around 6 and can't get back to sleep 

Best moment last week?: my prenatal massage on Monday, a gift from my sister

Food cravings?: frozen waffles, cup o' soup

Symptoms?: so much vomiting and pretty bad headaches. Ended up in the ER last night due to dehydration, no fun!

Exercise?: does chasing a toddler count?

Gender?: we have our guesses but nothing confirmed until next month 

Movement?: I thought I felt something the other night but I'm having so many tummy issues that it's hard to say

Belly button?: it's becoming more shallow already. Second pregnancies are weird

What I miss?: sushi, sleep

Labor signs?: no

What I'm looking forward to?: not being sick, assuming that ever happens 

London Claire is 18 months old

Since she turned one, I've been posting a few favorite photos and highlights each month of London Claire's development and milestones on Facebook. As you all know, my blogging has been ... Ahem, subpar (read: non-existent) since I became a SAHM. Ironic, I know, since I should've had all this extra free time on my hands. But somewhere between the play dates, chores and errands, and the hobby-turned-small-business that is Toddler Trends, I've been busy. Let's be real though, those are all excuses, we're all busy. I stopped making time to blog. 

So, my New Years resolution (aside from growing a new tiny human) is to blog more. Even if it's once a month, I'm going to try. We'll see how it goes! Thank you to everyone who's supported me in all of my ventures, but especially encouraging me to blog more because it's so great to know people read this mess!

Back to the task at hand: London is 1.5. Unfortunately, I got a new phone over the holidays and don't have any of the photos I took in December, so the photos you see here are from after she had her half birthday. Cheating, I know. 

At 18 months, London is a great eater and growing well. Her pediatrician was thrilled with everything at her check-up, which is always great to hear as a mom. We are working on potty training very slowly, mostly because she's showing interest and I don't want to miss my window and end up with a kindergartener in diapers. Aside from illness or travel, she sleeps well (typically 7:30-7). We have slowly weaned down to only one nursing session (before bed) and it's gone well for both of us, all in all. 

If you ask her any time of day what she wants to eat, the answer is hot dog, though fruit seems to still be her favorite thing to eat. She rarely drinks milk but is a great water drinker. She loves the play kitchen she got as a Christmas gift from Aunt Sissy and is always "makin" something. 

She's starting to put together 2 and 3 word phrases "daddy home!" "Sit down, right there" etc and her vocabulary is well over 100 words. We're also learning colors and shapes, and singing the ABCs (which go a little something like "A B C B C, E-I-E-I-O" right now). She loves to read and watch Elmo's World and Curious George. 

Although I know she doesn't really understand that I'm having a baby, she loves to snuggle with my belly and give the baby kisses and zerberts. I hope we're able to give her a sense of involvement with the baby that will help curb some of the jealousy, but I'm open to suggestions!

And without further ado, some adorableness for your Thursday:

The waiting game

Moms: stop saying to other moms, whose children are younger than yours, or perhaps haven't hit the developmental milestones yours have, "just you wait...". 

Just STOP. 

If the words start to cross your mind, as another mom is talking (or maybe even complaining) about how busy it is to have a crawler or how her child has just started saying "mama" or perhaps has recently started some bad behaviors, reconsider using them. Stop for a second, and think about how fantastically overwhelming it is to be someone's mother. Remember how you felt when your child was in that place. Hell, remember how you felt this morning when your kid was running around sans diaper, spilling milk all over the carpet and climbing on the kitchen table to play with your sewing needles when you tried to clean it up. Did you, at that moment, need someone to tell you "just wait, it'll get worse!"? Of course not. Who needs that, ever, really? 

All we're ever looking for is for someone else who understands; who knows how stressful motherhood can be - at every phase - and can smile on the other side of it. Someone who says, "Oh yeah, I remember that. Those days were tough. But then he learned how to say 'I love you' and let me tell you - that is awesome!". 

If you want to tell another mom to "just wait", tell her about the awesome things coming her way. Help her look forward to her child's development instead of mourning her baby growing up. And for the love of God, stop the fear mongering. Let her enjoy what she's going through, or vent if she needs to, and she'll do the same for you. 

It never seems to be said enough that moms need to be spending more time supporting each other and less time judging. What we do is hard, awesome stuff. Being someone's mother is fantastic. Fantastically overwhelming, but especially fantastic. 

Letters to London: your first year

My darling baby,

I guess I shouldn't call you that anymore, because you're as "toddler" as they come, but you are and always will be my baby. Today was your first birthday. Your dad & I spent the whole day with you and I hope that's something we can do for years to come. You explored Marbles kids museum for the first time, hugging a stuffed bear, making friends and splashing in the water table. You also ate ice cream and drank chocolate milk with dinner, and loved them both. You were signing "more!" emphatically after each bite and it made me so proud! 

You are a little sponge these days, learning and copying words like "ow!" and "hot" and "up". You entertain everyone, everywhere we go, from the post office to the pediatrician. I love how friendly you are and I hope you are always able to make friends so easily. 

Daddy let you pick out your bow (another word you like to day) and you chose a huge red polka dotted one that made me very happy. You know exactly where your bow goes, and you show us how to put on (and take off) hats, and you can show me where your shoe goes. You are such a smart little girl and I'm impressed each day by how much you know. 

I made you a red felt one and pinned it to your shirt, so everyone would know it was your birthday. People always tell us how adorable you are but i wish they knew that your beauty is only surpassed by how sweet, smart and funny you are. You make me laugh every day!

My mommy always made my birthday a very special day for me so I hope I can do the same for you each year. You deserve to know how special you are every day of the year. You are my shining star, and besides marrying your daddy, being your mom is the best thing I've ever done. I hope you always know how much I love you, my precious girl. The first year of your life has been nothing short of a miracle and I can't wait to watch you grow. 

Happy birthday my sweet girl, 

-your mama

London Claire is twelve months old

She is, I swear. For three more days. I know I'm the worst blogger ever. In my defense, we had a first birthday party, two out of state trips, and a little thing called moving. Plus multiple house guests, ve and doctors appointments, etc. Needless to say it has been a crazy month or so.

But our sweet girl is ONE and her birthday was such a fun day. So before she turns thirteen months (or just "one" as Ben has requested we say now), here's an update on our toddler (!!) in her twelfth month.

Age: twelve months, twenty seven days
Height: 30 1/4 inches
Weight: 21lbs 9oz
Hair: she just got her first haircut by aunt sissy, because the little side curls were getting a bit out of control. She's now rocking an adorable pixie cut!

Favorite outfit: she wore a black halter dress with white chalk drawings of sights from London for her birthday, so adorable. She's wearing a lot of neon pink lately to match the amazing neon pink vans tennis shoes her aunt brenna bought. There's also a gorgeous pink gingham smocked dress that my mom bought her.

Sleep: surprisingly nothing has changed much from her 11 month update! Still on two naps. Lately she's been waking up as late as 7:45 (after nursing in the 5:00am range).

Eating: she's recently taken to grapes and apple chunks, she was even whining for some plastic grapes today while we were looking at a house. She loves chocolate milk (!!) and smoothies. She LOVED her chocolate birthday cake at her party, and the ice cream she had on her real birthday. She tried some tofu tonight and was not a fan, can't say I blame her! She also seems to really like cheeseburgers.

Illness: she had a rough cold / ear infection right around her birthday, but antibiotics and some children's Benadryl (doctors orders!) made her an absolute dream on our flights. Also, we're up to seven teeth!

Development: she has peed in her potty twice, which is pretty awesome I think, considering she has only sat on it a handful of times. She points to her high chair when she wants to eat, signs eat, more, all done pretty well. She knows quite a few body parts, is starting to consistently blow kisses, and knows where her bow and shoes go. Ben has taught her to call herself Lala, and she knows mama and dada. She says Georgia (brenna's dog). Oh, and she's started to say "I love you", what could be sweeter than that?!

Movement: this girl loves to climb! Stairs (up and down), in or on boxes, on her nightstand shelf, pretty much anything. 

Favorite toy: My favorite thing is that she got a baby doll for her birthday which she takes everywhere, and gives hugs and kisses. She thoroughly enjoyed the inflatable pool we bought as her birthday present, and her Spider-Man action figure from Aubrey & Matt. She's starting to really get into books. And of course, her stuffed penguin from Uncle Yang. 

Funniest habit: she calls her baby "daDA" with a very specific inflection, different than what she calls Ben. And she mimics things we say with her intonation "don't drop it" or "I love it!" And other funny phrases. Oh, and she loves shoes!
Firsts: birthday, trip to the pool (she loves it!), trip to Erie, trip to the lake (she did not love it), trip to DC (we visited the American history museum, she was not impressed), front facing car trip (it was just while we were visiting family, we are keeping her rear facing for now)

Best moment of last week: last night as she was nursing before bed (please don't ask me how long I'm planning to continue nursing her, I really don't know), she paused, whispered something very intently to me, to which I replied "I love you too". Then she smiled and went back to nursing. This is one sweet little girl, y'all.

Shrimp & Cucumber Tostadas

Our air conditioning needs a part replaced and, since we've recently sold our house, we can't risk it breaking further so we can't run the a/c in the interim. And, since we're utilizing our home warranty to replace this part, it's taking for-ev-er. Which is awesome, you know, in June. In North Carolina. With a baby. 

But I digress. The point of that opening is that it's too darn hot to cook. And really, to do anything in the house. So when I got home at 5:00 with shrimp in the freezer and an overripe cucumber on the window sill, I found this recipe on Pinterest as the inspiration for a very successful meal:

http://www.cookincanuck.com/2013/04/10-minute-thai-shrimp-cucumber-avocado-salad-recipe/

Ingredients

1 lb thawed medium shrimp, shells & tails removed

1 seedless cucumber, sliced and quartered 

1/4 white onion, chopped

Six corn tostadas

1/8 tsp cilantro

Dressing

1.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1.5 tbsp chili sauce

2 tsp honey

1/8 tsp garlic powder

Directions

Whisk together vinegar, chili sauce, honey & garlic powder in a small bowl

Refrigerate for 30 minutes (if possible, but who has that kind of time?!)

Meanwhile, boil a medium sauce pan of water

Add shrimp, boiling for about 60 seconds or until pink

Immediately drain and cool in a bowl of ice water to prevent overcooking

Slice shrimp in half

Add to a medium mixing bowl with diced cucumbers & onions

Toss with dressing, top with cilantro 

Refrigerate for 30 minutes (this one is slightly more important, these are better served cold)

Top tostada with a heaping spoonful of mixture, using a slotted spoon to drain

Optional: serve with sour cream, salsa, cheese, lettuce, guacamole, etc. 

London Claire is eleven months old

Ugh. This is a hard one. Maybe that's why I've been putting it off. But I've made it this far with these monthly updates and I owe it to my girl to keep it up for the year. After all she's done for me, it's the least I could do.

Age: eleven months and two weeks
Height: I actually do know where a measuring tape is (I had to buy a new one to be measured for the bridesmaid dress I was months late ordering ... But that's neither here nor there) but I haven't measured her. I'll try to update height and weight in the morning
Weight: see above
Hair: continuing to grow longer and much thicker. We do ponytails now which are adorable! And she knows what a bow is and where it goes - I couldn't be more proud.

Favorite outfit: black and white polka dot spandex short and a white t-shirt, with a polka dot bow and black sandals. It was the outfit she wore on our flight to Nashville, so adorable. I'm also really loving her bubble rompers, and her rash guard swim top with a flower hood. We got to buy some new shoes, too - so fun! Wearing 12mo or 18mo in clothes, size 3 in shoes. She seems to have slimmed down a little in the belly.

Sleep: on a good day, two naps about 1-1.5 hrs each. Bed at 7:30, nursing once in the 5-6am range and up around 7-7:30. I finally gave up trying not to nurse her before bed, it wasn't worth the fight for me. I couldn't handle the tears.

Eating: she discovered chick-fil-a chicken nuggets and its safe to say she is a huge fan. She had one in each hand and was sucking the breading off a third. She still loves all fruits and most vegetables, is starting to drink some almond milk which I feel like is a big deal, but its in very small quantities and sometimes she spits it out. She can feed herself with a loaded spoon and occasionally can spoon some out herself.

Illness: nothing to note, praise The Lord! Four top teeth cut through in less than a month so that's more than enough to handle.
Development: she gives hugs! It's so cute, she wraps both her arms around my neck and pats my back when I get her up from naps. She gave Lucy a hug too, so freaking sweet. She says "dundon" when she's looking at pictures of herself, "behbeh" when she sees pictures of other babies, and I'm pretty sure she's been saying "Ben!" to mimic when I call him ("buh! buh!").
Movement: walking! Hands down my favorite milestone to date. She started a few weeks ago and now walks all over the house. Crawling is becoming more rare by the day. The walking brings along new challenges: she doesn't want to be carried which means she has to have shoes on whenever we are out.

Favorite toy: a stuffed polar bear from my mom, and this super annoying v-tech lady bug thing. She also really loves magnets and is intrigued by sticking them to the fridge - gotta love cheap thrills!

Funniest habit: she tickles people under their neck and makes this funny noise that I guess I do when I tickle her. It is amazing to see how much she is picking up and understanding!
Firsts: steps, trip to Tennessee, time in the ocean, hike, wedding.

Best moment of last week: we went to a splash pad which is basically little fountains that shoot up from the ground for the kids to play with. She loved it, and was letting the way hit her in the face. Really fun!

Hard to believe she'll be one in just over two weeks. This year has flown by in a way I could never have imagined. In addition to London's birth, we traveled overseas, Ben started a new job, I quit mine, we sold our house and (hopefully) will be buying a new one soon. Thanks for sharing on this leg of our journey - we appreciate your continued prayers, support, and I - for one - appreciate your readership! Can't wait to see what London's second year has in store for us.