Sally Jean is 7 Months Old

 

 

 

 

Dearest Sally,



 

Oh My!  You, my little one are 7 months old!  Where does the time go?  It seems like it was just yesterday that I was freaking out, sick with food poisoning and telling myself over and over again that there was no way I was going to be able to take care of you and your big sister by myself once Daddy went back to work.  And here we are!  We have a routine.  We have bed times, naptimes, feeding times, etc.  We have ventured out numerous times.  We have conquered illnesses and bad days.  I can carry both of you on each hip and peruse the aisles of Target, with one child on my hip screaming because she wants to walk without holding my hand or onto the cart (take a wild guess who that is!?!?!)  I am so proud of the progress we have made in these last 7 months.  Looking back, I can't even believe I ever felt so lost once you came.  It seems rather silly. 

 

You  are becoming such a big girl.  You are wearing 6-9 month clothing.  You are growing like a weed.  I am so thankful you are a healthy little girl.  Looking at you in your crib, you take up so much more space than you use to.  It doesn't take long. 

 

You eat 4 bottles each day and they are about 8 ounces.  You sometimes will leave an ounce or two in a couple bottles.  You also will eat some fruits and veggies during the day.  I find it harder to feed you baby food because you get so full on your bottles and you still spit up quite a bit.  I hate forcing more food down your tummy that you are just going to spit up.  And sometimes, you don't know when to stop eating...you just keep on opening up your mouth for more and then before I know it, out comes the food.  You are a mystery! 

 

You are sitting up better...although mommy failed BIG time last week when I let you face plant on the hard wood floors at a friends when I was reaching over to get you a toy.  You, in typical Sally dramatic fashion, screamed for a while and it took a long time to get you to relax.  I felt horrible! I am so glad you are ok. 

 

You caught Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease from your sister.  Not sure where she got it from, but I tried so hard to keep you two away from each other. She must have passed it onto you before we even knew she had it.  It hit you worse than your sister.  You had these bumps all over you and you were just plain pitiful.  Thankfully, your fever only lasted a day or two and you started to clear up.  It was so sad.  BUT! We made it through. 

 

You can now reach the floor in your bouncy seat, so you have found that to be great fun!  You just bounce and bounce like nobody's business.  I love it! 

 

You despise it when toys are taken from you.  You get so offended.  It's cute, and all, but it is a glimpse into that strong personality. 

 

You have to put up with so much love, pouncing, bull-dozing and smothering from your sister.  You are a trooper.  For the most part, you still smile when she comes near. ;)

 

Oh, Sally, we love you so.  You are such a sweet and content baby.  You play hard and sleep hard.  I love that about you.  I just love everything about you.  God has blessed my life so immensely. 

 

Ava 21 months

AVA ELIZABETH

21 Months

Oh this girl!

Oh she is SOMETHING else!  She gives a whole new meaning to the energizer bunny...she just keeps going, and going, and going, and going, and going and gooooooiiiiiiiiiiing.  But I am thankful she is healthy and well.  I am thankful that she has two strong legs that allow her to keep going and going and that she is tough and can get right back up when she falls.  I am thankful she has two healthy eyes that, for the most part, get her from one place to another without too many problems.  We are blessed to have such two beautiful, healthy little girls! 

This month we discovered that dislocating your elbow joints comes easily to Ava.  We got to witness this first hand when we ended up in the Levine Pediatric Urgent Care at 9:30 on a Sunday night.  Here were are: 

We aren't completely sure how it happened and it took us a while to realize it was her arm that was causing the extreme fussiness and unpleasantness.  Mommy was a nervous wreck as the doctor popped it back in place and even daddy, who does this kind of thing for a living, isn't sure he can stomach doing this to her the next time it happens.  I guess it is different when it is your own child versus a child in the hospital.  Although the kind of work he does in the hospital doesn't really ever warrant him putting a joint back in place.  He deals with the heart.  Thankfully, it was nothing more than Nursemaids elbow and a minute after it was popped back into place, this was the result:


After this trip to Target, Ava melted my heart with her being such a helpful big sister. 

 We were out in the parking lot, the items had been loaded into the car and Ava was still in the back of the cart while I was putting Sally back in her carseat.  Sally started fussing and her pacy was in the front part of the Target cart.  I asked Ava if she would get Sally's pacy for me.  Ava put my phone down, which she was using to watch a Curious George episode and stood up.  She reached into the front part of the cart and grabbed Sally's pacy and handed it to me and said "Here go."  Oh my heart!  She is such a sweet little thing to her sister.  She plays with her, brings her toys, and talks to her.  She hugs and kisses her and will hold her hand during the diaper changes, but first she always goes and gets the box of wipes for me when I am changing Sally.  She tries so hard to be a good helper. 

Among other things that she tries to help us with is loading and unloading the dishwasher, stirring eggs for scrambled eggs, throwing her trash away, and putting her dirty clothes in the hamper. 

Ava likes to paint and color for about 3 minutes.  Her attention span doesn't last long for these kinds of tasks.  Here she was painting with a dark piece of paper and water, that way it wouldn't be as big as a mess as paint would.  She ended up spilling her bowl of water.  That didn't stop her from having some fun!

 Here she is from a distance coloring at her table. 

As always, Ava loves any and every time we get outside.  She still loves the swing and it was really exciting to her that her little sister was in the swing right next to her.  She kept telling Sally...wheeeeeeeee

 

She also got to have some fun playtime outside with Daddy

 

 She made another trip to Ohio.  She got to play with all her big cousins and had TONS of fun.  On our way there and back, she was allowed to watch some of her favorite movies.  Here she is in the zone:

 

She also got to go to the Labor Day Parade with her friends, Eli and Caleb.

 

 This girl can't get enough fruit and specifically berries! She also loves Craisins! I just want to nibble on those cute cheeks!

 Here is my little chunky face girl sleeping on the way home from Ohio.  She wore herself (and us) completely out!

 We got to go to a friend's house for dinner one Friday night and she got to hang out with her buds!  Here she is with her buddy Caleb.  He takes such good care of her....Curtis said he isn't sure if he likes this picture or not.  I told him that atleast she knows how to pick a good one...future arranged marriage, maybe?

It is September, which means, it is time to start learning about APPLES!  We made an apple poem poster and we made some construction paper apples.  She had a good time.  Our snack for the day was apple which she helped core, take the skin off and, of course, EAT!  Later this month, we plan on making homemade apple sauce and go apple picking. 

Ava likes to wear my sunglasses, and since she is pretty good with them, I usually let her. 

 

Some things I have enjoyed most:

• Catching on to more and more words
• The other day she took me by total surprise when she took one of Eli and Caleb's toy and as clear as day said, "that my toy."
• Using her hands to talk, too
• singing songs like "This Little Light of Mine"
• Dancing
• Jumping
• "helping" mommy sweep with her broom
• Pushing mine and Curtis' heads together to kiss
• walking over to me and asking for "hup." (help)

There are some days when I look at both my girls and can't imagine what they will have to deal with as they get older.  I get scared when I look at all the scary things going on in this world and I pray that my girls will be spared from such things.  But, more than that, I hope that Curtis and I will parent them and raise them in a way that honors God and when faced with really tough times, I hope they know that God has them in the palm of His hand and He will be with them always, no matter what.  It is hard as a parent to think these things, sometimes.  After all, a parent is given a child to love and protect and raise to know God.  I pray that Curtis and I do our job well here on earth so that they will never wonder, but will instead be filled with the knowledge, wisdom and love of their Heavenly Father. 

Ava Bean, Mommy and Daddy love you so much!  We can't imagine this life without you in it.  I hope that you will realize that God loves you no matter what.  I pray you will see yourself like we see you, and even more importantly, like God sees you.  You are one of His favorites, because we are all His favorite!