family + adventures + the emerald city
{alligator: Jelly Cat // lovie: Angel Dear (via Amazon) // tee: Old Navy (old; similar) // jeans: babyGap}
{month fourteen} I was just re-reading Eloise’s fourteen month update (which is linked at the bottom) where I mentioned that she seemed more like a toddler than an infant, and that is totally true with Daphne girl! Continue reading “daphne {month fourteen}”
{alligator: JellyCat // top: Carter’s // jeans: babyGap // shoes: Keds x Rifle Paper Co.}
{And the outtake… that finger is just the same size as her nostril, so it must belong in her nose, right?}
{month thirteen} How has it already been a month since Daphne turned one?! It seems like yesterday and forever ago at the same time. Continue reading “daphne {month thirteen}”
To start, I wanted to give updates on Daphne’s stats since she went to her wellness check-up last week.
Daphne’s check-up went so well and she was happy and interactive with the doctor. She is generally pretty social and friendly, but sometimes gets stranger danger, so we never know. I really don’t like to try to get the kids to “perform” for other people, but it is always nice when your kids actually show their doctor things they can do (rather than just hearing us say that she is doing those things). Her doctor was happy with her growth (she is right at the top of the growth curve!) and impressed that she was walking so well. All-in-all a great check-up! Continue reading “daphne {first birthday party!}”
{alligator: JellyCat // top: Peek (old) // onesie: Carter’s // jeans: babyGap // moccasins: Freshly Picked // lovie: Angel Dear (duck)}
{And an outtake! That smile.}
{That’s a wrap! Of course Eloise wanted in on the photoshoot fun!}
{month twelve} Happy FIRST Birthday Daphne! Continue reading “daphne {month twelve // one year}”
{letterboard: Letter Folk (Poet) // top: Oshkosh (old) // jeans: babyGap (old)}
{week 52} Gosh, the last weekly update. I am not ready for this. I will be back tomorrow with Daphne’s ONE YEAR post so stay tuned!
Going forward, I will switch to monthly updates because weekly is well, a lot. Many, many people told me that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with a post every week because two kids are way more work than one kid. But I am happy I was able to do it! This blog is basically my kids’ baby book after all.
And here is Eloise’s 52 week update.
Happy 52 weeks Daphne! We can’t wait to celebrate your first year of life this weekend!
M
{letterboard: Letter Folk (Poet) // dress: Carter’s (old) // leggings: Target (old) // book: The Little Feminist books // quilt by Amanda with Rifle Paper Co. fabric}
{week 51} Walking. Daphne’s newest trick. She’s still pretty unsteady but she is so, so proud of herself! She is also a lot more confident and tries to walk pretty much any time she can.
Also, as you can see above, lying down on her back when she is not sleeping isn’t really an option these days.
Daphne’s favorite toys right now are Eloise’s Duplo legos and The Little Feminist books. She likes to take the legos apart, put them in her mouth, carry them around, and then try to put them together (and sometimes she is successful). And those little books, there are four of them, are fat little board books with only four pages, but the pictures are bright and Daphne is obsessed. She is always holding one of them and carrying it around.
Mealtimes are still going pretty well. We have some issues with Daphne wiping food off of her tray towards the end of the meal or trying to feed Sadie (she will look around and say “good girl” and then give Sadie food), but she is such a good eater still! Everything. She eats everything. But she especially wants whatever is on my plate. So if there is something that I am eating that she isn’t also eating (generally at breakfast time) she will yell out until I give her my food and she won’t stop until it’s all gone! And, she is obsessed with drinking out of a (sippy) cup. Straw, no straw, she doesn’t mind. She will hold the cup and drink on her own (we are working on tipping it) but will eventually bang it onto her tray which is loves.
Daphne also constantly has something in her mouth, so we have had to be extra careful about what small toys Eloise has upstairs. She sticks something in her mouth and then goes about her business playing with other toys. But having something in your mouth all the time also creates more drool, so she’s like a little snail and leaves a trail of drool all over the floor… But her most loved thing to stick into her mouth is Dad Tiger from our Daniel Tiger family set, though she also really likes the wooden strawberry half and most recently a slice of tomato (which is impressive because it is super wide).
And here is Eloise’s 51 week update.
How (HOW) do we only have one more weekly update left? I swear Daphne was just born. Right?
Happy 51 weeks sweet Daphne!
M
This post contains affiliate links.
{letterboard: Letter Folk (Poet) // onesie: Carter’s // chambray shirt: Carter’s (old; similar) // leggings: Cat and Jack for Target (old; similar) // moccasins: Freshly Picked // lovie: Amazon}
{week 50} Okay, so that little ponytail! The tiny hair ties make me nervous because they are such choking hazards, so we probably won’t do Daphne’s hair like this much, but it’s such a milestone, right?
Daphne, as I mentioned last week, has been a pointing machine. She points at everything. Sometimes it is because she wants that thing (like her milk or water cup) and sometimes it is because that is what she is looking at. But so much pointing. It is super cute!
In the walking department, we are getting much closer! Daphne will still take a few independent steps if is trying to get between two things (like the couch and the table or chair) but took two steps yesterday while FaceTiming with Grammie (and Aaron and Eloise) while I was at Barre. She has also recently discovered that she can get up to her hands and feet (like a bear crawl) from sitting, so she is doing a lot of that. Like tiny yoga. Aaron and I were just reminiscing that Eloise didn’t learn to go from sitting to standing until after she learned to walk, so this may be a game-changer for Daphne!
And again, we are in total denial that it is just TWO weeks until Daphne’s birthday.
And here is Eloise’s 50 week update.
Happy 50 weeks Daphne!
M
This post contains affiliate links.
{lion: jellycat via nordstrom // dress: old // pants/skirt: Cat and Jack for Target}
{And the outtake! This is such an Eloise goofy face!}
{three & a half years} Oh my, I can’t believe Eloise is 3.5 years! She seems so, so big these days and wise beyond her years. It is such a joy to witness this joyful little soul explore the world.
Over the past few weeks Eloise has been putting herself down for a nap in the afternoon during her quiet time, which I have shared a few pictures of. It is amazing that she can go from playing and singing to completely asleep in about 10 seconds. If she does fall asleep, I usually let her snooze for about 30 minutes, because she is obviously tired, but if I let her sleep too much longer than that she is awake until 10 pm or later! No bueno. When she isn’t sleeping though, she does so well playing quietly in her room. She reads books, plays with her dolls or magnaformers, or changes her clothes. Eloise has also, recently, been cleaning up her room! She makes her bed, and organizes her toys in the baskets as well as the clothes in her drawers and closet. Yep, she may be slightly Type A from her mama!
At Thanksgiving and then again right after New Year’s we took two separate road trips to Boise which meant 10.5 hour days in the car. I talked about our trip a little already, but Eloise did so SO well on these trips. Partly because she was excited to get to Grammie and Paga’s house and partly because she really loves to travel (and has never minded the car). Eloise busied herself with coloring and reading during the long hours and only watched about four 30 minute shows in total over the 40+ hours of driving! She would, if we let her, watch shows and do screen time the entire trip but we are pretty strict about how much time she gets. And, like with plane travel, we exhaust all of our other options for things to do before we offer screen time. We feel really lucky that she is such a great little traveler!
These past months we also had Aaron home on the second-half of his paternity leave which was 6 weeks starting in mid-December. He usually takes quite a bit of vacation around the holidays, but it was really lovely to have him home for these weeks during a busy time. Eloise preferred if Aaron took her to school and picked her up, so we let that be their thing when she had school days. Aaron is also the first person that Eloise asks for in the morning, so with Aaron leaving before the rest of the house is up now has been a bit of a change. But, Eloise just had the BEST time having Papa around for those weeks!
Eloise also started ballet which you may have seen pictures of in our weekend posts. We found a great little studio over in Fremont which offers pre-ballet for 3 and 4 year olds. Plus, it is a kids-only class which means it’s sort of like childcare, right?! The teacher (Ms. Aminda) is so great with the kids and the class is set-up so well for Eloise’s age and attention span. She tends to stop participating when she sees me watching thru the classroom window, so I try to give her space to be herself and just quickly check-in to see if I can watch her being an impossibly adorable ballerina. There is a mix of songs and play along with learning basic ballet positions and techniques. Plus, the stamps at the end of class are Eloise’s favorite part! The sessions are 6 weeks and Eloise just started her second session of Saturday morning classes. We are planning on keeping her in ballet until the late spring and then I am hoping to find a good swimming lesson to get her into. If you have any advice about swim lessons for this age, I am all ears!
And related to ballet, Eloise LOVES to dance. Any time she hears music, or even when she doesn’t and is just singing to herself, she is always moving her body. She loves to have dance parties at our house and had the BEST time at my cousin Micah’s wedding in January. I will be sure to share photos and videos because it was so sweet!
One of the biggest things that has happened since last fall has been that Eloise will finally get herself out of bed to use the potty in the morning if she is awake and needs to go before we get her up! Guys, this is life-changing. We already sleep in pretty late (our normal wake-up time is 8 am) but in the past, Eloise will just yell from bed that she had to go potty. A super fun thing to wake up to! But now, she will walk down the hall, use the potty, wash her hands, and go back to her room to read until we are up (which on Sundays is usually around 8:30 since that is our sleep-in day)! We are really proud of Eloise since she just started doing this on her own a few weeks ago.
And, last fall we were doing the preschool tour thing since we needed to find a new school for Pre-K, and the good news is that we found one! It is right down the street from her current school and after the tour, we love it already. Eloise’s weekly schedule will basically be the same, Monday thru Thursday mornings, but then we will more than likely add Friday mornings which is a Spanish immersion program. This new school has a good Pre-K curriculum which I think will ready Eloise for Kindergarten without being crazy-academic focused and will allow her to still have a lot of time for physical activity and creative time (either play time or art and music). And then we also took a tour last week of an elementary school that we would love for the kids to attend. Without getting into too much extra detail now, it is a public school but you have to apply to get in. We don’t have to worry about anything related to Kindergarten for another year, but I definitely teared up when we walked into that big elementary school for the tour!
And the newest rendition of Things Eloise Says:
“Papa, I don’t want you stretching your arms. I don’t want your arms to break.”
“I love watching these.” (The advertisements on TV. She’s a marketer’s dream.)
Kitchen timer goes off. Eloise whispers: “Aaron, can you go check on what’s in the oven?”
“For Christmas can I get seeing glasses? Not sunglasses, seeing glasses so I can see where I am going!”
Aaron and I were trying to get out of a store without buying anything so we told Eloise we didn’t have any money with us. Aaron: “I didn’t bring any money, did you bring any money?” Eloise: “No Papa, you just use a card!”
“Eloise, what is your favorite color?” “Pink.” “Since when? (It is usually purple.)” “Since my birth.”
“Did you already get married?” Eloise asks me and Aaron. “I wanted to get you a card. Bummer.”
Looking out the window. Eloise: “Bird, what are you looking for?”
“I call them pea beans.” (Pea pods.)
Scream cheese is string cheese.
Me: “Do you just repeat everything that Mama says?” Eloise: “Apparently.”
“How did he get grass in his truck?” (She saw a truck carrying a load of hay.)
“Mama, when I get married will you and Papa buy me a ring? That fits me? And maybe it could be from Target?”
Playing “store” with Daphne: “It costs three dollars and fifty-five bucks!”
“I can’t even believe it. I can’t even bless my heart!”
“Please can I have some cold water, Papa? You have to say ‘please’ otherwise it’s demanding.” (Oh my gosh, Aaron and I were dying over this because she said it so matter of factly.)
“It was in my imagination.”
We have a new babysitter (for date nights, yay!) who is an au pair for another local family and is originally from Columbia. Eloise says she is from “Columpia.”
“Mama, my foot hurts. Right here. It’s crispy!” (I don’t know what she meant by “crispy” but I think it was part of her ploy to get me to carry her!)
{weight} 35ish pounds (my guess); height: 37.5 inches
{hair} (reddish) brown.
{teeth} 20 teeth plus four molars.
{eyes} dark brown.
{clothes} some 3T, 4T.
{diapers} NONE!
{feeding} during the day, three meals, (sometimes a) morning snack, & (sometimes an) afternoon snack. cup of milk with every meal.
{likes} singing, dancing, taking walks around the blocks, talking to the neighbors, Teddy the mailman, school and her friends, Daphne, coloring, yelling, Duplos, digging in the dirt, splashing, counting, any person outside on the sidewalk, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, coloring, buckles, jumping, watching out the front window (dogs, kids, trucks), books, mama & papa’s cell phone, FaceTime (but she always wants to hold the phone), bath time, shoes, mama’s (diaper) bag, putting things inside a bag or box, helping with anything & everything, when Papa comes home from work.
{dislikes} not being included, having something taken away from her, not eating when someone else is, being hungry, TimeOut.
{nicknames} Bug, Love Bug, Baby Bug, E, Wheezy, Kiddo, Love, Bugaboo, E-Lo or Elle.
Happy three & a half years Eloise!
M
This post contains affiliate links.
{letterboard: Letter Folk (Poet) // tee: Old Navy (old) // jeans: babyGap}
{week 49} First of all, can you tell I am slightly obsessed with Daphne’s baby jeans? Seriously. They are the cutest!
About as soon as I hit “publish” on Daphne’s eleven month post saying that she wasn’t signing, she started signing! Just like that she signs “more” which then almost always turns into clapping. It’s just so cute.
This has been a really big week and a bit hard for this mama since Daphne weaned herself this past weekend. I knew it was coming but I was holding out for her hitting 12 months first, so it is a bit of a shock. It’s emotional for me partly because of hormones but partly because Daphne is more than likely our last baby, so this mama is done with nursing. Hard to believe since I have spent just over two years (out of the last 3.5) nursing babies.
But, the most important thing is that Daphne is still doing well and we have replaced that morning nursing session with a cup of milk (formula) with her breakfast. It didn’t make sense to give her a(nother) bottle since we are anticipating weaning her from bottles when she turns one year, so we have been using this ThinkBaby cup that has a soft nipple and was great for transitioning Eloise from a bottle too. At lunchtime I also offer milk in a cup (rather than a bottle) since it is a mealtime, but we keep the bottles after her afternoon nap and at bedtime, and will eventually (in the coming weeks) start moving those servings of milk into a late snack and into dinnertime.
Daphne is really chatty these days and her very favorite thing to say is “good girl.” Any time she sees (or wants to see) Sadie, she says “good girl.” But it is also used when she sees the Roomba (which she LOVES) as well as Eloise! Daphne also says “mama” which is pretty fun, though not as much in context as “good girl.” We have also heard her say “baba” for bottle and “mo mo” for more. Daphne is also pointing a lot with her index finger at things that she likes or sees. And also points to herself!
Cruising along the furniture is happening all day every day, but Daphne doesn’t seem too interested in trying to walk this past week like she was last month. I know it will come and probably sooner than I am ready for, so I am happy that she is taking her time!
There is also clapping. So much clapping. Any time Daphne is happy or excited. Or when she sees something she wants. Like her bottle. She claps and claps and if you don’t give it to her right away (if it’s warming up), she will cry and keep on clapping. It’s the sweetest and saddest thing you have ever seen!
I am in complete disbelief that Daphne will be ONE in just three weeks. But I have commenced party planning and we are looking forward to celebrating this sweet little one! I also scheduled a one year photo shoot since we definitely didn’t do 6 month photos like we did with Eloise…
And here is Eloise’s 49 week update.
Happy 49 weeks Daphne!
This post contains affiliate links.
{alligator: Jellycat// sweater: Carter’s (old) // jeans: babyGap // moccasins: Freshly Picked}
{month eleven} Oh boy, eleven months. So bittersweet. I am absolutely loving watching the sweet little person that Daphne is becoming, but I am also really missing Baby Daphne too! Gosh, I just can’t believe she is almost one!
This is the first time in a few months that Daphne hasn’t tried to launch herself off the front of the glider while taking this picture, much to my surprise. One of the reasons I suspect is that she figured out if she leans forwards and backwards, she can make the chair rock! And she was pretty excited about that.
Speaking of excited, any time that Daphne is excited about something, she claps. So there is a lot of applause around here! When she sees her bottle, clapping. When she sees me, Eloise, or Papa first thing in the morning, clapping. When she stands up and sits down, clapping. All day long. But I will never tire of hearing her clapping!
Daphne is constantly on the move. She hardly ever stays in one spot for long and is always chasing after something: the Roomba, Eloise, Sadie, Mama. She is standing really well on her own, but as soon as she realizes she is doing it, she sits! But we are amazed how long she can stand (usually holding something in her hands) and we are so close to the standing and bouncing stage (that comes right before walking). AND Daphne took her first unassisted steps this past weekend! At least that we’ve seen. She was holding onto a walker toy and wanted to get to the side table but her arms weren’t quite long enough to get there without taking a step, so she did! I loved that it was right in front of me and it happened so quickly that I barely realized what was happening. Of course, we tried to re-create it, but that wasn’t happening. I feel like any day now I will look over at her and she will be taking steps.
The drool has returned, though not quite as much as before, and I believe it is because she is getting her fourth tooth on the bottom. You can feel it cutting thru the gum even though there isn’t a tooth bud just yet. And with baby teeth, one moment there isn’t a tooth and the next moment there is! It is crazy how quickly they grow in. She doesn’t seem bothered at all by it either which is so nice.
And just in the last two weeks or so Daphne has officially dropped her late cat nap (did I mention this already?) which means she is awake from the end of her afternoon nap, usually at 3:30 or 4 pm, to bedtime around 7:15 or 7:30. It is a long stretch of time considering she is only up for just over two hours between sleeping periods during the rest of the day. It’s nice that she is up so long during this time because it means she gets more play time and to see Eloise and Aaron more, but it also means that I have two kiddos running around when I am trying to make dinner at 5 pm.
We are still nursing one time in the morning, right before breakfast, but Daphne has become more and more uninterested in that feeding. I think it is partly because at that point, she wants to see Aaron and Eloise and Sadie! I can get her to nurse on one side (generally) for maybe a minute, but that second side is pretty much done. This is also really bittersweet for me. As much as our nursing journey was a struggle in those early days, I will definitely miss this time with Daphne! On the flip-side though, I know some mamas struggle to wean toddlers and there are lots of tears, so I am thankful we aren’t going down that road either.
As with Eloise, we are working on (baby) signs and Daphne is really good about understanding them. We have kept to the same signs we used for Eloise (milk, more, please, water, all done, and eat) but have also added “sit” since Daphne likes to try to stand up in her high chair (good grief). It is pretty early to expect Daphne to be signing anything, though she does wave her hands very enthusiastically in the air when she is all done (moments before she just shoves any extra food off her tray onto the floor…) and bangs on her tray for more food.
And as we approach Daphne’s first birthday, she remains such a good sleeper. She has always been a great self-soother (even as a newborn) which is part of the reason. Her lovie and pacifier are almost a requirement at this point though she will find her thumb if she can’t find one of the three (!) pacis in her crib. We also put both lovies in her crib too since she often panics if she wakes up and can’t find it (even if she’s lying on it and can’t see it). And she will hold both in her hands and rub them on her face. She infrequently wakes up during nap or bed time, and when she does, she very often soothes herself back to sleep. And, sleep related, I know at some point soon Daphne will drop this morning nap and transition to just one long afternoon nap, but for now she is doing really well with two naps that are about 1.5 to 2 hours each (sometimes longer!).
{weight} 22 pounds is my guess.
{hair} blackish brown.
{teeth} three bottom middle teeth, top four teeth, one more on the bottom cutting in.
{eyes} dark grey/brown.
{clothes} 9 months (pants) and 12 months, 12 to 18 months, 18 months (Carter’s).
{diapers} just started into size 4 {from the honest company}.
{feeding} nursing in the morning around 8 am. 4 oz bottles at lunchtime, after nap time, and at dinner. bedtime is around 7:30 with a 4 oz bottle.
{likes} watching and chasing the Roomba, eating, bath time with Eloise, watching big kids or babies, crawling, pulling up to her knees or feet, spinning on her back and belly, teething rings, chewing on anything, sitting in her highchair, banging on her tray, staring at her quilt (from Amanda), rattles, nursing, riding in the car (usually), her big sister Eloise, Sadie, singing, lights, paci, being bounced, being tickled, talking, her Lovie.
{dislikes} having gas, lying down flat, being hungry or tired, not having a bottle immediately after seeing it, having her face or nose wiped off.
{nicknames} Daph, Daph Daph, Daphers, Bug, Snorty, Baby D, Daphne Doo, Daph-a-doo, Love, Lovebug.
And here is Eloise’s eleven month update.
Happy ELEVEN months Daphne!
M
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