Nicole {4 Months}

Well, our sweet little Nicole Victoria has already reached 4 months (passed it by now)! She is just a ray of sunshine and happiness in our family. We love and adore her so much. Nicole definitely belongs here with us and was meant to be part of our family. 

As you'll see from her stats a little further down, she's teeny tiny! About the same height Jessica was at this age, but weighs MUCH less. My mother says she's just like me. And I'm not surprised. She looks so much like I did when I was a baby. Especially all that long, dark hair. Gosh, I LOVE her hair. I'm addicted to it in all its craziness. 

Enjoy the pictures I took the other morning with my girls. Jessica had to join in, like any good big sister would. I really love this sweet family of mine. It may be really crazy around here most days, but it's a good life we lead. 

4-Month Stats

Weight: 11.9 lbs. (10%ile)

Height: 24.11 in. (34%ile)

Head Circumference: 15.5 in. (6%ile)

Updates

• She's rolled over about 4 times from tummy to back and I missed it every single time! Hopefully, I'll catch it soon. She gets onto her side from her back very often and loves to scoot around in circles on her back or scoot forward on her tummy. She's a little mover! 
• Nicole spits up about as much as her sister did, but her gas has not been anywhere near as severe. Actually, I find that I can eat chocolate (blessing and a curse) and it doesn't bother her. 
• She's not as good of a sleeper as Jessica, but finally slept 11-12 hours a little before she turned 4 months. That's still quite inconsistent though. Usually she wakes once a night still, and it varies whether she'll fall back asleep on her own, or if I have to go in there and comfort her, then lay her down, or if she needs to nurse. I feel like it has a little something to do with how tiny she is. Tiny tummy, needing to eat more often. Either way, she's cute, and I love her, so it's okay if she wakes in the middle of the night. I'll admit, those snuggles are the best when it's dark, quiet, and just the two of us. 
• She smiles ALL. the. time. I always comment on how happy she is, and it's true. All you have to do is look at her and she flashes that gummy grin. Which is usually accompanied with a squeal or giggle. She's just delightful to be around.
• Nicole is very easy going and pretty much lets anyone hold her and snuggle her.
• Her neck is super ticklish.
• Beautiful blue blue blue eyes and long long long eyelashes.
• She likes to "talk" by making a gurgling sound in the back of her throat. Kinda like you do with the german "ich". It's adorable.
• Nicole watches her sister every chance she gets and I can tell she's learning so much. It just fills me heart when I see them interact together. Jessica will do something to make Nicole giggle, or they'll hold hands while Nicole is on her playmat. Jessica cares so much about her sister, that usually when she hears her wake from a nap, she tells me, then wants to go in her room and climb on the side of the crib to greet Nicole. 
• She's gone on a nursing strike twice in her life, both coinciding with shots. Luckily, it only lasts about a day and then she's back to her old self. At her 4 month strike, her little legs were hurting so much that she just couldn't find a comfy way to nurse unless I wasn't touching them at all, then I had to contort myself and lean over her in an awkward way for her to be able to eat. It worked! Thank goodness!
• She's a very distractible baby. Of course, who wouldn't be with all the fun going around in the house? I have to cover her up most times for her to be able to focus in order to nurse!

2 Years {Jessica}

Our darling Jessica has grown so much in the past 6 months! I will admit, she has been the main reason I haven't blogged in as much time. We've been so busy everyday that I've been using my phone camera more than my Nikon, so Instagram has really become more of my blog. And I'm not really upset by that fact, because I feel like my phone can more quickly capture the real moments of everyday. It's much easier to snap a quick phone photo than run and grab my Nikon in those fun and spontaneous moments that happen so often throughout the day. I think I shall start printing chatbooks as a way of journaling. I hear that they are incredibly easy and fairly cheap. That being said, there is so much to update everyone on, I shall try to do my best in this post.

Jessica is officially a big girl. I honestly can't believe how much she has changed just in the past few days since turning 2 years old. Maybe my vision is a bit skewed, but she is acting more and more like a big sister each day. She is showing signs of readiness for when the new baby will be in our lives. 

 (I had to include a little bit of her classic "cheesy" smile.)

I love her personality. She is kind, compassionate, caring, observant, meticulous, methodical, giggly, sensitive, cautious, and whimsical. Just to name a FEW of her traits. And she is ALL girl. I am constantly amazed at the innate feminine traits which she embodies and displays, things that I haven't taught her, but that she just knows to do. Like today, Jessica and I were at a friend's house in the neighborhood and Jessica was playing with William (almost 3 year old son). My friend Christy commented on how cute it is that Jessica kind of skip-hops everywhere she goes, while William just runs hard, heavy, and fast. We talked about how different boys and girls are. Jessica just chooses to be a bit more dainty and delicate because that's who she is. 

It makes me realize how much our Heavenly Father has a plan for each of his children and how he places specific spirits in each person. And it's our job as parents to cultivate and encourage those spirits to emerge and shine. 

Jessica is a talker. She has always been advanced in her vocabulary, but it has really exploded as of late. She normally and frequently says 4-5 word sentences and just the other day, she said a 7-word sentence. Michael and I counted the words on our fingers to make sure because we were so impressed and blown away! What a smart little chatterbox we have. I'm not really surprised, because I was a very good talker as a child and I've always spent my days talking with Jessica even from the start. 

Jessica is also displaying immense comprehension of emotions. She is very aware of other's feelings and wants to comfort those who are sad or upset. This is something we have to be very careful with especially when watching a movie or something on TV, because she picks up on the smallest things and they stick with her. We feel a great need to protect our children from the things of the world that they are not old enough to experience, comprehend, and process yet. Children are only children for a short time, and as such, we feel they should have have that time to be carefree.

Jessica is still our "Muggins" as we like to call her. And that nickname suits her. She is a Muggins in every sense of the word. She is loved by all who know her and is seriously the favorite child in our ward (church) nursery right now. Granted, there aren't that many kids in there, but she is just so pleasant, kind, and non-destructive that all the leaders love her. I've peeked in a few times and she pretty much leads all the children at anything related to singing time. She's ready to push her chair over to the singing area, knows all the actions to all the songs, and enthusiastically sings and does the motions every. single. time. It makes this musician/performer mommy proud!

She loves to sing at bedtime and has her own version of Row, Row, Row Your Boat. It goes something like this, "Row row boat, gent(ly) stream, merwy (merrily), life dweam (dream)". She pretty much sings one or two words from each phrase and that's the song! Also, she loves to sing "Bubbles", a song that we made up months ago in the warmer weather when she used to play with bubbles outside everyday. 

This girl is a nurturer. She got a baby doll for her birthday and carries it around, pretending that it's crying "wahhh", but then she comforts it by humming a simple 3 note "hmm hmm hmm" and going "shhh". She'll rock that baby and wrap it up in her favorite pink blanket, then lay it down to sleep. She always tells us when the baby is sad or crying, then starts the whole comforting routine. It's adorable. I think she's going to be a big helper for Mommy during the days with a newborn. I can just picture her bringing all her favorite stuffed animals and placing them next to the baby, trying to comfort her. 

Speaking of being a big helper, she loves to put the dishes away, cook and bake in the kitchen, sweep, and fold and put away clothes. I'm loving her willingness to be a part of the daily chores in the house and definitely taking advantage of this desire she has to help out. I think it's so important to establish the habit of helping around the house at such a young age, because then she knows it's just part of the norm. So those days when she fights doing chores (hopefully years from now, lol),  she will know that they are just part of daily life around here and maybe that will make it easier to get things accomplished. 

Even with the tantrums and power struggles that have emerged lately in our lives, we are reminded with how special Jessica is and how much we love her. Truthfully, she is so pleasant and sweet most of the time, that those little frustrating moments are definitely bearable. Especially when they are followed by hugs, kisses, and giggles all around. Oh Jessica, we are so proud of you and the little girl you have become. We are excited for this next year of our lives as a family, with a little sister to come in April, and to see how things will change and grow for the better as we become a family of 4. We are incredibly happy that you are our first child and have great hopes and dreams for you. We know you will rise to the occasion and show us more of your sweet spirit as time goes on and only pray that we can be the parents that you need us to be to help nurture your personality and guide you to grow in the way our Heavenly Father has planned for you. WE LOVE YOU!

18 Months {Jessica}

Well, Jessica officially reached 18 months at the end of July, but we had to reschedule her well-checkup at the doctor for just this week because of...life! So, her stats and other details are a little late, but still quite close to what she was at the 18 month mark. These photos are from the weekend she turned 18 months, when we took a little family drive up Big Cottonwood Canyon to Silver Lake. It was a beautiful hike and Jessica had a blast looking at the ducks, climbing rocks, and just being in nature.

How much Jessica has changed since she was 15 months, even 1 year. I know that babies grow a lot in the first year, but I feel like Jessica has grown and changed even more developmentally since she reached 1 year. Every day is something new, specifically related to communication. Our girl learns a new word every single day; she is so interested in trying out new sounds and I love watching her learn. Below I've listed all the words and sounds that she knows as of right now (purely for my knowledge and memory...you don't have to read it if you don't want to). Her pediatrician was very impressed with the sheer amount of words and sounds she can communicate and told us that her development was fantastic!

• Words - Amen, Baby, Ball, Bee, Boo, Book, Boom, Bye-Bye, Cat, Cheese, Dada, Dog, Done, Duck, Ears, Elbow, Eyes, Fly, Hello, Hi, Hide, Hop, Hot, Light, Mama, Mine, More, No, One More, Please, Rock, Sit, Shh, Shoes, Stick, Thank You, Toes, Wee, Up, Yeah
• Animal Sounds - Cat (Meow), Cow (Moo), Dog (Woof Woof and Panting), Duck (Quack), Elephant (Pursing lips and blowing), Horse (Neigh), Lion (Rarrr), Monkey (Ooh Ooh Ah), Snake (Sssss)
• Vehicle Sounds - Beep Beep, Choo Choo, Vroom, Airplane (Neeeyyuhh), Police Siren (Weeooweeoo)

And whatever Jessica can say, she comprehends even more. I'm amazed how I can ask her to do things, or look for something, or refer to a particular item, and she knows exactly what I mean and will infer what I'm trying to have her do even without me explaining everything thoroughly. She's just so perceptive!

Jessica is also a very affectionate child. We are very affectionate parents, so it's no surprise that she acts this way. I love that she gives hugs to her friends and blows kisses when saying goodbye. She gives hugs and kisses to us, her parents, so many times without being asked to. I love it even more when she comes up to me and just hugs my leg while I'm cooking in the kitchen, or getting ready in the bathroom. There is nothing better than being physically loved by your child, just because she wants to.

 

Other updates and attributes:

• Jessica is very kind and tender to people and animals. And she loves babies.
• She is incredibly observant of people and situations around her. She's not one to just run off into the street when a car goes by. She listens to me point out the car, stops immediately where she stands, and then walks over to the curb if we're in the road (like on our walks around the neighborhood). We "watch and wait". Once the car has passed, then she will move and knows it's safe to cross the street.
• What a brave child she is at the splash pad. Every single time we go, she runs fearlessly under the sprinklers and spray and has multiple people comment on how brave she is. I, of course, beam with pride. This girl loves the water.
• Jessica is pretty good at sharing with others or making a trade when needed. I think it goes back to her kind and observant nature.
• We've introduced the kid potty to her, just to get her used to the idea and give her something to do while she's in the bathroom with me (which is a lot). No pressure. I am happy to report that she has peed in potty multiple times and pooped once since this entire series of events began. She knows exactly what the potty is for and even enjoys wiping and pouring the contents into the "big" toilet after. Early potty training, I hope?!?

18 Month Stats:

Weight: 23.35 lbs (32%ile)

Height: 31.0 inches (25%ile)

She grew! Yay!

1 YEAR OLD {Jessica}

 Hhhwha?!? How did this happen? How did my little squishy, tiny leg rolls, faux-hawk, brand new, pink-smelling baby turn into a 1 Year Old? She's practically a toddler. And yes, I know that I just screamed the blog post title at you (all caps, what can ya do?).

These next two photos were really close to Jessica's face because she wanted to come up and grab my lens. I just kept snapping pictures and even though you can't see her full head, I love the joy and laughter depicted in them!

1 Year Stats:
Weight: 18.63 lbs (11%ile)
Height: 27.01 in (3%ile)
Head Circumference: 17.7 in (42%ile)

Dr. Conover said that Jessica is perfect and growing well, she's just going to be short and tiny like her Mommy! But, her head is cute and round, and the biggest thing about her. We joke that she needs room for that big smart brain to grow!

 This looks like she was sad, but actually she was just incredibly focused on the camera. Hehe.

 I've been realizing that I use the word "fun" about a million times to describe everything that surrounds Jessica. It's very true, life is just so fun right now. And I can't think of a better word describe it. We are having the time of our lives with our girl. She brings pure sunshine and joy into our home and hearts!

 Crazy baby. She decided to put her little mouse finger puppet in her mouth and start crawling around. And then...this picture just happened. Not sure why her eyes got all big and scary at this moment, but this picture is gold. Blackmail gold. 15 years down the road :)

 Isn't this just the most precious "in the moment" photo you've ever seen?

Exciting Updates:
She's "talking" like crazy. Using the new consonants s, g, l, and the "th" sound. And is really into the vowels i and e, along with oo and ah.

Jessica is always pointing at things to show us what she sees and has discovered. This is accompanied by some type of word she's created for that object. We're seeing consistency in "words" and particular objects, even though it all basically sounds like gibberish right now.

Jessica know the sign language for dog, which is sticking your tongue out and panting. Anytime she sees a dog or puppy in a book, in a picture, on the tv, or in real life, she points to it and starts panting. That is, if she's not just squealing and laughing with delight. She loves dogs and any animal, for that matter.

She loves looking out the window in the back door while eating her meals. It's a perfect spot for her to spy on the neighbor's dog and anything else interesting outside. This usually results in long conversations between the two of us about what she sees.

Also related to the backdoor. I will usually tell Jessica when it's close to Daddy coming home and she will lean up against the glass in the back door and stare at the garage until he drives up. Once he opens that side door to the garage and she catches a glimpse of him, she squeals, giggles, and smiles such a big smile because she is so happy to see him. She loves him so much and he absolutely loves this little tradition we've started. Who wouldn't love coming home to such a greeting from the two girls who mean the most to him in the whole world?

Jessica has become my "yoga baby" or "yoga girl". I just recently started doing yoga each morning in the living room through the youtube channel for doyouyoga.com. I love this website and their videos. Seriously, I have learned so much and it makes me grateful to be able to exercise in the comfort of my own home. It has also been great for my flexibility, relaxation, and stress levels. Jessica joins right in with me each morning. She will go over to where I keep the mat rolled up, pull it out (and complain to me if she can't quite get it all by herself), then when I put it in the middle of the room, she will roll it out and sit herself down in the middle, all ready to go! She imitates me quite well through all the poses and does a better downward dog and cobra than I do!

Jessica is pushing and pulling herself to standing more and more everyday. Something that we're pretty sure was a direct result of the benefit of doing yoga with mommy. All that practice doing downward dog really helped her get confident on her feet!

She has started to become even more snuggly, something that makes both Mommy and Daddy very happy. And she's very attached to one fuzzy pink blanket. She has to be wrapped in and hold it while sleeping, nursing, etc. If we put it around her and on our shoulders, she'll lay her head right down and snuggle so close. She usually grabs a corner and rubs her cheek with it as a self-soothing measure. It's the sweetest thing.

Jessica is a pro at drinking from a straw. I didn't realize this is sometimes a later skill to learn, because she's been doing it for months. She loves her straw sippy cups and really drinks very well from them. Which is great, because who couldn't use more hydration?

Jessica has now started wanting to try on my shoes, slippers, flip-flops...anything that goes on my feet she feels should be put on her feet. She'll pull them off my feet, or bring them from across the room, then hand them to me and lift her little leg in the air, ready for me to put them on her feet. And so the diva behavior begins. I can't wait for her to start wanting to play dress-up. Now that is going to be incredibly fun and entertaining!