Sunday, February 21, 2016

hugging and cousins and fashion and love

Remember all those times I said "this is the best age ever- I want her to stay ____ old forever!!!"?? Well, scratch them all. I was clueless. This (eighteen months) is the best age EVER, and this time I'm for real. Life with Millie is so incredibly full and fun right now, I clearly have time for nothing else (well...except work. And reading a lot of books. And taking pictures.). So let's catch up.

For one, her eighteen month appointment. Homegirl is up to 26.7 pounds, putting her in the measly 80th percentile. Barely even a B, if you look at it like it's a grade...which I don't, obviously. ;) I was convinced she was over 30 pounds, so this was definitely a surprise- I guess my arms are just terrible at estimating weight. She's gained only about a pound since her 15 month appointment, so...I don't know why she feels so much heftier these days. Maybe it's her boots.

These boots are made for FLYING!
She's (supposedly) 32.25 inches tall now (66th percentile), but I was watching carefully and her head was definitely tilted to the side when they marked her height...by my calculation, she is probably at least half an inch taller than that. But whatever. All in all, she's stretching out and has hardly any baby fat rolls to speak of, but at least she still has that impressive belly and cheeks. So she doesn't look COMPLETELY grown. She can wear a variety of sizes, depending on the item/brand/what diapers she's wearing, but mostly 18-24 month and a few (gasp) 2T. I tell myself that the "T" in 2T stands for Tall Baby. That makes me feel better.

She's been SO much healthier this winter than last, and I'm incredibly thankful for that. I mean, it's been like...probably 4-5 months or so since she's even been on antibiotics, which is a lifetime achievement. We continue with daily (and occasionally up to four times daily...) steroid breathing treatments and those seem to be helping to keep her asthma in check perfectly. 

Her language and comprehension are EXPLODING lately, and I feel like she learns new words every single day. Listening to her talk and sing is the best thing in the whole world, and I think she enjoys being able to express her wants/needs as well! One of my favorite things is how we'll remind her to "use her words" when she's whining or moaning or crying and pointing at things, and so she'll stop the whining/crying, collect herself, look us in the eye, and say "mmfwphergah" (or something equally intelligible) very clearly and expectantly. And then we're like...well, dangit. Thanks for using your words, Millie. Next time can you try English or Spanish or maybe some established language that we could at least use Google translate to help us comprehend?? Ha. 

Last weekend we traveled to Augusta to celebrate Christmas with my family! Yep, on Valentine's weekend. Ha. Better late than never though, right? 

Millie spent most of the weekend hugging her cousins.

I'm a lover, okay?
Millie is all about giving hugs. No one (human, pet, or inanimate object) can escape. Her teachers report that she keeps busy all day at school, working the room and hugging all of her friends and toys. I love it.

While Mills was busy hugging, playing, dancing, and generally being adorable...I took the opportunity to have a MAJOR HAIR CHANGE. My hair has been way incredibly too long for about...uhhh...five months or so. It's been miserable. And I was just SO ready for a change. So my sister went all the way. Hacked it off AND dyed it red!


I feel like a new (and cooler) person! It's been a week now and I have no regrets, so...that's good. Now, back to our regularly-scheduled baby pictures.

Each time we all get together, we try to take a picture of the cousins sitting on this same quilt (in the same pose). It's even cuter at Christmas (or "Christmas") time, when my mom gets them all matching PJs. I'd thought that it might be slightly easier this year, with the girls being 1.5 and 2.5, but I was definitely wrong. It was more like a hot mess, but it was still a lot of fun! (Also, let's note the difference between taking pictures outside using a real camera (2014) and inside at night using an iPhone (this year).)

Christmas 2014- LOOK AT THOSE TINY BABES!!!!! waaaaaahhhhhh

"Christmas" 2015...the year Millie couldn't stop hugging.


These nutty girls...for the life of us, we couldn't get them to all smile and look in the same direction at the same time. Ugh! Oh well. The great thing is that next year's picture will have ANOTHER girl cousin in it!!! Carley will become a big sister this summer, so having a six-month-old in the picture next year should definitely make things run more smoothly...ha.

Speaking of doing hair...at one point we caught Laney (my sister's baby) "fixing" Millie's hair! It's hilarious because it's just exactly what they see Sarah and me doing. Every time we're together, Sarah's fixing my hair. So the babies decided to assume our roles. GENIUSES.


There wasn't a whole lot of excitement this past week (except I was sick a lot, ugh), but Millie enjoyed wearing a bunch of the new clothes I've bought at consignment sales recently. Actually, I don't know if she enjoyed it at all. I sure did, though.


And on Friday we (okay, I) decided to be twins. Plaid shirts and vests for all!


We had some nice weather this weekend, so we spent a lot of time playing outside. Millie found her sunglasses from last year (I guess they still fit?) and it made all her dreams come true. She's always trying to steal our glass/sunglasses...and now she has a pair we won't immediately try to steal back!

THIS OUTFIT THOUGH
She also discovered our beach wagon thingy. It was a pretty happy discovery. Especially when Daddy added in a bed pillow for extra safety/comfort!

This is SO FUN!!!!!!!!


So that's been life lately. My heart just explodes with gratitude and joy for this life I've been entrusted with, and I couldn't ask for more.

14 comments:

  1. Welcome to the red head club!!! You're a natural! ;)
    I know I say this all the time, but Millie get more adorable every single day. Her cheeks, her outfits, her piggies, that smile...everything. She really is a blessing. xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love your new hair!! And I'm relieved to know the second winter is healthier than the first cause it's been one thing after another over here!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love her!! A gorgeous baby and gorgeous mommy!! noah and beckom just passed the 15 month mark. You got me excited for 18!! One of my little loves is WAY more advanced than the other in talking...but each new word is soooo exciting!! I love it too xxoo. So honored we got to be part of the mom club at last. I love the last line "Life I've been entrusted with." LOVE

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love your hair!! And I agree - 18 months is/was such a fun age for language and comprehension explosion!! Each age has it's hardships of course, but truly it just keeps getting sweeter. :) Much fun in your future!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I really do think the language development makes things even more fun! Looking forward to seeing/hearing what else she has to say :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh my gosh!! Such a lover!! I love the pic of her hugging her big cousin. Her big cousin looks like "come on Millie. Let's get this pic over with." And Millie is SOOOOOO happy to be hugging her big cousin. It's precious! We're nearing the 16 month mark and I'm ready for the language to ramp up. I'm a terrible guesser!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your hair looks great!! I love her boots in the first pic, so grown up! I hope my little guy is as friendly as Millie is, waving at everyone and giving hugs :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love your new hair do! Suits you well. Millie is such a character...loved hearing her sing. Lol

    ReplyDelete
  9. All the heart emojis to you! Love the whole post - your hair, Millie's hair, her outfits, the cousin time - I mean - LOVE LOVE LOVE!

    ReplyDelete
  10. She has the cutest clothes! I die over those pigtails. And I love your hair! I could never pull that off!

    ReplyDelete
  11. her boots in the last photo! I want some!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Her little piggy-tails they are just . . .can not imagine anything more adorable.
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love your hair. It looks great!

    In that picture of Millie strolling with her sunglasses -- she looks like she should be watching out for paparazzi! So adorable.

    ReplyDelete

I love comments almost as much as I love Mexican food. Seriously.