Poor #3 … not nearly as many updates as the first two babies.  =)

This month (June 2016) Ila turned 21 months old.  Next month, she will become a big sister!  hard to believe; we have definitely had the “she’s the baby” mentality with her.

Developmentally Ila has grown by leaps and bounds the last few months.  Here is what she is doing/saying this month:

• says:
  • “Mi Mi” for Mister (the I says i like icky when she says it)
  • “bar” for granola bar
  • “MMMnum MMMnum” for cup (don’t ask, we don’t know why?!)
  • grape
  • apple
  • bucha (she is obssessed with Kombucha right now!)
  • “back” for having her back scratched, & brings the back scratcher to us
  • cough
  • shoes
  • bowl
  • and she just jabbers.  Lexie spoke in complete sentences at like 12 months, Mister did a lot too.  Ila has her favorite words and the rest is just jabbering. haha
• She’s been more clingy since about 19 months old; it is a phase I am sure because despite being my little sidekick, she’s a very independent toddler that likes her space.
• Finally enjoys me reading to HER; she has always wanted to be the one reading to ME, so night time books ended in a fit. I finally just stopped trying and though she still reads to herself all day, she will let me read to her now!
• She loves playing dress up with big sister; she also enjoys hanging out with the older two and playing in their world
• Plays pretend- My first two did not play a lot of pretend on their own at this age.  Ila DEFINITELY has a big imagination- she makes the knights and horses talk and play, she plays with her baby doll, dressing and undressing her, and plays with the bath toys in their own world.
• Enjoys doing the Melissa and Doug puzzles we have, and is learning her shapes this way
• She brings me ABC bean bags (best purchase ever!) and says some letters or letter sounds, they’re not usually right- but hey, she knows they are letters.  😉
• She can count to 10- these things (counting, letters, etc) she just picks up from us doing homeschool and living around her.
• Pats everyone on the back when they are coughing or sneezing (it’s allergy season ..) and is very affectionate.  When Mister or Lexie is hurt or crying she gets their lovey and brings it to them, then pats them.  =)
• Uses her fork and spoon really well!- Mister at 7 months refused to let anyone feed him and O M GEE he was the messiest eater EVER.  Still is!  So I refused to let Ila feed herself with a spoon or fork until about 3-4 weeks ago.  And she does SO well!  She is a really neat eater and if she can’t do in neatly or easily she asks for help.  Mama’s girl 😉
• Ila is obsessed with sitting on the potty; she doesn’t do anything on it … and she takes her diaper off all the time!  So is she ready to potty train?  Yea … she probably is.  And if I had a few days to just focus on that, she would probably be trained and done. So, I may try here soon.  It is really just a lack of me being motivated and focused than anything.
• She gives the biggest hugs and kisses!
• Learned to roll her tongue and does it anytime she sees her daddy (go figure)
• She is requires a hair bow to leave her bed.  She loves them.
• Got her first real haircut at the salon recently; I have trimmed her hair several times since she was about 3-4 months old? But decided it was time for a real haircut!
• Loves bath time; hates having her hair washed or brushed in any way, shape, or form.  UGH it’s a nightmare trying to brush her hair most of the time.
• Her little bow-legs are straighter.  We were supposed to go in for her well child not too long ago, and we all ended up w the stomach flu.  So we haven’t been, but since then her legs have straightened up significantly!  At her 2 yr well visit I will have the dr make sure they are looking straight/okay.  I don’t want her to have feet that turn in/knees that knock if we can fix it.  She is already destined to have terrible feet thanks to her mama and daddy, both.
• At this point she knows all of her body parts and can name most of them
• Still loves the dogs, chickens, calves, and cats; knows most of her animal sounds
• Asks for me to swing her when outside
• Dancing is one of her very favorite things- she dances in the car, in her high chair, pretty much anytime there is music on she dances.  We went to OK with J.Tom’s family and spent most of our time at the pool; Ila really enjoyed dancing to the music there.

{playing Pandora Radio on the TV}

That’s all the new on my list & that I can think of right now …

At the end of May we moved Ila out of her nursery in our room (which is just a second, biggish-closet), to big sister Lexie’s room.  And it has gone SO well!  Oh my goodness, the Lord knew we needed it to work, and it has perfectly.  Ila is in her crib, Lexie downsized to a twin bed (which she loves), and I shifted some furniture around.  It is still plenty spacious and the girls do great.  They don’t wake each other up, we have staggered bedtimes (see Ila’s schedule below), and Lexie is really good at being quiet when she needs to get up for the bathroom or anything.

Since Ila was about 13-14 months old? this has been her schedule and so far it is still working:

• 7am wake, eat
• 9:30-10:30 independent play in crib with KLove on and a few music toys.  She loves it!
• 11:15 lunch
• 12:00 down for nap, usually asleep within 20 minutes but most of the time much sooner
• 3:00 up from nap (wakes between 2:20-3 most days but stays in bed until 3)
• 3:30ish after snuggles with everyone, snack
• 5:30 supper, bath, playtime
• 6:45pm bed

We don’t watch a lot of TV in our home, but when I do turn something on for the kids, it is usually Curious George on Netflix.  Ila *loves* George and says, “ooo ooo aaaah aaaah” for monkeys.  She enjoys our animal book the most and pointing out bugs all over the place.

For naps and night time, Ila insists that she has socks on and her sleep sack (on backwards or else she unzips it). I always turn on the humidifier for white noise and the ceiling fan (she insists on that as well).

Overall, Ila has been just as happy and sweet as she was the first few months of her life. She never cried much and though she has become fussy and clingy during certain phases, in general that is not her disposition.  She is definitely the easiest-going out of all the kids so far.

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you.  Thank you!