Hi!  Thanks for stopping by.  If you are a reader of my blog, and enjoy what I write, I have a favor to ask.

Can you click on the button below?  It isn’t a contest, or anything special, but it helps me get on the list of blogs there on picketfenceblogs.com; its required that all blogs have a certain number of “votes.”   There is also a button in my sidebar you can use.  All you have to do is click on it.   

Thanks so, so much!

Back when this saga was written, my little blog was just for me, and my code family and friends. I didn’t have an audience. So it is written like I am talking to my family, and doesn’t work great for 9 years later … but Im keeping it how it is for memory’s sake.

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Well, poor Mister hasn’t had nearly the pregnancy updates his sister had. But, I will give him his birth story post. :).

Fair warning, it’s very long and includes a lot of detail (mainly for my benefit later).

I woke up at 1:10am Sunday, with pretty strong pains in my very lower abdomen. These were not anything like I had been experiencing in the last weeks, but they felt like sharp, stabbing pms cramps. I wasn’t sure what I was experiencing…

After a few minutes I felt more, regular pains but was still unsure if they were contractions or my upset stomach I’d had for 2 weeks. I went to the bathroom and laid back down; the pains were 4-6 minutes apart, so I thought just maybe I should get up, drink some water, and walk around for a few minutes to see if they’d subside. After an hour they were 4 mins apart regularly, and were getting more painful. Husband was snoozing so I let him rest, unsure if I should wake him.

About 3:00am I decided I should, told him I thought I was in labor and contrax were 3.5-4 min apart at this time (thank you contraction timer app for iPhone! Haha)

He wanted to go with me, but I told him I would just run to the hospital and make sure it was real labor before we woke his mom, got her to the house to sit with big sister, etc. Plus, he was going to need his rest to help me labor, and I knew it’d be a few hours before we knew anything.

So, I got my things together, threw them in the car and drove to the ER. They wheeled me to L&D where I put on the gown, climbed in the bed, answered all the insanely personal question, and they checked to see what progress I had made. After 2.5 hours of labor (it was about 3:30am at this point) I was 3 cm and 80% effaced (which is great), but my cervix was still way back, or posterior. Had my contrax been 5-10min a part they would have let me go home to labor more, but because they were between 2.5-2 min by this point (yes, insanely close for such early labor) they were going to keep me. Plus it was my second baby so he could be here any minute you know … Yea right.

So I called husband, told him I was staying, and to take his time. He was there in 20 minutes. His mom came and stayed at the house until Lady woke up, then she dressed her and took her to church.

Labor was very much different from what I had experienced with my first. My contractions with her were up and across my tummy, and felt more like a tightening wave. My contractions with Baby2 felt like lower PMS cramps. They hurt much worse, and were pretty much on top of each other by 5:30am. However, despite them being painful, 45second long, and 2-3 min apart, I wasn’t making very fast progress.

And despite that the dr on call and my wonderful nurses did NOT push petocin on me. I was so thankful! When I told them I didn’t want it, they totally respected that.

By about 6:30 I was uncomfortable enough that I was ready for something to help with the pain. I was only at 4-5cm and I knew at this point labor would not be the quick and easy “cut your first labor time in half” delivery everyone said it would be. I have a terrible time w catheters, and since they are required for an epidural I opted for the pain meds instead. *sigh* big. Fat. Fail.

They did help w the contractions  for about an hour, but they made me feel so loopy, and I hated that. But I was able to rest between contractions, which I had not been able to do previously, so that was nice. By 7:30am the meds were wearing off and I was getting cranky, baby wasn’t progressing much and the contrax were just so close and painful, def worse than mine with my first.

There was also a new nurse on shift, and she said if I was ok with it, we didn’t have to do a catheter for the epi! We would just use the bed pan when we could. Can I get an AMEN?! This girl just won herself some big ole brownie points.

So we ordered the epidural, and the dr finally arrived with it an hour later … Let me backup a bit. With the full moon on Friday/Saturday morning still affecting all things natural and the hurricane sitting on top of us all weekend, labor and delivery was suddenly full. After I arrived they were flooded with mamas in labor. So the anesthesiologist took a while to get to me, because someone had ordered their epidural before I did (well played, other mama, well played).

Anyway, I got the epidural which was an incredibly easy experience compared to that I had with L. I waited so late in the game to get it with her (because my contraction weren’t that bad until much later), that while getting the epidural I was miserable and then had a rough reaction to it. This time I was uncomfortable and began to cry when he finally got started, but for some reason the whole thing was more pleasant than w my first. I was also able to straighten up and rest during contractions, while he was working. I didn’t get to do that with my first.

I don’t know what that dr did or how he did the dose, but I was still able to feel my legs, move in my bed, and feel my cervical checks, but I didn’t feel the contractions. It was a PERFECT because this also meant I could feel to use the bedpan to empty my bladder if needed. (and he doesn’t do walking epis, so that’s not what it was… but maybe it was and he just wouldn’t call it that for insurance purposes?)

But …. About 11:30 am that posed a slight problem; I was in the transition phase of labor, going from 8-10cm and I was feeling the dilation. No, not “pressure” from the numbing of the epi, but the burning, very painful sensation of dilation and shortly there after, pushing. The sweet nurse on staff asked me if it was pressure I felt during contractions and when I described what I was feeling, she looked at me like, “uh oh.” at 11:50 I started pushing and although I’m sure I didn’t feel ALL of the pain associated with delivering an 8lb 11oz baby, I felt a lot.

At one point, I just cried and told them “no, I could feel him and it hurt! No, I couldn’t do it!”.

My dr and nurses kept telling me “he’s big, Meghan, just a few more times and he will be out! You will be done!”.And they were right- and I’m thankful my epi wasn’t full strength. I was able to feel when I pushed, that I was being effective. I could feel him moving down each time, and as he emerged. Again, not pressure like you feel when numbed. It was painful, amazing, and at the same time encouraging.

After I got over the fear or shock of it, I just kept thinking about how close we were. And after 20 minutes of pushing he was here! The doctors were shocked by how much he weighed.

I couldn’t be more thankful that my on call doctor was my on call doctor. At first I was disappointed because I wanted my doctor, but Dr. Thaxton was amazing! Amazing. She followed all my wishes, was kind, and a huge baby advocate- she didn’t make me feel like she was just there to catch the baby, because she wasn’t. She was in there coaching me, alongside my husband and two fabulous, precious, nurses. She smiled, laughed, encouraged me, and was so careful afterward while finishing things up.

My husband was amazing. He entertained me when I needed it, held my hand, did the squeezing thing I need him to do during contractions, and let me go inward during the transition phase when I needed quiet. He encouraged me, pushed my backup while I pushed, and cried with me when baby came. It was just a great experience for us both.

Another thing I like about this labor was we waited to cut the cord. I won’t go into details about the benefits but the blood coming through the cord is very nutrient and oxygen rich. It’s full of stem cells and nutrients that help baby immediately after birth, and later in life. After he was born, they laid him on me for us to hold and bond with him. During that time they did all the stitching, cleaning up, etc and suctioned out his nose and chest.

Then they took him to his little table where they cleaned him up and checked his vitals. They gave him to daddy after that and we looked on in awe. Mister nursed right away, and had no problems… Unlike his sister who came out starving but wouldn’t latch on and fell asleep constantly while breastfeeding, M latched right on and never looked back. He’s had many many poopy diapers and several wet ones. He stays awake while nursing, and sleeps in between sessions. He has dark curly hair, teal eyes, and huge feet. Like huge feet…. Even the baby nurse said, ” he has really big feet!” Haha. In comparison to Lady, she had curly dark blonde hair w highlights and steal gray blue eyes. We are thinking his eyes will be green since they are the teal color. He looks just like his daddy, but favors lady a lot!

Speaking of her- My sweet precious girl bug is so wonderful. She went to church w sue sue and papa Sunday while I labored. Then my mom got in town and she spent time with her. Husband went home and got her about 2:30 Sunday and brought her to see me and baby. She was so excited she couldn’t get her words out, haha. When she finally did they consisted of, “I sit up there. I sit up there”- talking about on the bed with me so she could see baby. Then with arms outstretched and anticipation on her face, “I hold him! I hold him!”. So we told he how she had to be very easy with him and laid him in her arms. She immediately hugged and kissed no him. She was so excited, she also said she needed to take his hat off, and we needed to put him in the floor to play with her. Haha. It was sweet.

So, today is Monday the 3rd. Today is Lexie’s birthday! We can only figure that Max was determined to come on his own day! 🙂 Jtom has gone home to get Lexie up and about, I am going to get a shower and rest, then they are coming to see us here. We will go home tomorrow at noon. I am fortunate that I’m sleeping well during nursing sessions, my nurses have mostly be great, and since we aren’t having visitors (sorry about that…) I am resting and we get to bond with baby. Things really are going great. I know being home will pose a challenge and a lot of adjustment, but I think with our routines and consistency that we keep for lexie things will be much easier than if we just did whatever all the time.

Keep us in your prayers and thank you for all the wonderful texts and messages!

(sorry for typos, working on my ipad here)

How far along: 15 weeks today


Overall weight gained- 6 lbs That’s more than I had anticipated for the second time around. But that’s what I get for not running 10+miles a week


Things I’ve panicked about in the last week: Oh you know, everything. Will we do a baby reveal or just find out the gender? Is the baby going to be okay since I don’t take my prenatals every day? (HEARTBURN!) Will Lexie be potty trained pre-baby, like we would like? OMG-I’m practically 4 months pregnant and we’ve done NOTHING to prep for baby! Except maybe having a look for professional photographers in our area who will be able to shoot some maternity photos for us. We didn’t get round to doing it during our first pregnancy and I’ve always loved how they have turned out. My friend who is also pregnant has recently had some taken from a photographer similar to Olga Topchii, (olgatopchii.com) and they have turned out really good. She looks amazing! I really want to have this done this time so I’m definitely going to try and organize this as soon as possible. But there are still so many things that we haven’t sorted out yet. Let’s not even discuss naming the poor kid … it just keeps going like this for a while.


Food cravings: just sweets really. I’m trying to eat fruit instead and drink water


Exercise: 2-3 days we make it to the Y for some yoga and/or elliptical. When I am done cleaning houses this summer I figure we will be up there a LOT more, walking like I did last pregnancy.


maternity clothes: everything but tops, now. This girl even busted out the maternity shorts 2 weeks ago! Woo hoo- talk about FREEDOM! Hello early spring.


Baby’s size this week: a naval orange; baby is hiccuping and moving all around. Her joints and limbs move freely and she is forming taste buds.


Sleep: same as last time… interrupted by non stop bathroom breaks. Fun.


Queasiness: the queasiness from a few weeks ago is virtually gone. Now I just feel fat and lazy all the time.


Wedding rings: still on


Happy or Moody: depends on how tired I am. Yesterday was No Bueno.


Looking forward to: our chickens getting here in a few weeks!


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J.Tom worked so hard yesterday and finished the gate door for the carport. It looks *awesome* Lexie and I helped a little mostly got in the way. We just had to get this, and looked around for something that was remotely close to what we wanted. Thankfully a friend of ours suggested Tassie Sheds Burnie, and while we didn’t get our carport from there, it really gave us an idea of what we should have. In the end, we found what we were looking for – a gate door that would fit our metal carport. The paint color blends really well with the color of the metal and I’m so pleased with how it looks. The best thing is the gate completely closes off the yard so now little miss cannot escape while we are working in the garden, etc; no more one person works, one person keeps and eye on her, or “go strap her in the wagon real fast and come here” bahaha JK


A few pre-baby plans have changed. At this point we MUST: build a chicken coop, replace carpet in baby #2’s room, and empty said room. After that, depending on how much money I still have stashed away, we may tackle the kitchen. It will have to be done at some point, but we’re not entirely sure it will happen before the baby gets here. JTom is traveling so much, and working so much, we just don’t know what we can accomplish in the next 4.5 months.


Baby’s awake, got to go!

Life probably isn’t all about you .. Or at least others lives probably aren’t about you. Unless they’re icky inlaws or bitchy coworkers, in general, people make their life choices for their life based on what makes them happy and what is best for their family. It probably has nothing to do with you. You probably shouldn’t take offense to it. Nor should you take offense in their happiness- who wouldn’t be happy about a baby, wedding, new job, graduation, etc? Because you chose not to get married, haven’t had kids yet, didn’t graduate, or don’t have an awesome new job isn’t their problem, and they deserve time to celebrate. Even if that time is 9 months, after which they will bask in the glory of their new baby. Or new marriage. Or new well paying job. Or lovely new home.

It’s a problem when people feel like they should hide their feelings because it may step on one of their many “friends” toes. I don’t think it’s fair or right, and if you dont like something someone says or does, you can always delete them from your phone, your fb page, your blog, your chat … Your life. But bithching about their excitement in life makes you look like a miserable, lonely miser. We can always hit that dirty D button.

Just some food for thought.

On a happier note, we saw the baby Monday! And yes I posted it to my fb and emailed the picture out. I also texted the picture to my husband, so he could have it on his phone, although he was in the room during the entire ultrasound. Excited much? Very. Do We have a right to be? Yes. Should I get to gloat about it whenever I want- absolutely. Should you get to gloat about your new car, job, etc? Sure. Let me enjoy mine. You enjoy yours.

Lexie still doesn’t know about the new baby, I just think it’s too early. We are still trying to decide if we will do a gender reveal party or not. Jtom wants to, I’m not so sure.. Mainly because I don’t want to sendout invites and plan a party .. That’s lazy, I know. I’m not sure what we will do, but we have at least 2 months to figure it out, so no worries.

We have baby rhode Island red chicks coming the first week of April! That should be exciting and I I’ll post more about that decision later. Right now I have a waking toddler I must tend to.

Happy Friday!

I am so sorry we haven’t post a blog in a while.  Lexie is rather obsessed with all things technology-meaning I don’t get to really use them in front of her without a fit.  And during her naps I usually lay down these days.

making valentines

super baby

cleaning

bed head

picking out a book

she loves her tut and “hat”

penguins at the zoo

lexie, daddy, and elephant

the giraffe

he had a licking complex

silly scarecrow

**EDIT-The videos were not view-able before, sorry! I had the settings wrong.  You should be able to see them now**  
Hello all!  I don’t have much time to write, but I thought I would post a few videos for the family; it has been a while since everyone has seen Ms. Lexie in person…  So, here is the third best thing (I would have to say the second best is watching her through GCHat)

J.Tom and I were given the best Christmas gift ever again this year!


Although we had stopped “trying” until spring, we made a baby this month! We are having baby Wright #2, due September 2, 2012. One day before Lexie’s birthday .. Oddly. There’s a back story there I will get to later. I’m hoping it’s a girl. But I don’t really care, because we are having three, so at some point we will have two of something.


Last Friday (Dec 16 &17) my stomach was all messed up; I kept asking JTom if his was, he said no. I thought maybe I had cooked something with too much spice, or maybe we ate some baked goodies that didn’t go over well. He asked me then, “do you think you’re pregnant.” And I told him no, but I did have a thought in the back of my mind ..


However, it looks like that was implantation (yes, I know my body that well). You may think I am crazy to know this, but it happened with lexie as well. My stomach was messed up, then two weeks later I realized I was missing a monthly something… Only this time, I didn’t get that far before we tested. I told jtom on Tuesday (21st) I think we needed to test, with Christmas wine and festivities being around the corner. He laughed and said I was nuts- I asked him to humor me and pick up a test while he ran errands. He did. He got the First Response Rapid Results which allows you to read the test at one min vs three minutes later (not test before you miss your period). There was the slightest faint faint lines in both tests, two per box. I didn’t mention it to him, and he didn’t ask. The next morning Lexie and I ran to the dollar store for some preg tests-DON’T LAUGH! If you have tried to make a baby in the last 5 yrs, you have been on preg forums and discussion boards, and you know that the dollar store tests are just as sensitive as most other early detection tests, reading as little as 25 miu of the pregnancy hormone hcg, possibly less. I bought ten. Lol. And all but two had lines over the next two days. Thursday morning I took a First Response Early Results test, which will tell you “.. up to 6 days sooner,” and sure enough, two big ole fat pink lines! I went to work as normal that day, SO EXICTED, of course.


I took a picture and texted it to JTom.


I don’t like knowing this early, because it is still early enough for a miscarriage; of course that can happen at anytime, and this is EARLY-I was only 4 days pregnant when I found out.. By medical standards I will be 4 wks on Christmas, but the baby will only have been “made” for two weeks. I only tested because I had a gut feeling; I had the same symptoms I had with Lexie and don’t get every other month- upset tummy, back cramps, exhaustion the week expecting my girl thing, ravenously hungry at all hours (and just an hour after I eat). But interesting that symptoms show up like, immediately! It just amazes me … The hunger thing is weird though, I don’t remember that last time, but I’m sure I was. My stomach is literally growling all the time, and an hour after I eat, I’m starving again- thank you pregnancy hormones for the increased metabolism. But I WILL NOT overindulge like last time and gain a bazillion pounds that take me a year to lose. I still have 8 of those to get rid of. Doesn’t look like it will happen for another year or more. =/


We told Jtom’s family at our Christmas little celebration- we put a Christmas card in his moms stocking with a note that read, “Merry Christmas sue sue and papa- I will see meet you in September 2012. I’m about 4 weeks in the making. Love, baby wright #2.” It was pretty sweet. They were excited. I am going to call my dad Christmas morning and tell him, so its a little special, since we can’t be there. And of course I had to tell someone when I found out, so I three wayed my mom and granny. Everyone else is waiting until about an hour before this post goes up. It’s just too soon to tell the world, but we wanted to share it on Christmas, even if it is early. My husband is such a kid, and just can’t keep a secret- it kills him! I love it and I think it’s so cute. 🙂


When I post this I think we will be about 6 5 weeks along; last time we were 5 weeks when family found out and 6 for everyone else. We only told that soon because we were going on a trip with friends and if I wasn’t partaking in the festivities, they would know something was up. We wanted to tell family before friends knew.. Hence the early reveal with Lexie. I will hopefully have been to the dr by now since I’m supposed to see him anyway next Tuesday when I will be 5 weeks 2 days along. Funny how those things work out ..


Speaking of funny things. This is probably TMI (too much info) but so silly I have to tell! This baby was made exactly 3 days after lexie was, and her (I’m calling it a her for now, because it’s easiest) due date is 3 days after Lexie’s was! Of course, Lexie was late by 5 whole days, so her bday became Sep 3. I know my doctor won’t let me go over my due date, he said because lexie was so big, but I’m going to beg him to let me at least try to make it to my due date.


Also … I don’t get to find out the sex. I signed a deal with the devil, in this case, my husband. For him to consider having three babies, I have to NOT know the sex of #2. TORTURE! Have you read my maniacally written, obsessive posts from my last pregnancy?! This is going to be hard, but I want four three, so it is what i must do!


We already know our boy name, Easton James. The girl’s name is up in the air (although Olivia has always been my second choice next to Lexie). I also like a lot of unisex baby names like Ashley and Billy/Billie. JTom says he won’t discuss it until I am at least 4 months along. Grrr What men will say to get out of discussing baby names.


We also know we have some arrangements that must occur. For instance, our room will have to move downstairs. The downstairs is two steps in the kitchen, btw. Nothing major. Either the new baby will take our room and lexie stay where she is, or Lexie will take our room, since it is bigger, and the new baby will go in her room, which will be closer to our room .. Hrm. I know this seems silly to think about now, but it’s one of those decisions that once it’s made requires a lot of work, paint, and moving stuff… Which requires time. And I don’t want to do all this at 7-8 months pregnant again. I want to enjoy the last months with lexie as a single baby, and not be stressing over completing projects and such.


So .. Gender neutral for all baby stuff was a good idea last time. I already think I know how I want to decorate the nursery. I do have to make a boy car seat cover just in case it’s a boy. That was the only non-gender-neutral thing we bought; I wanted people to know she was a girl! Yet, even with bows in her hair, they still asked … uh


Speaking of that girl- tonight we are putting together a few gifts for her Christmas. Mia got her a wagon, and Granny got her a Little People Zoo. Those will be fun. I got her a wooden Melissa and Doug educational clock.. she is obsessed with clocks! I wanted to get her a real clock for her dresser, but couldn’t find a pretty, delicate one I liked. They are all too kiddy or too living-roomish. She is getting a new alphabet book and that’s it from us. She has so much stuff already. What she really needs is more clothes, so I will probably spend my Christmas money on that. Nothing plain of course, never give someone plain clothes on Christmas if you want them jumping for joy. On that note, I was thinking of getting her some Sesame Street themed pajamas, she does love her snacks and it would be very fitting to see her dressed as a Cookie Monster for her favorite cookies and milk combo on Christmas Day.


Because of the baby news, I wanted to make this Christmas a really special time. For everyone we’re spending Christmas with, I’ve got some really fun gifts so that we can spend all day laughing. I’ve found this website that lets you create personalized gifts, and they let you create personalized bobbleheads from your photos! I couldn’t believe it when I saw them and I instantly knew that these would go down a treat. My husband’s one is amazing. The kids have been using them to create a family puppet show and it’s adorable to watch. I think we’ve done really well with gifts this year, we haven’t gone too crazy and we’ve definitely had a great day. I can’t believe this time next year we’ll all be celebrating with a new baby here, I’m excited already.



Speaking of Christmas, I won’t be enjoying the super fabulous espresso machine and beer brewing kits I received for about 7 more months. Guess I will have 3 things to look forward to in September, it’ll be like Christmas came early.

These are just the pictures I have been promising for the last few weeks … sorry I am so behind!  I may get Christmas morning pictures up before Valentine’s Day!

playing with her puzzle

loves Elmo (the only 15 minutes of tv she gets some days)

Precious baby girl!

Christmas toys

We went to the doctor friday for her checkup. She got two shots, one in each leg and she did very well. She is 33.5 inches tall, and 28lbs. All if her 18 month pants are getting too short, and her shirts are getting too small. The sleeves are not long enough and some don’t cover her belly. I have already packed away some pants and a pair of corduroy overalls that don’t fit anymore. 🙁 I guess it is time to move to 24 month, or maybe 2T? I don’t really know the difference, yet.

The night we put the star on the top of our Christmas tree, Lexie pointed to it and said, “star.”. She was not yet 15 months old.

Today, she can identify literally every object in the house and tell you ALL about it; if you listen closely you may recognize a word or two. 😉 at fifteen and a half months, we play outside twice a day, and we have moved along to one middle of the day nap. This nap is my savior. I am exhausted by 11:45! Our new schedule looks something like this:

5:30
Jtom leaves for the office

7:00-7:30.
Lexie and mama wake, eat breakfast, daddy returns home to change into office attire, we play with daddy before he goes back to work

8:00- about 8:25
Independent time in pack n play
Mama makes coffee!!! Picks up misc items, starts laundry or other chores

8:30-10:30
Mama and lexie time- includes reading stories, picking up toys, singing songs, dancing
Some days it includes the last 30 minutes of sesame street whle mama does a daily chore.

10:30
Outside time

11:00
Come in, complete picking up the house, get ready for lunch

11:15
Lunch

11:35-11:45
Change into sleep clothes and get in bed for wind down

12:00-12:15
Usually takes her from ab 1145 till now to wind herself down and get asleep. She then sleeps for an hour forty five minutes to two hours
Mama does quiet chores, rests, pays bills, etc.

2:00
Wake, change out of sleep clothes, have some room time in her bedroom
Mommy chores
Mommy time w
(not always in this order .. We are working on it)

3:00
Snack

3:30
Ready to go outside!

4:00-4:30
Come in

4:30
Get ready for daddy’s arrival

5:15
Daddy is home! Play time with daddy, mama prepares dinner, gets things ready for bed time

5:50
Lexie eats

6:10
Bath time

6:25
Dry off, get ready for bed- lotion on our “body,” ears, powder, nose drops, Tylenol if teething

6:30
Night night milk, rock while mama sings “Jesus loves me,”

6:40-6:45
In bed

7:00-7:15
Asleep for the night!

Whew, and that’s really probably not everything we do. My schedule written out on the counter includes some specific times for crafts, etc. But of course that doesn’t happen every day.

Some days there are more or less chores to do, weather doesn’t allow us outside, or we may just vege out all day. She still goes to school Tuesdays and Thursdays, while I clean houses. At the start of the new year we will be attending the Y regularly. I don’t know which classes I will be going to, so I’m not sue what times or days we will go. Also, they have started a toddler reading time at the library, which begin at 10:30. I really want to take lexie to this. Then, there is a play group we have joined. Up until two weeks ago we were unable to attend most of the play dates because they were at 10:00, but now lexie has OFFICIALLY moved her nap back, so we can now go to 10 o’clock play dates! This excites me greatly.

It seems like we have gone from doing only house Esther, to having lots of things to enjoy outside of the house, all thanks to someone not having two naps! I will be the first to say I was dreading the two one switch, but it has been really nice. After fighting the afternoon nap for MONTHS, and the morning nap for the last month, it is so very nice to have a peaceful toddler at nap time. I know it is early for one nap, and I am a total “developmentally appropriate” nazi, but it is true that every child is different.
Plus, she sleeps 12 hours through the night, so she is well rested.

Lately, after she wakes up I give her about 10 minutes to really wake up and then I hop in the shower. When I get out, we do the whole breakfast, daddy thing, then I dry my hair while she takes her morning bottle.
oh yea … We still do bottles. Bt here is why: she was chewing her nails. I dropped all but the night time bottle and she was chewing her nails all day, despite having a milk cup and juice cup available. Chewing her nails told me that she may not be getting the oral stimulation she needs, so I reintroduced the morning bottle after her oatmeal. Tada- no more chewing nails. So I think I will try taking it away again at a later time and see how she does. The rest of the time she drinks from her sippies or a real cup, with mine or Jtoms assistance. She has a cup with a straw, but it’s not a favorite and we don’t use it much because with a flick of the straw it quickly becomes the drink slinging cup. Messy!

We are still having power struggles, which is to be expected of any toddler, especially an independent one. Our biggest struggle today is her banging her chunky puzzle pieces on the top of my newly renovated farm table. That constitutes a time out, and it happens almost every other day. The other struggle would be coming inside. I try to make this an easy transition by saying “we have 5 more minutes”- although she has no concept of time, this let’s her know, after repeated use, that we will be going in soon. Then we pick up whatever toy(s) we have taken out, and put down any sticks or leaves we have picked up- enter meltdown. If she were three she might understand keeping a box for rocks, leaves, and sticks for next time, but since she is 15 months old that doesn’t fly. I do it anyway.

Another little issue might be her eating things. Well, nt eating things, but rather chewing them. Strings she pulls from her lovie, leaves,pieces of bark from firewood, anything really, quickly becomes a chewing gum of sorts. If I don’t take it, I imagine she swallows it? Bt I always try to get whatever it is out of her mouth, tell her “dirty dirty” and make an icky face. She just says “blah” and runs the other way, just to return with something new in her mouth to show me. She doesn’t still put toys in her mouth, like blocks and things. She is done “feeling” things out with her mouth. Now she just wants to chew bits of things … I guess it won’t kill her, but my only concern might be a parasite from leaves or something? Is that possible? I should google it …

Today she can point to and name a circle, star, and heart. OMG I almost forgot, this afternoon jtom was in the bedroom looking something up on the ipad. Lexie had to go see what he was up to and she quickly had control of the finger controlled electronic. I have a few “baby” aps on there, but nothing really any good. This one is just different foods, their color and their name. Each time you swipe the page, a new food comes up. So she swipes it, up pops the lime with “lime” written above it. What does lexie Raye wright do? She points to the L and says “L! L!”. Yay!!! Now, don’t get me wrong, most all letters are either L, X, or I. This is because every morning she wakes up, grabs lovie, reaches for me to lift her from the crib, and then points to the letters above her name. I then point to each letter , saying its name before I move to the next.

Her teachers at school go on and on about how smart, sweet, and funny she is. I remember the first time they asked what I do with her to make her so smart, my reply was “I talk to her.”. That’s it. I take the time to tell her what everything is. When she points to something and makes a noise as if to ask, ” what’s that?” I tell her what it is. From the angel painting on my bedroom wall, to the coffee pot, she knows their names, because I talk to her. I let her touch and feel things, she has learned to smell things with her nose.

It’s all about experience, children learn what they are exposed to. If you expose them to junk food and tv, that is what they will know. If you expose them to physical play and exploration, they develop a natural curiosity for learning. That is what I want lexie to know.

The funny part is just her personality; she is exactly like her daddy! She loves to play, tease, be scared by us with the occasional “boo!” and enjoys talking. She has an imagination mile wide, which she gets from me. Right now she is enjoying her Christmas toys sent to her by various family members. I will load pics when I get time, I’m blogging from bed, on the ipad, right this minute. She likes to sneak down the two steps we have and play in the entry way- and yes I let her! She is perfectly capable of doing the stairs safely, and I’m not going to hover over her every move. How will she ever learn to take risks safely, and feel secure if I’m right there every minute? I remember a big controversy in education when I was at HSU was the research on children taking physical risks, how it is necessary for brain and motor development, and that by removing playground equipment for “safety” purposes, we are hurting their education. True story.

Oh, one last update … I’m a terrible Santa. I couldn’t wait until the morning of the 25th to give her the Shelby Waldorf doll… She got it this morning. Hey, I put it under the tree! At 15 months she doesn’t know who brings the toys … I put the doll in Lexie’s chair, and put it “under” the tree. When we got done changing her diaper this morning, I led her into the living room, grabbed my camera and waited. Within a split second she had spotted the fiery red hair in her seat and ran right to her. Lexie picked her up, looked at her, looked at me, and started giving her loves. 🙂 she said, “baby baby”and between camera flashes I said “yes, baby for lexie! Her name is Shelby.” her response- “Bebby” for Shelby. Anyway, I took lots of pics, and I have a very precious picture of her sleeping with her new doll tonight. Shelby is no lovie, but I think she’s a keeper.

Excuse the typos, I will correct them when I get to my computer at a later time*