Venily's 3 Year Pics!

By Jacki, of course! :)  Thanks again Jacki!!  It was super windy, but I can't believe Venily actually smiled decently AND looked at the camera, lol!  I super-love my BIG GIRL 3 year old!!!

**I still need to work on Venily's 3 year update!!!  Also, I need to write about a new Haven tooth and a post on Halloween....

Venily's 1st Dentist Appt!

Venily had her very first dentist appointment today and did GREAT!!!  I prepped her for like a week beforehand on what would happen, and I really think that helps.  I had Allison with me too (b/c she didn't have school today) and Jason watched Haven.  We had to wait FOREVER in the waiting room and my anxiety was through the roof, haha, but Venily was excited!


She ended up having a guy hygienist AND a guy dentist, but she was still so good!  The hygienist cleaned her teeth and gave her stickers, toys, a toothbrush and toothpaste.  He said it didn't look like she had any cavities.


Then the dentist came in and "counted" her teeth and stuck them all with the pointy thing to check for cavities (the absolute worst part, in my opinion).  He said that her bottom right molar stuck a little and that she had a very small cavity in it! :(  I wanted to cry.  It's so small that she won't even need any anesthesia for it, but I'm still sooooo broken-hearted!  We are OBSESSIVE about Venily brushing her teeth twice a day, EVERY SINGLE DAY!!   She does it herself for a few minutes and then either Jason or I go over her teeth as well.  She also does a fluoride rinse every single night before bed.  She hardly ever drinks juice and has very limited candy/junk food!!  :(  Sometimes you can do everything right though, and genetics will still cause it to happen.  Sorry Venily!!  We are also supposed to start flossing now as well, so we will add that to our rigid routine.


Her filling appointment isn't scheduled until NEXT September 2011!!  The dentist wanted her to have a certain dentist and he only works Saturdays and is booked until then!  But the receptionist has us on a waiting list and said that we will almost definitely be able to get in before then!  Venily has an appointment in a few weeks as well to have her teeth sealed.  And her next cleaning will be in 6 months (in May).

13 months old!!!

Haven is 13 months old today!

This last month Haven has gone through a HUGE language explosion!!!  At 12 months she had about 75 words and now she is at well over 100 words!!  Each day now she is saying new words that she has never said before.  This morning alone she said 3 new words before 6:15am, including "Allison" which sounds more like "Al-si-son"!!  I ALSO HAVE A NEW ALL-TIME FAVORITE WORD, LOL!!  Ever since she was a tiny baby (and with Venily too) after her bath and I am drying her in a towel I sing "dry you up, buttercup... dry you up, buttercup!"  And the other day I got her out of her bath and was drying her and she started saying "buttercup!  buttercup!" in a sing-songey voice, with a huge smile on her face!  ♥  My heart almost exploded with pure happiness.  She said it so clearly and perfectly too.  Definitely my FAVORITE word of the moment! :)
The other day she also said her first non-prompted 2 word sentence (that wasn't a phrase) besides "hi/bye Dada/Mama".  She said "MORE MILK!" and has continued to say it several different times when she wants more milk! :)  She also says "MORE CRACK!" while pointing at our cabinets with the crackers in them!  Really hoping she picks up the second syllable to that word soon, haha, though I do laugh every time she says it. :)


She is also becoming quite the polite young lady!  Instead of "puh" for please she says "peas".  :)  And she says "ank-you" for thank-you!! :) and I love when she says it with a little shy smile!!!  Oh Haven, why are you just so DARN cute?!


She has learned a few new animal sounds as well.  She can "quack" for a duck (before if you asked her what a duck says she'd say "DUCK!  DUCK!").  Attempts to whistle for a bird (I LOVE watching her try to whistle!!) and "squeak" for a mouse!  I think that brings her to 22 animal sounds! :)
She is LOVING all things-Halloween right now!!  I put up a lot of decorations in our house and she loves to go around and name them all!  She calls pumpkins "apples" though and I can't get her to stop, haha.  We have little pretend spiders that she likes to bring over to me and throws them on the ground and pretends to be scared of them and wants me to pretend to be scared of them too!  She also loves crescent moons, ghosts (which she calls "boo"s), and bats!  We can't wait for Halloween this weekend!!


I moved her up to size 4 diapers last week b/c I had bought the "new" Walmart brand diapers in a 3 and she had leaked through a few times when waking up in the morning.  I thought maybe a bigger size would help, but I also decided to go back to the Target brand of diapers and she hasn't had any problems since.  I may even go back to a 3 in the Target brand b/c I don't like how big the size 4's are on her!  It was the first box of 4's I ever bought since Venily was never in size 4's!
A new food she has become obsessed with= raisins!  She calls them "REES!" and whenever I give her some she wants more and more and more and more and gets mad when I tell her that they are all gone! :)


Haven is SUCH a Daddy's girl right now!!!  Whenever he's not there, she's always asking "Dada?"  "Dada?" and when he IS around she's glued to his side!  She absolutely LOVES looking at pictures of Dada too and correctly identifies Dada, Mama, Venily, and herself in them.  She has one picture of herself that whenever she sees she says "MEEEEE!" and points at herself! :)
I've noticed lately that Haven really likes things to go in a certain order.  I think it's because we have such well established routines for everything.  She's definitely a "routine-girl".  Like if I buckle her in her high chair and give her her food without putting her bib on her first, she'll look at me and say "BIB!  BIB!" until I put her bib on and then she will eat, haha.  The same thing if I forget to give her a spoon or her milk, she doesn't like to start until everything is just right!  The other day I also was holding her in her room, getting her ready for her nap.  Usually I close the door behind me and then sing her a song and lay her down to sleep.  Well, I forgot to close the door and I started singing to her and she points over at the door and says "DOOR!".  So I close it and she smiles and lays back down on my chest and says "E!" so that I'd sing her the "ABC" song.  Speaking of that, she has 2 songs that she likes to demand that I sing.  The "E" song and the "Down" song (London Bridges Falling Down) and if I start singing a song she doesn't want, she'll keep insisting on the one that SHE wants until I start singing that one!  :)

Haven still only has her 2 molars on her right side, her bottom right is completely through now, all 4 sides.  The swelling for the 2 on her left side has gone down a lot so they are temporarily not bothering her much, though I know that will change again soon! :(

Also, Haven learned a new body part today.  She came up to me, pointed at my elbow and said "elbow".  I don't even remember ever teaching her that one, lol.  So, I asked her where her elbow was and she pointed to hers!  Lol, that puts her at 15 different body parts.  I took a video of her pointing out some of them.


 

Venily's 3 Year Well-Check!

Venily had her 3 year well-check today!!  She's doing so great!

Pic: Venily and her cousin Bryant, waiting for the doctor to come in!

Her measurements at 3 years:
HEIGHT: 39 inches (85%)
WEIGHT: 32 pounds (62%)


She actually got to use the real scale and wall measurer this time.  I was so surprised at her 2 year check when they still made her sit on the baby scale and lay on the bed to measure her, lol.  I guess they see her as a real little girl now!  Starting at 3 years, she also gets to get her blood pressure taken!  She has a blood pressure thing in her doctor kit, so she was excited about that!  :)


AND VENILY BLEW ME AWAY AT HOW GREAT SHE WAS!!!!!  She talked to the nurse and doctor and wasn't shy at all!  I think sending her to preschool was one of the best decisions ever, I really think it's helping her out a lot with her shyness!  The doctor said that Venily is doing amazing and is way ahead with all of her developmental stuff!  She said that Venily doesn't have to nap anymore, as long as she gets a rest time (she's been going back and forth with taking a nap and not lately).  The doctor looked at her eczema again and said that it's a bad time of year for it.  At it's worst, it's on both of the backs of her thighs and up on her butt checks too.  Right now it's kind of moderate.... a few patches, mostly on the back of one of her legs.  I am supposed to put her prescription on her again 2x a day for a week and moisturize it really good.  And I'm supposed to be giving her a bath every THIRD day (we've been doing every other day)!


Venily knew she was going to need to have a shot and was actually excited about it, lol!  We had been practicing on her and her babies for a few days now!  She took her shot like a champ without a whine or single tear and as soon as it was done she was asking about getting her prize from the treasure chest, lol!!  She even told me that she LOVES shots!!  She amazes me at how tough she is! :)

Happy 3rd Birthday Venily Autumn!!!

Ooops, I was looking through my blogs and I totally forgot to post this last week, it was just saved in my posts! :(


Wednesday, October 13th was Venily's 3rd birthday!!!  She went to preschool where she got to pass out little sticker and tattoo presents to her friends (treats aren't allowed, even though I think I'm the only one that follows rules sometimes, lol).  She also got to wear a birthday crown!!  :)  Her teacher told me that she seems so much older and that she is 3 going on 10! :)  Almost every single time I've picked her up from class so far her teacher has told me that she can't believe that she's not even 3 yet!  But... I suppose now she is.... I wonder what her teacher will tell me now, lol?!  :)  We then went to the library and then the park with Landen and Aunt Jacki (since that's what Venily kept telling me she wanted to do on her birthday, haha).  We ate dinner and she opened her presents from us and then her Aunt Lisa came over and we had cake!  I still can't believe that she's THREE already!!!!

I will write her 3 year old update soon.  She has her 3 year doctor check up on Thursday.  And we will do a video interview as well! :)

 
 
 
 
 

Tooth #10

 This is what we see all day long...
She CONSTANTLY has a finger way back in her mouth... sometimes on one side, sometimes the other!

Haven finished cutting one side of her bottom right molar yesterday.  I am "counting" her molars as soon as she cuts an entire side since molars are so big, lol.  So right now she has her top and bottom molars on her right side and both on her left side are close, super swollen, and the top left is starting to cut through.  It is torture!!!!  :(  I absolutely HATE seeing her in pain.  Today she was okay until noon, just biting on her fingers and stuff and then she started saying "OWWW!  OWWWW!  OWWWW!" with her fingers in her mouth and tears on her face and I just wanted to cry with her!  I gave her some Ibuprofen and Orajel and she was back to just biting her fingers again!  It looks super painful too.  She is not taking great naps because of it, but is still sleeping over 12 hours straight during the nights!!

2 more molars!

Are cutting through!  The bottom right and the top left!  They are just a tiny point so far, so I won't count them yet, but hopefully over the next day or 2 they will be through!!!!  I'm so ready to be done with them! 

Tooth #9!!

Haven's first molar (top right) finally cut through today!!!!  It has been a difficult week trying to get this thing through, but she woke up SUPER HAPPY this morning!  She continued to be SUPER HAPPY the entire rest of the day, so I looked in her mouth, and sure enough, it was cut all the way through! F.I.N.A.L.L.Y!!!!  Except, that we still have 3 more to go, lol!  She started getting crabby again around 5:30pm and was asleep by 6:15pm (which is her typical bedtime lately).  Her bottom right molar is extremely swollen and I can feel the tooth right below the surface and her top left seems to be really close as well, so hopefully we don't have too much longer with these darn molars!!

It's funny how different my girls are on some things and how similar they are on others!  When I looked back at Venily's babyhood, I remember thinking the following things in comparison to Haven:

* I hope Haven doesn't spit up like Venily did!  (Didn't luck out there, Haven definitely took after her sister on that one)

*I hope Haven sleeps better than Venily! (Yep, she continues to be an AMAZING sleeper, sleeping 12 straight hours at night.  I would have KILLED for 12 straight hours from Venily, lol, even for just one night!)

*I hope Haven doesn't have Venily's lactose sensitivity! (Definitely luck out here, Haven has ZERO issues with regular milk!)

*I hope Haven doesn't hate baths like Venily did!  (Haven LOVES baths and always has!)

*I hope Haven's molars don't bother her as much as Venily's did coming in! (Ick!  It's just about as bad as I remember!)

*I hope Haven is as easy to potty-train as Venily was!  (Still waiting and hoping on that one!)

*And of course, I also hoped that she'd be an early walker/talker/and milestone-reacher like Venily (and she has definitely done that!!!)

Venily's 1st Field Trip!!!

Venily went on her first field trip last Wednesday to The Apple Barn!!  She got to ride on a bus all by herself and Haven and I drove there as well, so we could come too!  She sat with her teacher, Mrs. Vivian (since she's technically still 2 and needed to be with an adult) and Mrs. Vivian said she was very talkative the whole trip and showed her where each and every corn stalk was that they passed, lol!  We got to go on a hay ride, pick apples right off the trees, pick pumpkins, go on a tour of the facilities there and all the things they make, and have a snack of apples, apple cider donuts, and apple juice! :)  It was fun, but Haven was not having a good time at all! :(  She whined almost the whole time, which is sooooo crazy for her!  It was supposed to be her naptime AND she is having an absolute miserable time cutting these molars!  I couldn't put her down for a second, I feel so bad for her!!  Venily wanted to ride the bus back to her school instead of just coming straight home with me, and I ended up getting HOPELESSLY lost on the way home.  Like hyperventilating, crying to a bunch of construction workers, barely able to think and lucky I didn't get into an accident, type of lost!  AND THIS IS WITH A GPS, lol!  I had taken a different way to get there b/c I had to run home quick and get Venily different shoes.  I luckily was only about 5 minutes late picking her up though since I left to go back to her preschool well before the buses left.
 

And how fricken cute are these girls in their matching Halloween outfits?!  LOL!  They have other matching Halloween shirts too!  :)  Obviously Haven was a much happier camper after 2 naps and some Tylenol, haha!

12 month update!

Okay, enough procrastinating, I unfortunately was not able to prevent Haven from turning one, so I guess I will just have to write her update now!!!


Here are her 12 month stats:

Weight: 23 pounds (as weighed at the dr's on 9/28th)


Length: 32.5 inches (measured at dr's on 9/28th)



She is pretty big and definitely TALL! :)

(Venily was 21lbs, 12oz and 31.5 in at 12m!)


Haven's updated growth charts:

Her weight is plateauing, but her height continues to skyrocket, lol!



Clothes size: 18m

Diaper size: 3

Shoe size: 5's and 5 1/2's.  Even some of them are getting too small, lol!  Venily and Haven are going to be sharing shoes soon!  (Venily is a 9)


HAIR LENGTH: longest top pieces- 
longest bottom/back pieces-

SLEEPING: Still sleeps through the night.  Her bedtime keeps getting earlier and earlier!  Some nights she goes to bed at 5:30pm!!  But it's never later than 7:15pm!  Usually wakes up around 6:30am.


She takes 2 naps.  One around 9am and the other around 1pm.  Her morning nap is usually pretty short, around 45min.  And her afternoon nap is usually around 2 hours.

EATING: Eats anything and everything we're eating.  Some of her top favorite things are spaghetti, any kind of cheese (but especially string cheese), any kind of beans (baked beans, chili, refried beans in tacos), blueberries, yogurt, applesauce, any kind of fruit, and tons more.


We are done nursing now and she is on all whole milk!  She LOVES her milk and demands it throughout the day!  She goes up to the refrigerator, points and says "MILK!" :)  And I make her say "MILK, PUH!" which translates to "milk, please!"
PLAYING: Her favorite toys are her slide (which she calls all slides "weeee's", babies, fake kitchen stuff (she loves to pretend to eat food and feed it to her babies and little people and stuffed animals, lol, oh and mommy and Venily, of course!), any thing she can draw with, and anything she can ride on!
APPEARANCE: She couldn't get any cuter if she tried!!!  She still has her gorgeous smile and huge dimples and her bright blue eyes and reddish blonde hair!  (side story:  I left Walmart one day and forgot my extra reusable bags and the checkout lady, who I talk to often, comes running out, trying to get my attention and says " Hey, lady with the little red-headed baby!" LOL!)  I have different people tell me all the time that she looks like me and that she looks like Jason.  BUT, I know the truth, she most definitely looks like ME! :)



TEETH: 8 teeth!  And her 2 top molars are close to cutting through and it looks like she is getting her bottom 2 molars as well.  I SURE hope that all 4 come in at once... and SOON!  She is miserable right now!!!!

SPEECH: She can say over 75 words now!!!  And is VERY effective at communicating her wants!!

Some of her newest words are:

shoe (doo, LOVES shoes!!), sock (though she usually calls socks "doos" as well, until I correct her and then she'll call them socks!), STOP! (dop!, said when she doesn't want you to do something, lol), tickle (tick, tick), remote (mote), water (wawa), brrrrr (when she's cold or feels something cold), "spank your butt" (LOL, I pretend to spank her butt, and she picked it up!), fork (though again, she usually calls it a spoon first, until I correct her and then she'll say it right), wipe (calls them "weep"s), phone, buckle (says "buck" while trying to take off the buckles on her high chair and carseat, but when I pronounce the word correctly for her, she'll say "buck, cle, cle"), gramma, help (when she needs help with something), bug (her newest fascination since we have a gazillion boxelder bugs and lady bugs on the sides of our house, including our windows! and she has to make sure she points them all out to me, haha)!  Also, she calls Venily "DEE!" when she sees pictures and videos of her, but no so much to her face.


She also loves to point at any letter or word she sees and says "E!"  "E!".  lol.  She'll even grab one of my books, open it and start reading "E, E, E" while pointing at all the words.  When I sing her songs she always wants me to sing the "E" song too (ABC's) and she tries to sing them as well.  She usually sings "A...E... E... F... E".  :)


Venily knew about 50 words at 12.5 months.





ANIMAL SOUNDS: She's up to 19 now, I believe!!!

previous: fish (open/close mouth), sheep (baaa), cow (moo), elephant (blows lips), bee (bzzzz), and kitty (meow), lion, tiger, bear (all the same sound, haha! rrrrawrrrr), owl (who, who), horse (neigh), chicken (bawk, bawk), dog (ruff), monkey (ahh, ahh- I've tried to teach her "ooh, ooh, ahh, ahh").  

new last month:  frog (ribbit), giraffe (touches neck), pig (snorts), goat (meh), bunny (tries to wiggle nose)


She also knows that a train says "choo, choo" and a car says "vroom, vroom"

BODY PARTS:  Up to 13 now!!! 
Previous:  hair, hands, feet, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, ears, and bellybutton
also knows: fingers, toes, butt

MOVEMENT: (newest accomplishments)
Goes down the slide without standing up at the top now, which is a definite improvement! 


Also, a lot better at going down the stairs on her butt

Random happenings:  

Throws garbage away in the garbage can now, which is quite impressive since our garbage is in a semi-child proofed cupboard (it's hard to make things Haven-proof, but NOT Venily-proof, lol)


She is now sometimes answering "yes" to yes/no questions, but still often says a word associated with the question rather than saying "yes".  (And, of course, she has no problems saying "no" to things, lol.)  For example, if you ask her if she is hungry and she is she'll sometimes say "yes", but most times say "eat, eat" and run to her high chair.  Same for if you ask her if she's tired.  Usually she says "na-night" and runs to her crib.