Where Did Our Baby Go?

We have reached that number where we start to wonder, do we say she is 18 months? 1.5 years old? Almost 2?

//dress//topknot headband//

I am truthfully amazed at how fast this time has gone by. 18 months, in the blink of an eye. Our little baby is an independent little toddler. Palmer has become the sweetest little girl. She loves to give hugs and kisses and will wave to your for 5 minutes before its time to leave.

And let me tell you, this girl has sass! The way she says "no" with such attitude; we may be in for trouble!

Palmer has been successful in using the potty several times. There was even a day she used it 3 times! I am in no rush to get her trained, but she is showing interest so we are just going along with it.

Palmer is always talking and using her words to (try to) let us know what she's thinking. For the most part we have it figured out, but there are definitely times where frustrations rev high for both Palmer and Mitch and I when she just cannot communicate what it is she wants. Cue tantrums. Tantrums or not, our house is only quiet during naps and bedtime.

Palmer can put together her little wooden puzzles and match the shapes for her blocks in the box. She plays pretend with her new little tea set, and has to feed everyone around her imaginary food. Palmer knows a number of animal sounds and can easily point out different animals and objects in our books. She can easily point our mama, daddy, Leaf, and both set of grandparents as well as various other little friends.

 

Palmer continues to be a great little sleeper. We never really had any issues in the department, other than those times of teething. She will typically go down between 8-9:30 and sleep though the night until about 8 unless we have to wake her to go to the day home.  She has one long afternoon nap, which is great for mom and dad - it gives us a moment of quiet and time to tidy up before the little tornado is at it again.

Palmer is wearing mostly size 24 months/2T clothing and we just bumped up to size 4 diapers. Her shoes are now a size 5 or 6 and she is quickly outgrowing these too!

Our little nugget will eat pretty much everything we put in front of her with the exception of potatoes of any kind (except french fries) and peaches. Odd, I know, but I've always said, if that's the worst of it, I'm definitely OK with that. She will eat nearly all the same meals we do which is so fantastic. Much less work!

I can't believe in a short 6 months, our sweet little Palmer will be 2!

//dress//

Palmer, our sweet, funny, spunky little girl; you light up our lives. You make us laugh (and occasionally cry). You make our days so much brighter. Your Daddy and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect little girl to add to our family. We love you so much!

Palmer's Life: One Year Old!

 (I willI can't believe our precious, sweet baby Palmer is one year old today! It's amazing what a year can do to change your life. It's hard to remember what life was like before Palmer, yet is seems like just a few short weeks ago we had a tiny, almost 6 pound baby with us. 

Sleep:
Sleep this past month has been on and off. Just after 11 months old, Palmer began waking in the middle of the night, and just wanted to be held. There were a handful of sleepless nights, nights where she slept in our bed, mornings when we were up before the sun, and days where the whole family napped. At the time, it was hard to deal with and I kept trying to tell myself that it was just a phase. And now that it has nearly passed, I can look back on it and say, it wasn't that bad. (I will just update this as I wrote it a week ago, last night poor Palmer was up all night with a cough, and therefore, so was mommy. I think we got a grand total of 3 hours sleep).

What's happened this month:
Palmer is non-stop moving. Nearly a toddler, she is just go, go, go! Palmer can stand on her own and I know it will be just a short while longer before she takes those first steps, then we really need to watch out!

We officially transitioned to one, longer afternoon nap, which is great! On the days we are home, it gives us time to get things done around the house. On the days she goes to her day home, she is rested and happy when we pick her up.

Palmer now has 7 teeth, and that 7th one didn't come without any grief at nighttime!!!

Palmer has recently chosen a favourite stuffy, a little elephant. She's began carrying it around with her all over. He usually follows her to bed, and often when she wakes up, she needs it our of the crib too.

I attempted my usual monthy photo with Palmer's giraffe, but Palmer has become much too busy and has too many things to do that sit for mommy to take her photo!,!

Palmer has become a great little eater! She'll eat most anything we put in front of her. Her favourites are: any type of fruit, most recently blueberries. Noodles, crackers, cheese. I really could continue on and on!!

We can't believe you're one year old already, Palmer! You've brought so much joy to our livesin such a short time. We cannot wait tosee what's next!

We love you! Xoxo

11 Months: Palmer's Life

I know I saw this every month, but seriously, I cannot believe our sweet little Palmer has been in our life for 11 months already!

In just one short month, Palmer will be one year old, and I know this month is going to just fly by. It will go as quickly as the previous 11 have come and gone. With Christmas just around the corner, then New Years, Palmer's 1st birthday will be here before we know it!

It is seriously getting near impossible to get a good picture of her sitting still!!!

Whats going on this month?

1. Palmer is finished wearing her Starband helmet!!

2. Palmer is still cruising all over the place and we are patiently waiting for her first steps by herself.

3. Palmer has started to say "mama" and I love it!! (she still says "dada' much more though).

4. Palmer knows how to clap her hands and give hugs and kisses.

5. Palmer understands what "NO" means, but sometimes doesn't listen.

6. Palmer LOVES the tickle monster and tickle parties! And I can't get enough of her little laugh!

7. Palmer has started reading stories to herself. Often, I will see her holding a book, babbling away to herself. Its the cutest thing!

I can tell her little mind is just absorbing everything around her. She is so curious and is non-stop moving. In a matter of 10 seconds, shes gone from the activity table, to lying on Leaf's bed, to throwing all her books off the shelf, and back to walking along the couch. We think she's busy now....I'm sure we will be in for a big surprise once she starts walking on her own!

10 Months: Palmer's Life

10 months.

Seriously, where has the time gone??

The past 18 months have whipped by like I can't believe. From pregnancy until Palmer's 10 month mark - all so unbelievably fast!


What's going on this month, you ask? What's not going on this month??

1. Palmer is cruising everywhere! You think she is in one place and you blink and it's "Where in the world has she gotten away to now?"

2. Palmer just started walking alone with her walker.

3. Tooth #6 appeared.

4. Palmer's first words. Dada.
Her other favourite word, baba.

5. Standing alone. Yes, it's only for a few seconds at a time, but she's doing it.

6. We had our first real sickness. Sunday morning, Palmer woke up in a spaghetti-puke explosion! Poor little girl couldn't keep anything but Pedialyte down all day.

7.  Playing copy-cat. You stick your tongue out, she will too. You wave, she'll do that too.  You make fart noises, yup, Palmer will make them.

Oranges continue to be her favourite food.
She still (usually) loves having a bath.
Palmer will often sit still for a story or two.

It's hard to believe that in only 2 short months, we will be celebrating Palmer's first birthday!

Let the party planning begin???

9 months: Palmer's Life

I can hardly believe that it has been 9 months. Time is moving in warp speed!! I am just in awe when I think of all the things that have happened in the past 9 months.

She seriously couldn't sit still long enough for a photo!

New Skills and Developments:

1. Palmer is showing understanding of different words we say, which is so exciting. I can tell she is learning everyday. She can make "kisses"  and she will show you how big she is when asked.

2. She is able to pull herself to standing now. Palmer is getting really good at pulling herself up from the floor and sometimes, she can get from one side of the couch to the other. It won't be long now before she is cruising all over the place.

3. Palmer now has 5 teeth. 2 bottom ones and 3 on the top. And like before, she took it all like a champ. The worst she had was a snotty nose and a rash (which I'll take over a fussy non-sleeping baby any day!!)

4. Palmer has now had her starband helmet for 4 weeks now and we have already noticed a huge difference (I'll post a update soon).

5. Babbling up a storm! Although there have been no real words, we are certainly getting very, very close to some!! It was like all of a sudden, yesterday she just flipped a switch and is making all sorts of new sounds!

6. Palmer loves to watch the bath tub fill up. maybe because she knows she'll soon be getting in the water? Nonetheless, she loves it!

Palmer's Favourites:

1. oranges

2. puffs (and anything else she can feed herself)

3. swimming and splashing

4. books. Whether she's being read to or just holding it herself and looking at the pictures, Palmer has taken a liking to books (which is awesome!)

Palmer's Dislikes:

- She is still a little squirmer when it comes to diaper changes and getting dressed.

- getting her teeth brushed

- having her nose wiped or face washed

Thoughts:
I am getting excited to see what is next to come. It seems like every day Palmer is hitting a new milestone. Walking. Talking. So much more fun things ahead. In one way, I am sad my baby isn't too much of a baby anymore, but on the other hand, I am loving the little person she is growing into and can't wait to see more!!!

8 months: Palmer's Life

Sleep:

Sleep has basically been the same, with one minor hiccup. Palmer was an hour late for bedtime one night last week, which threw her off course for a couple nights. Needless to say, that won't be happening again! We now know even better, the importance of a schedule and routine!

New Skills and Developments:

1. We officially had a crawler on our hands September 3rd (the day I returned to work). Every day she gets a little better. It started as a slither across the floor to a toy and has developed into a push-from-one-knee, pull-with-her-arms kind of crawl.

2. Waving. Palmer is starting to get the hang of it. Sometimes she will do it, other times she won't, but nonetheless, she knows how to (sometimes with lots of encouragement) and its really cute when she does it!

3. Eating whole foods. We have started weaning out the purees and introducing more and more whole foods. Palmer likes muffins, cheese, fruits, pancakes, baby puffs, etc etc. Yesterday she tried steamed broccoli for the first time too!

4. Palmer can now nearly pull herself up. I put a toy on the coffee table and she tries her hardest to get up. Sometimes she can get to standing by herself by using me as a jungle gym. 

5. Palmer was fitted for her Starband helmet this month (read it here), so starting Tuesday, she will be wearing her cranial remolding helmet 23 hours a day. Hopefully she warms up to it quickly and we don't have too many sleepless nights!

6. Palmer now has 2 teeth and took it like a champ! I thought for awhile we were maybe working on the top ones, but it seems to have been put on hold for a while?
7. Starting yesterday, Palmer can get from her tummy to sitting up all by herself! Its funny how all her milestones happen the day before the next month starts!

Palmer's Likes:

1. Eating. Palmer loves to eat. It really doesn't matter what it is, as long as it gets in her mouth, she's happy!

2. Sophie the Giraffe. I don't know what it is about this toy that kids love so much, but whatever it is, Palmer likes it.  

3. Moving. We can't keep this girl still! She is always on the move. She wants to be jumping, crawling to the toy across the floor, rolling around, anything to keep from being still. Palmer met my Grandma for the first time last week, and she kept commenting on how busy Palmer was. 

4. The tickle monster. We use to get tickled by the tickle monster when we were kids, and now with Palmer, I just have to hold up my hand and say "here comes the tickle monster" and she laughs, even before I start to tickle!

Everything Else:
- Palmer is starting to really dislike diaper changes
- Palmer wears clothes ranging from pants at 3-6 months to tops at 12-18 months and everything in between
- She hates having her nose wiped
- She is starting to get cranky with getting dressed...
- Palmer is usually full of smiles, but when meeting someone new, she takes plenty of time to examine them before flashing a smile.


Our Thoughts:
I am really starting to see Palmer's little personality shine though. Now that she is becoming much more independent and interactive, it is easier to see her little characteristics. I can see bits and pieces of Mitchell and I in her, but she is mostly just Palmer. She has little temper tantrums when she wants something. She has the cutest little laugh you'll ever hear. And her little chicklet smile is the most adorable ting I've ever seen. For the most part, Palmer is a happy little girl. We can count ourselves pretty lucky so far. I can count the number of major meltdowns in the last 8 months on one hand (knock on wood). Here's to hoping the next month goes as smoothly as that last 8!