14 months old

14 months old!!

Height: not sure

Weight: 24 pounds

Milestones: Izzy is getting better and better each day with walking. She is moving much faster on her feet and at times, starts to run! She is getting better at navigating all of the thresholds that we have between rooms, along with the transition from hardwood to carpet/carpet to hardwood. Since day one we have always told her to be gentle when petting Buster and she is doing that well right now. She loves copying funny faces that I make and gestures these days. She definitely has more facial expressions including a crumpled up happy face that is hilarious. 

At night she will bring the book that she wants you to read to her. Right now she loves pop-up books like "Where is Baby's Belly Button?", "Where is Spot?" or "Dear Zoo." Izzy is trying to be more independent by trying to do stuff herself these days- put on sunglasses, feed herself with utensils, put on her socks or shoes, comb her hair, etc. It's really cute (but not great if she is eating soup).

Trying to feed herself eggs

Language: Izzy continues to use her signs for milk, all done, eat, help, and more.  She has sort of learned "book" and sort of does "bath." She understands Izzy, milk, Buster, Daddy, water, Mommy, up, banana, cat, bunny, fish, train, bath, and dog when we say them. Her words haven't changed from last month ("uh oh", "na na" or "ma ma" for milk,"whoa" when she is bouncing around, "da da" for Daddy, "doe" for dog, "no" and seems to say "yeah" for yes.) Still waiting for some form of Mommy or mama.

A new fun game

Personality: For the most part, she is a laid-back kid and will sit patiently on my lap while I read her books. She is starting to have more tantrums like if she asks to be picked up while my hands are full and I don't pick her up, she will flop to the ground and start crying. She had lot of giggle fits this month. One night we were out to dinner with my parents and for some unknown reason, she kept throwing her head back and giggling over and over again.

Clowning around in her sunglasses

Teeth: She started to get yet another molar in this month so she currently has 10 teeth- 4 of them molars!

Favorite Toy: Her favorite game this month has definitely been to pick up one of Buster's toys and walk it over to him so that he can chew it. It's pretty adorable and so far Buster has been pretty gentle in grabbing the toy from her with his teeth.

Here you go Buster

Sleeping Habits: We had a few rough nights this month with some random wake-ups in the middle of the night, but most of the time, Izzy was down by 7:30 and up around 7am. She has been over in the toddler room for daycare (they move her over permanently when she turns 15 months old) and has slept on a cot with no problems!  

Climbing in my toy bin is fun!
(The Staples "easy" button was given to her by my dad as a joke gift for Christmas.)

Eating:  Still eating lots of fruit. She can often be frustrating at dinnertime when she takes her hands and like a windshield wiper, pushes food onto the floor (Buster on the other hand, loves it).  Izzy has less than 4 cups of milk a day (recently she has not wanted more than an ounce or so of milk before she heads off to daycare). Sometimes at dinner she will chug water, then stick out her tongue and say "Ahhhh" like it was really refreshing. LOL. The big thing this month was more bottles- only sippy cups for milk!!!

Diapers: Seventh Generation Size 4 diapers during the day and Pampers Overnight Size 4 before she goes to sleep.

Clothes:  All 18 month clothing these days.

How do I have a child old enough to be able to pull her hair back into a pony tail??

Illness: Just the regular daycare colds.

Other highlights: First time on a sled which she enjoyed. First time at a music class.

Thoughts on treatments

Around 1am on the 31st I sat in our hotel bathroom in Barcelona looking at the Lupron bottle, the small needles, and the alcohol swabs. Did I really want to put this in my body again? Could we really handle two kids? How would we afford it? More importantly could I handle two kids as a working mother when CP is traveling? 

The answer is who the heck knows. As much as I knew while going through treatments last time that I wanted a baby, I was terrified of what it might actually mean and just how much it would change my life. At times I was worried that it was more about me getting pregnant than actually having a child. Thankfully as soon as Izzy was here my fears were for naught and I loved being a mother. 

Now that I know how awesome it is to have a kid, I am not so scared that trying to get pregnant again is all about the pregnancy. However, I have been told by many, many people that just because you had an easy first kid, doesn't mean that you will have an easy second kid. Yesterday, the toddler room teacher at Izzy's daycare said that Izzy did a fantastic job over in her room. She said that it may be the easiest transition she has ever seen. I certainly can't expect another easy-going baby but boy is it going to be a shock if we don't have one!!

With two weeks to go before the transfer, I am excited about the prospect of getting pregnant and having another kid. I am terrified of something going wrong if I am able to get pregnant. I am also terrified if it doesn't work. I know that I have it better than most other infertiles because insurance pays for a lot of my treatment- but we only get two fresh cycles if this frozen cycle doesn't work. My body didn't respond last time with lots of follicles, so if I had to go through a fresh cycle again, I can't imagine that would change. If we go through our fresh cycles (and any corresponding frozen cycles) without a second child, do we stop then? 

It's times when my mind starts to wander into these questions that I start to remind myself of my motto from last time (also underneath the picture on my blog). If I start to go down the rabbit hole of "what if" scenarios then I will just make myself miserable. Let's take it just one day at a time. Currently I am on my medications and the frozen transfer is on. There is nothing else that I can be doing right now to ensure that this transfer works.

Maybe it's time to break out the Circle & Bloom IVF meditation series....they helped me a lot last time.

Microblog Mondays

A bunch of jumbled thoughts today for Microblog Mondays...

*CP is finally home after three weeks in Thailand. Yesterday was his second full day at our house in 2015. Ridiculous. We are very happy that he is home even though he is jetlagged and cranky.

*Chicago only got two inches of snow yesterday. I was hoping for a bit more, but am not jealous of the storm that is brewing on the East Coast. Stay safe out there!

Izzy's first sled ride. She loved it!

Tentative walking in the snow

Buster's favorite- SNOW!

*On Saturday I dropped my Lupron dosage to 5 units and started on the Minivelle patches (two). I know that I had a low-grade headache with the Lupron but the patches kicked that low-grade headache into high gear. Much of Saturday and almost all of Sunday was spent with a ridiculous headache. I didn't want to take anything but may have to resort to some Tylenol if it comes back while I am at work. I had to put on two new patches this morning so I am just waiting for the pain to come back....and worry about the days when I have four patches on me!! Has anyone else had dreadful headaches from the patches?

*Transfer is scheduled for Thursday, February 12th!!

*A coupe of you asked what I do for a job after my Day in the Life post....since this is a semi-anonymous blog I can't tell you but about 75% of my job is related to helping the homeless.



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Day in the Life- Winter 2015 edition

That's right it's Day in the Life time once again! Feel like playing along? Just take notes and pictures of your day by Sunday, February 1st and send the blog link to navigatingthemothership@gmail.com by Tuesday, February 3rd. Want more information? Visit Navigating the Mothership's blog.


6:15 Alarm goes off. A little later than usual, but I have a long night ahead of me and my boss agreed to let me come in an hour late. I have to pee like a racehorse.

6:34 Turn off shower and hear iPhone alarm going off. I always forget to go into the app to turn off the alarm- I wish that pushing the volume buttons on the side didn't trigger the 9 minute Sleep warning! Hope Izzy isn't waking up from the sound so I quickly towel off and rush into the bedroom. Thankfully I don't hear her just yet.

I decide to rock my Sock Monkey knee highs today

6:50- I hear Izzy making noises. Damn. Quick powder & eye liner.

7- No crying from Izzy so I head downstairs with Buster and let him out. Turn on monitor downstairs and just hear coughing and breathing from Izzy. Feed Buster, drink a glass of water, eat two prunes, and pour milk into sippy cup. YAY SIPPY CUP!

7:05- Upstairs to go see Izzy. She is very snotty.

Auditioning to be in an 80s hair band

Change her diaper, find clothes and put them on her, Do my best to handle the crying that ensues from this very traumatic event (ha ha). 

My mommy is the worst!

7:15- The crying stops when she is handed her milk in the sipply cup. While she drinks, I pull her hair back with a small rubber band. After she is done we play around a little bit and make silly faces into my iPhone before heading downstairs.

7:30- We are bundling up and heading out to the car. 

7:38- In the car and on our way to drop Izzy off at daycare.

 

7:47- Buster not so patiently waits in the car while Izzy gets organized inside and we head off to his daycare. When we turn onto the doggie daycare street, he starts making funny groans of anticipation. Silly buddy. 

7:55- I'm back home for a few minutes to pack up stuff for tonight before walking to the train. 

8:17- While waiting for the train I get a call from daycare that Izzy's milk is running low. Not sure how this is possible as I just brought it in a gallon on Tuesday and she has only had 3-4 cups of it. Oh well. She will get non organic milk for lunch and I will bring more milk in tomorrow. On the train I write a blog post.

I'm in the city and at work by 9am. Emails, phone calls, etc. Love my desktop picture!

I'm lazy and grab breakfast downstairs- blueberry muffin, banana, and a chai tea latte.

11:50- Get another call from daycare. Milk has been found in toddler room so she is all good. Unfortunately, every time I see that number come up my heart starts racing that she is sick or something has happened. I wonder if that will ever go away?

12:15- I shovel leftover vegetable low mein for lunch into my mouth while still working. There is simply not enough time in the day.

From 1-3 I am in back-to-back meetings.

3:15 I leave the office and hop on train home. While on the train send a few emails on the work blackberry trying to put out fires. *sigh* Once home, I finish my packing for the night, make sure that I have all of my warm clothes/hat/gloves/scarf/etc, put everything in the car and head out to grab Izzy from daycare.

By 5pm Izzy is in the car and we are headed downtown. It takes a little over an hour because of traffic. Izzy starts to get hungry halfway there so I have to feed her snacks and hand her a sippy cup full of milk while driving (safely of course). I arrive and get in the back seat because we have beat my parents to their place and she is crying. She is pacified when I take her out of her car seat and she watches people and cars out the window. Once my parents arrive they take Izzy upstairs while I try to find street packing. When I get into their place I set up the Pack N Play, take out her nighttime diaper and her pajamas.

By 6:30 and Izzy and I are eating dinner with my parents- a hamburger and roasted veggies (Izzy had the veggies).

7:30- I kiss Izzy goodnight and leave her with my mom while my Dad and I head to his car. 

8- I arrive at the Chicago Point in Time Count headquarters. (Want more information on a Point in Time Count and what it is? Visit here.)  I find my boss' boss, answer a few questions for him, say hi to a couple of colleagues, and watch the media briefing.

9:15- Principal staff and I head out with media to various sites around the city looking for homeless people to survey.

I am amazed and saddened by the people and stories that I hear. One guy was curled up in a box that was keeping him off the cold cement, but I have no idea how he contorted his body to fit into the small box.

One of the city employees said that he was proud to do a job that felt like volunteer work. I feel the same way.

11:15- The big boss and I are no longer needed so the city staff heads to the Southwest part of the city while he drives me to my parent's place. I'm sad I didn't get to administer a survey this year, but hopefully heading out with the media helped for homeless awareness.

11:30- I'm back to my parents place and get ready for bed. It's been a long day and it's time to sleep. As I lay in bed, I am thankful that I have a safe, warm, habitable place to sleep tonight unlike others in the city of Chicago and across the country.

It's on!

Wednesday's ultrasound revealed no more fluid in my uterus but my lining was still too thick. After talking with the nurse that afternoon, she said that if my lining was not down to a more acceptable level (around 6) by Friday, that this cycle would be cancelled, I would stop all meds, we would induce a period and start all over again.

I really didn't want that to happen because although Lupron is not the most expensive drug (the one vial I have been using was $140), I didn't particularly want to waste $140 and all of the fun that comes with taking Lupron for over 20 days (headaches, weight gain, etc).

The good news is that I went in for an ultrasound this morning and although I did have some fluid near my c-section scar, I guess that is acceptable. I'm not sure how, but my lining is down to a 6! The nurse will email me my new schedule this afternoon and we will work on a transfer date. Feeling good going into the weekend!

No more bottles!

With Izzy turning 14 months old soon I thought it would be a good time to wean her off her bottles. It was getting rather annoying to wash all of the parts and when she moved to the next room at daycare she needed to be using sippy cups for milk, not bottles (around 15 months). I knew that it was going to be a struggle because she LOVES her nighttime bottle. I had tried a couple of times to give her milk in various sippy cups in the past but to no avail. She would just cry and give the milk sign, even if she had just seen me pour milk into the sippy.

I thought that I would wait until CP came home in case it was a sh*t show but this past weekend I had a three day weekend, which I thought might be the perfect time. On Friday night, Izzy had her last sip of milk from a bottle.

Saturday morning she was unhappy and cranky as I only offered her milk in a sippy. She had a big breakfast and we played for a while. Luckily we had a free music class planned that morning at the library so she was distracted from the lack of milk, at least for an hour.

Putting felt snowflakes on the board at music class.

The rest of the day she was extra cranky and crying but I did my best to distract her. She didn't drink much water throughout the day (maybe 3 oz?) which I was trying to push when she wouldn't drink milk. So it wasn't a surprise when Izzy woke up constipated on Sunday morning, most likely due to dehydration. Her poops were like rabbit poops. She didn't want water so I decided to take her shopping as my neighbor told me about think baby sippy cups. Off we went to Toys R Us where we found nothing. I did find a MAM bottle that had a soft nipple that you could swap out for a hard one later on and bought that but of course once I brought home, Izzy wouldn't drink from it.

At this point i was questioning this transition. Is she ever going to drink milk again? Why is she not drinking water?? I ran into neighbors on my street and asked their opinion on what I should do. Their advice was to stick with it since you have already put two days in and give her prunes or prune juice, watery fruits and applesauce. (They also thought that it was crazy that I was doing this without CP.) I was already doing most of those, but ran to the store with Izzy to grab grapes and prune juice. She gobbled up the grapes but of course wouldn't drink the prune juice.

Monday I had the day off so I took Izzy to the Shedd Aquarium. Still no milk in a sippy, but at least the prunes and grapes did a good job overnight. I got her to drink some water out of my water glass at lunch.

Fish!

Lo and behold when I picked Izzy up from daycare on Tuesday she had chugged the milk out of a sippy at lunch! She still refused to do it at home for dinner but it was a start. Yesterday she refused the milk again in the morning but chugged it at daycare for breakfast and lunch. Last night she finally drank some with dinner and then the rest right before bed (unfortunately right after brushing her teeth but oh well). This morning? Downed the sippy.

Yay! We are free of bottles! 

Note to myself: stick with it when you do these transitions. Maybe make sure CP is home so that he can help out as well, even if it is just saying "stick with it." Thank goodness for my neighbors who have all been through these things and have lots of good advice!

************************************************

On a side note, Izzy had another big girl moment yesterday. Daycare starts to move the 14 month old kids over to the next room to get them used to the transition- new teachers, sleeping in a cot, sleeping at the same time, etc and Izzy's first day over there was yesterday! She went to sleep in the cot all by herself and did great! She did wake up crying because I'm sure she was quite confused as to where she was, but the teacher said that happens even to kids that have been in that room for months. Yay Izzy!

On Facetime last night CP then asked if we should start transitioning her to a toddler bed and I just laughed. Oh honey, we are going to want to keep her in her cage crib as long as possible....

More delays

I'm beginning to think this frozen transfer won't happen for a while. On Friday I went in for a quick ultrasound and unfortunately, my lining didn't shed as much as my doctor wanted so I was back in the office yesterday for another check. I'm not sure what's going on as Lupron is supposed to help shed lining, not retain it.

Yesterday my lining was still too thick, but in addition I have fluid in my uterus and possibly a polyp near my c-section scar. Fan-f'ing-tastic. I also have gained 5 pounds, have a low-lying headache at all times, and got a nosebleed (the last one may just be due to the weather- who knows).

The new plan? Head in tomorrow for yet another ultrasound. If there is no fluid and the lining looks good then I will be starting my medications. If there is still fluid then it looks like I have a date with the doctor on Friday where she will aspirate the fluid out with a fun needle in my vagina. Awesome. I guess the fluid is an embryo killer so as long as it is hanging out in my uterus, I won't be transferring anything.

Let's get with the plan ute!

Crazy hormones

As expected by my bloodwork and ultrasound last week, my period came this week.  I went in for bloodwork and an ultrasound on Weds and everything looks good and calm hormone-wise. My doctor wants to make sure that my lining isn't too thick before we start the meds so I had another appointment this morning. Hopefully it looks good and this afternoon I get my revised schedule. Hopefully I will start meds this weekend with a possible transfer date of Feb 10th.

To be honest, I was flying high earlier this month, completely convinced that nothing was going to go wrong and that the frozen transfer would work. I had a relatively easy time with my last transfer and pregnancy so my body is fixed, right? (Fixed in the sense that medical intervention is still necessary, but it would always work.) When my body didn't follow the plan, I started to doubt the success of the transfer. I now vacillate between thinking "Of course it is going to work! Your fresh cycle worked on the first try- why wouldn't this one?" And thinking "Why am I being so naive? I know that there are so many variables to getting and staying pregnant. Why do you think you are going to go 2 for 2?" So that's my fun mental state. 

In other news, I'm not handling CP's 3 week trip to Thailand very well with all of the Lupron and PMS hormones racing through my body. Last Saturday I went to the baby shower and there, one of CP's coworkers mentioned that CP had volunteered to take on a lot of the work on this Thailand trip which is why he has been gone so much.* So with that in my head, yesterday I was convinced that he is taking all of these business trips to get away from me and our marriage and that I should ask him if he is happy in our marriage before we have a second child. Yes, a totally insane thought that I have so far kept to myself. 

And then of course there is the ever-present thought that he has no idea how difficult it is when he is gone and that he doesn't appreciate all that I do. With the 13 hour time difference we basically get to talk for 10 minutes a day (some days not at all) and then I don't hear from him the rest of the day. Last night I told him that not hearing from him, even if it's just a check in email or to tell me a funny story about something that happened to him during the day, made me sad. That didn't go over too well even though I acknowledged that some of my sadness was likely due to hormones. 

Being lonely and sad, with a bunch of hormones coursing through your veins, lack of emotional support from your husband, and tons of stress from work is not a recipe for a happy NSC.

*I won't bore you with other details but in the end, I don't think that CP volunteered to travel this much.

2014 Running Recap

Due to the trip to Barcelona (hopefully a recap is coming soon), I didn't get to do any end of the year recaps. 13 days into 2015 I am not likely to write anything substantial, but I did want to record my running for the year. I am not a consistent runner, so anytime that I have a fairly good year of running, I want to make sure that I celebrate that. 2014 was a pretty good year for me, especially after coming off of just having a baby at the end of 2013.

I have had a Nike+ sensor since 2008 and here are my running stats:

2008

19 runs

43.2 miles

Bolder Boulder 10K

Highest mileage month was December when I ran 15.4 miles.

2009

41 runs

116.7 miles

Thanksgiving 5K

Highest mileage month was June when I ran 24.2 miles followed closely by March at 23.1 miles I was running a lot to try to lose weight for my wedding so this is not a surprise.

2010

49 runs

115.6 miles

No races?

Highest mileage month was December- 24.7 miles.Towards the end of the year I decided that I wanted to run a half marathon so I ran a lot more.

2011

60 runs

256.6 miles

St. Patrick's Day 5K, Greater Hartford Quarter Marathon, Amica Half Marathon

Highest mileage month was April- 65.7 miles! Lots of training runs for the half marathon that month. Then towards the end of the year I found out about my fibroids, went on Lupron, and lost interest in running/working out.

2012

18 runs

50.2 miles

June 10K

Highest mileage month was April 16.4 miles. Part of the reason for lack of running this year was due to the move to IL and the constant work on our house!

2013

HA HA HA HA. 1 run

2.1 miles in January

Obviously, no races run this year.

I will cut myself some slack though- basically the entire year I was on IVF meds, pregnant, or recovering from my c-section and unable to run.

Which brings us to last year.....

2014 

51 runs

170.6 miles

Shamrock Shuffle 8K, Arbor Day 10K, Race Judicata 5K, Hot Chocolate 15K, 

Santa Hustle 5K

Highest month was October when I ran 34.2 miles. Not too shabby of a year for someone trying to get back into shape while also juggling a baby and a traveling husband. I made it a priority to do as many races as possible and that definitely made me more accountable. I will have to remember this for coming years!

Of course, if I get pregnant soon 2015 is going to be a bust as well....but my first run was last Wednesday and I will keep it up for at least a few more weeks.....

Microblog Mondays

About a week ago I was talking with a woman from an outside company who I work with very closely. During our conversation she revealed that she was 22 weeks pregnant which was a pleasant shock (I hadn't seen her in about a month). I always thought that she could also be an infertile. I just got this feeling that she was trying and having trouble, mostly based on her silence when others asked about my daughter. To wait to tell people until you are 22 weeks is also telling.....

During our conversation, I don't know why, but I shared that it took us a while to have my daughter...and she shared that it also took them awhile. We didn't go into specifics, but my suspicions were confirmed! I love when I hear infertile success stories!


Interested in reading more Microblog Mondays? Go here.

Delay

I should have known that things were going too well- I am dealing with infertility of course. 

On Wednesday I had an ultrasound and blood draw to make sure that all was quiet in my uterus and with my hormones. Much of my day after the appointment was spent on the phone trying to figure out how to get my meds to me in time to start on Friday. My insurance company's pharmacy has been a bear to work with as once they get things squared away with my doctor (aka asking lots of questions becuase they don't deal with a lot of infertility patients) it still takes them 7-10 days to prepare and ship the drugs. I don't have that kind of time to wait....or so I thought.

My ultrasound showed that despite being on birth control AND Lupron, I still ovulated on my left ovary. *sigh* I don't want this 36 yr old egg when I have a frozen 34 yr old one just waiting to be transferred! My progesterone and estrogen levels were also too high and my doctor believes that I will get my period in 1-2 weeks.

Meaning, the January 28th transfer is off while we wait for my period to arrive. Whenever it does happen I'm to call my doctor; if it doesn't happen before the 20th I'm to call as well. The new transfer date is now up in the air but likely sometime in February (likely in the one week I have after a big, big event I am planning on the 6th for work but before possible work travel to a conference on the 18th). I don't want to tell my boss that I am doing IVF (I didn't tell my retired boss either) so hopefully we can figure out the new date sometime soon so that I can tell him that my "outpatient procedure" has been rescheduled.

Moving the transfer to February isn't that big of a deal but I was looking forward to finding out whether the embryo was going to thaw/whether I was going to get pregnant/or whether I was going to have to gear up for a fresh cycle. One or two more weeks of stabbing myself with Lupron isn't going to kill me but it's not exactly pleasant. I guess I will have to be a little more patient and wait for my body to do its thing. 

13 months

Height: not sure

Weight: 24 pounds?

Milestones: Most of Izzy's milestones this month came in the language department and walking on her own more. Izzy loves holding one of our fingers and walking around everywhere- more so than walking on her own but she does that as well. She loves to copy silly things that I do and often starts to dance (basically by swinging her arms and rotating her torso) when music comes on. She is also showing off more facial expressions like a sneer and a crumpled-up happy face. Since late September Izzy has been able to go up and down the stairs with relative ease (after a few steps going down she usually asks us to help her finish the job) but this month she started to dismount couches and beds that are much higher with ease. Thankfully, she does it the correct way- on her stomach slowly easing herself down to the floor but it's pretty impressive.

Izzy "dancing" in her high chair, signing more and then loving on a pear in Spain

Language: This month Izzy consistently signed milk, all done, eat (pointer finger inside her mouth), help (two hands pumping up), water (pointer finger to her lips) and more (pointer finger jabbing into the palm of her other hand).  (Due to what I assume is a lack of dexterity/ hand-eye coordination in kids this young they will often not do exactly the correct sign.) She understands the words Izzy, milk, Buster, Daddy, water, eat, hungry, Mommy, up, banana, cat, bunny, fish, train, and dog when we say them. Izzy says "uh oh" when she drops something on the floor, "na na" or "ma ma" for milk, and "whoa" when she is bouncing around. Last month she also started saying "da da" for Daddy which is such a crock since Daddy travels so much (just kidding).  She also says "doe" for dog and seems to say "yeah" for yes.

Video of Izzy signing "more"

Personality: I assume that it was because we were in a different place but while we were in Barcelona she wanted to be picked up constantly- and only by me. Poor CP got the shaft (or crying) most of the time when he tried to pick her up. She was initially shy with meeting her cousins and aunt and uncle but started babbling on and playing games with them after a few days. She definitely knows when she is not supposed to do something- will look at us to see our reaction and do it anyway.

Pick me up mommy!

Teeth: While we were in Barcelona we noticed that she was a little more cranky than usual and waking up in the middle of the night. Well, she was not only working on one of her bottom front left teeth but a molar on both sides. Poor girl. So she jumped from 7 teeth to 10 this month!

Fascinated with the trains at the Winter Wonderland.

Favorite Toy: Unfortunately Izzy got a lot of toys for her birthday so it's hard to narrow it down to one. When we are home she loves this truck that makes noises and has three balls that whirl around and spill out the back. While we were in Spain we brought only a few toys but a big hit was the magnetic Magnaformers that we got her for Christmas. They come in squares and triangles and you can make all kinds of shapes with them. Izzy (and CP) love them.

Izzy playing with her truck toy

Sleeping Habits: Izzy slept well this month but we did have two bad nights in Barcelona, probably due to her teeth coming in. Both nights we brought her into bed with us in the hopes that she would sleep a little better. I have no idea how people sleep with their kids on a regular basis- I got kicked in the face and stomach all night long and we were in a king bed! We were worried that she would want to sleep in our bed all the time, but so far she has done just fine once we got home (although waking up a little earlier than normal- more like 6:30am).

Playing with the Santa hat and beard mommy got for her Santa Hustle 5K race

Eating:  Izzy's favorite foods are bananas and avocados. She also loves pears and kiwis. While we were in Spain she enjoyed sausage quite a bit as well. We easily made the transition from formula to whole milk, although our attempts in getting her to drink milk out of a sippy cup and not a bottle are not going so well so far. Currently she has 4 6oz bottles of whole milk a day and three meals a day plus an afternoon snack.

Izzy enjoying CP's homemade korv (a Swedish sausage). CP decided that she needed to wear the hat. :-)

Diapers: Seventh Generation Size 4 diapers during the day and Pampers Overnight Size 4 before she goes to sleep.

Clothes:  Some 12 month clothing, some 18 month clothing!

Illness: Just more daycare colds. 

Other highlights: Her second Christmas- this one she didn't sleep through! 

Opening up presents with family

Her first international trip! Her first time flying in business class and in a car seat. 

Baller at age 13 months

Her first time riding a train. Also, I ran out of time to get Izzy to see Santa this year but instead got a picture with one of the Three Kings in Barcelona! LOL. (He was at a local mall and we happened to walk by.)

I'm not so sure about this guy mommy....

 

Life is sure fun with a 13 month old! Can't wait to see what the next month has in store for us!

Microblog Mondays

On our flight from Barcelona to Newark on Saturday we had some strong headwinds and had to refuel in Bangor, ME. We let Izzy out of her car seat and put out some of her stacking cups that I bought at a consignment sale for the trip. Across the aisle was a mother with three kids; the older two entertained themselves with tablets and the plane tvs but the youngest one who was likely around Izzy's age was quite a handful. We invited the youngest daughter over to our aisle play with the cups with Izzy and it was adorable. 

This. This is the reason that we want a second kid. I know it will be different because Izzy's sibling won't be her same age like this little girl but watching them together was adorable. Izzy tried to give the girl a hug and would hand her stacking cups to play with. Then yesterday Izzy was trying to hand books and squeaky toys to Buster to "play."

As much as I am nervous about trying to handle two kids with CP's crazy travel schedule and my work schedule, it's moments like this that make me think that while it will be hard, it will also be totally worth it.

Want to read more Microblog Mondays? Go here.