21 months!

21 months!

Running through prairie grass

Height: not sure
Weight: 32 lbs

Hanging out on a big tractor at a farm in MI

New Tricks: This month we have been able to ask Izzy if she pooped and she will tell us yes or no. Really it's more of either an emphatic no or just not answering the question (which means yes) but now we don't have to check her diaper all the time- instead we just ask!

Izzy knows the basic shapes and can pick them out along with saying the name- things like triangles, circles, squares, diamonds, stars, and hearts.

A couple times this month Izzy has taken off her pajamas at some point while in her crib so we have walked into her room the next morning with her just in her diaper. Maybe this means that she can start dressing herself if she can now undress herself? :-)

I'm not sure that I would call this a "trick" but this month Izzy finally found the most annoying and ear-splitting noise- a high-pitched shriek- in the world. She generally does it when she is worked up. We try not to react or to ask her a question to distract her so that the noise stops but that doesn't always work. Hopefully this is a short phase....

Relaxing in the hammock with Daddy

Cute things: This makes me giggle- a couple times I farted audibly in front of Izzy and she said "uh oh." LOL.

Once day while we were in MI we took Izzy to a local playground and she had a great time climbing up a rock wall while saying "rock wall- yay!" over and over again. She continues to climb a lot of structures without our help that I don't think a lot of other 21 month old kids are doing (I could be wrong).

Climbing a playground structure

Language: Izzy has now made the switch over to "Daddy" and "Mommy" which makes me happy. Mommy is so much better than Mama (even though we had to wait a loooong time for Mama!) Everything is possessive these days- Izzy's chair. Mommy's train. Daddy's beer, etc. It's super cute. Izzy is often saying "Dat" and pointing when she wants to know what something is. 

Future WNBA star? 

She has started to sing her first song- "Rain Rain Go Away" which is super adorable. We hear a lot of "hold its" as well when she wants to hold something. One night we were in line for ice cream and she kept repeating 'ice cream" and "hold it." Also, when we sneeze she says "Bless you" which has got to come from daycare because I say "Gesundheit."

It has been a pretty seamless transition to some sentences. The past couple of days she has said some things like "Daddy where are you?" It's really fun to have a conversation with her and ask her questions about her day. 

Early in the month I caught Izzy singing "clean up, clean up" as she put toys away. That is definitely another daycare thing but we have run with it.

Helping "clean up" the porch in MI

Personality: Despite Izzy's walking/running skills she LOVES being held by one of us. I often ask her to walk instead of picking her up but often she insists on being carried. We do our best to say no when possible which usually results in tears but Izzy getting over it quickly. This month Izzy became afraid of bugs for no apparent reason. I have been pointing out different bugs when we come across them- grasshoppers, ants, crickets, flies, etc. and she has been interested in them. One day we were at a playground in MI and Izzy saw an ant on the playground equipment. She was about 5 feet up and decided to fly off the equipment into my arms because she was scared of the ant. Thank goodness I was there but we sternly told her that she couldn't do that.

This weekend CP was using the leafblower to clean off the patio and Izzy didn't like the loud noise so we went inside where she said that she was "scared" (although it sounded like "cared") so we had a quick talk about the fact that it's okay to be scared, that it is a loud noise, but that we were safe inside.

Teeth: No two year molars as far as we can tell but has everything else.

Favorite Toy: We may have to get the rocket from Amazon that my friend brought to WI. Izzy enjoyed it over and over and over. It would be a good toy to have around for when older kids come by the house.

Waving hi to a train from the playground

Favorite Book: Absolutely obsessed with Dragons Love Tacos. She asks for it every single night. If she is still into this book in a few months, maybe her birthday party needs to be a Dragons/Tacos theme?
Sleeping Habits:  Izzy generally falls asleep anywhere from 7:30-8 and sleeps through the night until about 6:30am. Most days she will take one two hour nap starting around 12:45 (when she is at daycare) or anywhere from 1:30-2:30 on the weekends. This month Izzy actually climbed out of the Pack N Play while we were in MI at my parent's house and the only way I could get her to nap that day was to take her for a drive. Yesterday we fought napping for a while in her crib and she tried to climb out but stopped when I sternly told her not to climb on her crib. This little girl may have to be moved to a toddler bed soon (yikes!).

Playing with Buster

Eating:  Izzy is now in love with tomatoes from our garden. One night I took her to Whole Foods and she ate a third of a carton of cherry tomatoes while we shopped. Due to her obsession with the Dragons Love Tacos book I fed her tacos one night which she enjoyed. She also really likes ice cream. :-)

Mmmmmm ice cream

Diapers: Seventh Generation Size 5 diapers during the day, Pampers Overnight Size 5 at night. This month Izzy peed in the potty once at home and once at daycare. While we were on vacation Izzy started to hide from us a bit while pooping which one of our friends said is a sign that she is starting to understand that she should be pooping in private- a good sign for potty training!

Excited to be on the steam train

Clothes: 2T clothes and some 3T clothes.

Playing with her new slinky.

Illness: A fever the first day that we arrived at the house in WI but one dose of Tylenol knocked it down and she was fine! Other than a runny nose from a cold she has had another good month sickness-wise.

Yes! The tomboy in me is excited that Izzy went for the truck section and not the doll section at Target. :-)

Other highlights: This month marked Izzy's first time bowling and her first time on a boat (both happened during our vacation in WI). We did a lot of picking of blueberries at a u-pick farm in MI.

Eating blueberries at the u-pick farm

Microblog Mondays: Neighbors

The night before we left for WI I got a last-minute invite over to a new neighbor's house to just hang out and drink some wine. It ended up being just three of us talking and drinking until after midnight.

I didn't know much about this new neighbor other than she is recently divorced and has a 6 year old daughter. The other neighbor that was there has been around for a bit longer and has a 5 year old son and boy/girl 3 year old twins.

As we got to talking, it came out that all three of us had undergone IVF treatments. I have found my people and they live only a few houses away! I'm sort of kidding but it was so nice to talk to these ladies and know that they know exactly what we have been through. They even offered to give me PIO shots if CP is out of town. :-)


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Kids books

Kids books are so funny you guys. Some of them I absolutely love, some of them are just SO WEIRD.

For instance, my sister gave Izzy a copy of The Giving Tree which is her favorite book of all time. I hadn't read it in a while but as soon as I did I was like, why is this such a good book? The tree bends over backwards to make the boy happy and the boy just keeps taking and taking, never even saying thank you?!? 

Or how about Babar, another book that Izzy received at the baby shower. If you haven't read Babar in a while when he gets to the city an old woman becomes his sugar momma and then he marries his cousin. Huh??!?

How about some Mother Goose rhymes? I found a book with various rhymes for $1 at our local library (they have a used book section) and here is one of the odd rhymes:

PETER, PETER PUMPKIN EATER
Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater,
Had a wife and couldn't keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell,
And there he kept her very well.

Uh so he keeps her locked up in a pumpkin shell so that she doesn't leave? Maybe we shouldn't promote kidnapping/abuse??

I know that others think that this book is weird as well- I Love You Forever. It's about a mother who no matter how old her son gets, she sneaks into his room to sing him the same song every night. Despite the weird helicopter mom, I cry every time I read Izzy the book because (spoiler alert) at the end of the book the mother becomes too sick to go over to her son's house so he picks her up and sings the song and then also sings the song to his newborn. Then I read an article about the book and felt awful that I felt the book was weird- according to the article, the author and his wife had two stillborn babies and the song was for them. Gah.

Finally, one rhyme that I do love is the Itsy Bitsy Spider. When I was trying to think of songs to sing Izzy when she was younger I could only remember the first verse. Did you know that there were six verses? According to the lyrics on this website, there are. Anyway, I like singing the song to Izzy because although most people wouldn't want to hear about a spider before they are about to go to sleep, the song teaches perseverance. I mean the spider keeps getting knocked down and yet climbs back up again and in finally triumphant and gets to rest in the sun!

The itsy bitsy spider
Climbed up the waterspout
Down came the rain
And washed the spider out
Out came the sun
And dried up all the rain
And the itsy bitsy spider
Climbed up the spout again

The itsy bitsy spider
Climbed up the kitchen wall
Swoosh! went the fan
And made the spider fall
Off went the fan
No longer did it blow
So the itsy bitsy spider
Back up the wall did go

The itsy bitsy spider
Climbed up the yellow pail
In came a mouse
And flicked her with his tail
Down fell the spider
The mouse ran out the door
Then the itsy bitsy spider
Climbed up the pail once more

The itsy bitsy spider
Climbed up the rocking chair
Up jumped a cat
And knocked her in the air
Down plopped the cat
And when he was asleep
The itsy bitsy spider
Back up the chair did creep

The itsy bitsy spider
Climbed up the maple tree
She slipped on some dew
And landed next to me
Out came the sun
And when the tree was dry
The itsy bitsy spider
Gave it one more try

The itsy bitsy spider
Climbed up without a stop
She spun a silky web
Right at the very top
She wove and she spun
And when her web was done
The itsy bitsy spider

Rested in the sun

Have you encountered any suspect books or rhymes for kids? Or maybe I am just putting too much thought into this?

Almost Wordless Wednesday- our vacation to northern WI

So I wish that I could say that we had a fantastic vacation in northern WI (specifically Rhinelander, WI) with our friends and their kids. My pregnant friend didn't even bother me too much (I did have to put her in place a couple times- for instance when she complained about not being able to drink with us). It was mainly the weather- cold and rainy- and the fact that there simply wasn't that much to do in the area with bad weather.

The other couples had 3 kids that are 4 years old a one 6 year old so the adults could hang out upstairs and only head downstairs (where we put most of the toys for the kids) to break up fights/see why kids were crying. With a toddler, CP and I couldn't really leave Izzy alone with the Legos because she still puts things in her mouth occasionally so we were up and down the stairs constantly, in and out of conversations. Plus the big kids mainly saw Izzy as an obstacle to get around instead of trying to play with her. Poor Izzy. 

Anyway, we did make some fun memories in the week that we were there and it was better than being at work.....but we are actively trying to plan a vacation for this winter (somewhere warm) to make up for this one.

Until then, some pictures!

We plied Izzy with chocolate Munchkins on the 5+ hour ride up to the house. She very much enjoyed them.

There is a bear in the house! And a fish!

Izzy decided not to nap the entire drive up so instead she fell asleep on the short boat ride we took once everyone arrived at the house. We really only used the boat two days because of the weather which is too bad because we rented it for the week! :-( We were able to see a few bald eagles and loon out on the water.

One of the first rainy days we drove out to the Lumberjack Steam Train where we rode the train and explored the "camp" a bit. They had an old train where Izzy practiced "driving."

The camp also featured a petting zoo with donkeys, cows, goats, ducks, bunnies, and cats. Izzy was in heaven and this calf was super cute.

He licked my hand mom!

The next rainy day we went bowling. Izzy fell in love with her Mickey Mouse ball and even scored an 88 beating the 3 four-year olds! Her first time bowling was quite a hit.

Izzy learned about the deliciousness of s'mores while managing to get marshmallow on her face and in her hair.

We spent half a day in the nearby town of Minoqua which had some cute shops downtown and brewery where we ate lunch. Izzy became obsessed with this stuffed monkey at one of the shops.

Nearby was Holiday Acres, which had pony rides. We figured Izzy would just walk around in a circle in a ring, but no.....they handed the reins to CP and we were off with Butterscotch for a walk in the woods! Izzy wasn't too happy when we left as she wanted another ride on Butterscotch.

Finally, a short video where Izzy plays with her favorite toy from the week. This $12 toy from Amazon kept all of the kids amused for at least an hour!

Next time we are headed somewhere with more to do in case the weather decides to rain on us for most of the vacation!

Almost Wordless Wednesday (two days late)

I meant to post this for Almost Wordless Wednesday but ran out of time. This month Izzy has suddenly decided that she LOVES corn. Corn is absolutely my favorite thing in the world (especially in-season Michigan corn) so she clearly gets this trait from me. These pictures were just too funny not to post.

Like you Izzy I often want to make out with my corn on the cob because it tastes so  good

Yes why this is the most delicious thing on the planet. I totally understand your desire to show it off to the camera.

I still need to teach her how to properly get ALL of the corn off the cob....but maybe I will wait a while so that I can eat her leftovers!!

Insanity Week 3

Week 3 went pretty well despite being too tired to get up to do the workout on Monday morning. I ended up doing the Fit Test (a group of 8 exercises you do every two weeks to track progress. You do the exercise for one minute with 30 second breaks in between each exercise to write down how many you were able to do.) The good news is that I improved my numbers in all of the exercises except the first one (switch kicks).

The Fit Test is only a 25 minute workout so I added cardio abs afterwards, a workout I skipped the previous Friday because I ran out of time.

The rest of the week was fairly normal, but now I am questioning what I am going to do next week. I will be in WI on vacation all next week with friends and their kids. I'm not sure if it is going to be feasible to do 5 days worth of workouts, let alone any of the planned workouts. I'm not sure I will have a DVD player or a place to do the workout- not to mention it is vacation and I don't really want to get up super early. Maybe I should bring my running shoes and try to get in three or so runs while I am there? That way I am still doing cardio but not necessarily the program?? Then I would jump back into the program with week 4 once I get back.

I don't want to lose the gains that I have made so far with this program...but I also want to enjoy my vacation. Plus with my pregnant friend I may be drinking more than I would usually drink....

I guess we'll see!

How much do you try to workout when you are on vacation?

Microblog Mondays

This weekend we headed up to my parent's place in MI again for some family time. After Izzy went to bed my sister wanted to play a game where you ask "thought-provoking" questions to each other like "If money were no object what one thing would you do for someone in your life?"

For the most part some of the questions were silly but one in particular stuck in my mind- "Do you think you live more in the past, present, or future?"

Prior to trying to have a baby, I would have definitely said present. Once we were trying and failing every month and then starting to go through fertility treatments, my answer would have changed to future. Wishing the two week wait would go faster, wishing my 3-month Lupron shot and surgery would be here sooner, wishing my IVF cycle would go faster to find out if I was going to get pregnant, etc. 

Once I made it through the first trimester, I mostly relaxed and enjoyed the pregnancy instead of trying to speed it up. That present feeling continued for about the first year of Izzy, as I soaked up motherhood and my amazing daughter. It was a nice respite from the constant wishing of the future.

But once we started down the rabbit hole of treatments again, I have slipped back into living in the future. The miscarriage and now having to wait for CMV clearance hadn't helped matters. I am back to wishing and hoping that August and September fly by and I don't know how to stop this feeling. It is quite possible it won't go away until a second child is safely gestating in my uterus or we no longer have the will or means to try for a sibling for Izzy.



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Insanity Week 2

See those handprints and the claw marks heading south in the picture above? It looks like something that was created for a horror movie poster, right? My job has not suddenly changed to marketing for horror movies- instead, that is what our sunroom rug looked like after I finished another day of the Insanity workout!

Today was Week 2, Day 3 and boy am I sweaty after every.single.workout. But I am already starting to see progress in my body. Sure when I started I was on my period and therefore extra bloated, but I can see slightly more definition in my torso. And the biggest thing that I can report is that I am doing a better job of sucking in my stomach/contracting my abs throughout the day because they are already stronger. So yay! 

I'm only in the second week so of course I have a long way to go, but I decided to supplement the workouts with an accountability group on Teambeachbody.com. Every day I log on to post my workout which is helpful in getting me to get up and actually DO the workout before work. What's the point in lying? The accountability was extremely helpful yesterday morning when I absolutely DID NOT want to get up early to do the workout. I had taken Saturday and Sunday off while we were in MI with my parents and was less than motivated. CP and I were up later than we would have liked because a severe thunderstorm came through Chicago and we couldn't fall asleep with the lightning and thunder show going on outside. However I knew that I just had to get up and do it so that I could brag about doing the workout a little later on. :-)

I am hopeful that a small progress that I have seen so far, the positive energy I have after finishing a workout, and the accountability group will keep me going throughout the weeks. On to my next workout!

Microblog Mondays

This weekend we headed up to my parent's place in Southwestern MI. Izzy had a great time running around the property and on Sunday morning we took her to the beach. She had an absolutely fabulous time playing in the sand while holding onto us dearly when we took her into the water.

A few minutes before we left another couple came down with their similarly-aged child. The wife/mother took off her cover-up to reveal a bikini (good for her!) and surprisingly, two patches right near her belly button. I'm 95% sure that they were Estradiol patches, which were the estrogen patches I used during my frozen embryo transfer earlier this year.

Wow. That is putting it out there- good for her! I (of course) am assuming that those patches were on her belly for an upcoming cycle but I guess they could have been used for some other treatment? I wanted to go up to her and commiserate but thought that it would be really weird. I also felt some jealousy because that meant that she was likely starting another cycle and had frozen embryos while I am still stuck in limbo until I can see the infectious disease doctor. *sigh*

It's amazing how often you can be reminded of your infertility every day when you least expect it. At this point I'm surprised that I'm still shocked every time it happens!

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