Lilah Asenith: Who I Am

This is just a tiny bit late, so please except my apology Miss Lilah.

Everything you'll need to know about Lilah Asenith at Two Years Old!

This is her normal everyday look. Wild hair, little to no clothing, and a sticky face that I'm constantly wiping. Lilah is still my baby, she chooses to be with me 90% of her day and if she can get away with having me hold her for the majority of it then she will. She's into dress up and putting on her own shoes.

She came upstairs from the playroom dressed like this so of course I had to take a picture! It was so hot outside, but she didn't care! She still wore her ugg's anyway hahaha. The 10% of time she spends away from me is spent with her sister. She has to do EVERYTHING her sister does. If Emmy is playing with a certain type of toy, Lilah will go get a similar thing to tinker with. If Emmy is building something then Lilah will try and do it too. If Emmy is gets excited about something, Lilah is right there cheering along with her. Very cute!

She likes to pick her nose and when you tell her to stop it she'll then do it over and over and laugh at you. We are hearing her speak a lot more lately. Lots of spontaneous words will pop out and she will copy me when I ask her to, the newest word is DARK. Whenever I walk into a room at night that doesn't have a light on she yells out "dark" haha. Kim thinks she'll have the stronger Australian accent out of the two of them based on some of the words she says.

Every time I turned around I was having to pick up the magazines in the toilet and put them back into the holder. Usually it's daddy to blame, but instead of just one or two out it was every single one! I finally caught the guilty one...little Miss Lilah!!
Since this picture was taken (well over a week ago) she's not been pulling them out so much since I started making her pick them up every time I found them all a mess. She's still a monkey too! She gets in trouble at least once or twice an hour for climbing on top of the kitchen counters. She'll push a chair up and once she's up there her favorite thing to do is to play in the sink with the faucet. Obviously she loves water play and takes up to two baths a day.

The girls LOVE their new bath tub and will have really long play sessions in there! Because it's so big and they are so little I can fill it right up and they think they are swimming. Lilah's favorite is lots of bubbles and color tablets that make the water a pretty tint. Her favorite bath toys are the mermaid dolls and Barbie's Mermaid Falls, but really she loves any and all bath toys.

She still doesn't care much for TV but the little that she does watch still remains the same.... Teletubbies and Baby Signing Time although she knows alot of the theme songs to the shows that Emmy watches and will sing along with them and then goes off to do something else.

Everyday she signs "car" and asks to go to the store. I hate to admit it but I've actually made a trip out to the store because she's asked to go and when I told her that we were not going to go anywhere that day, she just looked so sad.

Lilah isn't too fussy when it comes to food and she's usually the easier of the two to convince to try something. She has 2-3 bottles/sippy cups of milk per day. Her boob obsession continues even though she's been weaned for 6 months the end of April. Every time she's on my lap during the day the first thing she does is shove her hand down my shirt and if she finds what she's looking for then she pinches while rolling her fingers back and forth. Yes, it's still an OUCH! IF she's tired or it's bedtime then she's much more aggressive about it and will persist over and over and over again as I smack away her hand each time. I am so over being the boob defender! I can't wait for this obsession/love/habit to stop!

On a positive note.... she nearly makes up for the pinching by giving awesome back scratches. She learned how to do them when her Auntie Abby was here and she scratched Mommy's back lots and lots. Anytime I'm busy with a project or on the computer she'll get behind me and start scratching and she knows she'll grab my attention that way....of course there is lots of positive reinforcement haha. For being 2 years old I'm always amazed at what a great job she does, but it's because it's filled with so much love! xo



When Kim and I were first together (something crazy like after 3 weeks) I came across this picture in a magazine of a little Native American baby and I showed it to him and said, "This is what our babies will look like." and I've kept it all this time. What do you think!?

The Naked Truth

She's thinking in this picture "hehehe you can't tell that I have no nappy on!"

Lilah is now in full swing potty training and has been for several weeks. She's a whiz at doing a whiz, but her poo's are another story. She's shameless where she will dump....in the middle of the room, on Auntie Robins new cream colored rug, or in front of her sister trying to enjoy a bowl of watermelon (yes we have a picture of that but I think I'll spare you the gooey details just this one time!) She knows that she needs to go, and will tell me about it after she does it....even at times she's literally gave me shit...in my hand.... EW!!! She knows that it's naughty to go on the floor, but why she's not making the connection to just go on the pot is a bit confusing to me.

We did have a break through yesterday! She did a poo in her potty and proudly brought it to me, now this isn't the first time she's done a nugget in the tiny potty, but it's been a long while since it's happened so this occasion is very note worthy!

These photo's are from a couple weeks ago when we started full day time NO diapers. It was still cold in the mornings so she would wear her leg warmers to keep her warm. Notice Emmy refuses to keep warm clothes on....uuggh!

She loved it! Some of the pictures I got from this morning were sooo funny!

This is the after dinner mess she made! While I was busy cleaning and Dad was in the kitchen she decided to smear her chocolate mouse everywhere!!!

Goodness me!!!!!!!!!

She's a Stinker!

WARNING!!!!

THIS POST CONTAINS:

Lilah did her first poop on the potty! Yay!!! She told me she wanted to sit on here potty so I took off her diaper and she sat there for a minute and then jumped up clapping. I excitedly took a look and I said "there isn't anything there Lilah" and then she pointed to her butt and I could see the poo stuck between her butt cheeks hahahhahahhahah I said HURRY sit back down and then it dropped in hahhaha We jumped up and down and squealed with delight. I gave her a piece of chocolate and then we dance around. We're very proud of her! She was 16 months old ....wowzers!

She new just what to do with it too. She promptly took it into the bathroom and put it in the big potty and then tried to flush it but she couldn't reach it so I had to help her out. She was very happy with herself!

Potty Training Update

I haven't had to change a dirty diaper for Emmy in over 2 months now! I don't miss those stinky things! She wears a diaper to bed at night and in the morning we take it off straight away. Half the time she's peed in it and the other half of the time it's dry. She also went diaper free at nap time for a month straight without peeing and in one week we had 3 nap time mistakes, so we're back to putting one on her after she falls asleep. I'd love to know how much money we've saved on diapers already. I have also been lazy when it comes to outings. If we're going to be out for long stretches then I have been putting her in a diaper rather than trying to get her to pee in public toilets or finding a spot to set up her training potty. The laziness needs to stop so we are now going to concentrate on public peeing haha that sounds funny.

Potty Training Update

Emmy did her first poo in her potty!! She was hiding behind the chair where she likes to do her poo's in her diaper, and I told her to come out and as she came running out yelling peepee she flopped down on her potty and did the smallest poop known to man, but beggars can't be choosers.... a poop is a poop!!

I also took her out two separate times today for an hour each with no diaper on. I was prepared for her to have an accident, but to my delight she stayed dry and went potty straight away once we got home.

I am so excited and really hope we keep going in this direction! If she keeps up she might even be night trained before she's 2! Talk about saving some money :)

finger paints and artwork

Lilah has exploded in the past week with personality! Lots of cooing, eye contact, kicking to make her toys move and soundless laughs (we're still waiting on that first giggle!). She's got a bald ring around her head which I had hoped to prevent, but I don't think that's possible! Kim also says that he thinks that she knows who he is now and I agree.

As for Emmy... we did some artwork yesterday and surprisingly for paints there was no mess. I washed up the paintbrush and wiped off her hands and that was that. (see pictures below)

We seem to be on the upswing from our illness and I hope that this will be the last cold for the winter!! Emmy has been refusing formula for a while now (since she's been sick...3 weeks or so on and off) and when I can get some down her it's usually pumped breast milk with a scoop of formula because she likes it's taste better than my milk which is super sweet. I'm hoping that this will help her fight off colds in the future (Lilah doesn't get sick when when we are all sick!!). It's exciting that she can tolerate my milk now. I think it has to do with my diet and not taking in any dairy products. Possibly this is why I am able to feed Lilah because about 6 weeks ago I had a milk shake ( and i haven't had milk since early last December ) and she had such terrible belly pains and pooped near black water for a full day and that's not normal for her. I'm sorry is that too much information for you? Well.... what do you expect if you come here.....it's a blog about babies!! lol

To further back my hypothesis; earlier last week or so I pumped near 360 ml of milk for my neice who is lactose intolerant and she handeled the milk just fine although she will breakout in a rash when when she eats baked foods with milk and cheese. She's 8 months old. I wish I would have known this before I had Emmy, but I'm so glad I went off dairy and meats for Lilah even though everything I read and the doctors told me that my dairy intake didn't effect babies with lactose intolernce of mothers milk. So not true for these babies!

People freak out in general about children being raised vegitarian or vegan but if you do a little research you'll find that it's just fine and in some cases much better. Want to know 101 reasons why to not give your baby dairy either directly or through breast milk?!

This is her favorite spot right now... other than being on the boob haha


Lilah giving her half smile....... she's a hard one to capture on camera!!

Mommy & Me hand prints!

First use of a paintbrush!

Finger Painting for the first time!

and the sickness continues...

It seems like I haven't had time to post lately and every time I do Emmy is sick again. Today our furnace decided to not work and Emmy began running a temperature with a new runny nose. We had a visit with our nieces who were also getting over colds but I fear we may have caught their bug since we didn't have a runny nose or temp with this last bout of illness. She's completely gone off milk again but is eating foods this time around and of course she still loves her water. I put the electric blanket on the couch on low to sit on when I get too cold to make it more comfortable for nursing Lilah and Emmy enjoyed it's warmth as well on and off today. Hopefully Kim will know what to do to fix it tonight, if not then we'll be receiving a house call from the heating man! I wish I had more to tell but it's just been one cold after another. I did get the wonderful blessing of Lilah blowing out her diaper TWICE today!! I'm talking a total strip down and washing of her and her clothes. She didn't seem in any discomfort leading up to it but surely she feels better lol

Some things we have to look forward to is Disney Princesses On Ice in 2 weeks and Baby Boogie Dance Class in a month. It runs for 10 weeks every Monday morning. I think it will be super fun for Emmy and hopefully Lilah will enjoy watching it going on. I'll wear her in the wrap or sit her in the bumbo ... which ever she enjoy's more. It will be nice to get out of the house and do something together that is out of routine like just going to the supermarket, plus the physical activity she's really needing right now will be good!

Cross your fingers that we get well soon and stay that way!!

a real stinker

It's been a while since I've posted a good poop story haha and lucky you I have one for you today!

Emmy usually does her business every morning like clockwork so I've been trying to use this to my advantage and sit her on the potty to catch it and show her what the potty is for. She knows what her potty is and will go to it when asked "where's your potty" and she can sign "potty" but I don't think she knows that what's in the diaper is suppose to go in the pretty plastic thingy. She has both the Cushy Tushy that goes on the big potty and a Disney Princess floor potty. So when I've tried to catch it... she hasn't gone and she has held it and eventually I put on a cloth diaper and she'll go at a weird time.

After her lunch today I changed her diaper which was just a pee and then gave her some naked time while I folded laundry. She took off for the living room to play with her blocks and I'm not kidding... I was out of the room for 5 mins tops and as I come around the corner with diaper in hand and there she is... squatting playing with her blocks and about a foot from her is a little log she laid. I was so surprised and wanted to fall over laughing. She gets to enjoy naked time several times a day and this is the first time in 14 months she's ever done a poo!

I made a big deal out of it and we put it in the princess potty and then I had her sit on it and then we did the march to the big potty to say goodbye to it and then she got to wash her hands which is a favorite for her.

We will do the 3 day Potty Boot Camp in mid June and I hope these little baby steps will make the weekend successful! If not... we'll wait 6 weeks and then give it another try!

The Great Escape

It finally happened! After months of interesting play with the doggie door she decided to put herself through it. I had just left the laundry area and she was shoving a coat hanger out the dog door and pulling it back in... pretty normal stuff around here, but she must have had a bigger plan this time when I went to take care of her sister! haha

she got me!

This week has been interesting to say the least. Kim went back to work on Monday so it's been just me and the girls. Emmy and I are still sick and as of yesterday Lilah has a noticeable running nose, dry cough, sneezes, and I assume a sore throat. I took her yesterday to have her last oral vitamin K and had her checked out by the midwife and weighed. She's gaining weight and is up to 8 lbs 14 oz and will most likely not get much sicker since she's on breast milk, but if she does we'll be to the doctors asap.

So yesterday I worked like mad to catch up on laundry and I also stripped all the bedding and opened all the windows in the bedroom trying to make sure we keep the illness aired out. Wouldn't you know the day I put all clean mattress pads, sheets, and double pillow cases on our bed will be the night that I get projectile poop strayed at me like water out of a fire hydrant! It was everywhere! All over Lilah, me, the bed, all the clothes..... needless to say a 1:30 am bed change was needed along with full mommy and baby change!

I was glad to see that she had made a big poo though. She hadn't gone much since Monday. I made a vegan chili for dinner that had tons of beans in it. I hadn't given it much thought but that night and all the next day she acted like she had one terrible belly ache. I was trying to figure out what was wrong or if she was getting sick and then it hit me like a ton of bricks that it must have been my chili bean milk that is making her gassy. I'll have to do some experimenting to find out which beans bother her and then try to avoid them. Does anyone know if something in my milk bothers her at this age will it still bother her at 4 months? 6 months? 8 months? Can there tolerances change? I rely on beans for a large portion of my protein and would like to eat my normal portions as soon as it's not upsetting her.

I think once we all get well again and work out a routine things are going to be super fun around the house for the girls. I am just now getting to start doing crafty things with Emmy and it's exciting to think she's only going to be able to do more and more. I can't wait until we can do coloring and it doesn't end in the crayon being ate lol! Easter is around the corner and I think we'll do some egg coloring in the next week or two. I'm really looking forward to the Easter egg hunt and Easter basket! ooooo what fun!

We decided a week ago to give Emmy another try on the Soy Formula since she was starting to projectile vomit again. Instead of changing cold turkey we weaned her off one and onto the new over the course of a week. This was a much better way of doing it...duh! So yesterday was her first day on all soy and all was well until this morning and we started getting clay poop and only tiny tiny bits after much effort on her part to get it out. Now I'm sure you are saying to yourself "OMG she's blogging about poop!" Yes folks... one of the most exciting parts of my day is the poop report. Suggestions from my mother and mother in law were to make her a sugar water bottle to help with constipation which was clearly the path we were heading down. I put 1 tsp white sugar in 120 ml of boiling water so it would dissolve completely and then let it cool to almost room temp. I gave her drinks of it here and there and during her formula as well. She started grunting again like crazy and all we got was some old dried out play dough. ugh! So I pulled out my next weapon and did the ol'lubed Q-tip trick I picked up in nam. Worked like a charm ladies! She pooped like mad and soon it was coming out as normal consistence again... so the sugar water was most definitely through her system! The Internet is a great thing! There's no problem that Google can't handle! For more poop reading head here: Baby Poop 101