Stellyn's 16, 17 and 18th Month Milestones

My Meimi (what Stell calls herself now) is 18 months as of yesterday. I love her to pieces...I feel like even more since her last milestone post...starting to wonder really how BIG love can get...it hasn't stopped growing yet? It has to right? She's as sweet as pie and I'm soaking it up in case it ever goes away. Her itty bitty voice chitter chatters all day long and I could listen to it for the rest of my life...it warms my day and my mood (sometimes). I love reaching in the back seat and feeling her tiny fingers grab mine...usually because she wants more "snack Mommy!" in the car...but regardless the love is there. I love my Meimi and live to wake to see her and her brother every morning to witness what changed from the day before...

18 Month Check-up today (11.23.10):
Height: 32 Inches (50-75th Percentile)
Weight: 21 lbs 6 oz (10-25th Percentile)-doc believes she weighs more...if she would just stay still on the scale
Head: 48 cms (75th percentile)
Shots: First Flu Shot (they have to get 2 in one season the first year they get a flu shot so I need to bring her back in 30 days), Polio, Hib and DTaP (in one shot called Pentacel). We saved the 2nd Hep A for her 2 year.

Notables:

• Stell strings 2-4 words together lately and has a larger vocab than her brother did at this age...maybe because she's #2 and she's a girl?
• She will say things like "I wannna go Mommy!", "Mommy's shoes", "Asty's Flip Flop", "open this peese", "More apple juice Mommy!"...then a few seconds later after I give her the what do you say look she will say and sign "peese" (please) simultaneously...I would give her anything when she does this...I am weakened by her sweetness.
• Mei calls all the workers at our house "da Bobs". Our general contractor is named Bob so she thinks they all are "Bobs"...hence the plural:)
• She says "Peese", "Thank you", "No Tanks", "Bless you", and "Excuse me" all in the correct way...she even "blesses" herself when she sneezes AND coughs...it's so super cute
• She says "sor-you" when she's sorry and "scare-you" when something's scary...
• If you tell Mei something once and she does it wrong and then you tell her again she says "Oh!" as if she didn't quite get it the first time...kills us!
• Just recently she got a case of the "no no no!"'s. So far she only says it when she means it and not everything is "NO!" yet...I forget when this happens but she's still my sweet girl in most every way.
• She counts as high as three "teee" but everything more than 1 is "twoooo". If you ask her how many of anything it's "twoooo"
• Loves to draw, use stickers and paint...none of which EVER stays on the paper...Her favorite place to do art is on herself
• Uses spoons and forks fairly well...but still tosses food when she's not impressed with the taste or she'll just spit out her 'already been chewed' mouthful
• Mei is STILL the biggest eater proportionally speaking in our family...she will sit for 1.5 hours and eat without a break...and when she gets down from her chair, her belly looks like she swallowed a beach ball
• Likes to read but prefers to sing
• Makes us rock and sing to her before bed and she will request songs...usually the "Hello" song from Music Together
• The kids get Gummy Vitamins before bed. It's our way of luring them up the stairs to get the bedtime routine jumpstarted. So every night we say "who wants gummies?" and Mei says "Meeee!!!!!!!" or "I doooo!!!!" as loud as she can in her squeaky voice to try to say it louder and faster than her brother
• Mei loves school and is making new friends. Her teachers say she loves to sing in circle time and her art projects are TOOO cute. She gets so excited about the projects she brings home. I immediately put them on the fringe and as soon as Daddy (or any visitor for that matter) gets home she rips her art off the fridge to show him yelling "Meimi"!..."Daddy! I do!"
• Dolls...Stell is a "Da-yee" addict. She Has about 3-4 baby dolls and all serve different purposes. For instance...Baby Henry is Aston's old potty training doll and she likes to take him in the shower with her to "washhh" him because all his clothes come off. Baby Violet has long purple hair and she smells good...she brushes her hair and puts barrettes in it and strolls her around in her baby stroller holding her baby bag and waving...saying "goodbye Mommy...see you!" Every time I ask her where she and Violet are going she says "ou-sidzh" (outside).
• Drawer organizing...Mei loves to take everything out of our drawers and put it back...sadly she puts it back neater than we left it sometimes!
• She will say "Hello peese Mommy" every time we get in the car or "Do do dooo Mommy"...she's requesting songs on her Music Together CD. See the "Do Do Dooo" song here by Artist Stellyn Lee:

Mei Sings 17 Months from kate Lee on Vimeo.

16 Month Mei:
Here she had yanked Daddy's prized jalapeno peppers off his plant while we weren't looking...she waited weeks to do it...we said "no touchy Mei" every time she came close to it...and finally she made her move...it was obviously a proud moment for her...



Some 17 Month Mei's:
Stell still loves all things hair product related. She now pulls our IKEA stool up to every counter so she can reach "stuff". My vanity is her favorite counter because of all the girlie things she can play with



Don't judge me by my product obsession...I even put away some for the photo!



Being outside is every kids' favorite pastime...add a construction site...



and an adventuresome Dad...



and a spunky brother...



and there's something to clap about!



If she doesn't have her paci in her mouth...she subs in these 2 fingers:( I have been trying to phase out the paci by not even bringing it in the car and taking it out right away after nap and substituting a snack or a drink...baby steps...I think I waited too long with the A monster...



17.5 Month Meis:
Mei is harder to get dressed lately and now has an opinion on what she will wear and won't. Tights for instance provoke a BIG "no no no Mommy!".



This was her after dinner pizza...



Apparently wearing no clothes in an uninsulated sunroom in November makes you cold...



Site manager Mei Mei and construction worker Aston in the background...



18 Month Mei...taken today...Baby Wilma (Kate Kate generously let Stell take care of Wilma for a few days)...She is in love with Wilma mostly because she is fun to give diaper changes (wiping below...Wilma had a BIG "poop poop") and of course the mere fact that she's Kate's doll.



First note home EVER 11.17.10:

Last Week of Summer

The Lee's are counting the hours until school starts tomorrow..well sort of...here's the deal...both Mei and Aston are going to Sharon Presbyterian Preschool this year and we will finally have a schedule to groove by again. Aston is a veteran at Sharon Presby but Baby Stell is new to this whole thing...and to tell you the truth I am really anxious about her going to school. I feel like she is so little:( The reality is that she is 2 months older than her brother was when he started. It's just that she's probably my last and so maybe the truth is that I'm sad because this is the last time I get to send a babe off to preschool for the first time...oye...

So this is it...starting tomorrow...Mei Mei will be in the toddler class on Wed + Fri and Aston will be in the 3 year old class on Mon/Wed/Fri. I already have my 2 free days full with obligations/mommy time ideas...it's bitter sweet.

2 Sunday's ago Stell and Aston both came down with CRAZY high fevers within an hour of each other. Jeff was golfing and I was at Ballantyne Resort for a birthday party getting a massage and having lunch. BB was babysitting while all this went down and was trying to get a hold of me for hours so I could tell her where the Motrin was. She finally found some but only after Aston vomited on the couch and she tried giving the 2 of them an ice bath. When I got home she was putting them down for nap. They slept soundly and woke up feeling ok...but within an hour Stell's temp rose to a recorded 107.6 degrees (could be off by a degree or so...thermometer inaccuracies) on our temporal thermometer. Jeff and I rushed both kids to the Urgent Care in Ballantyne. We only admitted Stell since we knew whatever she had Aston had too. They did a flu test...that was negative. They did a white blood cell count test to see if she had some kind of infection...that was negative. So they sent us away with "it's just a virus" diagnosis and to stagger Tylenol with Motrin. When we left the Urgent Care Stell had a 106 temp and Aston a 105. Aston was slightly warm the next morning but then by mid morning he was symptom free. Stell had a steady 103 until 2pm and then she was fine. What a weird virus...the Motrin/Tylenol combo barely did anything...the nurse said she has never seen those temps before...YIKES! At least Aston can still say his ABC's and Stell still asks for an "ice cream cone" 3 times a day so they're not all broken.

My point to that LONG story was that while everybody was still under the weather and it was clear we weren't gonna be able to leave the house for a while...Mama Anne, Kate and Baby Eve dropped off a "get well" package on our front steps. They left 2 bags filled with dollar store gems one for Stell and one for Asty with a smiley face ballon attached. Nicest friends ever...

Stell got her first baby bottle...she immediately went to get Baby Henry and filled him up...I have never shown her how to do this in my life...it's innate.

Some cool bubbles were included...this was a good 30 minutes of pure JOY!

Here's to you Mama Anne...wink wink... Notice the Monster Truck, princess tutu, princess frisbee in Stell's hand...all gifts from the Willette girls... Thank you so much friends it made our week for sure. Now we think it's cool to get sick!

Here are a few shots I took the morning we headed to orientation for school last week...why the up-the-nose shots of Mei? She was preoccupied with an "aa-poo" (airplane).

Pop and Holly were here for a few days last week too. They were headed up to Martha's Vineyard for a month. Mei loves Holly. It really makes me want to get her a dog. She is so loving and so gentle...it's just heart melting... (ps...the bed in the background is the pull-out couch I make Pop sleep on in the office because we have just run outta space around here...sorry Pop!)

Pop bought Asty this REAL DEAL tool set...like...ages 8 and up REAL DEAL complete with metal hammer and saw with teeth! He discussed with him that it needs to stay in the garage with Daddy's tools and can only come out when Pop or Daddy have a project he can help with...so cute...he's so proud...

Organizing his new tools in Pop's hand-me-down tool bag...

Stell and Pop enjoying one of her faves...a before-bed-ice-cream-cone. I make the kids sit on the floor in the kitchen to eat ice cream...Pop and Holly were keeping her company...so cute how she insisted on sitting as close as she could to her Pop:)

Mei Mei is the messiest kid I know! I swear she makes messes so she can clean them up...she says "uh oh MESS!" then says "wipe!" and signs "please". I give her a wipe and she attempts to clean the floor, her face, her shirt or wherever the mess resides. I mean...there are crumbs surrounding her, hanging off her and following her wherever she goes...thank gosh Holly was here to take care of this one...

This past weekend Jeff and I had very busy social calendars:) We had 2 nights in a row and one WHOLE day kid free! BB and Babs had lots of fun stuff on the docket for the kids to do. The first night they went to the Matthews fair and took my camera along...how cute is this train ride! Mei looks soooo BIG!

How lucky are we to have grandparents who go on John Deer helicopter rides with our kids!

...and not to mention carousels! Thanks so much BB and Babs...as you can see I got lots of blogging done with my free weekend!

Stellyn's 15 Month Milestone Minutes

Meips has hit the 15 month mark. This was one of my favorite ages when Aston hit this benchmark. Stelly is just ooozing cuteness right now. She sings, she dances and she snuggles. She loves shoes, clothes, hair dryers, baby dolls, toothbrushes and juice boxes. She is all girl and we welcome every bit of it.

15 Month Check-up on 8.31.2010 with Dr. Richter (I only have percentiles because I forgot the data sheet at the doctors office:()

Height: 50-75th (29.? inches-ish)

Weight: 10-25th (19.2 pounds if I remember correctly)

Head: 50-75th

Shots: We escaped shots this go around because Stell had just had a massive fever 2 days before. We will get both her 15 month shots at 18 months

This picture is the epitome of 15 month old Stell...she squats like this all day long (prefers it to sitting)...her hair is always out of order...she has drool on her shirt...and there are crumbs clinging to her mouth

A Few New Words/Sounds:

Mei's in the parrot stage...she copies much of what you say now. Aston finds this entertaining. He laughs big laughs when his sis copies his words. Here are some new words in her everyday vocabulary: Open it, Open this ("dis"), help, uh oh shoot!, bugs, fly, shower ("showsh"), ice cream cone, sit, seat, potty, all done, whoa

Notables:

• When she starts to wobble/loose her balance while walking she will say "whoa, whoa!" and when she falls down or drops something she will say "uh oh...SHOOT!"...hilarious
• She likes to try to sing along with TV shows. One of her faves is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She sings the "Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog" song...need to video
• Stell has assumed the "victim" role in her relationship with her brother. She stands there and screams even if he is just hugging her or sharing food with her. We have to be careful now because I feel like I yell at Aston before I know he is to blame because I didn't actually see what happen...I only hear her scream and then deduce (sometimes inaccurately) he did something bad to her
• Stell has now figured out that if she gets the stool out that goes to the kids table she can stand up on it and reach stuff on the counter...ugh
• Mei loves to sit on Aston's Potty and tell us she is going "poop poop". Then she will make a straining face like she is actually doing her business
• I am proud to report Monkey Moops finally has a new car seat. She graduated from her infant seat, about 3 months too late, to Aston's car seat (the Orbit Toddler seat). We purchased Aston a new seat that will eventually convert to a booster, the Recaro ProSport, which he loves.
• For a while Stell was saying "daddy" after everything...so Daddy was "Daddy" but I was "Mommy Daddy" and then she would say "open daddy" or "up Daddy" when daddy was no where in sight. During this time she was very into her Daddy too. She wanted him over me:( That's over and now she's Mommy's girl again:)
• She's made up her own sign for golf. She swings her arms in almost a golf swing motion. She works hard to make contact with the ball using Asty's plastic club...I love her determination.
• Stell's baby dolls are getting more loves lately. She snuggles with them, takes them in and out of her shopping cart, and feeds them with the baby bottle Mama Anne got her.
• Stell LOVES to take showers lately. In fact when I am out of things to do at home with the kids I stick her in the shower and let Aston watch a show on the iPad...it allows me some precious down time...even if it means just sitting on the bathroom floor...at least it's a break from refereeing

Mei has a matching pair of rain boots now...this is the only shot i got...she's none too fond of them...I don't think she understands how cool they are yet.

I've painted Stelly's nails a few time recently...she prances around after they are done...all proud like. Jeff says it looks cheap on a babe her age...kinda agree but think it's fun just the same. Notice how her brother likes to get in on the action too...much to his Dad's dismay.

Here's Aston at 15 months...he was a much bigger dude than his sister....3 inches taller and 3 pounds heavier... I posted my first Milestone Minutes for Aston at this age...here it is

Stellyn's 13 + 14 Month Milestone Minutes

A Few New Words/Sounds:

Apple, cookie, cracker, paci ("pabble"), puppy ("pubble"), potty ("pobbi"), poop poop, water ("wa wa"), duck, truck, out, up, open, Aston ("Ashdi"), quack quack, roar, hat, hot, more ("mo"), airplane ("abbus"), trash ("tash"), bye, Hot Dog (sings the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse "Hot Dog" song), Minnie Mouse("mi mou"), thank you ("tank ooou") ...Mei repeats lots of things we say too but these are many of the words she says without prompting...

Notables:

• Mei stopped breastfeeding at 13 months. I was ready because she was ready. You may remember that she wanted to wean at 9 months but I couldn't let go. I was doing anything in my power to keep her nursing for that extra 4 months. It was just time. Sad but true. Aston would have nursed until he was 3 if I let him but at 15 months, when I was 3 months pregnant with Stell, my milk supply left me. With Stell, she didn't even notice that I stopped feeding her. With Aston, Jeff had to go get him out of bed and feed him breakfast right away before he saw me in the mornings otherwise he would be all bent out of shape...
• She loves to crawl upstairs and knock on her brother's door chanting "Ashdi", "Ashdi"...she misses him and wants him to come out to play when he's sleeping
• Sometimes if he's sleeping she will go get his monitor and say his name over and over as if he can hear her
• Stell eats way more than her brother...usually 3x as much and more than I do on certain occasions. It's amazing to watch and she always leaves you wondering where it all goes?
• Stelly Belly can't seem to kick the food throwing habit. She throws food whether she wants it or not...it baffles me...
• She insists on trying to use a spoon and fork. She does quite well and never gets frustrated...she just keeps at it.
• She now says "Mama" and "Daddi" in the real context.
• Meips has an obsession with shoes (ours, Aston's and her own)...as well as my clothes....and jewelry...she's a true girl and we love it.
• She likes her baby dolls ok but her favorite play time activities are playing cars with her brother, moving furniture, climbing over, behind and through the furniture, taking things in and out of buckets/baskets, trying on my clothes/shoes and getting into the pantry.
• Mei is happiest when she has a snack in each hand...she walks around all day with a pretzel in one hand and an apple slice in the other (or similar:)...when in doubt, hand her food
• Mama Kathryn gave Mei some plastic food to go in the grocery cart that Mama Anne got for her for her birthday. Mei immediately went to chew on the stuff like it was real food. Aston told her to "pretend Meipsiops...just pretend..." and he proceeded to show her how. So now she "pretend" eats everything! As soon as she puts something close to her mouth...like a rock from outside...we say "just pretend Monkey" and she does the cute little mouth open and close thing with with forbidden item as close to her lips as she can get it:)
• If there's a fly in the house (and there usually is:)), Exterminator Stelly will chase it down swatting at it with an open hand...one time she grabbed a black spatula from the dish washer and started swinging...I guess because it resembled our fly swatter:) When she finally nailed one it freaked her out because it was crawling slowly towards her but not flying away like the reaction she expected...
• Her latest nicknames mostly given to her by Aston are Meipsiops, Meipsioh-z, Mumpz, Mumpzi, Monkey or Monkey Moopz...:)
• Says "poop poop" before and after she poop poops:)...
• Stell is loved like crazy at Childwatch (YMCA). Her teacher Ms. Jean can't get over how easy she is...they say she's the sweetest they have:) I hope she maintains this "stellar" student stigma in September when she starts real preschool...or through college for that matter:)

Meips makes this "cold face" and clenched fists just like her brother did at this age...it's just something she started doing without any prompting from her "Ge Ge" (big brother in Chinese)...she makes this face when she tries to open something that is hard to open too...

This was a series of shots from when we were in the mountains a couple weeks ago...at a Japanese restaurant...it's a bunch of poor quality photos masked by heavy post processing but it's the perfect portrayal of my 13 month old baby...sweetness all over the place...especially when food is lurking:)...

Buggy you are getting so big...Daddy and I want to snatch you out of your crib every night for snuggles so we can get it while we can...

Mei Mei turns 1...a playgroup party

My sweetest baby girl has turned into a bustling toddler in what has seemed like mere seconds. It was only weeks ago that I had to tote her everywhere. Now she runs around (people say she walks like Tai Grandma...waddles to and fro) only wanting to be picked up if she needs access to something she can't reach on her own. My Tweets went from lumpy to lively and I am really ok with it. The sadness, I believed I would feel, fell by the wayside when I witnessed her amazing transformation in the days leading up to her first birthday. She has come into her own I am loving every minute of her amazing journey. I can't believe how much I love Mei as a 1 year old. She laughs like she's never laughed before...in a "hey...she gets it" kind of way. She giggles when I give her a look after she burps, she makes funny faces at the dinner table when she knows everybody is looking, she copies her brother when he does crazy yoga moves, she copies him when he says a funny word, and best of all...she still loves to give everybody "snuggies". She is always trying to find someone to waddle up to, wrap her arms around and give lovies on. My Buggy...it's ok that you are 1...but please, oh please...don't turn 2...

5.27.2010 - 1 Year Appointment:

• Weight: 18lbs 15oz (10-25th percentile)
• Height: 29.5 inches (50-75th percentile)
• Head: 45cms (50th percentile)
• Shots: Hep A, MMR, Chickenpox, PCV13
• Dr. Richter said she looks great overall. She did drop below her curve in weight again but she really thinks that the "curve" of average weights is greatly driven by formula fed babies.

Foods:

Stell started cows milk at 11.5 months. She still nurses 1-2 times per day. I wanted to try it on her before her 1 year check-up so I could report to Dr. Richter how she was doing. She loved it the first time and since has not touched it...other than at BB's house where she downed a half of a sippy in one sitting...of course she did. I've tried the chocolate thing and it's a no go. Aston did the same and refused milk until about 15 months. Dr. Richer was not concerned and said she's tiny so she can eat ice cream and full fat yogurt to fulfill her calcium needs if it comes down to it:) Other than that she is still eating more than her brother at all meals. New loves are grapes, strawberries, breakfast sausage and of course she has edamame coming out of her ears!

Signs:

No new signs...she does please and thank you sometimes. Loves to blow kisses if that's a sign?

Sounds/Words:

Ball (ba), ouch...perfect pronunciation:), bubbles (bubba), bird (bir), uh oh, watch

Notables:

• She's a full on walker now...yikes
• Walk's al-round the house always on a mission to nowhere
• She still a HIGH pitch screamer when she wants something

Stell's at home birthday party was 2 Wednesday's ago now. Many of her playgroup friends attended. It was truly perfect. The rain ended just in time, no one got hurt, and it was simple. We had cupcakes (by BB), juice and snacks. The yard was filled with all the outdoor toys we own and the kids were armed with bathing suits so we cranked up irrigation system to top off the entertainment.

These were the favors...Rubbabu cars...one of Mei's favorites. My friend Courtnay (owner of Little London...gave me a deal:)

Emi perched on Denise after a snooze in the car

Birthday girl takes it all in as guests arrive

One of the last times we will see Danielle, Caeden and Kylie...we wish them the best of luck in Atlanta

Cupcakes ala BB...she had me put the candies on top...big mistake...wanted them to look like 1's instead they look unloved and certainly BB put lots of love into these... oh well...I'm sure I'll have many occasions to redeem myself

Mei playing dumb...

she acts like she's never seen a cupcake before...she loves the things!

Here's Aston...now this WAS his first cake experience and he dove right in...does this say something about their personality differences? ...can't believe I wore the same dress at his party...

Mom...seriously...I have cake on my face don't take my picture please...

why in the world are you still shooting?

talk to the hand Mom...

Fine I'll just pretend you aren't there...

The only boys of the group...doing boy stuff I guess

Maisie and Liza...they were so cute in their matching party dresses

Mom...go away!...I'm gonna throw this frosting at you!

The itsy bitsy teenie weenie poked dotted one-piece pals...

The scene in the yard...sprinklers, balls, golf, wheeled toys, water toys, suncreened bodies and a slide...

The youngest party goer...baby Eve...

Love how Mei jumps right in with the big kids

Mom...this prickly grass tickles my feet

BFF Kate Kate...

BFF Mia Moo

1 year old sandwich...

Aston and Caeden get pummeled by high-powered sprinklers and lovin' it!

Stellyn getting inducted into the toddler-ette-club...

Enjoying a good sprinkle...

YIKES! that's no sprinkle! It's a MONSOON!

Brother enjoying a good towel snuggle

Emi literally babysat Mei forever...she brought her toys, helped her up hills, helped her in and out of the wagon...amazing! How much does she charge?

Aston found out how much fun it is to let balloons go in the air...

Mama Anne, Kate Kate and Baby Eve gave Stelly a shopping cart for her birthday...and you know who swiped it right out from under her:( Mama Anne also replaced Aston's picture frame that she made for him last year for school with his name on it. The other day, Aston jumped on it and broke it. I was so sad and so was he. He uses that frame daily as a ramp for his cars. Anne made him a new one so he had something to open at the party....so sweet...

and Mei...steals it back... BTW...Mama Kathryn and Mia Moo gave her plastic food for her birthday so she had something to tote around in her cart...she's especially fond of the hot dogs:)

This is the face she makes when she hears him coming...

Walking to Mama Kathryn...

Don't know who was more proud:)

back to Mom...this happened like 5 times...then the party was over...until next year!