21 Months

It's been a little while since the last update on Peyton, she's growing and advancing a ton and is hard to keep up with sometimes... in the best way possible :) We can't believe how big she is and what a toddler she's grown into. We're so grateful she lets us experiment all of our parenting on her and puts up with us so well.

Recently Peyton:
-- has extremely expanded her vocabulary, it's a pretty regular occurrence for her to say something that I had no idea she knew existed, much less how to say it
-- has started to really love her baby sister. She asks to hold her and feed her and if she can come with us no matter where we are going. She's always concerned about where Allie's sleeping, and where all of her stuff is. It's adorable.
-- is finally starting to wear 18-24 month clothes... just a little bit late
-- learned how to run and can actually run for a little while without losing her balance
-- started enjoying coloring with mom and dad's pens (we had to have an important conversation about where we're allowed to color), and have switched to color wonder markers (we're extra grateful to Crayola for that invention)
-- has started to try new foods, but still loves fruit more than anything else
-- takes after her mom and LOVES pink milk haha
-- still loves to be told she's a helper - it's the quickest way to get her to do something
-- has gotten extra attached to mom, and doesn't like to be left in a room without her
-- is impressively good at remembering people's names - we're not sure where that one came from since it's not a skill either one of us claim, but it makes going through pictures fun
-- has started saying please and thank you without any prompting (SO glad our insistence there is paying off)
-- LOVES shoes. She has a different name for each pair of her shoes and loves to take them off and put them on herself.
-- has started giving the best "gueezes" (squeezes), wrapping both arms around us and squeezing tight
-- already has 2 favorite movies we rotate between: the "baby foovie" (Hotel Transylvania 2) and the "maui foovie" (Moana)
-- asks to ride in the "blue car cart" no matter which store we're going to, and gets super excited if that's actually the cart we get at the grocery store
-- still has to go to bed surrounded by stuffed animals, but hugging her lamb and her bear
-- has been to SeaWorld twice and loves the rollercoasters. We're equally surprised and impressed. She sits through the whole ride with a stone face and as soon as it's over asks if we can go "again, again?"
-- thinks she can jump super high, and loves to jump on couches, beds, and sometimes the floor. It's pretty entertaining to watch.
-- knows most of her colors and loves to point out different colored things
-- loves going to nursery and asks us every time we're going to church when she'll get to go play with toys and have "nacks" (snacks)
-- still loves planes, cars, trucks, busses, and helicopters - she points them out whenever she can see them
-- also loves games, even if she has no idea how to actually play she likes to pull all the pieces out and make her own version. She always does a great job of putting all the pieces away before she asks for "a nudder" (another) game
-- LOVES playing hide-and-seek and says "surprise" whenever she gets visible again. She'll also play hide-and-go-seek by hiding her fingers, toes, hands, etc, anything she can hide and then find, and will even play by herself in her crib or carseat.
-- has started mimicking faces we'll make to her - her attempts are hilarious
-- has started using more descriptive phrases and sometimes sentences. She's slowly using more words for instructions/requests instead of just gesturing
-- learned how to swim! She does an awesome job in her puddle jumper and is so much braver in it than I think either of us anticipated she would be.

3 Months!!

Our Allie is 3 months old! Actually she was a little over a week ago, but we went to Powell so we're a little bit behind. She continues to amaze and impress me with what an easy-going baby she is and how wonderful she makes things. We wouldn't trade her for anything!

This month she:

-- has started cooing and they're the most adorable noises ever
-- has gotten a little more vocal about needing/wanting things
-- started sleeping through the night (I'm telling you... she's an angel baby!), sometimes still gets up for an early morning feeding, but then goes right back to bed
-- loves to play with her own hands and can regularly be found holding her own hands on her chest
-- is getting more control with moving her hands and legs
-- has more consistently become a stomach sleeper. She loves tummy time and especially being swaddled and laid on her stomach
-- is getting much better head control and will only lay on our shoulders if she's really relaxed
-- constantly gets comments about her hair wherever we go, and doesn't appear to have lost any of it
-- loves when big sister comes to play with her and talk to her - she gets a smile on her face as soon as she hears her coming close
-- has started taking an interest in her surroundings. She's always content to sit in someone's lap if it means she can watch what's going on in the room
-- has started drooling more and more, but is also spitting up less
-- has lived up to her occasional nickname of Houdini as she breaks out of her swaddles. We're not sure why she breaks out of them because she's much more content to stay wrapped up.
-- discovered she has a tongue and is always sticking out

(ignore the weird lighting... still figuring out the best time of day/place to take pictures in our new house)

Allie's Blessing Day

June 11th was a special day for our family. When we planned our trip Utah for Easton and Annie's wedding we decided to bless Allie so that we could have as much of our families there as possible. We were pretty lucky to have my grandpa, both of our dads, Chase's brothers, my cousins, and my uncle stand in the circle while Chase gave her a beautiful blessing. I'm so grateful for my little family and for the new experiences we get to have together, and for so many of our family members being so supportive.

It was extremely special for me to have both Peyton and now Allie blessed in the same dress that I was blessed in so many years ago. Two of my cousins also made a special cake for the occasion :) It tasted as good as it looked!

2 Months

I'm very, very late posting this. We've had possibly the busiest month we've ever had so blogging got put on the back burner. But in the middle of the chaos Allie turned 2 months old. We are adjusting to being a family of 4 better than before and loving it very much.

This month Allie:

--has started smiling anytime she makes eye contact and gets smiled at - it's so fun!
--has slept through the night twice! And when she doesn't, she only gets up once
--got to go to Uncle Easton's wedding in Utah
--was blessed! By her dad, grandpas, great-grandpa, uncles, great-uncles, and her mom's cousins
--gets cuter and cuter everyday
--loves her big sister the best
--took her first plane rides
--still hasn't cooed... we're excitedly anticipating that one
--gets noticed all the time for her big hair that styles itself
--has bluer eyes than before
--gets told she looks like her daddy pretty regularly
--is getting blonder hair growing in
--still likes her binky... fingers crossed that continues
--loves tummy time, but still doesn't pick her head up super well
--makes us super happy, we feel so lucky to have her as part of our family!!

1 Month :)

Our Allie-bug is 5 weeks old today! Which means I'm less than a week behind posting this. I'd say that's pretty good haha. I can't believe it's already been 5 weeks... I feel like we were just getting home from the hospital a few days ago. She is such an easy-going baby and has been a perfect addition to our family! We can't imagine not having her around and are so glad the transition has been pretty easy for everyone (now I just need to figure out how to get in and out of the car with two kids and a load of groceries by myself haha).

Right now Allie:

-- doesn't like being swaddled
-- loves tummy time
-- has SO much hair that basically styles itself
-- is regularly sleeping 4 hour stretches at night
-- already is a trouper about being carted around at inconvenient times
-- grunts a whole lot (but hardly ever cries)
-- smiles at dad
-- likes our dark picture frames in the living room
-- is very vocal about when she's hungry
-- is a great eater
-- tolerates her binky being put in and taken out by big sister on a regular basis
-- looks super similar to Peyton, with just a little more Chase in her

We love her so much (Peyton included) and are so excited to watch her grow!!