Pictures from the last 6 months

Fall 2009 - Dylan's birthday, our anniversary, swim lessons, big snow storm #1

Winter 2010 - Grandma's birthday, Christmas, Lydia's birthday, Baltimore Train Museum, big snow storms #2 and #3, Valentines' Day, and pigtails

Lydia at 15 months

Stats first: 21lbs 2.8 oz. (20th percentile) and 29 1/4 inches (20th percentile) and head circumference was in the 55th percentile. Compared to Dylan, she weighs more and is in a higher percentile for weight.

Words/signs: ma-ma, da-deee (used for both Martin and Dylan - this used to be ah-da), ba-na-na, shoes, cheese, bird (sign and word), [waves when you say bye-bye], [claps when you say yea], [smacks her lips when you say kiss], all done (sign and word), milk (sign), more (sign), eat (sign).

Lydia has been become more picky with food but we can still get some cooked baby carrots or peas in her every once in a while. She still loves fruit and instant oatmeal and pasta and yogurt and cheese!! Oh does she love her cheese. The first time I heard her say the word, I don't think I had even said the word, she just saw me cutting it and toddled over and said "cheese" clear as day and very loudly. We started giving her raisens recently. Mealtime has become really difficult with her though. She wants whatever I'm eating as soon as I sit down. She doesn't like sitting in her chair for very long at all. Sometimes if I give her a spoon she'll eat something that 5 seconds early she was refusing but because it's on a spoon, she'll eat it.

Lydia is a climber like her brother but I don't think she's as crazy as he was. She will sit in my lap and just look around. Or she will get down and get a stuffed animal and then want back up in my lap (love this!).

I thought girls were going to be easier in this regard but Lydia is just about as wiggly as her brother was for diaper changes. But she actually helps me dress her by sticking out her arms or lifting her legs. It's amazing. She's actually helpful!

I think she's going to be potty trained a lot sooner than Dylan. Actually, I saw her squatting in the bathtub yesterday and quickly picked her up an held her over the toilet just in time. Then I sat her on the toilet for a minute to make sure she was done. She seemed happy to be there.

Lydia has begun, to my amazement, to follow little instructions - like hug the bear, sit down, pick up the toy. It's so cute and so cool to see her comprehension. She knows some of her body parts - I think hair was the first one she got and now mouth, eyes, and nose. Speaking of hair, it's starting to get long and I'm trying to figure out what to do with it. Ponytails and pigtails don't stay in very long.

Lydia loves to give kisses. Sometimes she puts both hands on your face and just plants one on you. It's so fun. Lots of people tell me how social she is. She's really engaging and doesn't wait for you to initiate interaction with her. She doesn't just respond to you, she initiates the interaction. She still smiles a lot.

Lydia loves animals. She squeals whenever she sees a cat or a dog. It's cute. She is starting to taking a liking to some of her stuffed animals too. With an animal, her thumb, and some sort of fabric to grab (mommy's shirt if no blanket is available), she is set.

Lydia is still a great sleeper and still takes two naps. If you don't let her take her morning nap she will try to take it anyway. She's pretty good at calming herself. She is still nursing at least twice a day sometimes more. The sessions are usually quick though and more often than not I'm putting her down to sleep when she's still awake.

Lydia had Roseola a few weeks ago. It's basically just a virus but apparently it's one of those where if you get it, you won't get it again. She had a high fever and then a rash after the fever was breaking. I stayed home from work one day with her. The doctor we saw that day didn't tell me that's what it was but when we went for her 15 month check up her regular doctor said that's must have been what it was.

Lydia at 12 months

So before she hits 15 months, I should tell you how Lydia has been growing and what she has been up to as a one-year old. At her 12 month doctors appointment, she weighed 17 lbs., 10.4 oz (5th percentile) and was 29 inches (50th percentile) tall. See here for Dylan comparison.

At about 12 months she got her first molar and now (almost 15 months) has four of them. That makes 12 teeth.

Lydia started STTN (finally) at about 12 and a half months. From about 4-5 months until then she had been waking up twice during the night. I think she just learned to soothe herself back to sleep. One night it took me a long time to get up to get her (both our doors were closed so I didn't hear her for a while) and by the time I got up, she was back to sleep. From there on, I just let her go back to sleep on her own and it worked. She started sleeping all the way through.

Lydia started taking a few steps at 12 and a half months but really starting walking at 13 months, 1 week - the week we were stuck in the house because of the snow storm. I remember Dylan taking one step (at 10 months) and then running the next day it seemed. Lydia took the more cautious route.

Lydia enjoyed watching the snow fall from the sky but only tolerated being out in it for so long. Martin says she's not as much of an outdoor lover as Dylan but I'm going to give her some more time. I think now that she's walking she will enjoy it more.

At about 12 months, I noticed how engaging Lydia is. She initiates interaction with you. It's kinda hard to explain and maybe it's just because she's an easy second child and I often feel guilty for not paying more attention to her, but this really amazes me. Instead of crying for attention, she will just smile at you until you look at her and then smile even bigger. It's almost like she's trying to encourage me. Sometimes, when I'm holding her she will turn my face with her hands to make me look at her, smiling all the while.

She has really started to interact with her brother more. He has learned what makes her laugh and will entertain her. She has also started to make her opinions known when she wants something. She has been know to say things that sound like banana and Dylan and she says ma ma and da da. We are working on the signs again, but we didn't start as early or were as consistent as with Dylan so it might take her a little longer to get them.

on self-discipline

I'm reading the book Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges that describes the subtle sins we commit day after day without even thinking about them (impatience, judgementalism, frustration, etc.). Yesterday I read the chapter on self-control and today I realized how undisciplined I've become lately. I'm sure you've noticed this in how bad I've become about updating my blog. But it's worse than that. I have no self-control with respect to food, spending time on the computer or in front of the TV, or my wondering mind when I'm supposed to be concentrating on something else. And I've realized today that one of the reasons I've become so bad at self-control (and this is no means an excuse but rather a realization of my situation) is that I've had fewer and fewer opportunities to exhibit self-control, particularly with my time. And in those instances when I do, I've been failing at being disciplined. I was remembering this morning how I used to get up at 6am everyday and go to the gym before work. Now I'm not saying that I should try to follow that same schedule again or even that I have to have scheduled exercise in my daily dealings again but I feel like I need to practice discipline in some respect so that I will be disciplined in general. Then when I've faced with other temptations not to be disciplined, like in not indulging every desire of my taste buds, I will be more practiced. Bridges makes that point in the book and I know there have been times in my life when discipline in one area led to discipline in another. Maybe it will be discipline with food that will lead to more discipline with my time. I know that I can't do this on my own and that I'm completely dependent on the Holy Spirit to give me the power to make changes. If you have a minute, please pray to this end. Who knows, maybe the result will be more blog postings?

Chores