Finally Out of the High Chair

Tali's first meal in her new booster seat.

Yum!

This past weekend, Tali hit a very big milestone - she moved to a booster seat! While most kids make this move well before age two, Tali was perfectly happy in her high chair. And we were perfectly happy to have her in it. The only reason we moved her is because Eli will need the chair in 2-3 months and we wanted to make sure there was enough time between the two of them that Tali wouldn't consider it "her chair" anymore. It actually took a bit of convincing to get Tali into her new booster seat. Now that she's there, I wonder why we didn't do this sooner. It's nice having her at the table with us and it's so much easier to clean.

Tali's first meal in her new booster seat? A bagel with veggie cream cheese. Her sixth? A pizza with guanciale, black truffles and sunny side egg (note: she loved the truffles but didn't care for the guanciale). She'll happily eat anywhere!

Here We Go Again

Eli had his one month check-up today and things went pretty well. His jaundice is almost gone and soon he'll be as pale as the rest of us. His weight is excellent (7 lbs.) and most of his vitals check out.

But, just like his sister at one month, the doctor heard a heart murmur.  However, as Tali's turned out to be nothing of concern, we are waiting to schedule a visit to the pediatric cardiologist (who happens to be my neighbor - our daughters are friends) until his next check-up. If the pediatrician still hears the murmur at that time, then we'll make an appointment.

To be honest, I have been waiting for her to tell me she hears a murmur for some time now. For whatever reason, I just expected it. I'm not really worried either. To me, it's just part of the baby process.

Other than that, things are going okay here. This whole two kids thing is keeping me very busy. There is no down time here. At least I'm not bored!

Hello, Old Friend

I cannot believe it's been more than a month since I've posted here. I've been so busy that I really haven't had a chance to sit down and write anything. Very sad. So, here's a quick recap of what has been going on in our world.

Trip to New Orleans
We went to New Orleans for Passover in April. Tali and I went down a bit early so we could spend some extra time with the family - including Tali's new cousin Ariel! Tali missed Jackson terribly (we left him with Savta) and even cried over it a few times. Then, H came down on Friday evening and we spent a weekend alone at a friend's B&B. We had a great time and it was nice to get away. Unfortunately, Tali didn't have such a good time. She was so depressed that I left her that she just want to take naps all day. She wasn't a happy kid. My poor mom and sister did the best they could with her. During Seder, Tali recited the Four Questions in Hebrew (she repeated after me), saving Uncle Brian the embarrassment of having to do them. My only regret is that we did not get it on video. She did a great job.

Colds
Near the end of our trip to New Orleans, Tali got a cold. We flew home with her cold and then I caught it. It was miserable. Since I'm pregnant, I couldn't really take anything. And I couldn't sleep because I couldn't breathe. I spent quite a few nights on the sofa (so H wouldn't catch it), just laying there. Its awful to be pregnant and sick and it took me about a week to get better.

Potty Training
I now consider Tali fully trained. It was pretty easy, really. There were some accidents in the beginning but she picked it up pretty quickly. The only downside is that she now wakes up at night if she has to pee. Even though I put a Pull-Up on her, she won't go in it. Usually, it's just once but sometimes it is two or three times. It's not fun being nine months pregnant and having to get up in the middle of the night. But I guess she's preparing me for a newborn. I just hope she's not waking at opposite hours of him. Then I'll never get any sleep!

We have a house!
H and I signed a contract on a house! Our four-year search  is finally over. It's a half hour from where we are now in a beautiful little town. But, the house needs some work. So now I am going to take on a house renovation with a 2-year-old and a new baby. I must be crazy.

Those are the main things that have been going on over here. I promise to be better about blogging going forward. (At least until the baby comes.)

Uh-Oh

H and I just punished Tali in her crib for pulling Jackson's hair (something she rarely does). When she's punished in her crib, she's not allowed to have her blanket. But that doesn't stop her from asking for it. We're in another room listening to her scream for her blanket and all of the sudden I hear a thump. I rushed in to see her on the floor on her knees! She'd completely climbed out of her crib and wasn't even phased by it! She just wanted to get her blanket. H told her she's not allowed to climb out of her crib and that it's very bad. I'm not so sure that's going to work, though. I thought she was too short to climb out but I guess I was wrong. Good thing I bought a toddler rail months ago so that we'd be ready when this happened.

Potty Training By Accident

On Friday morning, I began potty training Tali. This happened by total accident as I didn't really think she was ready yet. But, she'd developed a terrible diaper rash and I needed to keep her diaper free for a few hours. So I figured if she was already going to be diaperless, I might as well take out the potty and try.

I'm happy to report that we had success right away! Although Tali's been peeing on the potty after her bath each evening, I haven't done more than that. But on Friday, she used the potty consistently throughout the day. There were no accidents on Friday or Saturday (I put a diaper on her when we went out of the house and for nap/bed time) and we had our first, and so far only, accident this morning.

Initially, Tali wasn't even excited that she went on the potty. Now she gets it and is a bit more excited as she's figured out it's a good thing. So far it's been pretty easy but that's all going to change on Tuesday when she goes to nursery school. I think I will attempt to send her without a diaper (and extra pants!) and see what happens. But, who knows, by then I might change my mind.


P.S. I took a great picture of her reading on the potty last night. But in order to save on future therapy bills, I am not going to post it. Use your imagination. =)

Math Wiz

Due to all the snow, we've been spending a lot of time at home lately. So this has given us the opportunity to teach Tali lots of "tricks." On Saturday, H began teaching her math. Although he'll probably tell you she understands what she's saying, the truth is that she's basically just memorized a phrase. Regardless, she now knows two math problems so I thought I'd show off our hard work.

Two Cousins for Tali

Twice in one week! Within three days, Tali's first two cousins arrived. What a busy time for my family.

On Saturday, December 11 at 5:15 a.m., Zachary Aiden was born to Judy (H's sister) and Adam. He's a tiny little guy (though bigger than Tali when she was born) at 5 lbs 13 oz. Tali calls him Baby Cousin Sat.

On Tuesday, December 14 at 10:57 p.m., Payton Victoria was born to Ilana (my cousin) and Greg. She weighed in at 7 lbs 1 oz. Tali can say Payton perfectly.

We're so thrilled for the new babies in our lives and can't wait to watch them grow!

Shoes!

Tali loves shoes.

She likes to go in my closet and play with my shoes. She pulls them out, tries them on and even picks out which ones I should wear.

We recently went house hunting and had to remove our shoes at the front door. When it was time to go, she handed all five adults their shoes (with only one mistake).

This past week, she reached a major shoe milestone: she can now put on her shoes by herself! She still needs guidance as to which shoe goes on which foot, but she can get them on. She's very proud of herself when she does this and says "yeah" afterward. And, when asked, she can easily take her shoes off.

Proud Mom

Yesterday, Tali did two things that made me very proud:

1. I gave Tali a snack to hold her over while I made her lunch. When she was done, she opened the garbage can and threw it away!

2. At the end of the day, I play a clean-up song for Tali and try to engage her in helping me clean up. Usually, she just looks at the computer (where the music is coming from) and smiles/dances. If I try to get her to help, she'll do one small thing then go back to the music. Last night, I brought her over to the floor where her beads were and told her she needed to clean them up. She put every bead in the box and then closed the lid.

Now if only I could get her to do the dishes.

We Are Pacifier Free!

On her 17-month birthday, Tali went to bed without her pacifier - officially saying goodbye to one of the few things that could calm her during her first year of life. About 8 minutes after H and I put her down, she stood up in her crib and cried for 30 seconds. It took her an entire hour and a half to fall asleep, but she did it. She tossed, she turned, she talked but - except for that 30 seconds - she did not scream. Now we can get rid of all the pacifiers and find a new use for that top middle drawer in her dresser.

Congratulations, Tali. This is a major milestone.

Pacifier Update

The pacifier removal is going better than I thought it would.

On day three (I left her with Savta that morning), she cried for 7 minutes then played for 30 minutes then slept for about 40 minutes.

On day four she cried for 10 minutes then went right to sleep. She slept for 1 1/2 hours!

Day five's nap was in the car on the way into the city to meet a friend so that didn't count.

And for day six (today) she cried for about 30 seconds and went right to sleep. She was laying down before I even made it downstairs to turn on the monitor. She slept for 1 1/2 hours again. To be honest, I cheated a little. She slept until 9:30 this morning (yes, it was nice; no, I didn't sleep in also) so I skipped her 11:00 nap and just put her down after lunch, around 1:30. She was very tired by this point so it was easy.

I think I'm going to wait to remove the pacifier from the next nap until Tali can go to sleep without crying for two or three days. I'm hoping that'll be soon. But, it's going well. So even if it is a slow process I can see it working and I'm proud of myself for sticking it out. Listening to your daughter scream is tough, especially if you know you can fix it.

That Was Painful

Pacifier Removal, Day One:

Before every nap, I give Tali one of her blankets (she sleeps with two) and a pacifier and then we read a book. Today I only gave her a blanket and we sat down to read. I didn't even get through the book before she started crying for her pacifier. So I turned on her music, put her in the crib and just let her scream. She stood in the crib and screamed for about an hour before she finally calmed down and sat there quietly playing with her blankets. At that point I made the mistake of going upstairs to put away the laundry. She heard me and started screaming again. This lasted for about 25 minutes (I figured I'd leave her in there for 1 1/2 hours since that is the length of her normal morning nap) before she sat down to play with her blankets. Then, at exactly 1 1/2 hours she laid down. She's asleep now - no pacifier. Who knows how long she'll sleep for as it's lunch time but at least she fell asleep without her pacifier. The worst part is that I have to do this again tomorrow. Ugh.

So Long, Pacifier

Today begins the first day of weaning Tali from her pacifier and it will start with her morning nap. At her last doctor's visit I was told it's time and the doctor told me the best way to do it - take a gradual, one nap at a time process. She said to expect a week of crying before she gets used to going to sleep without it. After she's accomplished sleeping without it during her morning nap, it's on to the afternoon nap and another week of crying. And then, on to bedtime and another week of crying. I expect this whole process to take about a month or so and it won't be easy for Tali or me. I was told to leave her in the crib for the hour, even if she screams, so I'm planning lots of projects to distract me. Wish me luck!

Half A Moler

Yesterday, when Tali was screaming because she didn't want to be put in the car seat, I discovered something fascinating. Tali has half a moler tooth on the top right side of her mouth. I'm not sure when it came in but it's there. I guess I've never seen it because I haven't really looked. She only has five teeth (well, 5 1/2 now) so it never occurred to me to check for molers. But with her head tilted back and mouth wide open to scream I had a clear view. Now we just need the rest of her teeth so she can eat everything and I can stop worrying if a food is soft enough for her.

A Whole New View of the World

Today Tali and I went to get her car seat turned around. I was so excited for her to finally face forward and see everything. She, of course, had no idea what was going on. It took the guy about 30 minutes to do it and he ended up having to use a pool noodle (cut in half and taped together) to properly secure the car seat. Meanwhile, Tali dragged the groceries around the parking lot and then walked up and down a ramp about 50 times.




Tali actually pitched a fit when I tried to put her in the car seat. She was having too much fun in the parking lot! But once I got her secure, she realized something had changed. For the rest of the day, Tali enjoyed her new view and smiled every time I looked back at her.

This and That

• Tali loves to "talk" on the phone now. She holds a phone (either her toy one or my cell phone) on her shoulder and just babbles away.

• We finally baby proofed the kitchen and I thought Tali would have a fit. Instead, she tried to open the cabinets, realized they were locked and just walked away. Of course, she tried throughout the day but she didn't have a tantrum.

• Tali finally had her 15-month check-up yesterday. She's now 19.7 pounds (5th percentile) and 29 inches tall (10th percentile). Everything is good and we were given the go ahead to turn her car seat around, hooray!
  

• The toddler tantrums have come early, and, knowing Tali, will probably stay late. I just ignore them. Eventually, she calms down.

• Tali is a walking machine. All she wants to do is walk around, especially outside. It's hard to carry her because she wants down. It's also hard to put her in a stroller because she wants out.
  

• One of my favorite parts of this age is the hugs. In the middle of playing, Tali will come over to give me a hug. It's very sweet.
  

Steps

Up until about 20 minutes ago, Tali would only crawl up three steps on our stairs. Then, she'd turn around to "walk" down (meaning I had to be right behind her to help). But today, she climbed up four. Then a few minutes later, she climbed up five. Then she climbed up six. And then, she climbed all the way to the top, stood up and walked through the baby gate! She acted as though it was no big deal. I think I was more excited for her than she was.

First Body Part

For the past month, I've been trying to teach Tali where her head is. She finally got it in New Orleans. Now, I'm trying to teach her where her belly is. Sadly, she thinks her belly is also her head. Oh well. She'll get it eventually.

Help!

It's been about a week since Tali began signing "help" and she's now gotten pretty good at it. She asks for help when she closes a door and cannot open it, when she wants to play with the keys, when she wants her blankets from her crib, etc. Basically, she asks for help all day long (yes, it can get tiring). Originally, it was hard to capture video because I wasn't sure when she'd ask. But I did get some of her on Tuesday evening asking for help with her bathroom door. Enjoy!

Note: The sign for help is actually both hands hitting the chest, but clearly her other hand was occupied.

Tali's New Trick

Two days ago, Tali displayed a new trick. When she is finished eating, she pulls off her bib. Now she does it for every meal.