Acelyn: 12 Months

And just like that... we have a ONE year old!  My tiniest baby is not a baby anymore.  How did that happen so quickly?!  I can't believe, even after doing this one time before, just how quickly that first year flies by.  We have snuggled up every second of Acelyn's first year and couldn't imagine life without her in it.

Acelyn's personality is really blooming, and she's a funny, cuddly, feisty little babe who knows what she wants and usually gets it!  She is all over the place and loves to go, go, go... and keeps Mommy on her toes.  She loves to be where she knows she's not supposed to- in the pantry, the laundry room, darts for the bathroom and loves getting into the trash.  Dancing is still her favorite, she jams out at least twice a day and has a signature stepping/stomping move that cracks everyone up.  She absolutely loves being outside, whether its at the splash pad or the park, in the backyard, or even just outside walking from the car to the store.  The wind is her favorite and makes her giggle every time it blows in her face.  She's a fan of the water and has had a successful first few times at the splash pad, and enjoyed the pool (if the water isn't too cold) the couple times we've gone this summer so far.

She loves to play- with toys, with us, with Nolan, or by herself, she loves toys and will entertain herself for a bit by going through buckets of them and examining each one before moving on to the next.  Her absolute favorite thing is reading books, and will ask to read books every hour of the day.  She understands to pick a book, bring it to you, sit on your lap and flip the pages, and can even bring it back and put it away to get another one in return.  Her favorites are her Peek A Boo animal books, Eric Carle's ABC Book, any lift the flap or touch and feel, the Baby Loves series and her Trolls music book.  Her favorite game to play is Hide and Seek, and knows how to quietly hide with Mommy and put her finger to her mouth to say, "Shhhh", and also understands to wait to count and then go find Nolan while he's hiding when it's time!  She loves Peek-a-Boo and will play with anything; a blanket, her clothes, behind a wall or curtain, or even just her hands.. and it's the cutest thing!

Acelyn's understanding is developing quickly and she can follow multiple tasks like, "Go put your book back and get another one!" or "Pick that up and give that to me, please!"  She correlates things like nap time and waiting at the gate when we say it's time, or walking over to her high chair when it's time to eat or the fridge when she is hungry.  Her vocabulary is constantly growing, and she can say, Mama (Maa-Mee (Mommy) just started a few days ago), Bro Bro (for Nolan), go, Yaaa (yes), up, ilk (Milk), baba (for any type of drink/cup as well as nursing), baa-ooon (Balloon), kee kaaa (Kitty Kat), Mee Mou (Minnie Mouse), bur (bird), and CaCa (for anything yucky- usually dirty diaper or trash).  She can sign "More" perfectly and does so often, mostly when eating, but that's about it when it comes to sign language.  She knows how to wave Bye Bye/Hi, blow kisses, give high fives, and can identify where body parts are like her head/hair, eyes, mouth, belly button and toes.

Acelyn has entered the Mommy-obsesesed stage, where all she wants is me and freaks when I'm not around.  She's definitely a Mama's girl and has a hard time separating, even if it's just another room away while I'm cooking dinner or cleaning up. She's very serious when it comes to being around others (not just strangers), and takes a while to warm up and really makes you work for a smile.  She's got that RBF face (like above) most of the time and will usually just stare at you until she feels like smiling!  No offense to anyone... she's just fiesty.  Little lady sure does take after he family (Mom, Dad and brother) when it comes to stubbornness and her temper tantrums have started to become fierce.  If something is taken away from her that she's not supposed to have, she automatically throws herself backwards to fall down and screams in tears.  She's a spitfire although she is more docile when we're out and about, she runs wild around the house and quite frankly, I'm terrified to see how she's going to be when she's two.  Yikes!

With all of her sass comes so much sweetness, and I adore the cuddles and love Acelyn has to give.  She's a smuggler, and she is constantly giving hugs and kisses to us, unannounced and randomly. Every day when Nolan wakes up from his nap, she runs to him and throws her arms around him for a big hug to say, I missed you!  My heart melts every time.  I love that she wants to snuggle in bed in the morning with us and am taking in every tiny wet kiss and little arms around my neck because I know this stage flies by so quickly!

Here's what else our ONE YEAR OLD is up to!

Height, Weight and Sizes:
At her one year well check, Acelyn clocked in at 19 pounds, 4 ounces ( 40th percentile) and measured 29 3/4 inches long ( 49th percentile).  She is averaging right in the middle for her age and has stayed consist to her growth curve through basically the entire year.  Her head continues to measure super tiny, at 42.5 around in the 4th percentile!  She's looking more and more like a toddler rather than a baby and her baby rolls are thinning out due to her constant activity, which makes me sad!  Her thick thighs, especially, are losing their baby-look, wahhh!  Her hair is getting even longer, and she has enough for me to put a ponytail straight up or even two pigtails that stick straight up and are the cutest little things!  She's starting to get a little wavy curl to the back, especially as it's drying after her bath, and it's probably one of my favorite things ever.

She is currently wearing 12-18 month clothing all around, and I love putting her in summer staples like playsuits and bloomers to show off the last of her baby chunk.  She is also fitting in a size 3 shoe/moccasin, and a size 4 diaper.  Since her hair has grown, we've started using bow clips rather than just the nylon headbands, so of course that means... more bows!   

Acelyn is way behind on the teeth game... she just barely cut her third and fourth tooth right after her birthday!  Her third (top front left) came in the day before her birthday, and the fourth (top front right) cut through two days later.  At one year, she still has her Mongolian Blue Spots and they look exactly the same, with zero fading, and we've also discovered she has a birthmark that is starting to become more pronounced with each month that she grows.

Feeding:
Acelyn continues to eat solids and is constantly adding new things to her palette as she grows.  She likes most anything and will always be willing to try something, but isn't too fond of bread products, and picks at waffles, pancakes, and any type of sandwich.  On the contrary, some of her favorite foods consist of scrambled eggs (seriously, she could eat these everyday and eat like 4 at a time), bananas, anything with cheese- grilled cheese, string cheese, quesadilla- fruit cups, chicken (LOVES it), ground beef, veggies (all kinds), cottage cheese, yogurt, veggie soup, avocado and all types of pasta (with our without sauce).  She's had her fair share of sweets since turning one, and loves ice cream but isn't sold on cookies, especially chocolate kinds. I recently made brownies and she wanted nothing to do with them (WHAT!?), so her chocolate tooth hasn't quite developed yet!

Acelyn drinks whole milk now (thank Goodness) and will typically have a cup of milk when Nolan has his in the morning before breakfast when we go downstairs, and also drinks a little bit at each meal of the day.  Other than milk, she only ever drinks water, and typically uses her RePlay sippy cups and water bottles for water and straw cups for milk.

As far as Acelyn's nursing schedule, she nurses when she wakes up in the AM, before her nap, and before bedtime.  She also has gotten into a crazy sleep schedule, waking every 2 hours or so recently, so she's been nursing on demand that way.  Because her sleep is so crazy and we're all going a little sleep deprived over here, we're just in the early stage of gentle sleep training, and shortly after we get a good routine with that down, I'll be starting to night wean.  Ideally I would love to keep the session before bedtime, but we will see how it goes!

Sleeping:
As stated above, Acelyn continues to fight her sleep and each month has gotten worse and worse over the course of 3+ months, now.  It can take anywhere from 40 minutes to over an hour to get her down, after she fights and flairs and kicks and squirms.  On most days, we've moved to one nap a day, because I figured it wasn't worth fighting for an hour to get her down when she would only be asleep for 30 minutes or so for the AM nap!  So, this week, we've just started gentle sleep training, where we are hoping Acelyn can start to put herself to sleep better.  She's never had to learn to soothe herself back to sleep, so it's a big task but we're certain once it's learned, she will be sleeping much more sound (and us too!)  I'm also planning to begin our weaning adventure as soon as we make some progress with sleep training, with the night feedings to go first.

As of right now, Acelyn's day usually starts at 7AM when she's up for good.  She naps around 1-2PM, the same time as Nolan, and will never sleep more than 1.5 hours (for the wholllllllle day)!  Bedtime is always around 8PM, but takes longer on nights she fights harder.  She'll typically wake around 11PM, 3AM and is up again at 5AM, where I've been bringing her to bed with us to snuggle for a bit longer before everyone is up for the day!

She no longer sleeps in a sleep sack and is still in our room in the Pack N Play, but also loves to snuggle in the AM in bed with Mommy and Daddy.  With sleep training comes sleeping in her own crib, which I'm not sure who is more sad about, me or her!  She continues to use her pacifier and also has started snuggling with her Jellycat Bunny, when she wants to.  Lots of changes to come with this topic in the next few months... wish us luck!

Likes: 
Hide and Seek
Reading
Jellycat Bunny
Dancing
Moana, Trolls, Monster's Inc.
Learning animal names and sounds
Snuggles in Mommy and Daddy's bed
Water play/splash pad/pools/bath time
Emptying the dishwasher with Mommy
Eating and making a mess with it
Throwing things from the highchair
Being outside
Snacktime
Playing chase and peek-a-boo
Checking the mail
Putting things in/out
Climbing the stairs

Dislikes:
Diaper changes/dressing and undressing, doing her hair, anything that keeps her down for more than .5 seconds!
Careseat still (we switched to a Convertible seat, and she fusses a little less but definitely still doesn't like the carseat much)
Being told No
Stranger Danger
Her crib
Being away from Mommy (even for a second in the other room)
Cleaning up after eating

Happy first birthday, sweet girl!  We love you so much and enjoy watching you grow and complete our family with each day.  

Dancin' & Dishes: Nuby Easy Clean Soap Dispensing Bottle Brush with Suction Base {a&n Product Review}

As we mentioned in our last Nuby post, our family has a nightly tradition of dance parties after dinner... because what better way to let out all that energy before settling down for our bath and bedtime routine!?  While the kiddos get their wiggles out in the living room, I'm often found jamming to the same music in the kitchen, while cleaning up from dinner and washing down dishes, one of my least favorite chores to do. Luckily, Nuby's Easy Clean Soap Dispensing Bottle Brush with Suction Base is one tool I've learned to love when it comes to doing something I hate!

The strong suction base of the brush is really, by far, much better than other stand-up bottle brushes we've had experience with.  It really is that strong and keeps the brush upright and away from germs at all times, whereas other brushes are often flimsy and fall over almost every time I do the dishes.  I also love the structured and strong bristles of this brush, much different than the sponge type bottle brushes we've used in the past.  It is engineered with two different types of bristles, to ensure thorough cleaning, even on irregular surfaces.  Before, our brushes would last only a few weeks to a month at the most, and the Nuby Easy Clean Brush is going on month #3 for us with no issues and looks as good as the day I received it!  Plus, with no sponge-like material, I feel comfortable knowing there's no leftover food, germs or whatever else the kitchen sink holds, sitting and making the brush so nasty like most sponge related cleaning products do.  This brush is totally good for my germaphobe soul, and as always with Nuby products, is BPA Free!

The main highlight of the Nuby Easy Clean Brush is the one touch, simple push button to dispense the perfect amount of soap, rather than creating a huge, dripping mess of dish soap all over your counter (like time and time before).  I will say, I've had a difficult time using the push to dispense the button seamlessly, but after a few pumps with my thumb, it does the job.  I've never been any good at these types of devices, no matter what the kitchen tool... maybe it's just me!?  Either way, this brush is still top quality over the others and I would still choose to dabble a bit of soap over the top of the brush quickly to do the job just as well.  We also use larger size bottles and cups for the kids, now that Acelyn is a little older, so fitting in a tiny space is never an issue, but because of the sturdiness of the bottle, it does run a bit large and may be more difficult to squeeze into smaller spaces.  For me, the bristle strength, sturdy base, and soft textured handle to allow for a comfortable grip are a better trade off for those small imperfections!  

The Easy Clean Soap Dispensing Bottle Brush with Suction Base can be found at these retailers: 

www.buybabydirect.com

I love knowing that the Nuby Easy Clean Brush makes my dish-doing chore quick and painless, with plenty of time left to enjoy our nightly dance parties with my babies! 

Nuby sent these products to review, but did not compensate me to write this post.  All opinions and thoughts are of my own.  

You can find Nuby and all of their great products by following their social media sites here:

Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Pinterest 

Road Trippin' 2017

We took our first road trip as a family of four this past month, to one of our best friends weddings in Tempe, Arizona!  While we were there, we made a fun family trip out of the weekend, visiting Legoland Discovery Center and the Phoenix Zoo, where the kids had a blast with a weekend packed full of fun!

The drive down started off a little stressful, as we planned to leave right around Acelyn's morning nap time.  Instead of falling asleep like she always does in the car, she definitely screamed for about 20 minutes straight.  Finally, she let up and passed out, and slept for a good hour and a half.  We stopped for lunch and once we got back on the road, both kiddos took another nap until we basically entered Phoenix, which was perfect timing!

We had little time from arriving to get ourselves together and ready for rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. After watching the guys practice their roles for rehearsal, we headed over to The Minder Binder for dinner.  We hung out and ate on the outdoor patio which was so nice with the gorgeous weather, and Nolan was in heaven because there was a DJ so he could listen to all his jams.  We sipped on drinks (Nolan felt special with his Shirley Temple) and caught up with our friends, and the kids hung out and played around outside.  Dinner was yummy and we called it an early night around 8:30, knowing we had a big day ahead.

The next morning, we hit up some continental breakfast at the hotel, which Nolan thought was the best thing ever!  He absolutely loved everything about hotel life and is asking all the time when we are staying in a hotel again.  After breakfast, we got ourselves together and headed over to Legoland Discovery Center!  Acelyn took advantage of walking as many places as she could, and her favorite was running the halls of the hotel!

Nolan was super excited once we pulled in and he saw the Lego logo.. he knew we were here!  We didn't waste any time and got there just a little after opening, and started off the morning being greeted by some kid-sized Lego people, which even Acelyn loved!  We went right to the first ride, Kingdom Quest, as we entered, which is similar to the Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters at Disney.  Nolan was totally into it and shot at everything he could with Daddy in the front seat, while Acelyn and I hung out in the back.  She did great on the ride and even got excited with some happy screaming and clapping at certain parts.  We ended the ride and moved our way into Miniland, where there are tons and tons of Legos built into cities, landmarks, sports arenas... it's amazing.  Nolan loved pointing out his favorites, like the construction zones, the fire trucks, the sports arena and the rock band.  

Acelyn loved the Duplo Farm, where she carried around huge lego blocks and brought them back and forth, numerous times.  Both kids also loved the cow, who moo'd off and on, and Acelyn gave him lots of hugs.  We rode another ride, called Merlin's Apprentice, and Nolan loved that this was something just for big boys.  He rode with Daddy first and then a little later in the morning with Mommy, and had a blast going up and down as we each pedaled our butts off.  

We saw a cool space exhibit with rocketships and a control panel that Nolan loved playing with.  Acelyn just liked running around the room like a crazy girl, and they both pretended to be astronauts. After, Nolan and Daddy built their own Lego car to test and race down the track.  Nolan liked the racing more than the building, and they had a successful car 3/5 times they raced it down the ramps!

We also couldn't believe that Nolan voluntarily wanted to go in the Play Place by himself, which is a huge deal since he usually has a hard time separating from us, especially in a new environment.  He happily went off and played, but it was short lived, because they kicked all the kids out when they had to "close for cleaning" after a kid had some sort of accident.  We definitely didn't go back after that, but I was so proud that he willingly went on his own and enjoyed himself!  After the play place, we hit the Kingdom Quest ride once more before leaving.  Legoland was a great morning activity for us and I'm glad both kids had a good time!

Since Legoland was in the Arizona Mills mall, we took a walk around and found a Merry Go Round that I for sure wanted to take Acelyn on for her first time, and of course, Nolan was game.  Jason sat out, so I rode with the kiddos and they loved it! Acelyn had a huge smile on her face the second it started going around and up and down, and Nolan was excited to sit on the bunny he chose!  We walked around a bit longer, and decided to eat lunch at Rainforest Cafe.  This was the icing on the cake to the kids and their fun afternoon, and they loved pointing out all the animals.  Nolan liked the monkeys most, which sat behind us a bit, and Acelyn was obsessed with the elephants that were directly behind our table.  The food was actually pretty good, and we ended our fun morning out with some epic naps back at the hotel.

Jason headed out earlier to meet up with the wedding party, and I got the kids ready to go once they woke up from their naps.  We met up with Jess and Diane, and made our way over to The Tempe Mission Palms before the ceremony.  All the guys and the groom, Erik, were hanging in the lobby, so we joined them, where Acelyn got some quality Uncle Brock and Daddy time, and Nolan talked to well, basically everyone he could.  He showed us he was ready to party (sorry kid, not for another couple of years, ha!) and we snapped some quick family pictures before the ceremony began.  

We took our seats, and Nolan was so excited for the wedding to begin.  He was so anxious for "Uncle Erik's party", and we had been coaching him on what would happen, step by step.  Both kids were great for the ceremony until Nolan blurted out in the deadest of silence, "My penis hurts!", which is his cue that he has to go potty.  Me and Jess looked at each other, dying with laughter inside, as I quickly handed Acelyn off to her and ran Nolan to the nearest bathroom so he could pee.  We came back with, hopefully, little interruption... and were just in time for vows and the announcement of Mr. and Mrs. Erik Hornaday!  

Cocktail hour was held outside and was so gorgeous, enjoying the weather and sipping on some drinks, catching up with friends.  Nolan and Acelyn ran all over the place in the courtyard, and when it was time to head over to the reception hall, Nolan couldn't WAIT because he knew this was the good part- party time!

The wedding party made their grand entrances and Acelyn was all about clapping everyone in, she was SO excited and wouldn't stop clapping like a maniac!  The arrival of the bride and groom couldn't have been more fitting for them- basketball!  The whole party went straight into dancing, and Nolan finalllllly could let loose and do his dancing THANG.  And. He. DID.  All night!  This kid was a dancing machine, and he loved the attention.  During dinner, he thought it would be extra special to share his french fries with Erik and Julia, so he made sure to go right up and give them each a fry from his plate.  That was his contribution as a gift, I suppose.  Haha!  Erik and Julia's first dance was nothing short of amazing, and had us all shocked and cracking up!

We had the best time, enjoying good friends, yummy drinks, having fun in the Photo Booth and danced the night away.  Acelyn even danced her little heart out, and when she was tuckered out at 10PM, she slept in the Ergo, while Mommy, Daddy and Nolan continued!  Nolan lasted until about 11PM, when we headed back to the hotel and everyone crashed.  We had the best time celebrating our good friends and are so happy for Erik and Julia!  Congrats again, guys, we love you!!

The next morning was Acelyn's actual birthday, so we snuggled her with tons of kisses and hugs for her turing ONE!  We had another quick breakfast at the hotel before checking out and making our way over to the Phoenix Zoo, where we spent the morning celebrating her birthday.  I was surprised at how much she enjoyed her time there, and of course, Nolan thought everything was awesome, too. We saw so many animals but I really didn't take too many pictures, because we were so caught up in enjoying everything, plus chasing the kids around wasn't an easy balance!  We did manage to capture some flamingoes, which Acelyn was quick to point out, "BIRD!" as she's familiar with them all over her room. 

We went through a side-attraction of a walk of different birds, where Acelyn liked the Macaw best (probably because it was the easiest to see) and Nolan drove a cool Jeep.  We saw tortoises, alligators, zebras and camels, and saw a few smaller monkeys as we passed through, even though we missed the best time to get into the Monkey Exhibit and didn't have time to wait in the 30+ min. line to enter.  Nolan was happy enough to see the spider monkeys, and that's all he talked about the rest of the day!

The other thing he loved and talked a bunch about was the Farm part of the zoo, where the kids saw horses and goats, and even got to milk a pretend cow!  Nolan, of course, loved the tractors, and we basically had to drag him away from this part of the zoo- it was hands down his favorite!

We made our way to the elephants and giraffes, and made a stop at the orangutans where there was one right up close to the glass.  Nolan spent some time chatting it up and really getting a detailed look at it, which was so cool!  We grabbed tickets for the Safari Train, since Nolan had been asking all morning to ride it.  We had a quick lunch while we waited for our departure time, right in front of the giraffes, and the kids loved eating next to the animals and feeding the wild birds.  

After the Safari Train, it was already way past nap time, so we said Goodbye to the zoo, packed up the car and headed on the drive back home.  The kids did well and napped right away as we started our drive, but were definitely ready to be out of the car about 40 minutes away from home.  Overall, we had a great little mini family getaway, and loved experiencing a new place as a family of four, celebrating Acelyn turning one with a big day at the zoo, and of course, had the best time celebrating Erik and Julia's wedding!