15 month update

Today, our Sweet Little is 15 months old! I can't even believe it. She is looking older to me every day and is learning so many new things all the time. It's amazing how she just soaks up new information. She hasn't had her 15 month appointment yet, so I'm not sure what her stats are.

Her vocabulary is definitely expanding. She understands a lot of English, so communicating to her is pretty easy. Though she continues to prefer to speak in her own language, she is starting to say a few more words in English. Her newest words are "fish", "shoe", and "quack."

Lately, it has felt like school at our house in the mornings. One of Little's favorite books for the moment is a Mother Goose book. It's a long book (has 100 rhymes in it) and she wants to look through it over and over. She mostly likes to point at the children and animals and make the animal sounds. If we come to a page with a song, we have to stop and do the motions, like Pat-a-Cake and Row, Row, Row Your Boat. She also waves at the people on the pages if they are waving. It's really been a great teaching tool.

Little is really becoming a Daddy's girl, even though Frank won't admit it to me. She cries big crocodile tears when he leaves for work, and for those of you who know her best, you know this is a big deal because she doesn't cry much at all. Also, every night before we go upstairs for bedtime, she and Daddy dance. She'll even let us know if she's ready to dance by coming up to us and moving her shoulders back and forth. They dance to fast songs, slow songs, any kind of song. She occasionally sings while they are dancing. It's so sweet to see her just hold onto his head and look at him and smile. She LOVES her Daddy!

She refuses to eat any food that is attached to babies, even baby yogurt. She'll eat Frank's Greek yogurt, but will not eat her Gerber yogurt anymore. She also prefers to use big people utensils as opposed to her plastic ones. In fact, she'll eat anything if you put it on a fork and hand it to her, even brussel sprouts. She has a baby doll that she likes to carry around. It's so sweet. I'm trying to teach her to be soft with the baby, though, instead of just throwing her around. I want her to get some good practice before her baby brother or sister gets here.

Our Announcement...why I've been away

I've been gone for awhile...not from home but from the computer. Some of you may have already heard our announcement, and Little Pea was happy to share with the world that she is going to be a big sister. We actually found out on my birthday, the day after my surprise birthday party. We are so excited to be welcoming another addition to our little family.

The pregnancy, though, has come with many obstacles to this point. Because I'm pregnant, I cannot treat my rheumatoid arthritis. If you understand RA at all, you understand that to be unable to treat it is SERIOUS stuff. I have basically been incapacitated for the past month or so since we found out that I'm pregnant. Most of the time, I can't do anything that a normal person can do. For example, I can barely walk, can only stand for very short periods of time without getting winded or passing out, can't do much of anything that requires any amount of strength (squeezing toothpaste, opening sippy cups, twisting the milk carton top, etc.) With a toddler, this is very difficult. Thankfully I have a WONDERFUL mother who has sacrificed her time for us and comes over every morning to take care of my sweet child and to make sure that I am also taken care of. She has been selfless, and to say that I'm thankful just doesn't even seem like enough. Also, my sweet husband has been amazing beyond words. Not only does he get Little Pea up in the mornings to pass her off to my mom, but then he goes to work, comes home and does laundry and cleans, makes sure we're fed (which isn't easy with my pregnancy appetite) and does basically anything that needs to be done.

The good news about my RA is...everything should be getting better very soon. As soon as the first trimester is over, my RA symptoms are supposed to pretty much "go away" for the remainder of the pregnancy. There are so many things that are truly amazing about how a woman's body works, and this is just another one of those things. Most people that have auto-immune diseases experience a relief of symptoms during pregnancy. Since I'm 9 weeks now, I'm hoping that relief is just around the corner. And I know Frank and my mom will be glad for that day to come, too.

In the meantime, please pray for us. Continue to pray for complete healing of my RA. Pray for this sweet baby that is growing inside of me. And pray for my family that is having to pick up the slack while I'm down and out. We are so thankful and blessed and can't wait to meet our sweet little one. Getting there is a challenge, but we know it'll be worth it in a few short months.