Isabelle: 13 Months!

Dear Squizzers,

I love this age!  It is definitely my favorite.  You are so much fun and very interactive.  You are learning so much every single day and it's really amazing to watch.   You are still a squishy little baby (hence your new nickname, Squizzers), but you are also blossoming into a little girl.

You shake your head no and say 'Uh uh" to any question we ask, which your sisters really get a kick out of... and so do I :)

You have now conquered the steps, and you make a beeline for them every time:

I love the love that you and your sisters have for each other :)

You are a crawling machine, and you can pull yourself up and cruise along the furniture, but no steps yet.  And that's fine by me.  Stay a baby for just a little bit longer Iz!!

I know this post is overrun with videos but here comes another one.  You LOVE books and have started "reading" them, which is the cutest thing ever!

And our last video... you stood up for the first time right before you turned 13 months!

So there is the barage of videos for the month.  As you can see, you are making huge strides!  You are talking more and more too, although most of it is still gibberish.  But you say "Stop!" to Daisy when she is doing something annoying, like licking or trying to steal food.  That is funny to hear.  And you say "All done" and "more".  You are getting better at communicating because you are nodding your head yes and no appropriately to questions.  (Although "uh uh" is your answer of choice most of the time.)

We have been done breastfeeding for over a month, but just like your sisters, you have no interest in whole milk.  I have tried putting it in a bottle, in a cup, warm, cool, anything to get you to drink it.  But you take a sip or two and you're done.  I'm not too stressed out since your sisters never drank it either, but as always, I am worried about your fluid consumption (or lack thereof).  You seem to like water better, so I guess we'll stick with that and give you yogurt and cheese for your calcium.  I still try the whole milk every day, morning and night in a bottle, but it's time to get rid of the bottles.  Your sisters stopped bottles right at a year, so it's time for you too little lady.

You still have 6 teeth, although you have some bulging gums, and I know more are coming soon.  You are eating pretty well, but slowly becoming more picky, as I knew you would :(  You love pouches and those are an easy way to get some veggies in you.  Most finger foods you are good with, but I have noticed you are starting to avoid veggies.

You have discovered the fun game of throwing things on the floor and then saying "uh oh!".  It's so cute though :)

Your favorite toy I wold say is anything that can be used as a phone.  You love play phones, and you hold them to your ear and talk, but its so funny watching you pick up other things (like a comb), and holding them to your ear and talking.  Although you are starting to learn what a comb is for, and you try to brush your hair :)

Like your sisters, you love nothing more than being outside.  If you are cranky (which, unfortunately you still often are), if we take you outside and let you crawl around while the big girls play, you are happy as a clam.  You like going for walks in the stroller and crawling around the grass and the sidewalk.

You are a great sleeper and sleep for 11-12 hours at night.  We try to get you in bed around 7:30, but it's tough in the summer since it's still light out, so we are often still out and about.  But you then sleep until about 7AM.  You usually wake up before your sisters, and keeping you quiet is next to impossible.  You are so LOUD!  But I just thank goodness that our days don't start at 5:30AM like some of my friends days do.  7AM I can handle.  Earlier than that I don't do with children.  If I'm getting up before 7, it's for "me" time ;)  You are still taking two naps a day, but they are both pretty short (an hour or so), so we are going to transition you to one nap soon.

Here are a few photos of you from this past month:

Your first selfie!

Fun with Mommy's wine bottle ;)  You hair makes me laugh every day.  Look at that whale sprout!

You in your cute little seahorse towel from Aunt Tina.  I always put you in the sink after your bath to brush your teeth and comb your hair.  It's like your little seat :)

Fun at the neighborhood playground!

Ha ha, looking out the window is one of your new favorite past times.  Either that, or you're thinking, "Get me out there!"

So cool

Here you are in your new chair from Pap and Meemaw.  You love your chair, and you often will go and sit in it when we are in the office.  I know what we are doing in this picture.  We are doing, "How big is Izzy?"  You laugh and throw your hands up in the air.  It's our stealthy way of getting you to smile for pictures :)

Let's go PSU!

Your hair gets you so many compliments.  Its so long and thick and blonde.  You never lost any hair, and yours is the lightest of all of the Hetrick girls :)  Also, in this picture, is your favorite book, "Goodnight Moon."

Ready to go boating!  Here is your favorite pose, entitled, "Pick me up!"

Well Squizzy, Happy 13 months to you!  You are so much fun, and everyone that meets you just adores you.  Here is the only selfie of the two of us that I have from this past month.  Your face makes me giggle, but it'll have to do ;)  Mommy loves you so very much!  I could squish your little cheeks all day long!

Love,

Mommy

Izzy's First Birthday Party!

I like to have a theme for my girls first birthday parties, because I feel like first birthdays are a big deal.... for the whole family.  We made it through that first year!  It was an especially meaningful celebration that we made it through the first year with Izzy Squizzy, queen of cranky ;)  But, joking aside, it was a great day filled with family, food, and fun :)  Izzy's theme was watermelon.  Random, I know, but I was thinking summer....picnics...watermelon!  (For those who forget, Addy's theme was Winter ONEderland, and Emma's was Lace and Southern Grace.)

Here is Izzy's invite:

There she is!  Miss America :)

We set up the basement as our party spot, and it worked out great!  We had great weather too, so we got out the water toys and people were both inside and out.  Tina so kindly took some photos,  so here we go:

I loved the cake the Jasmine, from Couture Cakery, made!

Izzy's little smash cake!

The infamous monthly photos ;)

The setup 

Queen Izzy's throne 

The birthday girl!

I love this little outfit that I got on Etsy!

Me and my little squish :)

Yup. we are all coordinated for the theme.  The big girls have watermelon dresses and Mike and I have the green shirts :)

The big kids were more than happy to help Izzy open her gifts ;)

Family photo :)

Izzy enjoyed her cake... but she was surprisingly fairly dainty about it :)

And of course, we have the obligatory Happy Birthday video, courtesy of Uncle Jay, as always :)

It was a fun, laid back day with our family, and it was perfect :)  Izzy had so much fun, and we all loved celebrating that spunky little lady.  Our littlest squish is one year old!!!  Happy happy birthday Izzy Leigh!  We love you to the moon!

Isabelle: One Year!

Dear Isabelle Leigh,

We made it!!! You are a year old and officially no longer a baby.  I cannot believe it.  While I would never claim that the past year has been easy, I'll admit that I am sad to not have a baby anymore.  Although this is the most fun age!  You love to laugh and clap and crawl and wave.  You throw your arms up in the air when we say "How big is Izzy?".  As soon as you lay eyes on us you start crawling over as fast as your little legs will carry you with a huge smile on your face.   You make us laugh every day, and we utterly adore you :)

Speaking of crawling, you are a crawling machine now.  You're like a little motorboat and you can get around just fine, which I think has made you happier in general.  Once in awhile you will pull up to standing as well, but no cruising yet.  And you haven't been too interested in steps, but I know that day is coming.

You love to pretend that everything is a phone, which is hilarious!  You are always putting things like a brush or a toy up to your ear and saying what sounds like, "Hello?"  I love it!

Your big answer for anything we ask is "Uh uh".  Your sisters get a kick out of asking you all kinds of questions, knowing that your answer will always be the same:

And while we are on a roll with videos, you love to talk!  You have full on conversations with hand gestures and everything... we just wish we understood your language!

And you are so loud!  So, so, so LOUD!  We always say we never met a louder lady.  You love to squawk, and squeal, and yell.  Maybe that's what you have to do to be heard in this house.  But every morning you are up before your sisters and it is impossible to keep you from yelling and waking them up.  Maybe that's all part of your plan.  You are getting up around 6:30 or so, which I am trying desperately to push back to 7:00.  But sometimes you are so loud in there, that I have to go in to try to prevent you from waking your sisters with your squawking.  But you're still a good sleeper.  You sleep 11-12 hours at night without waking up, and you take 2 naps during the day for an hour or two each time.  So I truly can't complain about your sleep.  We are just a 7:00 hour family, not a 6:00 hour family.  The sooner you learn this, the better.

You love books, and I am always finding myself feeling guilty that I don't read to you more.  When Addy was a baby her bedtime routine was so, well, routine I guess.  She got a book every night without fail.  I will admit the same is not true for you.  By the end of the day, it's all Daddy and I can do to get all three of you bathed and in bed.  We do read sometimes, but not every night.  You love Goodnight Moon, just like your sisters did.  I know it won't be long before you're pointing out everything in the book.  (Sidenote: We do read during the day, so don't go thinking that no one ever reads to you ;) )

Big news this month is that you got your first haircut!  So very desperately needed, ha ha!

Before

During

And After!  (You would not cooperate with a picture at the salon, so this was taken the next day)

You still have six teeth, and though it looks like you might get some molars soon, none have pooped through yet.  You were at the doctor a few weeks ago for your first ear infection :(  Our first girl to get an ear infection (of course it was you, ha ha!).  So you had a 10 day course of amoxicillin, and now you are good as new.  But it had to happen while Mommy was away for the weekend and your poor self was so miserable the whole time.  I felt so bad for you.... and for Daddy.

We are officially done with nursing, and we stopped about a week before your birthday.  You were so over it by then.  Most of the time it was a struggle getting you to nurse for even a few minutes once a day, so rather than keep fighting it, I figured you were almost a year old anyway, so we threw in the towel.  I'm lucky that all three of my girls ended the nursing process without a fight.  It was never a big emotional thing for me, as I know it is for many mamas.  You were over it, so we quit.

At your one year doctor appointment you FINALLY reached the 50th percentile for weight!  Yay!  It makes sense because you eat like a horse these days.  You are definitely a better eater than both of your sisters.  You're still in that wonderful stage where you eat almost anything that is put in front of you.  But we have such a hard time getting you to drink.  You won't finish a whole sippy cup in an entire DAY, and even bottles are a struggle.  You maybe get 10-15 oz of fluid a day.  We have still been giving you a 5-6 oz bottle of warm whole milk in the morning and night, and you drink that OK, but throughout the day you won't drink much.  You always just push it away.  We need to start weaning away from the bottle soon, so I wish you liked a cup a bit more.

But Dr. Zimmerman wasn't worried, so I guess I won't be either.  Also, we had your hemoglobin rechecked, and you are no longer anemic, so that's great news!  Your hemoglobin came up from 8 at your nine month appointment to 11.8 now!  No more iron supplements :)  

Here are your stats:

Weight: 20 lbs (50th percentile!)

Length: 30.75 inches (91st percentile)

Head Circumference: 47 cm (92nd percentile)

So all good news there!  You got four shots at this appointment (including the flu shot), which was awful for this poor mama's heart, but you tolerated it like a champ, as always.  You never needed Tylenol or anything and you didn't get any weird reactions or fever.  

The five of us went to OC, MD for the weekend this month, so Mommy got to see you play at the beach, which was great!  You are not a fan of the ocean, but you liked the little tide pools and you liked playing in the sand :)

You loved the surrey cart!  The wind whipping through your hair was right up your alley :)

Other random notes:

You have your own toothbrush and you love it!  If you are cranky we can just hand you your toothbrush and you're happy as a clam:

We went to two amusement parks in a week's time and you were a trooper!

Dutch Wonderland

Knoebels

And last, but not least, we have your 12 month pictures:

You are always fine in the beginning...

And then it progresses...

We had a little family birthday party for you on your actual birthday, so that will be my next post :) 

I can't believe my feisty little baby is one year old!  This year has been a complete whirlwind, and the jump from two to three kids has been a large one for us, but you make it all worth it Iz.  You are fun and funny and loud, and shall I say, spirited ;)  You keep us on our toes and you have the whole family wrapped around your finger.  I could smooch your cheeks all day long... and sometimes I do.  I love you to the moon and back Busy Girl.  Happy first birthday!!

Love,

Mommy

Isabelle: 11 Months!

Dear Belle Belle,

Wow!  You are almost a whole year old!  This is the last blog post that I will write about an infant!!  I cannot even fathom that.  And it makes me sad.  Not that this year was a breeze or anything, because whew, you are a tough cookie, that's for sure.  Aunt Tina and I always joke that you are so easy breezy... the key word being, "joke", ha ha!

 No, breezy you are not, but I love, love, love this stage!  One-year-olds are so much fun!  You are so excited every time you see me.  You get a huge smile on your face and put your arms up for me to pick you up.  Then when I pick you up you pump your little legs with excitement.  You can give "kisses" (which are always open mouthed and slobbery), you can wave in that wrist-twisting way that you do, you clap, and.... drum roll please.... you CRAWL!

Yup, you heard it right, you have started crawling.  You decided to give it a go over 4th of July weekend at Derek's cabin.  Slow at first, but you are really a mover now.

You started by prepping yourself, saying "Go. Go. Go".  Ha ha!

And in a few short days you were on the move!

And speaking of moving, this is the first month that you were able to go from laying down to sitting up all by yourself!  Yup, a little late on the physical developments just like your sisters.  But, also like your sisters, you are a talking machine!  I just lowered your crib from the newborn highest setting a few weeks ago!  All of my friends are amazed by that fact.  So for now your crib mattress is on the middle setting, still not on the lowest one yet since you can't stand up.  I'm sure that'll be coming soon.

You love, love, love your blankie that Dani made you, just like Emma does.  As long as you have that blanket, you are ready to sleep.  I lay you in your crib awake, put your blankie over your head (which you love), and off to snooze-land you go. 

You are also a thumb sucker, just like your sisters.  I only catch you doing it when you are asleep, but here's proof.

You still like your jumper, but I have a feeling those days are nearing their end as well.  Once you are really moving, you will say " So long!" to the jumper.  One of your favorite things to do this month is roll a ball back and forth with someone.  It makes you giggle and you have so much fun with it :)

You are still very verbal, and we laugh at the full on "conversations" that you have.  You love to pretend to put a phone up to your ear and just chat away.  I will have to get a video of that sometime.  I wouldn't say you have any real new words except maybe "uh-oh".  You have started to say that one appropriately.  And you have discovered how to make the "ssssssssss" sound, which you really get a kick out of.

Here is a little video of you chatting before you could crawl this month:

You got your two front teeth, so you no longer have the fangs, ha ha.  Now you're up to 6 teeth.  Four top and two bottom.  You love most "big people" food, and you love pouches, puffs, yogurt bites, and Mum Mums.  I nurse you just once a day in the morning now, and even that is a struggle.  You just are not interested in liquids in any way, shape, or form.  We try breastfeeding, bottle feeding, sippy cup feeding.  We try breast milk, whole milk, water, juice.  We try warm.  We try cold.  You just are not interested.  I'd say you're lucky if you get 10 ounces of fluid a day.  And I think you are supposed to get a minimum of 24 ounces.  We just cannot force you to drink any more.  So we'll see what Dr. Zimmerman says at your next appointment.

You hate to lay on your changing mat... I mean HATE it.  You scream like we're killing you every time we lay you down.  But occasionally you'll be OK with it if we give you your bottle there.  And sometimes you will only drink your bottle on your mat.  Quite the particular little thing, I must say.

 

You went on your first beach trip this month!  I wasn't there because I stayed home with Aunt Tina since she was sick, but Daddy and Grandma took videos and pictures for me.  Here is your first taste of the ocean: (You were not pleased.)

You were a little happier in the pool:

But apparently, you really loved your bucket :)

The ocean?  Too much.  The pool?  Decent.  A bucket of water?  That's more your speed ;)

We took you to your first movie this month!  Finding Dori in the IMAX theater!  Daddy had to walk outside with you a few times, but you did really well, considering your age!

A little summertime pool fun:

I had to throw this photo in because I have this very similar one of Addy at your age.  Big eyes and everything.

You

Addy

No denying that you two are sisters!

Fourth of July weekend with Daddy's hat:

You are so lucky to have two big sisters that adore you.  Addy is like your second mama the way she totes you around. 

And Emma loves to be silly with you:

And, of course we will end with your monthly photos.  It's like clockwork.  You are OK with the Bumbo photos, but you are so over it when I try to lay you on the blanket.  I cannot get you to smile there.  Oh well....

"I hate laying on this blanket!!!"

"Hello?  Is this a phone?  Can anyone save me?"

"NOOOOO!!"

Izzy Leigh, you have such a big personality and we all love you to bits!  You never let us forget that you are there, as you give your sisters a run for their money with the sheer volume of your voice.  Our house is never quiet and certainly never calm, but we wouldn't have it any other way.  You are our littlest nugget and I just love scooping you up and toting you around.  And you love it too.  You love nothing more than having Mommy and Daddy hold you.  You are our last baby, and though this time is crazy and chaotic, I try hard to savor those little moments with you as I know they'll be gone in the blink of an eye.  I love you Isabelle!

Love,

Mommy