Erin is two!

Goodness, the year flew by. We threw Erin a little panda birthday party at home. We had family come over for some dinner and dessert. Of course she had no idea what was going on. She didn't even know what to do with the candles. But, when she's older, she can look at pictures and see what a fun 2nd birthday she had. Here a few pics from the party:

 

2 Year Update

2 Year Stats
Height: 32 3/4 inches (28%)
Weight: 20.7 lbs. (0%)  <------ girl is not gaining weight

She currently hates brushing her teeth or rather hates it when we brush it for her. She's really adamant about doing everything herself, but she obviously doesn't know how to properly brush her teeth yet. I'd say her favorite "toy" is her baby doll. She is constantly changing her diaper, feeding her and taking her to the potty. She got a new kitchen so she's cooking food all the time and giving baby baths in the kitchen sink. She's obsessed with only the Elmo diapers. Ken and I have discovered that our child is a complete copycat, which is pretty normal for this age. We just need to be extra cautious about the things we do and say now (more so me). Whenever I raise my voice or yell, she'll look at me, pointing..saying "no, no, no!".

She's talking all the time. It's amazing how many words she knows now. She recently learned uncle and is now calling every man "uncle", even her grandpa and cousin.  Her counting consists of just the number 3. How old are you? "3!" How many birds do you see? "3!". She's also saying "ME!" all the time. Do you need help? "ME?" Whose is this? "ME!" Can you say Erin? "ME!" The biggest milestone for Erin is that she's now in a toddler bed! My big girl! Although recently, Erin has been going through a weird sleep funk and is having trouble sleeping in her room.

Our biggest struggle with this age has been Erin's growing disobedience. We can tell she's testing us out so she hasn't been a very good listener. We hear Erin saying "No" a lot. Oh, and there has been a lot of unnecessary whining. We've had plenty of stare downs, with me/Ken telling her "No" and her staring at us and not listening. I hope this phase doesn't last too long. However, we haven't had many meltdowns as of late (score!). Another struggle has been her eating or to be more specific, her inability to gain weight. She actually eats decently. Like every kid her age, it comes in waves. But, even though she eats decently, she hasn't been gaining any weight. She's not even on the charts. I'm just hoping she'll just wake up one of these days 5 pounds heavier. We're going to have to put a stick of butter in everything she eats.

It's been such a joy watching Erin grow...mentally, physically, etc. She's always surprising me everyday. I still can't believe she's two! I love coming home and getting big hugs from her and I love forcing her to cuddle with me. She's such a silly goofball and I love that about her.  There have been plenty of rough times this year, but it's been such a great learning experience suffering and overcoming it all. It's such a blessing being her mom and I'm so thankful for my daughter. I can't wait to see how she changes with each year!

Favorites:
Food: She's been eating a lot better these last few months. She still loves her rice and sweets. She's finally eating some fruit now! Oh, and she definitely prefers Gelato over Ice Cream.
Toy: Her baby doll, Mr. Bunny, kitchen supplies.
Book: I am Rosa Parks and Little Pea
TV Show: Curious George
Things to do: jump, cook, play with water, read books

I can't wait till Erin's old enough to answer these favorite interview questions for herself. This will be a good way to see how her responses change as she gets older.

Bump update - First Trimester Recap

I wish I wrote about what my first trimester was like during my first pregnancy. I just remember that I felt sick all the time and didn't want to eat anything. I lost about 10 pounds during that time and food really didn't seem appetizing to me at all during my entire pregnancy. Pregnancy #2 has been a little different. Here's a little comparison chart.

I felt quite nauseous this time around, but I never needed to throw up. No dramatic weight loss this time. I had tons of headaches and although I wanted to eat food, nothing tasted good to me. I had that lingering metallic/sour taste in my mouth (didn't experience with my first). Not kool. Sour candy and mints were my best friends.

Before I took a pregnancy test, there were a few things I noticed that seemed a little off. I was so tired. So tired that I'd sleep at 8:30pm or 9:00pm. Very unusual. Second sign was the bloating. No matter what I ate or what I was doing, I kept feeling bloated, which isn't something I have a problem with. So the day before my expected period, I took a pregnancy test and confirmed my suspicions...I was indeed pregnant. The bloating continued throughout most of the first trimester. During week 5, I experienced a 48 hour period of terrible (TERRIBLE) stomach pain. I'm still not sure if it was actually due to the pregnancy or whether it was because I ate something my stomach didn't like. For most of the first trimester, food always left my stomach feeling terrible. I had the struggle of wanting to eat but not wanting to be in pain. At around 12 weeks, I started to feel SO much better. The nausea, stomach pain and headaches went away. I still can't eat as much as I normally would/could (I feel full a lot faster), but at least I have an appetite and actually want to eat. I'm definitely showing a lot more than I did with Erin. See below:

     20 weeks (Erin) v. 14 weeks (Baby #2)

The mornings have been a little tough because its just me and Erin. It takes me a little longer to get the morning started and it's hard keeping up with Erin while I'm not feeling 100% myself. I know it will only get harder as the pregnancy progresses. I'm laying down more often and Erin's always telling me to get up or she's physically trying to drag me up. She's got a lot more energy now that she's older and she really wants that interaction with someone. This is why I think having a sibling will work out great for her (hopefully). I'm currently about 16 weeks and I'm feeling good. Hopefully I continue to feel like this the entire pregnancy.

Will Erin have a little bro or little sis?? We find out next month! Stay tuned.

New Home

I feel like I move every year. Moving seriously sucks. It's an even bigger pain when there are children involved or someone is pregnant. We have officially moved into our new place. It was an extremely slow and tiring process. We didn't move far from our old place so we moved a little at a time. We downsized by quite a bit. We went from a 4 story, 3 bedroom to a 2 story, 2 bedroom. The reason for this downsize: the old place was just way too big and we're hoping to save more money now so we can buy a home in the next few years. Buying a house = no more moving. It's tough going from such a big place to a much smaller place, but I like it (less to clean). I got to get rid of a lot of junk and the new place is real cozy. We're expecting baby #2 in January so that will be the other challenge. We will be putting both kids in one room. I'm hopeful about it, but I'm also quite nervous. Their room is quite spacious, so I've had a fun time arranging and decorating it. I'm about 75% finished with their room. I've got tons of pictures and art I still need to hang up. Here's a sneak peak of what one side of the room looks like right now.

My favorite thing in the room: the diaper caddy. Gotta love Ikea.

We've introduced Erin to the toddler bed. As expected, she doesn't love it...yet. We don't want to rush her, but we want her to get used to it. Hopefully it won't take too long for her to want to sleep in it..every night. There will be another post soon going into detail about transitioning to a toddler bed.

Lots of changes for us, especially Erin. New home, new bed, soon she'll be diaperless and then she'll be a big sister!

Current Parenting Challange: Nightmares and Night Terrors

Erin's a pretty sensitive little lady. I have to watch what I say and how I say it, because sometimes she takes it the wrong way and she gets upset or sad. She gets startled easily and she's pretty fearful. She's a jumpy gal. We started noticing the nightmares at a pretty young age. I'd say the nightmares started at around 9 months. Erin would wake up very upset unable to go back to sleep. Sometimes it would take hours for us to finally get her to go back to sleep. We didn't think much of the nightmares because it's pretty normal for kids to get them. But, at around 16 months, Erin started experiencing something much worse than nightmares. She would wake up crying endlessly, kicking and screaming, thrashing around in our arms. We just thought she had had a terrible nightmare and was just having a really hard time getting over it. At times it would get frustrating because we couldn't understand why she was so upset. But when it happened again, we knew it wasn't just a nightmare. A night terror is a "sleep disruption that seems similar to a nightmare, but with a far more dramatic presentation." "During a night terror, a child might suddenly sit upright in bed and shout out or scream in distress. The child's breathing and heartbeat might be faster, he or she might sweat, thrash around, and act upset and scared." A big difference between a nightmare and a night terror is that a child will remember their nightmare, but will not remember a night terror (which is a relief). As I was researching more about night terrors, I found out that it was pretty uncommon in kids under the age of 2. Of course that concerned me. So I started asking family and friends if their kids had experienced them and some said they did. I'm wondering if night terrors are more common than people think.

Erin doesn't experience these night terrors every night (thank goodness). But they do happen from time to time (a handful of times so far) and it's been a real challenge/struggle trying to help/comfort Erin the "right" way. The best thing to do is to continue letting the child experience the night terror without waking them up or disturbing them. Even if these night terrors last up to 30 minutes (which they do for Erin), the best thing to do is just sit with them and let it run its course. It's parental instinct to want to comfort and hold your child if you see them in distress. But, we noticed that Erin would cry or scream even louder when we'd say her name or try to comfort her. What happened every time Erin had a night terror thus far was... we'd run over to her room, pick her up and try to console her, ask her if she's ok or if something hurts, tell her everything is ok, walk around with her, show her her favorite toy, offer her a snack or some milk. All of these things were a fail. NOTHING helped the situation or made it pass any faster. In our attempt to "help" Erin, we ended up making the situation worse. It's so heartbreaking seeing your kid scream and cry and not be able to do anything about it.

Some thoughts:

• There's no way I can keep Erin from ever doing or seeing something scary. Hopefully as her as she gets older and her brain matures, she'll have less nightmares. But for now, right before bed, I won't let her watch anything that's too stimulating for her.  Sometimes Ken and I get a little nervous when we take Erin to Disneyland. We aren't sure how she'll respond to some of the things she sees. She's still scared of a lot of the things there. We always hope for a nightmare free night the days we do go.
• Be Patient. The last night terror Erin had was over a month ago. I'll have to keep reminding myself that there isn't anything I can do to help with night terrors. I must remain patient and strong. 
• Getting plenty of sleep usually helps prevent nightmares/night terrors. Early bedtimes are something we try our very best to be consistent about. 

On a more positive note...can't believe we'll be celebrating Erin's 2nd birthday next month!

New Summer Hairdo

I did it! I cut my hair short (it's not that short, but it's short to me)! I even got it colored. I was pretty tired of my long hair and this terribly hot summer wasn't helping. I can't remember the last time I've had it this short. Thought it was time for a little change. Loved how it turned out! Thanks to Genie at e2beauty!

In other news..Erin's hair is finally getting some length! I'm still waiting for it to get much longer before I give her her first haircut. Hopefully her hair will get nice and thick once its cut. She's got some thin hair. At the moment, I'm able to tie a little bun with the hair she has now. See below:

I'd consider this pretty monumental :)