Duck Feet

Last weekend we got out the little pool for Esme to enjoy in the backyard.  She was hesitant at first but soon jumped right in and started playing with her toys.  The hose water was so cold that we added a little hot water to make it warm and it must have been super comfortable cause shortly afterwards she stood up and I noticed this large lump on her butt.  Turns out she pooped in her bathing suit!  So it was a short lived pool adventure that day but maybe we'll try again this coming weekend with better luck.  

Esme's molars are giving her a hard time right now.  Last weekend her upper left one popped through so we're just waiting for the lower left one to come up.  She's had her fussy moments and she's been waking up earlier than normal.  Poor thing!  It doesn't stop her from talking and singing though.  Her latest song is Baby Beluga, which comes out sounding like "baby beh-woo."  She's also started saying "see ya" whenever she says bye to someone.  She even says it to me when we kiss goodnight and Allen takes her upstairs for her bath.  It's amazing how fast she's picking up on words and signs now.  She's gone through a whiny phase over the past few months but she's getting better at signing help and please when she wants something.  Other signs include airplane, hat, shoes, birdie, diaper, and all the originals still.      

                                                                 

     Esme loves her duck feet and wants them on over her footed pj's and then when we take the pj's off she wants them back on 

               
                      First pool adventure                                                                    "Piano lessons" from daddy    
                                                                    
                                                                             This is her gardening outfit

Parent-Teacher Conferences

June has been parent-teacher conference month at Ms Faye's Daycare/Pre-school so we met with Ms Faye last week to see where Esme's at.  She went over basic developmental milestones for kids in the 12-24 month range and what they've observed Esme doing, what they're currently working on with her, and what they haven't seen her do yet.  It was great to hear more about her day to day routine other than the tiny tidbits that Allen and I hear when we drop her off and pick her up.  So far she's understanding everything they say in Mandarin but only speaking a little.  

They say Esme's a very happy kiddo overall.  She loves playing and interacting with the older kids and doesn't seem to have any idea that she's so much smaller than them.  She's recently transitioned to eating at the big kid table but has a hard time waiting her turn for the food to be dished up.  They've learned that if they give her milk first then she's distracted enough to wait for her food.  They used to try get Esme to point to a body part before each bite to eat but she wasn't cooperating and they learned that Esme'd rather eat everything first and then she'll point to all the body parts they ask for.  Looks like she's got her priorities straight ;)  They're also teaching her to drink out of a normal cup instead of a sippy cup.  Allen and I are not that brave at home!

Esme's now taking naps in the big kid room in the afternoon which was shocking to me.  They just lie all the kids down on their own mat/blanket in the afternoon and she just follows suit.  She still has her pack-n-play for morning naps though.  Ms Faye said Esme really likes clapping to a beat and rhythms/music.  That would explain all the singing she's been doing at home.  It's so nice to know all the great things she's learning at daycare and we couldn't be happier with where she's at.          

While rotating the old/new clothes in Esme's dresser drawers, she found this jacket in the new pile and immediately wanted to wear it.   

Happy Father's Day

Unfortunately Allen had to work today but Esme made sure to save some play time in the afternoon for him. We actually went to the children's museum when he got home and then took him out to dinner.  Esme usually does pretty good at restaurants if we have the right distractions, the best one being a snack cup full of grapes that we save until our food comes.  Tonight she was even nice enough to spill an entire glass of water in my lap instead of daddy's. Ha ha!

The other exciting thing about today is that both her top and bottom right sided molars came through!  Woohoo!  To tell you the truth, she hasn't been fussy, no runny nose, and her sleep is normal so no complaints from us.  It'll be interesting to see what changes this'll bring as far as her eating goes.  She's pretty adventurous and tries everything but whether or not she swallows it is another story.  This weekend Esme tried quinoa multiple times and really likes it.

Last week she came home from daycare and said the name of one of her friends there - Bella.  It sounds more like Beh-wah but she loves to say it over and over.  She says dada all the time, and now Bella too, but will only say mama if we say it first.  Sheesh!

               
                 First she attempted the drumstick with a fork.                                          Then she gave up and used her hands and teeth.
               
         This is what happens when she feeds herself yogurt.                                                 Playing in the tunnel with daddy.

Sing A Little Song

Esme's been enjoying singing lately and she has all sorts of different tunes for us.  So far the only ones I know are Twinkle Twinkle and Old Macdonald.  At least that's what I think they are but I guess I should check with Ms Faye to see what exactly they're singing at daycare since that's where she picks it up mostly.  She's very intrigued with the hand motions for The Itsy Bitsy Spider that we've been working on at home also.  Still no signs of her molars but she continues to drool all day long.  We've recently discovered that she likes to eat her food on a divided plate or in a bowl instead of just on top of her high chair tray.  For the most part she's less messy when she eats this way and she attempts with her fork and spoon more.  We've been trying to eat dinner together in the evening but eating is still a work in progress for little Esme.  Next week we have parent-teacher conferences at daycare so it'll be nice to hear how she's doing.  We'll keep you posted and in the meantime here's some pictures from last week......      

               
                                Eating her veggies                                                                  Wearing her blanket so it doesn't drag on the ground :)
               
           Eating the window markers in Aunty B's hotel room                                                        Getting some love from Aunty B

Get Well Uncle Josh

Esme and I went on a last minute trip to San Diego last weekend to see our favorite Marine - Uncle Josh!  Unfortunately he was seriously injured while training in CA and had to have surgery so Hannah flew out to be with him and we decided to join the get well crew.  They were hanging out on Coronado Island until Josh was cleared to fly home to North Carolina today.  Esme provided daily entertainment for everyone with her singing and she enjoyed having a pal on all our outings - Uncle Josh in the wheelchair while she was in her stroller :)  Unfortunately we never got a picture of Hannah and I pushing these two around but we made some good memories anyways.  More pics later.......    

 

Happy Memorial Day

We enjoyed a few days in Portland for the holiday weekend and Esme got to see all her cousins, great aunts and uncles, and also great-grandparents.  Despite the travel and being out of her normal routine she was on her best behavior and wowed everyone with all her little tricks ;)  She's turning into quite the little monkey.  Ha ha!  Best of all for us was that she tolerated the long car ride by sleeping most of the time and we only had to stop once for some fresh air.  Then today she helped Allen work on replacing some of the wood on the deck.  That was a short lived adventure as she kept wanting to chew on all his tools.  Her molars are still bulging but nothing's come through just yet.  I bet they'll all come through at the same time.  

This was exactly how she wanted to go to daycare last week.  It took me awhile to convince her otherwise.

 

Handing daddy tools

She still hasn't lost those arm rolls ;)

Lots Of Shots

Esme had her 15 month physical today and passed with flying colors.  She demonstrated some climbing in the exam room and some of her other great tricks.  Her weight was 21# 15oz and height was 30in so she's 50% for both.  Today we also noticed that her lower right lateral incisor is finally popping through so that would explain the runny nose she's had lately.  Apparently her molars are on their way up too but they're still below the surface.  She got four shots today and cried initially but was over it as soon as she could sit up.  Even I handled it better than before :)  Now she just has one more shot in the fall (which we'll just add on with her flu shot) and then nothing else till she's 4 years old!  All her physicals between now and then will be shot free!

Our little prodigy :)

Silly Little Girl

We don't wear shoes in the house so Esme was so excited when I ordered a pair in the mail and she got to wear them inside.  She could barely make it a few steps but she kept trying.  It's the little things in life ;)

She loves her new helmet and wears it everywhere when she's outside.  

Esme is fascinated with glasses.  She loves to take them off our face and attempt to put them on her own.  Of course she always ends up needing help and then as soon as we put them on her she pulls them off again.  And then she wants to do it all over again!  Phew!

Esme's learning to work on her engine.  Ha ha!

Fifteen Months Old

Esme will have her 15 month physical next week but today marks the day.  She's really coming along with her language.  She can say dada, doggie, duck, uh-oh, hi, and no clearly.  Once in awhile she'll imitate what we'll say and she's said mama in the past but it's not consistent.  She's still signing too - milk, more, eat, diaper, birdie, all done, and please.  The only sentence she's made so far is "hi doggie."  As for Mandarin, she can say hello and thank you and she's working on saying light.  We catch her singing among her babble sometimes and we figure it must be songs she's learned at daycare.  She can also point to all her facial body parts when she's asked in Mandarin and some in English.  Of course she understands both languages better than she can communicate back to us at this point.

Esme's walking and running all over the place and recently been trying to climb up on everything.  She likes to find things that can act as a stool to help boost her up onto the couch, look in drawers, etc.  She can go up and down the stairs on her tummy but she's also trying to master walking up steps with holding on to someone's hands.  We just got her a helmet for her little push bike so she's nice and safe.  She hasn't quite mastered holding onto the handles which are far apart.  Instead she likes to put her hands really close together in the center of the bar. 

Her favorite foods continue to be blueberries, grapes, strawberries, and yogurt.  Next would probably be rice and noodles.  Thank goodness for daycare cause apparently she eats great when she's there.  Ms Faye says she wishes all her kids could eat as good as Esme.  At home it's really hit or miss.  We continue to give her all the foods we're eating and she'll at least try them before mashing it up on her tray and then rubbing it on her chest or in her hair.  We're still able to give her my frozen breastmilk and she also gets whole milk and water to drink.

Esme fits 12 month clothes just right and her feet might actually be a size 3 now.  Her hair is also filling in and getting longer but we haven't had it cut yet.  I just put it in a ponytail so it's out of her eyes and that seems to work for now.  She hasn't gotten a new tooth for a few months so she just has the 4 on top and 3 on bottom.  She's not a big fan of flossing and brushing her teeth so it's a struggle for all of us.  I caved and bought her an electric toothbrush and that helped for a few days but now we're back to where we used to be.  She likes to walk around with it in her mouth and every once in awhile we'll try to aim it towards her teeth and get a few brushes in.  It's a long process :)

Part of Esme's bedtime routine includes reading books and her current two favorite are The Napping House and On The Night You Were Born.  She likes to point out and say doggie in The Napping House and duck in On The Night You Were Born.  She's also really interested in books with pictures of other kids.  There's a stack of books on her nightstand and we point to each one and she lets us know which one she wants us to read by grunting.  If it's the right one she settles right down in your lap but if it's the wrong one she fusses and squirms around.

Esme's first car

She found the gas pedal :)  Go car, go!

Happy Mother's Day

Esme gave me a great treat this morning and actually slept in a bit.  Instead of getting up at 6am she woke up closer to 7am :)  On Friday she also gave me my first piece of Mother's Day art from daycare.  They used a cut out of her hands to make a flower and a cutout of her feet to make the leaves.  It totally brought tears to my eyes!  Today we're hoping to go on a hike with Esme in the Ergo on my back.  We picked a hike close to home so that we don't have to travel too far and hopefully she holds up okay.  She's had a runny nose and cough for the past few days and I think it's more of a cold than teething but we'll see.  She's been more fussy too but as long as we keep her distracted she's good.