Adelaide: 2 Years Old

Age two sounds a whole lot bigger than age one. At least, today it does.

My princess Adelaide Rose is having a birthday today. We're having a pretty low-key day. It's too cold to go to the zoo like we did last year, and we just felt like taking it easy. She's playing with new birthday toys and we're taking lots of opportunities to celebrate little moments with her. I'm big on everyday adventures and little things that I know I will end up remembering...so, I'm trying to soak up as much of that as I can while I come to terms with the fact that I do not have a "baby" currently.

Milestones: Oh my goodness, Addie. What don't you know how to do? You are proficient at running, climbing, dancing, singing....you name it, we probably do it on a daily basis around here. You're comfortable jumping off Lincoln's toddler bed, you can scale a kitchen chair to gain counter access, and I don't even always have to hold your hand when you are on the stairs.

We've finally had a vast improvement in your sleeping patterns - you now pretty consistently go to sleep somewhere between 8-9:30pm and sleep for usually at least 3-5 hours before waking for the first time. Now, most people might say that's not very good for a little girl who is two, but in our house, it is nothing short of a miracle. Once you're awake, you'll happily cuddle with me and nurse back to sleep in mommy and daddy's bed, and you usually stay there until morning. You have actually slept 9.5 hours THREE times in the last two months, so I have hope that someday I might sleep again.

We never had reflux officially diagnosed, but we started seeing a chiropractor regularly and between having adjustments regularly and just growing bigger, it does not seem to be as much of a problem as it was before.

You are kind of wishy-washy about eating right now. Some days, you like food, but most of the time you prefer to just play with it and then throw it on the kitchen floor. I won't pretend that's not frustrating! I think you're working on your two year molars, so I imagine it hurts to chew right now. We've done lots of soft foods like soup and smoothies recently, and those go over pretty well. You generally like to eat broccoli, pears, apples, carrots, chicken, tomato or broccoli cheddar soup, macaroni and cheese, raisins, grapes, and a few other things.

You are still nursing throughout the day and night. Whenever you decide that you are ready for another nursing session (often 3.8 seconds following the previous one), you sidle up to me and say "I want to nurshhh!" I think nursing has become an occupation for boredom, so I'm trying to encourage you to find other means of entertainment. Being told that you can't nurse at any given moment is equivalent to the end of the world.

Maybe your biggest milestone is your development of language and understanding. Little girl - oh my goodness! I think you know every word there is to know. You use full sentences, all the time. You know exactly what you want and how to communicate that you want it. I only have to remind you to "use words" if you are in a hysterical tantrum. When you were eighteen months old, I was listing off all of the individual words you knew - and since then, you have truly learned more than I could have imagined. I really love being able to communicate with you so well - it makes life less frustrating for both of us.

A few favorite things that you're saying these days:
-"Not worry, mama" or "not worry, brother."
-"I want to read a book a' (with) you!"
-"Where's Inky go?"

You love singing, too, and know at least some of the words to several of Lincoln's favorite songs - Deep and Wide, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Paw Patrol (the theme song), and probably others.

You love coloring (especially with markers), playing outside (the sandbox and slide in our backyard have been your most recent favorites), going for walks, riding in the Ergo, blowing bubbles, and doing anything Lincoln does.

Loves: Currently, you can usually be found carting around the four plush Paw Patrol pups in our collection, plus a few other stuffed dogs. Sometimes Doc McStuffins and crew are along for the ride. You're obsessed with our plush Bowser right now, too.

You like wrapping blankets around you while you're playing, but you dislike being covered with one while you're sleeping.

You can pretty much hold your own with Lincoln these days, but you know that if you start screeching, Mommy will have to come find out what's going on. I think you use that to your advantage pretty frequently. You love playing with Lincoln, though - in spite of your apparent dismay whenever he runs too close to you or snatches away a toy.

 You have been choosing Daddy to snuggle with over me sometimes, and I think it's sweet. You guys have your own special time when you play and watch movies at night while Mommy puts Lincoln to bed. I usually make it downstairs just in time to see you cuddle up with Daddy. So sweet. You ask about Daddy when he is at work or in another room, even.

You love animals and playing dress up and being girly. You have started to pick out some of your own hair accessories each day. I love that you love wearing the bows that I make for you!

One of the cutest things you do is singing "dance together" and twirling around the room with Mommy, Daddy, or Lincoln. The song is found on your Minnie-rella DVD and you think it's the greatest thing. You also like Ring Around the Rosey and the Hokey Pokey.

Hates: You're getting just a little bit better about meeting new people and exploring without mommy. You've hated the church nursery for months and months, but this week you got to move up to the "big kid" class and you just walked in the door happily - then cried when we had to leave. You prefer to warm up to people slowly - if a new person tries to talk to you, you're very shy and usually try to hide.

You still are not a fan of having your teeth brushed. After your dental ordeal earlier this year, I don't really blame you. We faithfully brush your teeth every day. And weirdly enough, you don't hate vitamins! You beg to take your multivitamin "bears," bone/tooth support supplement, and chocolate-flavored cod liver oil. So weird, kid. Really - so weird.

Like most toddlers, you don't like it when you don't get your way. We are working hard right now on learning about obedience and consequences and the like. I won't pretend that that has been fun for any of us.

You seem a little bit frightened of the Abominable Snow Monster in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - but you also like to tell us "he's not scary!" so I'm not sure what's going on in your head.

Weight/Height: I think you weigh a little over 30 pounds and I know you have gotten taller because you have no real problem wearing size 3T leggings and jammies. Your clothes are overall a mix of 2T-3T! You're in size two AppleCheeks cloth diapers. I've toyed with the idea of starting potty training, because I think you can do it....but I have not psyched myself up for that process yet.

If your 2-year molars don't come in soon, I think we are all going to lose our minds! Those mean teeth have been trying to pop through for ages.

You finally have a fair amount of hair, and it's coming in so adorably curly! I am going to cry buckets whenever we have to cut some of your hair, little girl. Buckets.


Last night, I tried to take in every little sighing breath, every squirm and wiggle as you made yourself comfortable in my arms in our now-squeaky rocking chair. Saying goodbye to age one is hard...it's the definitive end of the "baby" stage and you're telling me often (both visually and verbally) that you're a big girl now. You don't have to be too big too fast, little princess. Really. Stay small just as long as you can.

I love you.
Mommy

Adelaide: 18 Months Old

Today, my little girl is closer to age two than age one. Yesterday, she was eighteen months old.

That thing they say about time going by too fast is absolutely true. It seems like maybe I'm dreaming - maybe it's a year ago and she's only six months old? It doesn't seem like she was born yesterday, but it definitely doesn't feel like we should be creeping up on a second birthday, either.

We've absolutely seen a massive increase in personality in the last few months, and I want to capture some of it here, before I forget.

Milestones: You have mastered running in recent weeks. You and your brother terrorize each other running circles around the house. You're also gaining confidence in climbing, walking down stairs, and leaping off of Lincoln's toddler bed.

Sleep is still a complete disaster. I've started to be suspicious that maybe we have been dealing with silent reflux for the last year. It would explain a lot of things about your moods, habits, and especially sleep. The next time we are at the pediatrician, I will definitely be mentioning this to get their thoughts about it. I'm not in love with the idea of you being on a daily medication unless it is absolutely necessary, but there aren't a lot of other treatment options for reflux, so we'll see.

You will eat just about anything, though you do have some preferences. You especially love broccoli, apples, pears, peaches, carrot straws, grapes, chicken nuggets, raisins, applesauce, broccoli cheddar soup, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, and cheese of any kind. You don't seem to have the same need for starchy foods that mommy does - you'll take or leave bread, fries, or baked potatoes.

You nurse throughout the day and night and seem to think it is ultimately your right to have access whenever needed. You beat on my chest and demand "Nuh!" and wail piteously if you are told no.

When you turned one, you were just starting to babble some "real" words. Oh my goodness. The list of words you know now is definitely more than I can count - but here are the ones I can remember.

Mama, Dada, Bun (my mom), Pa (my dad), Nana (Andrew's mom), Papa (Andrew's dad), Ad (yourself), Ing-ing (Licoln), chair, ball, Doc, "meemie" (Lambie), Belle, princess, mermaid, car, bath, flower, bird or sometimes "tweet-tweet", shark, fishie, Pooh, choo-choo, "Mah" (Tramp from Lady & the Tramp), colors (crayons), blue, block, turn (as in "my turn"), shoes, bow, cup, "who-who" (owl), "uh-huh" and "uh-uh" for yes and no, awww, and eyes.

You also will recite the sounds of lots of animals - woof-woof (dog), moooow (cat), mmmm (cow), quack-quack (duck), tweet-tweet (bird), ssssss (snake), ooh-ooh, aah-aah (monkey), roar (lion, tiger, dinosaur), "who-who" (owl), and more that I can't remember.

You also tell me when you are pooping. The look on your face is priceless. I'm hoping this means potty training you will be easier than it is for Lincoln.

You recognize items in books or in our house and point to them when prompted. You can stand on your tiptoes to peek out the window at a firetruck with Lincoln. You like to scribble with crayons. You understand simple instructions, even if you don't like to listen. You love going down slides (and shouting "help! help!" when you get to the top but can't quite get your feet positioned correctly. You love to dance, especially with Mommy and Lincoln.

Loves: Your favorite toys are your two plush Doc McStuffins, plush Lambie, and plush lamb that you think is another Lambie. It's actually getting to the point where your refuse to do anything without all four of these toys and that's getting ridiculous.

You love playing with Lincoln and roughhousing with him as much as possible. You're not quite big enough to keep up with him, but you try your best - and if you don't get a turn at something, heaven help us all.

You really miss Daddy when he is gone at work and ask for him throughout the day. You like to snuggle with him when he comes home and while Mommy puts Lincoln to bed at night.

You like going to the park and going for walks in the stroller (usually). You love all the animals at the zoo! You also really like your headbands and ask for a bow if we leave the house and you don't have one on your head. I'm a proud mama.

Hates: You still only have a few people in your circle of trust - grandparents, Daddy, and sometimes other kids. Other than that, you don't love interacting with anyone else and you greet anyone who tries to approach you with a scowl. You especially hate the church nursery.

You hate having your teeth or mouth touched. I have another post in the works to talk about our ordeal with early childhood caries - or dental decay - at your extremely young age. Sigh! You've been poked and prodded in the mouth a lot in the last couple of months, and you clam your lips shut if anyone even comes near your mouth now.

You don't like to be told no, and we've had some pretty epic toddler meltdowns over this recently. You're kind of grumpy for mommy a lot of the time, but as long as you get to nurse frequently, you are not too whiny.

Weight/Height: At your pediatrician's visit last week, you weighed 27 pounds, 10 ounces (95th percentile). You're 32 1/2 inches tall (75th percentile). You're wearing almost entirely 18-24month and 2T clothing! You're in size two AppleCheeks cloth diapers.

You now have 12 teeth (4 front on top and bottom plus 1-year molars), but you're working on all four eye teeth. They are worse than molars! Of your 12 teeth, 4 of them are decayed....unfortunately probably past the point of us being able to fix them without a dental procedure. I want to elaborate on this, but it will turn into another novel - so I'll save it for a new post later this week or next.

Your hair is coming in finally, in little tufts that stick up all over your head. I'm holding out hope that we can do real pigtails soon! Every time I've tried so far, you have not been pleased about it.


I'm in shock that it's almost time for me to start planning a second birthday party, but that seems to just be how life goes! I'm so blessed to have this beautiful girl as my own, and every day I cherish her more. I'm holding her tight - trying to keep her little for just a little while longer.

My Toddler's Favorite Foods {Toddler Time Tuesday}

Friends, I have obviously failed at the weekly link-up post. I thought I had it in me to be diligent and post every single week. I honestly think my success rate would have been higher if my children had managed to stay healthy this winter. We are on week six of one or both of them (or all of us) being sick, and I am desperately hoping the end is near!

So, please take my mind off how many times I have wiped snot off someone's face today and let's have a fun discussion - about toddler food!

I wrote a post awhile back about what to feed a toddler, expecting that my kids would continue to eat the lovely variety represented and expand their taste buds often. HA. Apparently, that's not the way it works around here.

Lincoln has decided recently that he is not a fan of really anything. We battle over foods like pizza, chicken nuggets, and macaroni and cheese. Obviously I'm not being a food dictator when those are the options set before him! Sometimes he loves them and will eat with no reserve - and other times, he flat out refuses. Lately the only things he has actually wanted to eat are toast, crackers, and more toast.

Addie has a wider palate at the moment, thankfully. She refuses most grains and prefers to devour bits of most things offered - but she primarily prefers broccoli or cheese. She frequently asks for cheese at meal times.

Both kids are still eating me out of house and home with their applesauce consumption, and they will both nurse or eat sugar at any given opportunity. I know they aren't starving, but I wish I had more tricks to get them to enjoy eating healthy things like vegetables. I can only make muffins so often!

Now it's your turn! Link up a post below talking about your toddlers and their food habits. I'd love to hear some tips to inspire healthy eating habits! 

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.directorjewels.com" title="Director Jewels" target="_blank"><img src="http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a65/christinedaae17/toddler-time-tuesdays-blog-icon-125x125_zpsefdb8a6b.png" alt="Director Jewels" style="border:none;" /></a>

Don't forget to plan ahead for our next toddler discussion!

Upcoming Toddler Time Tuesday Topics
March 25 - Mommy's Favorite Foods
  April 1 - Nursery Tour
  April 8 - Something You Love About Your Child

Adelaide: 1 Year Old

One year old. That's the latest around here. We celebrated Addie's first birthday on Monday. I know I talk a lot about how I'm not in a hurry, but somehow time keeps marching right on anyway. But it's not marching. It's racing down an absurdly steep roller coaster track, getting faster and faster every day. It really seems like it was minutes ago that I felt like we had waited forever to meet our Adelaide. Her amazing birth can't have been so long ago.

The time has flown with you, baby princess. I am striving to enjoy every minute, even in spite of whatever craziness may come our way. This week is, again, crazy - because I am working on your upcoming birthday bash!

Milestones: There is no more crawling in our house, ever. You are on your feet, trying your very best to keep up with Lincoln, all the time. You love to grab things you know you are not supposed to have and "run away" with them. Your version of running is to take several quick steps away from me (half the time you fall over from all this effort), and while I do my best not to laugh at you while you are being naughty, it's one of my favorite things that you do right now.

You're pretty consistently taking one or two naps a day right now. This may not seem like much to the average parent, but for me, it's miraculous. You are an incredibly light sleeper, though, so it's a tough task to keep Lincoln quiet while you are resting. Nighttime sleep has not really changed at all. You just don't want to lie down and be away from me. Every few nights, I am able to put you down for an hour or two and that helps my sanity.

We're still practicing baby-led weaning and I have been offering you more foods in the last month. You've tried lots of new things lately, and the only one you completely turned your nose up at was carrots. You still want to nurse frequently during the day and at least a couple of times in the night. We made it easily to a full year of nursing and I have no plan to stop until you are ready. If you take after your brother, that could be quite some time, since your first birthday also marked one year of tandem nursing for me.

You say "mama," "dada," and "brother" fairy consistently still, though sometimes I doubt whether you understand them. One word that you clearly know is "Piper" - Grandma (Bun) and Grandpa (Pa)'s dog. Or, possibly you just think that all dogs are called "Piper" because we've heard you refer to other dogs the same way. You are startle to babble even more, with "words" that are sounding more real all the time.

Maybe my favorite milestone? Just a day or two before your birthday, you started to give "loves" to your toys and books. You will do this on command now, and it is the cutest thing. You'll give love to just about anything or anybody right now. I don't want this stage to end!

You also have recently started to dance whenever you hear music - or when we say "dance, Addie!" You swing your arms from side to side when you dance and it is adorable.

Loves:  Right now, you adore baby dolls, Lincoln's cars, and especially books. The first thing you do when you wake up in the morning is toddle over to the bookshelf, select a favorite, and find a lap to sit in with your book. You'll bring the book up to me, hand it over, then turn around and back yourself into my lap, ready to read. I love it. Lincoln loves books too, but in a very different way. I am enjoying the little bookworm I have on my hands!

You and Lincoln have become better friends in the last month, but you're still too little to understand that you can't play as roughly as brother. Lincoln receives multiple admonitions each day because he pulls you over or knocks you down or sits on you. Sometimes you don't mind, and the two of you giggle yourselves silly. Other times (more often), you start screaming. He is very affectionate right now - he'll come up to you and hug your neck and say "awwww, cute baby!"

You love snuggling with Daddy when he comes home from work each day, and you try your hardest to be involved in the roughhousing that goes on around here.

Hates: You do not like it when you don't get your way. You're developing quite a little attitude. Surprisingly, you did not hate your Halloween costume. I expected you would since getting dressed and changing your diaper is almost always a battle. 

You have a few choice people that you know - mostly grandparents - and anyone else who tries to talk to you is met with the most sorrowful face you could ever imagine. And heaven help them if they try to hold you or even touch you!

You still utterly despise your car seat. We went out of town just before your birthday and you were most unhappy about having to ride so long in the van.

Weight/Height: You stood on our scale a couple days ago and it said 24 pounds. 24 pounds! 12-18 month clothes are fitting pretty well lately. Baby girl outfits are ridiculously adorable, and I love picking out what my tiny fashionista will wear every day.

You still have just 6 teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom), but I am expecting a whole bunch of them to pop through all at once, anytime now. You've had teething symptoms for weeks.

I put your hair in tiny baby pigtails last week and it was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. You weren't very happy about it, but we'll try again when you have a little bit more hair.

Precious little girl, you have changed our lives for the better and we are so glad to know you. I can't wait to see what the next year brings - and I have an idea it will fly by even faster than this one did.

Adelaide: 11 Months Old

Miss Adelaide, writing your eleven month post means that we are just a few short weeks away from your first birthday. I really just can't believe it. At all. This year has gone so quickly.

Milestones: Well, we have a big one this month. I thought you might take your time, but you sure showed me. One measly day after you turned ten months old, you took about three steps. It was after Lincoln had gone to bed and we were downstairs watching a movie or something. You pulled yourself up and stood there for a few seconds...then took one step. And then, a couple more. And then you were quite proud of yourself. It's taken you most of the month to get the hang of it. For the first couple of weeks, you just took a step here or there and kept on cruising around the couch. But for the last few days, it has seemed like you are walking more than you are crawling. And, you're getting faster.

Sleep is still a battle. You won't sleep at night unless you are with me. I'm used to that now, but I do get pretty frustrated that I don't have any time when "the kids are in bed" to write or work on craft projects. One of these days...I'm sure I'll miss the snuggles, so I try very hard to appreciate them. 

You haven't cared about food quite as much in the last couple of weeks - unless it is whatever Lincoln has. You don't want to eat pouches or pear puree. You want crackers and cheese and spaghetti. I've been letting you try a few more things and will probably continue to introduce more foods in the next month. We love baby-led weaning! You nurse often, 6-8 times a day and (I think) anywhere from 2-5 times a night.

I'm pretty sure that some of your words - "mama," "dada," and "brother" are real. You repeat lots of sounds and babble constantly. You'll definitely be talking sooner than Lincoln did at this rate!

You won't clap your hands or wave on command anymore. It was so cute - I wish you would do it again.

Loves: You still love Lincoln the most - even though I have to watch you two constantly because he tries to smother you with love multiple times a day. He's also starting to push you away if you get close to whatever he is playing with, so we're trying to teach both of you the art of kindness and sharing.

You are thrilled when Daddy comes home from work and you love to laugh and play with him. You love seeing your grandparents, too. Today, Grandma - or "Bun" as Lincoln calls her - ran some errands with us, and when she walked away from you, you were so sad!

Hates: Just take a look at these pictures and I think it's obvious that you do not like to be told what to do. You have your own opinion about how things should go, and lately you've been pretty unhappy if anything happens to the contrary. You've already perfected the arched back and screaming of a full-blown tantrum!

Now that you can walk, you're even more determined to be involved in everything that goes on. You find it quite unacceptable if anyone is doing anything that looks like fun without you.

Weight/Height: I'm not sure what your measurements are exactly, but you're still on your way to growing into those 12-18 month clothes! Some of them already fit you pretty well, but the pj legs swim on you when you try to walk. The pants I bought you for fall are 18-24 months and they fit you fine already! It's partly the cloth diapers, but partly those chubby little legs.

Your hair is still coming in - slowly, but I can see progress. Yay! You've figured out that it is fun to pull headbands off of your head, but I'm trying to discourage that practice.

One more month until your first birthday, little baby princess. Mommy is in shock. I hope that I don't forget any of the sweet little things that you do - and that you (somehow) don't grow up too fast. I love you, precious baby girl.

Baby Led Weaning Update

Little Miss Addie is a little bit obsessed with food. If she spies a cracker that Lincoln dropped on the floor, she can hightail it to that crumb faster than anything! Ever since she had her first taste of solid foods at seven months old, she has been intrigued by anything that looks appetizing.

Since she had an obvious dairy sensitivity when she was very small, I have been hesitant to introduce her tummy to dairy directly. She has had a smidgen here or there (half a noodle covered in cheese, a bite of mashed potatoes with cream in them), but by far the vast majority of things she eats are fresh fruits and veggies. We decided to take a baby-led weaning approach with her, and I love the way this decision has turned out for us!

What is baby-led weaning? The best way I can define it is, a more relaxed introduction to solid foods. No jars of baby food, no spoons. I give her small pieces of some foods (chicken, baked potato, broccoli) and let her hold and take bites of others (pears, peaches, bananas, avocados). I do still give her some pureed foods - like homemade pear sauce - as I have found that too many solids tend to stop up her system.

Peaches are a favorite.

If nothing else, this approach to learning to eat has proved to me that baby-led weaning may actually make for less picky kids. This little girl loves almost everything that comes her way! Some of her favorites are broccoli (which Lincoln won't touch) and prunes.

Banana

Sure, there are some messes. Have you ever picked up a banana after it's been handled, mashed and thrown to the floor by a baby? Super gross! But she's so adorable that I don't mind.

Corn on the Cob

Chubby hands!

Spaghetti noodles

Watermelon

Do you have any experience with baby-led weaning? I love it and will definitely be going this route with any future kids we are blessed to have!

More Squeeze with Eeeeze, Pretty Please!

Disclosure: The Sili Company sent me a Squeeze with Eeeze to review. No compensation was received and all views expressed are my own.

Have you ever found one of those products that makes you say - Wow. How did I live without this? That is what I thought when I tried our Sili Squeeze with Eeeze for the first time.

I had been admiring these handy little refillable squeeze bottles for some time when I noticed on the Sili Squeeze Facebook page that they were looking for bloggers to review their products. I could not resist. We're a little bit obsessed with applesauce pouches, but I really prefer to make my own purées, when time allows. The problem with homemade baby food is it requires a bowl and spoon and way more time than a pouch. Not to mention, the kids get far more excited over a pouch of food than a bowl. I don't know why, but that's just the way it is.

Available in multiple sizes and styles, Sili Squeeze was destined to become a necessity in our house. The pouches are made of silicone and are BPA- PVC- and Phthalate- free. There are two spout types - the original Sili Squeeze has a spill-proof top, and the Squeeze with Eeeze is free-flowing (similar to the grocery store pouches). We opted for an Eeeze, since my kids are obsessed with pouches already.

It took Addie a few tries to get the hang of using the Squeeze with Eeeze, but once she figured it out, she was pretty excited! She has to remind herself how to use it when I bring it out sometimes as well. It's a little different than a grocery store pouch - to get food out, kids have to simultaneously bite the spout and squeeze the bottle. That's a lot for a baby to remember, but she's doing great.

The spout has a screw top that is secure enough I'm not worried my kids will pull it off. The attached lid is amazing - just toss the whole thing in the diaper bag and you are set to have yummy snacks on your adventures!

By far, my favorite feature is that the Sili Squeeze with Eeeze is completely dishwasher safe. It's no secret that I hate washing dishes, so when I consider a new product, the very first thing I check is if I have to wash it by hand. The Sili Company obviously knows that mamas with little ones don't have time to deal with sinks full of dishes!

Lincoln, at age two and a half, figured out how the Squeeze with Eeeze worked right away, and it constantly asking for "MORE SAUCE!!!" when he sees Adelaide use this pouch. I think they are each going to receive another one in their Christmas stockings this year.

The Sili Squeeze with Eeeze will undoubtedly be a staple in our house for years to come. We'll put them to use with these kids and future babies - but even after everyone has graduated from eating baby food, the Squeeze is perfect for taking applesauce or smoothies on the go. I may even surprise the hubby with one for Christmas so he can have awesome smoothies at work next year! This is a wonderful product and it gets our wholehearted stamp of approval.

Just make sure, if you have a Squeeze with Eeeze, that you keep an eye on any child who does not yet grasp the concept of making messes. You just may end up with something like this on your hands.

You can find more info on the Sili Company's website, Facebook, and Twitter.

Disclosure: The Sili Company sent me a Squeeze with Eeeze to review. No compensation was received and all views expressed are my own. For more info, you can read my Disclosure Policy.

Adelaide: 10 Months Old

I had three drama classes start last week and while I did manage to get Addie's month photos taken on the proper day, a blog post just did not happen. Better late than never, right?

Milestones: All that you want to do lately is move! You get faster at crawling every day. You pull up on everything. You also can stand on your own, for quite substantial amounts of time - a couple of days ago I counted and you stood for 37 seconds! I really thought you were going to take your time walking, but now I feel like it could be very soon!

There still isn't a lot of progress on the sleep front, but there have been small improvements. You still prefer to sleep on me (usually while nursing), but almost every day this week I have been able to put you down for at least one nap and sometimes two. You even slept for an hour and a half one day recently. For us? That's a miracle. I love all the snuggling, though, and am trying to appreciate it while it lasts. Even on nights when I can't set you down at all.

You love to eat. We are still doing mostly baby-led weaning, but we haven't done well with meal planning this month so our meals have been interesting and not necessarily baby friendly (ie, we ordered pizza at least twice last week. Don't judge). Your tummy also doesn't love when you eat huge amounts of solid foods. I try to keep up with making food for you - like homemade pear puree - but again, haven't done great with that. So it's a split between baby-led weaning, homemade baby food, and organic fruit and veggie pouches. You still nurse all the time - at least 8 times a day and probably two to three times in the night.

I think you are really trying to talk to us! I'm pretty sure "mama" and "dada" are real words now. You also repeat "ba-ba-ba" when I say "baby," "pup-pup-pup" when I say "puppy," and the other day I think you said "na-na" when I said "nurse." Lincoln's first word (ball) was not until he was 16 months old, so this is crazy fun (and weird) for us!

You started clapping your hands when we went to the circus and now it is one of your favorite things to do. You clap anytime someone says "yay" or when we say "Addie, clap your hands!" So cute that you understand what we are saying.

Loves: Your favorite person is Lincoln. You chase him around all day. He has also become quite demanding when it comes to what you are doing. As soon as you wake up in the morning, he shouts "MOMMY! Baby 'wake! Baby, crawl! DOWN! Baby, crawl!" and he crawls with you up the hallway to the living room to start the day of play. 

You've been snuggling with Daddy a lot this month and have spent a lot of time watching TV and sleeping on his shoulder lately. You get so excited when he comes home from work every day!

Hates: You still don't like sleeping. You don't like to sit in the car unless it is moving. You don't like having your diaper changed - too many other fun things to do.

You want to be involved in everything that is going on. You are constantly watching to see where Lincoln is or what I am doing, and if you aren't allowed to join in, you are less than pleased!

Weight/Height: Your rolls are disappearing and I didn't realize how much I loved all that chubbiness. You have pretty much outgrown 6-9 month clothes and are wearing 9-12 month now. I've been purchasing 12-18 month outfits for fall and I think you'll fit into them soon. Your hair is coming in slowly, but it's fluffy and I love it. I keep pinching it to see how soon I can clip something in - still a ways to go, I think.

Now that you are ten months old, we are less than two months from your first birthday. And that, my little princess, is just all kinds of crazy. I've started pinning party ideas and I can't wait to craft some clever projects for you. I'm trying to enjoy these last weeks when you are still my tiny baby - before you turn into a rambunctious little toddler!