jordan: month 24

Jordan turned 2 this month! I can hardly believe how fast two years has gone by. To celebrate the occasion we had a Yo Gabba Gabba themed birthday party for Jordan. She had such a fun time dancing and playing with her friends, John Benjamin and Abby.

At Jordan’s 2 year check-up she weighed 26 lbs (25 – 50%) and was 35” tall (75 – 90%). She’s a tall, skinny little thing! She’s getting pickier in what she will eat, so I’m trying to think of new and healthy things to give her.

Jordan is quite the little chatterbox and quite expressive when she talks. She will talk with her hands quite a bit. It is still hard to understand what she is saying all the time, but she is getting better. Jordan also loves to sing. Her current favorite song is “If Your Happy & You Know It.” She asks for us all to sing it and do the hand motions together all the time. She also started singing “Jesus Loves Me”, which is the song they are learning this month at church. Jordan will also randomly bust out with the FSU war chant and do the tomahawk chop. She’s ready for football season – too bad it is still months away.

Jordan enjoys coloring in her coloring books, dancing, reading books, and watching her new quasi-favorite show, Barney. She likes to play pretend a lot and will push her stroller around the house holding keys and a purse. She also likes to have conversations on her phone with people. On more than one occasion I’ve heard her talking to her Papa. She also loves to have tea parties.

Jordan seems to be a bit of an OCD person. Messes really bother her – dirt on the floor or her feet or spilled food on her hands or tray. She will say “Uh oh, I made a mess” and want something to clean it up with. I have a bruise on my shin and she thought it was a mess she could clean up with a rag. Too bad she isn’t so concerned about the mess she makes when her toys get scattered everywhere…maybe one day!

She is getting better at naming a few colors. She’s usually good at pointing out things that are pink and sometimes white. She started occasionally pointing out purple, blue, and yellow – though she gets them wrong quite a bit. She will also count things if they are in small sets like twos and threes.

Overall she continues to grow and develop into a wonderful little girl. For now, this will be my last monthly post. I’ll try to post things occasionally about things she does or we all do together.

jordan: month 23

This month is a bulleted list. Sorry, didn't have time to type it all out nicely :)

- Becoming more independent and wants to do things herself – zip things, buckle things, put on own shoes, take off her clothes occasionally.

- Asked “why” when I told her she couldn’t do something

- Using more phrases – “I wanna play” “I do myself” “No, I walk”

- Throws fits often and screams at the top of her lungs when mad about something

- Got her bottom two 2-year molars

- Doesn’t play with baby dolls, but has a stuffed Snuggle fabric softener bear (it was mine from when I was a child) that she calls her baby. She feeds him, pushes him around in a stroller, puts him down for naps, tells me he has to “go poo poo” and will put the bear on her little potty in the bathroom. She carries Snuggle bear all around the house.

- Somewhat understanding I’m pregnant. When I ask her where the baby is she will point to my belly. She will even kiss and hug my belly. Though sometimes when I ask her where the baby is she will pull up her own shirt and point to her belly.

- Can name certain shapes – circle, star

jordan: month 22

Jordan’s vocabulary exploded this month! She likes to point out and name almost everything she sees, which is cute but can get annoying because she will keep repeating the word until you acknowledge her. It makes story time particularly drawn out because she will point out everything on the page while I’m trying to read. I’m glad she is enjoying learning new things though.

Jordan started saying “please” and “thank you” this month. It was so cute and it is nice that she is so polite. Another new thing she says is Frank’s name. She LOVES her big brother Frank and will get all excited and say his name when she sees him. She also calls any dachshund she sees Frank as well. We have a book called The Halloweener that I read to her frequently about a dachshund named Oscar. She will point to Oscar on EVERY page and call him Frank. There is also a pastel I drew of Frank hanging above her dresser that she always points at and says Frank.

Jordan also started asking about what color things are. She seems good at picking out things that are pink (which might possibly be her favorite color at this point) and will occasionally note if something is white or blue. She gets her colors confused sometimes, but she has plenty of time to straighten them out.

Jordan is beginning to get a bit pickier in what she eats. A lot of her “go to” favorites she doesn’t seem interested in anymore. She used to love yogurt and cheese, but a lot of the time now she doesn’t want them. She has been asking for a bowl of cereal with milk for breakfast most mornings. She seems to love it. She’ll eat any cereal, too. One day all I had was Wheat Chex and she gladly ate it all! She also loves to pick up the bowl and drink the leftover milk when she is done. Some of her other favorite foods are french fries, macaroni and cheese, and apple wedges. She also asks for cake and cookies a lot, but rarely gets them.

December also meant it was Christmas and time to see Santa. Jordan did fine with him last year and didn’t seem fazed by him. This year was totally different. She was truly terrified of him and would sob and scream at the top of her lungs. The first time we took pity on her and left, but we went back about a week later to try it again. She had the same reaction, but being the mean parent I am I still wanted the picture. And a picture we got. Don’t worry; I don’t think she’s scarred for life.

Christmas was more fun for Jordan this year since she was able to open her own gifts. Once again, she cleaned up in the amount of gifts she got. She wore herself out that day playing with all her new toys and her Papa, Grandma Franklin, and her Great-Grandparents. She also enjoyed eating a huge quantity of potatoes and corn casserole at dinner. All-in-all I think she had a great day.

jordan: month 21

November was a pretty uneventful month in terms of new things for Jordan. She did get to experience her 2nd Thanksgiving and partake in the food this year. I was more excited than she was. She didn’t want to eat anything other than mashed potatoes and pie. Go figure! All Thanksgiving morning she kept asking for pie! She had never had it before so I’m not sure why she was so fixated on it.

The day after Thanksgiving we put up our Christmas tree. Last year Jordan was not very mobile and didn’t show much interest in the tree. This year was a different story. She loves to look at all the ornaments. We play a game where I say the name of an ornament and she will point to it – stars, balls, Santa, and the picture ornaments of Jordan (she just says baby).

One weekend this month we rented the game Just Dance. Jordan loved it and always wanted to play. She also had to hold the Wii controller as well. She’d even wake up from her nap and ask to play it. Too bad we only had it for a day. It was fun to watch her dance to the songs.

jordan: month 20

Jordan continues to grow up so fast and learn and do new things every day! A few new firsts for Jordan this month was her first ear infection (and a double one at that!), doing a somersault (didn’t know she even knew how), dressing up as Muno for Halloween, and going trick or treating.

Jordan’s vocabulary is also growing rapidly. I’ve lost count on how many words she can say. She is starting to talk more and use words instead of gestures. It can be hard to figure out what she is saying sometimes since some words sound the same.

Jordan is also entering the “terrible twos” early. Wow! She can get so mad so fast now and really tests us. She also screams no at me when she doesn’t want to do something. It can be very frustrating, but I just try to remain calm, breathe, and sometimes just ignore her since she is just looking for a reaction. We have good days and bad. I just tell myself it is just a phase and I must remain consistent with her.

Jordan went to the pediatric dentist for the first time this month. I kept meaning to take her, but let it get away from me. The dentist’s office was great! It is decorated in a jungle theme with animal murals painted on the walls and a Tiki Hut in the exam room. The hygienist and dentist were great with Jordan and were very patient with her when she got scared when they reclined the exam chair. She really liked getting her teeth brushed with the bubblegum toothpaste and also when they squirted water in her mouth. The dentist said Jordan’s teeth looked great and she was rewarded with 2 stickers.

Another great development this month was that Jordan is showing signs of interest in the potty. We noticed she would tug at her diaper and hide when she goes #2. If you can ask her soon enough if she needs to use the potty she will say yes and run to the bathroom. As soon as you get her stripped down and on the toilet she freaks out a little and says she’s done. When we were at the dentist office she even asked to use the potty. I took her in and she didn’t go, but I was impressed that she asked to go. These are great first steps! I think I need to get her her own small potty to help make her feel less scared by the big one.

jordan: month 19

Jordan had an exciting September with her first trip out of the state and her first trip on an airplane. My sister, Beth, got married in Denver, CO and we flew out there for the festivities. Jordan did pretty well on all the flights, but we did have a few bad moments. Jordan decided to bite the tip of her purple crayon off while on the flight to Denver. She proceeded to scream and cry for several minutes while we frantically scrambled to clean her mouth out. She also lost it when I took her chicken mcnugget away because she was just holding it and not eating it. I didn’t want her touching every surface on the plane with it. Speaking of plane surfaces, Jordan decided it was a good idea to lick the airplane window! Eww! I couldn’t help but think of the death flu she’d probably catch by doing that.

Sharing a hotel room with Jordan was a whole other issue. The whole time we were there, Jordan would wake up every 1.5 hours crying in her sleep. We’d have to go pick her up, hold her for a minute, and then lay her back down. Then we’d repeat the process in a few hours. She also would cough. A lot! Since it is so dry out West Jordan would get congested half way through the night and start breathing through her mouth. Her throat would dry out pretty quickly and then the dry coughing would start. As you can probably tell, Chip and I slept pretty terribly that whole weekend. The last night we were in Denver we moved hotels to one closer to the airport. Once again Jordan did her cry-in-her-sleep thing. Unfortunately, the first time I jumped out of bed to calm her down I tripped over a coffee table that I forgot was there, and knocked it over. Not only was it loud and made Jordan wake up and cry even louder, but I got a lump the size of a ping pong ball on my shin and a large bruise on my knee. Ouch!

The wedding itself was nice and Jordan behaved ok, though she had numerous meltdowns during the reception since she was up until 11 pm. She hung in there. Chip and I did barely. We did a lot of passing Jordan around to her relatives. She got to see her great-grandparents again as well as meet my uncle and cousins.

One really cute thing Jordan started doing while we were in Denver was calling my dad “Papa.” That is her way of saying Grandpa. It was so cute! Every morning she’d wake up, stand up in her pack n’ play, point to the front door and say “Papa.” When she’d see him she’d squeal with delight and have to walk with him holding his hand. She is definitely a “Papa’s Girl.” I don’t think my dad minds one bit.

As for the rest of this month, Jordan has now mastered climbing on to furniture. She will climb on the fireplace, the couch, the recliner in her bedroom, and even my bed! She always seems to look so proud of herself when she does it. Unfortunately she also likes to stand up and jump on the couch or bed, which she knows she’s not supposed to. This has led to quite a few time outs. Another new thing Jordan started doing this month is twirling her hair around her index finger when she drank from her cup. Not sure why, but it is cute. Jordan also sounds like she sings songs. She doesn’t say any discernible words, but you can tell by the melody she is singing. Songs we’ve heard her sing include “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and her “ABC’s”.

jordan: month 18

I can hardly believe Jordan is already 1 1/2 years old already! Time seems to have gone by so fast. At Jordan’s 18 month checkup she weighed 24 lbs and was 32.5” long. Her growth continues to be nice and steady.

It seems like Jordan keeps developing new skills and words all the time. It amazes me how much she understands! I need to give her more credit than I do. She may not be able to say a ton of words, but she certainly understands them. A few new words she said this month were color and outside. Jordan can also point out her ears, eyes, nose, mouth and belly button when asked. She is proud of showing off her belly button and even spent most of a trip to Walmart with her shirt pulled up showing it off.

Another thing Jordan started doing this month was helping put Frank in his crate when we go out. I guess she’s seen me do it a number of times, so now she mimics me. She’ll help me corral Frank into his crate and then once I close the door she says and waves bye to him and blows him a kiss (that part is hers, I merely say bye).

Jordan has also developed quite an opinion on things. For some reason I started showing her clothes to wear each day when I’d pick something out for her. She’d say no if she didn’t want to wear something and yes if she did. It was cute at first, but quickly got old when she wouldn’t like most of the things I’d show her. I’d go through like 7 or 8 shirts before she’d agree to wear something. Most of the time now I just pick something out for her and don’t give her a choice. She can pick out her own clothes when she is older!

Jordan still loves to dance, but reading is a close second. Jordan loves for Chip and I to read stories to her and will frequently bring us books to read to her. She also likes the recordable storybooks my parents gave her since she can feel like she is “reading” on her own.

Jordan is now getting to the age where she is testing us a lot. It can be pretty frustrating and has resulted in her getting numerous time outs. We’re having to set more boundaries now and trying to get her to understand what she should and shouldn’t do. She can get very angry, very quickly if she is told no. She now likes to scream at the top of her lungs if she gets angry. Big fun! We just have to be consistent. She’ll even try to do cute things like give us a hug or a kiss if she’s about to get a time out to try to get out of it, but we have to be strong. It’s almost like training Frank all over again! He’d do the same things…except for the screaming J

Jordan has her trying moments, but for the most part she is a wonderful addition to our lives. We won’t sell her to the gypsies just yet ;)