Tuesday, November 29, 2011

19 months old

Today I watched my little angel playing at her Top Tots group with a sense of nostalgia... As I keep saying in almost every update I post, it was like yesterday that she was a floppy, helpless little being who required every second of my attention (when she wasn't sleeping of course) and now she is a determined, happy, entertaining, gorgeous little 19 month old!

Lily is really such a blessing and I look forward to seeing her smiling face every single morning.  She is honestly a happy little thing who greets me as I open her door with a "morning" or "hello".  Truly heart melting!  As I've said before, her vocabulary increases by the day and it seems like I only have to tell her something once and she is like a sponge - soaks it all in AND retains the information as well.  Such a proud mommy over here!

Some cute little things to note is that she battles to start a word with the letter "f".  So a frog is a "rog" and a "phone" is a "wofe" for example.  She also can't quite grasp the pronunciation of monkey.  Instead Lily's version of the word is "monic"!  I can't help but giggle every time I hear it.

I'm still battling with Lily's eating habits, making meal times a true challenge in terms of actually getting anything down as well as controlling my frustration levels.  Vegetables are a no-no, but sometimes I manage to get her to eat a veggie finger or two and I've also resorted to making flapjacks with hidden pureed cauliflower and butternut in the mixture.  She isn't a fan though - think she has cottoned on to the fact that they're not quite "legitimate" flapjacks.  She does however love sausage, apples and cheese.  Yoghurt used to be a favourite, something I could rely on, but sadly no longer...  I'm really hoping that her eating habits improve soon so I can rest assured that my little angel is getting the nutrition she needs.

Sleep wise Lily is still a little super star giving mommy a much needed great night's sleep.  She sleeps from 7:30pm to either 7am or 7:30am.  I'm going to enjoy it for the next 5.5 months before baby #2 arrives!  And as I type this, she has woken up from her midday nap, after only napping for half an hour!!!  I don't know why, but better run...

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Another overdue update

Wow, what a crazy last few weeks!  Aunty Lou (or AunLou as Lily fondly calls her) had her precious baby girl 11 days early and my gorgeous, tiny niece, Noa, is here.  She arrived on the 1st of November just before 9pm weighing 3.34kg.  It goes without saying that there has been an abundance of excitement in the family as a result, and we have had Granny and Grandpa visiting from East London.  Now that it is the 16th of November (AunLou's birthday!), things have quietened down and the grandparents have left... time for a little bit of an update.

Pregnancy update:
In 2 days time I will be 18 weeks pregnant.  On the one hand, it seems like I have been pregnant for quite some time, whereas other days it feels like the 18 weeks have happened so extremely quickly.  I can't be almost half way through this journey already can I?  At my 16 week scan my doctor confirmed the Fetal Assessor's prediction that we are in fact still expecting a little boy.  So the blue shopping and the name discussions can officially begin!  At 17 weeks I started to feel movement and now I am definitely feeling an active little boy inside my tummy kicking and prodding away.  Love it!  Can't wait for the kicks to become more profound and identifiable.  My next appointment is for my 20 week, 2nd fetal assessment scan.  Looking forward to it.

Lily update:
Lily is quite a little munchkin!  She is feisty, determined, knows what she wants, a true entertainer and loves being the center of attention.  She makes me laugh on a daily basis (actually multiple times a day) and I often find myself staring at her in awe, wondering how she grew up so very quickly.  There have been quite a few nostalgic moments of late comparing little Noa to Lily.  They are so similar looking as newborns, but yet I can't remember Lily ever being that tiny... Time really has gone far too quickly.

Lily's vocabulary is growing in leaps and bounds.  I won't even begin to list the words she now says as we would be here for quite some time, but one of the funniest and cutest things to note is that she calls her Granny "Gig Gig" and her Grandpa "Gig Ga".  I don't know where she gets those words from but obviously that's her pronunciation of her grandparents names.  She also knows the dogs' names and calls them out perfectly - "Harley" and "Bella".

Lily was always such a great little eater and would ingest anything that came her way with much enthusiasm... Gone are those days!  I find myself fighting with her just to get her to eat something nutritional.  I have now resigned myself to the fact that this is a passing phase (here's hoping a phase that ends very soon) and that I just have to ensure she has her daily multivitamin to make up for the lack of nutrition she is consuming.  Some days are better than others and some days are just plain frustrating.  Luckily I can always rely on banana loaf (I kid myself into believing she is therefore getting her fruit quota), cheese and milk to fill her little belly for the moment.

On a positive note, her sleeping (touch wood) is truly amazing.  She goes down perfectly for her afternoon and night time sleeps and she doesn't disturb in the night until the next morning when she wakes up at around 07h30.  This morning she actually slept until after 08h30!  I am going to enjoy these lie-ins as much as possible before baby #2 comes along!  Long may it last.

So that's about it for this update.  I will try to update sooner next time as there are so many cute, memory-worthy things going on in our household that it would be sad not to capture them before they're forgotten.  After watching tiny little Noa, it is truly a harsh reminder at how quickly they grow up and how quickly we forget...