Scarlett's Monthly Update:18 Months

My girl is now closer to two than she is one. I do not know how but somehow in the last few months, she has transformed into a big girl. Her hair has gotten longer, she is talking more, she is walking around holding our hands when we go places rather than being carried.

Weight: 24lbs 5oz (+15lbs 10oz) (Miller was 24 lbs)

Height: 31.5in (+9.5in) (Miller was 32in)

Head: 19in (+6.25in) (Miller was 20"in)

Sleep: She sleeps through the night just fine. She puts her self to sleep at night and at naptimes now. I will admit, I miss her falling asleep on me and getting to look at that cute, squished up face, but I am so proud of her for being such a good sleeper. The only times we have had issues is when we are out of town and sharing a room. She must hear me move when she is a little bit awake and then wants in bed with me. It is rare though.

Eating:  She is a toddler so some days she eats great, and the next she refuses all foods. All in all, she is a pretty good eater though and a lot less picky than Miller.

She was not nursing too much and then we went on vacation and she has pretty much stopped since we got home. It is alright because I know with the new baby, things would change but I was hoping that she would nurse longer. The funny thing is that this is the exact same place in my last pregnancy that Miller stopped nursing. I would say that my milk must change then but I think both times had more to do with traveling than anything.

Best Moment:  In the last month, she has started talking a lot. I was really trying to work with her so she would have a few more words in her arsenal for her 18 month appointment, then something just clicked. She says so many words and pretty much understands everything. We have to mark her first words as "Thank you" and "shoes". Those sum up my girl to a tee!

Milestones: This is hard to pinpoint a real milestone but talking is a pretty good one. Also that she will be a big sister soon.

Monthly Wisdom: She has been really clingy to me and an all around pain and it was really stressing me out. Then Ben reminded me that Miller was the same way at this exact age.

Goals for the Upcoming Month: Now that we are back from vacation and I am feeling better after a rough 1st trimester, I am working on setting up a good routine with the kids to be in when the baby comes. So far so good. The house is running smoother and they seem to be responding well.

Things Scarlett is doing

- She is getting into EVERYTHING. She figured out how to climb into our barstools so now my safe space in there is no longer safe.
-She is so sweet and affectionate.When I get her out of bed, she wraps her arms around my neck and squeezes. There are so many spontaneous hugs, kisses and snuggles.
- Her bowleggedness has gotten better but she still turns in at the knees. We talked about it with our pediatrician and he said that it should straighten out in the next 6 months to a year.
- She is such a dancer. At my cousins wedding she never left the dance floor. She dances to TV shows and commercials and even the timer for Miller when he is in timeout.
- There are a few songs that she starts and mumbles a little bit and claps like she actually sang the song.
- She is so stinking funny. I can not even tell you all the things she does to make us, and herself laugh.
- Her and Miller are starting to play together all the time. It makes me so happy!!! When we came back from a trip to Michigan, Miller stayed in TN with my mom for a few days and Scarlett was lost without him. Anytime we would facetime with them, she would start squealing.
-Some of her commonly used words- thank you, please, welcome, byes, nigh nigh, kiss, love you shoes, teeth, bites, drink, mama, dada, ninny, ally, miller (sort of), Scarlett, sister, all gone, go, Tennessee (not kidding, she can say it), Rocky Top (so proud of this).

I love being able to do her hair. 

My little snuggle bunny. 

I love this one of her!

This is, "Miller leave me alone. I do not care what mommy says, I do not want to hold your hand". 

She is a happy girl most of the time, she just has her sassy moments. Those are the exact things we have said since the day she was born. 

It's a .....(Gender Reveal)

With Miller and Scarlett, I was so anxious to find out the gender that we did not really do anything special to celebrate it. We found out at the anatomy scan and then started calling family.

This time around, I really wanted to find out with the kids. I wanted to do something special since we had not before and because this is our third baby and I want them to know that we did something special for them that we did not do for the other two.

With the first two, we both knew what the babies were before our anatomy scan. We just had a really strong feeling. This time around was no exception. We both thought it was a girl and it did not help that Miller swore that it was too. We tried to tell him that it might be a boy and he would not budge that it was a girl. 

I was really nervous because I really wanted it to be a girl. It was not that a boy would not be great, I just wanted to be right.

This is my genuine surprise that it was pink to come out of the box. I was so excited that I started to tear up.

I was trying to get the kids to understand. I had been practicing with Miller for days what it meant when we would see pink or blue balloons.

It looks like Scarlett is upset to get a baby sister but really she just wanted to run down the driveway and was mad about us putting her in the box. They were really more excited about the balloons than anything.

Something else new this time is that they have a blood test out now that can tell the gender of the baby as early as 10 weeks with a 99% certainty. We decided to do it and actually found out when I was about 15 weeks along (this is when the pictures were taken). We had our anatomy scan and even though the blood test is pretty certain, I was still relieved to see her little girl parts at the ultrasound.

We already have a name picked out (actually we have had it picked out for years) but are still working on a middle name. This is so unlike us to not have a middle name but I have two names that I am just sitting on and seeing how I feel about each one.