Esme this week

We've been to a lot of new places lately with Esme, and a few old ones.

At the pet store:
She pointed at a long-feelered catfish and said 'Pretty!' but wouldn't even look at the guinea pigs.

At the tractor supply store:
She would not accept the rabbits were not kitties. She took a dinosaur toy I said she could have all the way over to the rabbits to show them.

At the library:
She ran and got her own puzzle out of the cabinet and carried it to the table by herself!

At the flea market:
She thought the baby goat was a doggie, until it scratched its ear with a foot. Then she asked 'meow?'

At the landscaping/greenhouse: She really liked all the fountains and the pretty red flowers and orchids in the greenhouse.

new words: 'uh-oh' when she drops something or sees something fall. A mangled form of 'ready set go' before she tosses a rubber superball - a game I started. Some babble-word that means 'hold this' when she wants to grab something else but already has something in each hand.

She tried to 'talk to grandma' on a crayon she was holding while I was on the phone - it was really cute but she was running too fast to get a good picture.

As we were riding in the car she kept pointing at trees, houses etc... 'Pretty!' I'm thinking it just means anything she likes.. but definitely an adjective and not a general name like I had thought it was.

Red Geranium

I do really like geraniums. This plant came home with me from work the other night.

Creative Slump

I'm in a creative slump. I've been so busy at work when I get home I hardly touch any craft or art supplies. I've been playing with Esme and hanging out on bulletin boards.. but not much else.

Drawing Fun

Esme is nearly seventeen months old now. She loves her crayons and paging through her National Geographics. We bought ten more for a dollar yesterday at the library sale.

Recent Updates

I applied for and got a full-time position at work, 39 hours a week plus a raise. That is nice and we needed it - even though this means I'll be away from Esme for more time each week. I already feel how much I'm missing but at least I get to see her every day, get her up and put her to bed etc etc... some mothers where I work have two or more jobs and don't even see their kids awake during the day.

She is growing so fast - and chattering and jabbering all over the place. Just a few months ago I was worried because she wasn't talking much. I'm always the worrier. But now I can count about twenty different things she says or tries to say.

We went to the library again today even though there wasn't a kid's group this week. She ran around like crazy again, played with a puzzle and did a lot of looking for Daddy after Mark had come in and went out again. She needs to learn not to sit on the tables another little girl said. Haha! Yes she does, but it is going to be slow going.

Gotcha!

Slept all night

Esme slept about 10 hours straight last night - she was that tuckered out from all that running around yesterday! First thing in the morning she took a huge drink of water and sputtered half of it out - then pointed at Puck and said 'Doggie' laughing. Silly little kid :)

Library and Playplace

We went to the library group again - Esme ran around like a 'crazy baby' according to one of the three year olds. She was better than last time - but we missed most of the singing so there wasn't as much to keep her occupied. She played puzzles and sat in the chairs and ran back and forth to touch the elephant statue etc... She needs more of this. Even though she is only sixteen months old I'd like her to see how other children act and have interaction on things like sharing and being nice.

One of the other moms told us they were all going to McDonalds playplace afterwards and so we came along. She said Esme was younger than most of the kids but some other kids around Esme's age did come once in a while. She wished there were more programs for younger kids around here but told me there really isn't, just daycare and then preschool.

Esme did more running around at the playplace - ate a child's size French Fry with me and tried to walk up a few steps in the slide. She was really interested in the foam floor - thought that was weird feeling. She climbed chairs and banged her chin some. I threw her up in the air playing with her and that made one little boy her size laugh loudly at us - he thought it was funny. She tried to take a toy from a little girl but I told her that was the little girl's toy and she bopped off to the other side of the room -- but the little girl kept watching us for a long time, following and watching us play together. Esme was so tired by the end of it she fell asleep almost as soon as I got her back in the car.

Magnadoodle

The photo is a little dark, but click to enlarge.
I snuck up on her when she was drawing and erasing her Magnadoodle.
Her hair was all funky from just getting out of the bath.

Words

I'm hearing lots of 'half-words' and words only repeated once.

'oh-en' and 'iy-en' (open), 'fay' (face), 'fah' (Faucet), 'hair tie' (loud and clear), kuh (cup), pretty (for plant again in tub), 'buh' (brush). She is working on 'f' and 'p' and 'b' sounds but has a real hard time saying 's.' I did as a kid too, because of how my teeth were spaced.

I think she is saying a lot that we just aren't getting all of, maybe because she hasn't worked out how to say the entire word yet. She would rather call the fishies 'kitties' because it's easier to say - but she has said 'fishy' several times for me.

She repeated 'mmmm' for 'moo' and a seal noise complete with clapping hands last night - both for the first time.

I was to a page in one of her magazines and pointed out a familiar picture, but I had forgotten what was on the next page. Esme knew, and she told me by touching my chest just above the shirtline - 'necklace', it was a clear symbol with clear intention. I said 'Mommy isn't wearing a necklace, but yes that is where it would be.' I turned the page and WOW - there was an advertisement for a big cut ruby necklace I've shown her looks just like my tiger-eye necklace. I was pretty surprised by that!

I really like the National Geographics - lots of real pictures she can relate to and she loves to look through them by herself. I'm going to have to look at the library for another stack for her.

Play Ball!

Having a ball!


Thanks Daddy!


We've got mail!

Baby's Blast to the Past

I can hardly believe Esme was ever this tiny and wrinkly.


These are at just a few days old, her eyes were a very dark blue then.


And at eight months
eyes lightened up, and so did the hair


And at sixteen months
still medium blue/gray eyes and much longer blondish hair

Outside before the storm and doggy kisses

Running along with her usual obligatory stick

It seems there is a big storm headed this way - but it was warm and nice out so we went for another short walk to Grandma's and back. Esme really tried hard to climb a hill and finally did make it - but she was pretty upset about it. She was fine after that until Daddy took a bag of garbage out of Grandma's house and she wanted to be the one to carry it. She took so long throwing a tantrum he was done and back and she didn't get to help at all.


Sitting in the truck bed
big blue eyes!

Bye bye Daddy - I go in here now

Why are you crying?

Walk to the lake and drink from a cup

Esme has been spitting her sippy cup water into lots of containers and trying to drink from them -- so we think maybe that is a sign she is ready to start learning a regular cup. She's also really interested in my coffee cups although she can't have them. She's had a sippy cup since about six months (Playtex ones from WM) and drinks really well from those.

We got a few unbreakable plastic cups with good handles she has already 'pretended' to drink out of. I brought her into our tile-floored bathroom and filled the cup up with cold water and my ceramic cup up with coffee. We practiced drinking although a lot of hers was either pretend 'air' drinks or full down-chest pours she got some in her mouth and was very proud of herself.

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She also walked almost all the way down to the lake and almost all the way back up with us yesterday. Mark says that is almost a half-mile. Wow what those little legs can do! After we got home we washed her hands, changed her clothes and gave her some water. Within minutes she was passed out asleep!

Diaper Rash

This is the second bad diaper rash Esme has had in the past three months. In some places it almost looks like a weeping burn. She has been having some explosive 'acidic' liquid diapers and both times the rash came on within three diapers of the onset of 'messiness'. We're using frequent diaper changes with water rinses and cornstarch and/or diaper cream to try to get rid of it. It took about three days last time and this is the first day this time around.

Friday: There has been some improvement overnight with the treatment. She's upset that bathtime isn't 'duckies and toys' and is just frequent rinses. I think it was a reaction to something she ate which had a result so acidic it actually did burn her skin some. Been reading posts on the BC boards and changing her much more than often to try to clear this up quickly. Yesterday it didn't look 'awful' but it was enough over a large enough area for me to start treating it - a stitch in time saves nine etc... and when he saw that it was weeping through the cornstarch and a wet rash again minutes after cornstarching then Mark got a little more worried about it too.

Esme at 16 months

Chomping down on bugles and 'debraining' watching a Mythbusters episode Mark put in.

I was vacuuming her play area today and she picked up her little roller toy again and pretended to help me. She's really getting into the mock cleaning games.

I've got to work a short shift today and late tomorrow.

Temper Tantrum in the Bathtub

We were taking a bath tonight and Esme decided she wanted to pull a gallon jug up off one of our shelves and into the bathtub. I told her No - once softly and then once with authority (little harsh) - and she began to do her drama queen throw a tantrum thing. But she learned the bathtub is not the place to throw a tantrum!

As she began to 'drama queen' fall to the ground and want to bang her head once and thrash 'oh I got hurt' she realized just almost too late she was in water up to her belly button. And she began to thrash 'oh no mommy I'm going underwater' and I caught her before she went under. She was very scared, as right she should be.

I shook my finger and said 'BE CAREFUL', and then before she could blubber about being scared I took her into my arms and held her but said again 'You have to BE CAREFUL, especially in the bathtub in the deep water, it's scary' and pointed to the water 'BE CAREFUL' which is something I say whenever she falls or bangs herself on something. She calmed down quite quickly although I was braced for a 'scared' tantrum which is much different than a 'mad' one.

She looked at the water and at me and then said 'RAR' and slapped the surface of the water several times. It was her way of saying she was mad at the scary water - and it was very funny.

She went on to play like normal and didn't touch the gallon jug again.

Ponytail

I think her hair stayed like this a total of ten minutes - but it was very cute while it lasted. If it gets just a little longer it will work better.

Esme 'on the phone'

I didn't get a picture of this, but it was very very cute. Esme was sitting with a block to her ear and babbling at it, then would put it up in front of her eye/nose and wait a second, then babble into it some more. I realized she was 'talking on the phone.' This is maybe the first time I've seen her pretending something was something else as a game, and not as a symbol to tell me what she wanted.

Mark saw it too and it was unmistakable. I asked her if she was talking to Grandma and to tell Grandma to send pizza. She held the 'phone' away for a second and then looked at me, looked at the 'phone' and then babbled happily into it again. I was on the phone with my mom the other night - and Esme was sitting nearby playing with a toy.

Sometimes she grabs our phones and runs off with them. She gets in trouble when she throws them or loses them. She decided the block was a safer 'phone' to play with!

Other Creative play: Found a washcloth on the floor and was pretending to clean windows with it.

Pacifier Update: Still signing for it, not getting it -- but has been entertaining herself a lot all morning. Lots of 'RAR' heard while she looks through her 'Dinosaur ROAR' book.



A drawing that is nearly 100% Esme. I drug a red crayon on it a little bit to indicate to draw on the paper - and she went to town with three different colors.

Day one weaning off the pacifier

We got through day one with Esme only having her pacifier while she was in her crib. She kept signing for it - putting her open hand against her mouth and going pffft while staring insistently at us. I had to drag a lot more stuff out of her mouth than usual - she wanted something anything as a replacement. She was upset at us if we ignored the sign but was easy to distract to something else until it started nearing bedtime. The moment she got in the crib at night she went to sleep within two minutes of grabbing it.

This morning we went to town and I let her have it in the car, but as soon as we were in the door at home it went up again. We'll see how the rest of today goes.

Update: It took several tries to finally wean little girl to only having her pacifier in her crib. I tried to take it away entirely - but she wailed all night long, over five hours. So, I gave in for a little while longer. Then, about six months later she intentionally 'lost' it several days in a row. I found it each day. But one night I just didn't give it back after I found it. She cried a LOT, but not as much as she did during this first phase. She went completely pacifier-free and we just continue to hope she doesn't see one and remember it anytime before she is old enough to understand why she doesn't have that anymore...

Saying 'No' to the kitty

We went to Grandpa and Grandma's house. They have Pogo's son Oscar. He batted at an oxygen tube and I told him 'NO'. Esme nearly threw a fit (like she did when we first read Cat in the Hat which contains the phrase 'No, No') thinking I was telling her No. Then she realized I was talking to the cat and she walked up to the kitty and babbled 'something-something KITTY' while waggling her finger. Kitty did something bad so she has to tell him about it!

Later she did the same thing when we were trying to tell him to get out of a cabinet. When he left the cabinet she was out of the room. She came back and opened the doors saying 'kitty?' and then went looking for him.

UPDATE : Oscar is 'Oscarina'. Mark's parents took 'him' into the vet for his surgery and were surprised to hear their cat is a female! We are surprised too -- Pogo and Mitzi have probably been laughing about it all along. j/k

More words and activities at nearly 16 months

She's been repeating things like 'ABCD', 'pretty' (flower or plant), 'orange', 'fishy', 'skittle', 'put on', 'wrap up' and she made a try at 'faucet' last night as well but didn't quite get the 'f' and the 's' together. She tried 'hiss' today while pointing to my chest and dragging her finger up a little -- I think that meant 'necklace' Sometimes she still goes 'zzz' and points there meaning zipper.

She has been spinning around in circles much more - trying to see past her ear it seems. Then she falls down dizzy.

We bought her a pop-up toy where she has to push buttons different ways to get the animals to come up - it is really a 9 month toy but she never had one before. It has taken her a few days but now she can get two of them by herself and is very proud about it.

We got her a new art pad and some markers to use while supervised - she still does much better with the crayons. She is attempting to eat her crayons rarely now - and mostly to see what I will say about it. She draws circular and line motions on her paper if it is taped down to the surface.

I've been drawing the letters ABCDEFG in crayons in the tub and on her art pad to see if she will pick them up. She is, along with the quantities of 2 and 3 - although she doesn't understand one. She will repeat 'two' and 'thee' and it's usually correct to the quantity she has in her bucket. In the bathtub last night she pointed out kitty, pretty and the ABCD drawings on the walls with soap crayons and when they were gone asked me to make them again. She said the words for each of them. This morning among her 'waking up' babblings I heard 'ABCD' again before I heard the 'Dada chain' (Mama change) that usually gets me up.

Other madeup games:
She took several turns putting block cylinders and crayons in a plastic cup yesterday and dumping them out. She would give some to me and hold the cup at times asking me to 'help.'

She picks up heavy envelopes of carabiners Mark has packed and throws them down on the floor -- over and over and over again.

She came up to me and shook hands (I said 'How do you do?') She ran off and touched the far side of the room then came back and I shook hands again and said 'Nice to meet you!' and she ran off and started it all over again while laughing her head off.

We made tall paper cylinders and she puts things in there and then puts her whole arm in to get them back out. I cut a hole in the side of a cardboard box and we took turns putting her blocks in there and then trying to get them out.