Practice makes perfect

We spent the afternoon at the dojang today and Emily loved watching the little tigers class and got smothered with attention from all the older kids.  She LOVED it!  Afterwards we went to Gymboree and she had so much fun.  All the kids were walking or running which gave her the motivation to stand up on her own for the first time and take off.  She did so well with today's activities and was squealing with delight throughout the entire class.  Too bad I don't have any pictures or videos.  I was sure she was going to sleep on the way home from all the fun but her energy was through the roof!  She stayed up until 10PM (only a 50 minute nap all day) and was having fun practicing walking.  She's kept walking over and over again and stoop up on her own a few times.  I can tell she's getting braver and braver.  I better get my running shoes ready to chase her!

Shorts were a little too big.  She'll fit into them by summertime!

14 Months

Emily turned 14 months on Sunday and I wasn't able to update the day of like I usually do.  I just took a nice hot shower and have a glass of wine to unwind and I feel human again.  We spent the entire day at home today and I can tell Emily got a little bored.  She's been showing signs of boredom lately when we're home too long and loves going outside lately to practice walking or interact with people.  She's been flirting a lot with strangers lately, giving them big grins and waving at them.  She especially loves other babies and children and will start to shout in their direction to get their attention.  It's super cute.

14 Month updates:
-Babbles A LOT
-Says umma and appa (mom and dad in Korean) and a few other words we haven't quite figured out
-Loves to practice walking and refuses to stay in her stroller or cart, but still holds on to my finger because she's just not quite ready to let go yet
-Breakfast is her most favorite meal of the day.  This week she's been devouring homemade blueberry pancakes
-She continues to prefer broccoli and carrots over chicken nuggets or cheese

It's incredibly fascinating to watch the gears in her head work lately and she still surprises me everyday.

Shopping with Grandma

The weekend is here!

Emily had a great time at Gymboree today and was in a good mood overall minus a meltdown at Target in the late afternoon (sorry for leaving all my items in the cart and leaving Target).  She's been napping twice a day again lately and the second one is still so late, usually around 6:30 but I don't know how to correct it.  Her schedule has been all over the place but day to day timing wise it's been ok for our family so I'm not too stressed. 

Yesterday was our first family trip to Disneyland and we all had a blast.  We are definitely getting our annual passes once Emily gets a little older and is able to enjoy it more. 

I need to stop doing the mom ponytail and do my hair more often.

Not scared of heights on the ferris wheel while my knees were wobbly

So I'm constantly online looking for great toddler meal ideas and get so conflicted with all these articles about all organic, gluten free or paleo foods being the absolute best and necessary for everyone's diet, including children.  Let's be real, it's not always 100% feasible and the costs add up to eat all organic but I still can't help but feel bad when I feed her instant mac and cheese or something and the internet tries to make me feel like crap because I'm feeding my family bad processed and unhealthy foods.  Just last night I was reading an article by a health counselor on a parenting website that said meat these days has so many hormones, antibiotics and other junk and that "whole wheat" has too much gluten and starch.  Great.  I went to bed feeling like I poisoned my family because I didn't get organic grass fed meat or gluten free wheat bread.  I know I have to take everything with a grain of salt but I guess wanting the best for your family, especially your children, is an essential part of motherhood. 

An upside to my late night (too much coffee during the day) internet browsing is the great idea to start making homemade fruit popsicles.  Hubby loves having a popsicle at night after dinner and Emily has been demanding bites so I figured I should start making homemade.  I don't really know how "all natural" these fruit bars are and I'll know what is going in the ones I'll be making.  It's definitely a lot cheaper to make homemade too.  I stocked up on fresh and frozen fruits from Trader Joes today and just have to get popsicle molds and BAM!  A delicious treat!  I found some cute toddler ones online so I'm excited to make my first batch.  I'm sure the cold will help with her teething too (hello molars)!

How cute are these?

Ahh refreshing!

Speaking of fruit....I think I'm going to start making smoothies again.  It's definitely easier to eat healthy when I've planned and stored my meals ahead of time.

Some latest videos

She's always sleeping like this and looks squished.  I wish she'd lay the other way and give herself some room to be comfy!

Toddler Adventures

 

Climbing things, more adventurous Target trips and a nice afternoon at the park.  Once Emily's nap schedule is back on track, more Gymboree classes hopefully next week. 

Emily is walking!

I am a happy and proud mama today!  Emily started walking!!  We went out to LA this morning and in the afternoon we were hanging out at home trying to stay cool and BAM!!  I put her down to play and she decided to start walking.  I totally cried because I was so happy for her.  Our baby is growing up so fast!

Getting so big.  She seemed so tiny in there as a newborn.

Using a fork today!

Brunch at Urth Caffe. 

Today was my first time at Urth Caffe in downtown and I'm in love.  Their honey vanilla latte is amazing and I am officially addicted.  I want one like RIGHT NOW.  Their food is pretty good and I love, love a good lox bagel with extra capers.  Nothing beats a really good breakfast/brunch with amazing coffee!

Sleep training is going well for night three.  She still cries and protests when we put her in her crib and she yells but it's getting better and better so we'll stick with it!  Nap training is pretty much the same so hopefully she'll get better at napping alone too. 

Re-sleep training night 2

Last night went much better than the first night.  Emily cried less and it wasn't a hysterical cry but more of an annoyed cry.  I'm nap training as well and today's first nap is going so well!  She cried for a few minutes and put herself to sleep and is now going on 45 minutes!!  I'm going to try to get her to nap twice a day again and want to fix her sleep schedule.  I think with better sleep we will have less tantrums and better eating.  Teaching Emily to self soothe is a bittersweet feeling for me.  Half of me is happy because she will sleep better and half of me is sad because she won't need me as much.

Napping

Now that I have my hands free while she is napping, I can make some turkey/veggie meatballs for Emily!

I found this site the other day and I really love her style.  I really need to get serious about exercising and buy some new clothes.

J's Everyday Fashion

Sleep training part two

It was lovely having Emily sleep with us but her sleep schedule is totally off right now and we think it's for the better that she is back in her crib.  45 minutes of screaming and she finally gave in.  It was pretty tough to take and I hope it gets easier each night.  I'm going to work on nap training during the day as well so wish me luck!  Baby has got a serious set of lungs!

I've noticed it's so hard to keep up with taking pictures and videos lately.  Hopefully once Emily is sleeping in her crib again every night, I will have more time to keep up.  I miss her already.

This picture is so unflattering but it cracks me up.  Tired mom in the background and silly baby checking herself out.

Another one that cracks me up.  She's very attached to this fork.

Another cold

Slowly but surely, the new house is starting to feel like home.  The days are going by pretty quickly with endless errands and planning for upcoming events.  I get the feeling that 2013 will whiz by.  I came down with something last week and then got Emily sick.  It's pretty lousy knowing I got my baby sick but we're both in good spirits and just waiting to kick this bug.

Emily is off the bottle and on sippy cups exclusively.  This is my happy I-don't-have-to-wash-any-more-bottles-harlem shake dance.  I'll enjoy the time off until our second baby, in which case I will not be using Avent bottles (hate washing one extra part and they leak).  Washing sippy cups isn't much better but it's a change!  I've come to the realization that my search for the perfect sippy cup is as exciting as shopping for the perfect pair of shoes.  Like a lot of other moms, I've got a growing collection of sippy cups taking over cabinet space.  My favorite?

NUK sippy cups.  These really don't leak, come with a lid for traveling and the handles are removable.  I've only been able to find them at WalMart and Babies R Us (if I'm lucky) and most of the time they only have boy designs so I ordered these cute Hello Kitty ones online.  The only con I can say is that the nipple opening tore a little after a couple of intense washing and biting from a teething baby, but the nipples are easily replaceable.

This Munchkin sippy was the first one I ever bought and Emily is fine with it but it leaks a lot when she tips it over, isn't great for traveling and the nipple is hard to remove and replace for a good wash and gunk builds up pretty quickly in between the silicone nipple and plastic handle top...gross!

I got these Playtex insulated sippys to help keep milk good in my diaper bag without having to take a separate bottle cooler bag but Emily isn't ready for the plastic spout and refused to even acknowledge the cup after awhile.

 

I also have this Playtex straw sippy after reading great reviews on it but Emily isn't ready for the straw either.  She uses it from time to time but instead of really sucking on the straw, she tilts the cup up or her head back so it defeats the purpose.  This one is pretty leak proof, which I love. 

She is now getting better at finishing her milk with meals in one sitting, three times a day instead of wanting to drink milk first and then eating solids an hour later.  She enjoys her snacks in between meals and I'm trying to mix it up so she gets a wide variety of food.  It feels like my days revolve around her meals lately.  Shopping, prepping and trying out new things for her to enjoy.  I try to do as much batch cooking as I can on Sundays but it easier said than done when life is happening.

Salmon & eggplant were a hit!

Gymboree

Watching class.  Daddy's future black belt!

Tsk Tsk Tsk baby!!

 

I'm totally drawn to these shoes lately.