Summer 2012 with the Reeves Family
(June- August)
Brynley has been keeping us on our toes this summer. Since I teach school, I have the wonderful opportunity to stay at home with our little pumpkin. This is my first summer, to NOT teach any camps or summer school. I am looking forward to spending quality time with B before the baby comes. I am trying to keep her on a schedule everyday to provide some structure like she is at daycare. She has become more independent, however, she still loves for me to be right near her when she plays. If we aren't near her, she has started to grab our hands and will drag us to her requested destination.....usually on the floor, which is never comfortable being 8-9 months pregnant!
Brynley- Our Big Girl
We moved Brynley to her "Big Girl room" this summer. We actually started the transition on June 11th. We also decided to go ahead and use this tranistion time to stop the rocking before bedtime as well as her one bottle in the evening. She LOVES her night-time bottle, so I have worried that this would be hard on her and us! I just packed away all the bottles and she hasn't really thought much different. She just doesn't drink as much milk anymore, which will probably will help with her weight- 97th%. :)
Overall, the transition went GREAT! The first night she cried for about an hour, and has decreased every night. She never even tries to get out of bed at night time. Naps.....well that has been a bit more challenging, but it has actually gotten better as the summer has gone on. At nap time, I just lay her in bed and walk away. She never even cries. She likes to play in there for sometimes up to an hour at nap time. She LOVES her big girl room! She likes to spend a lot of time in there. I added book shelves, and she has really enjoyed those and reads much more. On June 18th, she woke up with her 1st black eye. She must have done it at some point during the night. I felt like such a bad mommy, but I guess it's going to happen. I am going to try to add bumpers to her rails to prevent it from occuring again. Poor baby.....
We have started to have B brush her teeth more regularly and we have her do it at the sink, like a big girl. She loves it! She also loves to tell us to do it with her. She perfers to suck the water off the toothbrush, so teaching her to actually brush her teeth is a slow process. I always brush them for her at the end. For now, I am just glad she enjoys the event.
We have continued to go to The Little Gym this summer. B loves it and I think she has learned a lot. Her balance is much better and I like that she can be around so many other kids her age. She tends to roam around much more than other kids, because she perfers to explore. We moved her up to the next class- The Beasts, once she turned 19 months old. I think this level class is much better for her. Once the baby comes, we will take a break from activities, but we definitely plan to get her back into something in the Winter.
B at The Little Gym
B at The Little Gym
Brynley had a "ball"!!
Every week, I have tried to do something fun with Brynley everyday. We started going to the Library 1-2x a week towards the end of June. She loves going to the library! We also go to Mama and Papa Easler's to swim 1-2x a week as well. My parents even converted the bottom twin bunk bed to a toddler bed (added a rail guard) for Brynley to use for naps and sleep overs. I have also taken Brynley to eat lunch with daddy, to Safari Kids with my co-worker, swimming at my friend's pool (Kristi Beaty) two times, and to Petsmart and Petco to see dogs and other animals. My parents took her to Pump it Up one day as well. We also went to the park a few times this summer, but it's been SOOOO hot outside, so I try to avoid that, unless it's early in the morning.
We also did some fun activties with Daddy this summer. During 4th of July weekend, Jeff took off a few days, so we took Brynley to the Aquarium at Grapevine Mills Mall. The weekend before we had Olivia (August 4th), we took Brynley to the Circus. She loved it!!
The Aquarium at Grapevine Mills Mall
The Aquarium at Grapevine Mills Mall
Brynley LOVED the Circus!
My Pregnancy
I am in my thrid trimester now and still feeling pretty good; just very tired. I think that is mainly due to chasing around a toddler. B has no idea I am even pregnant, which is evident from her climbing all over me and even kicking my tummy when she is getting her diaper changed, which she despises. I passed my glucose test again this pregnancy....yea! We have officially decided on a name for our baby girl.....Olivia Rose. We agreed on it while we were on our way to Florida. We have kept B's old room as is for Baby Olivia. All we had to do, was change out the letters over the crib.
Overall, I still do not have any food aversions, nor cravings. I do tend to lean towards carbs, and I am trying to enjoy all the foods that I otherwise think twice about when not pregnant. This is probably resulting in my weight gain this pregnancy. At 31 weeks, I was already at the delivery weight with B of 25 lbs total. At 39 weeks, I had gained a total of 35 lbs....ouch!! I still haven't actually "worked out" with this pregnancy. I wasn't allowed to work out the first 20 weeks, due to the internal bleeding, and I have become very used to the idea of not working out....unfortunately.
I love that I am able to share this pregnancy with my sister-in-law, Jennifer. We are so excited for her! We found out mid- July, that Jennifer and John are expecting a baby BOY!! We are so excited for them!
Jennifer and John's Gender Reveal Party
It's a BOY!!
Jennifer and John's Gender Reveal Party
My co-workers from Shepton threw me a wonderful baby shower at the start of the summer. It was so great to see the whole gang back together again. In mid- July, my ADTS friends threw me a small shower too, which was also a Hot Mamma's Party. Also, in mid- July, my wonderful sisters and mother threw me a wonderful shower with my closest friends and family. I feel so very blessed. We recieved lots of diapers, wipes and books for Olivia.
Shepton Friends Shower
Family & Friend Shower
Shepton Friends Shower
Family & Friend Shower
Brynley's Personality
She is at a VERY fun age now, but also a very sassy age. Her absolute favorite word is, "NO!" She has also started to test us to see how we will respond to her actions. She has occasionally hit other kids and even hits us to see what we will do. I always try to redirect her and ask her to use "nice hands". It's a slow process and doesn't seem to stop it much. I have also reluctantly started "time outs" with Brynley. It has worked very well so far, so I plan to continue to use them. I usually only use them when she hits or does soemthing like throw her food after many times being told not to do so. Overall, I am loving her at this age. It seems she learns more and more EVERYDAY! I am probably biased, but I think she is very smart for her age.
"SIT DOWN!!"
B's favorite words
Her vocabulary has really begun to expand. It's really quite amazing and I feel like her speech is pretty good for her age, but I don't really have anyone to compare her to. Some of her new favorite words are:
No
airplane (especially when we are at Mama & Papa Easler's pool)
Sit down
Papa (she loves all of her Papas, and has recently started calling Jeff Papa too, instead of Dad-dy, like she used to do)
All Done
Up
Down
Nana (banana)
Apple
Aqua- water
Baby
Hat
Help
Phone
Oh No
Doggie
Elephant
Cat
Moo- (cow)
Diapey (diaper- she loves pretending with her baby dolls, which I hope is good practice for when baby Olivia comes!)
Trash
Snack (especially when we are in the car)
Say Si- (Sadie)
Family member names: Wowo, Shell, Ally, Will, and Yohn (John). We are still owrking on Jenn, Michael and Mikey
LOVE YOU! (I taught her this one the end of July, and it melts my heart when she says it back to me)
She also knows the following animal sounds, which she learned towards then end of August:
moo, meow, woof woof, naay, ribit, etc.
Her comprehension is pretty amazing too. When I ask her to do something, she completely understands. Such a smart girl! Since she loves books so much now, I think that has really helped her vocabulary too. When I ask where something is located in a book, she can easily point to it. Such a smart girl!! This summer, I have been really trying to work with her on her words, especially using her manners- "please", "thank you", etc. We have also been really practicing animals and their sounds, which she loves.....especially "nay!" (horse)
Brynley's Stats
20 months
30 lbs.
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