What A Baby Needs!

Seriously~ who really needs clothes or toys? Ivy would rather be running around in a diaper and playing with "trash" (i.e. toilet paper and paper towel tunnels, empty boxes, napkins, wipes... any thing she can bang on/with or shred).... Easy to please, what more could we ask for!

Sweet Ivy

After a really hard Friday~ we are glad that our cuddly, sweet Ivy is back! Hopefully the rotten, 2 year oldish Ivy will only come in spurts. Thanks to my blogging friends for some really great advice and words of encouragement. I really needed it! :)

Mommy Is Embarrassed

So many times Ivy makes me proud~ when she uses new words, uses the potty, or plays well with a friend. This morning was not one of those moments. To be honest, I was down right, wanting to crawl in a hole and never come out embarrassed. Ivy has not been perfect- by any means- but she has been pretty easy. Sleeps good, eats good, and is overall easy... However, I would say as of the past 2 weeks (really since hitting 18 months) we are day in and day out into the terrible 2's. (A little early, I know....) I can handle tantrums, we isolate her, she calms down in time out, and then she is ready to go again but I don't quite know what to do with her aggression. That is where this morning comes in!
So we go to the library for story time and take a seat behind a mom, her little boy (9-ish months) and her daughter (4 yrs). Ivy likes to be in the front so after a few minutes she starts weasling her way between the mom and baby and the big sister. The mom says it is fine and Ivy is dancing and singing. She is happy! Ivy then is in full focus on the little boy's paci. Her "ba-ha-ba" is on day 6 of being in the crib.... not the car, not the church/gym nursery, no where but the crib. I hold her on my lap and talk about how babies have ba-ha-ba's and big girls only use them in the bed. She was back to singing about monkeys jumping on the bed when

STRIKE 1- She grabs the boys paci rears her arm back throwing it at him and hitting him in the head.

Mommy immediately apologizes and takes Ivy in the hall for time out. The whole way out she is saying "hit the baby, hit the baby." She sits in time out while I stand around the corner. Then I talk to her, say we are going to say sorry, we don't hit, it hurts.... blah blah... the whole deal. We go back in. Ivy signs "sorry" which is monumental- she usually refuses to apologize in any sense of the word. We are listening to a story about a moose and everyone is happy and then

STRIKE 2- Ivy decides to smack the older sister square in the head... hard smack... like makes a noise kind of smack.

I was about to die- literally. I apologized to the mom and child and wanted to cuss the other 45 sets of eyes who were staring daggers through me as if I put Ivy up to abusing this family on their trip to the libray. I packed us up and the whole way out she continued yelling "books, books." I didn't talk to Ivy the whole way home, instead I cried about what in the world I have done or failed to do in creating these aggressive behaviors. We came home, ate lunch, and I put her down for an early nap.

Now I sit here- reflecting on this embarrassing moment- and trying to figure out what my next steps as a parent are. I have went back and forth about how to discipline this behavior and what would be good for Ivy. What will help her control this aggression? What will help teach her social skills? I have been so sad and in the end I know I will have many more of these moments throughout Ivy's life. (Pay back is hell~ I am pretty sure I have embarrassed and saddened my mom many a times..... sorry, mom!)

Do you have strong willed child? Or know one? haha :) Any suggestions are welcome!

And She's On It Again...

Just when I thought I figured Ivy out.... she woke up from her nap and pooped on the potty! Who knows how long it will last this time? But hey, one less dirty diaper- we'll take it!

Bounce U

Today was a first for us! We went to Bounce U with Lindsey and Rantz. Bounce U is a play place with tons of big inflatables and it is conveniently 1 minute from our house. Lindsey and I have been trying to take the kids for awhile but with snow and sickness it has taken us a while! It was so fun for Ivy and a great work out for Mommy... I definitely should have skipped out on the gym this morning. :) We will certainly be going back and I would love to take Daddy- he would like it just as much, if not more, than all the kids running around like crazy! If you haven't been to Bounce U and have kids (any age past walking... ) you should definitely give it a try.

Ivy giggling... I learned that she is pretty uncoordinated and had tons of trouble walking in the blow up things. She was quite comfortable reverting back to crawling in the bouncy houses!

Here is Lindsey and Rantz going down the huge slide! So much fun :) They were going too fast to get a good picture.

All Done

A stuffed animal is about the only thing using the potty! Ivy is currently "all done" pooping on the potty. No yucky diapers for 3 weeks was wonderful (and definitely gave us something to look forward to) but we are back to our old self for now. Hopefully we will get back into the potty mode when it warms up a bit. For now potty is just for play time!

Valentine's Celebration

Our day started very early on Valentine's Day. Ivy and I headed over to the mall to do the heart walk with Emily and her mom Julie. This was a great way to support a great cause. Heart Disease is the leading cause of death for men and women. Emily and I have been friends since middle school and heart disease runs strong in her family. Ivy and I went out to support them! Not to mention, Emily got engaged on Thursday night- YAY!! I wish I had a pic of the beautiful ring. We are so excited to celebrate her special day and we can't wait for her to be Emily Jenkins!

LOVE YOUR HEART!


On the next part of our Valentine's Day adventure, Grandma and Grandpa came over to play with Ivy while Greg and I went out for a sushi lunch.

Ivy was excited to open her Valentine from Grandma and Grandpa.... which included a c-OO-k-EE. Ivy had to have a bite that instance. I think she had enough sugar yesterday for everyone. She definitely has a sweet tooth- wonder where that came from??? :)


Ivy enjoyed cooking Grandpa a meal in the kitchen while traipsing around in Grandma's shoes.

Ivy even got to take some pictures with Grandma's camera. She quickly learned what the buttons did and Grandpa is sure she is going to be a technology whiz.... I guess she will have to inherit that gene from someone other than me. I still can't work my camera half the time and I have had it for about 3 years.

The next part of our Valentine's Day included going to church where Ivy wore her new dress from Nana and Pops. It is the first thing that she has worn that is 3 quarter length sleeves. Let's just say... this was perplexing. She would push her sleeves up and then try to pull them down. She couldn't quite figure out where they belonged. She looked so sweet and even decided she would pose for a picture!

She's our Valentine....and she looks so big in this picture!!!

Our Valentine's Day ended with a surprise to-go order of chocolate fondue from Saul Good. My mom ordered this for us the other day and we just had to pick it up. Ivy was asleep so we didn't have to share with our little sugar plum. We enjoyed wine and even lit candles to make it feel like we were at the restaurant. Yummy, yummy- for chocolate fondue without the big Valentine's crowd!
Happy Valentine's Day to All!!!

Our Valentine!

18 Months and Counting....

Ivy Camille is 18 months old~ I can't believe it! I love looking at pictures from the past but I just can't grasp how fast the time goes. I still can remember rocking sweet Ivy and looking around at other kids thinking- that stage will be so much fun! Little did I know how quick that stage would approach. I really got emotional the other day when I looked back to the beginning of the blog. She was so teeny and I didn't even start it until she was almost one. I am so thankful for the way the blog acts as a scrapbook for a lot less time and money!

We went to the doctor yesterday, so as I do each time... here is a little about Ivy at 18 months.

Height: 31 inches *She hadn't grown since the 15 month checkup!!

Weight: 23 lbs

Favorite Food: blueberries and cucumbers

Favorite Treat: "cookies" and "crackas"

Favorite Drink: milk (the girl can drink some milk!)

Favorite Book: Guess Who, Elmo and The Wheels on the Bus

Favorite Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider and This Little Light of Mine

To Do: Ivy enjoys being a home. She likes to pretend all the time- she cooks, she mommy's, she hosts tea parties, and she is a train conductor! She loves watching her sing-a-long movies. dancing around the room, and coloring. Ivy also likes to be outside.... we take advantage any time it is pretty to go to the park or for a walk. She enjoyed being out in the snow and going for sleigh rides but I think we are all ready for warm weather! Ivy has grown out of being easily entertained when she is confined in a high chair or cart- none the less errands are made short and we enjoy a lot of take out! :)

Potty News: Since our last potty post Ivy has been, oddly enough, pooping on the potty. She seems to be reverse potty training because she no longer wants to poop in the diaper. (She is afraid!) Yay for this!! A few times she has woke up poopy and Mommy and Daddy realize how spoiled we are to be missing these poopy diapers! We have no idea how long this will last and we are not pushing it... I plan on trying to really potty train when it warms up. We will see!

Words: Ivy can identify a lot of things and I never know if I understand because I am the mommy or if she is speaking pretty clear. :) She repeats most names and loves to look at photo albums and point out who everyone is. She has strung a few words together and I am sure we will see more of this coming soon!

We are enjoying this stage so much, even as we experience her little attitude. Even though it can be trying at times we know it is a stage and it is our job to give her loving boundaries! On the upside, she is learning so much and it is fun for her to be like a little person.

We love our Ivy Girl! Here are some 18 month pictures:

Sweet Ivy....

Silly Ivy....

Pretty Girl Ivy....

What to do?

Another day snowed in the house.... What to do???

Ivy has a great idea- Let's stay in our jammies and read books all day. Sounds like a plan to me! So glad our little gal is already developing a love for books.