A Christmas tradition that I wanted to start with our family was getting in our pajamas on Christmas night, making some hot chocolate, setting up the camera on a tripod and snapping away! Here is our family last year:
And then here we were this year:
Have we changed?
Back in October I wrote a post about Mikayla going "poo poo" in the potty for the first time and getting an ice cream cone all of her own. From that point on we never really tried to potty train Mikayla, but at the same time we never discouraged it either. If she wanted to sit on the potty we let her. If we noticed she was looking like she needed to go, we ran to the bathroom. We hadn’t even purchased big girl underwear yet.
Well, last weekend (right before our whirlwind of Christmas traveling began), Mikayla decided she wanted to be potty trained. On Saturday and Sunday she didn’t have an accident in her diaper except when she was sleeping. We were so proud of her, but didn’t think much of it because we assumed when traveling she would have more accidents. She proved us wrong in a big way! Over the course of the next 7-8 she only had a couple of accidents, even on the road. When we finally returned from our traveling we tried her big girl underwear that were in her stocking. She loved her "panties" and even got a little upset when we put a diaper on her at nap and night time. For three days now (cross our fingers and knock on wood) she hasn’t had an accident in her big girl underwear! What a big girl she is! We are still using diapers at nap and night time, but the rest of the day she is is underwear.
This potty training thing is nothing we did, she just woke up one morning and decided she didn’t want to go to the bathroom on herself anymore. Like I said, accidental potty training!
I bet you can’t guess who is lurking in the cabinet?
Any guesses yet? Here is a clue: She is the cutest blue eye, blond headed 18.5 month old…
Peek A Boo! I see you!
As Mikayla would say, "Mor" or in English "more"!
This child is starting to get a bit of a pot belly!
This has become one of Mikayla’s new favorite games. Along with snack, candy, chips and of course reading her books. Can you tell daddy stays at home with her? Just kidding, I am pretty sure I indulge in her requests as much as (if not more than) Ben! Here are some more cute snapshots of Mikayla.
She is turning into quite the "shaggy" girl!
On a non-Mikayla related note, I made these fantastic Fiesta Beef and Black Bean Enchiladas the other night. They were easy and surprisingly tasty. The only thing I altered was to add some bell peppers (red, yellow and green…all leftovers from a previous meal) and onions. As well as a dash or two of cumin, oregano, and black pepper. If I were to make them over again I think I would use the Queso Blanco from Nice and Cheesy (off brand of Velveeta found at Kroger) instead of traditional Velveeta. The cilantro on top is a must, as it adds a little extra kick to the dish. We served with chips and Mexican rice. It also warmed up pretty good too! This is a definite keeper in our recipe box!
Have 18 months really passed since Mikayla was born?
She wasn’t very happy here, just moments after her arrival!
Much happier here. Side note – she is sporting a hat made by the one and only Brittany. You can purchase one too for $10!
It is crazy how time flies! Dr. F said Mikayla looked great at her check up on Tuesday. At 18 months she was 32 inches long, weighed in at 22 lbs and her head was a whopping 47 cm. She has grown 3.5 inches since her one year appointment…the nurse was super impressed with this growth. I mean I knew she had grown, but wow! She is still below average in weight and head circumference, but is above the red average line in height. She is also talking more, not sentences yet, but she is putting "I" in front of a lot of statements. For example "I poo poo", "I eat", etc. She is also signing more and communicating with us when she has gone to the bathroom. She doesn’t usually tell us beforehand that she needs to go, but almost always tells us after the fact. I believe we are on our way to potty training this little baby! She still only eats one good meal a day, but apparently that isn’t stopping her from growing!
She took her two shots like a champ at her 18 month checkup! As a reward we went to the park for a little fun, including Ben attempting to fly his homemade kite!
Mikayla loves her tub! I am already making plans for a winter themed tub. Any suggestions?
Daddy’s kite!
Her concentration face!
Making mommy a snack!
Sliding with daddy is so much fun!
A somewhat successful self portrait.
Mikayla, what did you do when you were 18 months old? Oh I just hung around!
In case you didn’t know, Ben and I have been working on teaching Mikayla sign language since she was about 6 or 7 months old. She knows quite a few signs and it helps her communicate with us and us with her. My friend wrote a great post on teaching children sign language here. Signing Time is a DVD series that we use a lot with Mikayla. I was first introduced to it when I worked at KAP last summer and reintroduced this year by our special education teacher at school. Mikayla loves the DVD’s and is now asking to watch them! Hopkins is the frog mascot they use in the series to help teach signs (along with a few other main characters Alex, Leah and Rachel). Here is Mikayla doing the Hopkins Hop!
Can you guess why this chica is eating an ice cream cone all of her own?
This beautiful big girl and her yummy ice cream…any guesses?
No guesses yet…
Want some help? Well, let me spill the beans on this celebratory ice cream. My 17 month old went "poo poo" in the potty today! Such a big step deserved an amazing treat like mint chocolate chip ice cream! We aren’t officially potty training, but we aren’t discouraging the use of the potty either. She acts interested in the potty when we go, so we bought her a potty seat and occasionally sit her on it. Today she came up to me and was farting. Then she said "poo poo", so I took her into the potty and sat her down with her book (already in her hands). She sat there and while reading her book she went "poo poo" in the potty. We were such proud parents!
Is 17 months old too young to have hobbies? Because I think Mikayla has just taken up two new favorites: Nose picking and bird watching! She constantly has her fingers up her nose, especially in the car. She even fell asleep the other day while picking her nose. At one point I looked back and she had both of her hand being used to pick her nose! Gross!
Her second hobby is a little nicer, bird watching. She will climb up the step stool in the kitchen and look out the windows at the birds forever! She can’t identify them quite yet, but we are working on that!
Hobby #1: Nose Picking
Hobby #2: Bird Watching
Last year we ventured to Jackson’s Orchard with Mikayla for some fall fun. We found a tree and continued the Adkins tradition of tree pictures. As with most years since I have been in BG, we traveled back to Jackson’s Orchard for some fall fun this past weekend. I am sure we will take more trips this fall, but I thought it would be fun to compare last year’s picture with this years. I actually stole this idea from my friend Emily!
Here is Mikayla almost exactly one year ago in the tree at Jackson’s Orchard:
And here she is today (well this past Saturday)! Notice the change in hair color and length. Crazy!
She has grown and changed so much!
That’s right, we started Pacifier Boot Camp in our house this week. Surprisingly Mikayla is taking it a like a champ. The first night I think she thought we just forgot and went on to sleep after crying for only a few minutes. The next night she cried for 15-20 before falling asleep. Last night was a little trickier because she is teething as well. However, tonight she didn’t even make a sound. She was either really tired (although Ben said she took a really long nap today) or doesn’t mind too much not having her pacifier!
Yesterday was really funny though. She had gone to a friends house for a few hours and must have seen Ben stick her pacifier into the diaper bag because all night she kept going over to it and pointing. When she finally figured out how to get it out of the bag she was so funny. It was like she had found her long lost friend and wouldn’t let it out of her sight the rest of the night! I wish I had gotten some pictures or video. All in all though, I would say we are successfully removing the pacifier!
Mikayla with short, dark hair (Decemberish) and her ever loved pacifier getting into to no good!
In case you missed the video Ben posted of Mikayla the other day, here it is. We had gone to Sonic for an after dinner treat and she stole my milkshake!
