A Little Bit About Preslie

It seems the only time I blog these days is for Landon's monthly updates - and even then I still tend to be 15 days behind on that.

But I wanted to document what Miss Preslie has been up to lately. She is quite possibly the most entertaining toddler I've come across.

SIDE NOTE: As I was proof-reading this post, I realized that all the photos of her with someone else are with the males in our family. Ha! She loves the women in our family too; promise.
 

 

Preslie is talking NON-STOP! She will attempt to say anything she hears - which isn't always a good thing. Ha! I don't know if I could even list all that she says because she has a big vocabulary. It's been so helpful to be able to communicate with her now. She can tell us when something hurts, itches, if she's hot or cold, if she wants a snack or is hungry. She doesn't always say each word clearly or correctly (for example: she calls a movie or any show on TV "momo.")

If we're going somewhere she will list all the people that she knows will be there. She tends to automatically give people nicknames - mostly because she can't yet pronounce their name correctly. It's so funny the names she's come up with. Here are just a handful of some names she's invented:

Kala = Kahlua
Deedee = Grandma (Debbie, Kevin's mom)
Bacca = Grampy (my dad)
Omie = Grammy (my mom)
Nono = Uncle Matthew (Kevin's brother)
Leendeen = Landon
Lala = Lovey 1
Lala Two = Lovey 2

 ^Hanging out with Bacca in the backyard and pointing out birds.

^Feeding Jay Jay at Thanksgiving.

^Balancing act with Nono

Her favorite word right now is "goway!" If she doesn't want someone or something near her, she says "goway!" This includes books, her Loveys, the dogs or a person. We crack up when she says "Goway book!" or "Goway Lala!"

 

Preslie loves music. Her favorite songs are "Happy" by Pharrell, "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift and "All About That Bass" by Meghan Trainor; however, she calls that song "No Bubbles" because she thinks the part of the song where she sings "no treble" is "no bubbles." She was hooked on watching the music videos for a while there, but we've kind of weaned her off that as it was becoming more of an obsession and we didn't particularly want our toddler engrossed in a cell phone all day, every day.

 ^She was looking way too grown up on this particular day!

She is very sensitive when she hears what she considers to be a sad song. If I hum "You Are My Sunshine" she will start to get tears in her eyes and get sad. If she hears "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," same thing.

When someone sneezes, coughs or farts, Preslie will say "bless you." When Preslie sneezes, coughs or farts, she says "bless you." We die laughing when she does this!

She's learning the difference between being happy and sad. If she does something that isn't particularly nice, we'll tell her that makes us sad and she'll come up to us and pet our hand or pat our head and say "niiice." It's her way of trying to make things better. It's pretty sweet.

She likes to "halp" feed the dogs. When we were putting Christmas decorations away she "halped" by putting mini ornaments in their tubes.

Preslie loves, loves, loves going to Miss Kara's! She goes anywhere from 3-4 days a week. I know I'm still home on maternity leave, but I can't just keep her home when she could be having fun with her little friends at Kara's. She will name all her buddies, too: Hala (Holland), Aubrey (Abrielle), Emmy (Emily) and Siseen (Sistine). She has such a good time with her little friends and asks about them when she's home. I love that she is so social and (generally) plays well with others.

She is also learning a lot at Kara's. She'll come home and will sing part of the ABC song. She's learning her colors, numbers and letters. It blows my mind what she catches on to.

Preslie has adapted well to the role of Big Sister. The extent of her jealousy usually includes wanting us to pay attention to her too if we're paying attention to Landon. She hasn't been mean to him or tried to hit him in any way. She's very sweet to him. Every morning when I wake him up and bring him out to the living room she says "Hi Buggy!" (his nickname) and will pat or rub his bald head. Every now and then she'll want him to sit next to her.

Miss P is bossy! She has no problem saying "no!" to a baby that is crying or "no!" to the dogs. She has to be reminded a lot at Kara's to be nice to other kids because she thinks everything is "mine!"

She's nowhere near being potty trained yet. She'll tell us when she has a dirty diaper, but she doesn't want to sit on her little potty unless we're lucky (the series of photos below was a lucky day so I had to document it). When we use the bathroom though, and we flush the toilet she likes to say "bye bye, pee pee!" so she's getting the concept.

 

For a while we were having trouble with her at the dinner table. We usually always try to eat dinner as a family at the table and there was a time it was a struggle to get her to behave. There were a few nights she'd be sent to her room without dinner because she was misbehaving so badly. And I know this sounds mean, but it was so hard to keep a straight face and not laugh when she'd be excused from the table and sent to her room because her little self would go running to her room and start to cry. It was so sad yet so cute at the same time. Bless her heart!

As any typical toddler does, she will fake cry or throw a big fit if she doesn't get what she wants. Our tactic is to usually ignore her and not give in when she does this. She gets sent to timeout or her room if she just needs time alone and away from a situation (or before Mama loses her ever-loving mind).

Preslie does pretty well at independent play. She likes to tell you to sit down though and play with her. She's starting to sit for longer periods of time to watch a cartoon - which I'll be honest - it's a nice reprieve when you have two under two.

Kevin and I love the guts out of this girl and as she's learning to say new words and communicate better each day, it makes life so fulfilling and fun. We have a feeling we'll have our hands full with this one!

Preslie Kay at Eighteen Months

Preslie turned 18 months old on Thursday, October 2nd; one day after her little brother was born.

This past month has been a big adjustment for her (for us all)! Here is what Preslie has been up to the past six months...

Measurements: At Preslie's 18 month well-check she came in at...
Weight: 24 pounds, 13 ounces (73rd percentile)
Height:  2' 8" tall (53rd percentile)
Head circumference: 19" (92nd percentile)

^ Water table fun over the summer! April 7, 2014

Appearance:
~Preslie has thinned out some since my 12 month post. She is on the move a lot so she doesn't have as much baby fat as she once did.
~Her eyes have pretty much evened out to a hazel color.

^Easter Sunday! April 20, 2014

~I think she has 11 or 12 teeth! She won't let me get a good look at her top molars and she BITES if I stick my finger in her mouth, but that's my guess. Based on the 11 or so teeth that she has so far, it seems like the smaller teeth tend to give her more problems when they break through than the molars do.

~Girlfriend has long legs and a big belly!

~Her hair has grown an awful lot and its light brown in color. It's very thin but is getting longer each day. I plan to have it grow long so I can do fun braids and curl it and whatnot when she's older.

^Cooling off! May 13, 2014

Sizes
~She is kind of all over the place with her sizes. She can fit into 24mo/2T clothes okay but it's getting to the point where they won't fit for long. So at this point I'm buying 3T pants and tops (to accommodate her belly).

~Size 4 shoe. She barely stayed in a size 3 for very long. I was so hesitant to buy her many shoes in a 4 for fear she'd grow out of them too fast, but so far Preslie has held steady at a size 4 shoe for now.

 ~Size 4 diapers, sometimes size 5 depending on the brand.

Personality
~I don't quite know where to begin to even describe this girl's personality. She is ever-so sassy. She clearly knows the word "no" and knows exactly when to use it.

^This smile melts me. May 25, 2014

~She is a bossy little thing - much like her Mama. 
~Much like her father, she loves attention. If she's in a room of people she makes sure we're all watching her. I'm going to have to teach her a little humility as she gets older. ;)

^Places to go, people to see! June 26, 2014

~She notices EVERYTHING! If you have a zit on your face or an "ouch" on your leg, she's sure to point it out to you.
~She will not smile for the camera unless someone is doing something silly for her. Child makes you work for a grin.

^Baby in a basket! June 27, 2014

~She will say "hi" to people she sees when we're out and about.
~If we're someplace new she takes some time to take everything in before she warms up to the situation and people.
~As with many toddlers, her attention span is slim-to-none most of the time. However, she will play by herself in her room for 15 minute stretches now and then.

New Words
There are a long list of them and the list seems to grow each day! Here are the ones I can think of right now...

^July 4th, 2014

~No
~Ya
~Please
~Sit
~Moon
~Sky
~Car
~Truck
~Night night
~Shoes
~Water
~Milk
~Snack
~Yellow
~Blue
~Bubbles
~Football
~Touchdown
~Go
~Niners
~Bye bye
~Baby
~Mama
~Mommy
~Papa
~Bubba
~Ball
~Outside
~Down
~Up
~More
~Apple
~Juice
~Shhh...while holding her finger in front of her lips. It's pretty darn cute. :)

Likes
~Preslie loves to go "bye bye." She is always really good when we go out and about to run errands.
~She will eat snacks all day long if we let her. That's all I hear during the day (and "Mommy!").
~Preslie gets so excited when Papa comes home from work.

^Papa is always so fun!

~Sweet girl loves to color. Whether it's in a coloring book or on our phones in an app.
~She thinks it's really funny to run away from us and be chased. Not so funny while Mama was pregnant!

~Preslie is obsessed with stickers. I get sticker books from the $1 Spot at Target. Luckily, these stickers aren't too sticky because we find them everywhere: on the sliding glass door, on cabinets, on Landon, in his car seat, on the floor, in her crib, etc.
~She enjoys "helping" Papa in the garage with projects.
 ~She likes to suck on her toothbrush. I think it feels good on her gums.
~Preslie loves to be outside. I don't know a toddler that doesn't!

^Cheese! August 5, 2014

~Girl is obsessed with the moon! She points at it every time she can spot it in the sky and goes nuts with excitement.

Dislikes
~She fights us with all she has when we try to brush her teeth. Any tips???
~Having her diaper changed.
~Sometimes having her hair done. I have to be real quick when I do it otherwise she is over it.
~She doesn't enjoy being told "no" or "that's enough" or when something is "all gone." Typical toddler behavior.

^Really mom???

Eating
~Preslie sits in a booster seat at the table with us now. She has since she was about 13 months old. Mostly because I was tired of looking at the high chair all the time. I have issues with "clutter." Ha! She does a decent job at sitting at the table with us. I think it makes her feel like a big girl.
~Recently, having her finish her dinner has been a struggle. She will refuse to eat some nights if she decides she doesn't like something; and it could be something she gobbled down the night before. Sometimes, she sets her mind on not liking a food randomly and there's no changing it. We won't make her a different meal though. She either eats what is in front of her, or she wakes up real hungry the next morning for breakfast.
~Preslie drinks a sippy cup of lactose free milk every morning when she gets up.
~She drinks water throughout the day. We don't give her juice unless it's apple juice or Gatorade heavily watered down with water.
~She had candy for the first time on Halloween night and she is now a big fan of the sugar!

^Having the time of her life outside with Papa! October 18, 2014

~She does not enjoy vegetables. However, I've recently introduced her to the holy grail of ranch dressing and it's helped with getting her to eat them.

Sleeping
~Preslie goes to bed between 7-7:30 each night and wakes up around 7:00 the next morning.
~She takes one solid nap in the morning around 10:00 for a couple hours and sometimes she'll take an afternoon nap. We've been trying to phase the second nap out but if she seems tired we'll put her down for a second one sometimes.
~She has yet to discover that she can climb out of her crib and I hope to keep it that way for as long as possible.

New Experiences
~I don't really know that I can remember every new experience Preslie has had over the past six months, but she seems to learn something new everyday.
~She knows the hand motions to "Itsy Bitsy Spider."
~She can count to three with you.
~She likes to "sing along" to songs like "ABC's," "Row Your Boat," "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." She doesn't necessarily sing with me, but she sounds out the words the best she can.
~She's spent a lot of overnight visits with Grammy and Grampy and with Grandma.
~She spent a lot of time swimming this past summer and went to a lot of BBQ's at Grandma's house.
~The most notable new experience would be becoming a big sister. I plan to post about that later.

It is so hard to wrap my head around the fact that Preslie has gone from a baby to toddler to now a little girl, so quickly. Babies don't keep, and boy am I realizing that at lightening speed. Kevin and I often talk about the fact that we have to make sure to soak up this time with Preslie as she is now because she will never be this way again. We only have one shot with this little girl and we try to make the most of it as much as we can.

Preslie Kay at Twelve Months



I realize this update is over a month late. Maybe it's me not wanting to admit that our daughter is over a year old, now!

Preslie turned 12 months old on Wednesday, April 2nd!

Measurements: At Preslie's one year well-check she came in at...
Weight: 20 pounds 10 ounces (62nd percentile)
Height: 29 1/2" tall (59th percentile)
Head circumference: 18" (70th percentile)

Appearance
~She has a lot of hair now but refuses to let me do it and she rips bows out of it. I keep trying though!
~Her eye color switches from blue, to grey, to green depending on what she's wearing. No doubt they will stay light.

~She still has just her two bottom teeth - and she knows how to use them! Her top teeth are definitely coming in. Her gums are red and swollen, so any day now!
~The cutest dimple on her right cheek when she smiles and laughs.

Sizes
~12 month tops and 18 month bottoms.
~Size 2 shoe but she's already growing out of them so I think she'll be in Size 3 shoes in about a month.
~Size 4 diapers.

Personality
~I'm not quite sure how to describe this little girl's 'tude. She is generally a happy child, but she can get MAD if something doesn't work for her right away (like if she can't get a toy to turn on or something like that) or if she doesn't get something immediately. Her patience is non-existent. We are working on that.

 ~I'm going to be honest and not sugar-coat things, but she is the bully at Miss Kara's. She hits and she bites. We have "that child." I have no clue where she learned this but definitely not from us. She doesn't yet understand when we say "No hitting" firmly to her when she swats at us - and it's not like we hit her back. What would that teach her? I think when she gets a little older she'll understand a little better. And the whole biting thing...I don't even know. So these are a couple challenges we're working on at the moment.
~She is starting to laugh a lot more! She usually makes you work for a laugh, but now she'll willingly giggle. And it's one of those guttural giggles - which makes it that much more funny.

~She is doing a very good job at being gentle with the dogs. She'll actually pet Stella nicely and softly. Kahlua doesn't allow her close enough to get the opportunity to do that.

~She shakes her head "no" if she doesn't want something. The funniest is when I ask for for a kiss and she shakes her head "no" and smiles so big. I'm sure that won't be so funny 14 years from now.
~If Preslie is tired she pops her thumb in her mouth and will lay down wherever she is. Whether it be the ground or Papa's slipper. Ha! ;)



Likes
~She has developed an attachment to her Lovies. She has a rabbit lovie for home and an elephant lovie for Kara's.
~Preslie has some weird obsession with her jammies. I have a couple pair in the living room because I need to sew some holes in them and she'll get a hold of them and put them around her neck, take them off, put them around her neck, take them off. She'll do this for hours! I have no clue why.

~She loves jewelry; especially necklaces. She likes to try and put necklaces on and play with a necklace if you're wearing one.
~She also loves sunglasses. Girlfriend loves accessories!
~Her water table is one of her favorite things right now.

~She still enjoys books. Right now a favorite of hers is "Brown Bear, Brown Bear."
~Sweet P got one of these Radio Flyer tricycles for her birthday and it's her absolute favorite thing right now. We take her around the block in it when it's nice outside.

Dislikes
~The car. Any car drive longer than an hour and Preslie is not an enjoyable passenger. She also doesn't take very good naps in the car.
~Being changed. It's impossible to keep her still and happy during this process.
~Having her hair brushed.

Eating
~She does a great job at feeding herself - we rarely feed her with a spoon now. Unless it's something super messy like applesauce or yogurt. We're working on using utensils but she's not quite there yet.
~She eats pretty much everything we eat at this point.

~She is completely off formula and is drinking whole milk. However, I think she has an allergy to milk so we're trying to figure that whole thing out.
~Preslie is also completely off the bottle and we only give her sippy cups. It was a very smooth transition. I started at 11 months and gave her a sippy in place of her morning bottle. And just within the past two weeks I switched her bedtime bottle with a sippy.

Sleeping
~She sleeps pretty well. There may be a night here or there where she wakes up for some unknown reason but it's not very often.

^Her last night as an 11-month-old

~Preslie is still taking two naps a day. While she's at Kara's the duration of her naps seem to be short, but when she's home she takes nice, long naps!

New Experiences
~The most important is that she had her first birthday! I hope to have a separate post up about that.

^Her first taste of sugar at her first birthday party. Look at her toes! Now, that's some excitement right there!

^Enjoying a cake pop for dessert on the night of her actual birthday.

~Preslie is standing and cruising along furniture and stands on her own. Still no walking though.
~This month she had two ear infections and bronchiolitis. That was pretty scary and I hope she doesn't get bronchiolitis again.

^She was so pitiful and sick and her little eyes were so droopy.

~She is allergic to amoxicillin. She developed a rash all over her body.
~Preslie also developed Hand Foot Mouth Disease (HFMD) right after her allergic reaction. The doctor tells us the two were two separate occurrences, but I'm not so sure. Unfortunately, she had HFMD at her birthday party (at the time we thought it was still an allergic reaction to amoxicillin) so a couple of the kiddos who were there ended up getting HFMD too. We felt so awful! Obviously, had we known what it was, we would've rescheduled. Oh well. I guess these things happen when you have kids!

 ^The beginning of HFMD around her mouth. :(

~She can say "eyes," "hi," "outside," "uh oh," "that," "dog," "Dada" and "Mama." She only says "Mama" rarely.
~Mama and Papa got her a Pottery Barn Kids chair for her birthday and she loves it. She sits in it and gets out. Sits in it and gets out.

~She attended her friend Lucas' first birthday party.

~She had her first official Girls Weekend! Unfortunately, she developed bronchiolitis during this time so we weren't able to play and be with our friends as much as we would have liked. :(

^Miss Madison was not in the mood for pictures. ;)

~When we say "Preslie, how big are you? So big!!!" she'll throw her arms up over her head. I love it.
~Preslie experienced her first St. Patrick's day. It was pretty uneventful, but a fun holiday nonetheless.
~We announced that she is going to be a Big Sister!
~She discovered the doggie door as Grammy and Grampy's house!

 ^She even looks guilty!

~We set up a new play area in the house for her. I found a good storage bench and we laid down some foam flooring and it's worked out pretty well. I can't handle all the toys!
~We went to a food truck event that was pretty fun.

~She has eaten dog food - much to our dismay. Ha!


This past year has been so fun and exhausting. Both Kevin and I are looking forward to her becoming her own little person as she transitions from a baby to a toddler. Each day she makes us smile. Some days she makes us feel like we want to scream - but luckily those days are far and few between. ;)
We couldn't have imagined a better first child if we tried. We feel so fortunate to have Preslie as our daughter.