Emri @ 3 Years

This big girl was sooo looking forward to her doctor visit! She's always done well at the pediatrician. She knew there would be no "pokeys" and would be a sticker and sucker!

Weight: 28.8 lbs. (29%)

Height: 38 inches (73%)

She's grown 5 inches since last birthday....and only gained 0.3 lbs.

What a difference A YEAR makes! Here's Emri...and her puppet :)

Breakfast in bed...A few shots of the silly girl...
That solo dimple...perhaps one of my favorite features on that sweet face!

And, at times, she sits still enough for a sweet shot.

At 3 years, Emri:

• is still very much a tender heart. She's soft spoken and is easily upset. In fact as we were leaving the doctors office she was playing with some toys while I scheduled our next appointments....I heard some sniffles and with teary eyes, she walked up to me totally sad. I looked over, and a toddler (probably 18 months or so) had taken Emri's sucker right out of her mouth and helped herself to it! Emri just walked away, not defending herself at all. Does that usually come with a first child?!
• is still 100% daddy's girl, unless she's in trouble with him....then it's me she wants! haha!
• is still a bit ambidextrous when it comes to eating, but generally picks up crayons or pencils to color with her right hand.
• has to sleep with bear, princess blanket, and about 20 other stuffed friends by her side.
• has mostly given up naps the last coupe months....maybe 1 or 2 a week. She's transitioned well into afternoon quiet time in her room while Jet sleeps.
• is potty trained. It takes a lot for me to really say that now....since i thought we had it several times! Accidents every once in a while (like the one at Target with Brett last week...great story) but is now TELLING US when she needs to go, which was our biggest obstacle to overcome! So proud of her....and happy about this!
• Since we moved and just have basic cable and no TVO to help with the budget, she's only got a few channels to watch.....her top shows are Curious George, Word World, & Dinosaur Train. She still loves to catch up on other TV at Grandma's houses where they are recorded for her :)
• Loves "Jet Boy" or "Jetty Boy" and is usually pretty good to play with him and help keep him entertained.
• Likes to act like a baby and be coddled, especially when Jet is getting attention. I think this is a normal thing?
• LOVES her grandmas and grandpas and always gets so excited to visit their houses!
• She and Brett have a special song together....a song from his mission in Tonga. They sing it each night at bedtime. She sang it for me last week and I was blown away...she knew the whole thing! IN TONGAN! I don't even know the song!
• loves to play "I'm the baby dinosaur (or any other animal), you're the mommy dinosaur..."
• doesn't have a concept of tense and it's cute...anything past tense she refers to as "last night" whether it happened, last week, last night, or 10 minutes ago :)
• Says some pretty funny things! I don't always write them down, but here are a few from recently:

E (as we're driving home from Morgan one afternoon):

"I need some fresh cold in here. Can you push my window button?"

Mom: "Ouch, I just bumped my elbow on the wall!"

E: "I'm sorry momma. You should get some small arms like me!"

E: "Thanks momma for making me lunch."

Mom: "You're welcome Em."

E: "I know I'm welcome!"

E (to me when she walked in the bathroom as I was getting into the shower): "oooo, momma, nice bum-bums (looking at my chest)!"

Me: "What the?!?!" --who is this kid?!

One day Jet was having it pretty rough. He cried a lot. Emri said "I know what will make him happy" and she went up to her room and brought her BELOVED princess blanky down and laid it next to him on the floor (he LOVES her blanket, and she usually doesn't let him have it to himself). It was such a sweet thoughtful thing for her to think of!

Last week Jet was in his highchair and I was back and forth feeding him and getting dinner ready....at one point I left him there for a few minutes and he wasn't too happy....Emri jumped up in my seat and said she would feed him for me. It was great...she spoon fed him the rest of his baby food while I finished dinner! Such a big help!

Oh Emri, how we love your spunky personality and the big girl you are becoming! It's going by so fast! I hate for you to grow up, but at the same time it's so fun to watch you learn and grow! You bring so much joy and love into our home and we are SO lucky you are part of our family! We love you baby girl!

Jet @ 12 Months

How is it even possible that we went from this...

To this....

To this SOOO FAST?!?!? Blows my mind!

12 Month Stats:

Weight: 19 lbs. 7 oz. (6%)

Height: 28.5 inches (11%)

Head Circumference:18 5/8 inches (78%)

Still just a little guy!

He has Pectus Excavatum which is where his chest dips in....and could require some attention down the road. The dr said he will refer us to Primary Children's when he's 5 for a possible surgery eval.

Yep, we need a serious haircut around here!

I used to sneak in and take pictures of Emri sleeping all the time...Jet is a much lighter sleeper than E, so I don't have too many of him sleeping. Don't want to risk waking the monster!

Those blue eyes melt my heart!

Waiting at the window for dad to come home from work.

Has had several naps on mom this month....I don't mind though :)

So funny...Brett took this picture. He said he laid like this for a few minutes. Apparently it was more comfortable than it looks!

At 12 months, Jet:

• still has definite issues with strangers...and even some family members he sees often. He will either cry or give crusty looks and disgusted "uh" sound!
• had a 2nd opinion on his ears because his mom was going crazy (refer to this post)! Something had to explain his grumpiness....Dr.#2 said ears looked great, probably just trying to get some more teeth. AWESOME. I am crazy. It was good timing though, because the night before his appointment Emri complained of her ear hurting. Dr. #2 gave her and RX while we were there because SHE had and infection.
• Got 3rd tooth (#E)--Feb 2, which coincided with a 102.9* fever, virus and rash. Lovely.
• Got 4th tooth (#F)--Feb 12...I swear we didn't see the kid smile for over 2 weeks.
• The boy can THROW A TANTRUM!
• Is still nursing twice/day.
• Is much more demanding than Emri was, and a bit more needy...hence the nursing still. I really don't mind though. I like being forced to sit down and relax a bit (so maybe it's me holding on)!
• has figured out his sippy cup, but still can't quite get the hang of a straw!
• FAVORITE time of day is bath time with Emri. He hauls up the stairs as soon as he hears the water turn on. My bathroom is soaked from ceiling to floor by the time their fun is over!
• raises his arms for "so big" when we ask "How big is Jet?!"
• he lunges forward when he's crawling and really excited about something which has resulted in some big forehead, nose, and mouth bonks.
• Still eating some baby food if I can sneak it in (otherwise it takes forever to get him full). Is enjoying pretty much all "people" food he's tried except for cottage cheese. Some new foods he's tried: avocado, black beans, baked potato, bbq porkchops, cheerios, corn, pears, lasagna, chicken casseroles, goldfish crackers, peas, blueberries,and whole milk.
• has an obsession with the toilet. GROSS. Must be a boy thing....Emri never once even pulled herself up to the toilet. She can sense germs :)
• is starting to toss items out of his crib...socks, blanky, etc
• knows a couple of signs: "more" and "milk"
• needs his 2 blankets to sleep....a baby blanket and a smaller "security" blanket
• hates carrier carseat and facing backwards. Drives longer than 15 minutes are not too pleasant these days
• newest trick is pulling the heat vents out.....I thought it was Emri till I witnessed the mischief happening!
• loves to give big open mouth kisses when we ask for them.
• Has a short attention span....won't watch tv at all, and only sits still for 5 specific books....we're workin on the book part!

Jet is a very determined boy! He let's us know what he wants and when, which is usually RIGHT NOW! I've probably made it sound like he's a terrible kid. He's not! Just different than Emri's very laid back temperament and I'm so glad they are different. I've also wondered if Emri was so "quiet" because she took a binky...she never had the chance to really yell it out! We'd put the plug in as soon as she got cranky! Jet brings so much joy to our family. I just can't believe how fast 12 months has blown by. I've been trying to do better daily at making time stand still in my own mind....recognizing the blessings and miracles these 2 are and living in the moment. I just want them to stay little!!!!

Birthday Extravaganza.....

Jet's Birthday was on the same day as dental convention so we got a late start to celebrating, but once we started it seems that we haven't stopped! With both kids birthdays within 3 days of eachother we've had lots of celebrating to do!

**With that said, there are SOOOO many pictures to follow. Good luck, I hope you make it!**

It's hard to believe Jet is ONE already....and how on earth is my baby girl THREE?! Wow, time needs to slow down! We did Jet's smash cake at my parents. Emri saw me strip Jet down and she quickly followed suit!

She blew out her own candle, then proceeded to help Jetty boy dig into his cake.

He was interested right away. I think he could smell the sugar!Yep. Pretty sure he enjoyed himself!He was also very generous and shared with Great Grandpa Brklacich......and mom! Look at his chipmunk cheeks holding as much as possible!

Great Grandpa and Great Grandma brought the kids some very snuggly animals and that is the fastest way to Emri's heart! She was thrilled!

This was a truly generous gift from Kolby's girlfriend Andi! She gave Kolby one of these ginormous moose for Valentine's Day earlier in the week...when the kids saw it they couldn't leave it alone for 3 days! Andi surprised the kids and brought ANOTHER moose home just for their birthdays! She's so thoughtful and the kids were thrilled! He was lovingly named "Moosey" and they can't stay off of him! Thank you Andi---we love the newest/biggest member of our family! haha!Birthday celebrations continued the next day in Morgan with Brett's family. EVERYONE was there which is a rare occurrence with some families living out of town. We went bowling...aren't these tiny bowling shoes the cutest things ever?!Emri was in heaven....Even little Brigham was muscling that huge ball around!

After bowling we had birthday spotlights and dessert at grandma and grandpa's. For Emri's spotlight, she sang the "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" song for everyone.

Emri's birthday was fortunately on a holiday and Brett had work off! YAY! The night before we got presents ready for BOTH of the kids. It felt a little like Christmas morning :)Found this cute idea on Pinterest with the kids pictures. Threw a few balloons in Jet's crib after he woke up....he wasn't quite sure what to think!Emri got breakfast and balloons in bed! She requested "colorful cheerios!"Some princess dress-ups to add to the collection. Wow....who is this big girl?!Since bowling was such a hit, we decided to take Emri to play "Rollerball" at Boondocks with some cousins. It's like mini-bowling and was PERFECT for little bodies!Hilarious....she had a little dance to do after she threw each ball....before the pins even got knocked down!Liam and Tabitha doubling up on the carousel. On our way home we picked up Emri's new PINK carseat. She was soooo excited about it!She still fit in the old one, but Jet has grown out of his carrier (and CANNOT STAND car rides lately). Both seem happy with the change!The night of Emri's bday Grandma Max and Papa came for dinner and brought presents. Emri is very pleased with her special trunk for dressups......Jet didn't really care for presents, but he was VERY interested in dessert! Thanks to everyone to made these kids so happy on their big days!