Look who's 18 months old!

Today is August 6, 2012.

Getting ready for her photo shoot

Me!

Hi!

The kitty is on my shirt

This morning RaeRae came into our bed about 6:30 and after nursing, we had this little conversation in ASL:

RaeRae: Dada?
Me: Out there in the kitchen
RaeRae: Work?
Me: Yep, Daddy is getting ready for work.
RaeRae: (nods her head yes)
Me: Daddy is eating. Would you like to eat?
RaeRae: Eat. Cracker?
Me: Not a cracker, but you can have some cereal.
RaeRae: Chicken?
Me: Not chicken, but you can have some cereal.
RaeRae: Chicken!
Me: Cereal.
RaeRae: Cracker!
Me: Cereal.
RaeRae: Cracker! Cracker! Cracker!
Me: Silly girl, let's go find Daddy.
RaeRae: (nods her head yes).


Today our little RaeRae is 18 months old! That's a year and half! A half a year away from being TWO!!!

My, oh my. RaeRae, you continue to be the star of our lives. I love being your mama and having fun with you everyday. I love watching you figure out things, your creativity, and your growing vocabulary!
I am still amazed that this little being used to be inside my belly, kicking away and making my belly shift in shape. I get teary-eyed watching old videos and looking through pictures from across the past 18 months. She was such a chunky baby and now she is a rather slender toddler on the go!
I am excited to make this list of words she knows! It's been two months since the last time I made a list and I just know it is going to blow all of us away!

Signs RaeRae knows at 18 months:

1. Mama (signs it correctly)
2. Daddy (signs it correctly; sometimes goes back to 1-handshape)
3. Nana (does same for Nama too) (close to correct)
4. Papa (does same for Grandpa too) (close to correct)
5. Baby (one-hand most of time)
6. Me/I (signs it correctly, and oh so cute!)
7. More (she uses this sign ALL the time to mean she wants more of food, milk, or of a certain activity such as reading or tickling)
8. Eat (definitely has this down)
9. All done (one hand wave over the shoulder)
10. Thank you (so good with this one)
11. Please (signs it correctly)
12. Yes (nods her head and signs yes almost correctly but with different movement)
13. No (almost correct except all other fingers are not folded)
14. Up (points up)
15. Down (points down)
16. Bed (signs it correctly with head tilt)
17. Blanket (both hands moving on her chest, almost correct but movement is erratic)
18. Sleep (hand brushed across face)
19. Toothbrush/Brush-teeth (1 handshape across mouth)
20. Diapers (open-5 handshapes at her diaper areas on sides)
21. Shoes (evolving from "with" sign to look more like correct sign)
22. Socks (signs it correctly)
23. Clothes (looks like dress)
24. Fan (1 handshape in the air); does same sign for music mobile in a book
25. Pacifier (hilarious; open 5 handshape over the mouth and grabs her mouth)
26. Ball (signs it correctly)
27. Hat (signs it correctly)
28. Drink (open 5 handshape over the mouth in right movement)
29. Book (open 5 handshapes instead of b-handshape)
30. Car (open 5 handshape up and down)
31. Bike (similar to car)
32. Moon (1 handshape moving away from side of forehead)
33. Water (1 handshape on mouth)
34. Milk (signs it correctly--of course!)
35. Chicken (signs it correctly)
36. Cereal (signs it correctly)
37. Cheese (tries to do it but always consistent)
38. Cracker (signs it correctly)
39. Banana (almost right, but handshape a little off)
40. Strawberry (1-handshape on chin)
41. Orange(signs it correctly)
42. Cat (right location and movement, but uses all fingers instead of index finger and thumb and says "meow" at same time)
43. Dog (signs it correctly--of course)
44. Mouse (signs it correctly)
45. Elephant (arm waving on side of body near face)
46. Lion (hand over head)
47. Frog (looks a bit like "pig" sign but handshape a little different)
48. Fish (signs it correctly)
49. Alligator (clapping movement close to body)
50. Bear (right location and handshape but doesn't cross arms/hands yet)
51. Giraffe (right movement and location but handshape is open-5)
52. Bird (signs it correctly)
53. Duck (5-handshape)
54. Caterpillar (1-handshape like a person walking by)
55. Cow (1-handshape on forehead with right movement)
56. Pig (open-5 handshape under the chin with right movement)
57. Deer (signs it correctly)
58. Horse (similar to cow but movement is a bit different)
59. Movie (looks like she's brushing something off her hands)
60. Shower (open 5 handshape by head)
61. Bath (almost correctly)
62. Work (she will sign Daddy and work together, to tell me she knows that Daddy is at work)
63. RaeRae (does her sign name with 1-handshape on cheek)
64. Come-on (waves with one hand in motion to say come with me)
65. Paint (signs it almost correctly)
66. "Bus"--(she tries to fingerspell this word when she sees a picture of a bus)
67. Nose (points to her nose)
68. Eyes (points to her eyes and squints)
69. Ears (pulls on her ears)
70. Teeth (taps on her teeth)
71. Bug (signs 1 handshape in simliar movement on the eyebrow)
72. Penguin (does the movement with her body)
73. Bee (open 5-handshape on her cheek)

I'm sure there might be some I am forgetting...it's hard to keep track now! She picks them up so fast!
She also points to everything to tell me she sees things or communicate something. Spoken English words:

1. Mommy/Mama
2. Daddy/Dada 
3. Bapa
4. Papa
5. Nana
6. Nama (I think)
7. Kitty
8. Meow
9. Doggie
10. Uh-oh
11. Up
12. Down
13. Baby
14. Chicken (sometimes sounds like "kitchen")
15. Hi
16. Bye-bye
17. No
18. Tango
19. Cow
20.  Eat

(This is all PJ could remember and that I knew of. There might be more.)

At 18 months, RaeRae has 16 teeth, rather long semi-wavy hair, wears mostly 12 month-sized clothing (tops) and some 18 month-sized clothing depending on the brand and type (mostly for shorts and pants due to her fluff!). I don't know how much she weighs yet since we don't have a scale but I will find out soon at her check-up appointment next week. 
She can sort of run, loves to chase the geese and ducks at the park, still loves books, her baby dolls, building with lego blocks, riding in her car, and trying to put on or take off her clothing and accessories. She is obsessed with shoes, especially her flip flops. She likes to help sort the laundry in her own way. She wants to hold your hand at her own decision and pull you to different rooms and places. 
RaeRae is a bit of a picky eater (sigh) but sometimes will eat certain foods if offered by a different person or at a different time. She is still breastfed--of which I am very proud to be! 
In two weeks, she will start full-time daycare for the first time! Bittersweet for both of us, but exciting too. 

Happy 18 months to our darling RaeRae!

Breastfeeding thoughts

This week has been dubbed World Breastfeeding Week. It is not something new actually, and has been celebrated for 20 years now! I was doing some reading on the World Health Organization (WHO) website and learned that World Breastfeeding Week is August 1-7 every year across 170 countries  and has been established to educate people about the benefits of breastfeeding as well as encourage more breastfeeding for the health of babies around the world. (Source: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/annual/world_breastfeeding_week/en/index.html)
I have heard that WHO actually recommends breastfeeding until the age of two, if you can and are willing.  So in light of this week's celebration, I wanted to reflect on my own breastfeeding relationship with my daughter.
I am proud to share that I have been breastfeeding RaeRae for nearly 18 months now! I'm hoping we will make it until she is two years old. I did not expect that we would enjoying a positive nursing relationship this long and feel grateful for all the positive support and encouragement I have received from friends, family, and as well as "strangers" across FaceBook groups such as The Leaky Boob and Respect the Breast, and the cloth diapering community as well. I've also gotten great information on sites like KellyMom and other blogs.
When I think about breastfeeding, I think a lot of people are misinformed about the benefits and the work that goes into it. When RaeRae was born, she had a difficult latch. Her latch would regress and she would just be sucking on the nipple part, causing bloodiness and pain. On top of that, we had our first case of thrush at only 3 weeks postpartum. But with the help and support of a patient husband, supportive mom, and all those others I have mentioned here, we got through the hurdle and still are nursing strong. 
It's an amazing feeling to know that my own body is giving her all that she needs. She has been sick less than 5 times since she was born, and all of those times were just colds. I know that the longer I breastfeed, the longer she will get all the benefits from my milk and I will have less of a chance for breast cancer as well. I found this page that lists all the benefits from breastfeeding, as well as extended breastfeeding. Click here. 
It gives me joy to know my daughter finds comfort in breastfeeding--when she is hungry or has a boo-boo. She makes me chuckle when she puts her finger in my belly-button as if it is a switch to turn on the milk. I laugh more when she sits up from nursing on one side to ask for the other side, pointing and smiling as if she is saying "this one, mama" with giggles. 
To all the moms out there who make the decision to even try breastfeeding, you rock! Feel free to email me if you have any questions or just need some support. A lot of people supported me so I am willing to support whoever wants to try.

Bleh

Lately I haven't felt much like writing. Summer laziness maybe? In all fairness, we did more traveling this month. Sacramento for 5 days, San Diego for 8 days...
Naptimes are so off due to our latest trip: vacation to San Diego. It's 2pm and RaeRae is still awake. She did wake up a bit later this morning, but yesterday she woke up later than she did today and took an one hour nap just three hours after waking up. She's been awake now for 5 hours but we are watching a movie so we can have some "quiet" time. She knows the sign for movie now and will ask for it on occasion. I think it's cute, as long it's not over board.
Having a kind of bleh day here at home. Just nice to be home though. Soon--in a month, I'll be going back to work full time instead of being a full-time stay a home mom. I think we have found a nanny but just need to find a time for all of us to meet in person still.
Anyways, I just needed to get a little blog post done. Maybe a little here and there will help with the motivation as it seems I feel I need to make these grand posts with pictures.

Couch day

Today is one of those rare days where I am pretty much glued to the couch all day. Today is a day I am thankful for my hubby to be home. 
Why am I on the couch?  It's because of something called "Patellofemoral pain syndrome." Basically it means my knee hurts.  I overdid it power-walking and think it was the uphill hike with the stroller at Lake Chabot on Father's Day that put it over the edge. 
I went to the doctor's last Tuesday to get it checked out because it was getting worse. It felt heavy, uncomfortable, burned a bit, and felt like there was fluid underneath my knee cap. 
The fancy definition of Patellofemoral pain syndrome at Wikipedia is:
"Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) is a syndrome characterized by pain or discomfort seemingly originating from the contact of the posterior surface of the patella (back of the kneecap) with the femur (thigh bone). It is the most frequently encountered diagnosis in sports medicine clinics."
I have been wearing a knee brace, icing it occasionally, and taking ibruprofen three times a day. But yesterday I think I overdid it again, taking care of two toddlers. I noticed driving longer periods of time (like I did yesterday when I went to babysit for a friend) irritates my knee. So last night I just laid down in bed with my laptop and today is a couch day. Resting my knee as much as possible I think will be the trick to be a faster recovery, especially since I have a busy toddler and planning to drive to Sacramento next week and San Diego after that. 
 Yay for couch days, especially when you need it. We'll see how long before I get bored. I've been watching some shows on Hulu, doing some reading, and just talking to people on Facebook. Also nursing whenever RaeRae asks.
I really hope my knee recovers soon. If it's not better within 2-3 weeks, my doctor said she will refer me for physical therapy. Insurance doesn't cover 100 percent of that, so not really looking forward to some of out of pocket pay. I did physical therapy for my wrist about three years ago though and that did help a lot. 
Hope everyone else is having a nice weekend. 

A Glassy Review

When Natural House announced the opportunity for bloggers to review their Glassy product, I was excited to sign up and be accepted as one of the 50 bloggers to try it out. It came in the mail a couple of days ago and I had a chance to try after the busy Father's Day weekend. 
For those of you who don't know, Natural House makes natural household cleaning products for various areas of the house. In addition to Glassy, they offer Moppy, Sinky, Trashy, Flushy, and Surfy. These products work through the use of probiotics. For the product I tried, the picture below shows how Glassy works.

Here is the essential information about Glassy:

"Glassy Probiotic Glass Cleaner is a revolutionary new glass cleaner. Our professional strength formula powers through dirt, grime and germs while leaving a streak free sheen. Our probiotics continue to consume germs on the surface after you are done cleaning. Natural House is safe to use on any glass surface and leaves an ultra clean shine.
Features

• Industry-First, Cutting-Edge Probiotic Cleaning Product.
• Convenient spray top nozzle for quick and dispersed application
• Naturally digests odors at their source leaving a fresh botanical scent
• Probiotics create a beneficial, odor eating ecosystem on any and all surfaces
• Active ingredients keep working to maintain germ and odor free surface
• Contains no VOC’s or other harmful chemicals Keeps dangerous pathogens off any surface

Uses

• Safe to use on multiple surfaces including high-gloss surfaces, terrazzo, marble, slate, vinyl, tile, and finished hardwood surfaces
• Formulated to leave Streak-Free Sheen
• Use weekly to promote a healthy and safe home

Benefits

• Leaves no Dulling Residue
• Scrubbing action scours dirt and lifts germs and grime, while driving out odors at their source
• Eco-Friendly, non-toxic, biodegradable.

Glassy Ingredients

Water, Plant Based Surfactant, Citric Acid, Natural Enzymes"

I love the idea of Natural House products because they are non-toxic and safe to use with a toddler and cats around. This fact is particularly important to me so I don't have to worry about all the harsh chemicals being left behind from other cleaning products. In addition to being non-toxic, all of their products are phosphate/APE-free, eco-friendly, and biodegradable. 
How do you use Glassy? Easy-peasy!

I tested Glassy on a couple areas in my home. The first being RaeRae's room. In her room are two big sliding glass doors. These doors make for hours of fun through making silly faces and also a true source of toddler handprints and smudges. RaeRae likes to run up to the mirror, put her hands (and sometimes her face) against the mirror, leaving all those marks. 

Before using Glassy

After using Glassy

You can see in the "After" picture how well Glassy works! The smell was even nice, not like the "cleaners" smell of other products. You know, the blue bottles. Which I have...and often doesn't do a good job. 
The second place where I tried Glassy was my bathroom. The pictures of the mirrors did not turn out so I did not include them here, but I do include before and after pictures of the faucet and the marble counter (which is suited for Glassy too!).

Before: Dirty facuet

After: Clean faucet!

And the countertop:

Before: Smudges and a bit dusty

After: Shiny and clean

 I love that Glassy will continue to work even after I have used it. I highly recommend any of their products for you to try. I also have at home Sinky, Moppy, and Surfy. Surfy is currently my favorite, after Glassy, because it gets used almost every single day. Sinky gets used once a week. I still want to try Flushy, for the toilets. 
Natural House is on Facebook and Twitter. Please go like their page and/or follow them! You can buy their products at their store or on Amazon (for those of you who may have free shipping).

A Busy Father's Day Weekend

We had a nice, busy Father's Day weekend.

Saturday:  
 
My grandparents drove down for the day. They live about two hours away so it was nice to see them. For those who don't know, my grandparents were like my second set of parents while growing up, except with all the spoiling. I used to go over to their house nearly every weekend and even with lived with them some part of my first year of life and then again for a year during college, before I moved to the bay area with my DH (then boyfriend).
RaeRae was up at 5am on Saturday and lucky me, DH got up at the same time anyways so I got an extra hour or so of sleep. I was nervous about RaeRae's nap schedule because we were planning to take my grandparents out for a BBQ picnic for lunch. Lucky me again, RaeRae took a decent power nap from 9:30 to 10:30am shortly before my grandparents arrived close to 11a.m. We gave my gramps his birthday card and a painting from RaeRae. 
I originally wanted to try BBQing at the park across the street and just eat it at home, but they were completely booked. So we drove to a place called the Quarry in Fremont. It was perfect. The Quarry has 5 small lakes, where one of the lakes has a beach for people to wade in the water and lay in the sun. We didn't go to the beach but we found a picnic table and a grill with some shade. It was 88 degrees but windy. 

The beautiful view. RaeRae with my Gramps.

Family Fun pic

My gramps makes the BEST steaks

My grandma, we love her so much

RaeRae eating a potato chip

Smiling for Mama

Sunscreen is important

Our nice picnic!

Sunday:

Because of Saturday's busy day and RaeRae only napping for that one hour in the morning (of the entire day!), RaeRae slept 10 hours straight! She went to bed at 7:30 a.m. and I went into her room at 5:30 a.m. because I knew she would wake soon and I wanted to try to prolong sleepy-time by nursing her. So I brought her into our bed at 5:30 a.m., nursed her, and she slept for two more hours! It was soooo nice to sort of sleep in. 

After nursing her again at 7:30, I cooked breakfast for DH and had RaeRae walk over to her daddy with a Father Day's card we made together. It was adorable. I gave her the card and told her to give it to Daddy, and she did! We enjoyed a nice breakfast together. See picture for yummy food!

Breakfast I made for DH

After breakfast, we relaxed a bit before getting ready to head out for the day. I thought we were going to go a nearby park that I usually take RaeRae to, but DH changed his mind and started driving in the opposite direction without even telling me he changed his mind! We went to Lake Chabot in San Leandro for a 3 mile hike/walk around a nice lake. We took turns pushing the stroller. It was quite a beautiful day, cooler than Saturday, and with lots of families around. 

Daddy and RaeRae

She's so stinking cute

The last time we came here, RaeRae was about 2-3 months old. I asked DH to take a picture of us at a bench where we sat before. I actually nursed her here last time and it was a very windy day. 

Us on the same bench from a year ago

Smiling at Daddy

Us silly pic

Family. Love this pic.

The water was nice enough so we let RaeRae stand in it without her shoes, and of course she got her clothes wet by trying to bend down. Her expressions in some of the pictures are amusing though.

After we finished our walk, we stopped by a nearby cafe called Zocalo. DH heard about it from a co-worker. This cafe was really neat! It had a children's play area with toys and books as well as child-sized furniture. The napkins and cups they served drinks in were all plant-friendly or recycled products. You could tell this cafe was a true community cafe not only through the friendly customer service, but the artwork for sale on the wall, the comfortableness of people sitting, drinking coffee or whatever, and just enjoying their day. 

Whatcha got, Daddy?

Daddy's girl

RaeRae napped for 20 minutes in the car, on the way to Lake Chabot, and that was it. We hoped she would nap at home but nope! We finished the day by setting up a mini pool from my parents on our balcony, where RaeRae played with a water balloon for the first time. 

Fun with a water balloon

Pool time

Did RaeRae sleep another 10 hours this night? Nope! She woke up more times than she would usually do on a regular night, which is about two times. Maybe she was overtired, teething, or going through a growth spurt. Not sure. I'm hoping tonight will go better. 

Overall, it was a very nice yet busy weekend. I ended Sunday night by scoring a new cloth diaper that's rare to find! A 101 Dalmatians print All-in-one by Peachy Green! I've yet to try this brand but I saw the print at a store online and I just knew I had to find it! RaeRae loves this movie! 

HOT HOT HOT Babylegs deal!!

You all know we love our BabyLegs. Of course a baby's legs are adorable, but I'm talking about those cute leg warmers that come in different colors and make diaper changing much easier. 
I'm here to share with you that there's a HOT HOT HOT deal going on the Babylegs site and you don't want to miss out on this if you are looking to get more. 
The deal is 75 percent off 75 dollars worth of products!  Babylegs are generally 10-12 dollars each, but when you add 75 dollars worth of Babylegs products to your cart and enter a code, it automatically takes off 75 percent! This means each Babylegs will only cost you about 2-3 dollars a pair!
Get it while it's hot! And also before they sell out!

Here's my affiliate link! When you order through my link, I get a small commission. So thanks! ;-) 


Here are the important codes to enter at check-out:!


-75 percent off code: HEATWAVE
-My affiliate/VIP code: 1059480