A Quick Between Month Update

For most of the month of December Savannah was battling a cold--or so I thought.  She had all the symptoms of a cold--runny nose, cough, grumpiness, messed up sleeping schedule, etc.  It turns out that she was actually cutting her first two molars.  Last weekend I did a teeth check, just to see if anything new was coming in, and SURPRISE!  That girl has two full top molars!!!  Apparently I'm a little out of it as a mother to not have realized this development sooner.  Oh well, at least now she can successfully eat more foods :)

Another new development--my little 14 and a half month old somehow managed to climb out of her crib on Wednesday.  After voicing her displeasure of being forced to take a nap I finally went to check on her 20 minutes later.  I open the door to her room and hello, there she is standing by the door.  Imagine my shock! First I was super concerned that maybe she fell out and landed on her head but as soon as I picked her up the tear show stopped.  Then we came downstairs and off she went to play.  So I can only assume that she safely managed to climb out on her own.  So now we've got a super smart and athletic little toddler on our hands.  Of course I called Pottery Barn that night to see about ordering the conversion kit for her crib and in true PBK fashion, it's unavailable.  Just GREAT!  So I guess we'll wait and see if it becomes available (the sales reps say maybe in February) before I consider buying a toddler bed.

Here comes Trouble!!

"Who you calling Trouble?!"

There's never a dull moment in the Alvarez household!

How Big is Savannah?!?

SOOOOOOOOOOO BIG!!!!!!!!

I started noticing that several pairs of Savannah's pants--ones that I always had to roll up--are now more like capris.  So I did my best attempt at checking her height and we learned that she has grown approximately an inch and a half since she was last measured on her birthday.  That means she's up to a whooping 31 inches!!  Now whenever I say, "how big is Savannah?", she stretches out as far as she can and raises her arms to the sky---it's the cutest thing ever!!!!

The 14 Month Update

I'm sure at some point I will stop doing monthly Savannah updates but I feel like as long as she is doing memorable things then I should continue documenting them.  Also, I need some way to remember all these whens, hows, and whats so hopefully when number 2 comes along I'll be better prepared for what lies ahead :)

My sweet Savannah Grace

At 14 months, here is a brief rundown of Savannah's developments:
~She is obsessed with hugging anyone under the age of 5 even if she's only just met them.

~Her new favorite food (still trying to decide if it's actually considered food but if so, then I'm adding it to the vegetable group) is Ketchup.  It doesn't even have to be on food--she'll take it on her finger, too.

~She LOVES playing with her baby dolls.  She is always carrying one around with her either in her car, grocery cart, tent, stroller, etc.

~She is now eating almost all her food off a plate and with a fork!  This is a big deal since she practically refuses to have anyone feed her anymore.  If she can't do it herself, then she prefers to not eat.

~She LOVES to put on lipgloss.  I have a slight obsession with chap stick so after observing me apply it every 15 minutes she now believes that she, too, needs it.  Once again, don't try to help her because she has to do it herself.

~Snack time every afternoon has to take place in her recliner while watching cartoons.

~She has become quite the littler helper (when she wants to).  Max and Lilly make a mess with their dog food so I often find Savannah in their zone cleaning up after them.

She even goes to get the dustpan and brush by herself.

just a little dusting

~Her newest obsession is talking on ichat/skype.  I'm still trying to decide if it's talking to the grandparents that she likes or if it's just sitting on the desk and playing with all the pens/papers/mail/etc.  Usually about 5 times a day I find her yelling at me from the computer.

~speaking of yelling----yep, she's still having those temper tantrums.  Hello terrible twos a year early.

her reaction after being told to get down

~She has become much more agreeable when it comes to diaper changes.  I'll usually ask her if she needs a dry diaper and if she does then she'll walk to the gate at the foot of the stairs and wait for me to take her up.  It only took about 13 months of diaper changing to finally get to this point.  
~she hasn't made much progress in the talking department but I've come to not expect it anymore.  I've been reading and talking to other parents and pediatricians who all say that if a toddler is physically advanced (which they say Savannah is) then she'll be more delayed in speech.  It seems that they usually only advance in one area at a time.  So I guess she'll run before she can say what she's running to.  But I am almost certain that I heard her say "peeeeze (please)" the other day when she wanted another french fry :) 
~It looks like she's entering the mommy attachment stage.  For the first time yesterday she had a meltdown when I left her in the nursery during church.  I'm told it didn't last long but it sure was hard to leave her.  


I think that about sums up all developments from the past month.  I can't wait to see what she has in store for this month :)

Kickin' off 2011

This year we spent New Years Eve at our good friends, the Riepl's, lake house along with 2 other families. It was so nice to have a relaxing evening with good friends, good fun, and lots of entertainment (aka other kids) to keep Savannah busy.  We spent the evening in our pjs watching football and having girl talk.  I don't think anyone managed to stay awake til midnight, in fact we were in bed by 10:30---that's my kind of a New Years celebration :)

Here are a few pics from our stay at the lake house:

the lake was so calm and peaceful

a few lingering snow spots

Savannah's favorite spot in the house was this old rocking chair

dinner time

second favorite spot was climbing up and down the stairs

all the kiddos

Then it was back home on Saturday to start the much dreaded taking down of the Christmas decorations.  There is nothing that I hate more than taking down my decorations.  The house always looks so plain and boring afterwards.  This year I had my own little helper follow me around and insist on "helping".  Needless to say, it took me a little longer than expected to get everything down and put away.

I typically don't make new years resolutions but I heard an interview on tv this morning with Taylor Swift and I think I'm going to steal her resolution.  This year I'm going to try to be more thankful for all the wonderful people and things in my life and to just be more appreciative every day.  I think it's something that we should all strive to do more.  So let's cheer to 2011!