Poppy potty update

Poppy has now pooped in the toilet 4 times and peed in it 3 times! She's really getting the hang of understanding the urges and how to release the poop or pee once she's on the pot. Lauren and Zach aren't pushing the issue since she's only 17 months old, but it's still fun for everyone!

Lolli the passer-outter :)

Lolli had a blast helping helping people open their gifts today at Gma Great's for Christmas and then naming what they got - like 'ooh, you got a book!', or 'look, you got jammies!' etc. and she opened Aaron's new wallet and didn't know what to call it so said 'oohh! It's your very own.... this!" lol

Lolli's stage debut

Lolli's preschool pageant was today. The theme was Christmas Traditions and Lolli's class represented the Christmas Tree. Lolli wore red tights and a poofy white dress with black polka dots and red accents. She was so brave up there on stage and even managed to sing some of the songs and do some of the hand motions. It was a super cute show and very well put together considering there were 50+ 2-5 year olds up on stage. Lolli's favorite songs she performed were "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" and "Feliz Navidad" (during which they got to shake shakers and yell, "Cha Cha Cha!"). Sarah and Charlie were there to watch Molly, plus Lauren, Poppy, Gma Great, Uncle Aaron and Papaw Lucky.

She pooped!

Today while they were at Gma Great's house, Poppy looked at Lauren and said, "Poop!" So Lauren asked, "Oh, did you poop?" to which Poppy replied, "Toot!" So Lauren asked her if she needed to go sit on the potty. Poppy headed towards the bathroom, so Lauren sat her up there and guess what - she popped! Right away. It was pretty cool and everyone was super impressed!

Elf on the Shelf

The Mockaitis family gave the perfect gift last Christmas - Elf on the Shelf! We got it out the day after Thanksgiving this year and the girls are having so much fun with it! The elf (who they've named Jolly Burt) sits somewhere in our living area all day long, just watching. Then at night after the girls go to bed, Jolly Burt flies to the north pole to report on their behavior to Santa. Then he flies back and takes a seat in a new spot before the girls wake up. Lolli runs downstairs each morning to find the elf in his new location, and Poppy spends all day pointing to the elf and saying, "There he is!" So much fun :)

Well Child Checks!

Lolli had her 15 months exam at the same time Lolli had her 3 year exam. However, Poppy was 1 day past 16 months and Lolli was 1 day shy of 3 years, 2 months.

Lolli was sooo excited to go to the doctor, especially because she knew he would listen to her heart and lungs, look inside her eyes, ears, nose and mouth, and check how tall she was and how many pounds she was (lol).

The girls enjoyed looking in the fish tank and waiting for their names to be called. Poppy LOVED the Toy Story Kleenex box and kept yelling, "Jessie! Buzz!"

So anyway, both girls are ahead of schedule as far as milestones are concerned. They both ranked in the 75th percentile for height and the 50th percentile for weight. Poppy's head was 75th-90th, which Lauren was aware of because it's hard to get shirts over her head LOL

Lolli: 38.25in, 32.2lbs
Poppy: 31.25in, 23lbs 9oz

When Lolli was 20 months old, she was 32in and 24lbs 12oz. So Poppy may actually end up being skinnier than Lolli, despite being born 1.5lbs bigger (but, also 9 days later, which accoutns for some of it).

Trick or Treat!

Lolli & Poppy had so much fun trick-or-treating tonight. Lolli dressed as a butterfly and Poppy was a bumblebee. They went house-to-house in Gma Morgan's neighborhood. Poppy was so good at following Lolli up to the houses and saying, "Tick Teat!" and "Thank you!" And Lolli was sure to tell everyone, "Have a happy Halloween!" They scored LOTS of candy!!

Lolli's 3rd birthday party!

Today was Lolli's 3rd birthday party. She had an ocotpus bounce house, a Hello Kitty cake, butterfly plates and party hats, and a Little Mermaid candle. She was one happy girl! Lolli's guests included: Lauren, Zach, Poppy, Papaw Lucky, Mamaw and Papaw Morgan, Gramma and Papaw Great, Jodi, Kim and Paul and Paige, Annie, the Dixons, the Noirots, the Aguayos, the Evitts, the Clemons, the Mockaitises, and Amy and Holly. Everyone had a great time!

Lolli's 3rd birthday!

Today is Lolli's 3rd birthday! Lauren worked last night and got home around 7:30 to find Z and the girls watching tv - apparently they got up at 6:30! So Lauren got Lolli ready for school, fed her a birthday breakfast of waffles and M&Ms, and sent her off to school with the Mockaitis's. Lolli took party hats, blowers, and M&Ms for her classmates. After school, Zach, Lauren and Poppy picked up Lolli and MOlly and they all headed southeast to Newport Aquarium. The girls loooove that place and Lolli kept saying it was the best birthday ever. After that they hit up a candy shop and Lolli got a big unicorn sucker. After that they dropped Molly off and headed home, where Lolli got to open her gift from Zach and Lauren. It was a motorized scooter and Lolli loves it! She's a little awkward driving it, but she'll get better with practice!
All in all it was a wonderful birthday for a wonderful girl. Lolli's looking forward to her party on Saturday!

Poppy's 14 months old!

Our little Poppy is a 14 month old toddler! She weighs around 24 pounds and is hardly chunky at all anymore. Her eyes are big and brown and her hair is still blonde with curls at the bottom. She doesn't know she's any younger than Lolli and all the other kids. Her favorite food is popsicles but she'll eat just about anything, even broccoli and tomatoes! She has a few signs: milk, eat, thank you, please, swing, sleepy, baby. But she has a gazillion words: hi, bye bye, mama, dada, Lolli, papaw, mamaw, Katie, Duke, Boo, moooo, quack, duck, meow, woof, baaaa, banana, pacifier (wawa), car, bike, swing, slide, baby, buckle, tickle, toes, teeth, night night, rock... I'm sure there are some I'm forgetting. She's quite the talker!
Poppy goes to sleep really easily these days. We just lay her down in her pack n play and she zonks out. At some point during the night she wakes and cries to let everyone know she wants to go in the bedroom with everyone else, so she gets in bed between Zach and Lauren and goes back to sleep. She still likes to breastfeed and does so about 3-5 times a day. She'll drink whole milk sometimes, but she prefers Diet Coke ;)
Poppy runs, walks, jumps, climbs... she's pretty agile! Her favorite things are babies, food, swinging, and playing with other kids. She's not shy at all. She loooves her big sister and they make each other laugh often. Poppy can be kind of stubborn if she wants something and no one will give it to her, but for the most part she's an easy going kid who makes everyone smile!

Lolli's First Day of School!

Today was Lolli's first ever day of school! She's enrolled at Irvington United Methodist Preschool where she'll attend Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30-12:15. The open house was Sunday so she got to see her classroom and meet her teacher, so it wasn't a huge shock to her today. Aside from not wanting to get out of bed when it was time this morning, she did great! She was a tiny bit shy when Lauren first dropped her off, but within 30 seconds she was off and playing, yelling, "Bye, Mom!" And when lauren picked her up, she didn't even want to leave! Such a grown up :

Pacifier Fairy!

So far we've been pacifier-free for over 40 hours and counting :)

Poppy's handling it really well. I was worried she wasn't ready to give hers up yet since she's not even 14 months old. But Lolli is starting preschool this week and turning 3 next week, so it was beyond time for the pacifiers to disappear.

Lolli gave hers up (via the Build-A-Bear method) when she was 23 months old and did great for 7 months, despite the temptation of Poppy's pacifiers laying around. Then something flipped inside her and she begged/screamed/wailed for a pacifier for over a month before we gave in, thinking it was a phase. It wasn't. So we decided to get all the pacifiers out of the house this time around to reduce the temptation.

So when we were leaving the house Saturday evening, the girls put their pacifiers into a box and left it on our "pacifier station" for the fairy. Obviously this was mostly for the benefit of our Lolli, but Poppy had heard the story enough times that I think she kind of understood. Anyway, the girls loved coming home to find that the Pacifier Fairy had left them each a Pillow Pet: a bee for Lolli and a ladybug for Poppy.

Lolli's only mentioned a pacifier twice, during times when she was already upset about something. Poppy asks more often (She goes, "Wa wa?" in such a sweet little voice it almost breaks my heart), but she doesn't get upset when I tell her it's all gone. The first night she wanted my boobs all night long but last night was only 3 times, so I can handle that.

I'm hoping there won't be some sort of 48 hour backlash or something LOL I'll feel a lot better when this first week is over!

Puddle Jumper for Poppy!

Lauren, Lolli, Molly and Poppy went swimming at Cindy's house today. Poppy refused to go in her lily pad float and insisted on "swimming" with the big kids. So Lauren borrowed Stella's puddle jumper life jacket (like water wings with a band around the chest) and let Poppy try them out. She actually did pretty great! She mastered floating on her tummy and on her back, although she didn't care for floating on her back. And she was actually able to keep her legs under her for a few seconds. She's got a long way to go because she's really proficient in using them, but for 12.5 months she's not doing too bad!

And, as always, Lolli swam great in her puddle jumper! It might be about time to try her in something a little less helpful. Maybe one of those foam bands around her chest, but with no arm bands?

Storytime

Lauren took Poppy, Lolli, and Molly to storytime today. Lolli usually gets a little goofy at storytime, choosing to forego the instructions and instead turn around in circles at the back of the room. But today they got there early so Lolli had plenty of time to run around. She and Molly did so great! They sat on their little carpet squares and participated with all the songs, dances, and stories. And Poppy... well she's something else. She also participates (even though she's 8 months younger than the lowest recommended age for the storytime). And she likes to be in the FRONT of the class, showing off her storytime skills. Lauren had to retrieve her a couple times, but for the most part storytime was a huge success today!

Oh, and when it was time to pick out puzzles, Miss Fiona offered Poppy a baby puzzle. She pushed it away and pointed until she got the big kid puzzle she wants. This is a girl who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go for it!

Poppy's 1st Birthday Party

Poppy's party was today. Zach and the girls spent the morning buying a pool and slip and slides while Lauren stayed home to sew her curtains with the help of Gma Cathy. And Rod filled up a ton of water balloons. The party started around 2 and was a great success. The back yard was decked out with 1 canopy and 1 food tent, plus plenty of chairs for everyone. There was the usual play equipment, plus a kiddie pool and a slip and slide. There was fruit, veggies, cheese, crackers, olives, and chips to eat. Poppy's smash cake was made to look like a bobbling hula girl. She also had a 1/2 sheet cake and 30 cupcakes, plus ice cream. No one went hungry since this was an in-between meal kind of party! All the kids had a blast. The water balloons brought on lots of laughter but all 200 of them were gone in about 3 minutes! Then the kids did a pinata which is always fun. Some of the adults played cornhole or rodeo golf. All in all it was a great party with wonderful friends and family!

Marion County Fair

As you might recall, Poppy went to the fair last year when she was only 8 days old. She got to go again this year, and enjoyed it a lot more!

After Lauren got home from school, she, Zach, Lolli and Poppy went to the fair with Gma and Gpa Great, and Papaw Lucky. Lolli rose the Nemo ride (the one that terrified her the previous year!) and loved it. She also rode a ride w/ yellow fish. She played a game where she had to go fishing for sharks and won 3 little toys. She and Poppy played Duck Pond where they won 3 more toys! Poppy FREAKED OUT when she saw the carousel, so she rode it. And on the way out, Poppy rode a pony. Once she realized what was going on, she was so excited she couldn't hardly stand it LOL. It was lots of fun to go to the fair with lots of great family <3

Poppy's One Year Old!

Can you believe it's been a year since Poppy entered the world? Actually, it's hard to remember life without her! So here's a brief update on 12-month old Penelope Lynn.

Poppy weighs 22lbs 13oz and is 29.75 inches long. Both fall in the 75th percentile. Her head is 18.25in around, which is closer to the 90th percentile. She's gotta keep all those smart somewhere! ;) She has golden BLONDE hair that curls in the back. Still has cradle cap, especially up front on top. She has 8 teeth all in front, 4 on top and 4 on bottom. No molars yet but they're starting to lump up. She still has rolly thighs and huge brown eyes. To sum it up... she's gorgeous!

Milestones... Poppy can do it all! She started walking hard-core the day before her 1st birthday and now she's so fast is surprises everyone! She hardly crawls anymore. She loves climbing up stairs so Lauren and Zach have to be really careful to lock the gate at the bottom. Poppy can even climb up the slide to Lolli's top bunk - NOT a good thing, safety-wise! She has a few words. She says "mama", "Daaaa (Dad)", "Lalalala (Lolli)", "baby", "TaDaaa!", "ball", and "num num num" (when she's eating LOL). Speaking of eating, Poppy is a FANTASTIC eater. She likes pretty much everything and has a rather hearty appetite. She insists on feeding herself, even using utensils, which can get messy! She loves cola when she can sweet talk someone into giving her some. She loves popsicles and grapes and blueberries and of course cake!

Poppy is not a fan of whole milk, although sometimes she'll drink it if there's chocolate in it. She breastfeeds 4-5 times in a 24 hour period. She's getting great at going to sleep if Lauren puts her down in the pack n play awake. But she still sleeps in the big bed with L and Z, which makes for easy night nursing. She's inconsistent with her napping. Some days it's 3 hours, some days it's 40 minutes. Poppy loves to sit on the potty, but hasn't managed to pee or poop in it yet. She wants to be just like Lolli in pretty much every aspect. They are best friends who love doing everything together. They play and tickle and love on each other. It's awesome!

Poppy loves dancing, which she does by sticking her arms out and twisting at the waist. She's very good at getting her point across about what she does or does not want. She's pretty sweaty for a kid, probably because her metabolism is working so hard to digest all that food she eats ha ha She's perfect in every way! Lauren and Zach are so fortunate to have 2 wonderful daughters that they couldn't love more <3

Poppy can stand up!

Well, obviously, since she's been standing for 7 months and pulling herself to standing for a month or so. But today she learned how to do it all by herself, without anything to pull or push up on. She did it over and over and is so proud of herself. Her mom and dad are super proud, too :)

Poppy's First Step (and a pony ride)

Lauren, Lolli and Poppy were hanging out at the Ft, Wayne mall playground today when Poppy decided to take her first unassisted step! She walked from Lauren towards a hollowed out log thing. It was awesome! She only took one step before she got herself freaked out and decided to scoot the rest of the way.

In that same playground, Lolli made friends with a random 3.5 year old girl. They were playing near each other when Lolli said, "That's my sister Poppy. She has brown hair like my Daddy." To which the girl replied, "I have blonde hair." So Lolli said, "I have blonde hair, too, and so does my Mommy." And the girl said, "My mom has blonde hair, too." LOL Lauren was cracking up.

After Zach got done working, they all went to the Ft. Wayne Children's Zoo. It's a very nice zoo but they only had 3 hours before it closed so they kind of had to hurry. All 4 of them piled into a log and floated around an exhibit of dingoes and kangaroos. Then Poppy rode a tony pony twice around the track. She loved petting Sadie's mane. Lauren was a bit uncomfortable because the pony was sooooo short but it was worth it! Then Zach went on a ski-lift type ride that took him up and over the zoo. At first Lolli insisted she was too scared but in the end she rode it with Lauren and loved it. She also loved feeding the fish in the pond. Lolli was too scared to pet the goats, but Poppy enjoyed it. What a fun day!

Poppy

Poppy's 10 Month Update

Poppy's 10 months old! And she had her 9 month well visit this morning. She weighs 21lbs 7oz and is 29in long (tall?). She received a clean bill of health from Dr. Roscoe.

Poppy's been crawling for a couple weeks not, but she still prefers to scoot on her booty. Sometimes she does a combination which can get pretty entertaining. She also pulls up on EVERYTHING and cruises around. She still prefers to cruise while holding on with 2 hands; not quite ready for 1-handed cruising yet. She's working hard on perfecting her balance and sometimes she'll stand up unassisted for quite a while - 20 or 30 seconds even! So after she gets the hang of one-handed cruising, it won't be long before she takes those first steps!

Poppy has several signs. She waves for "hi" and "bye", she shakes her head for "no" (or when Lauren says "Poppy" in a certain tone), she shakes her arms for "crazy shake!", she shakes her hands for "all done", and puts her hands together for "more", she claps for "yay", and she raises her arms for "soooo big!". She loves playing peek-a-boo by holding blankets over her face then lowering it and laughing hysterically. She gets very excited by the cats and dog and chases them around occasionally. Poppy's only real words so far are "Mama" and "Dada", which she just recently learned. Now she'll see a picture of Zach and reach for it, saying, "Dada! Dada!"

A lot of Poppy's 12 month clothes are getting too small, so we're on to 18 months now. Poppy has big beautiful rolly chunky baby thighs :) that are super strong from using her leg strength when she scoots. She has light brown/golden blonde hair that's starting to curl up a bit in the back on bottom, which makes her looks really girly. Her eyes are big and brown. She tans super fast so Lauren has turned into a sunscreen maniac. Poppy has 3 teeth, all on bottom, and has had those for quite some time. She's just getting over a bout of thrush, for which she had her first prescription.

Poppy just started having big girl poops, which is not surprising because she's kind of a pig when it comes to food! She'll eat pretty much anything (except nuts, honey, and eggs). Her favorites are beans, Cheerios, bell peppers, melon, chicken, and she kind of has a sweet tooth for ice cream. She still breastfeeds 6 or 8 times in a 24 hour period, by Lauren's best guess. This includes on or 2 night feedings. But she's really stretched that out and sometimes Lauren gets 4 hours of sleep in a row - woohoo!!!!! Poppy sleeps in her boppy between Zach and Lauren in their king sized bed. She ofted picks her legs straight up in the air and slams them down on the mattress repeatedly in her sleep, which is pretty annoying but other than that she's a good bed-mate. She goes to sleep between 8:30 and 9:30 and gets up around 7 or 8. She takes a couple naps each day, one in the morning or early afternoon, and the other around dinner time.

Poppy also enjoys baths, and swimming, and swinging, and playing in the sand. She likes going down slides but someone still has to hold her hands. She rides rear-facing in her Chicco infant seat and probably will for a good while longer. She's a really good car-sleeper. She takes a pacifier for sleep most o fthe time but sometimes will fall asleep without it. Poppy has a wonderful mischivious grin that she wears most of the time. She's a sweet, sweet girl.

Lolli and Poppy still get along great. Sometimes Lolli plays to rough with Poppy, but for the most part she loves having Poppy around and almost always wants her included in whatever she's doing.

Here's a link to Lolli's 10 month post for comparison ;) http://lollip.blogspot.com/2008/07/10-month-update.html

March for Babies

Today was the March of Dimes - March for Babies. Lauren and Zach were members of Team IndyMoms and had been raising money for about a month - a grand total of $220! The walk was this morning in the pouring rain. The girls rode in the jogging stroller which thankfully has a rain cover so they didn't get too wet. Afterwards there was food and Lolli got her face painted. Ya gotta love little activists :)

Poppy's 9 months old!

Poppy turns 9 months old today! She weighs around 21lbs and is ??in tall. She's still got brown eyes but her hair is almost blonde, especially in the sun. She has wonderfully chubby thighs and her arms are still pretty pudgy, too.

Poppy gets around by scooting on her booty. She scoots over to something and then pulls up on her knees (or, a couple times, all the way to standing). She refuses to go on her hands and knees ever since she learned to go from that position to sitting, so Zach and Lauren are trying to figure out other ways to encourage crawling. She's starting to get good at taking steps with someone holding her hand. She cruises a little bit, but not too excessively yet. She definitely gets around, though!

Poppy sleeps in her boppy in between Zach and Lauren in their bed at night. She wakes to nurse about every 2 hours, which must be her compensating for having been a very easy newborn ;) During the day she sleeps in her boppy or on a pillow in her big girl bed. She's a great car sleeper, too. In the evening she generally stays up until 8 or 9 and then snoozes on the couch until Z and L go to bed.

Poppy eats pretty much whatever she can get ahold of. She's a very good self-feeder and doesn't much care for being spoon-fed purees. She likes cereal bars, bananas, enchiladas (ha), pancakes, grilled cheese sandwiches... really just about everything. But she still doesn't consume much quantity of any one thing at a time, so breastmilk is still her main source of nutrition (probably as much as 90%).

Poppy waves when she hears the word "hi" and claps when she hears the word "clap" or "Yay! or the sound of people clapping (like on game shows)" She says "Mama" and means it! She does a lot of other babbling, too, but no one can understand her LOL.

Road trip!

Lauren took Lolli and Poppy on a very long (17 hours) 7-state road trip to see Gma Cathy in Texas. Their friends Jaime and Elise came along, too, which was great! All the girls did better than anyone would have hoped, although the trip was not without its frustrations. Will post more later.

Poppy's Day of Milestones

Poppy had a very big day of firsts today, developmentally speaking! She rolled from back to tummy, and went from tummy to sitting. Then she started saying "mama" and meaning it! And then she pulled herself up all the way to standing (from sitting). She'd been pulling to her knees for a couple weeks but hadn't figured out how to get up on her feet yet. Yay, Poppy!

3 teeth!

About a week or 2 ago, Lauren noticed a new tooth in Poppy's mouth, in the bottom, on the right side of her middle teeth. It's coming in nicely, with no sign of it's corresponding left-side partner! Still toothless up top, too!

Standing up!

Lauren and Poppy were hanging out in the grass today watching Lolli and Paige swing. Poppy was standing up, holding onto Lauren's hands to steady herself. Then she dropped one hand, and then the other, so she was standing all on her own. She stayed that was for a good 2-3 seconds, just standing there like she was all grown up :)

All-Fours-to-sitting

Poppy's been really trying out her newfound abilities these past few days! Today she mastered going from her hands and knees into a sitting position. Now she can do it in no time flat, which makes forcing her to do hands-and-knees time a bit more challenging! Once she learns how to go from sitting to her hands and knees, she'll be good to go! She's already super close but sometimes her one foot gets stuck.

Puking Poppy

Poppy had a 2-3 hour puking this afternoon. The entire family walked over to Gma and Gpa Great's house (looong 7.2 miles!) and shortly after they arrived, Poppy spewed up all over herself in the duck. She proceeded to puke 3 more times in the next few hours. Otherwise she acted pretty normal. Thankfully it didn't last long and she seems to have fully recovered!

Pulling up to knees

Today Poppy was sitting on her bottom, then she scooted a few feet to get to the pole of Lolli's bunk bed. She grabbed onto it and pulled herself right up onto her knees! A major feat since she JUST learned knee-sitting!

Fun new beds!

Lauren happened to see an ad on IMLM for a loft bed with a slide coming down off it. She and Zach decided it was a good deal so they bought it. Zach picked it up this morning and put it together for Lolli and Poppy this evening. Lolli sleeps up top (about 3.5 feet off the ground) but she's has a rail in case she would decide to get really rolly in her sleep. There's a ladder going up on end and a slide coming down the other. Lolli absolutely LOVES it! She's really great at going up the ladder and she does it over and over so she can slide back down.

Eventually Poppy will sleep underneath, but for now she's still in Zach and Lauren's bed.

Hands and knees!

Poppy's never been a fan of sitting on her knees, despite Lauren's many attempts to get her to do so. But today when Lauren tried, Poppy cooperated! So she spent a good chunk of time sitting on her knees at her activity table. And then, when Lauren decided to try to plop her down on her hands and knees, Poppy stayed up! Being up on her hands and knees like that for prolonged amounts of times is surely conducive to crawling :)

20 pounds!

Zach, Lauren, Lolli and Poppy took Grable to the vet this evening. Lolli had fun in the play area and looking at the fish tank. And Dr. Dana let her flip some light switches in the exam room, which Lolli thought was great, especially the x-ray light. While Grable was getting some blood drawn, Lauren and Zach plopped Poppy down onto the baby scale that the vet uses for cats and small dogs. She came in at 20 pounds even!

"Hi"

Poppy's mastered the art of waving when waved to, and she even says, "Hi!" while she's doing it. She also is a clapping pro and Lauren swears she says, "Yayyyyyy!" while she's clapping. Her other favorite thing to mimic is banging on a table or something. So cute!

Poppy's 8 months old!

Poppy is 8 months old today! Lauren hasn't taken her for a weigh check for a while, but as of a month ago she was 18lbs 12oz. She has big brown eyes and brown hair that people keep saying it getting lighter. It's about 1-2 inches long all around her head, which is longer than Lolli's was at this age. Still not long enough for clips or ponytails yet.

Poppy can sit unassisted, stand when holding onto something, and is working on getting up on her hands and knees (although she hates tummy time). She can walk around in her walker any direction she wants. When she's sitting, she can spin around in a circle and sometimes scoots in one direction or another. She just started clapping and does it now to get attention, which is very cute. She likes to bang on things like table tops.

Poppy is a very happy baby outside of the home, but at home she gets pretty cranky. Apparently she's a happier baby when Lauren isn't around, because when Lauren IS around, Poppy is always screaming to be held by her. It makes for a rough day for Lauren and Poppy, especially when the weather is bad and they can't go outside.

Poppy nurses pretty much every 2 hours around the clock. She eats some solid foods, but prefers to feed herself. She mostly does fruit, veggies, and carbs, although she has had a few tastes of dairy and 1 bite of chicken. She does very well from a bottle but prefers chewing on sippy cups. She doesn't know how to do a straw yet.

Poppy sleeps unswaddled now (most nights) in Lauren and Zach's bed, in her boppy. Sometimes she naps on the couch and sometimes she naps in her crib (always in the boppy). She's great about napping in the car, too, and she's relatively easy to get to sleep, which is wonderful!

Poppy and Lolli are wonderful to each other. Lolli always wants Poppy to be included, which makes Poppy smile. It's been a great 8 months so far!

She went to sleep!

We've always swaddled Poppy for her naps and overnight, and we always get her to sleep by either nursing, bouncing on an exercise ball, or rocking.

But today when it was time for Lolli to go down for her nap, she insisted that Poppy go, too. I've never napped them in the same room before, and I had no idea how to get them both to sleep at the same time.

So I swaddled up Poppy and fed her while I was telling Lolli her naptime story, hoping Poppy would fall asleep. No such luck. But to keep Lolli from throwing a fit (and because I myself was curious as to what would happen), I put Poppy in her crib wide awake. She was struggling against her swaddle, so I opened it up for her.

I heard them "talking" to each other for a couple minutes and then it got quiet. I thought for sure that something awful had happened to Poppy, because surely she wouldn't just go to sleep like that. Lolli didn't do that until she was 11m, 5d old, and even then she was in a room BY HERSELF, not with a toddler.

Here's what I found when I went to check!

She's perfectly fine, just zonked out! And Lolli is sound asleep, too! I'm so shocked right now LOL And kinda giddy :) If it happened once, that means it might happen again in the future, right?!? Woohoooo!

PS - That looks so uncomfortable, but I'd hate to wake her up and ruin this good thing I've got going on!

Poppy's first sick visit

Lauren took Poppy to the doctor today for her first sick visit. Her symptoms: fever (around 100), cough, lack of energy, and general irritability, on top of a sometimes runny nose. The diagnosis: TEETHING! What a waste of a copay, but at least Lauren won't have to spend the weekend worrying about an ear infection or something. And she weighed in at 18lbs, 4.5oz. She definitely did NOT double her weight by 6 months, which is good, because my back can't handle hauling around a 30lb 1 year old!

Happy Half Birthday Poppy!

Poppy is 6 months old today! She celebrated by eating pureed sweet potatoes for breakfast - YUM!

Poppy is generally a very happy, social girl. She's developed a bit of anxiety about not being help by Lauren when she's in sight, but she's usually happy to go to other people. She's been sick on top of teething lately and has had a hard time with that.

Poppy still sleeps swaddled and usually naps in her swing during the day. She takes 3-5 naps a day. She sleeps well in the car, too. At night she sleeps swaddled, on her side in her Boppy between Lauren and Zach in their bed. She wakes every 2-3 hours to nurse. She usually goes to bed between 8 and 10 and wakes up around 7 (sometimes earlier or later, though).

Poppy is sitting up all on her own. She babbles ("ba ba ba ba") and blows raspberries. She can roll over from her tummy to her back but doesn't care to roll from her back to her tummy, apparently. She moves in a circle during tummy time but no crawling yet. She'll stand if someone props her up, but doesn't pull herself up yet. She loves her pacifier but usually spits it out a few minutes after falling asleep.

Lauren is going to take Poppy to get weighed and measured tomorrow!

Poppy still has a hairy lower back, ha! She's got great skin and isn't prone to rashes or anything. Her eyes and big, brown and beautiful. Her hair is really growing and is almost the length that Lolli's was at one year. It sticks out of her ears and drives Lauren nuts. Her bald spot is almost all filled in. She has lovely chubby rolls on her thighs!

Poppy's first funeral

Unfortunately Zach's grandfather passed away last weekend. The viewing was last night and both girls went. Lolli did okay, but Poppy was a fussy mess the whole time (teething!). The funeral was today and consisted of a prayer session at the funeral home, a mass at the church, then a service at the grave site. Lolli stayed with Gma Bowen, but Poppy went with Lauren and Zach (who was a pallbearer). She did very well during all 3 parts of the funeral and family seemed to enjoy seeing a happy baby during their time of sorrow. RIP Papaw Hall!

Big Girl Bed!

Lolli is making Lauren crazy at night, because she always insists on rolling over onto her pillow. Lolli's a human heater and Lauren can't sleep well when she's too warm. To remedy this problem, Lauren moved a twin bed downstairs into their bedroom yesterday. So now they've got:the crib (w/ 1 rail removed), then the king size bed, then the twin bed. It's almost wall-to-wall sleeping places!

Lolli seemed very excited about her big girl bed and big girl pillow (a real pillow instead of her boppy). She napped happily in it the first day and even stayed in it the whole night her first night! This allowed Lauren to let Poppy sleep in bed between her and Zach, so now the crib might get moved upstairs. It's musical beds in this house!

Poppy's first overnight stay!

Lolli and Poppy spent the night at Gma and Gpa Great's house last night. It was the first time Lolli had done that since Poppy was a tiny baby, and it was Poppy's first time EVER! Both girls had tons of fun and must've worn themselves out because they took 2.5 hour naps this afternoon! Gma said Poppy slept pretty well and only woke up 3 times. Glad that milestone is out of the way!

A tooth!!!

Poppy's got her first tooth poking through :) Lauren noticed it tonight at Will's birthday party. She said to Poppy, "You better not have any teeth in there when I pick you up in the morning!", then leaned Poppy back to inspect her gums. Sure enough, there was a tiny slit in her bottom left middle gum! Lauren can feel the tooth but can't see it in the slit quite yet. Yay, Poppy!

Ba Ba Ba Babbling

Poppy's becoming interactive! LOL Zach was talking to her tonight, saying, "Ba ba ba ba" and Poppy would respond, "ba ba ba ba" :)

What a good little mommy!

Lolli has a new favorite game involving 2 make believe babies. She likes to feed them, wrap them up and put them in their imaginary swings, push them around in invisible strollers, and put them in pretend jumperoos. But when it's time for their diaper changes, she uses real diapers and wipes. She's such a good little mommy!

Poppy rolled over!

The family was visiting Zach's parents today. Poppy was laying on the floor and Zach was trying to get her to roll over. After all hope seemed to be lost, Lauren got up to go to the bathroom. As soon as she closed the door she heard yells and gasps. Poppy had rolled over for the first time! She went from her tummy to her back, on accident, according to Zach. Finally!!! They knew she could do it :)

Happy New Year!

Zach, Lauren, Lolli and Poppy went to the Family New Year's Eve party at the Indiana State Museum this evening. The party was from 6-9, with a countdown and balloon drop at 8pm. They all got to wear Happy New Year hats and Lauren, Lolli and Poppy rode the LS Ayres train (one that Lauren had ridden when she was a child!). It was a tight squeeze but the girls loved it. Then they all went to see the Peewinkle Puppet show. Zach and Lauren thought it was cheesy but Lolli and Poppy were very entertained. After the balloons dropped, Lolli wasn't able to catch one. Thankfully some kind woman had an extra and gave it to her. Then they all went home to bed.