18 Fabulous Months

Time flies...I have never loved Ainsley more than I do now and I'm sure that love will always continue to grow. She is the best child! Sure, she has her toddler moments, but over all she is so well-behaved and just as sweet as can be. I cannot believe it has been a year and a half since we first laid eyes on her. In some ways it feels like she has always been a part of our lives!


At 18 Months:
~So much more active.
~Doesn't like the stoller. She will only stay in it for 5 minutes before wanting out so she can walk with us. We've gotten to the point where a lot of times we just leave the stroller in the car.
~Loves playing with Bella and has gotten really good at throwing Bella's ball for her :)
~Eats decently well. (Some faves are- chicken, steak, ham, turkey, pasta, pizza, pb&j, cheese, grapes, strawberries, bananas, peas, carrots, corn, green beans, chicken nuggets, and she has a major sweet tooth.)
~Does really well at going up the stairs on her own. And does even better at helping keep the stairs clean considering she picks up every tiny speck of anything on her way up and hands it to me. (Yes, it's a long process...)
~"Talks" A LOT, but only has 2 noticeable true words: "Mama" and "Duck". Duck??? Who knows why that is. But has also said "ball" ("ba"), "book" ("boo"), "bubble" ("bu") only a couple of times. You have to catch her in the right mood to get her to say the things you ask her to say. She is also getting better and making animal sounds. She "Moos anytime hears the word or sees a cow and also "Woofs" for dog.
~Has very good receptive language. She understands most anything we say to her and will point to pictures in books when we ask her where things are. She understands several words and phrases and is pretty good at following our instructions.
~Finally moved up to size 4 diapers :) and all 18 month clothes.
~Makes the silliest face when we have her do her "funny face".
~One of my favorites- she will start babbling like crazy and when she's finished "saying what she has to say" she lets out a huge laugh! Even though we have no clue what she said we have to let out a huge laugh too.
~Is most definitely a "Momma's Girl"
~Has begun to have such a huge personality. She is a very serious child and anything and everything she does is based on her mood. But she can also crack us up and is very entertaining when in a smaller group of familiar faces.
~When it's time to go we say,"It's time to go bye-bye. Can you give Bella a treat and put her in her kennel?" She will get the treats out of the cabinet and go put Bella in her kennel then close the door. She's started wanting to help us do things a lot more (or just do it herself).
~She's more interested in Bella's toy basket, what's in the kitchen cabinets, and whatever you are doing more than her own toys. But a few of her favorite toys I'd say are the big animal magnets, picnic basket, ball, shape sorter, and cell phone.
~And best of all? This girl is an amazing sleeper ("knock on wood")! 12-13 hours at night and will still take 2 naps a day if I decide she could use them. It all depends on what time she gets up or what we have to do that day as to whether she will take 1 or 2 naps.

Ainsley's 18 Month Well Visit Stats:

Weight- 24 lb 8 oz (60th%)

Height- 32 & 3/4 inches (80th%)

HC-19 & 1/2 inches (97th%)

~18 Months~

July Happenings

Beginning of July started off with a great trip to Texas and then a not so great sick baby :( Ainsley got a virus while we were in Fort Worth and that virus caused a secondary infection (aka, her first ear infection). This all lasted a couple of weeks. Poor thing. She sure was extra cuddly though!

Shortly after we returned home from our trip, Ainsley officially became a walker! She had been walking pretty well before our trip, but she wasn't very consistent. This is when she truly started walking EVERYWHERE.

One of, if not, my favorite places in Nashville is Historic Downtown Franklin. We headed there for a Blue Grass Festival one sunny Saturday afternoon. Ainsley had reached the point of not wanting to be carried or ride in her stroller for very long and was constantly wanting down to walk. So we decided to try out a kid "leash" (I don't know what else you'd call those things...) since it was going to be pretty crowded. She wasn't too crazy about it and we haven't used it since then. Our sweet girl sure was super cute standing there watching the performers. We didn't get to stay very long because even though it was a beautiful day it was also an incredibly HOT day!

At the end of July, we went to watch my sis-in-law sing at this park right down the road from our house. Emily, her sister, and this guy are a singing group and have been performing at events in and around Nashville. After dinner and picking up some frozen yogurt, we headed to the park to enjoy some family time and music. I think Ainsley really enjoyed it!

This may take a while...

Remember me??? You know it's bad when someone (jokingly) says, "You need to update your blog or I may lose interest!" Haha. Well Mrs. Lynn (and for the rest of you who have been thinking the same thing), you're so right and you just might have made me actually want to take the time to sit down at the computer and do just that. I just finished looking back through all of my pictures from the past 2 months and boy is there a lot to fill you in on. So bear with me and hopefully here soon you will get a nice, big update on what the Pearce family has been up to (since the beginning of July)!

To get started, I updated the big picture at the top of my blog, changed the background, and have added a new much needed post below. That will have to do for now.

This may take a while...

15, 16, AND 17 Months

Since my last post, Ainsley has "turned" 15, 16, and (in just a few days) 17 months old.

At 15/16/17 months, Ainsley is:

~WALKING like crazy and has started actually running some. Saying, "Go, go, go!" seems to encourage her to take off and go a little faster. For now we will just call it speed walking.

~doing all of the other usual large gross motor stuff that she may not have been doing at 14 months, such as pulling up, bending down, standing back up, crawling around, standing up from being seated on the floor, etc.

~becoming a very picky eater. I almost wouldn't even call it picky as much as I would being moody and not wanting to eat. It varies day to day, meal to meal whether or not she's interested in sitting and eating. Of course she always prefers the foods that aren't so good for ya :) And continuing to get her molars in 1 at a time doesn't seem to help either.

~some of her favorites are chicken nuggets, APPLESAUCE, strawberries, grapes, bananas, pasta, waffles, cheese (tried to get her to eat several types but she just wants plain ole American), peas, carrots, corn, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, fries, burger, pizza and that's about it. She will eat other things depending on her mood, but will ALWAYS eat the things listed above.

~pretty much her only true word is "Mama" and I think actually finally gets that that's ME :) But she knows when I say "Daddy" who that is. She just doesn't say it much.

~very much a "Mama's girl" still. I'm sure that will change. I think it's because I'm with her all of the time.

~babbling like crazy! She will talk and talk and talk. Only problem is we have no clue what she thinks she is saying. But she will point to anything she wants our attention on.

~Point and makes a "uh" noise when she wants something or see something that she wants us to see. Some examples: ANYTIME she sees an animal (especially dogs) she gets excited and points; goes to the fridge and attempts to open the door when she wants her drink or something to eat (aka applesauce) Without the words the girl knows what she wants when she wants it and doesn't like "No" for an answer.

~LOVES dogs and loves Bella

~definitely knows how to throw a tantrum. She will throw a complete fit and have a meltdown if we do not let her do or have what she wants. For the most part it's entertaining and because of having to deal with it at work I can pretty easily ignore it.

~understands almost any phrase or instruction we give to her. She may not have the verbal communication down, but she seems to have good receptive language.

~enjoys to brush her (own) teeth pretty much anytime it's time to change her diaper. Hey, I'm not gonna argue with that one!

~is very interested in pictures and is constantly walking over to our computer and pointing (and "uh"-ing) at the picture of the three of us on the desktop. Also, when my mom asks her where is Mommy's picture she will walk over to and point at my bridal portrait in their dining room.

~still mostly in her 12-18 months clothes, but is starting to wear her 18-24 months stuff and is in size 3 diapers, but will move to 4's here soon.

~Takes 1-2 naps a day (depending on what we are doing) and sleeps 11-13 hours a night.

Ainsley also had her 15 month check up and here are her stats:

~Weight: 22 lb. 9 oz. (50th %)

~Height: 31 inches (75th %)

~HC: 19 in (97th > %)

She also had a 16 month check up because the doctor was worried about her weight. At her 15 month well visit it had evened out on her chart instead of increasing like she always has before. She had been in the 75th percentile at her 12 month visit (22 lb. 5 oz.) and had gone down to the 50th. So we made another trip back to see him at 16 months and she was totally fine. (I guess he didn't take into consideration that she had been sick with a virus and and ear infection the entire 2 weeks before her appointment and hadn't eaten ANYTHING. I probably would have lost a couple of pounds too :)

So at 16 months she was back to the 70th percentile and I cannot remember exactly what she weighed, but I think she was back up to around 24 lb. 5 oz.

Our sweet girl's personality has definitely started to become more apparent these past few months and it is so much fun to get a glimpse of who she is going to be! She is so happy and a lot more active. This is such a fun age, but I've also had times where I look at her and think, "Where did my baby go?" She is turning into such a little girl! But she will always be my baby.

~15 Months~

~16 & 17 Months~

(This picture was taken a couple of days ago while she is technically still 16 months, but given that she turns 17 months in 4 days it will have to count for that one too.)

Red, White, Blue & TEXAS

The first week of July, we packed up the car and headed on our 13 hour journey to Texas for some much needed friends and family time!

Our first stop was Jackson, MS. Here we stopped to see our good friends, Morgan and Brandon! They have been in Jackson for a couple of years and I finally got to see there awesome house. It was so good to hang out and catch up with them. Thanks for letting us crash at your place! Maybe we will be able to do it again someday...

Thank goodness for movies on the iPad and snacks (and Daddy's beach towel to block out the sun)!

We made it! Saturday evening, we arrived at Neal and Cindy's house then hopped right back into the car to head to meet Mimi and Pawpaw for dinner! We were so excited to see everyone! We went to this really neat strip of restaurants on this little main street in Roanoke. We had to give in to Ainsley and bend down to her level in this picture. She was not having it being picked up and held for one!

We loved Roanoke so much that we went back a second and third time to try a couple of the other restaurants. There was also this adorable little bookstore/coffee shop we went to check out. Camden and Ainsley didn't know what to think about being on the little wagon.

We also got to meet our friends, Tyler and Ashley, for lunch on Sunday (in Roanoke, again). It was so good getting to see them and catch up! We sure miss having them live literally right behind us and meeting for dinner at Blue Coast every week.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture with Tyler and Ashley, but here's a fuzzy picture from my phone of Ainsley's ADORABLE dress her Lili (my mom) made for her.

Sunday afternoon, we headed over to B's Uncle Paul's house for some swimming and food with Patty's/Mimi's side of the family. A few people had never met Ainsley before or if they have it's only been once or twice. So it was good seeing everyone and being able to relax some!

Patty and Kenneth got me some goodies for my birthday! Cute door hanger note pad, a book of baby crafts (Crafty Mama), 4 pretty hanging candle votives, a decorative tray from an antique shop, and an absolutely beautiful 4 generation necklace Patty made using a picture of my Mimi, Mom, Ainsley, and me (I don't have a picture of the necklace at the moment, but you can see it here: http://pattyapearce.blogspot.com/ It is her June 30th post). My MIL is SO CREATIVE and I love the stuff she does!!!

Aunt Alyssa and Ainsley

Aunt Amanda and Ainsley

Ainsley had a good time sitting by the pool and an even better time with Mimi's dog, Ashley!

Nana, Mimi, and Baby A

Shooting some hoops...

My cutie-pa-tootie!

Ainsley enjoyed watching the volleyball game...

from the outside of the pool!

Pawpaw and Ainsley

I could just eat her up!

Ainsley decided to take Nana for a walk.

And then check out the guys dominos game.

While daddy took much needed nap...

Back to Camden's house for some play time!

Sweet boy :)

Time to go see the Great-grandparents and Aunt/Uncle! On Monday, the 4th, we headed to Midland, TX. I was definitely looking forward to the fish fry that night. Ainsley loved watching all of the dogs! There were 4 total (including Bella), but they spent the whole time on the porch. She spent a lot of time at those doors watching them!

Getting some long overdue Aunt Terri lovin'

Happy Fourth!

The next morning, Ainsley decided she had some work to do on her computer with Daddy. She was very busy!

Then we asked her to blow a kiss, so she turned away from the camera and blew a kiss to Daddy. Of course.

Nanny and her great grand-baby getting some hugs :)

The night of my birthday, we went to eat at The Barn Door. We went to eat here when we visited last August and this is also where Brantley's Mom and Dad went on their first date in high school!

You can get a block of cheese with some delicious bread as an appetizer. I knew Ainsley would be down for that! She LOVES cheese.

Some play time with Aunt Terri, cousin Amanda, and Daddy the last night.

Saying "hello" on the phone, aka as the lipstick from her book.

Trying out Brantley's Uncle Shane's rocking chair from when he was little.

Yummy coconut cake for my birthday!!!

And then we had a sick child on our hands...

The night before we headed back to Fort Worth from Midland, Ainsley had been acting funny. She started running a fever that evening and into the day Friday. Saturday night was rough and that morning she was running a pretty high fever. We decided to go ahead and head home by way of Memphis (instead of back through Jackson) in case we needed to get back to Nashville Sunday in time to take her to see her doctor. Of course we got stuck in stand-still traffic for over an hour on the way out of Dallas with a baby who was dying to get out of her seat, be held by her mama, and then threw up after eating a cracker! I had about had it at that point and was ready to just be home and hold my baby as much as possible.

There's nothing like seeing your baby look this pitiful and you can't do anything for her to make it better! I shed some tears those couple of days because I felt so bad for her and we were far away from home.

Playing with Mommy's sunglasses just before getting back to Nashville!!!

Although it was a long week and A LOT of car time, it was great seeing everyone and we started missing them as soon as we got home. It'll be a while before we make that trip again, but hope to see everyone somehow and at some point (sooner rather than later)!

***Don't miss my other new posts of pictures below!