Guess Who Finally Has Teeth?

Not that being toothless has stopped her from enjoying the finer things in life, such as her sister's chips or her daddy's chicken.

And if you're in denial - like I am - about just how big she's getting, check out these videos of her getting around:

 Tové's First Steps 

 If At First You Fall (Tové Walks) 

Potty Chronicles: Potty Mama Booboo

☆★Today's post is Day 17 of the #31WriteNow blog challenge. I'm posting a new entry every day for the month of August★☆

We have reached that stage where Tempess is overly ecstatic to use the potty. Where she says she has to potty even though she doesn't. Nana bought her some Elmo panties that she loves and refuses to take off. In retrospect, it's prolly the panties that landed us here. Anyhow, here is where Temi yells Mommy pooottteeeeeee then runs full speed towards the bathroom. Here is where she pulls her pants down, sits on the potty then empties the potty into the toilet all on her own.

She still won't poop in the potty. And she will occasionally have an accident, but I can't help feeling some kinda victorious.

Where Does the Time Go?

☆★Today's post is Day 16 of the #31WriteNow blog challenge. I'm posting a new entry every day for the month of August★☆

Today is August 16. Which means Tempess is 23 months old today. Which means in exactly 31 days she will be 2 years old.

Where does the time go?

It seems like just yesterday I brought her home from the hospital. Now she is being potty trained and learning her letters, colors, numbers. She's bossing around everyone around her and being a real delight. And I mean that with the utmost sincerity. There aren't enough words to describe the joy she has brought and continues to bring to my life. I love watching her grow. But I can't help but wonder:

Where does the time go?

When Crying It Out Goes Wrong

I've been very open about my feelings towards the crying it out method. It's just not something I can do, but we continue to struggle with the bedtime routine. Todd asked me to put my Beats on to drown her out because "she has to learn."

I wanted to fight and protest and put my foot down. How dare he say MY baby has to cry it out?!!?!!? Who does he think he is?!?!?! Oh wait, he's her father. *sigh* So to honor his wishes, I did just that tonight.

First, I could still hear her. Second, she cried nonstop for at least four or five songs. Third, I looked up to find a crying, flustered Temi running towards me full force.

Catch that?

Let's rewind.

I put her in her crib. I closed her door. She ran to me in the living room.

So much for crying it out.....

All in a Weekend's Work

Temi spent the weekend with TeeTee Keisha where she played in the snow, dressed up as a princess and had a blast with Nema and CJ. When we got back on Sunday, she also had a new phrase, "She's pregnant."

Yup, she had a busy weekend.

Watch "Snow Play" on YouTube

Watch "She's Pregnant" on YouTube

Mean Nurse Lady

So Temi went for her 15-month checkup and she did NOT like that nurse one bit. She wouldn't let her check ANY of her stats. Then when they did the hemoglobin screen, Temi was ready to kill. She spent the rest of the time tryna remove the bandaid from her thumb, while her mommy longed for the days where she could nurse and make the tears go away.

Growing up is hard.

A Word from Our Temi

Temi and her Big Girl Sippy

Earlier this week, I went to San Diego for work. When my trip was over, I was picked up from the airport by a knocked out toddler who woke up as soon as the car stopped moving. Upon seeing my face, she immediately got the biggest smiled, grabbed my face and brought it close to hers. She then proceeded to shower me with an assortment of hugs and kisses that never tasted so sweet. The joy she she felt was so pure it shone through her eyes. The love shower continued as we made our way into the apartment where she opened her mouth wide and for the first time, I noticed her tooth.....WAIT WHAT???!!! Tooth? When did THAT get here? Yeah, when I left, the princess had four, count them 1...2...3...4 teeth, now she has five. And it's not just coming in, no, it's already in. My, oh my, where does the time go?

Temi's favorite activity is leaving. She likes to bolt out open doors. Wave bye bye. She even created and sang her own bye bye song as her and Daddy were leaving for work yesterday. Sometimes, she will even grab me or Daddy's finger and lead us to the apartment door.

Temi on the phone with her Nana

Since I've been back, Temi has been waking up in the middle of the night with these bloodcurdling screams and refusing to go back no matter how much I rock or kiss her. Thursday night/Friday morning was absolutely horrible. It took forever to put her to sleep and then when I finally went to sleep, she woke up. I'd only been sleep an hour. She was inconsolable. Screaming at the top of her lungs. Then she would kick furiously and throw herself all over the bed. All with her eyes clothes. I've never seen anything like this. Besides it being frustrating for the lack of sleep, I also felt so helpless and heartbroken. Whatever it was that was causing her to act and scream out like this, I couldn't do anything about it. On top of that, it was just agonizing. My happy-go-lucky, sweet, sleep-thru-the-night, blow-you-kisses-and-smile-all-day girl was screaming in pure pain or terror (or both). Such a complete contrast to what I've been used to.

And now, a word from our Temi: rrc 4x4eelweplelell2w121,m

 

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The Wheels on the Bus

The Wheels on the Bus. Temi is beyond loved at her school. She knows EVERY teacher there. I'm constantly met with "She is so0o0 cute." "I just love her smile." "I can't wait till she's in my class." It makes me feel good. I truly feel like we made the right choice. So when we move next year, we've decided that we're going to keep her there. Besides, I'm sure her "BFF" Austin won't allow her to leave. Austin is this little boy that meets me and Temi at the door every morning. He waits for me to take her coat off and rushes to play with her. If he's still there when I pick her up, he's following us around like he doesn't want her to go. This morning he waved for her to come sit with him at the breakfast table. Temi of course pays him no mind. She goes on about her business.

Cold Turkey. I had decided a while ago that I was going to start weaning Temi. Our morning routine was just horrible and I could use the extra 15-20 min that I spent nursing doing something else. So Todd and I talked about it and we decided we'd give her a sippy full of milk in the morning instead of nursing. Temi took it with no problem. I don't remember what happened, but something did and I ended up nursing again. It was just easier. So we were back to our old habits. Well fast forward a couple months and I noticed that my milk was decreasing. My supply wasn't keeping up with demand I tried pumping and nursing more...nada. We were starting to go through our stash. So we decided to start supplementing. Since almond milk is much sweeter than cow's milk, we dilute it with water. Doesn't matter, Temi drinks it all the same (Mommy's milk and almond milk that is.) That was working for a while. I was able to pump and just freeze what I pumped to build up my stash. Then all of a sudden, I wasn't getting anything when I pumped. Temi was still getting something when she nursed, but sessions were becoming increasingly longer. So I decided to stop. Cold turkey. The first day when Temi started pulling on my shirt. I sat her down and fixed her a cup really quick. No problem. We continued the next few days like that. So far so good. Over the weekend, she was cranky and I was so tempted to nurse her for comfort, but I didn't. No sense in backtracking or confusing her. I did make the mistake of accidentally "teasing" her. So I had to work with distracting her and wearing extra layers of clothes. Besides just wanting to lay on my chest and cuddle. We survived.

Beep, Beep. Get out the Way. Thanks to my annoying loving little brother, Temi has a new toy. Which means Mommy and Daddy* have a new headache. First, this thing was a pain in the @$$ to put together. The parts were cut too small so the metal rods wouldn't fit. Good thing Daddy is supa strong right? Anyways, Temi loves her new car sooooo much. Which makes me happy. Until she throws a fit that I want to do something besides push and pull her around the apartment. *sigh* This would've been a great motivation for us to get out during the summer but now it's too cold. Seeing as how she's technically five months too young for it, I guess there's always the spring, right?
*Daddy sound effects sold separately.

 

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Brush, Brush, Brush Your Teeth

Temi takes her dental hygiene very serious. She refused to leave the health of her precious four teeth in the hands of some amateurs like Mommy and Daddy.

Happy Almost Birthday

Today my big girl turns 11 months. We're in the midst of planning for her birthday and it's bittersweet for me.

I love watching her grow and develop into her own person. It's exciting and I'm a very proud mommy. Buuuut with each day, she grows further from the baby that I wrapped in my Moby what seems like only yesterday.

Who Told Her She Can Get Beads?

Every second, she gets bigger and bigger and all I can do is

LE SIGH

But at least she looks cute doing it.

Only an Aunt...

 "Only an aunt can give hugs like a mother, keep secrets like a sister and share love like a friend."

 Last weekend, My spent the weekend with her niece and I don't know who had more fun - Temi or My. Temi had no problem jumping out of my arms into hers and My had no problem carrying her around. She wanted to do everything...hold her, feed her, put her to sleep. She even tried to teach her....how to walk.
 

*If the video doesn't load, just click the black box to watch the video.

Sluuuuuurp, Yummy Smoothie

I found these pix and video from earlier this month. What's not captured is Temi snatching the straw from her Dada Daddy smh....













~ Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Wait!! What???? She's 3/4 of a Year Old Already?!?!?

*le sigh*

Temi had her 9 month check up yesterday. She's a healthy growing girl. :-)

Now for the part that made me cry on the inside.

Two days ago, her daycare sent a note asking permission to give her school food. Say what?!? Yes that's right. They want to cut up their food on the menu and give it to my little big girl to eat. Apparently, she's not happy watching her teachers and classmates eat what obviously didn't come from Mommy.

LE SIGH

Her doctor looked over the menu and approved it.

LE DOUBLE SIGH

Apparently with her development and growth, she's ready for everything, except almond milk.

And my big girl celebrated her news by waving out the window while we waited for Dada Daddy to pick up his Portillo's.

Videos

For those who asked, here are videos of Temi in action. As you can see, she's an active little girl. We are in for some trouble once she starts walking.

~ Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Temi's First Meal

A few Sunday's ago we gave Temi cereal. Apparently she was more than ready and LOVED it. She turned into cookie monster grabbing the bowl, spoon, my arm. My princess loves food.

Check out the videos below.

Facebook is the Devil

But Mommy, I liiiiiiiike it!! Give it here!!

So this morning I learned what’s probably one of the toughest lessons in Mommydom: no matter how hard I try, I can’t protect Temi from all the evils of the world.

Temi’s gonna come in contact with all kinds of evils, directly and indirectly. People are gonna do stuff intentionally to affect her in a negative way and sometimes she's just gonna suffer bad consequences of good intentions. I can try my best to be her shield and keep her from them. I can be the front soldier on the battlefield for her, but I can’t prevent the attack from coming her way. I can’t put her in a perfect little bubble where she’s immune to everything. I wish I could but I can’t. 

 

I can warn her that "foosball" is the devil and hopefully she'll believe me cuz when I tell her to stay away from foosball and boys cuz they're the devil, I’m not prepared for her to tell me she actually likes them.

Oh and Facebook really IS the devil.

Happy 5 Months

It's been 5 months already...I can't believe it. Next month makes 6 and I'm not ready. My little girl is growing up so fast.

Here's some pix of her from daycare today. And yes, she was not tryna have the camera in her face.

Temmy Talks

For the past month or so, Temmy has been giving me and her Daddy a piece of her mind. She's full of words when she first wakes up, when we're laying on the couch watching TV, when we're playing with her. She talks and talks and talks. Of course, whenever she's on the phone or we try to record it, she's as quiet as a church mouse. Today, she finally decided to share her thoughts with the world. Enjoy the first edition of Temmy Talks.

P.S. Temmy laughs soooo hard when she watches this :-)

Temmy vs. The Pacifier, Round 1

Temmy holding her pacifier

Temmy has taught herself another trick - how to attack her pacifier.

She was laying in bed when her pacifier fell out her mouth. Rather than cry for us to put it back in, she did it herself...