The Loftis Family

ONE!

Kelley — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 16:04:39 +0000

Juliet is one! I now have a preschooler and a toddler, it’s nuts! I can’t believe how fast my children are growing. I thought I might give a run down of things she’s doing, stuff she’s saying and more.

Juliet is a talker! At a year she’s saying:

Ya-Ya – Amelia

Da-Da/Daddy

Ma-Ma/Mommy

La-La – Lila

Dog-Dog (her favorite word) – she also recognizes any dog in a picture/book/sign too

Ba-Ba – bottle

Hello

Bye

She’s also had a two word combo already…eek! She said “Hi Daddy” twice so I know it’s not a fluke!

We also had a weird thing happen this past weekend. I was nursing the baby (yep, we’re still nursing…I’ll get back to that in a minute) and I thought she was finished so I covered up. She gave me this look like I had killed her puppy and something came out of her mouth that sounded like “why you take it?” Dustin and I looked at each other and burst into laughter. We had both heard the same thing so it’s hard to think it’s a fluke, but it’s also impossible to think that a 1 year old can say that. Maybe she’s just that possessive about nursing.

Yep, we’re still nursing and while it’s slowing down she’s not ready to let go and neither am I. I’ve been blessed with strong nursing relationships with both of my girls. I have nursed my girls for multiple reasons. It’s a nutritional thing for me because I firmly believe breast is best. It’s an emotional thing and a time of bonding and something that nobody else could have done for my girls. I supplemented Juliet with formula for the last few months and now she’s on cow’s milk and honestly feeding her those bottles, or rather letting her hold her bottles and drink them at her own pace just isn’t the same as holding her close to me and nursing her. The reality is that Juliet might be my last baby so the last time I nurse her will be so bittersweet for me. It was with Amelia, but I was able to hold onto the fact that I would snuggle and nurse another baby. I don’t know what the future holds. For now I will hold onto the fact that Juliet is still a baby and that she still wants me and I still want her.

Juliet is on the verge of walking full time and each day she walks more and more. Today she took about 10 steps in a row and realized what she was doing and sat down. I love watching her learn to walk. I have such a greater appreciation for my kids, for their milestones and accomplishments now that I’ve been through it once and I know how quickly it passes. I’m savoring every single moment.

Juliet is a feisty little girl, she’s opinionated and very vocal. She’s a happy baby and is generally very easy going…she’ll let you know if she’s not happy with you. She’s so incredibly ticklish and giggles at anything. Her favorite person is her sister and she loves to play all day with her. Juliet got a bounce house/ball pit for her birthday and each time she sees it it’s like she’s seeing it for the first time. She has a zest for life and I love watching her take it all in. I’m so looking forward to watching her explore and grow during her second year.

Girl Stats

Kelley — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 10:27:42 +0000

Here are the comp stats for the girls. I’ll update as they grow!

Amelia

3 years – 27lbs 12oz (25%), 36-1/4″ (20%)

2 Years – 23lbs (10%), 34″ (50%)

18 months – 20lbs 10oz (3-10%), 32″ (50-75%), 18-3/4″ noggin (75%)

15 months - 19lbs 10oz (10%), 31-1/2″ (50%), 18-1/4″ (50-75%), 19-1/4″ noggin (80th%)

1 Year – 18lbs 12oz (10-25%), 30″ (75-90%), 18-1/4″ noggin (75-90%)

6 months – 15lbs 8oz (50%), 26-7/8″ (75%), 17-1/8″ noggin (75%) – she’s a stringbean!

4 months – 12lbs 10oz (25%), 24-3/4″ (75%), 16-1/4″ noggin (50%)

2 months – 11lbs 2oz (50%)

1 month – 1/24 – 9lbs 3oz (50%), 21 5/8″ noggin (50%)

Birth – 6lbs 1.6oz, 19 1/4″

Juliet

1 year – 19lbs 3.2oz (19%), 29-1/4″ (54%), 18.31″ (86%)

6 months – 15lbs 10oz (50%), 25-3/4″ (50%), 17-1/4″ noggin (90%)

4 months – 14lbs, 7oz (63%), 25-1/2″ (90%), 16.55″ head (75%)

2 months – 11lbs 70z (67%), 22-1/2″ (57%), 15.5″ (70%)

1 month – don’t have them

2 weeks – 7lbs 7oz, 19.5″, 14″ noggin

Birth – 6lbs 10oz, 19 1/2″

It’s been so long…

Kelley — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 01:37:29 +0000

I know, I have abandoned my blogging. I can’t even keep up with blogging work stuff so my personal blog has definitely suffered. I promise to get back to it this summer! We had a sweet conversation with Amelia this evening at dinner and I simply had to share it. We were talking about when I was pregnant with Juliet and then she asked…

Amelia: What kind of baby are we going to have next? A boy?!

Mommy: We might not have any more babies. We might just have Juliet.

Amelia: Why not? …. Because God said no?

Yes, she made my heart flutter with joy.

NIN & The Beatles

Kelley — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:45:20 +0000

What do Nine Inch Nails and The Beatles have in common? Amelia loves them both! We have the Rockabye CDs for both bands…they’re lullabye versions of songs from our favorite bands. Amelia asked for ballet music and this is the best we could do.

A little music, a little dancing, lots of laughs and a few tears from a certain mommy beaming with pride. Still amazed that I have two little girls and get to do all of these awesome things. This is a regular afternoon in our house…

Closer (check out the mouse like moves in the middle)

Hey Jude

Juliet’s first words!

Kelley — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 23:33:17 +0000

Ok, no so much words…sounds. Juliet is now babbling quite a bit and saying ba-ba, ma-ma and she’s working on da-da.

We swear we heard her say hi the other day, more than once. Amelia is constantly saying “Hi Sunshine” to her and I have a feeling she’s catching on. I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if “Hi” is her fist official word since it was one of Amelia’s.

We’re looking forward to hearing all of those sweet sounds and words come out of her mouth. That’s until she turns 3 and gets the sass that her sister has.

three – a letter from mommy to Amelia

Kelley — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 23:25:53 +0000

I’m a tad late in posting this. Life has had a hold of us and we’ve been going for a ride, but what else is new?

My Amelia,

My how you’ve grown this year. You have an enthusiasm for life that is unmatched and if I could bottle it and sell it we’d never have to worry about paying for your college education… or anything else for that matter.

You love with all of your heart and proclaim your love for something new every day. You use the phrase “you’re the best mommy/daddy in the whole wide world” to get exactly what you want from us. We’re suckers and it usually works.

This year you mastered potty training. You still have accidents from time to time, but we got rid of diapers in February when you were only 26 months old, that’s pretty impressive my dear. You still wear a pullup at night, but for the most part it’s just for my sanity. You love your princess panties and enjoy picking them out each morning.

In July your sister was born and oh my goodness seeing the joy on your face when you first met her was one of the best moments of my life. My love for you multiplied tenfold in that moment. You’re so sweet, loving and generous with her – a better big sister than I could have ever imagined. The kind of sister I had always wanted.

You adjusted so well to having a sister, offering to help get diapers, wipes and anything else she needed. A few months after she arrived you had a bit of jealousy that came out in the form of tantrums.

You mastered the temper tantrum this year. We thought you mastered it during your second year, but you took it to a whole new level this year. When you really got yourself worked up you’d throw up, it’s was awesome (or not).

You visited Texas Children’s Hospital this year and had a battery of testing for the cause of facial edema…the cause is still unknown. You amazed me with how well you championed through the procedures and I learned watching you just how much it hurts to see your children scared.

You’ve grown to love clothes, princesses, jewelry and makeup… all things girly. You enjoy going shopping with me and picking out new clothes and late in the year you grew to love hair bows, clips and head bands and you now insist upon wearing one each day. You love playing dress up and wore a beautiful Cinderella costume for Halloween this year.

You learned to love having your picture taken and thankfully with enough discouragement you stopped the cheesy face smiles and saying cheese when someone was taking a picture. You’re a ham for the camera now and can barely sit still you want to pose so much.

Speaking of not sitting still, you’re a fidgeter, just like your daddy. You simply cannot stop moving. I credit the perpetual motion for your petite figure. You just don’t stop moving, even in your sleep.

You’re insanely smart and verbal. You started talking early in your second year, but the reality of carrying on conversations with you when you were only 2 was unimaginable, but you did it! You talk about anything and everything and you make up stories about all sorts of silly things.

You know exactly how we get to school, Kroger, the gym, the pediatrician’s office, both of your grandmas’ houses and a few other places and you’ll let me know if I don’t go the right way.

You had your first official sleepover this year at Grandma & Grandpa’s house with Keira. Not much sleeping occurred, but I’m certain you had fun. Your second sleepover was with Keira at Uncle Keith and Zay’s house with a trip to see the Disney Pricesses on Ice. You still talk about both sleepovers all of the time.

Your first trip to the movies was this year too, to see Tangled. You were a bit scared, but loved it and remember exactly where the theater is and remind me that I took you to see Tangled there.

You started recognizing letters, the first was of course letter A. You see an A and say “hey, that’s my letter.” You know your shapes too, even weird ones like crescents and cylinders.

You’re an expert at pointing out when we forget something… a promise, a treat, a visit to the park, etc…nothing gets by you.

You’re clever, you’re creative, you’re sassy, you’re silly and you’re perfect. I adore having you as my daughter and I thank God daily that I’m allowed to do all of this twice.

I didn’t enjoy every moment of your second year (see temper tantrums above), but I can say that you’re a true and miraculous little girl. I will always say this; you made me a mother, your sister made me a parent. You won’t likely understand that until you have children of your own, but know that you are a beautiful and brilliant gift from above. I love you my sweet Amelia and cannot wait to share another year with you.

Love,
Mommy

In the name of…

Kelley — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 22:21:03 +0000

Amelia and I always have conversations in the car; sometimes they’re about school, what she wants to do that afternoon, what she wants for dinner and sometimes they’re about God. The other day she wanted to pray in the car and she started out by doing the sign of the cross. She didn’t quite get it right so I was trying to help her and told her “In the name of the Father” is when you touch your forehead, “and the Son” is when you touch your tummy…we’ll we didn’t even get to the part about the Holy Spirit as she declared that the “Son” was not on your tummy, it’s in the sky. I explained to her that the “Son” is God’s son and not the “Sun” in the sky. Well, she wasn’t buying it and when we tried again she once again stopped me because of course the “Son” is in the sky. It’s amazing how children interpret things.

Here’s a clip of Amelia trying to do the sign of the cross…or head, shoulders, knees and toes…I’ll let you decide.

I love you, more

Kelley — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 19:04:34 +0000

Today while driving in the car Amelia and I were having the “I love you more” arguement. She of course feels that she loves me more, but we all know that’s not true. As her mother I will always love her more.

Well my argument for loving her more is that I made her, pretty good arguement, huh? When I told her that she declared (quite loudly) that I did not make her, she “made mommy & daddy.” Ok, she’s kinda right there, she made us parents and allowed us to enjoy this awesome adventure of parenthood. Gosh I love my children…more.

ok, maybe she is that smart

Kelley — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 02:30:25 +0000

Amelia amazes us with her smarts. We were watching the Rose Parade today and there was a float with a space theme that included a rocket ship. Amelia is a big fan of all things geeky (thanks to her daddy) and she shouts out, “it’s a planet!” We had no idea that she knew what planets were. Holy cow is she smart!

She thinks she’s smarter than us…

Kelley — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 01:28:23 +0000

Amelia thinks she’s smarter than us…but what she doesn’t know is that we’ll always be smarter than her… yes, always. That means I’m admitting that my parents really are smarter than me. I think it takes becoming a parent to realize just how smart your parents really are.

Amelia gives us a lot of trouble eating, that’s no surprise to anyone who has seen her eat…or rather delay, laze, linger, twiddling, doddle and pretend to eat over the course of an undetermined period of time. Tonight while eating dinner she was supposed to finish her little slice of pizza before Dora ended with the promise (rather the threat) of Dora being turned off if she didn’t eat. Of course she didn’t eat and when Dustin called her on it, asking her if she had eaten her pizza she lifted her plate and slid the thin slice of pizza beneath it to show a clean plate. What she didn’t realize is that both Mommy and Daddy are smarter than that. Needless to say Dora was over.