Miss Emilia – 16 Month Update – Walk Together Ministries

16 months already! Phew have the last two months flown by. We were pretty busy traveling at the beginning of the summer but are now back in Austin for a while. Then Joe and I are heading to San Diego for a much-needed trip without the kiddos. This will be the first time I’m away from Emilia for more than two nights (Joe took her once to see his sister in Houston without me). I think it will be a good break for both of us. I’m so thankful for family that is willing to watch both of our kiddos and love on them so Joe and I can enjoy our time together. I’ve never been to California and am super excited! If anyone has any favorite spots in San Diego, please let me know.

Sleep – Been doing well on the one-nap schedule for a while now. Her naps can range quite a bit sometimes. As short as only 45 minutes up to almost 4 hours. You honestly never know what you’re going to get! It’s nice when she takes those super long naps, but then I get spoiled and when she doesn’t sleep as long, it’s a little rough. Night time has been a lot better. While we were traveling she wasn’t sleeping well at night and didn’t sleep through the night basically the whole time we were gone, which honestly I wasn’t surprised. I was still nursing her in the middle of the night when she woke up, but since we’ve been back, she has been night-weaned and sleeping through. Though sometimes she does wake and cry a little or wake for the day around 5 a.m., it’s better than where we were! I wanted to try and get her sleeping through before our trip to make it easier on family. Hopefully it worked!

Breastfeeding – Still going strong though I’m pretty sure my milk supply is dwindling. While we were traveling she was also sick and clingy. She asked for milk constantly and if I didn’t offer it, she was upset. Once we got back home, that stopped and we were just nursing in the morning, before and after nap and before bed. But now she is getting a cold and more teeth and has been asking a lot again. I’ve been debating on if I want to pump/dump while I’m in San Diego so we can maintain our nursing relationship or not. The thought of pumping doesn’t sound great but I’m not sure I’m ready to quit just yet. The World Health Organization recommends that babies drink breast milk until the age of 2. I’m trying to get as close to that as I can manage!

Milestones – Walking is old business and now we’re onto climbing on everything! It’s crazy because Enzo just started walking at this point and it seems like she’s been walking forever. I definitely have to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t try to climb something that she’s not quite ready for. Her vocabulary has increased a little. Thanks to Joe and the World Cup, she can now say “goaaaallll!” while walking around with her arms in the air. 🙂 She can also say “happy baby” and do the yoga pose (lie on your back and grab your toes as if you were a happy baby). A few other things I can think of that are new: “hi”, “bye”, “eat” and “Mimi” for my mom (just started saying that today!). She is still obsessed with shoes and also loves clothes and accessories. We might have a little fashionista on our hands! And also pretending anything is a phone and talking on it.

Teething – She now has all 4 of her molars and it seems like she’s getting two more on the top but it’s still too early to tell.

Food – Mostly the same as before. She will eat more fruits now but no vegetables except the occasional sweet potato if I’m lucky. Her taste buds change hourly but sometimes she’ll eat: strawberries, oranges, raspberries, blueberries, smoothies (though I’m having a harder time with those lately), hummus (again having a harder time, she used to eat it like crazy!), gluten free bread or waffles with almond butter and molasses, eggs mixed with spinach and nutritional yeast (not vegan but Joe and the kiddos still eat local eggs at home), vegan cheese, chia pudding, homemade granola bars or energy bites, raisins, cheerios, and oatmeal.