18 Months

I think my heart is going to burst if I look at these pictures any longer.  We sure love our Capri, she fills our days with joy.  Each phase of development is more fun to me, right now is my favorite! Happy 18 month birthday today!  This morning I took Capri to her 18 month pediatrician appointment and left a mom beaming with pride (I can't say the same an hour and a half later leaving World Market in the middle of a tantrum haha!)

Height: 34" 98%

Weight: 23.8lbs 60%

HC: 19.02" 91%

Since I'm really blogging for my own journaling purposes and for the Grandma's to read I'm going to go ahead and write this even though it may sounds like bragging.  The Dr. Flannagan told us how mature Capri was for her age physically and mentally and compared her to his 2 year olds.  Her vocabulary not only impressive, she is saying some sentences.  She told Dr. Flannagan "I love Strawberries" when she pointed at the picture in her book and "I want to color" reaching for the sketch pad.  Dr. Flannagan was still talking about her crazy jumping skills from her 12 month apt.

Here's a few other things Capri is enjoying right now:
-She asks to blow bubbles, for a sucker, and for popcorn daily. It's cute how she thinks using the word "please" is going to get her what she wants. The popcorn wins almost every day because it's my favorite too.  "Thanks you's" are still non-existent, but we continue to work on it.
-She loves to sing.  She can usually fill in the blank when I pause, she surprises me with what she knows when I give her the chance.  The two songs that I'll catch her singing parts of on her own around the house are "Row, Row, Row your Boat" and "Twinkle Little Star."
-She is probably 70% right when it comes to colors and has really caught on this last week.
-She loves to count things, usually in the right sequence just skips a few :) 1,2,3,5,9,10!  Today she stopped to count water bottles at the store and if anyone walked past she told them "I shopping!"
-Her favorite time of the day is still when Daddy comes home.  She asks him to "fly" which means she wants to be thrown in the air and eventually they wind down and watch a few minutes of "Ralf" (Wreck it Ralf) together.  Yesterday she was pretending that Landon was coming home.  She would run to the door saying "Daddy, Daddy!" and then start laughing like she knew he wasn't really home but she thought it was fun to play.
-She has also been pretending to go to bed.  She stands at the top of the stairs says "Na-night," blows a kiss down below, and then goes into her room coming out a second later giggling.
-Going down for naps and bedtime has been horrible :/  Since she learned to climb out of her crib and pack n play I laid down with her until she fell asleep the entire time we were in Utah.  I would let her sleep in our bed with us at night too.  I loved cuddling with her but realized it's not realistic to spend half my day putting babies to sleep and I don't want to make a habit out of kids sleeping in our bed.  Now Capri can't even put herself back to sleep if she wakes up during the night.  I created a monster and feel horrible that we've had to do sleep training again. We did day 3 last night and she only cried for 7 or 8 minutes so I think its working.  I'm sorry to confuse you Capri, its all my fault.
-Capri has been telling me that she's "stinky" when she goes to the bathroom in her diaper. I've been letting her sit on the toilet and she has gone a few times.  I asked the pediatrician if it was a good time to start potty training her and he said it was too early.  If I do, most likely she'll regress with any changes like the new baby.  I'm still thinking about it.  Anyone else potty train at 18 months?
-Capri is getting to be a good little helper- throwing things away, finding her shoes etc. She even has a preference on what shoes she wants to wear. Really, already?!
-Now if we can just work on her temperament..... she still gets frustrated easy and her stubbornness makes her hard to convince otherwise.  Kids sure do come with their own personalities.  I asked my parents and Landon's parents either of us were as spirited and busy as Capri and they said no.  She's her own person and I'm so thankful for that!
-One of my favorite things lately has been when we get ready to leave the house and I say let's go, she'll say "G-O-Let's Go!"  Ha ha! My Jr. High cheerleading must be good for something.  Sometimes we can switch gears from sad to happy if we do this one we made up-

H-A-PP-Y

Aren't you glad I do not cry

I'm happy! 

Yeah, yeah, I'm happy!

((She'll even clap after the "Ready okay" :))

I'm so thankful Capri is eager to learn and finds joys in the simple things. The last 18 months have been so rewarding.

Some Summer

^These two pictures above make me want to stop this growing thing.  There really is nothing sweeter than a sleeping child.  I'm usually happy when this busy girl falls asleep, but as soon as she does I want to pick her up and snuggle.  I also had to document Capri's first piece of artwork.  I've gotten out crayons before, but this is the first time she pointed to the markers, asked to color, and actually seemed interested.^

^We told Capri we would go swimming when Dad finished the lawn.  She patiently sat on the recycling bin and watched him the entire time.  I moved the bin to the backyard where she did the same thing.  I still can't believe she listened and sat for that long.^

 ^Summer is pretty darn hot so we met my cousin for some indoor playtime at the mall.  There is something so magical about a carrousel.^

 ^Whoops!  She found my mascara while I was cleaning out the car.  Looks like she at least tried to put in on in the right place.^

^I under estimated this Houston summer day.  I brought each kid a juice box and their Mom also sent them with Capri Suns but we still ended up sharing the water from Capri's sippy cup... hot, hot, hot.^

^I prepared this little activity for the plane ride to Utah, but ended up getting it out early while I packed.    Best and longest lasting activity yet!  This was the day we left to Utah and the same day Capri learned to climb out of her crib.... Let's just say I'm glad we got the house cleaned and packed in-between numerous attempts at nap time and many tired tantrums.^

^Flight was a success thanks to a fun Dad and the sketch pad.^

^These two baby sisters are all grown up and getting married!! How lucky are we that they are getting married one week apart?^

Happy Conference Sunday

This is what our Conference Sunday looked like:

Capri is teething and didn't sleep very good last night so today she slept through almost both entire sessions of conference, I'm not going to say how much of that her Daddy slept with her.  Landon used to listen to one conference talk every morning while he was getting ready.  He's going to have to start that routine again to catch up.  I love conference weekend.  Ours was filled with good company, good food, and good words.

We celebrated Brooke's 24th birthday today.  I've said it before, but I want to do birthday's like the Jackson's, they make birthdays so special!  We each wrote a few things we liked about Brooke and stuck the 24 post-its on her bedroom door.  Lynn also taped 24 dollar bills to the door along with some other decor.  You are never to old for birthdays!   Capri and I had a great time shopping with Lynn this last week for Brooke's birthday and we are so happy we were there to spend it with her. Brooke and Hannah headed back to school today.  Brooke is finishing up her Master's at Utah State so we'll get to see her again in November when we go stay with my parents. Hannah is at BYU so I'm sure we'll figure out a way to see her too!

Capri discovered the piano today.  It was fun watching her realize that she was the one making the music.  She had some good stuff going down on those keys so we "face timed" Grandma Linda to show her our little pianist.

Then we headed outside to get our fresh air for the day and continued to face time Grandma Linda...Capri was glued to the phone.  Oh, Capri stands while holding on to things now, she even took a few steps with the push toy by herself.  I feel so proud of my little six month old, but this is happening too fast!

Happy Conference Sunday!  Can't wait to listen to the words of our prophets again on my iphone.

Capri is Six Months

Happy Six Month Birthday Capri!

Has it really been half of a year already?  This baby girl has become such a delight and makes us smile all day long.  We love watching her learn.

Here's what Capri is up to on her six month birthday:

-first tooth 3 days shy of 6 months, and looks like second is not far behind.

- sits up great, mastered that about 5 1/2 months.  We love that we can put her in the high chairs at restaurants now.  She's so strong and goes from laying position to sitting position by herself.

- started oatmeal at 5 1/2 months and she seems to really like it. 

- We just introduced sweet potatoes a few days before her 6 month birthday, her first solid food besides cereal. She doesn't love them like her Mom loves sweet potatoes.  I pureed them myself, but maybe she'll like the store bought.  She does love sucking on the teether toy that you can put food in.... so far we have tried apples and a fresh peach.  

- She is a great imitator and right now she makes the cutest winking face where she closes both of her eyes and tilts her head back after you do it.  I put her in the middle of stuffed animals to play and caught her making that winking face at each of the stuffed animals in the circle.  What a flirt.

- She loves swimming in Aunt Lynn's pool and kicks like a motor boat.   She doesn't even mind water in her face or being dunked by her dad.  We love the extended pool weather in Arizona.

- Capri "walks" when I hold her by her hands.  She moves her feet forward like she knows exactly what to do..... I hope she takes her time learning to walk because she's learning and growing way too fast and she seems too young to do that.
-Capri loves living at the Jackson residence.  She is spoiled and loved by JC, Lynn, and Cami.  It will be hard to leave in six weeks.

Words and phrases that describe Capri on her six month birthday:

Active

Social

Busy

Temperamental

Physically Strong

Intelligent 

Studies the world around her

Smiley

We Love You Baby Girl!

Capri is 5 Months

Here's what Capri is doing at 5 months:

-She rolls all over the place, from front to back and back to front.  She is figuring out how to roll to get what she wants and Landon and I have even seen her scoot a little.
-She is so close to sitting up, she will sit until she sees something that she wants and then tips over.  She looks so proud of herself sitting up!
-Capri babbles and says Ma ma ma ma and it totally sounds like she says Landon when she's mad.
-Capri LOVES to make noise.  She figured out how to put her hand in front of her mouth to filter the noise, I can't think of what to call it... you know ah ah ah ah :)  She is always talking and most of the times it's not with her quiet voice. I am trying to figure out how to bring her down a few volume levels, but I love that she's trying to communicate.
-We still haven't heard Capri laugh.... if she wasn't smiling so much for us I'd be worried.
-Capri loves to be on her feet . When she stomps them in front of the mirror it looks like she's dancing.  We usually let her do it before we put her in the bath and call it her naked dance, it's so cute.  We need to get her a jumper.
-She puts her own paci in, yay! She can almost hold her own bottle.  She does but then acts so surprised when she moves her hands and the bottle falls.
- She is a social girl and loves commotion and being around other people.  We have to go outside everyday because she gets cabin fever.  I know, your'e thinking how does a baby get cabin fever, they aren't that aware of their surroundings..... but she totally is, and we both need the fresh air.
-Capri gives her smiles freely to anyone that will give her a little attention.
-Sleeping during the day is getting so much better.  She is finally letting me just swaddle her, cuddle for a minute, and lay her down without putting up a fight.  This is huge for us.  She's also sleeping for longer periods of time instead of the 20 minute naps we were getting before.  I used to feel like I was spending my entire day trying to get Capri to nap and when she finally went to sleep she was awake 20 minutes later and we'd start the whole process over again.  Exhausting, but I'm so happy it's gotten better!  We know when she's had enough sleep because she wakes up so happy and smiley!  I'm going to be sleep training next week and hope we can get her to sleep through the night soon. Just when I though we were close, we had a few random nights where she has gotten up every 2-3 hours, ugh.  I'm happy when she's sleeping, but I do have to say I miss my pal and look forward to getting her up.
-We had Capri sleeping in a Fisher Price Rock N Play and finally had to move her to a crib. I'm actually surprised we made it work for as long as we did.  She figured out how to sit up in it and kick her feet to make it rock.  As soon as I would lay her down she would start to kick her feet and smile no matter how close to sleep she was.  That lasted one day and then on to the crib.
-Capri is starting to cuddle.  I wondered if I'd ever have a cuddly baby but it's looking like we might have a chance! She even wraps her arms around my neck or holds on tight to my shoulder when she puts her head down.  When she's drinking her bottle she wants to hold my hand or put her hand on my face.  Such a sweetie.  This is cuddly thing is still rare, more of the time she wants to be looking around or thinks I'm trying to put her to sleep and arches her back!
- Capri is a good listener.  She looks over to see who's talking and she is so good when I read her stories.  She at least looks like she's listening and liking it. I talk to her in the car while I'm driving and watch her little reaction in the mirror because she knows I'm telling her something she needs to listen to.
-Capri loves her baths and loves swimming in the pool. She likes to kick her feet like crazy and goes such a long time for how much energy she's exerting.  She usually doesn't mind getting her whole head under in the shower now.

I love my Capri and can't believe how fast this is going!  

Look at her double her size in five months

I haven't taken her 5 month Laundry basket photo yet....