Tag Archives: Jessica

Today, Jessica is 16 months old.

My Valentine Cutie, 2/14/11

What Jessica is Up To

Crawling? What’s that? Jessica is definitely a walking machine and only crawls when going under or through something that she can’t walk through.

Crawling Through a Gymboree Tunnel, 1/27/11

She enjoys putting items in containers. I think her favorite part of music class is the clean-up song to put the musical instruments back in the container. When we went to the children’s museum recently, I would take the cows out of the dairy farm and she would put them back in.

Playing with Dairy Cows, 1/20/11

Putting the Dairy Cows in the Barn, 1/20/11

Her eye-hand coordination seems to be really good. Jessica can pick up multiple items, even large items, and carry them around. She doesn’t really seem to favor one hand over the other except at meal time and there she sort of favors her left hand. Maybe she’ll be a leftie like her Daddy (or Nana or Aunt Sarah).

Picking Up Balls, 2/4/11

If I have to pick Jessica’s favorite toy, I would say books, although not one in particular. She loves to pull her books off the shelf and flip the pages. She loves when I read to her also, but sometimes if she’s too tired before naptime or bedtime, she’ll actually just try to get off my lap.

Reading, 1/23/11

Bedtime Story with Momma, 1/23/11

Reading in Her Rocking Chair, 1/25/11

Reading, 1/26/11

Reading with Daddy, 2/4/11

Jessica’s Speech and Comprehension

The words I can think of currently: cheese (when prompted to say cheese), whee (when going down the slide or swinging), whoa, uh-oh, hello, hi, up, ball, thank you (sorta), momma (sorta), da-da. I’m sure there are a few more, but I can’t think of any others right now.

She knows where her belly is. She’s starting to understand where her ears are.

What Jessica is Wearing

Jessica is still wearing 18 month (considered 12-18 months) clothes, and she will probably continue to wear them for a little while yet. Basically, all of her pants are still fairly loose. We’ll probably graduate to 24 month (considered 18-24 months) when we hit summer and she needs the shorts I have in the closet instead of the pants in her armoire.

Styling, 1/30/11

What Jessica is Eating

Jessica still has just six teeth, although I think she is working on two molars. Normally, when I think she is working on more teeth, nothing comes out of it, but this time I can feel  teeth trying to poke out of her gums (and she didn’t bite my finger off). She has been fussier lately, but she’s still so easy-going, so I don’t know. We’ll just have to wait and see.

See My Six Teeth, 1/25/11

Jessica is somewhat of a picky eater. She loves pretty much all fruit. Veggies require more effort. I will often give her a cup with applesauce or yogurt and a spoon and then I’ll have a spoon of some veggie and sneak in bites between her bites.

Messica, 1/21/11

She definitely enjoys feeding herself even if she isn’t that great with the spoon yet, partly because she likes to turn the spoon over and put it in her mouth upside down.

See My Mad Spoon Skills with the Berry Smoothie, 1/21/11

James and I had really wanted Santa to bring Jessica a Little Tikes Picnic ‘n Play Playhouse. It took us a long time to decide that is what Santa should bring, so we were bummed when it was out of stock everywhere that had it at a price Santa could afford. It finally came in stock at Wal-mart and arrived at the store closest to us using the ship-to-store option last Monday. We put it together during Jessica’s nap Saturday afternoon. It is really neat in that it is a playhouse, but it also has a slide and climbing steps. The slide section is attached to the playhouse via a door that can open up allowing for more play area.

Jessica tried it out after her afternoon snack and she absolutely loved it. In fact, every day since Saturday, she goes to the back door and points to it.

First Time Checking out the Playhouse

Entering the Playhouse

Yes, it came with a phone (no batteries required).

Testing the Phone

The seats can swing to the outside and the table can flop to the outside as well.

Relaxing

Using the Phone

Daddy and Jessica

Climbing the Steps to the Slide

She is just barely tall enough to reach the button to turn on and off the light (2 AA batteries required).

Turning on the Light

Hanging the Phone Up

Here’s a little video of her enjoying her playhouse.

I’m sharing a video from last Friday of Jessica eating lunch. And yes, she’s talking while eating.

You might have noticed near the end of the video, Jessica does some compartmentalizing of the food she has left. Do you think that is a trait she’s picking up from me? I was the kid in preschool who lined up the lunchboxes.

Jessica turned 15 months old on Sunday. Yesterday, she had her well-check at the pediatrician’s office. She weighs 21 pounds and 15 ounces (25-50%). I had been a little concerned that maybe she wasn’t eating enough, but Jessica’s doc said she hasn’t strayed from the growth curve, so I needn’t worry. With two relatively tall parents, it’s no surprise she’s on the tall side at 31.5 inches tall (75-90%). Her head circumference is 47.5 cm (90%).

Mommy's Little Model, 1/7/11

What Jessica is Up To

The biggest change, of course, is that Jessica is walking. From her first steps on December 20th to now, she has become a walking machine. She still crawls some, mainly when she stumbles and falls down in a wide open space since she hasn’t quite mastered getting into a standing position without any props. She loves to walk. In fact at the playground yesterday, that is pretty much all she wanted to do. She held my hand and walked around.

Walking, 1/5/11

At the Playground with Daddy, 1/8/11

She is still my little billy goat climbing on and into anything.

Climbing at the Playground, 12/16/10

Climbing in the Dishwasher, 1/6/11

Jessica is no longer the biggest fan of the swing at the park. I guess because she is walking, she doesn’t want to be limited to the swing seat. She now loves to slide. She automatically turns backwards to slide. This is great, because she also turns backwards to go down steps/stairs and for this I’m extremely thankful.

Sliding at the Playground, 1/8/11

We recently took her to Jumpy Gym. I had taken her once before, before she was walking, and she wasn’t really into it. I wanted to take her again before she turned 15 months old, since it is free for kiddos under 15 months of age, to see if she liked more now that she is walking. She had a blast. Her favorite activity was the big slide.

Sliding at Jumpy Gym, 1/9/11

In December, Jessica started music classes at Gymboree (I used a great Groupon for the first month). Jessica enjoys playing with all the different instruments they have and Mr. Aaron is a great teacher. As part of her monthly tuition, she gets to utilize the free play (in the play and learn class area) that is twice a week. Winter is a great time for this, since it is like an indoor jungle gym. Over the Christmas holidays, James was able to go with us which allowed me to take pictures and video.

Chilling at Gymboree, 12/20/10

Jessica still likes to go to the mailbox with me. Sometimes we go in her stroller if we are continuing to the playground and sometimes we go in her car. She loves to hold the mail key and when we arrive at the mailbox, she holds up the key.

At the Mailbox, 1/13/11

I’ve started trying to get Jessica interested in coloring, but so far no real luck. This picture was the actually the closest I got her to scribbling. Right now, she tends to just bounce the crayon up and down on the paper.

Playing at Her Art Table, 1/7/11

What Jessica is Saying

Jessica is quite the jabberer. We’re definitely going to have to start watching what we say around her. Words she says: whoa, uh-oh, up, mama, dada, ball, hello, hi, and I’m sure there’s a few I’m forgetting.

She is also starting to be my little helper. She’ll put her milk cup in the refrigerator if I ask her and open the door. She’ll take things to Daddy if I ask her.

Playing, 1/5/11

Say Cheese, 1/5/11

What Jessica is Eating

Jessica is definitely a picky eater. There isn’t a fruit she hasn’t tried that she hasn’t liked, but vegetables are a different story. I have to get sneaky. I’ve put acorn squash on her quesadilla. I’ve also used two spoons, one for the fruit smoothie and one for the squash/tomato/cheese puree.

She’s a big fan of her cereal. She knows where its kept in the pantry and if I leave the pantry door open, she will get it off the shelf (it’s on the lowest shelf) and open it up and start snacking.

Eating Chex Straight From the Container, 1/12/11

Hand in the Cereal Box, 1/12/11