16 months

Oops, looks like I missed 16 months, which Em turned last Sunday.  I kept forgetting to weigh her so I ended up doing it on a day that she had already eaten and I didn't feel like taking off her clothes, so I estimate she is about 20.5 pounds.  I cannot find where I wrote down last month, but I think it is about the same, give or take a few ounces.  I think she is also the same length.  My little petite girl.

 It's so amazing to me to watch how often and quickly she changes right before my eyes.  I noticed the other day at my MIL's that she was taking one big step between the ottoman and the couch and not holding on while doing it.  Since then she has taken several steps along the couch without holding on.  She mostly lunges or walks really fast and then crashed into the couch, but it's progress.  A month ago she wouldn't let go for anything.  I think walking independently is coming very soon.

She's also just discovered how much fun bath time is.  She has never disliked baths except when she was a newborn and was too cold, but last nights bath she had so much fun playing with her toys and splashing.  She cried anytime I had to wash her and she wasn't able to play, and then she screamed for 10 minutes when it was time to come out.  I even let her have more time than usual and had to add more hot water since it was getting cold, but it still wasn't enough time.

Since she isn't walking yet or playing outside, she doesn't get real dirty so we're not on a strict bath schedule, she just gets one when she needs one.  Plus she goes to bed so easily most nights I haven't felt the need to make it part of her bedtime routine.  But now that she loves them so much I might start giving her a bath every night so she can play and make it a get clean/playtime bath every other day or so.

We're in the beginning stages of planning our Disney trip with my husband's family for next winter.  I am so excited!  I feel a little silly for taking Em when she will only be almost two, but I know my SIL and her family won't be going again, so this is just as much a fun trip with the whole family as it is a trip to Disney.  It will be nice to be there with other people so that if I want to go do something that my husband doesn't, we'll have a big enough group that likely someone else will want to do it too, and with my MIL and FIL there, they are happy to babysit so Ryan and I can go out for a nice dinner one night.  Plus Emily loves spending time with her cousins, and I know they will be glad to have her there too.

Besides, as much as I want to make memories she will remember as she gets older, there is still the fact that she'll have fun at the time.  Just because she may not remember much of it doesn't mean she doesn't feel joy right now, and can't experience the fun in the moment.  She's really starting to recognize favorite characters and understand a little more what she is watching.  Like the other day we were watching Ella Enchanted and she loved the scenes with the chipmunk.  She was glued to the TV whenever he was on and she would smile and laugh.  So in another 6 or 7 months she will be even more aware and enjoy it more.

And whose to say when kids can remember.  I turned 2 in May of 1981 and Princess Di married Prince Charles in July of that year, so I was not quite 26 months old at the time, and while the memories are hazy and in bits and pieces, I can clearly remember my mom waking me up super early when it was still dark out, watching the wedding on Tv and being enthralled with the idea of being a princess and her gorgeous dress with the long train, and my dad teasing us when he got home from work for getting up so early to watch a wedding on TV.

On the flip side, I was in the first grade when we went to Disney and I really do not remember much at all.  I vaguely remember the car ride, seeing horses in Tennessee and we did something in Georgia, I remember riding the tea cups, and I remember drawing sharks because I missed school for the week so my homework was to make a journal of what we did each day.  I am sure we were gone for at least a week, and that's all I can remember.

Besides, we'll likely go again when she is older and maybe that time we'll be a little more thrifty and drive instead of fly, and stay off the resort.  So this trip is more for us with the convenience of flying and staying in the resort and the fun of going with the whole family, and then when Emily is old enough to just be excited about going to Disney and not caring where we stay and how we get there, we'll do it for cheaper.  Since she won't be quite two yet, we still have the option of not buying her a plane seat and just putting her on our laps.

It seems crazy to pay for a seat when we don't have to, but I think we are going to anyway.  It's already stressful enough flying with my husband, he is a nervous flier and makes me crazy, and I am pretty stressed at the idea of flying with a kid.  It is a short flight, and I don't think it is a huge deal to keep her on our laps, but I don't want to risk there being a stranger in the row with us.  I'd rather spend a little money than being completely stressed and frazzled.  I'm making her a felt quiet book for the trip, so hopefully she will be content just sitting in her own seat and playing with her book.