Britt Summary of Month 20

Britt lived her 20th month of life from July 6th through August 5th.

I struggle with telling people how old she is. The counting by the month thing at this point is SO TRICKY for me!!!

After she passed 18 months I just started saying “she’ll be two in December.” 😉 

New Words This Month: 

Case (for Casey), sink, sorry, flush, owl, hoo hoo, yay, clothes, grass, goat, Casey said “one” while counting something and Britt said “two” right after her, crab, hay, monkey sounds, goat, note, tea, way, hot, cold, pasta, cut, buzz, Jesse, kiwi, chicken, bread, oh no, hide, stars.

Here’s a video that shows her doing all of her animal sounds!

Her favorite animal sounds to make are lions, monkeys and elephants. (PS: Yes, She’s eating a donut in the clip…it was leftover from our special donut day!)

Helping: 

It is important to me to raise my children to be independent.

It is also important to me that our children help around the house. This is OUR home.

We all share the benefits of our home and we all need to share in the responsibilities of it too.

I’m not really sure if Zach and I will ever do allowance with our kids where they earn money for doing chores?

I just feel like they should help out, no payment needed.

But we have awhile to worry about that 😉

For now I focus on teaching the kids how to manage their OWN stuff and to help in managing our family stuff.

Britt has started to help in unloading the dishwasher and she loves it!

I get all the breakables and pretty much she just handles the kids utensils but she’ll also help put some things on the counters for me 🙂

 She knows right where they go!

 Britt also likes to pick out her own fork for meals, rather than Kye getting it for her like usual!

Eating: 

Britt is NOT hungry when she first wakes up in the morning.

She could probably be one of those people who just skips breakfast all the time.

Often she doesn’t even touch her food for breakfast!

I have had to start hiding to drink my meal replacement shake in the mornings as Zach and I talked about how we need to stop letting them eat other stuff than what they are given.

You get whatcha get, right?

She has also become more vocal about what she wants to eat. She LOVVVVES cheese and will say “cheese cheese” over and over again asking for it! 

I took the kids snacks in a little container for a movie we went to see and when we got home I let them finish eating the snacks.

Up until that point I hadn’t really let Britt use a lot of bowls and plates and such but she is old enough to start practicing some.

I was NOT shocked, however, when the container quickly became a hat 😉

 Showing off her yogurt raisins. My kids are OBSESSED with these!

Even though she’s not eating as much as she used to (especially at breakfast) she is still a good eater over all and I love that we can just give her food and she, for the most part, eats what she has been given.

This face cracked me UP!!!! Casey was so sweet to bring us KFC one night for dinner and I sent her a pic of the kids chowing down 😉

I have started limiting my carbs to only dinner time and have started making omelets everyday for lunch.

I never realized how much my children enjoy eggs until I started eating them. I have to make extra large omelets so we can all have some 🙂

Daddy’s Helper: 

We’re pretty stereotypical in our gender roles in our home. I cook and clean, Zach does yard work.

However, we have both kids help in both areas.

Britt was SUPER afraid of the lawn mower the first time she rode with Zach but now she LOVES it.

To be honest, it scares me to death and I can’t watch.

I’m so, so scared she will fall off and get hurt. I trust Zach but you hear so many horror stories about things going wrong that I just go inside when she’s helping him mow!

Money: 

Mrs. Charlotte bought the kids piggy banks at the beginning of summer and one of Britt’s favorite things to do is to empty her bank and sit and fill it back up.

I don’t particularly love this activity as I don’t trust her not to eat the coins yet 😉

She hasn’t ever put one in her mouth but I’m not about to take my eyes off of her for a second! Here’s one video and another video of her enjoying this!

Coloring: 

Britt now enjoys coloring a bit more than she has in the past.

She even asks me if she can color! However, right now coloring is mostly just her dumping out her crayons then putting them all back in the jar and being super proud of herself for it haha. 

Reading: 

Growing up my parents read to us ALL the time and I think it’s so, so important.

We read a lot together and it’s something Britt really enjoys.

She will come up to me with a book and ask for me to read it and then want me to read that same book over, and over, and over again.

I will also often find her in Kye’s room getting out his books and reading them on her own. Here’s a video of her “reading”

Seat: 

On a typical day at home I have the kids do their independent playtimes and then they watch a movie while I make lunch.

Boundaries are important so I have Britt sit in this little toddler chair and buckle her in during the movie.

She doesn’t mind it at all and I know she’s safe in one spot (Kye sits on the couch). Her seat is actually part of the infant swing we had with Kye.

We didn’t use the swing at ALL for Britt I don’t think? And we barely even used it for him (I’m just not a big “swing mom”) but we LOVE the seat that it converts into!!! 

 Girly Girl: 

I LOVE having a daughter.

We really don’t do much of anything differently with her than we did Kye, but she’s just naturally different than he was.

She LOVES accessories! She ASKS to wear shoes, requests a bow, and even asks to wear a necklace. I want to get her more necklaces for her birthday and Christmas but gosh they are so expensive! I’m debating attempting to make some myself!

How hard can it be to string some beads? I also love that Britt carries around a little phone with her all the time.

Kye was always into his phones too and I guess they get it honest. Mama is pretty much a texting queen!

Bubble Bath: 

I know that bubble baths are NOT okay for little girls and that it can cause lots of issues but they are also SO FUN haha.

I mean every once in awhile isn’t going to be a big deal and I am careful to rinse super, super well. I actually am so anal about it that I don’t let anyone else do any bubble baths with Britt except me.

I just wanna make sure she doesn’t have them too often and like to be in control to make sure she’s rinsed properly! But when I need to clean out my closet (which is in our bathroom) a bubble bath for the kids is a GREAT thing to do to give me a little time to get that done!

Eyes: 

I am 100% confident that Britt’s eyes will be blue for life. Kye’s were blue at birth but had a little brown speck in them that made me think there might be a chance they would change colors and, sure enough, they did.

He has hazel eyes now (like his Daddy) but Britt’s I’m pretty sure are going to stay blue!

Little Sister: 

Britt adores Kye. I know I say it like every month, but it’s true. She does. Here’s a video of her playing peek-a-boo with me then asking for her brother 🙂

She’s now getting old enough to legit play with him and it’s awesome to sit back and see the stuff they come up with!!!

A common game they play is “pirates” and they go around the house in pirate gear hunting for stuff.

Mostly they go around and turn off all the lights and look into the dark rooms haha. I was being sneaky to get these pics and I love them!

Britt finished her dinner one night earlier than Kye did and she got down and was running around (we eat as a family but some nights Kye will eat for AGES and we can’t expect her to sit there that entire time!).

He was eating and talking to us and didn’t even notice when she climbed up in his seat with him! It was SO SWEET.

She wanted to sit up in the “big kid” seat with her brother 🙂 His reaction was PRECIOUS. I was waiting to see if he’d be annoyed but instead he just looked at her and smiled with so much love 🙂

Hair: 

We all know I’m not very good at “girl hair.” I think with time and practice that I will get better?

It’s just not my talent. And I’m okay with that 😉 Robyn kept the kids for us and sent me this pic of Britt’s hair! Too cute!

Big Papa: 

Britt’s favorite person, hands down, is Big Papa. She loves loves loves Mr Rusty.

If we’re all together then she’s probably either sitting on his lap or being carried in his arms.

It’s super sweet! One night at Big Daddy’s house she wanted to feed Big Papa his dinner!!!

I think she has him wrapped around her finger huh?

Our Nights: 

We get pretty crunk in our house at bedtime!

I know that seems like the opposite of what you should be doing when you’re wanting your children to go to sleep, but both of our kids always get hyper when they are sleepy and it’s never prevented them from falling asleep quickly once they are in bed!

I love that our nights ALWAYS end with lots of love and laughter 🙂

 She’s mastering those prayer hands 🙂

Schedule:

Our summer schedule went like this:

7:10 Up for day
10:30ish: independent playtimes
11:00: movie time
11:30: lunch
12:00: swim in pool
12:30 get ready for naps
1:00 down for naps
4:00 up from naps
6:00: dinner
6:40: bath
7:15: Britt in bed for night
7:45: Kye in bed for night

Other Things Britt was up to This Month:

• Britt LOVES the bathroom stool and it’s pretty annoying. She always is climbing up on it and I get nervous she’ll get hurt!
• I try to get her to go poop prior to swimming but quite often she will say “tee tee” while we are in the pool and I have to rush her inside so she can poop!
• Kye accidentally hit me with a ball and Britt raced off to her bedroom right away and came back carrying her little doctor kit to make it better!

• She knocked over one of Kye’s block towers one day and I told her she needed to give him a hug and say sorry (which is what I always instruct them to do) and she legit said the word “sorry” for the first time!
• She always points outside while we are eating and says “bee bee” and like freaks out about it. I have NO CLUE where this came from?!?! She does it in this video though!

• I took the kids to CFA one morning (the morning after we found out about Austin…they needed something fun and I needed to be able to sit and talk to people) and Britt SHOCKED me. She pushed TWO different kids! I am not used to that kind of behavior at all as Kye has never done anything like that! I apologized and made her apologize and everything. It was pretty embarrassing! One of the moms had other children and she brushed it off like it was no big deal but the other mom was a first timer and was like freaking out. She kept babying her child and saying “she scratched her she scratched her” I mean I already felt bad enough lady! What else could I really do but say sorry about it and make her apologize??? I was worried I had a bully on my hands but after that one time it hasn’t been an issue again! Maybe she just could sense all the stress going on around that time and acted out?

• Britt has figured out how to open doors. Ugh. Kye has been enjoying alone time in his room when he wants to be by himself and play with older kid type toys but now Britt can get in there! 
• We have a decorative duck and a decorative fish in the kids bathroom and Britt says “hey ducky hey fishy” every time she goes to the bathroom. 

• Aunt Karen does this thing with the kids where she does “baby rabbits” in their ears. I don’t really get what it’s all about but something where she makes little sounds in their ears. Well Britt loves it so much that we use it as a tool to help calm her down when she’s upset or pitching a fit. Thank you Aunt Karen for those baby rabbits 😉
• Britt enjoys the dark and loves to hide in her dark closet

• I vividly remember in the hospital room after Britt was born telling Zach that we were in trouble. Her cry, even from birth, was horrible. It’s not one of those sweet cries. Or one where you feel bad for her. It’s one where you literally want to duck and hold your head so you don’t have to bear the pain of it anymore. It’s awful. It was then. And it still is now. And it’s like she knows it’s horrible so she does it more often just to bother us. Here’s a video of it!

• Britt is also at that age where she pitches fits. Ugh. They are NOT fun. I have found when she pitches smaller ones it often works best just to ignore them or to use distraction methods. I’m not a big believer in spanking for fits. I don’t feel like pitching a fit is direct disobedience and is more a frustration she’s having in being unable to communicate her feelings to us. It more of an issue of growth and maturity than it is of obedience, ya know? But for larger fits I handle them the same way I handled Kye (who was an entire YEAR older when he went through this stage). I sit her on the couch and make her sit there until she calms down. Typically she instantly asks to be held when I sit her down and as I hold her she calms down and is okay. Kye would make bad choices while pitching his fit (like throw things or hit or something) so he would often get spankings…but we haven’t had those issues with Britt (at least not yet!). She’s perfectly content in just using her lung to nice and LOUDLY let us know how she’s feeing!

Even though she had a mega boo boo from our airplane day, she’s still so cute!

 Blessed to be her mommy!

You can see Britt’s 19th month summary here and Kye’s 20th summary here!

I never read Kye’s old posts until I write Britt’s and it is always so crazy to me how much they have in common each month.

Both had their first bubble baths, both got to the point where we made them try all the food on their plate, both started having more responsibilities around the house, and both started to wanted to be more like a “big kid!”

I’ve been debating for awhile about when to transition Britt to a booster seat and now that I see that Kye did it at this age, I guess it’s time!!!

However, we will NOT be moving Britt’s car seat forward anytime soon. I fully intend to keep her rear facing until age 2 and hopefully even further beyond that.