18 Months Old!!

This post is about 10 days late, but we were waiting for L'ie Bear's 18 month checkup before discussing how much she has changed in the past few months!

Her current stats are as follows:  

Height: 33 inches  (between 75th and 90th percentile)

Weight:  21 lbs 10 oz   (10th percentile)

Head Circumference:  46.99 cms   (between 50th and 75th percentile)

So far, she is growing right on track and received a gold star in health from the doctor!

As for all of her changes...

1.  She has discovered that playing dress-up with mommy and daddy's stuff can be fun...

Trying on Daddy's new hockey gloves!

Trying on mommy's sweater!

Mommy's running shows!

Daddy's Soulja Boy glasses

2.  She also loves finding new ways to go for rides...

In her umbrella stroller, which we
push around the living room.

Walking on Daddy's feet

3.  She has become very vocal in the types of foods that she likes and dislikes...
(She still loves anything sweet, and does not really enjoy eating her veggies.  But she has started to eat more chicken.)

Drinking a Fruit & Spinach smoothie.
She cannot get enough of these!

Bringing me the Animal Crackers.  Such a strong
and determined little girl!!

 

Enjoying an orange popsicle.

Trying out Uncle Ryan's homemade bacon

4.  She has also discovered many new toys...

Playing in her toy chest.

 Making one of her first "forts" out of a gift bag.

Putting Sesame Street on.  She already
knows that she needs the playstation
remote to watch her stories.

A new fascination with balloons!

5.  And finally, she has recently figured out how to take off her pants, which she does every nearly every day.

So many changes, but I can not end this blog post without mentioning a few more.

Within the past few weeks, L'ie Bear has been saying "NO" to everything.  To help correct this new change, Chad and I have started cutting back on our own "no's" and have been giving L'ie choices.  That way she must answer in an affirmative.  For example, we may give her two different toys to choose between during playtime.

But don't worry, she does not always get a choice, which leads to another change in the Bear's personality...tantrums!!!  This is not a welcome change, but certainly a milestone all the same.  It seems that every day we experience multiple meltdowns, complete with crying, screaming, foot stamping, and sometimes even throwing.  We know the best way to curtail these outbursts is to remove L'ie from the situation and ignore the tantrum.  This method does seem to work, and I am even getting a crash course in extreme patience!  What a bonus!!!

(Since L'ie is only 18 months old, I do not believe she is ready for a timeout, but I will definitely keep that option in my arsenal as we attempt to mold a well-behaved, happy and confident young lady).

All in all, the 18 month age is such a joy to watch!  L'ie Bear is able to move around on her own, she loves playing with all of her toys, and she has begun to communicate through talking and pointing.  Her personality is brimming with the perfect mixture of happiness, curiousity, some goofiness and self assurance, and we could not be more proud and excited to watch her develop some more!

HAPPY 18 MONTHS L'IE BEAR!!!

A Fisher Weekend

This past weekend, all of the Fishers gathered in Fairfax for a long weekend.  Grumpa and Grammy arrived on Friday evening and we headed out for a fun mexican dinner before L'ie went to bed.

On Saturday, Uncle Ryan braved tornado warnings and crazy storms to come celebrate his birthday with us.  Once we came up out of the basement, everyone gathered around the tv and took in some college football games.  Since she has not figured out how to appreciate sports yet, L'ie Bear enjoyed sharing her snacks with Wrigley, and those two were constant companions.

Game time

Partners in crime

That evening, we put the Bear to bed.  (She has been more than happy to go to bed these days, since she only gets 1 nap a day...most nights, 7:30 pm cannot get here fast enough).  And then Grumpa and Grammy put together quite a birthday dinner for Uncle Ryan.  He even got to eat off of our "Family Celebration Plate", which is a plate reserved for special occasions or when a family member does something great!  And since I just painted the plate, he was the first person to use it.

The next day, Grumpa, Grammy, Chad, L'ie Bear and I headed to a Nationals game.  The game started at 1, which was right around the Bear's nap time, so I spent most of the time trying to get her to take a nap.  But not before we made a stop at the Shake Shack concession stand for some burgers, fries and a shake.  Chad and I loved the food, and L'ie loved the black and white shake.

She was not going to share that shake with anyone

After 30 minutes of pushing her stroller all around the club level, L'ie finally fell asleep.  She slept for over an hour, and when she woke up, she was ready to move around.  For the rest of the game, she toddled all over the place, but Grumpa, Grammy or Chad were always close by.

One of her favorite activities...climbing the stairs

Hanging with the big boys!

As we left the game, we all posed for a few more photos...

The next day was Monday, which meant that Chad had to go to work and I actually had court in the morning.  But in order to take advantage of a beautiful afternoon, Grumpa, Grammy, L'ie Bear and I decided to head out to the park for a little bit.  There were many toys to play with, and the funny thing was that L'ie really enjoyed the process of walking to and from the toys more than actually playing with them.

Although the slide was really fun...

That evening, thanks to Grumpa and Grammy's offer to babysit, Chad and I were able to go out to dinner to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary.  And I can honestly say that everyone enjoyed their evening!!

After 3 event filled days, we wrapped up the weekend up with some playtime at home.

First L'ie played with Uncle Ryan's birthday balloons...

Then L'ie had story time with Grammy...

And finally "Tickle Hand" made an appearance...

It was a great weekend, and we are already looking forward to the next time all of the Fishers invade Fairfax again.

Chicago, That Toddling Town!!

Well, after a few years, the Fairfax Fishers finally made it back to Chicago, or as L'ie Bear likes to call it "Ca-go".  And this trip was very special because we were able to introduce the Bear to the city we love so much.

We flew out from Dulles during the early morning hours of Friday, August 31st and arrived in Chicago around 9 am.  After a quick stop to pick up our rental car, we drove into the city, checked into our hotel and managed to get in a little nap.  (In case I need to find this hotel for future trips to Chicago:  it was the Red Roof Inn at the intersection of Ontario Street and St Clair Street).  Our room was a two room suite, which is a very important feature for parents who have previously spent evenings quietly holed up in a hotel bathroom, waiting for their baby to fall asleep.  But during this trip, we were able to put L'ie Bear to bed and then hang out and watch tv in the other room.  It was perfect!

Around noon, we packed up the diaper bag & stroller and walked a few blocks to the Underinka's hotel room.  The Bear was excited to see Great Aunt SA, Great Uncle Mike and Cousin Juliana again, and then we all took the L to Wrigleyville.  Chad and I did not buy tickets to Friday's game, since we were not sure what all of the traveling would do to L'ie Bear's schedule.  So, we decided to get an outside table at Murphy's, our favorite bar, and take in the sights and sounds of a Cubs game.

The front of Murphy's!!

L'ie and Chad taking a walk around Wrigley Field.

Setting up a play area for L'ie Bear at Murphy's

Hanging out at our table

Once the game was over, we met up with the usual baseball group (mostly San Francisco Giants fans) and headed to another favorite bar, Piano Man.  And that evening, Juliana was awesome enough to babysit L'ie, while Chad and I joined up with part of the group for dinner at Frontera Grill.  It was delicious and we had a great evening full of adult conversation and amazing margaritas.

On Saturday, we headed down to Wrigleyville for the game and it was definitely a house divided.  I was wearing Cubs gear, but Chad and L'ie Bear were proudly decked out in their Giants gear.  Once in the bleachers, we had to make sure and get some photos...

First view of the field with Chad.

In front of the iconic scoreboard, which is still hand operated to this day!

Peeking out from her seat.

After an hour or so, I decided to walk the Bear around the stadium to see if I could get her to fall asleep.  It took a little while, but she was actually able to get a nice little nap surrounded by a lot of crazy Cubs fans.

A Giants fan and Cubs fan coming together to try to rock L'ie Bear
to sleep.  Thanks for the help Carson.

Success!!!

After the game, we headed back to Piano Man for a little bit.  The Bear was sad that Juliana was not there, but enjoyed meeting and playing with Carson.  He was a big help with L'ie and despite the age difference, he seemed to enjoy playing with her as well.

It was the perfect way to end our second day at Wrigley Field.  AND, since it was Grumpa's 60th birthday, we couldn't leave without sending him a few photos as well...Happy Birthday Old Fard!!!

Saturday night was special because Chad, L'ie and I were able to meet up with our good friend, Auntie Lemon (aka Amanda Rott).  She lives in Chicago and this was the first time she met the Bear!  They immediately hit it off and it was a wonderful night.  We enjoyed another great dinner and then hung out in our hotel room, while L'ie slept.  (See, this two room layout really was perfect)  

Playing games with Lemon on the iPad.

A happy group at dinner.

On Sunday, we headed BACK to Wrigleyville and had brunch at Uncommon Ground before the game.  Chad went in ahead of us to watch the game, while the Bear and I went shopping.  There are so many great little apparel stores in the area, so I knew I could find something perfect.  After all, I allowed her to wear Gaints gear for one game, but the girl needed some Cubs gear as well.  And I think we found the perfect stuff.

L'ie with her Cubs shirt and bear, Ernie.
(Of course, she had to have her baby as well)

Once we made it into the stadium, I quickly realized that the bleacher section was too sunny, hot and crowded for L'ie to toddle around.  So we headed down underneath the bleachers, where there was shade, ceiling fans, and large flat screen tvs broadcasting the game.  It was the best place for L'ie to wander around because it was mostly empty and I could keep my eye on her.  Plus, she had one of the best views of the game...

Towards the end of the game, L'ie was tired from all of the walking and we headed back up to the seats.  We enjoyed the final innings and she posed for some more photos.

With Dad, Great Uncle Mike and her new bear.

With Jennifer and Carson

With Carson and Juliana

With Great Aunt SA, Carson and Juliana

Watching the cleanup crew at Wrigley

"Now that is an awesome trashcan"

We could not have asked for a better time at Wrigley Field.  Even though it was hot, the sun was shining, the games were enjoyable, and we were able to spend time with an amazing group of people.

The rest of the trip (basically one more day) played out like a travel guide for Chicago.

TWIN ANCHORS 

(our favorite restaurant in Chicago)

Group shot

Waiting for our table

Cousins and ribs!             

NAVY PIER

Family photo looking back at the city

First taste of snow cone.

Flying high on the pier

MILLENNIUM PARK

Splashing with Daddy

Loving every minute

"Look how wet I can get"

Checking out the fountain

THE BEAN

 

Skyline reflected in The Bean

Can you find us?

NAP IN FRONT OF JAY PRITZKER PAVILION

Worn out 

Not a bad place for a nap

DEEP DISH PIZZA

Yummy!

She loved the crust.

 We arrived back home on Tuesday afternoon, full of so many wonderful memories from Chicago, and L'ie Bear was anxious to take a long nap.  

She may have been tired, but we are sure that she had a great time in Ca-go.  And we cannot wait to head back there soon.