Settling In

We have been working on slowly unpacking. It's taking forever! I thought a month was a realistic goal, but now I'm thinking three will probably be closer to what it actually takes. We are in a duplex with a ton of space which is fantastic! Although we've had a lot of struggles with the management and the place hadn't been cleaned when we moved in (seriously SO gross. I cried.). It has three bedrooms, each with a walk in closet and bathroom attached. I love all the storage!

Steve decided to go all out and help Penny put a bunch of stars up all over her room. She is SUPER into the moon and stars right now!

 It's so fun seeing Penny grow and learn so quickly. She talks SO well, but there are a few words that crack me up:
- Niccup = hiccup
- Spburp = burp
- Shark = shock (Funny to hear her at the park when I'm helping her climb something, "don't shark me momma, don't shark me"!)

Officially started forward facing in February!

Superbowl snacks!

 Penny had to have a frenectomy, which is where they basically cut off all the tissue that connects her upper lip and gum. Her dentist was surprised that she hadn't had trouble nursing since Penny's was a lot bigger than normal. I tried to prep her for several weeks and she had the routine down pat, but when it actually came time for the procedure she was not happy! She didn't cry the whole time - I felt like the dentist was prepping us for that. It was rough though. She did get some nitrous oxide that I don't think helped at all! They had a TV on the ceiling that she watched Curious George on, but I think the thing that threw her off the most was having to sit in the chair - they do dental exams with her on my lap. We were lucky that Steve had been in a meeting close by and got out just in time to come to the appointment though!
After the procedure she cheered up really quickly - she was happy by the time we were checking out! We took her right over to the mall and she got to ride the train. She picked to ride with her daddy of course. She did try biting/chewing on her upper lip a lot while it was numb, so we had to watch that closely.
The recovery consisted of doing "stretches" for four weeks which was basically me sticking my finger between her lip and gums and rubbing to make sure the tissue didn't grow back six times a day. It did not go well the first week. I'm sure it didn't feel good at all - poor girl. But during the second week Steve had a stroke of genius! Penny has a play shopping cart that she always wants to climb into, but I won't let her because it's for baby dolls. Well, Steve let her sit in the shopping cart while I did the stretches and then she got a little ride around the house in the cart. Her favorite was if Steve was home and I'd push her in the cart and try to "get him" - she would be laughing and screaming the whole time. Worked like a charm and we were good to go for the rest of the time!
She healed a little more slowly, the dentist said probably because she had to cut a little deeper than normal to get all of the tissue. I was worried Penny would be traumatized and not ever want to go to the dentist again, but she was just fine at her two week follow up appointment. She said "see Dr. Molly! See Dr. Molly!" the whole way down the hall to our room. The only time her nerves showed was when she pointed out Frozen was playing on the TV above the chair and the hygienist asked her if she wanted to lay down and watch it. She answered with a quick and firm "nope"! Ha! I'm glad it's all over now.

Steve trying to convince Penny to do stretches before bed.

Valentines Day craft! Penny insisted on making valentines for all her friends AND their dads this year with no prompting from me. Cute or weird? You decide.

A friend captured this pic at a birthday party when Penny was VERY jealous of the presents the birthday girl was opening. It's tough when you're two!

Penny has always loved doing her makeup with me. Unfortunately she no longer falls for the $1 brush and empty makeup containers I used to give her. She's all about the real deal! And honestly, I just let her have at it a lot of the time. Anytime she sees me doing my makeup she demands I bring the bin into her playroom in front of the mirror we have on the floor so she can get in on the action too. At least she's sitting nicely next to me and I can supervise!

Steve had just gotten home from a school trip and was taking Penny on a daddy daughter date. She told me she needed to get ready. Seriously?! How am I going to keep up with this girl???

Steve being super dad.

Right after being diagnosed with a double ear infection and RSV. She was acting pretty normal, but had a bit of crackly breathing so I took her in. Luckily her body handled it well and after a steroid and some amoxicillin she was good to go!

My silly girl!

Penny is so strong and loves to hang on anything! Our new house has these grab bars in the tubs and bath time has never been more fun for her.

When Steve was out of town I asked Penny what she would like to do for a special date with me. She asked to go to the mall (very typical - her favorite place currently) and decided to push it and ask for ice cream. Obviously I couldn't say no!

Look at those cheeks!!!

I was at a friend's house one night and so Steve was putting Penny to bed. It doesn't take much for her to work him over and she managed to weasel an extra show and some cuddles out of him way past bedtime!

I'm finally feeling better from this pregnancy. I wasn't as sick in the first trimester as I was with Penny (I only threw up once!), but it's been a lot more slow on getting my energy back. I have a lot of up and down days still and my body aches all the time, but I can definitely tell I'm doing a lot better than I was. Here's to more unpacking!