...Over and Over and Over again!
Still, can't deny how cute this is...I can't wait to include this video in JD's 16th birthday movie mantage (yes I am already making it in my head). :)
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Faith
Last night, as I was stalking blogs I went to one that I have been frequenting lately. Its one I stumbled across from blog hopping one night and have been hooked ever since. See the "Praying for Stellan" on the left there...its his mama's blog I am referring to. Yesterday baby Stellan had heart surgery and by the grace of God he is back in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit and recovering.
I have ALWAYS believed in the power of prayer, and by always I mean since high school when I feel I really started to comprehend my own faith. P-Daddy and I make it a daily practice to lift up our day to the Lord (usually at dinner) and JD and I make have a nightly routine of praying too. Recently I noticed that there were things around me that were going a lot better, some of it was almost shocking because these certain things hadn't been going that well. I literally stood over a load of laundry pondering how in the world an SUCH a change was possible overnight with no "sparking" it to do so (by that I mean confrontation or a "hint hint"). And then I realized...I wasn't noticing the obvious. P-Daddy and I had been praying about these "things" for quite some time and God had officially answered our prayers! For those of you non believers out there...I am telling you that believing is better! God is so good and the ONLY explanation for these things was due to God. :)
So back to my "moment" last night. I was reading Stellan's mama (or rather mckmama) tell us about Stellan's condition...she was talking about server overload and then said to click here. So I clicked and couldn't believe my eyes. It's worth clicking I promise. So there I was scrolling and looking and scrolling and looking (I know, cryptic writing...meaning I REALLY want you to click on the link...so just do it already!) and really there are no words at how I felt...other than the power of blogging is unbelievable and people are so good. God is so unbelievable. He works his ways in so many ways and I feel so thankful to know him. I hope that you know him too...
MckMama wrote today about the power of prayer and I think she summed everything up so wonderfully! I never knew that blogging would/could be this powerful...in my life, to the lives of others, for the lives of others...its amazing! I am so thankful!
I have ALWAYS believed in the power of prayer, and by always I mean since high school when I feel I really started to comprehend my own faith. P-Daddy and I make it a daily practice to lift up our day to the Lord (usually at dinner) and JD and I make have a nightly routine of praying too. Recently I noticed that there were things around me that were going a lot better, some of it was almost shocking because these certain things hadn't been going that well. I literally stood over a load of laundry pondering how in the world an SUCH a change was possible overnight with no "sparking" it to do so (by that I mean confrontation or a "hint hint"). And then I realized...I wasn't noticing the obvious. P-Daddy and I had been praying about these "things" for quite some time and God had officially answered our prayers! For those of you non believers out there...I am telling you that believing is better! God is so good and the ONLY explanation for these things was due to God. :)
So back to my "moment" last night. I was reading Stellan's mama (or rather mckmama) tell us about Stellan's condition...she was talking about server overload and then said to click here. So I clicked and couldn't believe my eyes. It's worth clicking I promise. So there I was scrolling and looking and scrolling and looking (I know, cryptic writing...meaning I REALLY want you to click on the link...so just do it already!) and really there are no words at how I felt...other than the power of blogging is unbelievable and people are so good. God is so unbelievable. He works his ways in so many ways and I feel so thankful to know him. I hope that you know him too...
MckMama wrote today about the power of prayer and I think she summed everything up so wonderfully! I never knew that blogging would/could be this powerful...in my life, to the lives of others, for the lives of others...its amazing! I am so thankful!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Sunny Thursday
Today was the first day we have seen sunshine in good old Indiana in what feels like weeks but that would be an exaggeration so really its been 3 days. But when I say no sunshine, I MEAN no sunshine, like no peaks through the clouds or anything! The dark and gloominess round here was starting to get to us so when we woke up to the beautiful rays of the sun this morning we were EXCITED! :)
JD and I took a lovely walk around the hood after his wonderfully long nap today (Sunny Thursday is right!) and then enjoyed some yard time for a bit playing with the water hose (which translates to mommy washing off the outdoor furniture cushions and JD utilizing all of his energy to STEAL the hose and spray mommy or himself over and over again)! :) Good times...good times!
We finished the day (or rather JD finished his day) with a night cap of Vitamin D and our daily does of "My Friends Tigger and Pooh" and a little dance (we gotta get that lingering energy out right?) As much as we LOVE our Tigger and Pooh, the newest fixation is actually "Choo Choo Soul" which is a commercial (kind of) AFTER Tigger. I will say, its kind of catchy and there is a new theme of learning for the children every night so I can't complain (and the leading lady basically is rapping, and we all know how I feel about rap). JD LOVES the Choo Choo Soul. He will be sitting all cuddly in his chair watching his show and all of the sudden Choo Choo Soul comes on and the blanket lying neatly on him goes FLYING across the room, along with his Vitamin D and he is up and doing what you will see below. He is going to have KILLER quads if he keeps this up!
The first 30 seconds of this is great...
I am not sure where he learned the yoga moves?!
JD and I took a lovely walk around the hood after his wonderfully long nap today (Sunny Thursday is right!) and then enjoyed some yard time for a bit playing with the water hose (which translates to mommy washing off the outdoor furniture cushions and JD utilizing all of his energy to STEAL the hose and spray mommy or himself over and over again)! :) Good times...good times!
We finished the day (or rather JD finished his day) with a night cap of Vitamin D and our daily does of "My Friends Tigger and Pooh" and a little dance (we gotta get that lingering energy out right?) As much as we LOVE our Tigger and Pooh, the newest fixation is actually "Choo Choo Soul" which is a commercial (kind of) AFTER Tigger. I will say, its kind of catchy and there is a new theme of learning for the children every night so I can't complain (and the leading lady basically is rapping, and we all know how I feel about rap). JD LOVES the Choo Choo Soul. He will be sitting all cuddly in his chair watching his show and all of the sudden Choo Choo Soul comes on and the blanket lying neatly on him goes FLYING across the room, along with his Vitamin D and he is up and doing what you will see below. He is going to have KILLER quads if he keeps this up!
The first 30 seconds of this is great...
I am not sure where he learned the yoga moves?!
We hope you were able to enjoy this beautiful day too! Enjoy your Friday and weekend!!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Kreative Blogger Award!
I appreciate and gladly accept this from Andrea and Aimee-thanks girls! You are the best! I love these awards...for nothing else than it is an easy way to blog for the day! :) My job in receiving this award is to share seven things I love and then bestow this award to seven lovely people that put a smile on my face!
My seven things (and just so you know...I didn't pick obvious ones like my husband and JD because they are my TOP two for my life...these are my selfish 7! :) Maybe this should be the awards name?? :)
1. I LOVE FALL. I know this one seems like a cop out but I really do love this season. I love that the days are still warm and you can wear summer type clothes with maybe a light jacket during the day and then the nights are chilly and you get to wear jeans and hooded sweatshirts and be all snugly. I also love all of the smells that fall has, the burning leaves outside, the breezy air, cookout smells...all of it! I love the days of the year that God blesses us where it actually feels like fall and it isn't. That is a blessing (to me of course)!
2. I LOVE HOMES. I will look through home magazines...the ones that have actual homes with floor plans attached and also the ones that show only insides of homes with decor. I love to go to open houses for no apparent reason than to look at the house and get my own ideas for our home or you can sometimes find me driving around and to look at neighborhoods filled with beautiful homes. I also love to dream about what I could do with a specific home if for some reason we were able to afford buying it and fixing it up (no I don't have a specific one in mind right now but you catch my drift). Which brings me to my love for shows that have to do with homes. Not just the local weekly tour of homes show but DIY, flip this house, flip that house, sell this house...you name it I am watching it (when I get time and my TIVO is empty)!
3. I LOVE TO BAKE. This started out really as something I only did once a year, ONE DAY a year, with my girlfriends for a holiday cookie bake. I was probably the worst baker of them all that year...but I learned a lot. And one of the best "lessons" I learned was (and still is) that people feel good when you give them baked goods. Seriously, I brought a whole tin to work that year and my office was filled with co-workers raving about the cookies and treats. Everyone was so thankful and appreciative...and all for what? A few bucks worth of ingredients thrown together (with love of course) in the form of something sweet? That is amazing! I then started to bake all the time and have become rather good at it (if I do say so myself). But mostly its wonderful to be able to share yummy treats with everyone I meet!
4. I LOVE PEOPLE MAGAZINE. Mostly I love the first 5 pages where it shows famous people on the red carpet or just "out and about" and then the crossword puzzle at the end. I just find famous people fascinating and think People does the most tasteful job at stalking them and telling us normal folks about their lives. :)
5. I LOVE MY DIAMONDS. This one speaks for itself really and is coming across completely materialistic but I am being real here and I love them. I specifically love my engagement ring and wedding band and the accessories P-Daddy has showered me with over the years. I don't accessorize with anything else. I go "classic" everyday (I am laughing even as I type that because I am just not one to ever discuss my accessories so this is foreign to me! HA) and wear only my wedding set, studs, and a solitaire necklace. :) P-Daddy has been extremely generous to me and I am extremely appreciative of everything I have...and don't need anything else!
6. I LOVED MY HONEYMOON (and I LOVE VACATION). I speak specifically of my honeymoon because you didn't know me then and that specific vacation is one of the main reasons I want to continue going on vacation after vacation after vacation. It also has kept me sane in the years that we haven't been able to take a beachy get-away vacation, the "just the two of us" kind (are you singing Will Smith's song cause I am!). :) We went to "Secrets Excellence" in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and it was seriously the best!! I had never been on a vacation like it (or since) and part of me thinks that I will never go on another one again (not selling myself short or anything...just don't think you can replace the feelings that accompany the honeymoon). It was pure bliss in every sense of the word. I tell everyone this because I think it is noteworthy...I think it was bliss because I HAD NO EXPECTATIONS! P-Daddy and I joked that this place called "Secrets" could potentially turn out to be a bit porno and would say "Shhh...its a Secret" at every opportunity we could! We also flew into the Dominican Republic's airport, which turns out was a HUT (I mean a large hut, but still a HUT...insert panicked look on both of our faces)...and then took a bus for an hour drive through the worst poverty I have ever seen in my life and NO RESORTS IN SITE (insert a bit more panic and also sadness for the starving children on the side of the road and no I am not kidding)...but the end result was soooooo worth it (and the resorts there actually do a good thing because they have brought jobs to those within the poverty and pay their employees a fair wage). It was the most either of us had ever spend on vacation and it was the best money we have ever spent! You can't get your honeymoon back people...so don't skip it and LIVE IT UP!!! By the way...it was far from porno! HA! I love vacation though because it takes you away from your reality and it is the one place that I fully relax. Everyone needs that at times (I need it soon please! :)
7. I LOVE BEING FROM DVEGAS! If you are my friend on facebook, this is also my "status" today. HA! I love being from Dvegas for so many reasons but one of my favorites is that everyone of my friends, acquaintances, or even people I just know of that are also from there are such individuals that stand out in their crowd with such strong personalities. When we all lived there together, this produced some interesting times of course but now as we all are gone and have our own lives with our own careers, husbands, wives and children we are each making the world a better place in our respective cities. We are grounded in every sense of the word. We all played baseball or softball for and against the same teams, had parents with blue collar jobs that always wanted more for each of us (and who ALL accomplished it), got to play any sport we wanted to because it was small enough for that but big enough that in most cases our teams were extremely competitive, we could ride our bikes safely anywhere we wanted, most of us walked to school everyday until high school, I could go on and on but the bottom line is, Dvegas was a GREAT place to be raised. If it was the same, I would move our family there right now and raise our children there proudly(Gasp from the Dvegas crowd that are readers-HA)! I don't know if it is something in the water in Dvegas, but confidence comes with being raised there (at least during the years of 1978-2000). :) I am sure many people feel this way about where they come from...but I don't know people, I think Dvegas is unique (it did produce people like Gene Hackman and the Van Dykes after all!). :) P-Daddy also loves that I am from Dvegas because there are so many random good places to eat we still haven't covered them all (after almost 8 years in total together)!
The seven people that put a blogger smile on my face that "win" this award are as follows:
Lora over at Jakezilla
Mama over at The Elmo Wallpaper
Angie over at A Book a Day
Ashley over at Three Lil Callahans
GranBeck over at Grandmas Gotta Blog
Kathryn over at The Brown Family
Kristina over at KB in the City
My seven things (and just so you know...I didn't pick obvious ones like my husband and JD because they are my TOP two for my life...these are my selfish 7! :) Maybe this should be the awards name?? :)
1. I LOVE FALL. I know this one seems like a cop out but I really do love this season. I love that the days are still warm and you can wear summer type clothes with maybe a light jacket during the day and then the nights are chilly and you get to wear jeans and hooded sweatshirts and be all snugly. I also love all of the smells that fall has, the burning leaves outside, the breezy air, cookout smells...all of it! I love the days of the year that God blesses us where it actually feels like fall and it isn't. That is a blessing (to me of course)!
2. I LOVE HOMES. I will look through home magazines...the ones that have actual homes with floor plans attached and also the ones that show only insides of homes with decor. I love to go to open houses for no apparent reason than to look at the house and get my own ideas for our home or you can sometimes find me driving around and to look at neighborhoods filled with beautiful homes. I also love to dream about what I could do with a specific home if for some reason we were able to afford buying it and fixing it up (no I don't have a specific one in mind right now but you catch my drift). Which brings me to my love for shows that have to do with homes. Not just the local weekly tour of homes show but DIY, flip this house, flip that house, sell this house...you name it I am watching it (when I get time and my TIVO is empty)!
3. I LOVE TO BAKE. This started out really as something I only did once a year, ONE DAY a year, with my girlfriends for a holiday cookie bake. I was probably the worst baker of them all that year...but I learned a lot. And one of the best "lessons" I learned was (and still is) that people feel good when you give them baked goods. Seriously, I brought a whole tin to work that year and my office was filled with co-workers raving about the cookies and treats. Everyone was so thankful and appreciative...and all for what? A few bucks worth of ingredients thrown together (with love of course) in the form of something sweet? That is amazing! I then started to bake all the time and have become rather good at it (if I do say so myself). But mostly its wonderful to be able to share yummy treats with everyone I meet!
4. I LOVE PEOPLE MAGAZINE. Mostly I love the first 5 pages where it shows famous people on the red carpet or just "out and about" and then the crossword puzzle at the end. I just find famous people fascinating and think People does the most tasteful job at stalking them and telling us normal folks about their lives. :)
5. I LOVE MY DIAMONDS. This one speaks for itself really and is coming across completely materialistic but I am being real here and I love them. I specifically love my engagement ring and wedding band and the accessories P-Daddy has showered me with over the years. I don't accessorize with anything else. I go "classic" everyday (I am laughing even as I type that because I am just not one to ever discuss my accessories so this is foreign to me! HA) and wear only my wedding set, studs, and a solitaire necklace. :) P-Daddy has been extremely generous to me and I am extremely appreciative of everything I have...and don't need anything else!
6. I LOVED MY HONEYMOON (and I LOVE VACATION). I speak specifically of my honeymoon because you didn't know me then and that specific vacation is one of the main reasons I want to continue going on vacation after vacation after vacation. It also has kept me sane in the years that we haven't been able to take a beachy get-away vacation, the "just the two of us" kind (are you singing Will Smith's song cause I am!). :) We went to "Secrets Excellence" in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and it was seriously the best!! I had never been on a vacation like it (or since) and part of me thinks that I will never go on another one again (not selling myself short or anything...just don't think you can replace the feelings that accompany the honeymoon). It was pure bliss in every sense of the word. I tell everyone this because I think it is noteworthy...I think it was bliss because I HAD NO EXPECTATIONS! P-Daddy and I joked that this place called "Secrets" could potentially turn out to be a bit porno and would say "Shhh...its a Secret" at every opportunity we could! We also flew into the Dominican Republic's airport, which turns out was a HUT (I mean a large hut, but still a HUT...insert panicked look on both of our faces)...and then took a bus for an hour drive through the worst poverty I have ever seen in my life and NO RESORTS IN SITE (insert a bit more panic and also sadness for the starving children on the side of the road and no I am not kidding)...but the end result was soooooo worth it (and the resorts there actually do a good thing because they have brought jobs to those within the poverty and pay their employees a fair wage). It was the most either of us had ever spend on vacation and it was the best money we have ever spent! You can't get your honeymoon back people...so don't skip it and LIVE IT UP!!! By the way...it was far from porno! HA! I love vacation though because it takes you away from your reality and it is the one place that I fully relax. Everyone needs that at times (I need it soon please! :)
7. I LOVE BEING FROM DVEGAS! If you are my friend on facebook, this is also my "status" today. HA! I love being from Dvegas for so many reasons but one of my favorites is that everyone of my friends, acquaintances, or even people I just know of that are also from there are such individuals that stand out in their crowd with such strong personalities. When we all lived there together, this produced some interesting times of course but now as we all are gone and have our own lives with our own careers, husbands, wives and children we are each making the world a better place in our respective cities. We are grounded in every sense of the word. We all played baseball or softball for and against the same teams, had parents with blue collar jobs that always wanted more for each of us (and who ALL accomplished it), got to play any sport we wanted to because it was small enough for that but big enough that in most cases our teams were extremely competitive, we could ride our bikes safely anywhere we wanted, most of us walked to school everyday until high school, I could go on and on but the bottom line is, Dvegas was a GREAT place to be raised. If it was the same, I would move our family there right now and raise our children there proudly(Gasp from the Dvegas crowd that are readers-HA)! I don't know if it is something in the water in Dvegas, but confidence comes with being raised there (at least during the years of 1978-2000). :) I am sure many people feel this way about where they come from...but I don't know people, I think Dvegas is unique (it did produce people like Gene Hackman and the Van Dykes after all!). :) P-Daddy also loves that I am from Dvegas because there are so many random good places to eat we still haven't covered them all (after almost 8 years in total together)!
The seven people that put a blogger smile on my face that "win" this award are as follows:
Lora over at Jakezilla
Mama over at The Elmo Wallpaper
Angie over at A Book a Day
Ashley over at Three Lil Callahans
GranBeck over at Grandmas Gotta Blog
Kathryn over at The Brown Family
Kristina over at KB in the City
Friday, April 3, 2009
Dear JD,
I have never written you a letter before because I just felt cheesy doing it but for some reason I have this internal push to do so now...so here I go.
You are 18 months, 21 days, 3 hours and 28 minutes old. I prefer to drop the whole "month" thing and just say you are 1 1/2...A YEAR AND A HALF...how did that happen already? I have this feeling that if you ever do read my blog you will be in your twenties and you will be like..."mom, seriously? You are a nightmare!" But I think you will probably eventually say those exact same words for some other nightmarish thing I end up doing along the way so I am going to continue blogging about our life.
This leads into the question of...have I told you that I think you are going to be opinionated yet? You will get this trait VERY honestly by the way...and Daddy and I have something coming for us I am sure. Well...at a year and a half you already kind of are opinoinated in your own "lost in translation" sort of way and Daddy and I LOVE IT! We are always going to encourage you to vocalize how you feel about things. But I am telling you right now, we are not always going to agree with you Mr. :)
Right now you are soaking everything in you possibly can and everyday I can see your eyes focused and your ears tuned in because you are a learning machine. You still aren't really "talking" but as said above, you do talk and share your opinions in the only (current) way you know how. Your favorite phrase is "Whats that?" (sounds like "wos aaaa?") and you ask that question about a cazillion times a day. We love it and answer each and every time because we cannot wait to hear that first clear as day word come from your mouth. Your favorite word (or closest to it) is "Dad" (prounounced "Da"). We have heard "ma" but normally only when you are mad about something. I hope this isn't a trend. We are so proud of your curiosity.
You do understand what we say though. Sometimes you try and pretend like this isn't the case, but you completely get us now. That is something Daddy and I weren't expecting and have really come to appreciate. I think we both thought you would talk first and then understand us. It really has been quite the opposite. You have understood us for months and do whatever we say (unless you are pretending you don't understand us, and this typically leads to a "time out"). Its amazing to have you understand what we are saying, because now we communicate with each other.
Recently you have decided to start climbing. You have always sort of climbed up on the ottoman but now its the top of the couch, the coffee table (where you also breakdance), kitchen table chairs, up and down the stairs and if I somehow the cabinets are unlocked from their babyproofing you would love to use the convenient pull out drawer as a step stool to get on the counters and dance.
Funny story...I always take you upstairs with me when I go to sort and start the laundry for the day/week (our laundry room is upstairs). You typically ride laundry basket over to start a load with me and then run around upstairs terrorizing night lights, blankets from your room, remotes from the guest rooms and anything else you can get your hands on. I let you because none of this is dangerous and it keeps you occupied. You never dare to try and go back downstairs as you are a little leery of going DOWN stairs by yourself. That is until the other day...when I was putting a load of laundry in and didn't hear you anymore. I yelled your name and still nothing. Then I heard something hit the hardwood floors at the bottom of the stairs (don't worry people this is a good ending). My heart stopped beating and I ran to the stairs thinking the worst. But there you were ALL THE WAY AT THE BOTTOM smiling the biggest cheese ever with the remote control (because heaven forbid you forget that anywhere you go) which had just fallen off the bottom step because you had carried it in your little hand the entire way down and dropped it just as you were hitting the first floor ready to run. So a chapter closed that day in our morning routine because as happy as I was that you were safe and sound, I also knew that could have ended very differently so you stay downstairs confined by gates in the safe living room while mommy goes to do the laundry. I am still very proud of you that you braved the big staircase all by yourself and went down the "baby way" safely.
You have also started giving us REAL kisses on the lips. This is something that you have done off and on since you were 9 months old but really you were more off than on. Lately if we make the kissey noise (translated MMWWWAA) you pucker your lips and make the same noise from wherever you are. Then if we ask for a kiss you lean in for and go straight for our lips! Its so freaking cute and we are enjoying every last one because we know that as independent as you are...this too shall pass.
We have always been very impressed with your motor skills. You were stuck in the same position in mommies belly for basically 9 months straight because of mommies oddly shaped uterus so I believe you came into the world and said "thank GOD" then stretched your arms and legs as far as they could go and have never stopped. I won't rehash all of your accomplishments on here because people read this and we aren't trying to brag on you (and I actually did document these sorts of things in your baby book so check there if you are curious) but you are amazing! Mommy and Daddy don't know all the ins and outs with "Gross" and "Fine" motor skills but everyone that comes around tells us you have them both mastered already. You recently started building huge buildings with your mega blocks (translated: large Lego's), did a "pudding painting" with GranBeck with an actual paint brush, and you color almost daily.
When you were an infant you HATED being naked. You peed through about a million outfits a day though so you were constantly naked throughout most days therefore you were screaming your head off. Everyone that came around found this very strange because apparently most babies love to be naked. Well to us you have never been "most babies" about anything so it wasn't surprising to hear that at all. At 1 1/2 you would now MUCH rather be naked than with clothes. In fact, given the opportunity you will undress yourself, even taking off your own diaper! This is not funny so please stop with the diaper business. We don't need poop on or in the carpet. Oh yeah...you aren't reading this until you are twenty...well anyway I hope you stopped, otherwise I have probably scarred you for life telling everyone your naked stories. Yes, I am totally going to be that mom. You also LOVE to pee in mommy and daddy's closet before and after bath time. We have purchased a potty because I am pretty sure you know what you are doing now. It may be time to start the process of potty training. I hear thats fun...again I will let you know in your teens in front of all of your friends how that one went. :)
Speaking of bath time...it is probably Daddy and my (and yours too) favorite time of the day. You have become this olympic swimmer/synchronized swimmer in our tub. You voluntarily lay back in the water with your just your face out of the water for most of your bath. You typically tell us "stories" while kicking your little legs as fast as they can go! Towards the end of every bath, as we are letting out the water you also flip over, stick your head in whats left of the water face first and blow bubbles. We did not teach you to do either of these things by the way so we aren't sure where you learned them, but we couldn't be more thrilled that you love the water as much as you do. We are, however concerned that your confidence is going to lead to you running up to the deep end of the community pool this summer and just jumping in. Due to this concern you will be living in some sort of flotation device whenever we are around water.
You never were a cuddler. I see all of my (and your) friends all snuggled up together for milk time or just because time and you are typically running around in circles laughing and "talking" (and lets be honest...on occasion screaming too). I stop you, sit you in my lap and give you a big hug and before I know it you are out of my lap and running again. I love your energy and am so proud of your mobility but I can't tell you how excited I am that you have entered a cuddle stage. This morning you came up to me as I was sitting at our kitchen table reading email and you stuck your arms up so I would pick you up and then just laid your little head on my shoulder for at least five minutes. This never happens so I am thrilled whenever I get those moments. I hope that we always hug each other.
A few of my other favorites are that you love purses and carry them around the house like a mommy (this is obviously NOT one of Daddy's favorite things), you know how to get the rocket started along with Little Einsteins (patting your legs and saying "pa, pa, pa" and then raising your arms in the air and saying BLAST OFF, or rather, "BAHHH"!-Its priceless), you dance on beat, especially when mom sneaks in some rap music to your life (you bump and grind and its hysterical), you are a ham and whenever there is a crowd in the house you use the middle of the living room as your stage and put on a lovely show (by running in circles and falling to the ground laughing over and over again), you go up to adults (people you know or complete strangers) and say "hiiieeee" and wave to them. You wave to people on my cell phone and cars on the road, sing the ABC song (just la la la-again priceless), you are trying to eat with a spoon or a spork with every meal but you ALWAYS stick your finger in and lick it FIRST (as to test to make sure what I have given you is actual food) before you decide that using the utensil may be appropriate, you know where your eyes, ears, nose, mouth and toes are...and you kind of know where your elbow is but most of the time when I ask you that question you just point to Elmo, and when daddy comes home from work you give me this shock and awe look on your face as you hear his car pull into the garage and run to the gate to greet him with a big smile and a "DA!"
I am sure this will not be the ONLY letter I will ever write to you but mostly you will get a lot of talking out of me. I guess the letter(s) will be few and far between so that you actually pay attention to the words instead of tuning me out (I am only assuming here...because I talk a lot and am sure you will get lots of earfuls that will warrant some tuning me out).
There is so much to say about you I could fill the entire Internet. You are such an amazing young toddler in every way. Your laugh is contagious, your smile warms hearts (especially dads and mine) and your pure will to do everything you do is inspiring. I think Dad and I are sometimes surprised at how amazing you are and that somehow we made you. Then the reality that everything we are currently doing is molding you hits us and we freak out for a second, then come back to reality and go back to doing our best at being your parents. You make us better people and we are thankful for you everyday. We always will be.
Mom
You are 18 months, 21 days, 3 hours and 28 minutes old. I prefer to drop the whole "month" thing and just say you are 1 1/2...A YEAR AND A HALF...how did that happen already? I have this feeling that if you ever do read my blog you will be in your twenties and you will be like..."mom, seriously? You are a nightmare!" But I think you will probably eventually say those exact same words for some other nightmarish thing I end up doing along the way so I am going to continue blogging about our life.
This leads into the question of...have I told you that I think you are going to be opinionated yet? You will get this trait VERY honestly by the way...and Daddy and I have something coming for us I am sure. Well...at a year and a half you already kind of are opinoinated in your own "lost in translation" sort of way and Daddy and I LOVE IT! We are always going to encourage you to vocalize how you feel about things. But I am telling you right now, we are not always going to agree with you Mr. :)
Right now you are soaking everything in you possibly can and everyday I can see your eyes focused and your ears tuned in because you are a learning machine. You still aren't really "talking" but as said above, you do talk and share your opinions in the only (current) way you know how. Your favorite phrase is "Whats that?" (sounds like "wos aaaa?") and you ask that question about a cazillion times a day. We love it and answer each and every time because we cannot wait to hear that first clear as day word come from your mouth. Your favorite word (or closest to it) is "Dad" (prounounced "Da"). We have heard "ma" but normally only when you are mad about something. I hope this isn't a trend. We are so proud of your curiosity.
You do understand what we say though. Sometimes you try and pretend like this isn't the case, but you completely get us now. That is something Daddy and I weren't expecting and have really come to appreciate. I think we both thought you would talk first and then understand us. It really has been quite the opposite. You have understood us for months and do whatever we say (unless you are pretending you don't understand us, and this typically leads to a "time out"). Its amazing to have you understand what we are saying, because now we communicate with each other.
Recently you have decided to start climbing. You have always sort of climbed up on the ottoman but now its the top of the couch, the coffee table (where you also breakdance), kitchen table chairs, up and down the stairs and if I somehow the cabinets are unlocked from their babyproofing you would love to use the convenient pull out drawer as a step stool to get on the counters and dance.
Funny story...I always take you upstairs with me when I go to sort and start the laundry for the day/week (our laundry room is upstairs). You typically ride laundry basket over to start a load with me and then run around upstairs terrorizing night lights, blankets from your room, remotes from the guest rooms and anything else you can get your hands on. I let you because none of this is dangerous and it keeps you occupied. You never dare to try and go back downstairs as you are a little leery of going DOWN stairs by yourself. That is until the other day...when I was putting a load of laundry in and didn't hear you anymore. I yelled your name and still nothing. Then I heard something hit the hardwood floors at the bottom of the stairs (don't worry people this is a good ending). My heart stopped beating and I ran to the stairs thinking the worst. But there you were ALL THE WAY AT THE BOTTOM smiling the biggest cheese ever with the remote control (because heaven forbid you forget that anywhere you go) which had just fallen off the bottom step because you had carried it in your little hand the entire way down and dropped it just as you were hitting the first floor ready to run. So a chapter closed that day in our morning routine because as happy as I was that you were safe and sound, I also knew that could have ended very differently so you stay downstairs confined by gates in the safe living room while mommy goes to do the laundry. I am still very proud of you that you braved the big staircase all by yourself and went down the "baby way" safely.
You have also started giving us REAL kisses on the lips. This is something that you have done off and on since you were 9 months old but really you were more off than on. Lately if we make the kissey noise (translated MMWWWAA) you pucker your lips and make the same noise from wherever you are. Then if we ask for a kiss you lean in for and go straight for our lips! Its so freaking cute and we are enjoying every last one because we know that as independent as you are...this too shall pass.
We have always been very impressed with your motor skills. You were stuck in the same position in mommies belly for basically 9 months straight because of mommies oddly shaped uterus so I believe you came into the world and said "thank GOD" then stretched your arms and legs as far as they could go and have never stopped. I won't rehash all of your accomplishments on here because people read this and we aren't trying to brag on you (and I actually did document these sorts of things in your baby book so check there if you are curious) but you are amazing! Mommy and Daddy don't know all the ins and outs with "Gross" and "Fine" motor skills but everyone that comes around tells us you have them both mastered already. You recently started building huge buildings with your mega blocks (translated: large Lego's), did a "pudding painting" with GranBeck with an actual paint brush, and you color almost daily.
When you were an infant you HATED being naked. You peed through about a million outfits a day though so you were constantly naked throughout most days therefore you were screaming your head off. Everyone that came around found this very strange because apparently most babies love to be naked. Well to us you have never been "most babies" about anything so it wasn't surprising to hear that at all. At 1 1/2 you would now MUCH rather be naked than with clothes. In fact, given the opportunity you will undress yourself, even taking off your own diaper! This is not funny so please stop with the diaper business. We don't need poop on or in the carpet. Oh yeah...you aren't reading this until you are twenty...well anyway I hope you stopped, otherwise I have probably scarred you for life telling everyone your naked stories. Yes, I am totally going to be that mom. You also LOVE to pee in mommy and daddy's closet before and after bath time. We have purchased a potty because I am pretty sure you know what you are doing now. It may be time to start the process of potty training. I hear thats fun...again I will let you know in your teens in front of all of your friends how that one went. :)
Speaking of bath time...it is probably Daddy and my (and yours too) favorite time of the day. You have become this olympic swimmer/synchronized swimmer in our tub. You voluntarily lay back in the water with your just your face out of the water for most of your bath. You typically tell us "stories" while kicking your little legs as fast as they can go! Towards the end of every bath, as we are letting out the water you also flip over, stick your head in whats left of the water face first and blow bubbles. We did not teach you to do either of these things by the way so we aren't sure where you learned them, but we couldn't be more thrilled that you love the water as much as you do. We are, however concerned that your confidence is going to lead to you running up to the deep end of the community pool this summer and just jumping in. Due to this concern you will be living in some sort of flotation device whenever we are around water.
You never were a cuddler. I see all of my (and your) friends all snuggled up together for milk time or just because time and you are typically running around in circles laughing and "talking" (and lets be honest...on occasion screaming too). I stop you, sit you in my lap and give you a big hug and before I know it you are out of my lap and running again. I love your energy and am so proud of your mobility but I can't tell you how excited I am that you have entered a cuddle stage. This morning you came up to me as I was sitting at our kitchen table reading email and you stuck your arms up so I would pick you up and then just laid your little head on my shoulder for at least five minutes. This never happens so I am thrilled whenever I get those moments. I hope that we always hug each other.
A few of my other favorites are that you love purses and carry them around the house like a mommy (this is obviously NOT one of Daddy's favorite things), you know how to get the rocket started along with Little Einsteins (patting your legs and saying "pa, pa, pa" and then raising your arms in the air and saying BLAST OFF, or rather, "BAHHH"!-Its priceless), you dance on beat, especially when mom sneaks in some rap music to your life (you bump and grind and its hysterical), you are a ham and whenever there is a crowd in the house you use the middle of the living room as your stage and put on a lovely show (by running in circles and falling to the ground laughing over and over again), you go up to adults (people you know or complete strangers) and say "hiiieeee" and wave to them. You wave to people on my cell phone and cars on the road, sing the ABC song (just la la la-again priceless), you are trying to eat with a spoon or a spork with every meal but you ALWAYS stick your finger in and lick it FIRST (as to test to make sure what I have given you is actual food) before you decide that using the utensil may be appropriate, you know where your eyes, ears, nose, mouth and toes are...and you kind of know where your elbow is but most of the time when I ask you that question you just point to Elmo, and when daddy comes home from work you give me this shock and awe look on your face as you hear his car pull into the garage and run to the gate to greet him with a big smile and a "DA!"
I am sure this will not be the ONLY letter I will ever write to you but mostly you will get a lot of talking out of me. I guess the letter(s) will be few and far between so that you actually pay attention to the words instead of tuning me out (I am only assuming here...because I talk a lot and am sure you will get lots of earfuls that will warrant some tuning me out).
There is so much to say about you I could fill the entire Internet. You are such an amazing young toddler in every way. Your laugh is contagious, your smile warms hearts (especially dads and mine) and your pure will to do everything you do is inspiring. I think Dad and I are sometimes surprised at how amazing you are and that somehow we made you. Then the reality that everything we are currently doing is molding you hits us and we freak out for a second, then come back to reality and go back to doing our best at being your parents. You make us better people and we are thankful for you everyday. We always will be.
Mom
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