17 Months Old-February 9, 2013

Wow!  You have had a very "growing" month!  You completely amaze your Daddy and I and others that see and know you.  You know WAY more than we thought you would at this age and we are so proud of all you have learned! 

17 Month Stats:

• You are talking so much more and know so many more words.  I originally thought you knew around 50 words but when I added them up and wrote them down, you are saying almost 150 words!  WOW is all I can say! 
• Here is your word list
• Dog
• Cat or kitty cat
• You are CLIMBING ON EVERYTHING!!!  And I mean everything!  I come around the corner and you are standing on the kitchen table, climbing from the chair to the couch....this drives Mommy crazy but you just won't stop!
• You know your sounds for cat, dog, bird, camel, sheep, and chicken.  We are working on a horse and pig.  You know what a horse and pig look like, but you won't make their sounds or say them for anything. 
• You love sliding down your slide in the den.
• You love playing in your playhouse.  I find you just sitting in the corner or playing with the doorbell, saying "Ding-dong."
• You love getting mail in your mailbox of your doll house.
• You love to stack blocks and tear them apart immediately.
• You love your bathtime still!
• You love having your teeth and hair brushed.
• You love helping Mommy unload the dishwasher.
• You like to be outside and swing and slide and play in the yard with Mommy and Daddy.
• You get up around 8:00, eat breakfast, we read, you play.  You watch a little Seasame Street at 10 and have a little "nack."  At 11 we watch Price is Right and you play more.  We usually go outside if it's pretty around this time as well. We have lunch around 12:30 and you are down for a nap by 1:30.  You sleep around 2-2 1/2 hours during naptime.  You'll sleep the first hour by yourself and then you wake up, call for me if I'm not in there and want me to lay down with you the rest of the time.  If I don't nap, I usually read while you sleep. 
• You play with all your toys on a weekly basis.  I divide your stuff out by days during the week so there's not too much all at once. 
• You love helping Mommy fold clothes...or rather, unfold them after I have them neatly folded. 
• You still love going and pulling out my sock and undie drawer and wearing my undies around the house.  Silly girl!
• You love laughing and being tickled.
• You adore Lulu and Elsa, although we have to keep them up because you like to hit them and we just don't trust that!
• You can put together ANY chunky puzzle there is with no help.  Simply amazes me! You match the pictures up like there's no tomorrow and you are done. 
• You love helping Mommy put on her makeup and pulling out and pretending that you are putting on make-up as well.
• You will eat anything we put in front of you....anything!  The only foods we really haven't tried so far are shrimp and peanut butter, or nuts in general.  We'll get there, I just don't want you to have them until you can talk better.

We are having so much fun being your Mommy and Daddy.  We love taking you places and people commenting on you.  You are such a go with the flow girl, even though you are on a schedule when we are at home.  You eat up attention when we are out and about.  Everyone just adores you. 

We went to Hilton Head this month with Daddy for a meeting.  You LOVED the beach.  It was warm and we were able to play on the sand for most of the day!  You LOVED it.  You loved the beach last summer so I was hoping you would continue...and you did!  I can't wait until this summer.  We have plans to be at the beach every Friday since Daddy is off on Fridays!  And we may have to go one other day a week as well! Both your Daddy and I love the beach and we are so glad you do too!

We also made a trip to Walhalla for another meeting Daddy had and for Cak's birthday.  We had a great time visiting and celebrating!  We always love going "home" because we get spoiled and pampered while there....well, I used to get spoiled and pampered, but now, everyone flocks to you, but that's okay!

We ended January with a belated Christmas dinner with the Bellamy side of the family.  Some were sick the week after Christmas when it was scheduled so it got postponed.  We enjoyed having everyone at our house.

We can't wait to see what all you will learn and do this next month!  We are going to begin working on shapes and colors, so we'll see how well you pick up!  And...we are starting potty training!  Here's to being diaper free sooner rather than later!

Love you Princess to the moon and back and all the stars in between!

Mommy and Daddy

16 Months Old-January 9, 2013

We have had a busy busy month!  This past month, we celebrated Jesus' birth and your 2nd Christmas!!  You were in awe of the decorations.  You would just stand at the tree and look at the ornaments and just touch them...sometimes yanking them off.  You were so sweet walking up to the tree and saying "twee."  You're going to love Christmas as much as I do, I'll make sure of that!  I was hesitant to set my dining room table with my china this year but you didn't touch it at all!  You have learned very quickly not to mess with Mommy's decorations.  They are some of my prized possessions.  You managed to endure another all day Christmas shopping trip.  Your Daddy and I have made it a tradition to do all our shopping in one day.  This year was no different.  You did so well last year and we weren't quite sure what to think this year with you mobile, but you did wonderful!  Your Daddy even got you out of the stroller at Belk.  He quickly realized that was a big mistake.  I told him not to, but he thought you would stand right there and after running through the clothes racks to get you, lets just say, you were back in the stroller quickly. 

We intend to instill in you the true meaning of Christmas, but I must admit, seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child is so heartwarming.  Last year you were way too young to open any presents, etc, but this year, you quickly realized that the paper pulls out of the bag and rips off the presents very quickly.  And you realized there are prizes inside of the bag and boxes!  You didn't play with anything for an extended period of time.  You might have briefly touched the present and then you were on to a new one.  You were very overwhelmed to say the least!

We enjoyed a full week before Christmas with Mommy's side of the family.  We flip years that we are in Walhalla.  This year, it was the week before.  This gives us time to see everyone and spend lots of quality time with everyone.  You do so well when we travel there, thank goodness!  While it is hard at times living so far away from my family, the moments and time we share together are very well worth it.  And I will mention that you were a little spoiled with gifts this year.  You didn't know what way to turn. Too cute and it is all mostly stuff you will grow in to learn to play with!

We came home on Christmas Eve morning.  We are going to try to start spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at our house for you to have Santa at home and then if we need to travel afterwards or before like we did this year we can.  PawPaw and Cak came back from Walhalla with us.  We want your Grandparents to be here with us on Christmas morning.

We spent Christmas Eve at your Nanna and Papas house.  We had a yummy dinner and opened presents with them and your Aunt Kati.  Needless to say, you were spoiled again!  You got a little rocking horse, clothes, books and toys! 

We came home on Christmas Eve, took a bath and got ready for Santa.  I had to wait to set out Santas cookies and milk after you were in bed because you kept wanting to eat them!  Miss piggy!

Christmast morning was a BLAST!!!!! We got up and Daddy, Myself and you opened our presents just the 3 of us.  Then, when Cak and PawPaw got up and Nanna and Papa got there you got your Christmas from Santa!  Normally we won't make you wait for everyone to be there because you will be too excited, but this year we did because you still don't know any better!  When you walked out of our bedroom door into the den....you were so excited.  You ran straight to your new playhouse!  Then you found your other items under the tree.  You got a little piano/keyboard, doll stroller, books, a few clothes, a little stuffed deer, and a few puzzles.  You were again overwhelmed with everything and couldn't decide what way to turn!  So worth every minute!  Seeing your excitement is worth more than any present I could ever get on Christmas.  I can't wait to see that excitement as you get older and begin to "anticipate" Santa! 

We had breakfast, played and then went to Great-Grandma Pauline's for lunch.  After lunch we came home and took naps.  Woke up, and played some more!  You got your last present of the day when the rain quite.  Nanna, Papa, Mommy, Daddy, Cak and PawPaw all went in together and had another section of your swingset added on!  You now have a little play house, a slide, and a sandbox.  You LOVED it!! 

One of my favorite moments of Christmas this year was seeing you play with your manger scene.  Your Great-Gran bought you the Little People manger scene last year and you fell in love with it this year.  You can baa like a sheep, spit like a camel and my favorite, you learned to say "Jejus!"  If we asked you to bring us Jesus, you'd walk right to the manger scene and bring him to us.  SOOO CUTE!

Other things you learned this month:

• You can now say "deer" and point to a deer.
• You can say PawPaw
• You can say Cak
• You can say Nanna
• You can say Papa
• You can lift your shirt and find your belly, as well as anyone else that's around.
• You can say Jejus
• You love just about anything we give you to eat.  The only thing still so far that you aren't fond of is mashed potatoes. You will eat them, just don't prefer them.
• You said your first 2 words put together.  "Shoes On."  You are obsessed with shoes and having them on your feet.  I have no clue where this came from because I don't like to wear shoes unless I have to, and definitely not around the house. 
• You still sleep with Daddy and I and I LOVE IT!  I love waking up to you in the mornings and snuggling with you at night.  The only part that drives me nuts is you like to pull and rub my hair....and pull my hair until it hurts.  You do this as you are going to sleep and sometimes in the middle of the night.  This will be the next thing we bgin working on is breaking you of my hair. 
• You love to be outside.  You cry when we come back inside.  Thrills my heart.  We don't intend to raise you to like the TV and electronics but prefer to do alternative things instead. 
• You know sounds of a sheep, puppy, duck, and bird.  You can point to the others but can't say them yet. 
• You can say pink and yellow and purple.
• You can say bubbles.
• You love bathtime still!  You would play in there all night if we would let you!
• You built your first tower with blocks by yourself.  You stacked all 12 blocks together on your own.  I was amazed because they are not the chunky blocks.
• One of your new favorite toys is your doctors kit.  You love walking around giving shots and checking peoples hearts.  You say "ba boom."  Too cute!
• You love playing with all toys from Christmas.  I give you a new basket of toys every day.
• You LOVE to read.  You bring me books all day from the time your feet hit the floor and say "re re." 
• You have begun liking to watch Sesame Street.  You'll watch about 10 minutes straight and then you just check the TV occassionally to see what's going on. 

We love watching you grow and learn.  You amaze us at all you do know and learn every day.  We adore you, cannot imagine life without you.  You are the apple of our eye, our reason to get up and live each day.

We love you our princess!
Mommy and Daddy