Oh my...life in the fast lane!

All I can say is "YIKES"

I knew going back to work would be a little hectic, but I never thought it would be this crazy.  Between being exausted from school and now getting sick, things have been, to say the least, CRAZY!

I have a little catching up to do.  So, everything is a little random. 

My sweet mom is keeping "V" again this year.  Before she started COD (Children's Day Out) at the local Methodist church, she had a play date with one of our great friends Karen and her sweet grandbaby "C"

They are 6 months apart and are also in CDO together in the same class.  I hope they become good friends.  "C"'s mom is "V"'s pediatrician.

Artie found this kitchen on sale and he just couldn't resist.  He put it together and V has just loved it.

This is her favorite thing to do...put herself in the oven.

Arite turned "43" this Aug. 26th and we tried to think of something to do that we haven't done as a family.  So off to the rodeo we went.  We went on Sat. night to the Resistol Arena.

I think her favorite part of the night was all the music...she would just stand up and dance away!

I was trying on an outfit to see how well it fit on her...and decided to run away and grab a book and start reading.  Good reason to run away.

Calling someone...who knows with her.

I brought in her car seat to clean the seat cover and she just had the best time playing with it.  Here she is getting some much needed reading time in...even with sunglasses.

2 weeks ago, we had meet the teacher night at CDO.  The whole family went out to IHOP before ( both the kiddos love pancakes-so we know they will eat and get FULL!)

Artie was having fun with "V" and "G".  "V" has this thing where she will "beep" everyone's nose.  When she does mine, I "Meow".  Artie "beeps".  So she was trying to find out what sound "G's" nose made.

At CDO meet the teacher, "V" found Colby to play with.  I had Colby in Pre-K way back in the day.  He has grown so much and now his new little brother is in her class.

She quickly found her favorite toy.

This is the family before we walked in.  All smiles!  We just knew she would have a great day!

This is "C" and her mom Katie.  She is in her class too ( like I mentioned earlier). 

She quickly found her fav. toy. 

Daddy watching on.

"V" had a pretty good first day, with the exception of a 10AM melt down.  She is super tired by that time and is also cutting teeth.  That doesn't add a good note to the situation.  But, all in all, she did well.  There were no tears on the way out by anyone.  ;-)  And that is always a good thing.

This is a video of "V" saying some of her animal sounds.  It is a little hard to see - we didn't have the light on, but wanted to get it while she was actually doing it.

Other animal sound we can now make - snake, hippo (she says hippo), chicken,
Other words we say - baby, "what that", paw paw, mi mi, fish, yes, and sit

We are off to a busy start of the school year, but hoping it will slow down a little soon.  Looking forward to the next break we have and trying to enjoy this lovely 3 day weekend we have now.  My strep is going away quickly and going to try to rest up for next weekend.  Greg turns "40"!

Dancin' in the rain!

Yesterday, a small storm came out of nowhere.  I was so exicited to see rain, we decided to head out as soon as it stopped.  Please excuse the shirt and diaper combo.  We were headed to take a bath...oh well!

(please take notice of the little green islands in our yard...lovely!)

PUDDLE!

SLAP SLAP SLAP

STICK!

Found a rock...don't have the pick of her putting it in her mouth right after she tried to give it to me.  She quickly took it out...YIKES!

What we know and can do

Everyday is something new.  We have worked all summer on talking, signing, and animal sounds.  She loves for me to make the sounds...but getting her to perform is a task (and mostly just a power struggle...wonder where she gets that.) 
I love that she is on the brink of communicating with us and letting us know her wants and needs at all times.  Right now it is a point and ask type of communication. 
Here are the things we have mastered this summer so far.:
*Animal sounds...duck, kitty, and lion  (sometimes dog)
*Signing - please, more, water, and milk
*Words we can say - dog, momma, dadda, bye

Winding down our week and only one week left!

Soon it will be back to school for me and back to MiMi's school for "V".  I have so enjoyed my summer with "V".  I wish I could stay home daily with her, but as for now that is just not possible.  While hanging out, I took some random pics of her playing.

If you have never seen any pics of Artie from when he was a child growing up in the 70's, this comes close.  Her hair these days looks like a throw back to daddy's back in the day. 

We are also starting to throw our self on the floor when we don't like what is going on.  FUN!!

But quickly forget why we are there and start playing with our feet.

I am not sure what this is but she also does this when there is singing going on (I could have been singing to her...I have slept since then.)  She is good to go in our church since she raises those hands up!

You would have thought that we would have put up all her baby things.  Not yet...because we still love to be in them.  She loves to get in the swing when we are playing in her room. 

So sad these bow are not being used.  Someone (not naming any names) just can't seem to deal with having something in her hair...hence the 70's hair do!



So I don't forget

You turned 13 months on Monday. You have started walking like a champion. You still crawl sometimes, but have really started to choose walking and get excited that you are so good at it. Daily, you do something funny to crack us up. My favorite thing is to watch you read books on your own. You really are trying to say something and then you just start laughing out loud as if you read something funny. Please is your favorite sign. You use it ALL THE TIME. Mostly, it is for something that you can not have. Even other people have commented about you saying please...and how pitiful you look doing it. Wanting to go to EVERYONE! As soon as you see someone, and I mean ANYONE, you put both of your hands out and want them to hold you. You have never met a stranger and love new people. You act shy at first and then want to go home with them. Teeth - you just got 4 more bottom teeth this past month. You did not seem to mind it too much, except for a couple of days were kind of hard for you. When you cut teeth, you get a runny nose and bad diapers for a couple of days...that is when I know to start searching your mouth for new teeth. Brushing your teeth is super fun for you. You love to sit in the window of your room. You work so hard to get up there and get so frustrated if you don't do it in a timely manner. You love to eat still and are not very picky at all. You have tried Talapia and seem to love all things yogurt. You have still had no juice and love to drink water and say "Ahhhhh" after you have taken a drink. We took bottles away around the week of your birthday and you have never had an issue with it. Drinking out of a sippy cup is just fine with you. We don't go outside much since this summer has been record breaking heat, but you do love to ride in your wagon you got for Christmas. We take rides up and down the driveway or down the street. You don't watch much TV, but you do love one show and get so excited when you hear them start singing...Jack's Big Music Show.

You can be very sly...even down right tricky!

Sometimes you can be a sweet angel!

You love to flash that crooked smile.

You are working hard on your animal sounds - this is a lion.

My resident climber.

And happy little ham.

You flash a sweet look to get what you want...

and ignore me when you don't get the right answer.

But all in all, these have been the best 13 months I could have asked for.  I get to wake up each day and see this...

And eat on these!

I know there are 1000 other things that you do that make up the sweet girl that is "V". Thanks for being our little yummy creation!



Daddy's girl

Not that my kiddo doesn't care for me (seeks me out when hungry, thirsty, dirty, and any general care giving), but she is in love with her daddy.  As soon as he comes home from work, she would much rather be with him than me.  She says his name all the time and has somehow forgotten my name these days.  Here they are reading her current favorite book.