2 Years Old...Happy Birthday

 Happy Birthday baby girl!  You made it and so did we.  Daddy wrote in your card that he promises to love you all the way through two!  I thought that was very well put.

You are VERY independent and are VERY opinionated.  You are talking so much better now and can repeat most everything.  It may not sound perfect but we get it.

 We had a small party at home with all the family that could make it.  Grandma, Uncle Doc, Aunt Nancy, Aunt Stacy, Uncle Ean, Jalyn, and us!  We had pizza, cupcakes, and ice cream.  Ethan and I made you monkey cupcakes because you are constantly climbing on things.  You seem to always have bruises on your shins from it.

 Tonight was a fun night and you enjoyed coloring the most.  You ate a little, labored through your presents and when it was all over it was time to play your favorite game...

WEEEEEE...ONE...TWO...
THREE-WEEEEE!!!

23 Months

First time on a see-saw with your big brother Ethan!  He is such a good helper and loves you tons!

You ate more of the pumpkin that we could keep up with.

Happy Halloween!!!  You and Layla didn't get to go out cause you two got sick at the park earlier in the week...or allergies, but not feeling well enough to go out in the wind and weather.  But you had just as much fun running to the door and passing out candy!  So fun was had by all :)

21-22 Months....Picture Overload...

We were just a little busy these two months.  Your new baby sister arrived and you love her so much already!  You are going to be an amazing big sister.  You've started doing so much more on your own and fighting for your independence.  You are still a Mama's girl and have your moments when you are a Daddy's girl too!!  When I came home from the hospital you wouldn't leave my side.  You ate with me and sat with me for the first day and wouldn't leave.  Once you realized that I wasn't going anywhere, it was back to being glued to Daddy.

We had a trip to Aunt Nancy and Uncle Doc's house to go swimming.  You were not afraid of the water and tried to walk right in.  You also spent a good half hour watering her plants while she they were out of town.  Such the big helper!!

Big girls use their forks and steal whatever food is left out and looks good!  YUMMY :)

Then we went again and you got to float around in the tube thing...

And decided you liked the freedom of the arm floats better!!  As long as you weren't trying to bite them off of your arms...or blow them up...or whatever you were trying to do.

19-20 Months

New words: Bye, Whoa, Wow, Oooo (said w/ excitement) shake your head yes and no, Up, Down,
You count w/ Sesame Street...not that your numbers sound like theirs but you still get excited and count with them.  We've started the ABC's and it's about the same as the numbers.  The sounds are there they just aren't clear.

You learned how to spit out the bath water instead of always drinking it.
You like to dip you hair in the water and then see if you can stick you wet hair in your mouth and suck the water off of it.

You've got 8 teeth now and working on one or two more (07.07.11 a lower molar and a top front tooth).  For the most part you've been good, just VERY irritable. 

07.06.11:  You've learned how to crawl into your crib and whine when you want out.  Now I'm just scared and waiting for the time you learn how to crawl out.

You are very adamant about using your utensils at meal times.  And try really hard to not make a mess.

And a  few pictures :)

17-18 Months

32 inches tall (50-75%) and 23.7 lbs (25-50%)
48.5 cm head circumference (90-95%)

-4/2/2011  No more night time bottles!!!  Daddy was reluctant to let this one go, but after about 3 minutes of crying you were SOOO over it!!  You sleep through the night from about 8-9pm to 7-730am.
-Bath times are still fun and you play a lot more.  You still like to drink the bath water and it still grosses me out.  But now your like to "wash" your hair and body.

(Playing in Daddy's shorts after bath time.) 

-You wake up happy and ready to rule the world in the morning.  Breakfast is pretty easy, it's either cereal, yogurt, or toast w/ a glass of milk and fruit if we have it.  You don't like the sweet cereals for breakfast, so we are a Cheerio, Rice Krispy, Raisin Bran type of house most of the time.  Ethan is only allowed to have sweet cereals on the weekends and you usually steal some of his dried cereal and munch on it.
-Lunches are another easy one....lunch meat and cheese, pasta, or sandwiches, but you still open them up and eat all of the goodies out.  But you are getting better about eating them whole.
-Dinners are whatever we eat.  Your favorites are rice, meat, noodles, fruit, and veggies.  You've started eating salads lately too, but not if I give you your own.  You like to munch on other peoples.

(Popsicle for desert!)

-You've started singing lately and it's the cutest thing.  But every time I get out my camera to record you, you stop.  Dancing is another fun thing you've really gotten into lately.  So now I've just got to figure out a way to secretly record you.

-You are a very sensitive, silly, independent little girl.  If your in a mood then it takes you a decent amount of time and loves to get out of it.  And right now you are love doing things all by yourself.  We bought a puppy backpack w/ a leash and you love it.  You don't like to be held much in public anymore because you want to explore and "help".

(Being silly in Daddy's riding goggles.)

 (Helping Mommy on the computer.)

-You still have your shy moments and when people come up to you family or not you bury your head in our shoulder or lap to hide until  you are ready to socialize.

 (Snuggled up and hiding in our bed.)

-We went shopping w/ Grandma Lani over the weekend and you got to "help" her shop by trying on the jewelry, hats, and purses.  And then you got seriously mad when we wouldn't let you put on everything when it was your turn for clothes.

-I've been able to paint your toenails now and I get a "Woo-Hoo", when they are done and we've blown them off.

-You are talking a little better now, but still say stuff that we mostly understand.  "Hi" is still one of your favorites and you Hi everyone if your in the right mood.  You know all of the body parts on your head and we are working on the others.  Belly, feet and hands you are ok with but need a little help on hands and feet.
-At your 18 month check up you only had to get one shot and didn't cry!  I was a proud Mama.  You just gave the nurse a dirty look and that was that.  We went and had breakfast w/ Ethan then took him to school.
-We've gone out a few times w/ my new camera and played.  I'm trying to get as many shots now so when I have time to learn how to edit them I'll have a good stock.  So we have some at the park, baseballl games, and outdoors.

Until next time baby girl!  We love you......

15-16 Months

Height: 2 ft and 8 in tall
Weight: 24 lbs 5 oz
Head:  48.26 cm

-You do or undo everything behind me.  If' I'm taking clothes out of the dryer you are putting them back in.  If we load the dishwasher you put your cups in there too.  Now I've gotten you to help me load the dryer, but you still take stuff out of the dishwasher so we are always on the hunt for dishes.

-You brush your hair and teeth like we do, and started walking around w/ my bottles of hairspray and bonking yourself in the head with it.  We've had to trash a few toothbrushes because they end up in the toilet.
-You like to dip your head in the bath tub to get your hair wet and then  you try and eat it.  You've also learned how to take the cup and pour water over your head.
 -If we leave the bathroom door open you will run in there and rip tiny pieces of TP and put them in the potty and try and flush it.
-We bought  you a potty seat and stool this past week b/c when I'm on the potty you back up to me so I will pick you up and sit you on my lap.  So far you haven't done anything on the seat yet, but you'll get the hang of it.
-Last night we tried before and after bath time and you just weren't going to go, and then decided to pee on my office chair.  Guess that was more your style....
-Today you were playing in there and shut the door behind me and tried to reach your potty seat and then ran over to your stool.  So at least you know where it goes.  Now it's just how to use it.
-You still laugh when you fart!  But you don't make noises when other people do it anymore.  You do make copy-cat noises when others burp, cough, or sneeze.  And you pant like a dog when ours do too.
-I absolutely love how you just do things that seem so serious but end up being funny or silly.  You are doing things for the reactions now, needless to say Ethan gets the brunt of your abuse because he can't help but giggle when you bite, hit or pull his hair.
-You are still our share baby.  Anywhere we go you try and share whatever you have with someone.  You still feed the dogs your food and they still get in trouble for hovering around you while eating.
-Keys are your favorite toy right now.  You will play with them forever.  But they have to be real keys and not your keys, you loose interest in those too fast.
 -You've also discovered how much fun baby powder is to play with. 

-You understand a lot more than you can say at this point, and you are trying to figure out everything you can get your hands on.

-Trying to put on Daddy's shoes...

-Carrying anyone's purse that you can get.  As long as it's not yours it's good to play with.

*Words you understand: upstairs, downstairs, bath, cup, eat, be nice, yucky, don't touch, ouch, hot, no, give it to me, all done, shoo-wee, and others that I can't think of right now.
*Words you can say so we understand: Mama, Dada, Ethan, brother, more, up, ouch, all done, Ahh with your mouth open is a drink of what ever we have. (These are all up to whether you want to say them or not.)
*Body parts you know: Nose, you either stick your finger up it or pinch it.  Belly, you tickle you belly with both hands.  We are working on eyes, hands, mouth, hair, and ears.

Gabrielle and Daddy...he has to work for his kisses now by making her laugh!  And we didn't show the exchange of gross noises because it's so much more fun to imagine them.  It seems the grosser the noise the funnier you think it is.

13-14 Months

 

I've decided to try every other month and see how that goes.  

You are growing so fast and learning so much.  It truly amazes us.

Our sweet little angel full of sass.

And such a happy girl, you make us giggle when you laugh!

-You now have four teeth (two on top and two on bottom).

-You run and squeal with excitement when Daddy comes home from work.
-You play "ouch" and "peak a boo".
   *We are working on you being nice instead of the ouch game.  Which is you either smacking one of us or yourself and saying ouch!  It was kinda funny the first few times but now it's gotten old.  And it really hurts when you try and ouch us with your head. 
-You mimic EVERYTHING we do. You don't want 'your' toys, you want what we use.  My house is still a constant mess and I don't think it will ever be clean again.

-You've gone #2 on the potty twice and I thought that was really cool.  It was after bath or mid bath and you didn't freak out but just sat there and did your business and when you were done, you wanted to go play.  Simple!
-Now your starting to figure out how things work and want to use them.  We've had to barricade the water cooler until I can install the childproof faucets and that doesn't even really help cause then you'll go fill up your cup in the dogs water....grosss!!  But most recently you've figured out the water dispenser on the fridge.  In a few months when you are taller we'll be in serious trouble.