Baby's First Trip to the Day Spa

She does love girly stuff!

Let It Snow

A great day for building a snow fort

Cute little Eskimos


You're never too young to learn how to work!

Language skills

H is about 18 months old now. They say that by the time a child is 2 years old, she should be able to speak in two word sentences. H has been speaking in complete sentences for about a month now. Ok, that may be overstating it a little. She does, however have a collection of sentences that she uses appropriately. No doubt, in her mind they're one word, but it sounds impressive anyway.

Her first was "I don't know."
As in, "Where did you leave your blanket?"
H: "I don't know."
"What happened to your sippy cup?"
H: "I don't know."

Next it was, "I want it." It was really cute at first. It loses a little of its charm when she's shrieking it about something she can't have.

She also likes to say, "Go away!" Guess who she learned that from? It happens to be the same person she says it to: her big brother.

Recently she's added, "I like it." That one is always sweet-sounding. She most often uses it in regards to food.

Today she surprised us by modifying one of her usual sentences to the situation. She really wanted to get down from the table before the meal was over. I told her no, and she responded with, "I want to get down!" We were impressed with her language skills, if not her prompt obedience. We'll keep working on that.

Our Little Girl

H is 17 months old now, and we're finding it to be a very enjoyable age. More and more of her personality keeps showing through. Here are some of her favorite things:

She loves music. Anytime she hears some, she starts smiling and swaying from side to side. She's started singing some recognizable songs now. Her repertoire includes "A-B-C," "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," "The B-I-B-L-E," and "Jesus loves me." She has the sweetest, highest little voice I've ever heard. Her rendition of "The B-I-B-L-E" goes something like this: "B-I-B-I-B, Book me, B-I-B-I-B, BIBLE!" I wish I had it on video.

She loves shoes. Really loves shoes. I'm not sure where she gets that from. Certainly not her mother. The other morning after I got her dressed, she started to walk out of her room. As she got to the door that she realized she was missing something. She headed back over to the closet and said, "Shoes!" as she picked out a pair to wear. She often gets quite upset when it's time to take them off at the end of the day.

She loves food. She's quite a good little eater, and likes almost everything she's tried. There's no sneaking anything past her either. If there's food around, she spots it and wants some. "Bite! A Bite! A Bite! A Bite!" is her way of asking for it. Today I was folding laundry with her while watching the Food Network. She was quite put out with Rachel Ray for not sharing with her. She kept putting her hand out toward the screen and saying "Bite?"

I think she's got a little crush on Bob the Builder. We've had quite a bit of construction going on in our neighborhood lately, much of which was visible from her bedroom window. She likes to stand on the stepstool and look out so she can watch them work out. When she got up from her nap yesterday, she pointed at the window and said eagerly, "Bob!" I opened the blinds and got her stepstool arranged for her. When she saw that no one was working out there, she said very sadly, "bob."

Today J was wearing his Bob the builder undies. When H noticed, she pointed excitedly and said, "Bob!" again. As J pulled up his pants over them, she waved and said, "Bye-bye, Bob!" Ok, I'm sure none of that reads nearly as cute as it all sounds when she says it. She puts a whole lot of emotion into it.

She loves animals. Pretty much all animals, but especially dogs. We doggy sat for my partner's cocker spaniel back in June, and H still talks about him all the time. His name is Churchill, a name that's never sounded cuter than when she says it. Lots of emphasis on the "Ch".

Her other favorites include books, baths, ice, and her pacifier. She's a bundle of energy, but knows when it's time to go to bed. In case we miss it, she'll tell us: "Ni-night!" She's smart and observant and sweet. I enjoy getting to know her a little more each day.

The Perfect Day

The day's activities started with a stroll and playing in the leaves.
After naps, we went to the park where you can rent boats. Apparently my physique does not inspire thoughts of upper body strength and athleticism in the casual observer, because the folks who rent the boats were pretty concerned about me going out alone with the kids in a rowboat. They were really pushing for the paddle boat instead. "It's really windy," and "It's hard work rowing that by yourself," the lady said. She consulted with the young man at the other end of the counter. He glanced at me and simply said, "Paddle boat."

Now, it has been a few years since I've been in a rowboat, but I was pretty sure I could handle it. I was a camp counsellor one summer, after all. Besides, J made it clear that he wanted the rowboat, not some silly paddle boat. While I certainly didn't set any speed records, we did just fine, we didn't get stuck anywhere, and we never had any doubts that we were going to make it back.
The nice lady seemed pleasantly surprised when we returned in one piece and told me how brave I was to take the kids out by myself. I probably won't be able to lift my arms tomorrow, but it was well worth it.

The boat park also has a great play area that the kiddos enjoyed immensely.




And how could any day be perfect without ice cream? I got a small cup of vanilla for H, an ice cream cone for J, and a capuccino blast for myself. Guess who ended up with the small cup of vanilla. And yes, that's actually a picture of my potty training son drinking a caffeinated beverage at the end of the day - a diuretic and a stimulant. Another fine parenting moment brought to you by the Joneses.

Picture update

I got a request for updated pictures and video of the kids from an out-of-town family member, so here goes:

Ticklish Girl

Her laugh is one of the sweetest sounds in the world.

Our first bowling (and dancing) outing

Notice the great overhand technique. And how he manages to hit right on the center pin.

Blueberry Picking