Big sister.......little???

Over Memorial Day when we were camping, some friends brought along a Karaoke machine. M&D decided to do a little duet....

LISTEN TO THE VIDEO FIRST....but just in case you missed the message, they were announcing that I am going to be a big sister come December!! I am pretty excited, so I've been practicing so that I can be the best big sister ever.

Changing diapers.....

Feeding time.....

Reading up on how to make a baby happy.....

Whenever we say our bedtime prayers and M mentions "bless M&D and baby" I interrupt and say "Ice, ice, baby" (remember the new song I learned just before camping!!). So I guess our little one is nicknamed ICE.

Here's the sign I made when we told G&G and P&G!Here's the first picture of my little sibling!

Silly fun

I am always a little silly. Hey, when you have as much exploring to do as I do, you can't help but get into a few silly situations. I recently discovered that if you put a car down your pjs, the only way to get it out is for it to drive back up your belly. It tickles but sure is fun!!

I also decided that not all my toys should be downstairs, so I was doing a little rearranging and bringing some of my favorites upstairs.

M has a table full of stuffed animals in her guest room. Most are hers (that D gave to her), some our childhood toys of both M&D, and a few are mine. I decided sitting right among them, trying to do a puzzle was just the way to spend Sunday afternoon.

I didn't like the outfit M put on me the other day, so I changed myself. I think I did a fairly good job---other than the shirt being put on backwards! My hair is finally long enough to put into pig tails! Now I really look like a little girl and not a baby anymore!

2 year pictures

We just went and took my 2 year pictures. A little early I know, but I am heading up to MN at the end of this week to see G&G, Aunt M & Uncle B, and Uncle W. So M thought I should have my pictures taken and be ready to hand them out. Here's just a little sampling of my cuteness! The photogopher's comment was that I am easy to get to smile, just hard to keep still enough to capture it!! So a few of my shots are actions shots or not quite the "pose" I was put in!

My Easter dress!My best friend George. I love to give him hugs and kisses!!Coloring is one of my favorite activites to do. My purse always has a ready supply of crayons and paper!Just a cute one of me looking through the back of the chair!

Warm weather and friends

It was so nice the other Saturday and M still needed to clean off the tarp and carpet from the camping weekend. So while she was busy working, Cousin L and I played in the waterand helped water some plants. It was a beautiful day out. That night we went on a picnic to the park with some friends. We rode the little train around the park and played on all the equipment. It was a fun evening.

On Sunday, M and I got up to go to Denver. We met a friend from work at the museum. After spending a few hours there (with M chasing after me through most of the exhibits), we went and had another picnic in a nearby park. When it was time for my nap, we left to go to Aurora and visit another friend. M realized that she had forgot my diaper bag, so we had to stop and pick up some diapers (and M had to use the restroom). Well, I fell asleep on the way, so M carried me in. She multi-tasked and was able to use the restroom while also holding me. However, when she flushed the toilet I woke up and was a little confused. I continued to lay in M arms on the way to get diapers, but when it came time to check-out I sat up to look around. Then I was awake!! Even the 20 minute ride down to Aurora didn't put me back to sleep. So we met up with M's friend and went on walk by Cherry Creek Resevoir so I could run off some more energy. Afer getting back in the car and drinking lots of water and finishing off my grapes, I fell asleep hard. I didn't even wake up when we stopped to pick up M's friend from a wedding. When we got home, M had to wake me. While M & her friend talked, I played some. That night M was exhausted--something about chasing me all day tired her out. Since I had a late nap, I didn't fall asleep the fastest, but I sure slept good that night once I fell asleep! All that playing is hard work!

Camping!

For Memorial Day we went camping up near Red Feather (about an 1 1/2 hours away). The first evening was terrible because I smashed the same finger twice! First as M&D were setting up the camper, I was playing near the hitch and got my fingernail stuck in the hitch lock. Then 2 hours later, while D was cooking supper, M headed out of the camper and told me to stay, but I wanted to follow, so I went to catch the door and got my finger caught on the inside. That one really hurt and I got a pretty deep cut. M put ice on it and gave me some medicine, but in the middle of the night I woke up crying, "Owie, owie, owie", so I got more medicine for it. The rest of the weekend, I talked of nothing else but the owie and the door I caught it in.

But once morning came, everything turned around for the better. I got to play outside for 4 days straight, I rode ATV's (both the little one with P

and D's big one!). I played with my cousins and chased them around. I also fell numerous times on the rocks and uneven ground as I was chasing cousins or dogs. But I'm resourceful...if M or D aren't around to kiss my owies, I will do it myself!
I made new friends (mostly with dogs, but also a few kids I hadn't met before---there were 6 campers, 2 tents, 7 dogs, 35 people, and 16 ATV's around our campsite!!!) Mostly D's family, but also some friends.

(notice in this video with the dog, I am singing my new song....M needed to remember to buy ice before we left, so she started singing "Ice, ice, baby" and I picked up on it really quick. I sing it twice in this little clip!)

It was a little chilly out, but the rain only interfered Sunday afternoon (the other times I was already in the camper asleep, so it didn't matter!!). We didn't have any heat the first night though, because both propane lines were leaking. So while I played the next day, M&D headed back down to the valley to get it fixed. Finally they came back and we had heat the rest of the nights. Since it was so cold, we had the fire going from dawn to after dusk. This was the 3rd pile of wood that was gotten and only lasted less than 2 days!

I entertained myself a lot also. If my cousins were busy and everyone was out ATV'ing I would hang around the campsite with M or G. I played in the dirt a lot,

hosted my own cooking show, lounged around some and just had all sorts of fun.

One night, a bunch of the people had a crab boil. Here's a picture of them with all their food. The one ride I went on with both M&D was to a mud pit to watch Uncle B try to conquer it. It was actually a fairly nice day, so M took my coat off when we arrived. When I saw the pit, I tried to take my shirt off also...I thought it was a swimming hole!!

Church activities

M hosted a picnic about 2 weeks ago for all her SS teachers as a way to say THANK YOU for everything they do. It was a beautiful evening, so after supper we started a little fire and just enjoyed the night. I got bored sitting around the fire, so I started playing hide and seek. (M had told me it was too cold to put water in the pool, so I found another use for it!) I'm definitely not afraid of small, dark spaces!

It was lots of fun. (notice in the background our "neighbors" I've told you about before!) We noticed some new neighbors out front that morning. M tried to get a picture,

so if you look closely you should be able to see the 3 baby birds that made their home in our little evergreen bush by our front steps.

The next day at church, Uncle S and D sang a late Mother's Day song. They said it was for their Mommy, but I know my M really likes this song. It's just a fun little ditty.

Hope you enjoy it as much as they did!

Playing catch-up

I just want to apologize in advance for the marathon of posts we are posting tonight. The weather has turned nice, so I've been asking M to go outside after supper every night. We spend time either out in our backyard or at the park most evenings now. That gives M limited time to work on the computer.

Also we have had some sad news in our family. Last week Papa's best friend passed away very unexpectedly (and very young--only 55). The rest of the week was a whirlwind of friends & family, funeral arrangements and mourning. We weren't home in the evening for 3 nights straight. I didn't really understand what was going on--all I knew was that I had a new backyard to play in and a ton of new friends. But M&D, and especially G&P were very sad! I gave lots of hugs to Papa those days.

So tonight we are playing catch-up from the last month of activities and photos.

Outside fun

We have cows in our backyard!!! Ok, maybe in the hay field right behind our house, but close enough that it feels like they are in our backyard. I like to go outside and "moo" at them after supper.
I also had fun chasing a bunny rabbit who was just staying far enough away from me on the other side of the fence.

While we were outside I found the car that I played with while camping all last summer. It had been stored on our back patio all winter. I am a litte big for it, plus it has seen better days (that's what I get for being the 9th grandchild and getting hand-me down toys!!). Anyhow, I was determined to have fun with it, but the backyard grass was a little too tall for proper riding. So I carried the car around to the front of the house where I learned about the effects gravity

has in our driveway! Then I convinced M to let me ride it to the park--by riding I mean that I rode less than half a block and then M carried it the rest of the way!!! But I had fun playing with it in the rocks.

Here's a comparsion--Memorial Day last year riding the car (remember my very first step was taken on this camping trip). And me the other night....a little bit taller and much more mobile!

When I am inside I wish I was outside. Life would be good if I could spend every waking moment outside! So I sometimes sit on the coffee table by the front window and watch the neighborhood go by. This particular evening I was there and watched D pull into the driveway.

Food fun

For breakfast the other morning M started to peel a banana for me. I got very upset with her, because I wanted to do it myself. However, once she handed it to me I decided to eat it like corn on the cob. M thought I looked funny so had to go grab the camera.

We had wings last night for supper. The ranch came in a little cup, so M just gave me my own cup rather than pouring some on my plate. The fact that it was in a cup confused me and I tried drinking it several times. This is what I looked like after M&D finished laughing at me and took away the cup. I still wasn't completely convinced that ranch wasn't something that could be eaten completely by itself and actually threw a fit when M&D told me I had to eat my chicken with it (and not just ranch by itself).

Being silly

D and I have lots of fun together. On nights we can't go outside and play because of the weather we play chase up and down the halls.

This particular evening D chased me into the corner of the living room and then just kept running at me. I was having so much fun.

I am definitely becoming more independant and want to do things my way....all by myself! I can to dress myself.....almost. The undressing part is easy...I can get my pants off, and my shirt over my head(although my arms are still in!). I can even get my diaper off. G found me the yesterday on the kitchen counter with my diaper off and the dishrag in hand cleaning myself up. When asked if I needed to go potty, I ran to the bathroom and put the training sit on the toilet. However I didn't get it quite on good enough, so when I went to use it I fell in. G said I looked like a little accordian with my head and legs out of the toilet, but my bum in the water! However, no compromising pictures were taken, so you will just have to envision for yourself how funny I looked. M has found me in a similiar position--in my rocking chair with my diaper off and putting A&D ointment on. Today, G found me on her bed, with my dirty diaper off and the wipes trying to clean myself up. I think maybe I am almost ready to completely potty train?!

I put my own pants on the other morning, backwards but they worked! In this instance I was ready to head outside--I have my vest on and shoes.....what more do I need?! The other morning I didn't want M to comb my hair, so this is me with a good full head of bed hair!

I help out whenever I can. I helped M carry my bag up to G's house.

Even though it only had a blanket, fussy and cup in it, it was hard getting up the steps with that big bag!

G was in the mood for Christmas about a month ago. So Cousin L. and I helped G make gingerbread houses. G mostly decorated mine, but I helped eat some of the frosting off the roof.

For mother's day I decorated GB's card before sending it in the mail out to NJ.

Snow plow

The other day when it was snowing out, M and I went out to get groceries. On the way back home we got behind 5 snow plows. The roads were mostly wet, so they didn't have much to do. But the last one nearest the shoulder had all the slush to move out of the way. I thought it was very exciting and kept pointing the slush wave out to M. She wanted to share it all with you (although I'm sure for those of you up in ND and MN, this is nothing special, but for me it was my first time!!!!)

Purse

I told you recently about the fact that I was trying to be like M and get my "purse" when I was getting ready for church. So for Easter I got a brand new purse. I love to carry it around and have taken it with me to the park, out to eat and to church. I posed for M while she took my picture with it. Don't I look good?!

Tea Party

I went to my first Tea Party last week. But it wasn't like any other tea party you usually think of. This one was a political statement (taxed-enough-already party) held on the main corner in Loveland on tax day. I went with P&G, and D. M met us there after she got off work. There were many parties around the nation, some were rallies and others like this one were just people getting together holding signs at people passing by. I dressed in my patriotic colors and waved the American flag, while P and D took turns holding a sign. There were almost 800 people within the 2 block radius.

God bless America!!

Easter Weekend

This Easter weekend was filled with many fun activities and a few late nights. Friday night we went to Good Friday service and then went out with a few friends to Perkins. It took a while to be seated and then to order, so by the time the food arrived it was already 9:30. So M&D ate quickly so that I could get home and in bed by 10 (only 2 hours past bedtime!!). As soon as I walked in the door I went over to my highchair and asked to eat. M&D just laughed at me, since I had helped eat tomatoes and onions off one salad, had my own bowl of fruit and ate some of M's pie. I just got my bottle and got sent off to bed, where I fell asleep rocking in M's arms. Then Saturday I went clothes shopping with M. We were kind of looking for an Easter dress (although I had one at home I could wear--it was just a little big for me). Anyhow M wasn't thrilled with the colors that were out this year--oranges, and greens with a lot of "loud" designs on them, so we started supplying my summer wardrobe--2 pairs of shorts, 2 shirts, jeans, sunglasses and a little cardigan sweater to wear those cool summer mornings. M had a gift card that she got when I was born and hadn't used it yet, so since we went all that way to shop, she figured she better use it for something!!. While I napped Saturday afternoon, M got busy making 3 pies (strawberry, blueberry and a bosenberry cheesecake), banana bread and an egg casserole for Easter brunch. When I woke up from nap, Cousin L came over to help me dye Easter eggs. First I colored the eggs and then I put them into the bowl of dye.
I splattered some all over myself;

luckily M was smart enough to just keep me in a diaper!! Then Daddy took us to the park. It was while we were there that I participated in my first Easter egg hunt!!

The neighbor kids in the cul-de-sac over were having it in the green belt and invited me to join them. I had so much fun we did it twice. I filled my hat up with a bunch of eggs. After supper I went to Cousin L's house to play while M&D watched a movie. But with my late night the previous evening, I was crabby so M didn't get to finish watching and took me home instead to put me to bed. However, I was having a lot of trouble breathing due to a cold I've been trying to get over, so I kept crying and M would come in and rock me again, so it was almost 1 1/2 hours later before I finally fell sound asleep (and that was only after M gave me some pain reliever medicine), but once asleep I slept soundly all night! Sunday morning D wasn't quite ready to get up, so M and I took our time eating breakfast and I helped M with the SS craft while we waited for the Easter bunny to come. Saturday all the eggs were empty plastic eggs (I got a prize when I finished), but on Sunday there were some plastic eggs with treats and the dyed eggs from Saturday.

Since the dyed eggs didn't open to reveal a treat, I decided to just leave them right where they were and focused on finding all the treat eggs. My Easter basket including lots of fun things, mostly things that had Curious George on them!We took lots of pictures at church that I was getting tired of them all. But I stood real still for M while she took one of just me. You can't even tell that this dress is a size 3T! After church, we went home so I could take my nap (M thought it was cute how I pulled my hat down over my eyes, so I could fall asleep on the way home!) and then headed over to Uncle L's house for dinner. There were lots of people there and I got to play with all my cousins. I had my third and final Easter egg hunt there in the backyard and found a dozen dyed eggs my cousins had decorated. I had to line them all up afterwards before I could go get my prize. M wanted to apologize for the long entry and lots of pictures, but I told her it was my first "active" Easter and so I had to show everything off!!

Sunday School

The other Sunday Mommy had to subsitute for the preschool class and took me with her. The next week I wanted to attend the class again, so the teacher let me join them. Here's the first project I made in Sunday School!

I also love the song B-I-B-L-E which we sing every Sunday in opening. Here's me singing just a little of it with Mommy.

I also like the song Father Abraham. Daddy and I have fun dancing to a CD of the song.

April's Fool!

M&D didn't play any tricks on me this year. Although they think my trick was being very rumbuctious at church that evening. I am always very active, but Wednesady night I was ornary along with my activity!! Anyhow, at Mommy's work one department played a trick on the YMCA President. When everyone showed up to work Wednesday morning, they found this very colorful elk staring into the President's office. It belongs to the new Craft & Design Center being built on the Y grounds. The next day, the elk meandered down to the Musuem until the Museum Dir. came back from vacation. Mommy got a pretty good laugh when she drove into the parking lot!!

New words

I have learned quite a few new words recently. When Mommy got hurt 2 weeks ago, I learned "Owie". Anytime Mommy accidently bumped her elbow against something she would say Owie. I then would repeat after her and point to a small cut I had on my finger.

My favorite word lately has been "NO". In this following video Mommy is trying to get me to say, "Bye, see you!" Finally after a few No, No's I say "See you" at the end.

I also have made up a few signs. When anything is cold, I fist up up my hands and shiver.

Anytime something is hot, I try to blow on it to cool it off. Mommy's thinks it is kind of funny when I try to blow on the stove as she is cooking supper, because she has told me "Hot, no touch." Hey I'm just trying to cool it down so I can eat sooner!!! When Mommy tells me to be quiet I put my figure up to my mouth and say, "Shhh." After Mommy sneezes I say, "Scuse You".

Everyday I am learning something new. It is kind of fun being able to get my point across. Mommy still has some trouble understanding me, but at least I know what I'm saying.