First Day

This past Tuesday was your first day of Mother's Day Out.  I signed you up a couple months ago to start after the Holidays and was all gun-ho about it.  Then as time passed and it was really going to happen I started to freak.....My baby isn't old enough to do this yet! I can't just leave her like this!  What was I thinking????? 

I decided I would walk you in the first day instead of using the car line that they encouraged me to do.  I could just see it all playing out in my head, huge tears and screams (from the both of us) as they pulled you out of the car, and I just couldn't go through with it.  

So in we go walking to your classroom holding hands, and I immediately start to remember scenes from the movie Father of the Bride.  Oh that movie, it brings me to tears no matter how many times I've seen it.  

I couldn't help but think to myself this will be one of the many memorable walks we will take together as you grow up.

 We get to your classroom and your teachers were expecting this new little girl I was bringing.  You see all the new toys to play with, and I am able to kiss you goodbye and walk out without any tears which was such a relief!  After all my worrying over it and you did wonderful. 

I pull out of the parking lot with four whole hours to myself thinking, hey, I could get use to this!  I got all my errands done and it was fabulous.   

 When I went to pick you up the teacher opened the car door and you said, "Hi Baba!"  like it was just another ordinary day.  They said you had a great time and never cried.  Then you fell asleep on the way home and slept for two hours.  I thought hey....now I can REALLY get used to this! 

 Needless to say I think both of us are going to like Mother's Day Out and had a good first day!

22 Months

 Two more months until you are the big T.W.O!!!  

Your Sunday School teacher told me last Sunday that I don't have a baby any more and this is so sadly true.  You have been such a blessing and I thank God for my little sunshine everyday.

 You were a little lady bug this year for Halloween.  We had a lot of fun watching you go door to door and trying to eat the candy before we got to the next house.  You especially liked the "suckas."

 Now to skip to the month of December and riding the Santa Claus Train!  

You love "choo-choos" and held on tight to our train tickets.

Say "cheeeeese!"

 You are only a fan of Santa from a distance.  He came up behind you and you closed your eyes.  I guess you thought if you did that he would disappear.  :)

Granny Claus was a hit though.  She got kisses and high fives!

As we were leaving you kept repeating, "Santa, Choo-Choo."  We all had a really good time that day!

You love the Christmas tree and all the ornaments.  It didn't take you long to figure out how to turn the lights on and off.   So one of the first things you do in the morning is turn our tree on for us.  You also like to walk around and look at all the ornaments and say, "aawww."
Daddy hung lights on our house this year as well.  You say, "ooooo lights!" at them.  

**22 Month Accomplishments**

-Mommy officially has a name now and it is BaBa!!!  I've been waiting for sooo long for you to call me something so I'll take it!  You would say everyone's name in our family except Mama and Nana.  Poor Nana is still waiting.

-Your vocabulary is officially now too big for me to keep up with all you can say now.  Its amazing how quickly its taken off

-We are pacifier free now for about 2 weeks.  Daddy cut the end off of one and told you it was broken.  The first night without it you were pretty upset, but still slept through the whole night.  Overall you have done tremendously well and much better than I ever expected.  Now you're starting to bond with your blanket in your bed. 

-You haven't done this in a couple of weeks now, but one day I disciplined you by slapping your hand.  And then from that day on when we told you no for something you would slap your own hand.  It was pretty funny to see you self disciplining yourself.  Now you've started to hang your head low which makes your hair fall all in your face and you do a little pouty face.  Its hard not to laugh at it!

-When we pull in to our neighborhood or in a parking lot you like to announce "we heerrree!"

-Max is no longer just called "dawg."  He is also known as "Maxey."  You love when he licks you and will say, "He tickles!"

-When you want us to pick you up you will hold your arms up and say, "Peeeass, Peeeaass".  It is so sweet.

-You are starting to recognize the right colors really well when asked to point at one.  But anytime we ask you what color is something "purple" is almost always the answer.

-You have used the potty to pee-pee a couple of times, but you aren't really interested in doing it all the time yet

-You haven't said the infamous no word yet, instead you use "unh unh" and shake your head

Fall Fun

Happy Fall Yall!!!!! 

Nothing beats Fall in the South.  Great weather, beautiful leaves, pumpkins, and football!

We took Abby to Tate Farms for the first time this year and loved it.  She had a great time, and we've decided to make it a new tradition to go every year. 

One of her favorites were the baby bunnies.  They were adorable!

We've also had some fun carving pumpkins.  We had our UT vs. AL game get together last weekend.  Of course the outcome of the game was terrible (no surprise).  Its all about good food and good company anyways!

 The kiddos were too cute playing ring around the rosie, and we had to keep a close eye on Mr. Carter to make sure he didn't eat any more dirt. :)

 I can't believe its already time for the Holidays again, but we are ready!!!

20 Months

There is a never a dull moment with you around.  It seems like everyday you do something new, and Mommy and Daddy can't believe how fast you are growing up.  You definitely keep us busy and entertained!

 

Practicing with a spoon.  Luckily you've gotten better since I took these pictures so its not quite such a mess.

You love the Cat and the Hat show so when we heard he was going to be in town for a pancake breakfast we had to go. 

We also got to go with Nana, Pap-Paw, Uncle Devin and Aunt Jasmine to Gulf Shores Labor Day weekend.  This was our first family vacation since before the tornado so we were all really excited.  You weren't a fan of the sand, but loved the waves in the ocean.  You would giggle the whole time until you got a taste of salt water.  

We went to the Gulf Shores Zoo one morning as well and got to get in the cage with baby lemurs.  You liked to pet their tails.

You love to splash in puddles and decided one day to sing and dance in the rain.  It was the cutest thing!!

  We've been doing a lot of coloring lately.  Such a big girl!

 And at least somebody in this house gets to wear all of the pretty hair bows we have.

Daddy's are the best!

**20 Months**
-You can climb up the stairs and go down the slide all by yourself at the playground.  You'll say "Sliiiide" and clap for yourself after you go down.
-You like to share your drink and food with all of your babies.  You will line them all up and go one by one.
-Your new thing is to gasp with surprise while pointing any time you see something
-You "sing" a lot and even will dance around while you're doing it.  Its the sweetest songs jabber I've ever heard!
-You love to sing songs and will do the motions to Five Little Apples, Wheels on the Bus, and If you're happy and you know it.  You will try to make Max clap his paws together and stomp his feet. 
-You are talking a lot now and will try to repeat words.  Some of your new words are "plane", "bug", tractor", "hippo", "turtle", "cat", "duck", "quack quack", "hot", "snack", "bird", "shoe", "sock", "hair bow"
-You will talk into your play phone and say "hello" and "bye bye"
-You like to put all your babies in your car, get in it, and tell everyone (including Max) "bye" while waving
-You haven't said the word "No" yet but clearly get your point across by shaking your head and waving both of your hands in the air
-You can point to all the right people in our family pictures
-When you or somebody drops something you will say "uh-oh"
-You love to be outside and to go on walks with Max
-You will repeat the numbers when somebody is counting.  In your own language of course!  You like to count the stairs at Nana's house.

First Official Haircut

Yesterday we went to get Abby's first official haircut at the salon!
 She did great and things went much smoother than I anticipated.

Of course it always helps when you have a cool pink car to play with.

Such a big girl!

18 Months

A year and a half!!  

When I look at you it is hard to believe that this time last year you had just learned how to sit up by yourself and now I can't get you to sit still.  

This has been such a fun age though.  We love getting to see you become a little person and all the silly things you do. 

You love to go bye bye so one weekend we went and fed the geese and fishes downtown.  A great way to get rid of some old bread!

Another weekend we visited our local drive thru zoo and had a blast.  When you were ready for an animal to get away from the window you would wave and say "Shoo Shoo Shoo."  

Pucker up for the camel!

Not quite sure what to think of the big turtles.

 

When Nana comes and stays she lets you play with her reading glasses.  You think you are hot stuff!

And of course Max is always close by.  :)

 Blowing kisses!

We finally had a play date with Emily, my neighbor growing up, and her son Colton.  It was great getting to see our kids together and catching up.  Oh the stories we can tell on each other!!

 Kissing on the boys already.  Daddy's in trouble!

You decided to put pear juice all in your hair and face one night.  A sticky mess, but good entertainment while we ate dinner!

You are such a joy to have in our lives sweet baby girl!

**18 Month Accomplishments**
-When its time for bed you give night night sugars.  Then will make your way to your room waving your hand in the air saying "bye!"
-You tell Daddy bye in the morning when he leaves for work and give him kisses
-You can twirl around in a circle.  One of my Mommy's favorite things you do.
-Still a book worm.  Especially ones with animals.  You will point to each picture and want us to say what it is. When its gotten really quiet in the house I usually find you somewhere looking through a book.
-We have to play on Mommy and Daddy's bed at least once a day.  Pillows and blankets make for some great entertainment
-You like to hide behind the curtains and will peak out, point your finger and say "boo!"
-You also like to hide now when you do your business.  Like behind the curtain, in the pantry or a closet.  Then will run wanting us to chase you because you know a diaper change comes next.
-You clap for yourself when you do something correctly.  Like putting the puzzle pieces in right or a straw through the hole in the lid
-You are starting to really test out your boundaries and what exactly we will let you get away with
-Your vocabulary has really started to take off.  You try to mimic words more and more everyday.  You even said your first little sentence which was, "Bye Dada!"  Its hard to think of them all but you've said: "Jeeesus",  "hot doh" (hot dog), "cheese", "ok", "pop" (when you pop the bubbles), "coka" (coke), "Hiiii!", "tank ooo" (thank you), "Nana"
-You've started to recognize places when we pull in, like the library and the ymca where we go swimming.  You start kicking your legs, pointing to the building and talking/laughing.
-You have gotten really good eating with a fork.  Still working on using the spoon correctly without throwing food everywhere.
-You like to help out around the house now, like dumping Max's food in his bowl, loading clothes in the washer/dryer, handing us the silverware out of the dishwasher to put up, putting things in the fridge, etc. 

Chattanooga

We headed to Chattanooga last week for a quick little family getaway.  It rained almost the whole time we were there, but we still had a great time.  We stayed at the Chattanooga Choo Choo.  Abby loved all the trains and would say "choo choo" at them.

Our first stop was the aquarium.  Abby's finger stayed in the pointed position pretty much all day.  In fact all of our pictures are of her not looking at the camera and pointing at something.  She would "swish-swish" while waving her hand side to side at the fishes.  It was fun seeing her completely mesmerized by everything.  

  This one came out blurry, but was too cute not to share. 

 Before we headed home we stopped by at the zoo.  It is a tiny one, but big enough for her.  Her favorites were the petting zoo and the chimpanzees where she wanted everyone to make monkey sounds.  It was a great end to our trip together.