What a Big Girl!

I realize posts are few and far between. We're having more fun playing than sitting in front of a computer. Plus things don't change drastically. But here are some updates:

Last week, Alli started a new trick. She started climbing out of her crib. Yikes! Yes, a very daring trick. So far, no injuries. We're not ready to move her into a bed, so we're going to have to deal with this a different way. (And no, I don't want to put a net over the top.) We were going to take the bumpers off, but then I saw her do it. She doesn't use the bumpers at all. She's able to hoist her leg to the top bar, then she pulls herself up so that she is parallel with it, then lets herself go over, holding on tight with her hands and then she drops. Holy crap! Little gymnast!

The next big change we've seen in her is just blurting out things we didn't realize she knew. Like Zebra, Monkey, yellow... And then most of the words to the songs on her kiddie CD. Yes, most of the words. The songs she likes the best right now are the ones with hand motions, like Itsy, Bitsy Spider and Wheels on the Bus. It's just really cute to hear her sing.

And for the hat trick.... going pee-pees on the toilet. Yes, we've had a few successes. Not that we are trying to potty train, we aren't. But every night she wants a bath after dinner, and she runs in there butt naked and I hurry up and whisk her into the bathtub. As soon as the water starts running (and sometimes before) she goes pee. So, I decided I would instead whisk her onto the toilet. And it worked, she went pee-pees in the toilet before her bath. We were both very proud of her. So then today we lost her in the house, and when we found her, she was in a bathroom next to the toilet raising the seat and saying pee-pees. So Daddy helped her get on the toilet and sure enough, she went! So we were praising her about it and she was proud. We'll see what happens and if this progresses. I would think 20 months is still young for potty training, which is why I'm not going to push it. But if she wants to do it herself, I'm all for it!

Happy New Year!

With the new year came a little vacation for the family. We went down to Rocky Point with about 11 other families to celebrate. We shared a house with the Wolfert's and their 3 kids. Sydney, the youngest, is 4, so Alli was doing all she could to keep up with the older kids. Well, to our surprise, part way through the trip she gave up sitting in her high chair, gave up drinking from a sippy cup, and started wanting to sit on the toilet (although nothing came out). Yikes! I wasn't really ready for her to be so grown up, but I also wasn't going to argue with it.

When we got home, the trend continued. Tonight was the first sign of it reverting back to normal, which I will gladly accept. It's not that I don't want Alli to grow up, it's just that she still eats with her hands and sitting in a big girl seat tends to be.... very messy as she touches EVERYTHING, including the fabric seat with her sauced hands!!

Night Night Daddy!

Alli got sick this weekend. She's doing fine, just sorta sick right now. So I decided it would be an early dinner for her and an early bedtime. Unfortunately, Daddy had a late night at work, so there was no seeing the baby before she headed off to bed. I was putting her to bed when she heard my cell phone make a noise. I knew what it was - it was a text from Kim saying he was on his way home. Alli knew it was my phone, slid off my lap saying "phone?" and started in to the kitchen where my phone was sitting on the counter. She said "night night Daddy", so I asked her if she wanted to call Daddy to say night night. We called, and she said it! She usually gets quiet as soon as the phone is "live", but this time, it was "night night Daddy!". Once we hung up, she was happy to go to bed. Awwwwwww!!

Mom! I can't find my bellybutton!!!

The weather is getting colder and that means warmer PJ's for Alli. (When do they learn to keep covers on themselves??) Anyway, we're finding that "winter" pajama selection is difficult. Some kids suck their thumbs to calm themselves, Alli plays with her bellybutton. But not through her clothes. What we're finding is if we put her in nice warm, fuzzy, zip-up PJ's, she wakes up during the night because she can't soothe herself back to sleep. No, instead we have to find PJ's that are warm and also snap somehow so we can leave a little opening in her belly area for her hand to slide in so she can find her bellybutton. Well, there goes the soft fuzzy ones!

Alli's 18 Month Pictures and Stats

Alli has a very large vocabulary - I won't even try to count the words. She's been saying phrases as well, like "where are you" and "bye bye daddy", "thank you mommy". It's very cute.

She's able to do her shapes wooden puzzle. It has a circle, square, rectangle, triangle and oval. She can count to 8 or 10 (sometimes it's hard to tell what she's saying) but she skips 4 every time! I'm not sure why.

Her favorite song is still the ABC's and she sings it well enough that people recognize it. And yes, she sings the whole thing and if she doesn't get lost while doing it, she even finishes with "yay" and clapping at the end, just like when mommy sings it.

Itsy Bitsy Spider is another favorite. She does the hand signal for the spider all the time, sometimes she does the "wash the spider out" hand signal, but none of the others really. But it's soooo cute!!

I'm pretty impressed at what she can do at 18 months, and amazed at how much development has happened in the last 3-6 months.

So stats:
Height: 32 inches (59% - I have no clue where that's coming from. Must be Kim.)
Weight: 21.2 lbs (8% - I can probably guess where that's coming from. ;) )
Head Circ: 17.8" (13%. This one seems odd. It means her head hasn't grown for 3 months.)

And finally, pictures of our little darling.

First Ride in a Bike Trailer

Kim and I finally broke down and paid uber money for a really cool bike trailer. Today we made plans with our "biking neighbors" to tool around the neighborhood and check it out. We had lots of fun - all 5 of us! Here are some pics of Alli with her new gear.

Oh - she was finishing up her snack of an apple...

Halloween Pics

Alli was a bumble bee this year. We celebrated the same as last year - with the Searle's, the Searle's, and the Rosings at the festival in Fountain Hills. If you find the picture from last year, you will see that the group has grown - by 3 kids!!! Yes, all of their families have had another child within the year. Pretty cool!

Ovejita! Where *is* that Little Lamb?!

Alli has a lamb blanket that she has cuddled since she was quite small. Kim and I used to call it "lamby", cause really, what do you name a lamb blanket? Well, Sesame Street came up with a better name.... They have a segment on the show now called "Murray has a Little Lamb". It's cute. Murray is an orange monster and Ovejita is a lamb that speaks spanish. Anyway, according to Sesame Street, Ovejita is "little lamb" in spanish (pronounced o-vay-heeta) Anyway, we started calling Alli's lamb blanket "Ovejita" and lately she's been asking for the lamb, wandering around the house saying "jita, jita".

Last night, she had Ovejita and walked into her room, threw Ovejita into the crib, climbed up the crib and managed to plop herself into it, laid on top of Ovejita and said "night, night". Apparently tired, I decided it must be time for bed - at 6:45pm. Might as well. She was asking for it!! And luckily Ovejita doesn't really care what time she goes to bed. :D

Potty?

Yesterday Alli was more inquisitive than ever about Mommy going to the potty. So I talked to her while she watched and then let her flush the toilet. I lost her in the house about 10 minutes later. Where did I find her? In another bathroom. Or rather, inside the toilet of another bathroom. I think she thought she could climb up and sit on the toilet like a big girl, but she wasn't expecting all that water! I laughed and cringed all at the same time while I grabbed her out of the toilet and started stripping the wet clothes off of her.

Today she was still inquisitive, so I asked her if she wanted to go potty. I finished and then stripped her down and set her on the toilet. She definitely knew what to do - she was pushing trying to get anything to come out, but she didn't really have to go. We've done that twice today and she's so proud when she does it (although still nothing has come out). But she'll see me go potty and then she keeps saying "potty, potty" so I put her there.

I don't thinks he's ready to start potty training, but maybe things will go pretty smoothly when she is if she already has the mechanics figured out!

Mommy's Helper

It's been such a while since I've blogged and lots has happened. Kim and I went on vacation without child - 8 days of rafting down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. It was amazing. Alli spent 10 days in Houston with my brother, sister-in-law, and her 3 cousins. Everyone had a great time!

When we met her at the airport, she didn't recognize us. Kinda scary to think that she would forget in only 10 days, but it happened. It didn't take long, and then she was super clingy! That has lasted for the last 6 days (much longer than I was expecting)! But now she's back to playing by herself at times and doesn't need to be physically touching me every minute she's awake. :D

This weekend we had lots of projects as everything seemed to break while we were on vacation. And mommy found she had a new helper, cause everything I worked on, Alli was right there and actually helped. We defrosted the fridge (to try to fix a problem) and she helped me pull everything out of it to put into coolers. And when we were done, she helped me pull everything out of the coolers and put it back into the fridge. Laundry? Same thing. Now she's trying to help me cook too, but I have to draw the line.... ;)