15 Months

Our little Peanut is getting SO big these days!  She has quite the little personality and it’s so fun to watch her motoring around the house. She rarely crawls anymore, and no matter how many times she falls down she just gets right up and keeps on going. 

She makes me laugh ALL the time!  She is very much into exploring and climbing and this often gets her in hot water.  She loves to climb into things and sit down. 

The other day she turned over Boo’s stool and climbed in, but it was a tight squeeze and she was soon yelling for help.  She was wedged in there pretty good. :)

I just took her in for her check-up last week and she has grown a lot! She is 20lbs. 9oz. which is the 50% and she is 33 inches long which is the 75%.  Her head circumference was also in the 75%. The doctor said she looks happy and healthy!

People often exclaim over what a happy baby she is, and it’s true. 

As long as the girls give her space and let her wander around she is happy as a clam.  If they try to move her, direct her, or take something from her it’s a different story!  She has quite a set of lungs that get fully exercised in such situations!

We FINALLY got a snuggly baby!  Neither Bug nor Boo would snuggle as babies.  When they were tired they wanted to be put down in their crib and left alone.  Boo started snuggling at about a year, but it took Bug much longer to sit still long enough to be snuggled.  Not this one.  She snuggles ALL the time and when she is tired she will lay her little head on any family member’s shoulder (Mommy, Daddy, Noni, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa) for as long as you allow her…or until one of her sisters comes barreling in and distracts her. :)

She is definitely in the get-into-everything stage!  We have to be really careful about not leaving doors open or anything can happen…

 

I love seeing her little mind at work.  She often surprises me with her knowledge of the purpose of items.  For example: after the girls had spent the night at Noni’s there was an empty suitcase lying around.  She found it, promptly put her elephant in, and started dragging it towards the door.

Smarty pants!

Speaking of the elephant…he is a constant companion these days.  She insists on bringing him wherever she’s going, but she also likes to play a game of I-drop-the-elephant-who-will-pick-it-up? so we have to be very careful that we don’t lose it.  When we went to see the Capitol Tree the other day we realized as we got back to the car that it was missing.  Thankfully with a little backtracking Daddy rescued it from the cold, hard sidewalk.  She has the hardest time sleeping without it so it’s a bit stressful to keep up with it!  I really should try to see if I can find another one that can be interchangeable.

She really doesn’t have that many words yet.  Ma-ma, Da-da, Uh-oh, Dat (that) and Hi are the only easily recognizable ones.  She says thank you every time we hand her something but it’s more like “tane-oo” and she says excuse me when she burps but it sounds like  “oose-ee”.  She does “talk” all the time and has lots of inflection and variation.  She will rattle off a “sentence” and look at you like you should know exactly what she said. :)  She also likes to “sing” and joins in during church or family dance parties.

She has gotten A LOT more picky about her food lately.  A month ago she would try anything and eat pretty much anything, but now she is very selective and will sit through an entire meal only taking one or two bites of food.  It’s a bit frustrating but hopefully just a phase.  :/

Up until last Saturday she was still nursing full-time.  Last weekend we dropped the daytime feedings and she is now only nursing in the morning and before bed.  I have plenty of pumped milk so she she gets a cup with a straw at lunch and dinner.  Unfortunately she doesn’t much care for drinking her milk out of a cup which is the main reason I waited so long to drop her daytime feedings.  

Sleep has been a bit of tricky issue lately.  Some days she takes a two hour nap in both the morning and afternoon, and then other days (like yesterday) she lays in her bed talking, singing, and playing with her elephant for her entire morning nap, and then does the same in the afternoon before finally falling asleep for only an hour.  I’m not sure what to do exactly, but it is a little early to drop the morning nap altogether, especially since that is when we get our schoolwork done and we often have things going on in the afternoon.  Thankfully no matter what kind of napping she does in the day she sleeps anywhere from 11.5-12.5 hours at night!

I’m soaking up all the snuggling, and sweet baby moments I can as I am literally watching her babyhood slip into the wonderful, frustrating, exciting,  world of toddlerhood!  Our “baby” is not so little anymore!

Happy 15 months Peanut!  We love you more than we can say!

Stone Soup

One of our Literature and Comprehension lessons the other day was on the story Stone Soup.  As part of the lesson they had to cut pictures of the ingredients out and put them in a pot to “make” stone soup. 

Then the girls asked if we could actually make stone soup so the next day T took K to the grocery store to pick out the ingredients she needed.  I set them up in the kitchen and with a little direction they made “stone” soup.  They insisted on putting each of the ingredients in the pot in the same order that the people did in the story.

They didn’t find any barley so I let Boo put in a pinch of oatmeal (it looked like the barely picture). :)

They were so excited!

They also insisted that we needed to put a stone in our soup!  I finally took a small red potato and convinced them that it looked a lot like a stone and would be an adequate substitute.

Here they are enjoying the fruits of their labor. 

And in case you are wondering K does not just have bad luck when it comes to having her eyes closed in pictures…she does it on purpose. Hopefully it is a phase that will pass quickly! :P

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wordless Wednesday

Let It Snow

Again, pictures I forgot were on my camera….These are from Nov. 5th, our first “big” snow.  We’d had a skiff a few days before but it was pretty much melted by the time the girls woke up. 

We’ve had such a pleasant fall that some of my flowers were still around and shocked at the sudden cold blanket.

We decided we had to go out and show Peanut her sort-of-first-snow.  She didn’t really notice the snow last year, being just a few months old.

The girls were thrilled to run outside and tromp around for a few minutes before we started to freeze.

I had to hold her up with one hand (she desperately wanted to sit down in it) and take pictures with the other so these are not the greatest, but you can see how excited she was!

It was still snowing while we were out there.

They were so happy to share the experience of snow with their little sister. So sweet.

We went inside and celebrated with hot cocoa with whipped cream and sprinkles! 

The snow has long since melted and we have only seen a few flakes since then.  It will be interesting to see whether or not we get much this year.  I haven’t heard anyone talking about it one way or another.

Operation Christmas Child

I just downloaded my camera card and realized I had a whole bunch of pictures that I hadn’t posted so I guess this will be a “catch-up” week.  First up: OCC.  A couple of weeks ago it was time for our annual packing of the shoeboxes.  This is one of my favorite traditions and a great way to start of the holiday season thinking of others.  We each (except for Peanut) picked a child and went shopping for everything we needed.  Boo insisted that her box was going to twin girls so she made sure to pick two of everything.  Who knows?  Maybe her box actually will get to twins.  With God all things are possible right??

We went to our church’s party and helped pack boxes there and then a few nights later we did our own at home.  We piled all the stuff in the middle of the floor and started packing.

Peanut was unpacking our boxes nearly as fast as we could pack them…

The girls did a really good job this year hardly needing any help at all!

Peanut had to give me big cheeses for every picture. :)

She eventually went off to her room and was being quiet.  When I went to get her and bring her back I discovered that she had confiscated one of the suckers meant for the boxes and gotten the wrapper off.  She was quite pleased with herself that she came across such a delicious treat.  Haha :)

I set the timer on the camera but didn’t realize the picture was blurry.  Darn.  Oh well, we had a great time packing the boxes and praying for the children who will receive them in just a few short weeks!

"Dat Funny?" - Part 10

September 4th

Apparently, a few months ago, Noni and Papa had a rabbit that was causing some mischief around their place, and the girls were with her one day when she arrived home to find another problem.  Under her breath she said something about "that stinkin' rabbit".  So now whenever Boo sees an exasperating situation she says, "It's yike that stinkin' rabbit." It comes out at the funniest times. :)

September 13th

This was back when T had been gone on a trip for a few days and the carpet had just come.  When he got home he laid down in the middle of the floor and of course S jumped right on the middle of his back.  She started jumping up and down (I don't know how he lets them do that!) and yelled, "C'mon Buggy!  Hop aboard!"

September 19th

Buggy got a dancing Barbie named Odette last Christmas.  One day S had it and told me, "This is Doette!  She dancing."  I told her, "Her name is Odette." "No Mommy!" She insisted, "It's Doette!  I wee-member!"

September 27th

We were picking out Halloween costumes and Boo got excited, "I want to be a bee so I can BUZZ around and around (while twirling) and STING people with my booty!  Not my weal booty.  My bee booty!"

October 9th

I had a jar I couldn't get open.  "It's okay Mommy. Yeave it for Daddy. He is stwong!  He is STWONG like Gowiath!"

October 16th

She was trying on her Halloween costume and turned to me, "Mommy?  Can you be a flower for Halloween?  Because I am going to be a bee and I need somewhere to gather nectar!"

October 18th

Squirming and kind of jumping around, "I have to pull my undies down like this because I don't like veggies.  I have to pull veggies out of my booty!"

:)

"Laugh With Me!" - Part 24

September 6th

The girls got letters in the mail from Auntie Karen.  There was $2 in each of their envelopes.  K was SO excited!  She loves to receive mail so I thought she was just happy to get something and then she said, "MONEY! Now we don't have to do any chores today!"

September 14th

Driving past an...adult...store she got excited, "HEY MOM!  You know the first people?" Me: "What do you mean? Like Adam and Eve?" K: "Yeah! I just saw a store named after them!" Me: "Ohh. Wow. Interesting."

September 25th

I finally upgraded from the iPhone 3G to the 5C and since the 3G is so old we kept it for the girls to play games on.  K was SO excited and even though I told her about 30 times, "This is for you to share with your sisters. It is not your phone." She carried it around in her purse and kept calling it her phone.  I finally told her that she was going to lose the privilege of carrying it, and just then she dropped it, "Oh no! My phone! My beautiful pink phone!" Then, looking at me, she quickly corrected, "I mean THE phone. Not MY!"

October 1st

One of my favorite things Buggy says is "I love you more than ice cream!"  She doesn't say it that often and it makes me laugh every time. :)

October 5th

A friend of ours was getting married in Cabot, Arkansas.  We were able to watch the wedding online through a live feed.  T Googled the town during lunch and said, "They have a confederate graveyard!" K, unimpressed replied, "Yeah but we have the Mariners."

October 16th

Doing schoolwork one day, K was distracted and kept losing focus.  I finally said, "Can you please sit down and finish that page?"  She looked at me and said, "No, I'm sorry.  I can't.  It's complicated."

October 31st

After hearing one of those "a drunk-driver killed my daughter" stories on the radio we have had several discussions on alcohol and how it is not a bad thing in and of itself, it's just that people sometimes make poor choices when they drink it and those choices lead to consequences which are sometimes small and sometimes big (like getting in trouble and even death).  At the grocery store we were walking along when she got excited and said, "Angry Orchard!  It's apple cider!  Can I have some?  Please!?" I was in a hurry so I pulled her along but said, offhandedly, "No, that's alcohol."  She stopped dead in her tracks and looked aghast, "You mean they WANT people to get in trouble with the LAW?!?"

:)

Leftover Thursday–Bikes

All summer K was “too scared” to ride her birthday bike.  It was just a few inches too high for her which made her wobbly and apt to fall over.  We couldn’t find any training wheels to fit the bike so it pretty much sat in the garage, unused, for four months.  She had been riding Boo’s tiny bike (her old one) all summer and she was way too big for it.  Then in late September she got on it for some reason and wanted to give it another try. 

So Boo got on the little bike and rode like the wind.  She looks so small on it, and she says, “Keep going, keep going, I can do it! I can do it!” to herself as she rides. :)

T had to help her get going….

But she must have grown several inches this summer because she was able to do it!

Next summer she’ll be a pro!

She’ll go riding off in to the sunset…or away from it.

Wordless Wednesday

Friday Night

On Friday night we had an impromtu mini-party with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle B, Auntie M and the cousins.  I remembered to get a picture of Peanut snuggling with Grandma, but she wasn't very happy that I interrupted. :)

 The kids played hard for several hours!  They were so excited to see one another that they were squealing and running and bouncing off the walls! :)

It worked out perfectly because Friday was Bug's "re-birth" day.  It's hard to believe that it's already been two years!  I made brownies and got some ice cream and we sang Happy Re-Birthday to her. :) 

 Friday night is usually when we have our weekly "dance party" so instead of skipping it we made it a family affair!  The girls had so much fun dancing with everyone and it went on for a good hour!

The only thing we were missing was Auntie Nae, Uncle Wade, and Waylon!  Good thing we'll all be together next week for Thanksgiving!  We can't wait!

Field Trip

Last week we got to go on our first official field trip!  All I really knew is that we were going to hear a presentation on owls, but I figured it would be good to get out of the house and have some fun with our friends.  It was much more impressive than I was expecting!

That is a live owl just a few feet behind the girls!

 

Right next to one of the Elementary schools in town is this wildlife outdoor center.  They are given any wild animals that the local animal rescue service has received and nursed back to health, but who are unable to survive on their own due to their injuries.

They do a lot of animal education and presentations, and also have a lot of stuffed (as in taxidermy not toy) animals on display for the kids to look at.  They were even allowed to touch the animals as long as they used just one finger.  They had all sorts of things like a cougar…

Coyote…

Turkey…

Brown Bear…which all three of the girls touched, although Boo was too quick for me to photograph and refused to touch it a second time. :)

They also had a beaver, deer (head), moose (head), otter, skunk, various birds, ducks, and probably some others I’m forgetting.

They also had quite a few live animals and fish in cages.  The kids from the school next door come and take care of them every afternoon.

There were lizards, snakes, fish, guinea pigs, turtles, and more.

Here is a bearded dragon.

This is Tilt, a little owl with only one eye.

Boo wanted a picture with the turtles. :)

After we looked at all the live and stuffed animals it was time for a presentation.  I learned that a “raptor” is a bird that eats other birds.  I also learned a few fascinating owl and eagle facts, but Peanut only lasted about fifteen minutes before I had to take her out into the other room. Boo came with us, but thankfully Bug was able to stay with one of the older girls from church and hear the whole presentation.  Of course she “couldn’t remember” what she learned when I asked her.  Haha :)

Boo, Peanut, and I walked around looking at the animals in the first room.

After the presentation we got to go outside and meet some other animals.  This is an eagle that was hit by a car and had a full wing amputation.  Since she can’t fly she has a special mew that allows her to hop from branch to branch and get where she wants to go.

Below is about half our homeschool group; a lot of people couldn’t come because it was a bit of a drive to get there. We have a pretty good sized group, especially considering that there are only about 1800 people in our town.  They have a Science class that meets every Friday that I’ve decided to start taking K to even though we have her own Science class online.  A lot of the kids are from our church so I know she will have fun spending time with her friends.

It was so interesting to learn about all the animals and see them up close while learning some new things.  Hopefully we’ll get to go on some more field trips in the future!