Happy Labor Day!

     Happy official beginning of the end of summer. You might not know it, since I haven't blogged in MONTHS, but we've had a pretty nice summer. Lots of fun times, a new job, and our toddler has turned into a little girl, but I guess I've just been too busy enjoying myself to write about it. Someday I'll get you caught up on the big stuff (and the cute stuff too of course). But for right now, let's just keep it simple.

HAPPY LABOR DAY!

Lawrence Outdoor Aquatic Center, Labor Day weekend

Lawrence Outdoor Aquatic Center,
Labor Day weekend

Grinter's Sunflower Field,
Labor Day Weekend

And happy 1/2 birthday to Attia! Two and a half - wow! You would hardly believe how much she's changed since my last post. Like I said, I'll get you caught up soon :-)

Happy Birthday Attia

You're Two!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Birthday Reflections

Dear Attia,

I can't believe you are already turning two! It's amazing how fast you have grown. This time last year you could only get around by crawling, and your little head was still basically bald. My, how things have changed! Not only can you walk, but you also run, jump and hop. You use your size 6 feet to go go go - all the time. Oh, and you have more hair now too.

This time last year your were still completely dependent on your mommy and daddy. Now you are quite an independent little girl. You like to do things on your own. You like to walk instead of ride in the stroller. You like to go up and down stairs by yourself. You like to pick out your own clothes. You like to dress yourself - but you are much better at taking your clothes off than putting them on. You demonstrate this when you decide that it is time for a "shouw" (you love your showers). You like to tackle new challenges - like assembling your baby stroller by yourself.  Sometimes it is hard, and you get frustrated, but you (usually) end up letting your mommy help, and you watch and learn, and take over to do it yourself right away. You are very smart.

This time last year you could still only communicate with a few basic signs, some simple one syllable words and animal noises, and of course laughing and crying. Now you just chatter away. I love to hear your little voice - talking to your babies, chatting in the back seat on the way home from daycare, signing songs around the house. Of course some of this is still hard to understand, but some of it is very clear, and every day I can understand more of your stories and songs. You add to your vocabulary at an amazing rate. You are quickly adding complexity to your phrases and sentences. You repeat everything I say and you quickly grasp new concepts. Like that your snowman was melted by the sun. Like I said, you are smart.

This time last year you were still waking up to eat at least once a night. You are now a wonderful sleeper and mommy and daddy are very grateful for that. You still take one or two good naps every day, and you sleep all through the night. Thank you!

Of course, there are some things that are still the same as they were this time last year, and I am glad for them as well. You still love to snuggle with your mommy and daddy. You still like to give a whole variety of kisses, including goat kisses, butterfly kisses, and Eskimo kisses (i.e. "nose kisses"). You are still a very sweet and silly little girl, and a pleasure to be around.

I'm sure that this year will bring many new things, as every year does. But no matter how you change, or don't change, your daddy and I will always love you. You are our sweet little girl and we treasure every moment that we spend with you. Watching you grow is a true miracle and joy. I can't wait to see what the coming years bring!

Happy Birthday Squirt!
I Love You!

Mom

Attia Says...

"Atti eat a Power Bar"

"Yep" "Nope"

"Oh, sorry" (She just started saying this a lot when she drops things, runs into me, etc. Pretty funny)

"Rosa go lay down!"

"Stripes! Atti wear stripes. Mommy wear stripes!"

"Atti like stripes"

"Atti go outside? Go play at park?"

"Go play in snow?"

"Daddy throw ay [away] popucorn"   (Yes, one time, weeks, ago, daddy threw away an old bag of popcorn)

"I make a circle" (her favorite thing to draw)

"Thank you, Welcome" or Thank you Mommy"

"Shhhh. Quiet" (to mom and dad, to Rosa, to crying babies, and the list goes on)

"Zuntite" (gesundheit)

"Quesadilla"

"2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10"  (occasionally 1 and 7 get thrown in there)

       And the best?...

"I love you Mommy" & "I love you Daddy" (we've been waiting a long time for that one)


While we are here: She got her canine teeth mid-January to early February; she goes up the stairs no problem, and now she goes down standing up and holding onto the rail/wall; She has discovered TV and likes "Cat in Hat," "Max and Ruby," "Monkey" [Curious George] and "Mickey," among others; In the evening she likes to come into the kitchen, spin circles, and make up songs about her day, the park, etc.; she is very entertaining; she is also very independent; she builds train tracks by herself; she is very good at getting her point across with words; she repeats and grasps a surprising amount of new vocabulary and concepts; she will be two in less than a week!

Thanksgiving 2012

Like I said in my last post, I'm keeping this catch up stuff brief, so here are a few photos of our Turkey Day.

To get ourselves in the Thanksgiving spirit, Attia and I did a little turkey art. 

That tongue really helps with concentration

Gobble Gobble!

On Thanksgiving Day we got together with Gram and Grump in Junction City. As always, Gram prepared a wonderful meal and we enjoyed spending time together.

Attia was so excited she couldn't wait, and helped herself right up to the table. 

Yum!

A little story time with Grump after dinner.

Some spin around time with Gram.

And an attempt at a family picture

Which can be difficult on a windy day with a squirmy toddler. :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello 2013! Lets Catch Up

Yes! We are still here!!!

 We are all alive and well. We celebrated all of the Holidays in the last three months of 2012, we rang in the New Year, and we even went on vacation. But maybe you don't know about any of this because I have not blogged AT ALL. Not since like, October!

So, although there was a lot that I wanted to post over the last few months, let's just hit the holidays. And I'll spare you (or really maybe me) a lot of words. Since we have so many great memories to cover let's just do a photo wrap up. I'll break it into a couple of posts so that it actually gets posted. Here we go!

HALLOWEEN

Attia got into Halloween a lot more this year, and she even enjoyed her costume. Over the last few months we had found that one of her favorite sounds to make was a bear growl. This led to lots's of "What does a bear say?" Followed by "Rarrrr." Giggle, giggle. So of course she had to be a bear. We went with polar bear since I had several of the pieces on hand. And of course we added a little snowflake polar bear tutu for good measure.

Our first Halloween activity was the 1st Annual Mugridge Halloween Party. They are great hosts and it was lots of fun!

My little Polar Bear

Decorating her pumpkin

And eating snacks - a favorite activity :-)

Dipping is the best

Collecting Halloween cutouts.
Did I mention that Carrie Mugridge is a teacher? :-)

Collecting more cutouts.
That is little Madilyn Mugridge in the background.

Manning the wheel

And just being cute while she does it

She was very interested in this pool of spider rings,
but when she got a little closer it really scared her. 

I handed one to her and she reached for it,
then jumped backwards shaking her head,
"no." It was hilarious! She realized it was fake
 after a minute, and now she loves the spider ring. 

Next up was the "Mommies for Mondays" Halloween Party. "Mommies for Mondays" is the facebook group that spun-off from the mommy group that I was going to at the hospital after Attia was born. We still get together with them for events throughout the year. 

At the end of the month we got the tandem out and made a trip to Schaake's pumpkin patch. It was only a week or so before Halloween but they still had plenty of good pumpkins left for us and lots of fun little activities. 

Attia helped daddy pick out the first pumpkin

But it was a little too heavy for her to carry

She picked out the second pumpkin
all by herself

It was just right

She had a lot of fun 'helping' to carve the pumpkins later that evening.

And after all of this, there was still Halloween Day! To celebrate, Attia and I headed down to Mass. Street to do some Trick-Or-Treating with throngs of other Lawrencian children (and adults).

It was quite a spectacle. 

Of course we had to stop by Sunflower Outdoor & Bike on the way home to see Daddy. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!