Tuesday, June 12, 2012

How's That Sweet Baby?

Well, for one, she is just about full-on toddler. I say just about, because I still call her baby and she still answers to it. Hehe;-)

But she is the loudest, funniest toddler you've ever met in your life! Over the last few months she has:

Completely weaned herself off of her bottle. Just decided she didn't want it one night. I gave it to her, she turned her head in refusal. After a few nights, I stopped trying. End. Of. Story.

Unfortunately this has also led to her refusing to drink milk. She doesn't want anything but water out of a sippy and since that is her number one vehicle for liquid consumption...well, there's no milk. But yogurt and cheese abound! (and I have hope milk will return one day.)

She will bring her sippy to me when she runs out of water and growl and grunt until I fill for her. Then she says a polite thank you like the tantrum never happened. She does this with many things, but asking for her sippy to be filled is new.

She is perfectly capable of say "love you", but totally chooses not to say it anymore. It appears she believes actions speak louder than the words. I do get frequent hugs with back patting. I have reason to believe this is the new "love you", as it happens with a lot of emotion. Tres sweet:)

Kisses are very frequent. The "mmmmmm, mwah!" kind especially. I am completely saturated during play times that make her especially happy.

She loves playing at the splash pad at the club and floating in the lazy river. She politely tolerates her swim lessons, which kind of terrify her. I don't know if the Y is too noisy, or if she's just an elitest snob. I'm going to go with noisy though. It's a pretty nice Y.

If she is set on the ledge of a pool she will "jump" to me. She thinks it's awesome. At lessons, Michelle and I try to let she and Si play this game side by side. He's super polite and always waits for Leighton to "jump" before he does.

She likes games where you count to three first. My dad started using his fingers while counting and would sometimes use her fingers while counting. Ya know, like count to 3 and then tickly attack. She can make her fingers go to 2 on her own, but she only does it to signal you to "get" her again. And one is "on". Hilarious.

She sometimes uses her hands as puppets. I have reason to believe this started with Bill taking his hand and having it slowly move toward her to "get" her while narrating the actions. But she will hold up one hand and move it while babbling, then take a turn with the other and go back and forth. It's quite entertaining to watch.

She gets her to color, but she's easily bored with it and then wants to eat the crayon. We will keep working on that one.

So, while this doesn't cover EVERYTHING, these are some good memories I'd like preserve here. She is such a joy to Bill and I and really has changed everything about our life for the better. We are so blessed!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was extra special this year. Not only did we have both of our moms here to share the joy, but we dedicated Leighton in church!
What does that mean you may ask? It means that we have publicly declared to raise her in accordance to the teachings of Jesus Christ. He is the center of our lives and want Him to be the center of her's, too. Does that mean we are perfect? No. We believe, as the Bible says, that we all fall short (are sinners), which is why we need a savior (as we have in Jesus). We hope you have him, too! And, if you don't, we pray you find your way. Contact me if you need support!

On to the weekend...

Vicki (aka Meme) came for the whole weekend. We went to dinner on Friday night and just relaxed. On Saturday my brother came by on his way back home and the we spent the day at the splash pad with Leighton. She LOVED it!
Friday night dinner. Leighton just can't seem to decide what to order...








On Saturday night my mom came and we ordered in and hung out a bit. It was nice to relax!

Sunday was the big day! We all went to church for the ceremony and a great service.

Preservice



Leighton stealing Mommy's flower

Hey, I know you!

How adorable is her doll with the matching dress??

Afterwards we had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants. It was so good!

Mother/daughter


Mother/son

Gimme some grub!

After lunch we had a quick photosession in our backyard.



Sunday afternoon mom had to get back to celebrate with her other kid (lol) and her mom. But Vicki's brother, our Uncle Bruce, came to visit and have dinner with us. And, ofcourse, there was another splash pad involved;-)




It was a great weekend. I am beyond blessed to be a mom to beautiful, healthy little girl. Thank you Jesus for choosing me to be her mom!