Play Date

On Thursday we had Kati, Audrey, & Bo over to enjoy the beautiful 60 degree weather! Kati & I let the girls run around in the backyard & explore, while Bo played in the grass. We also enjoyed some iced coffee :) It is so neat to watch the kids interact with each other & we love how well they play together! The girls absolutely love to run around & be silly together. Payton also adores Bo... we might have to keep our eye on them as they grow up ha! I am very proud of Payton because she is doing a much better job with sharing & playing with other kids her size! It is such a joy to see her learn new things! Kati took some amazing pictures that afternoon & I can't wait to get some printed up!!!

Cowgirl

Payton has been learning to do soo many new things lately! I am just amazed at how fast she is growing. Some new things she has done recently: did the sign language sign for eat yesterday when I asked her if she wanted to eat ( I have not tried to teach her this sign in MONTHS!) She is also learning new words every day... she sure loves to try to talk! Some of her newest words include stick, rock, bird, nest, happy ("appy"), bus, train, car, bike. She is amazing when she looks at books- we look at them so many times that learns what words correlate with what pictures! She loves The Big Hungry Bear & she knows which pages to say "Boom Boom Boom" and "Ohhhh..." ("Oh I see little mouse". It is so crazy! The other day she learned how to get on rocking horse by herself so Mike & I were praising her & we said "high five Payton!" And we just gave her an "air high five" because we were on the couch. Now she thinks it is the coolest thing to say "five" & put her hands up in the air to pretend give high fives! (See pictures below). She is also trying to count (from her Clifford Counts book) & she says "one one one". SO cute!

Things are looking up!

So I am happy to announce that we have our normal, sweet baby back! haha... So far today (Tuesday) Payton has been totally back to normal... maybe her teeth are feeling much better??? Anyways, this morning we had to run to the store to get a few things & then we stopped at our friend Mrs. Connie Wheeler's house on the way home to visit with her since we hadn't seen her in awhile. Payton loves her little pig decoration statue & it was so funny because she was trying to ride it like a rocking horse! After we got home, we went outside for awhile to hang out some laundry (its in the upper 40s today so not too bad!) I snapped a few pictures of Payton exploring in the yard. She learned 2 new words while we were outside today- "rock" & "stick" (as you can see from the pictures)! I cant believe how fast she picks up new words!

Play Time!

Yesterday I was starting to get discouraged with how grumpy Payton had been for the past few days, so after her nap I decided to take her outside to run around in the yard for a little while. She is getting braver every day & loves to explore! It was kind of funny though because since she was being so grouchy, she decided that she was mad that our neighbors have a fence up around their yard & she can't get in. lol. Drama right?! ha. Anyways, I think these pictures are cute & funny.

Thursday...

We have been pretty busy this week! This morning we went to Babes in the Woods at the Nature Center which was very fun for Payton... pretty cold, but still nice to get outside! She is napping right now & I plan to spend the rest of the day at home doing some cleaning & just hanging out with Payton. One thing that Payton loves to do right now (to mommy's dismay) is empty out any container (toy box, basket, etc) she can find & sit in it. It is so funny because sometimes she just sits back like she is relaxing in a hot tub! I thought I would snap a few photos of her new favorite/messy activity.

Love

I SO love this sweet little girl. She is just growing up way too fast, but I sure love every age... even with all of the difficult times too. She is becoming so much more animated & loves to dance (twirl in circles) & then "curtsy" which is just hilarious! She can understand pretty much everything we say to her now & she is so fun to "communicate" with- even though her favorite word right now seems to be "no!" She weighed in at 24 lbs 6 oz @ her checkup (in the 72nd percentile) & was 31.5 inches long (32nd percentile). Such a big girl!!!

Stuck Inside

I was starting to feel guilty that I hadn't done a blog post in so long- so here it is! We have been stuck inside today because it has not gotten over 20 degrees (with a colder wind chill) & verrryy windy! This is crazy because the past few days have been in the upper 50s & low 60s! We really have enjoyed that, compared to how cold & snowy it was last winter. We have spent lots of time outside playing & hanging laundry... just enjoying the sunshine! It also snowed last night, but the main thing is just the cold! Payton had her 18 month well check this morning (we ran from the car to the dr office haha... and I am very thankful for our garage). I know she is already 18 1/2 months old, but better late than never! She weighed 24 lbs 6 oz which is in the 72nd percentile (yay! she is finally gaining again!) & was in the 32nd percentile for height! Everything looked great & she behaved very well for the dr. We have spent the rest of the day at home. Here are a few pictures of Payton playing with her animals from my parents. The other pictures are of her "painting", which kind of turned out to be a mess. lol. I am going to feed her supper soon & then give her a bath. Mike & I decided to just buy food tonight to bring home to eat & I must say that this mommy is very happy about not having to make dinner!!!! Good evening to all!