8/31/2011

Wow, time has really got away from me as of late.  I think I am just so busy enjoying my final few days before turning the big O-N-E that I don't have the energy to sit down and update you all in the evenings.  So here goes my condensed version of the past week.

Starting with a key item.  I had my first kiss yesterday.  Yep, you read that right.  Tiago and I were playing one minute and the next we just felt something and went for it.  Unfortunately for Tiago, my teacher happened to catch it on camera.  Needless to say dad had a few words with my friend.  We tried to explain that it was purely innocent and it looked way worse than it was....but dad said it was his job to keep me in line.  So apparently no more of these kisses, accidental or otherwise, until I am much older.  We'll see.

Saturday we did some shopping early in the AM for some food and party supplies.  Yep, that's right...i have been told there is a party in my honor coming up this weekend.  I haven't decided if that excites me or makes me a bit nervous.  Not sure about this center of attention thing.  Stay tuned I guess.  Mom then left dad and I to play together while she went out shopping all afternoon, I heard her talking about Steph's wedding - but I don't know what all the stress was about.  Whatever, dad and I had so much fun together.  Then after I took a long nap we actually got to go to Evan & his new baby brother Zach's house for a BBQ.  Everyone was there including Avery, Maddie, Mason, and all their parents.  I had a good time, the burger was super tasty and I even sat (on the table - which apparently was not where I should be) and played ball with Dondi & Kelli.  I was the only one not walking/running around so I spent more time hanging with the fam while all the other kids played outside.  That's ok...I'm cool with that.

Let's see...what else.  Tooth #7 has come through and I am working on a few more.  I have been having a lot of fun walking around with my push toy, I do pretty good if I do say so myself.  Apparently mom and dad have decided that I am getting so good that it warrants finally wearing shoes.  So we took a trip to do some shopping where I got officially sized up for a pair of good walking shoes.  I felt pretty special getting my very own pair and then both mom and dad scored a pair too.  Enjoy a couple videos below...one of me walking with my toy.  I have already got much better (i.e. faster) than when this video was filmed!

The second is me going up and down the stair in mom & dad's closet.  I think I've shown you the video of how I love to go up the flight of stairs, but this is really fun too!

it may not look comfy, but I was OUT

Last night some new lady came over to our house after dinner.  She was from a program called "Parents as Teachers".  I guess they come and play with me and check to see that I am progressing as I am suppose to and gives them ideas of games we can play.  She seemed really nice, she didn't scare me at all.  I am beginning to realize that new people aren't so bad after all.  She told mom and dad that my problem solving skills and fine motor skills are quite advanced...and to not worry that I am right on track with my large motor skills and speaking (I'm pretty sure I could tell them that, but whatever), I had a lot of fun playing with her and showing her my toys.  I guess she'll be back in a couple months, so we'll see if I have more updates then.  She wore me out that is for sure!  Here are a couple more pics from the week...

Marley kept begging me to let her in

We went to a yummy fro-yo place that my friend Avery goes to like
every day so I figured it had to be good.  She was RIGHT!

Like I said...rough week.  I will do better next time, I promise.  Amelia OUT!

8/22/2011

climbing queen

Another week has come and gone, so time for an update.  I am not sure I have any earth shattering updates or stories, but i had a good week all in all.  Mom says I have become much more of a dare devil.  You turn your head on me and I am trying to 'run' up the stairs or climb something.  Unfortunately Miss Martha caught some pics of me at school climbing on the bumbo, swing, etc. so there was no sneaking that by mom & dad. 

I also am really intrigued with Marley lately....especially when she has one of her 'spaz' attacks or is in the playful mood.  Sometimes we play some tug-of-war with my (now her) toys but she usually wins.  Soon enough, my friend, soon enough.  When I am in the mood to play i try to bark at her and then chase her...most of the time she gets up and goes to the other side of the room.  So I just bark again and chase her again...as you can probably guess this is really fun.  Well for me at least.  Speaking of Marley...she was bound to the breezeway for most all of last week.  She eventually got some medicine and is now back to normal.  Dad says that she costs him more than me.  I think I need to work on that, that doesn't seem right.  I hear my birthday is coming up dad...maybe you can play some catch up! 

What?  I'm a bit busy eating right now..

This weekend was pretty low key, we had some crazy storms Thursday and Friday night.  Or so I heard...I slept like a baby (pun intended) through the whole thing.  While apparently mom & dad took shelter downstairs in fear that the neighbors oak would once again decide to fall but this time on them while they slept.  I guess we were pretty lucky as most of the people near our neighborhood lost power (some for >24 hrs!) and I saw one house with a tree through the roof on the way to school!  Friday night we went up the street to Houlihans for a yummy meal.  I had some Mac N'Cheese...can't go wrong there.  I also thoroughly enjoyed the lahvosh.  Saturday AM after breakfast we headed to the farmers market again.  It was a nice day so that was fun...but mom seemed quite unhappy.  Apparently her pasta people weren't there so she had to suffice with some other goodies.  I love pasta too, so I understand her disappointment.  We really didn't do much else.  Enjoyed a walk, dinner at D'Bronx and the usual books, bath, bed.  Have I told you how much I LOVE reading?  I could do it all night.  Mom & Dad...not so much.  That's OK because I love bath just as much.

Sunday was fun.  We went to church which is always good and then had a nice morning/afternoon at home with the fam.  I was due for one of my good catch up weekend naps so I took a 2 hour snooze in the afternoon when I woke up we got back in the car.  Much to my pleasant surprise we were going to my BFF Ava's house!  Per the usual, I was a bit shy when I got there - but it didn't take too long to warm up to everyone once I saw all the cool toys that Ava had.  It was like going to school, lots of things to play with.  Although, i pretty much stuck with the toys that I am familiar with...you know, rings, balls, & blocks.  Can't get enough of them!  But I did find a few new things to try and take a swing at.  Speaking of taking a swing. Ava had some sweet golf clubs...but apparently I have to be a bit more steady on my feet till I can put a toy like that to good use.  We had a lot of fun talking and playing.  We even got to get changed to our swimsuits (which by the way totally matched - tutu's rock!).  She had a fun pool...with a slide!  Oh AND I got to have my first hot dog.  Which I put down quite quickly I must say.  I thought it was good...but while I was enjoying my nightcap at home, mom said that I may not get them again any time too soon because she wasn't thrilled with the outcome.  She kept plugging her nose and talking about "SBD's". 

Today was good.  I now clap in the mornings when mom pulls up to school.  I sure do have fun there.  Ava and I kind of rule the place...you know queens of the room.  Every once in a while we stop to give one of the little ones a head pat, but that's about it.  I got the official go ahead from the doc to start drinking real (whole) milk, apparently you are suppose to be 1...but I guess I am close enough!  Still TBD but considering I LOVE yogurt and cheese....I guess I am a dairy girl.  Well, behind my protein and carbs that is. Ok, I think that is it for now.  Amelia OUT

8/15/2011

Enjoying dinner tonight.  I had my own grilled cheese sandwich!  May be a new favorite!

Ava, Violet, & I trying out the stroller.  Talk about extreme differences
in hair!

Rennick wanted in on the action

Well to start off, the family is feeling much better since I last blogged.  Everything is getting back to normal after all of the vacations.  Week started off with the usual, back to daycare.  I've noticed that the temperature has been a little cooler, because we started taking walks at night again, which is awesome.  I get to look around and even nap if I am tired.  I don't know why Dad is breathing hard when we get home, I find it quite relaxing all kicked back in my stroller.  On Wednesday, Dad picked me up from daycare and instead of going home we headed over to Andy and Shelly's new house.  It sure was a nice house with cool toys for me to play with, when Ava and Violet let me play - and I was willing to break away from mom and dad's sides, that is.  We - well I - had hamburgers, goldfish, and cookies.  I got to see my old friends Violet & Rennick that I haven't seen in awhile.  We must of been there for something - I kept hearing talks about twins - all I know is someone got a lot of diapers, wipes, and a three person stroller.  Which I got to sit in with my buds.  Really cool.  I'm just bummed we didn't get to take the thing around the block! 

lunch with Stephanie

Thursday and Friday were pretty normal except the "Marley incident" which I will not get into for your sake.  Let's just say she has decided that my pretty white carpet is the backyard.  Saturday Dad had to go and do some work in the morning, so Mom and I went down to the plaza for lunch with Stephanie.  Cheesecake factory mac and cheese, yum yum.  We had a great time, I haven't seen Stephanie in a while so it was great catching up with her and flashing my pearly whites at her.  I think she was impressed with my ability to put down some carbs.  She on the other hand ate a salad.  Veggies...I just don't get  it.  Saturday night (and when I say night, I mean around 4:30), after my nap, we went to Kansas Sampler to get me some Husker gear.  That's right, just a few weeks away!  They didn't have much for me, but mom hooked herself up with a new t-shirt.  Dad of course was too tight to get one, and said that he could wear his 5 year old t-shirts again.  He did buy me a football that sings the Husker song if you hit it hard.  It is pretty cool.  Next year I get to get a super cool tracksuit that they apparently don't make in my size now.  After shopping we went to Outback to use a giftcard that we had at the house for awhile.  I love the bread there and the burgers were pretty good too, but the sweet potato fries were my favorite by far. 

I tried out the 'beach' at the pool, but wasn't so sure about it

That's right...I'm a climber.

On Sunday we did the usual - church, lunch, and long walk which led to long nap for me and Dad.  After nap we went swimming, it was great.  The weather was perfect, not alot of people there so we had the pool all to ourselves.  As you can see from the pictures we had fun.  That is about it for now, Oh wait I have some other news.  I have my official 'first word'.  Ball.  I know - I like to throw a wrench in dad's plans.  I have heard him say over and over that I'm not the athlete 'type' and I will be an engineer...so I figured I would make my first word "Ball" instead of "Design", "Build", "Blueprint" etc.  Yes, I have been saying mama and dada regularly - and for the most part I know who I'm talking about..but sometimes I switch things up.  Maybe just to keep them on their toes and guessing!  Also, I have been climbing stairs like crazy, it might be the most fun thing I have done in my short life.  When I get to the top I am exhausted and usually just lay down.  Dad said it would be like him climbing 10 flights of stairs.  I am good at it though, I haven't gone down yet, I try to fall backwards to get down, but Dad said not good idea.  Amelia Out!

Who is the big girl who can stand and drink?  That's me!

Here is a video of some fun at the pool for your viewing pleasure.

08/10/2011

This is my latest start to posting in a new month yet.  I think the older I get, it is harder to take a break from all the action to sit back and update you all.  That's right...I have aged since I last wrote.  I hit the big 11 months this past weekend.  I am so close to hitting the big O-N-E....I'm getting a bit anxious.  But not to get ahead of myself.  I'll start back a few days first.  Last week was yet another short week at school.  From what I remember Mon-Wed were pretty status quo.  Martha wasn't in on Wednesday AM, and boy did I let the 'sub' know that I was NOT ok with that.  Not at all....  Thursday and Friday school was closed so I got to sleep in.  I think mom was quite thrilled that she got to sleep in (till 7:30!) on Thursday and spend the day with me while dad went to work.  We had a nice time playing and napping in the morning and then we took a drive to go have lunch with Kellie...and surprise, my friend (from swim lessons) Tatum and her mom were there!  Sweet!  We all had some lunch and got all caught up on the latest news.  There was lots of it to be had!  Tatum literally ran circles around me...well when she wasn't trying to poke my eyes, ears, etc.  At first I didn't mind her in my personal bubble (I know, big surprise!) but I quickly decided that I had enough of that.  Mom did give me kudos for not pulling her long locks...we all know about my hair envy.  I am starting to see the benefits of my bald and beautiful look (much cooler, dries fast after bath, etc.) that I have decided to just embrace and stop trying to grab handfuls of others to save for my wig.  Anyway, after eating we decided to head to their neighborhood pool.  We got all changed and drove down only to find out it was closed!  What?  Well luckilly Kellie lives on a lake so we still had an option to cool off, yep it was time for a first.  First swim in a lake that is.  Mom said it was OK, as it wasn't as germ infested as the Ozarks - but dad wasn't so sure when he called and found out where I was.  Kellie was nice enough to find me a life jacket just my size (gotta be safe!), so I could go in with her.  Unfortunately, mom caught sight of fish in the water (the problem with cleaner lakes) so she wasn't budging from the dock.  Eventually she gave in and came and sat with us for a while.  I even got to take the vest off and move around a bit!  The only downfall to the day was my nose running and heavy eyes, darn allergies.

Hanging in the lake with Kellie, Tatum and her mom Lacey

Friday morning came and this time dad stayed home too!  YES!  I was told this is because we were going to take a road trip to St. Louis!  Yep, I guess I did so good with the Steffen family trip to Iowa that I am rewarded with another one.  Sweet.  Apparently, once again Marley was not invited along so in the AM mom, Marley and I headed over to a new house.  I got to meet new friends, Sherre & Riley, that Marley was going to spend the weekend licking (I mean playing with).  They sure seemed really nice, I wasn't 100% sure though so I stayed pretty close to mom while we sat there and chatted.  One day....  When we got home dad had the car all packed up for our trip.  The drive went well, I slept to the 1/2 way point of Columbia where we stopped for some lunch at Ruby Tuesday's.  We totally ate too much, but I must say they have some yummy mac n'cheese.  And dad's burger was mighty tasty!  I was full of energy after lunch so dad sat in the back and played with me (so fun) while mom drove us to the hotel.  We ended up getting settled in around 4...so we decided to keep it a low key night.  I still wasn't feeling great...beginning to realize that I may just have a cold, not allergies - so we walked to a restaurant down the street.  Mom was afraid we were going to get kicked out because it was this fancy place and they walked in with me and wearing shorts.   Luckily I'm cute...so I flashed my smile to those around me (which realistically at the time we eat were just a bunch of old people) and no one seemed to mind.  Dinner was good, especially the lobster tail.  That's right...I'm civilized like that.

Surveying the lobster remains

Enjoying some refreshments after the tour

napping with mom

Saturday morning I slept in a bit, which was much appreciated by mom as apparently my cold had worked its way to her.  After we went down to enjoy the buffet breakfast (mmm...bacon), we went to swim in the pool for a while.  No worries about eating then swimming with this girl!  After getting a little snooze in we got in the car and headed downtown.  We had a busy day.  First we walked around the Arch.  Boy is it BIG.  We were going to go up in it, but dad chickened out.  Something about too many people.  It was starting to get hot, so we walked to get a quick lunch and check out downtown (ie. the ballpark).  I was having a lot of fun in my new umbrella stroller, it is a blast swinging my feet back and forth, but eventually the heat got to me and I konked out.  Unfortunately the new stroller is not real conducive to sleeping...my head kept falling forward.  I awoke in time to get back to the car for a couple minutes to arrive at the home of Anheuser Busch.  I guess that isn't a guy...it is a beer.  Something I am not allowed to drink for another 20 years.  We did the entire tour.  Highlights were seeing the big clydesdale horses.  They were huge....and grabbing people standing by me while we were in close quarters.  I got lots of compliments of being a good baby.  Duh...  I think the beer (or maybe the cold) got to mom so dad drove us back to the hotel to rest.  Mom and I did just that....love the late afternoon naps!  We then got back in the car to head to the boathouse for dinner.  It is a cute little restaurant on the lake in Forest Park (their Central park of sorts).  We met mom's old boss Rachael (She didn't seem old to me!) and her husband Brad and Paul.  Apparently Paul is only a year older than me, but he seemed much older.  He is really tall...and talks a lot.  I was having problems keeping up!  He was super anxious to show me the ducks, so after we finished dinner we headed over to feed the ducks.  Paul thought they were super cool, I guess they were OK.  I just wasnt sure why mom kept feeding them my animal crackers.  I'm pretty sure that I'm done with doing this feeding the duck thing if it means giving up one of my favorite snacks!  After all that, mom & dad decided it was time to get back and get to bed.  I guess that was for the best as it had been a jam packed day.

Paul feeding the ducks!

All in all, I'll give St. Louis a pretty good score.  I had a fun time exploring some new places and I think that I did quite well on the drive.  I think we got back to town just in time on Sunday because dad started feeling bad.  I guess I officially passed my cold to the entire family.  I hope I didn't share the love with anyone else along the way!  Luckily I have been on the way back up this week in time to get back into the school swing of things.  I know I love it there, but i think I got a bit use to hanging with mom because I never am ready for her to go in the mornings.  Of course once she is gone I have a blast with all my friends.  Dad says it is time for me to start getting serious and do some grown up things.  I'll eventually get there.  It's just so scary!  I have finally started getting a bit braver lately though and let go of things while standing....for a few seconds at least.  I don't want to fall!  Dad thinks it is funny how I sit down so slowly/carefully.  I'm sure a video will be posted at some time.  But maybe I should have him just plop down to sitting position from standing and see how much fun that is.  I would much rather be careful and deliberate.  Ok enough for now.  Amelia OUT!

I LOVE rings!!!