Pumpkin Pie!

I am a big fan these days of going to get Marley's leash and chasing her around the house so we can take her on a walk.

Hello again, mom is feeling a little under the weather so it took me a while to coerce dad to do some translating for me.  If the grammar and spelling are wrong, live with it, we're trying.  Lets get right to it, I left off with Tuesday night when I was surprised when Grandma Janice showing up to spend Thanksgiving with us, which was awesome.  Wednesday Dad had to go to work for awhile so it was just grandma, mom, and myself.  What do three women do when they have time to kill, GO SHOPPING!  We went to the mall and I picked up some new shoes, since I have grown out of my only other pair.  I know a girl with only one pair of shoes CRAZY.   I have now fixed that.  We then met dad for lunch at Noodles and Co. it was great, I of course had the mac n cheese, no left overs.  We did a quick stop off at JC Penny's where I ran wild, it was fun.  I even picked up a new snow suit....bring on the snow!  Other highlights of that day included taking grandma to the park.  I showed her how good I am at the slide and even went on the swing with her.  It was fun!  Since Thursday was full of cooking plans, we decided to go up the street to Houlihans for dinner.  It actually has been a while since I've been there, so I had a good time. 

totally normal place to hang out with
grandma right?

Apparently Sadie & Marley enjoyed licking my PB&J leftovers!

Notice Marley's usual spot under my chair

I don't remember too much about Thanksgiving last year, but I do know that I didn't get the chance to try any of the food so I woke up ready to eat!  I found out that we were not actually eating till later in the day, so I did my best to put my mind off my food and focus on other things, like playing with grandma!  Dad was all over the place putting up Christmas lights and getting ready to make our very own Thanksgiving meal for the first time.  Dad said he was going to give it a try this year, so with a little advice from grandma, mom and dad started cooking in the kitchen.  Grandma kept me busy playing with me, which she found out isn't as easy as it used to be, I like to be on the move.  I finally wore out and laid down for a nap, this awesome smell woke me up, so mom came in and napped with me in the chair for awhile.  When I finally got up it was time to eat, let me tell you this is one of my favorite things to do, and I do it well.  I think dad did an amazing job for his first try.  The turkey was yummy, which is good because we have had it for like every meal since!  I say that the turkey and the stuffing were among my favorite.  The sweet potatoes also were pretty good, but they are vegetables so I of course prefer the bread/meat over them.  BUT....isn't pumpkin a vegetable?  I will say... I was a big fan of my pumpkin pie!  That's right I got my very own piece, with whip cream even.  It disappeared rather quickly, so yes...I did like it.  Oh, I also have taken to feeding myself for every meal with my new cool silverwear, so it takes me a bit longer to put it all down.  When I'm really hungry, I still choose to use my fingers.  That night we had our Christmas light lighting, it was no plaza lighting but it was pretty cool anyway.  The Plaza doesn't have a snowman, we do.   Needless to say with all this food, family, & fun I have lots to be thankful for, don't I?

Thanksgiving requires playing some
football, so I'm told.  So we gave it a shot
with dad's flat ball.

Friday I had to say goodbye to grandma, I sure had a good time playing with her and showing her how smart I am.  Yeah, I totally duped impressed her while she was here.  Apparently, everyone is quite easilly impressed with my activities of late.  Mom's favorite is after I sneeze, I go to the kleenex box so they can get it for me, wipe my nose, and then went to the trash to throw it away.  Dad really liked it when he came in the other night and asked if I was done with my bath and I got up and put all my toys away and then stood up for the towel.  He also likes it when I put my dirty clothes in the hamper before bath.  Something about starting cleaning young....I didn't know that doing these things that are so everyday would make everyone so happy.  I have such an easy family to please!  Anyway, back to the update....After she took off back to Lincoln, I thought things were going to get back to normal, man was I wrong.  Nebraska was on T.V. and grandpa Mclain and Nancy came over to watch the game, what a surprise.  We had fun watching the game...well, actually I ate and watched pieces before taking my nap through the second half.  They left before I woke up so they made plans to meet up later that night.  We met them down at Union Station and looked at the trains and then tried to go to Jack Stacks for dinner, apparently Jack Stacks didn't get the memo that I eat at 5:30, because it was packed.  Dad and mom told Grandpa to stay and eat and we could eat together the next night.  Mom received her wish and we went to Manny's for mexican.  I devoured lots of chips and a chicken quesadilla.  I am my mother's child.

"watching" the game with dad and Nancy.  As you can see Marley made a
new friend.

Saturday we went to Grandpa's hotel and tried to go swimming, but the water was freezing.  I braved it for awhile but when my teeth started chattering I got out.  Saturday night we met them at the Power and Light district for dinner.  I had so much fun high fiving people and running around the place after I got done eating. Dad keeps saying he should have had me when he was single, because he gets lots of attention walking around.  That jokester... Anyway, it was good to spend some time with them.  I'm glad they visited!

I also got to do some good shopping over the weekend checking out what i want to tell this Santa guy to bring me, since I have been a good girl this year.  I pretty much like every toy that I found in the aisles of Target and Costco.  Hopefully Santa's sleigh has a big trunk because I know they won't fit in the Prius.  Dad says hopefully Santa can fit a bigger house in his sleigh too.  Dream Big, dad...Sunday after church we did another pit stop, this time at the Boy Scout place to get our Christmas tree.  I got to sit in the back seat with the tree on the way home.  We put the tree up and so far so good on me leaving it alone.  So much more happened this weekend I know I am forgetting things, but you get the gist.  AMELIA OUT!



I was a bit cold, so I tried on grandpa's shirt to
keep me warm.



just doing some shopping

Here is a video for the week: (For those who only look at the email, remember you have to go the actual blog to see any videos! Here is the link)

Playing with Marley

Stack em' up

Like my hat I made at school?

Amelia here.  I figure that with this upcoming holiday, I may get behind on blogging so figured I would send you all a quick update from the past week and wish you an early Happy Thanksgiving.

I'll skip straight to the weekend, because who doesn't want to do that always?  After school/work on Friday, we went to mom's favorite mexican place - Ponak's.  I guess dad was busy fixing something at Ava's house and made mom miss her night out with the girls on Thursday so this was her consolation prize.  I'm not sure about being second fiddle, but I took it.  I got my own chicken quesadilla, that I'm sure no surprise to any of you....I did some major damage too.  I also decided I am a big fan of chips.  Hold the salsa.....veggies, duh. 

Saturday morning we did our family trip to the grocery store, but this time we filled the cart with way different things.  Turkey, stuffing, etc.  We bought twice as much as we needed, I at first thought this was because I have become such a big eater, but dad informed me that we were buying a meal for a family at church that wouldn't be able to afford to have a good Thanksgiving meal themselves.  I'm good with that.  I learned that I am suppose to be thankful for every meal put in front of me, because not everyone gets those options.  I still say that I am happy to send my fruits and veggies to these other people...but apparently, I'm not getting the point.  I'm only 14 months...give me a break!

Saturday evening we went down to Union Station to see the Christmas tree lighting.  I couldn't care less about the tree, but I was in awe of the big building and all the different people there.  There were free rides on a train, but I was told that I am not big enough yet.  Not cool....so we went across the way to Jack's Stack to have some BBQ.  Mom & dad ate some ribs and I was quite content with my chicken fingers and applesauce.  What?  Applesauce is a fruit?  Ugh....I may have to opt for new side dishes with this new revelation. 

Sunday we went to church, where I had the usual good time in daycare with Ava.  I took a cat nap on the way home only to find out that we were not going home after all.  We met Ava and her parents out for lunch at First Watch!  My first meal out with my BFF was a good time.  I think I had a turkey sandwich, but the more exciting piece was these cool blocks (aka creamers) I got to play with.  As soon as I saw the bowl...I knew I was going to have some good fun.  As you can see my friend Avery had this same idea ages ago.  I must say, I did pretty good stacking them.  Right now my high is 4...but I'm coming after your record Avery...  Ava wanted to try too, but sometimes she doesn't know her own strength...she grabbed it and was getting ready for some stacking I'm sure...and POOF...cream explosion.  I'm pretty sure I tasted some pumpkin in that cream.  Yummy.  Needless to say, Ava and her super human strength hands were banned from the stacking game.  More for me! 

Let's see...oh, get this, I'm done with school for the week.  Yeah, only a 2 day week - how crazy is that?!  I'm liking this holiday business.  I got to make some pretty cool artwork, we got some treats at school, and I get to enjoy the rest of the week with mom and dad.....and grandma.  Yep, she is here to spend Thanksgiving with us.  I already have read some new books with her.  Sweet.  I'm sure I will have more to share on this holiday stuff next time around.  Until then, Amelia OUT!

Smile big you say?  OK.  So you can see all 12 of my teeth!

One leaf, two leaf...

I do apologize, it has been 10 days since my last post.  I know it is hard to move on with your weeks without seeing some cute pics of me, so I decided to step up my game tonight and give the people what they want.

Do NOT take my remote control!

Things really have been pretty status quo around here.  Sticking to my routine.  Mom keeps thinking we need to do more things to spice up said routine, but dad and I remind her that I really like it the way it is.  I try to compromise when she gets wild hairs, but I fully expect to eat and go to bed around the same time.  Sometimes I'm trying to take my clothes off and walk to the bath so they realize, it is time for bed time.  I would say I have really become a big girl over the past week, I now choose to walk 90% of the time...and even do some running.  Yep, that's right....watch out FloJo...wait who?  Apparently now that I made this 'big girl' leap, the parentals decided that I needed to give up my bottle.  I was only having one at night before bed, but they said big girls don't drink out of bottles, I was none too thrilled about the idea.  Again, I have a routine!  But after dad informed me that the sippy cup was also full of my yummy milk, all was good.  I also am working on feeding myself with utensils (well a spoon, I still need to get a fork!)

Here is some quick video proof that I can feed myself.

A couple of the highlights of the past week were:

1. Last Friday my BFF Ava came home with me after school to play.  I was totally happy to have her on my turf, but I wasn't so sure about sharing my special toys (i.e. mom's old blackberry).  We went on a walk - where again I was a bit grumpy.  Sue me if I didn't like how she was holding hands with dad and walking way too fast for me to keep up!  We had fun playing and enjoyed some chinese (orange chicken) for dinner.  Yummy.  I gave Ava all my vegetables to eat, per usual, while i scarfed down my chicken and rice.  Wait...I didn't say that.  I totally eat all my fruits and vegetables at school everyday. We played some ring around the rosy - one of my new faves - but as you can see by the video, she didn't get the "we all fall down" part, which I typically love.  As a matter of fact, I usually try to pull mom and dad down before the queue...but I decided to play along with Ava and instead stay standing and laugh at how ridiculous mom & dad look when they fall.  All fun.  We eventually went to take a bath, but Ava didn't like that idea at all.  I tried to share my cool bath letters, but she told dad she wanted out to cuddle instead.  All worked out anyway, because her mom showed up to pick her up.  Obviously, she was quite happy then.  Understandable, her mommy is nice.  I guess she got to go to a football game after that.  Me...I went to dreamland.  No way, I would have made it past the 1st quarter.  Like I said before...routines.


2. Trips to the park with mom - I am a BIG fan of going down the slide these days.  All by myself.  Yep, BIG girl.  I also like to just stare at the other kids

3. Raking leaves with dad.  Ok, I didn't help at all.  I played with mom - who also was of no help.  But I did really enjoy playing in them.  Dad says I will have another chance as more than 50% of the leaves are still in the trees.  As you can see...we had some big piles!

where's Marley?

I found her!

come join in the fun dad!

4. Last night was totally outside of the usual Wednesday night.  Mom got home and we packed in the car to go to dinner.  Since I'm a fan of dinner, I didn't complain...but I did take a cat nap as I have taken to only sleeping an hour at school again.  I think that is due to a darn cough/cold that has come to visit the past couple of days/nights.  No fun.  I digress, we showed up at the Golden Ox.  The place looked fairly familiar.  I guess I had been before, but it took me the 2nd time to realize that I saw no living breathing Golden Ox's running around.  Seriously...first the Blue Moose, then Red Robin, now this!  It is all OK though...we walked in only to see Grandma & Grandpa Steffen and a bunch of my Great Aunts and Uncles!  I guess they are doing a trip with all of grandma's sisters down to Branson and they decided they wanted to break up the drive.  Lucky for me that meant they were going to spend the evening in KC.  We had a good dinner.  I amazed the waiter at how much I can scarf down.  That included goldfish, saltines, applesauce, THEN my real meal of chicken fingers, and then I polished off some of dad's steak for dessert.  MMMMmmmm...  As mentioned before, I was pretty darn tired...but I still managed to make some friends and give LOTS of high-fives.  Grandma came home with me to give a quick bath and have a drink before hitting the sack.  I got to play with g.ma and g.pa a bit this AM before they headed to get the rest at the hotel and head back on the road and I went to school to tackle another day with the big kids!
 


I'm ready for the weekend.  I have been told that I get a SUPER long weekend next week, so I am quite excited for what may be in store there!  Until then....Amelia OUT!

Video of me REAL big girl walking.

Duck, duck...sushi?

Happy Monday! No, I'm serious....I am really happy today. I'm not sure why, I just woke up ready for a new week. Perhaps it was because I slept 12 hours in response to my LONG day yesterday. Whoever came up with this Daylight Savings Time thing, seriously didn't know what they were doing. Talk about throwing a wrench in my routine. I woke up the usual time on Sunday, but apparently it wasn't the usual...it was in fact only 5:30 am. Dad tried to convince me to go back to sleep, but I kept telling him this is my normal time to get up and moving and playing! But I quickly realized that things were a bit off yesterday as my play time in the AM seemed really stretched out. By the time we headed to church, I was already exhausted. So I took a nap on the way there...and back! Then after getting home and scarfing down some yummy lunch (I can seriously put down some leftover chicken and dumplings), I took another long nap. I was rewarded with a trip to the park. I got to feed the duckies again. SO much fun, I almost jump out of the stroller when we start getting close.

playing with Ava at church

I was told that we were lucky the weather is still so nice, there may not be that many more trips to the park in store for this year. Boo... Apparently we were not the only people enjoying the day, because the playground was nuts. Despite dad being leary of the germ fest, I did get to swing for a while and go down some of the slides. I'm not ready to go solo quite yet, but it is a lot of fun going down with mommy or daddy's help!

Maddie pointed out my nose to me.  OH..that's where
it is

Ok, I told you about yesterday, some other highlights from the past week include...

I can totally use these chopstick things

1. Dinner with Maddie and her parents on Thursday night. Yep...I had my first shot at some sushi! I didn't end up getting to eat any rolls, I stuck with only cooked stuff. I am a big fan of gyoza. I ate at least 3 or 4 of those delicous things! Maddie stuck to fruits and veggies. The 2 of us together eat a real complete meal. she likes fruits and veggies. and i stick to the starches and meat. She doesn't know what she is missing! Mom says I should learn from her. But whatever...I know what I like! Mom was really impressed with Maddie's vocabulary. Apparently words like "botchulism" are what impresses mom. Talk about a lofty target. Thanks alot Maddie! Before we parted ways, Maddie did let me borrow a super cool push toy that I took outside the next day. As you can see, I am a big fan.My new toy borrowed from my friend Maddie! Love it.

2. Debut of my new Husker cheerleader outfit! Isn't it SO cute? Apparently, I still have some practicing to do when it comes to cheering loud enough to make an impact to the game because my Huskers lost. In a game that we thought was a no-brainer. Apparently, so did they. At first dad said that I will now have to burn the new uniform, but I have talked him into keeping it and giving it another try soon.

Marley and I both begging dad for some of his Runza.  This was
after mom and I went to Runza and I ate most of hers!

3. My date night with Heidi! Mom & dad decided they needed a 'grown-up' night at a fancy restaurant so my friend Heidi came over to play with me. Of course we had a grand ole' time.

4. I am 14 months old! Mom tried to take pics of me again, but as you can see here and on my growth page on the right, I just don't pose the same as I did in the early months. I am just have too much to do mom!

Hmmm...that is all I can think of for now. Hope your Monday was as good as mine. Amelia OUT!

Here are a few more videos for your viewing pleasure.

Just call me Fraulein

Guten Tag! Happy November! This post is going to mainly have pictures of me in my Halloween costume. My family in Germany sent a beautiful Dirndl for me when I was first born. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a traditional dress from Bavaria. Since I don't have all that many occasions to wear dresses, mom decided to accessorize it for my costume this year with some clogs, a bavarian pretzel, and a hat with braids....I know, a few of you may have been confused by the rapid hair growth in the pictures. No need to worry, I am still sporting the baldish look - quite beautifully if you ask me.

I had multiple occasions to wear it. Good thing it is comfy! Mom picked me up early from school again last Thursday. We drove all the way to her work and did some trick or treating around the office. This was my first visit to her place of work. I must say I was underwhelmed. Can't say I'm too excited about "Take your Kids to work" days in the future. The people all seemed nice. I even let lots of strangers hold me. Yep, you heard me right. I did some walking around and tried to steer clear of some of the scarier people. We did a quick diaper change (on mom's desk - nice, huh?) and then headed to dad's work. Yes, he has also been getting grief for never introducing me to the ladies at the office so I went in and made my appearance. They actually were doing their trick or treating yesterday, so I got all the attention to just me - AND they went to the vending machines to get special treats just for me. Pretty nice, huh? The cheese filled crackers were awesome! Again...I wasn't all that excited with this work thing. I guess dad normally doesn't work there, but he said that I can't go with him to do his real work. Too dangerous. From what I saw last week, I think I am going to enjoy school for as long as possible, WAY more fun.

what?  I'm suppose to stop eating for a picture?

I had another opportunity to sport my costume on Saturday evening because we went to my friend Avery's for her (or her parents) annual Halloween bash. Avery was a black kitty and really had the "meow" down. Her daddy this year (in theme with last year's bee and 'drag queen bee' costume) was a Black Cat firework. He is clever like that. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good pic of him and his totally uncomfortable looking ensemble. I asked mom & dad what they were suppose to be, they said they were "Americans that stole a cute German baby." I couldn't fight them on that one. Maddie showed up with her parents...wearing a familiar looking bumble bee costume. She looked super cute too. Dad kept talking about how I now seem much bigger than petite lil' Maddie. I haven't decided if I should take offense to this. Come on, which way do you want it? Pack on the pounds or not?! Again, sue me if I enjoy my food. Boy do I. I had some killer spinach ravioli last night. Can't get enough.... I digress....Back to party. I got to quickly see the Nass's who have a baby coming in a few months and the Ungles family but unfortunately, the party really started getting rolling around 7 which was also the time my internal clock started rolling its way to night night land. So we headed home so I could sleep comfortably in my bed.

Then there was of course last night, another time to wear my costume. The official holiday. We went on a walk with Marley and stopped to trick or treat....(which I got neither a trick nor a treat) at a few neighbors houses. Apparently I dont get yummy bite size candy yet..and mom and dad figured they didn't need it either. One friend down the street did give me some yogurt covered raisins though. They were pretty darn good. We sat outside and greeted ALL the trick or treaters. There were so many cars and kids it was crazy. Apparently we are a hot spot for candy...who knew. Unfortunately we ran out around 7:45. I felt bad when I heard mom saying "Lo Siento, No Mas" to the kiddos. Yep, I'm working on my Spanish skills too. Mom says I need to work more on my English first. Apparently "HI" does not cut it, dad says not to worry he understands all my words that mom calls 'gibberish'. The gall....

Those were the highlighted activities for the week. A few other things...I am working on feeding myself with a spoon. Getting pretty good at it, if I do say so myself. Eating is quite easy with all the teeth I have. Rule of thumb is 4 teeth for every 6 months of age when they are coming in. Well, I found something I am definitely ahead in. Apparently my mouth thinks I'm 18 months, because I have 12 and am working on #13 & 14. I also am walking around quite a bit more. Again, I still think crawling is the way to really get somewhere fast, but I'm feeling more comfortable with going farther and farther on all 2's vs. 4's. I also have been having a lot of fun with chasing Marley all around the house. Notice I say "I" am having fun...Marley hasn't fully weighed in. I was going to load a video, but apparently mom's HD phone video is too big for YouTube. Boo.... Here is one of me playing...really not that exciting, but I figure grandma's will enjoy.

you totally want to kiss me right?

Last night I had another check in with the lady from Parents-as-Teachers...she says I am doing good and right on track with everything. I am still off the charts on my fine motor skills and social skills. I think I upped my social skills score once I blew her a kiss and then attempted to give her a real kiss. Yep, I love to give kisses these days. It looks something like this!

Amelia OUT!

And Dad says that we don't have enough leaves to bother to rake yet!

Dad wanted to TV shop after seeing Avery's dad's cool TV.
I chose to snack and lounge on their comfy chairs.