Saga of the Giraffe Headband...

Our last stories to go kit from the library was all about zoo animals. Lydia found several animals that she really liked (can anybody say monkeys and lions???). I tried branching her out to giraffes, but giraffes are not as fun as lions apparently. 

"I can do it myself".

"I can show Dad by myself".

After a quick introduction to Giraffe Lydia, Dad was aware of the game... 

Lydia tried to get Dad to wear the Giraffe head band...

And the giraffe headband was alive for about 15 minutes :( 

18 month Doctor's Visit

Success!!!!! We were happy today at the doctor.

Lydia has a doctor's kit and we have been coaching her on "the doctor is your friend. Will you be the doctor's friend?". Lydia always thinks for a minute and then says "yes friend".

Then I ask her if she will be nice to the doctor. This is always a long pause while Lydia thinks it through and then cautiously nods her head for yes.

We have listened to Lydia's heart, the babies hearts, mom and dad's heart with the stethoscope. We have pretended to look in each others ears. We have taken our temperatures. Basically we have talked this visit up ALLOT.

Either it was the age or Lydia comprehends our chats, but NO SCREAMING!!!!! I never knew an exam room with Lydia in it could be so quiet.

I get mother of the year award. Apparently my child was still sick. SO for all the children that we have been around over the last two months, I apologize profusely. She is now on an antibiotic and on the road to recovery, again. Seriously I thought all toddlers had runny noses in the winter - I have never seen a toddler in the winter that did not have a yucky nose, but...

So 25lbs and 2 ounces. (Hurray - sick and still on the charts!!!!!!!). 33 and 3/4 inches tall. Seriously don't know where the height came from - must be James side of the family!

The biggest greatest surprise of all - seems that all the 1 year set of teeth have finally broken through!!!!!!!!!!! I am hoping for a long peaceful break from teething ;)

Pre Bath Fun

Shaving cream mixed with food coloring...  

Perfect green color! 

Really a ton of fun! 

 Sometimes a toddler is just not dirty enough (or a little sad because Dad is studying!). We beat the blues this week by finger painting the bath tub. This activity really was allot of fun. Made the bathroom smell wonderful. The green tinted baby is fading (slowly though!). Since Lydia keeps asking for "more" I guess she had fun!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Do you think somebody is contemplating trouble???

jfirmvnblfjhjvjmv n  njnf jrkir8485474r5jvmvm v jfc k f///////////////////////'m,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,jm

(Translated: Good Morning and Happy Birthday!)

Random Fun Pictures From Vacation

The Christmas Rice Krispy house - just a couple weeks late ;)

Oh, JAMES!

A name less little girl has her dad wrapped around her little finger...

Isn't this how the professionals play pool???

OH! Guess what??? Lydia apparently gets car sick... 

SO glad to be home!!!!!

We have a NEW Word...

FRIENDS!!!!!

The entire time we were on vacation Lydia would look up at us and ask "friends". The conclusion that we came to was that she is a more social creature than her father and I combined! I guess maybe the park is a bit sad with just mom :(

Zoo

We went to a small tourist trap of a zoo while on vacation. (We got a REALLY good deal. Not sure that I would recommend this "zoo").

Lydia enjoyed herself for a bit. LOVED the monkeys. But after 20 minutes was ready for her next adventure ;)

I think the monkey liked Lydia as much as Lydia liked the monkeys! 

A parrot, if you can tell!

Arcade Games

 Last year when we went out of town, Lydia LOVED the arcade games. James was really looking forward to playing the arcade games with this year.

The only thing that James did not realize - Lydia can move this year. Last year she was a captive audience and could not move. This year, she would appease her father for a few minutes but then wanted to GO. So...

Happily playing for a moment...

Dreaming of playing pool...

Squirming to get away... 

Vacation and Snow

 While we were on vacation it snowed!!!!!!!! Not allot (but we had no idea that it was going to snow so it was a great surprise our first morning at the cabin!).

Lydia is not sure what the excitement is over, but will figure it out. 

Isn't that just breath taking???

Dressed and ready for the snow... 

Sadly, I bought this coat thinking that Lydia was going to grow. But the coat will defiantly still fit  next year too!

Lydia gives me that SAME face!!!!!!

Hot chocolate please? 

Lydia's Bedroom

Two weeks before Lydia was born this is what her bedroom looked like...

A month before Lydia was born this is what James office looked like...

So ummmmmm, needless to say all those beautifully decorated baby nurseries wasn't reality in Lydia's world. Infact our little girl was born into a very practical family. She came home to a bedroom with a crib (and mattress!!!!) and changing table. Her practical parents also decided to move and renovate a basement while being 8 months pregnant, so that is our excuse!

But anyway, we decided after one entire night of trying to feed the baby and get in and out of a big bed that we needed a rocking chair. So we bought a rocking chair for her room. Online - the only missing review for this rocking chair was that it was only comfortable for 10 minutes. 

Several weeks later, we realized that Lydia slept better in darkness. So in the middle of the night we found a big sheet and threw over her window. The next day, we decided that we should do something a little more permanent for curtains. I went back to the linen closet and found an old set of "blackout" curtains. We declared them PERFECT and James hung the perfect blue and yellow curtains. 

I eventually decided that we were keeping our little girl (hahaha) and maybe we should hang something on the walls for her. Make her room look less like we don't care. SO off to the store I went. Well, with a young infant who wanted to eat every couple hours I made it all the way to the DOLLAR STORE! Determined to find something cute I found some cute pink picture frames. Took me many many many weeks but eventually the stars and moon all aligned and there were pictures in the picture frames AND the pictures hanging on the wall. It was a miracle!!!!!! 

After Christmas, life settled down again and I was spending many hours in that rocking chair looking at the yellow walls that really needed some love. So I talked James into letting me paint the walls pink (he thought he was going to have to do it but I conquered!). And then I found the CUTEST little pink and brown polka dots stickers. They were adorable, so right over Lydia's bed they went. 

Her room actually looked like we cared! 

Lydia eventually started getting her legs stuck in the crib rails so I found her brown crib bumpers. Amazing - they actually kinda coordinated with her room! 

Her Gramma Mary even sent her a wall hanging that we transformed into a bow holder. It was a pale pink wall hanging so it matched ;)

Long story short, after 18 months Grandma Karen finally succeeded in talking Mom and Dad  into new blackout curtains that actually match her room. And look like a little girl (and they keep the light out even better than the original blackout curtains!!!!!!). 

Friday at 4:30 PM, I finally got the tie backs for her curtains. Started to take a picture of the masterpiece but we were going out to dinner. 

Saturday all day I was going to take a picture of the masterpiece. 

Saturday at 4:10, I discovered that my dear daughter has spent her afternoon nap time not sleeping but rather pulling the cute polka dots off of her wall... 

Yes, there was a punishment. Yes, the polka dots that survived the afternoon play date have been moved to a different wall. Yes, my daughter had a cute and fully decorated bedroom for approximately 24 hours... 

Moral of the story - decorating is really just not worth it ;)