20 months!

Precious Reese, you are 20 months! You are in your "twenties"! I can't believe it. You are SUCH a big girl! Mommy is so busy with you I don't get to blog as much anymore, but I felt that turning 20 months old was a big deal I needed to blog about everything you do! Here are some of my favorite pics since my last update on you at 17 months...

weight: 25ish lbs

diaper size: 5

shoe size: 5 1/2 wide

clothes: all 18-24 months

teeth count: 12 with 2 lower "I" teeth beginning to cut through

You TALK all day long! I can't even keep track of all your words b/c you learn several new words and RETAIN them each day!!! Here are some new words (and how you say them)...good girl (goh guh), mine (myee), Jesus (she she), hotdog (ah-dah), airplaine (abby), baby (beebee), daddy (dahee), mommy (maui), please (pee), wow, whoa, potty (paw-ee), bite, yeah, no, choo choo, eye, outside (eye-shee), apple, sock (sah), shoe, love you (yuyoooo), thank you (tay-too), foot (fuh), tree, row row row, oh no, Barney (bah-eee), potty (pah-ee), cookie (cookuh), ok (uhkuh), cheese (chee), candy (cahee), show, sorry (sah-ee), cook, face, paper, bow, teeth (tee), Houston (Chi-Chi), Will (Wah), and Abby. This is in addition to all the other words you already knows!

You know many animal sounds now including cow, sheep, snake, dog, cat, duck, rooster, pig (you try to snort!), monkey, owl, tiger, lion, elephant (you just put your arm up and yell), and fish.

You are sooo polite! You say thank you probably 90% of the time somebody gives you something. You also say please if you reeeeaaally want something. Like the candy cane kisses mommy put in a bowl in the kitchen!

You are such a mimic! I was folding your clothes the other day and had them lined up on the couch. You came by and tried to grab a stack and I said "no no no!" After I put your clothes away, you went and got two bibs out and put them on the couch and started saying "no no!" to them! So funny! You also have removed all the ornaments (thank goodness for shatterproof) from the bottom 1/3 of the tree, and I am finding them EVERYWHERE! I had to move the breakable ones up high once you started going for them. I had to say No alot in order for you to leave them alone. So now you go up to the tree and point to the breakable candycane and say NO!

You are very possesive of your toys. If Jack is laying on your book (heaven forbid) you go right up to him and say "No! Mine! Jack!" It's so cute! We are trying to teach you to stop saying mine. We don't use that word at home, so you must have learned it at school. You are also so sweet and loving to Jack. Lilly doesn't let you come near him still. Yesterday Jack was laying on the couch, and you came up to him and gave him a big kiss on the lips and told him you loved him! Oh my gosh it was so sweet!

You are a dancing fool! Any music that you like you just dance without a care in the world! You are able to hop now too! The other day we were at Firewheel and this car drove by playing the macarena and you started dropping it like it was HOT!

When you see an airplane you point up in the sky and say "Abby Abby Abby!" You are so amazed! Also when you hear the train by our house you say Choo Choo every time! We rode the train at Firewheel the other day and you loved it!

We were there when Chi-Chi (Houston) was born! You and Mack had way too much fun in the waiting room together!

We went wedding dress shopping with Abby and you helped pick her dress out! You liked watching yourself in the mirror at the bridal shops!

We went to the state fair in October. You had texas twisters, lemonade, brats, and fried cheesecake! I was so proud of you for trying new foods!

When you take your medicine now you say "Good Girl" after b/c I always say it when you take it without a fuss!

You are calling us Mommy and Daddy now! I don't really know why you switched from mama and dada, but it is so cute!

You shake your head yes and no and are able to answer yes/no questions correctly.

You still have all your favorite foods, but have been a little more adventurous with trying new ones. I have been making casseroles lately with some success. You like brocolli rice casserole and breakfast casserole! You are starting to eat more out instead of me having to pack you a full blown meal, which is very nice. You will always eat easy mac and yogurt though!

You are drinking more milk hallelujah! I have to be very innovative though. I find that if I switch up the drinking cup every day and put chocolate in it you think its good! Some days we do a straw cup and some days a Mickey Mouse glittery cup. You don't like the same boring cup of milk each day.

You turned 1.5 yrs old on October 2! We had a chili lunch and had everybody over. We also had cookie cake like we did last year! Sadly mommy and you were DOWN with a stomach bug later that night. Not fun!

You have had 3 ear infections and strep throat once since September :(

You go to school 2-3 days per week on the days that I work and love all the activities there. You are learning so many new words, songs, and do lots of artwork for us! We are very happy with you going there part time!

You LOVE singing with me at night! You are starting to fill in the words yourself! You say EIEIO when it's time. You also like when I rock really exagerated and sing Row Row Row your boat. Your favorite song is You are my Sunshine and always say more (MA!) when I'm towards the end. We are singing Christmas songs now too. I sing alot of songs that my mom used to sing to me and you usually drift off after 10 minutes. It is such a sweet time for me. For the longest time you didn't want to be rocked and just wanted to go to bed. You prefer to be rocked now. If you don't fall asleep you say "nigh nigh" and I put you in your crib. You then say foot and hold your feet up one by one for me to kiss. Then you hold your hands up, and I kiss them. Lately your babies have been going to bed with you which leads me to my next little story...

You have this tiny baby that your Nanny got you. It has a little hat that comes off but is attached. You like to take the hat off but can't quite get the hat back on, so you say uh oh until we put it back on for you. Well I let you take that baby to bed the other night and ALL NIGHT LONG every hour or so I heard "uh oh. uh oh beebee. uh oh!" I guess you were thrown off by the baby in bed with you and you were sleep talking to it all night! Needless to say that baby hasn't been back in the bed with you at night!

You are on 1 nap a day now finally. That transition took awhile! It is usually around 2 hrs. I miss the days of two 2 hour naps! You are waking up anywhere from 7-8 in the morning and going to bed anywhere from 7-8 at night. You continue to sleep all night long praise the Lord!

We have started the potty training process! I don't really know what I'm doing but I'm trying! I'm not really making it a big deal about it yet but the potty seat is on the potty! Of course it is a princess potty and it plays princess music. You have pooped 3X in the potty and earned 2 m&m's each time! So we are making progress! You like to fake cry poo poo though and run to the potty (pah-ee). Then you say all done and flush and say "bye bye poo poo" and look for your m&m's. You get pretty ticked when you don't get any!

You LOVE your Sesame Street. You frequently look at the tv and say "show? Elmo?" You can correctly identify Elmo, Grover, Oscar, Abby, Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, and Big Bird. It is going to be a Sesame Street Christmas at our house!

You are so good at putting two and two together. If I say "Do you want to go outside?" you say "shoe". You know where the cat food bowl is in our bathroom and you will put all the pieces that have fallen out back in and say "Jack, food".

There is this Justin Bieber perfume commercial where all these men are screaming like little girls that cracks us up every time. When it came on over Thanksgiving we were all cracking up and you started screaming at the top of your lungs every time the men would scream! So we would laugh even more and then you would scream even louder!

I have been trying to emphasize Jesus this Christmas seasn. I have my Willow Tree nativity, a little mini nativity that I put in your room, and then your Little People Nativity. You know where Jesus is in each one and can bring Him to me when I ask you where Jesus is! You also tell Him you love Him and kiss Him! It makes my heart happy!

You are borderline OBSESSED with acorns. When we go on walks we don't get very far b/c you are too busy collecting them and stuffing them in your pockets.

We went to the pumpkin patch with our sweet playgroup. Little did we know you had strep which would explain all the crying you did! :(

You say Mmmmmmm when something tastes good!

We watched the Rangers make it to the World Series AGAIN this year!

If we say "Love you" to you, you say it back! If we ask for a hug you run into our arms and hug us so tight!

You are quite sassy at times and still like to hit us if you are frustrated. I will give you "the look"and tell you not to hit. You will give me a hug and say "sohwee". It really is sweet.

You had a Halloween parade at school and came home with lots of loot!

We had lots of fun Halloween activites including a neighborhood block party!

You went trick or treating for the first time and were the cutest little cow we have ever seen!

For Thanksgiving we went to Nanny and Grampa's new lakehouse for the first time! You got to play with alot of mommy's old toys and sit in one of mommy's old chairs! We had a great Thanksgiving at Lake Granbury!

You were in such awe of all the Christmas decorations this year! Everytime we got something else out you would say "Woah!!!!" and want to come see it and hold it.

You know that Santa says "Ho Ho Ho".

Little girl, I am so proud to be your mommy! I LOVE watching you learn and explore! You are such a sweet, smart little girl, and I can't believe you will be 2 in 4 months!

Reese-isms @ 17.5 months

Well I certainly have let blogging go by the wayside. We are just having so much fun with our sassy little girl! I am exhausted during naptime and just want to sit still for a few minutes! But I really want to remember this really fun time right now. Each stage she goes through, I just can't imagine that life could get any better. And then she gets a little older and even more fun!!! Here is what Reese is up to at 17.5 months...

Stats: 24 lbs, size 4 diaper, size 5 shoe, a few 12 month clothes still fit, but mostly 18 month stuff

All 4 molars started showed their ugly faces in June and then finished in July. So basically she got her molars all summer long in the middle of our summer vacations. Poor sweet child. Teething is never good to her. Her lower laterals came in next. The first was August 9 and the 2nd took it's time! Whatever pair of teeth that is coming in, usually come in one right after another. The 2nd lower lateral came in about a month later in early September. So she has 12 teeth, and we are just waiting on the 4 "I" teeth which I heard are the worst! We have ordered an amber teething necklace to try! Reese got sick with every round of teething except one. This summer of teething brought hand, foot, and mouth (for the 3rd time!), strep throat, and a NASTY stomach virus.

Favorite foods: scrambled eggs with cheese, pancakes, yogurt, applesauce (the squeezable kind), powdered doughnuts, cheese, easy mac, chicken nuggets, bananas, nectarines, the gerber mac&cheese with chicken and veggies, ritz cheese crackers, and goldfish.

Big news this summer is she no longer takes a bottle before bed!!!! At about 16 months she got a horrible stomach virus. She puked her ENTIRE bottle during the night and then tried to lay in it. I am SO glad we heard her throwing up. The poor thing. So we opted out of giving her a bottle the next night and prayed and crossed our fingers and she slept great! We never looked back and she has been bottle free ever since. I packed them up so we wouldn't be tempted to give her one, and so she wouldn't see one!

When I ask her if she wants a snack, she says "Nack!" and then "bow" and goes to her cabinet and gets a bowl out for me to put her snack in.

She still sleeps 7-7 like a dream!!!! 1 nap on days that she is at school. Some days at home she takes 1 nap and some days it is 2. Just kinda depends on what is going on that day!

Talking up a storm!!! New words the past few months have been snack (na), water (awawa), juice (ju), paper (paypa), bowl (bo), bow (said with a very Texas drawl), Mack (Ma), Nash (Na), shoes (shis), hot (ot), cracker (cracka), cheese (chee), uh oh (uh oooooo), thank you (day dooooo), please (baysh), outside (ishe), and Reese (eeshe). Sometimes she will just babble for a loong time! It is so cute. It's like we are having a conversation back and forth but I have no clue what she is saying!

She says thank you without any cuing from me.

She is signing alot now too... more, please, water, all done, milk, and again.

She makes kitty, doggie, monkey, and cow sounds.

She knows were her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tongue, belly button, and feet are.

When she coughs she thumps herself on the chest a couple times.

She does not like to sit down in the bathtub and likes to test us to see how many times she can stand up before she has to get out.

She LOVES to throw her trash away. She also loves to remove trash from the trashcan so I have had to use the handy dandy locking mechanism a time or two (this really makes her mad!)

When she is tired she will lay down on her tummy in the living room and put her head on any object that is nearby. She will also push herself around backwards on her tummy when she is tired.

She is starting to abuse her sweet friendship with Jack. If he comes over and lays by something that she wants or is playing with she will hit him! She is getting possesive! Poor Jack just takes it, but one time he did swipe her back when she would not leave him alone! Lilly still takes off running whenever he sees her coming his way.

She is such a good laundry helper. She will randomly go and empty her drawers of clean clothes and just dump them in the laundry room. She also likes to stuff the clean clothes in random drawers when I am putting her clothes away. My OCD self is trying to be ok with finding a jammie in the play clothes drawer!

She loves to watch tv while she eats (I know bad!) but it seems to help her eat a good meal! She loves Barney, Sesame Street, Jack's Big Music Show, Wonder Pets, and strangely enough Fresh Beat Band (which is a really fun show!)

She is really into her babies right now. She puts her diapers on them, wraps them up, throws them on the ground to pat their backs, pushes them around in her baby stroller, and makes them go "nigh-nigh".

Starting to have opinions about her clothing. One day she threw a royal fit b/c the "shis" she wanted to wear did not fit! And one day she brought Andrew her swimsuit. So he thought she wanted to go swimming. He put her in it and took her outside to swim. Nope, she did not want to swim. She just wanted to wear her swimsuit!

Likes to throw her sidewalk chalk off the back patio and then go get it and throw it back on the patio. And so on and so on and so on...

Loves bubbles and is getting really good at blowing them!

VEEEEERY independent when it comes to being out and about. Not a fan of being strapped into the shopping cart at Kroger or Target. Lately I have been doing the grocery shopping on days that I work when I can just get in and get out after work. But when I do take her I have to be very prepared with lots of snacks, a finished grocery list, and a getaway plan. There can be no indecisiveness on these trips. And once she is out of the cart, don't you dare even think about putting her back in b/c you will hear that child screaming from the other side of the store! I have been "that mom" alot lately! We have been frequenting the cookie counter at Target lately!

Played in a bounce house for the first time and LOVED it.

We turned her around in her carseat in early September and she seems to be pretty indifferent about it. I thought she would just absolutely LOVE it, but honestly as long as her DVD player is going she could care less what direction she is facing.

Reese graduated from the older infants to the younger tods room at school during the summer. She now has stretch & grow and music with Mr David every week. She still only goes on the days that I work which is never more than 2-3 days/week. She is doing so good there!!! Never cries when daddy drops her off. I no longer have to pack lunch for her b/c she is eating all their food! This makes me so happy. She got a "happy gram" last week. Her new teachers are really sweet. They did tell us in the nicest way that she struggles with staying in her chair during meal times and wanders the room. This makes me laugh. Of course she wanders the room...she's 17 months! That's why I strap her down for meals at home!

Well that is all I can think of right now, but may add more later!

14 months!!!

My baby is 14 months! How is that possible? And why didn't I do a 13 month post? Oh well. Life has been busy just like our little 14 month old! You are ON THE GO! I don't think I've sat down at home with you awake in a looong time! You are sassy, spunky, funny, and goofy! You know when you have an audience, and your personality is really shining! We love you REESE!!!

weight: 22ish lbs

diaper: size 4

shoe: 4.5 wide

clothes: 12-18 month (goodness some 18-24 month stuff is starting to fit!)

teeth count: 6

favorites activities: throwing blankets around and laying on them, going through the tupperware cabinet and pantry and bringing me food items and sippy cups, putting clothes on your head and walking around like that, books (10 friendly fish, puppies, kittens, matching book), climbing the couch, water table, Baby Einstein movies, Sesame Street, Jack, bubbles,

dislikes: getting your diaper changed

You have started the fit throwing! Whether we take something away (like the bug spray you were eating) or pick you up to change your diaper, you kick and scream and act very dramatic. We try to ignore it or distract you and the fits don't seem to last very long. You like to throw yourself on the ground very dramatically when you see something you want and can't have it!

You are still taking 2 naps a day, but at school you only take 1 nap. The naps at home usually total 3-4 hrs. You sleep from 7-7. Even if you sometimes go to bed at 8 you are still up bright and early at 7 am! You now sleep with a soft green blankie made by your Great Aunt Carleen and your bunny lovie given to you by Nanny when you were born.

Favorite foods: chicken nuggets, yogurt, pudding, applesauce, mandarin oranges, peaches, cheese, cottage cheese, egg salad, PB&J, gerber crunchies, yogurt covered raisins, banana, fruity cheerios

food dislikes: veggies, meat, oatmeal, anything new

new foods: pudding, egg salad, PB&J, popsicles, ketchup

You love whole milk, but just not out of anything except a bottle. I have tried all the different sippy cups that you will drink water out of, and the minute you figure out it's milk you make a disgusted face and throw it down. But if it's a bottle you drink it up! I'm trying not to worry to much about it. I know you will drop the bottle when you are ready. You would not be drinking a single drop of milk if I didn't give it to you in a bottom! For now you take about 6 oz when you wake up and then 6 oz again at bedtime. You LOVE ice water in your sippy cup! You know that the water comes from the fridge too!

You and Jack (Jaaa!) continue to have much love for each other! You know which toys he likes and will bring them to him and he will play! You get laughing so hard and chase him with his toy!

You LOVE figuring out how things work. You can busy yourself for a long time doing things such as putting lids on tupperware/sippy cups, taking tissues/crayons out of the box and putting them back in, and pulling marker tops on and off.

When you find a tissue or napkin you put it up to your nose and make a nose blowing sound! It's so cute!

You have named your paci "dat". Whenever you see "dat" and you can't reach it you will say "DAT! DAT! DAT! DAT!" until someone gets if for you! You really like "Dat!"

You know how to give high fives, clap your hands, stomp your feet, give kisses, and blow kisses on command.

You can most of the time point to your hair, nose, eyes, ear, and tongue! When in doubt you just point to your ear. You love pointing to mommy's eyes! I have to be careful to not lose an eye though!

You are FIERCELY independent. Sometimes you will not eat something just b/c I am trying to feed it to you. You would much rather have the control and feed it to yourself. Because of this you are getting very good at the spoon and fork! Of course alot of the food goes all over the place. I usually give you a spoon and then I will have my own spoon to feed you with. This works very well b/c you feel as though you're in control and I can sneak bites in here and there!

I'm thinking we have a strong-willed little girl on our hands!

You have a phenomenal v0cabulary! You can say mama, dada, night night (nigh nigh), duck (du), dog (dah), cat (ca), bird (bu), water (have said it, but usually sign it), more (ma), milk (mih), Mack (Ma), no (nono), bye bye, bath (ba), balloon (boooo), ball (bah), bubble (buhbuh), banana (nana), Nanny (nana), Papa, that (dat), Elmo (mamo), and bug (bu). You can correctly identify dogs, cats, ducks, Mack, us, and Elmo! You probably say Mama the most right now, and I will NEVER get tired of your sweet little voice saying my name!

When you see a dog you head straight for it yelling "Dah! Dah! Dah! Dah!"

You love to mimic us. If we are clapping, you clap. If we are saying a funny sound, you try to copy it. The other day you pooped in the bathtub (SOOO GROSS!) and I was saying "yucky yucky"! You started saying something like "Yuhee Yuhee" and I knew you were trying to repeat me!

You walk EVERYWHERE! And you are getting fast! You are good about falling and usually catch yourself. We haven't had many bumps or bruises yet! *knock on wood*

You have loved your new playroom and spend lots of time in there playing! Here you are "witnessing" to one of your Praise Baby DVDs!

You are really liking school! You no longer cry at drop off! When your daddy picks you up and usually throw whatever it is you are playing with and run to him! You have been making us lots of sweet art! You are also starting to eat more of there food. Hopefully I will not have to pack you backup food as much soon! You come home with lots of sweet artwork that melts my heart!

We have spent lots of time outside having picnics, playing at the water table, and playing in the baby pool!

You will say "Mmmmmm!" if you really like the food you are eating.

You love to help me wipe things. After I wipe your face and hands, you take the washcloth and clean your tray. You like to wipe down any possible surface!

You have figured out that if you throw all your paci's out of your bed at nap time, mommy has to come back in! I come in and find them all over! You usually only do this once and then keep them all in for the rest of nap time.

When you really like something you say "ooooooo!" and make this funny face!

You are a climber! Whether it's the couch, the ottomans, or the slide, you like to hike that little leg up!

You hair is still reddish in certain light, and it's getting curly as it grows! Love it!

You make the must funny expressions! You look as though you are constantly scoping things out!

If I start singing "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands", you clap your hands and stomp your feet accordingly.

You love taking baths especially in our big tub! If I say "Wanna take a bath?", you start hollering "Bah! Bah! Bah!" and run to the bathtub and try to hike your little leg over!

You had have mastered the art of straw drinking and had your first juice box!

You LOVE Sesame Street. You will drop whatever you are doing and come running when you hear "Suuuuunny Daaaays..." start up! You dance and clap! You especially love when Elmo comes on. There's just something about that little red monster! You say "Mamo" every time you see him or hear his voice! I will often put it on while you eat b/c you kind of zone out while watching it and eat a good meal!

We call the picture below your hotdog phone! We had a little cookout and you really wanted a hotdog bun. So I gave one to you and you ripped apart and promptly held it up to your ear and said "Hi!" You hold our phones, the remotes, and the video monitor up to your ear all the time, only usually you will hold them behind your head or on your forehead.

You LOVE bubbles! You like to do it yourself though since you are fiercely independent. You will dip the little wand in and then go "ooooooo!" as you shake it around! You squeal with delight when the occassional bubble comes out!

Little girl we are having a blast with you! You are such a fun and sweet little person! I love having you as my buddy/sidekick. We have so much fun together. You make me so happy, and I have so loved watching you learn and put things together the last few weeks. Thank you for being an absolute blessing in our lives. We look forward to experiencing a fun summer with you! We love you REESE ELIZABETH!