First Wave!

From the day you were born, Daddy has been waiting for the moment he could put you on the end of his surfboard. Though I am a bit hesitant about this activity, I know that some day you will definitely be riding waves alongside your dad. On this day, you caught your very first wave!! You held onto the boogie board and seemed to love every minute of it!

Jumping Place!

I think I won the "Coolest Mom Ever" award when I brought this inflatable slide home from work and told you it was your present for being a big-girl and going potty! I also may have set the standard a bit too high seeing as I didn't pay a dime for this monstrosity. My school raffled off the slides that they used for field day, and I won this one! You are obsessed with Monkey Joe's and call it the "Jumping Place." You now refer to this as your very OWN "Jumping Place!"

Ladies and Gentlemen.....

We are POTTY TRAINED!!! I had planned to work on potty-training this summer, but you really started to show interest, so we just went with it. Last weekend we had our first official "outing" without pull-ups and you did great! We put the potty in the back of the Jeep, and if you had to go, I would take you there. We went out to dinner with Tessie & Papaw and you went THREE TIMES at the restaurant! Honestly, I was dreading this process, but I definitely think you had more success once we just put you in big-girl undies. If you were wearing a pull-up, you would just go there because it was easier for you. Knowing that it wasn't comfortable to go in your undies helped you to stop what you were doing to go to the potty! We are SO PROUD of you!!

This happens to be the day you turn 2 1/2, so here are some stats:

Height: 34 inches (as determined by my measuring, using a ruler...so accurate?)
Weight: 28 lbs
Words: You are pretty much talking CONSTANTLY. Our favorite phrases right now are "Aw nuts!" , "Aw fiddlesticks!" , "Aw picklejuice!".
Songs: You sing two versions of the ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Castle on a Cloud, and The Moon Song quite regularly.
Favorite Foods: carrots, chicken, PB and honey sandwiches, peas, avocado, black beans, bananas, apples, grapes, anything crunchy and salty (chips, goldfish), pasta noodles, chick peas, yogurt, oatmeal, waffles, grapes, and many more!
Favorite Toys: you have you "friends" that you cart around the house when we're home. You also sleep with them. They rarely leave the house, and if they do, they stay in the car. Your current friends are Stripes (a striped dog), Ellie (an elephant), Monkey (sock monkey), George (Curious George), and your two babies. You are very motherly toward your friends and put them down for naps, feed them, give them baths, and change their diapers. You also discipline them with time-outs if they misbehave.
Our Challenges: Though you love all different kinds of foods, you are a lazy eater. You want to be fed and put little effort into eating on your own. This is probably my fault as I am obsessed with the foods you eat and want to make sure your diet is balanced. Our other challenges right how are typically related to not listening very well in certain situations and yelling at me and your dad. You have a very stubborn personality and want to do what you want to do when and how you want to do it! You respond to 1-2-3 Magic pretty well, though. If we count to three, you sit in time-out and typically learn your lesson (for a period of time, anyway!).

Baby You're a Firework!

You always love it when Tessie & Papaw come to visit! This Memorial Day Weekend was, once again, a super-fun time. Thankfully, the weather cooperated and we were able to spend a lot of time on the beach. You are quite the swimmer these days and really enjoy playing in the waves. You also don't mind stopping your play to eat a picnic lunch or to take a snooze!

Sharing a snack with Tessie.

Playing with Baby on the beach.

Take a snooze in your wagon - you requested this!

We also went to the boardwalk and you got to ride the carousel! Then, you went to your first fireworks show. We thought you were going to be scared of them, but you absolutely loved them. In fact, you've asked to go see them almost every day since we were there. Luckily, Carolina Beach puts on a fireworks show every Thursday night, so we have been able to see them a few more times.

Under the boardwalk....

Are you imitating the shark?


Riding the carousel!

You were in awe of the fireworks!

Swinging!

You have the coolest daddy ever! On the same day that he made us an outdoor shower, he made you a really neat swing with the left-over deck planks! I don't think there is anything more fun than having a tree swing your backyard....

Airlie Gardens Photo Shoot

Every six months or so, we try to take you somewhere to get your pictures taken. We have a great time trying to think of good shots to take and then Daddy does an excellent job editing the photos and making them look professional! On this particular Sunday, we went to Airlie Gardens to take some photos. We met our friends, the Millers, so we could take some family shots as well! You cooperated really well even after you hit your head on a pier plaque. Good thing your daddy is so awesome at distracting you from your pain!!

Big Girl Bed!!

Since December when we took away your paci, I had been dreading this next milestone - moving you to a big-girl bed! Taking away the paci was so easy that I was certain the transition to the big-girl bed was going to be a nightmare. I was worried you would get out of bed or that you would stop taking naps (NO!!!!). Once again, however, you amazed me!

When we purchased your crib when I was pregnant, we decided to hold off on buying the guard-rail that is used for the toddler bed thinking we would just get it when we were ready for it. Well, unfortunately, when I went to purchase it a few weeks ago, it was discontinued! So, we had to figure out something else. After doing some research online, I found these cool foam contraptions called "Bed-Bumpers" that are placed under the fitted sheet to keep kiddos from falling out of bed. I was SOLD! I went to Amazon.com to purchase it and decided to read some of the reviews. As I was reading the reviews, one mom stated that the bed bumper was a great idea, but that a pool noodle works just as well and was much cheaper. Of course, I thought this was genius. Needless to say, it worked perfectly! You LOVED your big-girl bed and climbed in well before your bed time to try it out!

That night you slept through the night with no problems. Nap-time the first day was also a pretty good success, though we had to go in a few times to remind you to stay in bed and take a rest. Since that first day, you've been great about napping and sleeping at night!