18 Months

I really cannot believe MiniM.E. is 18 months old.  She's definitely not a baby anymore...

She wants to do everything "all bine self" (all by myself), including walking down the stairs.  She carries on conversations with us and narrates our days, beginning to end.  She's extremely strong willed and has preferences for everything from food to clothes to stuffed animals.  I'm loving (almost) every minute of it. 

Sometimes she terrifies me because she's so fearless (like when she wants to go down slides and stairs "on tummy" or when she went down this slide all by herself).

I'm so proud of her for helping- putting toys away, cleaning, sweeping and mowing the lawn.  She even helps me make my coffee in the morning! (How much longer until she can make me coffee all by herself?)

She's becoming much more independent too.  Which is nice.  Not that I don't love having a toddler glued to my leg 24/7...

MiniM.E. feeding the ducks:

And chasing the ducks:

Just taking a walk:

Loving slides, mulch and teddies:

It's so exciting to watch her grow up!

Hello Spring!

I think I can officially say that spring has arrived.  The snow is melted, the bulbs are sprouting and the weather is WARM!

Gone are the days of trying to fill every indoor moment with exciting activities.

(painting and reading books, we still love you... we'll just need you once or twice a day instead of all day)

And here are the days of spending the whole day outside.

After toddler yoga, MiniM.E. couldn't pass up the chance to play outside.

even a bike rack makes a good jungle gym

"smiling" for the camera

 We went to Congress Park to see the ducks.  The ducks are getting to be old news though, and MiniM.E. is finding other things at the park to entertain herself (not the carousel yet though... not until MAY!!)

waving at her shadow

contemplating how to catch one

just walking

eating the duck food (Cheerios)

tresspassing

 MiniM.E. is always asking to "go in outside" when we're home too, so we've been spending lots of time in the yard.

"Dolly wear mittens! Dolly swing too!"

"Monkey swing too!"

aren't they cute?

"sweeping" the yard

"mowing" the lawn

Then over the weekend there was a Daddy-daughter playground visit.

is this "smiling" for the camera?  and is that Daddy's shadow taking the picture?

 Then we all went to a "different playground", Kelley Park in Ballston Spa, which is awesome.

more "smiling"

 Sunday (the coldest of days in our warm streak) we decided to have a BBQ.  It was a little too cold for my liking... but it was fun to try.

so that's where she got it...

discovering a love for dipping

and a love for "saa-saa"

 And yesterday we went to still another playground, Gavin Park in Wilton, where MiniM.E. would have stayed all day if I hadn't convinced her to come to the car where there were cheddar bunnies waiting for her.

LOVING the weather.  Unfortunately it appears there's going to be a bit of a cold rainy spell coming up... and MiniM.E. doesn't understand that cold and rainy is NOT fun playground weather... wish me luck!!

Toddler Quotes

I will admit that I have a very bright toddler on my hands.  I love that she's been talking since before she was one and that she can now talk in sentences and carry on a conversation fairly well.  I will also admit that I often feel sheepish about how well she speaks when I'm around other moms.  I know every kid has their talents, so I'm not sure why I always feel inclined to play it down... I guess I don't want to be that mom that always brags about her kid.  AND, though she's a great talker, she still doesn't sleep through the night, she's extremely strong-willed, and she pretty much lives on cheddar bunnies and cherry tomatoes (though that's getting a little better).

In the past month MiniM.E.'s ability to construct sentences and to appropriately comment on what's going on around her has drastically improved.  To the point where half of what she says each day floors me.  Like I stare at her and cannot believe she just said, well, whatever she just said.  Like a few weeks ago when she asked if we could go in the swing (we were driving up the driveway) and I said, "not tonight, it's too cold."  To which she replied stubbornly, "In swing, couple minutes!"

Which led me to the realization that my blog needs "Toddler Quotes".  Impressive, hilarious... inappropriate?  We'll have to see what she comes up with!

Today's quotes:

"Where'd he go?" (after calling for Daddy multiple times- he hadn't come upstairs yet)

"Much better!" (said after taking shoes off in the car)

Color Matching Cups

I hate to admit it, but my adorable little baby has a problem.  An addiction really.  I'm not sure how to break it, but we've certainly been trying...

She LOVES YouTube videos.  And asks for them by name, repeatedly, throughout the day.  "Watch Puppy Balloons!" "Hokey Pokey!" "ABC Train!" "Monsters Walking!" "CUPS!!!"

Here is the cup video.  Educational, yes.  Entertaining, not so much.  Especially the 4,354th time.

Anyway, I bought MiniM.E. some colored cups from IKEA.  I haven't found balls yet, but as a substitute, she's been using Easter Eggs.  Which she is not very happy with.  "Find Balls!" she'll exclaim, then reluctantly use the eggs.  She's pretty good at it though, and rarely makes a mistake.  She even puts the cups out by herself and puts them away at the end.

So yesterday she finds the cups and takes them out.  "Play cups!" she demanded.  But I couldn't find the eggs.  (Bob must have put them somewhere...)  "Hold on," I said and rummaged in the kitchen looking for them.  When I returned to the living room, I saw this.

Pretty impressive since she had to decide she wanted to use balls instead, find them where they were put away in a closed basket in a bookshelf, take them out and get them to balance on the cups.

She amazes me.  All. The. Time.  Love this kid...

Happy Easter!

We spent the long Easter weekend in NH visiting my parents.

MiniM.E. loved being at my parents house.  She thrives on the extra attention and loves the playing with things she hasn't been around in a while.  There's a mini wagon, a rocking horse, a bird feeder with lots of birds to watch, my parents' cat Honey Bunches (the tail is a favorite) and of course, tubes of wrapping paper.

she picked all these up on her own.

The best part of my parents house is the backyard.  And the fact that there are THREE people (four when Bob got there on Sunday) to take her outside to play- which roughly equaled four times the outside time.

MiniM.E. Mommy even got brave and went let her go down the big slide in the backyard all by herself!

Too fun!  Swinging with Grumpy was a close second.

And "jumping off" the deck was definitely up there on the list.

If the swingset in the backyard didn't offer MiniM.E. enough outside time, we also visited a playground to play with MiniM.E.'s "boyfriend" H.

It was so much fun, we went back again on Easter.

Bob had been visiting his parents in NC for his dad's birthday (Happy Birthday Grandpa!) and arrived late Saturday night.

MiniM.E. got a tea set (which she thinks makes coffee) for Easter and it was love at first sight.

And when it came time to hunt eggs, MiniM.E. was a pro!

Happy Easter!