whiskers on kittens

A few of Leah's favorite things right now:

Wearing accessories, especially hats...boots...

hats and boots...

sunglasses...
and jewelry... wearing all of her Grannie's jewels at once!!

One of her best 2-syllable words is NECKLACE! :)

She also loves pretending.... she loves to host tea parties and even Beans gets to eat some cake and have some tea... and she loves to pretend with her baby doll. Baby doll gets 3 meals a day.

She has had so much fun in the water this summer... I have hundreds of pictures of her with the water hose in the backyard, at various splash parks in town and playing outside in the water at her grandparent's houses too. I don't know if you know this secret, but all water parks and splash areas are more fun when you are wearing your regular clothes and don't have a swimsuit on... At least Leah Curley thinks so. She always enjoyed them, but whenever we went near any water features in her regular clothes, she was more enthusiastic than usual. :)

Favorite foods of the moment: chocolate ice cream, yogurt covered raisins, waffles (faffels if you ask her), toast (because she likes anything that comes out of the toaster I think...), PB&J sandwiches, PB&Banana sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches, pizza and pretty much any snack foods or stuff that is sweet. lovely

Favorite words of the day:

• faffels (waffels)
• tash (trash... she's obsessed with trash right now... she loves it when she finds a random piece of trash that needs throwing away)
• I go (when she is ready to go, you know it... yesterday on our way to her Bibby's house she said "I go I Bibby" over and over for about 5 solid minutes)
• I eat, I up, I down, I daddy, I o-side (I want one of these things)
• No (means NO... unless she is confused and means yes)
• Pees (Please... so sweet, and says it appropriately when she wants something... like stickers from our checker at the grocery store)
• Cheeeese (when you say "can you smile?" or when she wants some cheese)
• Pees (also means actual peas which she enjoys eating, or acorns she finds, or beads that look like peas etc...)
• Que (Thank you.... so I have to drag this one out of her, because she's usually already enthralled with whatever it was that she got with her "please" but its one of my favorites so I added it)
  

memories

This was a year ago today... Don't know why... just feel like reminiscing.

a little backwards

She actually walked about 5 steps like this. Don't ask me why my snow boots are out...

The Year of the Hunt

With twinkling eyes, Kevin informed me the other day that "This is the year of the hunt!" And the year is already in full swing. Dozens of dove lost their lives this labor day weekend in Hood and Concho counties... as Kevin was 1 bird short of getting his limit for 4 days of hunting.

But today seems like it may already be a highlight of the season. Kevin and Beans left the house at 4:45 this morning for opening day of the early teal season, which lasts for about 2 weeks in the middle of September. Each hunter can shoot 4 Blue or Green Winged Teal ducks each day of the early season. And they did. (Blue was the color of the day.) Beans was the only dog this morning and she happily fetched up all the birds for the hunters, once even getting 3 from the water at a time! Kevin has never been more proud of her. She LOVES to hunt!! (I wonder if his other little girl will love it as much? He just asked me if I thought Leah would be ready to go with him next year.) The date says 9/10 but it was really this morning.

These guys have been known to do a little Sunday-morning-pre-church-duck-hunting (only occasionally "losing track of time" and staying too long so that they miss church and have the opportunity to dine on a particular lumberjack breakfast not far from the pond) They have even had the occasional pre-work-weekday-hunting experience.

I'll not be able to re-tell the tale of the morning's hunt with as much exuberance as I just heard it told, but the pictures are worth a glance. If you see Kevin any time soon, you can be sure you'll hear the story firsthand. Thanks for the pictures Keith!

i've got so much honey...

...the bees envy me

.

Bibbity Bobbity Boop

Today is Bibby's Birthday! Yes, we thought her name was Bitty, but it turns out it might be Bibby or BB or even Bobbie! Whatever Leah decides will be just fine with this lady though. :)

This is a BIG birthday for Bibby! I won't say how big... learned that lesson a while back... but I will tell you one more time that it's a BIG one! Way back before I learned my lesson I might have said something like this: "Look at her! WOULD you believe she was __ years old???" or maybe "Doesn't she look great for __ years old!!" I think its a compliment.... if I look half as good as she does when I get there, I won't mind at all if Leah goes around telling my age all over the internet. :) Oh, and she's not just a pretty face. She's sweet and fun and spunky (some say a little crazy, but not me) too! She's often been referred to as "the life of the party" and one of her favorite pastimes is trying to embarrass us by dancing in public places... where there are no dance floors. Thanks to her though, its really tough to embarrass me anymore. (On this particular day Leah piled all her favorite things in the house on to her purple chair and then sat on them!)

If you are a loyal enough reader to actually read this entire post and know a little bit about it's writer... you may utilize the the following helpful information in whatever way you see fit. My mom and I were both born in the first year of our decade. Nice round birth years. And we both had our first babies when we were 28. I KNOW! CAN YOU BELIEVE SHE'S THAT OLD?!?! :) Ha! I know mom, what goes around comes around... and I better get ready. I love you! Happy Birthday to my favorite mom!

2nd Bloggiversary

I just realized that this month is my second bloggiversary. So before the month is over I thought I better document... alot of things can change in one year! If you would like to take a trip down memory lane, just click here to see Leah's bad hair, her first haircut (I still have her baby mullet in a plastic baggie), the first time she made a boy cry and the first time she gagged on her dinner.

Around this time last year I started project puree. My food processor and I had our "season finale" right before Leah's first birthday when she realized she liked people-food better than my baby food. But I do believe I miss my homemade applesauce and I will resume making it (for myself) along with a few other old favorites. These days Leah LOVES using a spoon and fork so I'm gonna try and make a few things thick enough for her to spoon herself. Right now she practices mostly with really thick oatmeal, Cheerios's with yogurt, sticky scrambled eggs and occasional spaghetti o's. (Which I now see the genius behind... if you drag and poke your spork around long enough you WILL snag an "O" or two! Good call chef B!)

I got to thinking about the things that have changed alot in my life over the last year...

My parking preferences have completely changed. I used to be a front row Joe. I got super excited about a close parking spot, especially the ones right next to the door. (My dad -ironically named Joe- used to call them "pregnant spots" and would pass them by so that a pregnant lady could park there. I know... no pregnant people ever parked there, because selfish people like me would excitedly snatch them up, but he always did it anyway. Do you realize that those signs they now have- "Parking for New and Expectant Mothers" -those were my dad's idea!! For 30+ years he's been leaving the pregnant spot open!) Nowadays though, I primarily value shade and then close proximity to the grocery cart return thingy,when applicable. Oh yeah, and NOT next to creepy vans... I never noticed how many there were before!

The use of superlatives is now completely meaningless in my life. Parenting has proven that using the phrase "I will never..." will almost guarantee that I WILL do that particular thing. And saying "Leah always..." pretty much ensures that Leah will no longer do or be whatever it was that I just said. Similarly meaningless phrases: loudest squeal, worst tantrum, saddest face, cutest smile, stinkiest diaper, sweetest hug... the list goes on and on and I assume I've made my point. Say the -est word and you are sure to be proven wrong... good, bad and ugly.

And the ickiest one of all: I now participate in the most annoying behavior known to man. I refer to myself in the 3rd person. AAAAAAAAAAH! I have ALWAYS hated this. It makes my skin crawl to hear others do it. But "Mommy said NO" just seems to have such an astounding impact on the little angel. It is almost as if she doesn't hear my voice at all until I say "Leah, are you listening to Mommy? Mommy said....." and then all of the sudden...obedience! (Well... maybe not all of the sudden, but its the only thing I say that gets her attention.) If she didn't call me Mommy about 600 times a day I'd wonder if she really knows who Mommy is. She sure seems to care more about what Mommy says than what I say!

One more... I'm now drawn to bows, ruffles, tutus and pink! I LOVE PINK! (I've NEVER liked pink!)

Having a baby girl causes such strange phenomenons!



P.S. I still hate facebook.

krogering

This morning I decided to do an experiment. When it was time to get dressed, I asked Leah what she wanted to wear. As I suspected, to each outfit I showed her in the closet she said "NnnnO." It went on and on. I was just going to finish going through every hanger to prove my own internal theory... when all of the sudden, about 3 outfits from the end, she spouted an enthusiastic "Yeah!"

This is the outfit she chose to wear Krogering at 10 am. It has ice cream sundaes and cakes on it, complete with a sash and ruffle bloomers. Oh, and she chose the bow too. I think its the biggest one she has.
Still, the outfit needed a little something.
Perfect!

is it late or early?

Just a fraction of Kevin's latest crappie catch... And a cool picture of my sweet girl... Courtesy of Aunt Leslie
My two favorites.

look at her grow... 18 month check-up

I can't help myself. I have to keep posting her stats because they keep making me laugh!

Last week was Leah's half-birthday! So she went to the doc for a check-up, a few immunizations and a fingerstick to check her hemoglobin. (She's ONE and A HALF! I can't believe it!!)

Leah now begins screaming the minute Dr. D walks in the room. So that's special for him especially during the cardiopulmonary part of the exam... where he uses a stethoscope to listen to what are already brain-rattling screams without any amplification.


This is so weird to me because I kind of enjoy going to the doctor. Not in a hypochondriac sort of way, because I don't like going when I'm actually sick, but I'm comfortable with people who wear scrubs, I like the smell of a sterile environment, and I like to have my reflexes checked.


Beans LOVEs going to her doctor too! To her, the vet's office is like doggie heaven. So many people to jump on, smells to sniff, new things to wag about, and treats to be had! I guess Beans gets that from me, and Leah gets her hatred and anxiety about the doctor from her daddy. :)

Here she is before the screaming commences... She's already been weighed and measured though, and she had this look of pure fear when I sat her on the scale this time... like she thought I might actually leave her on the scale and never come back!Grannie let us borrow her favorite "wheels on the bus" book, which makes most things much better.

Weight: 20 lbs 3 oz (with her diaper on, but still.... FINALLY 20 lbs!! And she is legal to sit forward in the car seat... we don't have to feel guilty anymore since we already made this change about 5 months ago) This is the 10th %ile.

Height: 31 inches - the 45th %ile (I could tell that although she can still wear many of her 9 and 12 month clothes, her dresses were getting mini-er and mini-er)

Head: Top quarter! Yes, she still has a big head, but I have a new theory... its the shape. They just happen to measure her at the roundest part of her head, and other children, though the volume of the head may be the same, they might have a slightly-less-perfectly-round-shaped-head than our Little Curley Q. The charts are skewed!

Teeth: SO MANY at least 13 that I can verify, but maybe up to 16! Careful putting your fingers in there trying to count though...

Here she is trying to enjoy her new tongue depressor after Dr. D tortured her by looking in her nose, mouth and ears. "You didn't tell me I had to get a shot today!"

She was still a little mad at me for taking her to that place... but the Barbie sticker helped for a minute... until she wanted it OFF RIGHT NOW!!

She was pretty happy once she got to her Grannie and GranStan's for a visit. She was exceedingly happy with them, but wouldn't give me the time of day. (She might get grudge-holding from one of her parents too.) She ran from me when I wanted to take a picture of her snazzy hat... but stopped and posed for GranStan when he asked her too.

The developmental sheet they give me always makes me feel so calm. Like every single mother of a 1.5 year old in the whole wide world has experienced similar things. It will also paint a pretty good picture of what goes on in our house every day:

• enjoys imitating parents
• wants to name EVERYTHING
• repeats familiar and unfamiliar sounds and gestures (aka EVERYTHING)
• may begin to show frustration when not understood
• may resist bedtime
• prefers predictable pattern of bedtime events (prefers all things to be predictable)
• may respond with "no" constantly :)
• likes to show some independence (not just SOME... )

The last couple of months have been the best and the worst of times. Literally. I've never experienced such joy as I have helping her learn new things, listening to her repeat new words, giggling until we both cry and watching her grow from a baby to a little girl. I've also never experienced such a battle of wills over the control of every situation in our house. (Not even when I married Kevin was there such a battle!) Dr. D warned me that so many parents get worn down by this, and compromise too much with their toddlers. And I reminded him where she gets her strong will. (smile) His last words... "Good luck with that."

Friends: Real, not sit-com version

A friend is one to whom one may pour out the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that gentle hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.
-George Eliot

I heard this quote in a sermon a while back and it moved me so much as a perfect description of my dearest friendships. Real friends are so rare. If you don't have a friend that fits this description... you are missing out. Ask God to send you one. I'm serious! He will! And you'll wonder why you didn't ask for it sooner. There's my unsolicited advice for the day. :)

Thank you to my real friends. (Especially Brandie who inspired this post.) Why I've been so blessed to have you I don't know... it is certainly not because I deserve you. There aren't enough exc!amation marks in the whole world to express how much I love you. I'm grateful to God for you and I'm truly humbled by your friendship.

Mad Hatters

Today is... CrAzY HaT daY!!
Everybody say "CHEEEEESE!"

squat

Once, when I lived in Lubbok, a young Vietnamese man gave me a an entire (60 minute!) pedicure while perched just like this... Leah spends alot of time like that too. Maybe her father is part Vietnamese? I better ask him.

speaking of reading,

Have you ever read this book? I love Dr. Seuss books! I think his quirky rhymes and made-up words make reading fun... especially when your child wants you to read the SAME book over and over and OVER again. Plus, in many of them there are pretty good stories for grown-ups and even a good lesson here and there. Timeless.

My personal favorite is "Oh, The Places You'll Go" and Leah's is a toss-up between "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?" and Dr. Seuss's "ABC's" book. I know both of them by heart so we can "read" them any time. My memory is super weird. I have always been able to memorize story books and things I can visualize, but nothing terribly useful. ;) (Come to think of it, this gift came in particularly useful in the church nursery a couple of weeks ago when a particular young'n wasn't happy and we had no books!)

Back to the point, the Mulberry Street book seen above has a rather slow start, so Leah's little attention span never let us get past the first few pages of the book before closing it in favor of an old favorite. Until recently.

In the story the boy is trying to make a up a really exciting story to tell his father about what he saw on his way home. (sounds like lying actually, forget what I said about teaching moral lessons) He has gotten a pretty good start to his story, but he's not totally satisfied...

EXCUSE ME?????? I'm pretty sure there was a dramatic gasp after reading it the first time... with a double take... and then a second and third silent reading.

I do believe that God made males and females different for very good reasons. There are things that men are more well suited for than women and vice versa. And I love the differences between men and women... they make the world go round! But EVEN JANE!!! It might as well read "That's so lame that even dumb old JANE, a silly girl with no brain and no imagination could think of THAT!" That's just ugly and sexist!

I showed it to my mother-in-law when I found it and asked her to help me with the alterations. Here's what we came up with:

I feel better now. The playing field is just a little more even... and realistic! Most importantly I won't burn up every time I read this page! Now James ended up being the ignoramus in the group... but he's a man... he can handle it. :) Ha! I wonder what Random House would think about my editing?

I'm done with the rant.

Here is Curley Q reading her favorite car book. We have several that we keep in the seat pocket, but she always chooses Grover!

Same book, different day. :)

already reading

If you ask her what her shirts says she'll tell you "Leah!"

Pretty accurate!