Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Leaving the "Baby" Behind
Vada has been blowing my mind these last couple of weeks! Sometimes she goes through these learning/growing spurts where she will add a couple of new "things" to her list of things she has already learned and then are times that seems to be periods of her just adapting those newly learned skills. I think that she likes to polish up her mad skills and make them look good before she moves onto something new.
She is starting to wave goodbye more openly and with less thought put into the movement. She used to wait until whoever was saying good bye to her was actually gone before she would wave back, sometimes she still does that but its more of a balance between the two. Oh!, and sometimes she makes a "buh buh" sound like she is saying "bye bye" while she is actually waving goodbye, which is uber very fun to hear!
She is playing pretend with her Cabbage Patch Doll which is exciting not only for me but for Jasmine as well because the doll was actually her gift to Vada this last Christmas. (Jasmine saved up and used her own money for both Vada's and Kiliegh's gifts this year.)
Im not for sure where Vada picked it up but last week when Sara (V's Speech therapist) came she brought a doll who had a blanket and a bottle with it. Vada covered the baby with the blanket (which is a understandable gesture or action) and, AND then put the bottle into the baby dolls mouth!!! She then proceeded to put the bottle into her own mouth and went back and forth a couple of times pretending to drink from it. I was floored. Why? We,ll because this child has had a bottle for one week of her entire life and at that time she wouldn't dare drink from it! She went from nursing for sixteen months straight to a sippy cup. The first year of her life she was isolated either in the house or in a personal hospital room so Im still trying to figure out where she picked this one up from. She is one smart little girl, I tell ya!
Anyway, after Sara left that day V and I took a trip to Toys R Us (which is too close for our wallets sake) and purchased a pack of her very first baby doll bottles. Today she was holding the doll, like I would hold her and placed the dolls head onto her shoulders and then began to pat the dolls bottom side then she would lay her down and give her a "drink" while saying what sounds like an attempt at "baby"
Yesterday, Justin was sitting on our kitchen floor. (He was doing some work on our garbage disposal.) Vada crawled into the kitchen. Stood herself up so that she was standing with one hand on Justin's shoulder then she put her face directly into his and as clear as day said "Hi PaPa!" HA! A Two word sentence! I about fell over! When he comes home from work she will quickly crawl into the kitchen while loudly saying "Papa! Papa!" It has to be one of the sweetest things to watch.
As Vada sat in her high chair yesterday, while having an afternoon snack of Goldfish crackers with Jasmine she began signing "Fish". It was the first time that any of us had noticed her using this sign and that may have something to do with the fact that it looks very similar to her sign for milk. Because she tends to use both hands for both signs and dosent necessarily do it "perfectly" she may have been trying for sometime now and we just haven't picked up on it. Never the less, she is signing fish or attempting to do the sign because she does it with the correct words. (In case you were wondering what the sign for fish looks is suppose to look like you can check it out here.)
She slept through the night last night. And has been going to her room at 7:30 P.M. every night. We read and by 8 P.M. She is asleep! This too is huge because her bedtime use to be midnight sometimes even later!
She is climbing on everything and she is even getting down the correct way,head I mean feet first. Only two days ago that was not the case and she hit her head on the wall and now has a huge blackish bruise on the middle of her forehead!
She has learned how to climb onto her rocking horse and her horse with wheels and she is pushing things around while she is standing and taking steps. Which leads me to believe she is feeling more confident in her abilities.
She kind of has a little attitude although I wouldn't call it the "terrible Two's" kind of attitude. She's not terrible in any way so I would called it having a strong willed personality. :) Which is fine, I have one too, just ask her Dad.
All in all things are really exciting around here. Vada is defiantly falling into a "toddler" category and leaving the baby stage behind which is sad and great all together! Her second birthday is in three days! Wow, I just cant believe she is going to be two! I am so proud of her and to be her mom! I cant wait to see what she has in store for us this year!
She is starting to wave goodbye more openly and with less thought put into the movement. She used to wait until whoever was saying good bye to her was actually gone before she would wave back, sometimes she still does that but its more of a balance between the two. Oh!, and sometimes she makes a "buh buh" sound like she is saying "bye bye" while she is actually waving goodbye, which is uber very fun to hear!
She is playing pretend with her Cabbage Patch Doll which is exciting not only for me but for Jasmine as well because the doll was actually her gift to Vada this last Christmas. (Jasmine saved up and used her own money for both Vada's and Kiliegh's gifts this year.)
Anyway, after Sara left that day V and I took a trip to Toys R Us (which is too close for our wallets sake) and purchased a pack of her very first baby doll bottles. Today she was holding the doll, like I would hold her and placed the dolls head onto her shoulders and then began to pat the dolls bottom side then she would lay her down and give her a "drink" while saying what sounds like an attempt at "baby"
Yesterday, Justin was sitting on our kitchen floor. (He was doing some work on our garbage disposal.) Vada crawled into the kitchen. Stood herself up so that she was standing with one hand on Justin's shoulder then she put her face directly into his and as clear as day said "Hi PaPa!" HA! A Two word sentence! I about fell over! When he comes home from work she will quickly crawl into the kitchen while loudly saying "Papa! Papa!" It has to be one of the sweetest things to watch.
As Vada sat in her high chair yesterday, while having an afternoon snack of Goldfish crackers with Jasmine she began signing "Fish". It was the first time that any of us had noticed her using this sign and that may have something to do with the fact that it looks very similar to her sign for milk. Because she tends to use both hands for both signs and dosent necessarily do it "perfectly" she may have been trying for sometime now and we just haven't picked up on it. Never the less, she is signing fish or attempting to do the sign because she does it with the correct words. (In case you were wondering what the sign for fish looks is suppose to look like you can check it out here.)
This video is kind of choppy, sorry.
This morning Jasmine brought Vada to me while I was still in bed (how nice, right?!). Sometimes I wait for Jasmine to do that because she loves taking Vada out of her crib in the morning (She is so great with Vada). Anyway, Jasmine lays Vada next to me and again, clear as day, Vada says "Up MaMa." I cheered and said "Yes Vada, up. It's time to get up!"
She slept through the night last night. And has been going to her room at 7:30 P.M. every night. We read and by 8 P.M. She is asleep! This too is huge because her bedtime use to be midnight sometimes even later!
She is climbing on everything and she is even getting down the correct way,
She has learned how to climb onto her rocking horse and her horse with wheels and she is pushing things around while she is standing and taking steps. Which leads me to believe she is feeling more confident in her abilities.
She kind of has a little attitude although I wouldn't call it the "terrible Two's" kind of attitude. She's not terrible in any way so I would called it having a strong willed personality. :) Which is fine, I have one too, just ask her Dad.
All in all things are really exciting around here. Vada is defiantly falling into a "toddler" category and leaving the baby stage behind which is sad and great all together! Her second birthday is in three days! Wow, I just cant believe she is going to be two! I am so proud of her and to be her mom! I cant wait to see what she has in store for us this year!
It's Got To Be The Shoes
Vada's feet are pretty small, a size three in baby shoes which is somewhere around nine months-- I think. Her small feet has a lot to do with the fact that in general V is just a small child. Anyway, its hard to find shoes for her because generally the size that she is in are made primarily for babies who are not yet walking and so the bottoms are soft soled and provide no traction. Since V is up and moving she needs something with a hard sole and that provides great traction. I have found some things a long our way. I found a decent pair of tennis shoes, although not my first choice for style purpose but they provide the support that she needs. Anyway, I was having a conversation with a could of friends the other day about my shoe addiction problems for Vada and they brought in a couple of pairs that their daughters had recently grown out of. This was my favorite pair!
A pair of (approximately) thirty year old hand crocheted gladiator-like sandals!!! OMG!!! Aren't they fabulous?
Never mind that they were slightly too big, or made from yarn and might as well have had wheels attached to the bottoms. They are cute. Cute. CUTE!
Besides, V isn't walking yet and I'll only put them on her when were going somewhere where I have to carry her around. Were talking serious fashion here. No one else has these, yet.
Turns out that V likes being bare footed almost as much as I do and ripped those suckers off from her feet as quick as she could, but not before I got some pictures of her in them!
Monday, February 27, 2012
GiGi's Playhouse 2012, I Have A Voice Gala
I couldn't have asked for a better night out! My husband, Justin, and I had such a fantastic time! We were able to meet a lot of great people, talk with amazing people that we already knew and hear some inspiring stories.
We ate. We drank. We danced and most importantly, we celebrated the lives of individuals who have inspired us to look a little deeper. These very people have taught us that everyone has purpose, a unique beauty and even their very own special talents.
Tonight was our first Gala for GiGi's Playhouse but it most certainly will not be our last!
We ate. We drank. We danced and most importantly, we celebrated the lives of individuals who have inspired us to look a little deeper. These very people have taught us that everyone has purpose, a unique beauty and even their very own special talents.
Tonight was our first Gala for GiGi's Playhouse but it most certainly will not be our last!
In Door Green Houses, Raised Beds and Gardening --Oh My!
We are looking forward to Spring when we can build our raised beds for our soon to be garden! Justin has designed his ideas and we have placed it where we can constantly look at it, on our refrigerator!
Down stairs, in our basement (in my scrapbooking room to be more specific) is where we have begun our 2012 gardening journey...
Our first design, was this shelf that Justin built. It wasn't getting warm enough for everything to sprout so we had to move onto something else...
Check out the electrical work... Can you tell that Justin was once an electrician?
We have so many seeds but we have only planted some of the vegetables. From what we have read and by conversations that we have had with others, most of the seeds should be able to be directly planted into the ground...?
Here is our second step. We brought in a green house. Nice that my scraproom has not been in use for some time otherwise I may be a little jealous that this dirty plastic room is getting more use of it than I am!
Its most certainly doing its job and the temperature is warm enough that everything is finally sprouting! Although in the picture below you can not tell it!
Justin had begun to take out the extra growths and things are getting exciting!
We took a bulb of garlic that we hadn't used and that had begun to sprout a root and planted it as well. Its in my kitchen window and growing more everyday! I didn't know you could do that but I guess that it makes sense since it is a root plant. I also have two bundles of green onions growing in a vase of water. I bought them last week for a recipe. I Cut the greens off for the meal and put the roots into the water and they have already doubled their original size! I love this and I love fresh home grown vegetables!
Down stairs, in our basement (in my scrapbooking room to be more specific) is where we have begun our 2012 gardening journey...
Our first design, was this shelf that Justin built. It wasn't getting warm enough for everything to sprout so we had to move onto something else...
Check out the electrical work... Can you tell that Justin was once an electrician?
We have so many seeds but we have only planted some of the vegetables. From what we have read and by conversations that we have had with others, most of the seeds should be able to be directly planted into the ground...?
Here is our second step. We brought in a green house. Nice that my scraproom has not been in use for some time otherwise I may be a little jealous that this dirty plastic room is getting more use of it than I am!
Its most certainly doing its job and the temperature is warm enough that everything is finally sprouting! Although in the picture below you can not tell it!
Justin had begun to take out the extra growths and things are getting exciting!
We took a bulb of garlic that we hadn't used and that had begun to sprout a root and planted it as well. Its in my kitchen window and growing more everyday! I didn't know you could do that but I guess that it makes sense since it is a root plant. I also have two bundles of green onions growing in a vase of water. I bought them last week for a recipe. I Cut the greens off for the meal and put the roots into the water and they have already doubled their original size! I love this and I love fresh home grown vegetables!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Proper Hygiene
Getting Vada cleaned up is never a battle, unless your washing her nose, she hates that! However, this girl LOVES water and is constantly signing/asking to take a bath, so I wont complain about a little battle with booger picking-- who likes that anyway?!
Tonight Jasmine decided that since she had to wash her own hands, before dinner, that she would also get Vada started on the same routine. "She is turning two, after all."
It wasn't a bad idea.
In fact, it was a great idea! Sometimes, I just don't know where my brain is. Shouldn't I have been the one to think of that? I am the Mom, isn't that my job?
Jasmine's relationship with Vada is constantly overwhelming me, emotionally. They are so close and Jasmine thinks of some really creative ways to spend time teaching Vada while she is also playing with her. Who taught her all of this?
And Vada, well, she adores her sister(s) and she loves them for their own uniqueness.
Jasmines idea for teaching Vada about washing her hands tonight may have been more of a mess than planned...
... but then again, it was only water!
I cant put it into words but I feel so blessed with this family that God gifted me with. :)
Thursday, February 23, 2012
The First Second
Vada received her first second year birthday card today.
It was a Disney Princess card that lit up and played a song sung by Rapunzel.
Vada figured it out immediately and for a while she became DJ Card Mix Master V and every once in awhile she would spit some of her own lyrics.
Thanks Grandma!
Making Rainbows and Blowing "Smoke"
I am horrible about surprises. I always guess what Justin is getting me or has got for me and then he complains. When the rolls are reversed, I can't wait to give him his gift. I have been the same with the girls at times but only when they were younger and now I have done it with Vada and this years birthday gift.
Vada's birthday "theme" is rainbows so I thought that it was only fitting to get her this Double Rainbow Maker from Kikkerland. When the sun is shinning bright it powers up the colorful motor which makes the Swarovski Crystals osculate, creating rainbows of all sizes that strobe over the rooms surfaces.
I like these tiny rainbows on the window sills the best. The pictures don't justify how pretty they actually are, but the ones on the sill looks like little pieces of moving glitter.
Kiliegh surprisingly loved the rainbows. (How funny is it that I painted her nails in rainbow colors just the night before we received the rainbow maker? Rainbows are on all of our minds lately, we are constantly talking about the things that we could do for Vada's party...)
Vada did not seem to notice all of the colorful movements on her bedroom walls and the excitement for the girls quickly wore off. I however, continued to smile as I watched the reflections swim around. My grandmother had crystals hanging in every room of her house and this reminded me of her.
Once the girls were done being impressed with Vada's new gadget they discovered what they could do with the humidifier. Funny thing is, I never knew that you could do this...
Even Vada was impressed.
See what happens when you don't let your kids watch t.v. on school days? They end up finding all kinds of things to keep them occupied!
Vada's birthday "theme" is rainbows so I thought that it was only fitting to get her this Double Rainbow Maker from Kikkerland. When the sun is shinning bright it powers up the colorful motor which makes the Swarovski Crystals osculate, creating rainbows of all sizes that strobe over the rooms surfaces.
I like these tiny rainbows on the window sills the best. The pictures don't justify how pretty they actually are, but the ones on the sill looks like little pieces of moving glitter.
Kiliegh surprisingly loved the rainbows. (How funny is it that I painted her nails in rainbow colors just the night before we received the rainbow maker? Rainbows are on all of our minds lately, we are constantly talking about the things that we could do for Vada's party...)
Vada did not seem to notice all of the colorful movements on her bedroom walls and the excitement for the girls quickly wore off. I however, continued to smile as I watched the reflections swim around. My grandmother had crystals hanging in every room of her house and this reminded me of her.
Once the girls were done being impressed with Vada's new gadget they discovered what they could do with the humidifier. Funny thing is, I never knew that you could do this...
Even Vada was impressed.
See what happens when you don't let your kids watch t.v. on school days? They end up finding all kinds of things to keep them occupied!
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