Here we go again...another milestone!

Yesterday, I picked Delaney up as usual from daycare and the teacher handed me her usual daily sheet.  Only this time it had this on it...

That's right! Delaney had her first tinkle on the big girl potty!  Of course, I made a HUGE deal about it to Delaney to encourage her to continue this.  We called Nana, Papa, Grandma, Papa T, and Mammy to let them all know.  She even got a cupcake as a treat. 

I'll be honest...yes I am extremely excited about the possibility that she'll be out of diapers before she's 2...but at the same time, I'm a little sad.  This is just one more step away from babyhood and into toddlerhood.  No one told me how conflicted I would feel with every new thing she does.  As a parent you want your child to learn new things, to thrive, to grow...but a part of you wants to grab them and hold them and never let go in hopes that it will keep them little longer.  I knew she would grow, but I never understood how fast! 

So now, we just keep plugging away at this new stage...potty training.  Lord help us!

1.5 Years/18 months/78 weeks/547 days

Delaney,

When you look at that last number, 547 days, it seems so long. But I assure you, that time flies by so fast when you are a parent.  On the 4th you turn 18 months old.  My sweet baby has turned into a just as sweet if not sweeter toddler.  I mean, I know that technically you've been a "toddler" since about 7 1/2 months when you started walking, but you are definitely a toddler now.  You are hitting a stage right now where you have your daddy and me cracking up all the time.  Your vocabulary has just blown up in the past month or two.  You look at us with such a serious look and start "talking" to us.  You are so determined to tell us something, and you are completely convinced that you are saying the words that you are hearing in your head.  But then in the past 2 weeks or so, when you're talking to us you are actually saying words that we can understand!  And when you string some of the words together, the "sentences" that you say are so funny!  Sometimes we know where you've picked up what you're saying, and sometimes we have no idea!  Like the other day...we were sitting in the living room and you walked over to me and started screaming "ELMO!" over and over.  Now, we've never watched Elmo with you. And you don't have an Elmo toy. So we don't know where you picked that up.  Luckily someone had given us an Elmo movie back when you were really little to let you watch.  And now, you like to request Mickey Mouse.  But when you ask for that, it sounds like moush.  You LOVE to eat cheese or fruit snacks as your snacks.  When you ask for a snack it sounds like you are saying Knack.  But it is the cutest thing.  You are constantly moving and climbing.  You will climb on anything that you can get your little hands on.  One of my favorite things you do is, you can be in the middle of doing something and you'll hear music start up up somewhere in the background and you will drop whatever you are doing to start dancing. You are a music baby, that's for sure.  You are also a water baby.  I have to keep a real close eye on you, because if I don't, you will pick up the dogs water dish and completely empty it so that you can splash around in the water.  You have been known to get into your kiddie pool fully clothed, shoes and all just to splash around.  You are a very loving baby too.  You love to give hugs and fishy kisses. You will cuddle with me all the time, and believe me when I say, I eat it up!  I will stop anything to cuddle with you because I LOVE it that much.  You have also recently started trying to show your independence by throwing tantrums every once in a while.  So far they haven't been too bad, but daddy and I just laugh because your fake cry look is so adorable!

I can't tell you how much your daddy and I love you.  You have been such a bright spot in our lives since the day you were born.  We just wish the time would slow down a little because we know that if we blink, you will be grown and ready to move out.  We know that you are already a great kid, and we look forward to watching you grow.

Just to let you know, at your 18 month appointment you measured in at 25.6 lbs, 34 inches tall, and your head measured off the chart as usual!  I would tell you to slow down on the growing...but we both know that won't happen!

Love,
Mommy

My Beautiful girl

I don't know when you got so big either!

Rain drops were falling on my head!

Rain.  It's what's been on everyone's mind here for....well....it seems like forever.  We have not seen rain in over 3 months.  And while normally it wouldn't be that big a deal, we have also been in the high 80's to high 90's for the past 3 months.  Needless to say, dry and hot do not mix well for plants, grass, wildfires...you know what I mean?  Last night though, while we were playing with bubbles in the backyard, it started to sprinkle.  So I grabbed my husband a a couple beers and sat out on the back patio, well, until it started to lightning and the wind picked up.  But Delaney got to spend a little time in the rain and thoroughly enjoyed it.

She was laughing and stomping around in the puddles.  We were all enjoying it.  But then it got to a point where it wasn't safe outside anymore, so we scooped her up and headed indoors.  And when she realized that she wasn't going to be able to play in the rain or blow bubbles anymore...this is what we got...

A sad little girl!  It's OK, the weather is back to dry and hot today, so we'll get some bubble time in tonight after dinner!

Summa, summa, summertime!

This past weekend was Memorial Day weekend...or if you ask me, the official start of summer.  First off, Memorial Day weekend has a special meaning to me as my grandfather was a veteran, and I have lots of friends that are either veterans or are still active in the military.  My whole-hearted thanks goes out to all of them for the freedom that we have that they fought for.  Without them, our lives would not be the way we know it today.

Since we got the new dog over the weekend, we had a pretty relaxing weekend in which we didn't go ANYWHERE!  It was GLORIOUS!  We did take advantage of our local community pool twice.  Delaney is such a little water baby that even though her teeth were chattering, she didn't want to get out!  (don't worry, I moved her to the baby pool that was MUCH warmer and she warmed right up!)  And we did go out to dinner once (thanks to a gift card my mother-in-law gave us for Easter).  On Sunday evening though, we did the traditional cook-out in our back yard with some good friends of ours.  They brought their 2 1/2 year old Aiden over and he and Delaney and Delilah had a blast in the backyard in our little turtle toddler pool.

They played for hours in the pool while we cooked and ate dinner and enjoyed a few beers and some GREAT company.  Delaney even got to stay up a little past her bedtime so that her and Aiden could watch Elmo on the TV for a little bit. 

The swimsuit that Delaney is wearing is my favorite one that she has this year as it features a monkey. And since Delaney is as close to a monkey as you can get (only WAY cuter!) it is only fitting that she wears it!

Plus, there's just something about ruffle butts that gets me every time!

I Die!

I'm thinking that this is going to be an AMAZING summer!