Blog This, Baby!

I'm finally experiencing life as a big one-year-old, and it is awesome, mostly. As I mentioned in my previous post, Dad took last Friday off so that we could go to the Cumming Fair. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting; first, it was freezing, which shortened our visit considerably. Second, Dad took me to something called a petting zoo where they actually expected me to pet stinky, scary animals. I'm no dummy, people! I am not petting anything that has a tongue longer than my entire arm, i.e. the camel, and I sure as heck let him know it too. Mom fed the animals from her hand; she really must be crazy. I latched on to Dad as tightly as I could and refused to even lean towards the animals. I mean, the goats wanted to eat me alive; I could see it in their eyes. When we finished with the stinky animals, we walked around and looked at everything. I found the rides fascinating but couldn't ride any this year. Perhaps a little hair might have helped me reach the height limit, but c'est la vie. A pushy politician gave me a balloon; doesn't he know that I can't even vote yet? Oh well, the bribery is still much appreciated. The best part of the entire fair was the deep fried Twinkie that Dad got on our way out; it was delicious, and I could not get enough. The Cumming Fair only gets one thumb up; maybe, next year it will get two thumbs up if I can ride something and taste a deep fried Oreo.

Last weekend was a free-for-all for me; Grandma babysat! She lets me get away with anything, and I love her for it. It was Mom's birthday, so Mom and Dad spent the weekend in Atlanta with all of their friends. Rumor has it they went to the GA Tech Homecoming tailgate. Then Mom went to a nice dinner with Mrs. Teri and Mrs. Lisa while Dad watched the game with the guys. After the game, Mom, Dad, and a bunch of their friends went out together in the VA Highlands. Meanwhile, Grandma, Opie, and I had a ball at home. We were supposed to go down on Sunday afternoon to watch Dad play in the GA Tech Alumni rugby match, but Grandma decided that it was just too cold for me. It's probably a good thing because apparently Dad didn't play his best due to Mom and Dad's night out on Saturday. Grandma babysat me again on Thursday so that Mom and Dad could take Dad's new employee out to dinner. I had a bit of a rough night because I was really tired, so Grandma ended up letting me sleep in her arms on the couch for three whole hours, during which she couldn't even move. I love you so much, Grandma, and thank you!

Mom got an awesome, new professional quality camera from Dad and me for her birthday, so I have gotten my picture taken even more than normal this week, which means that I have gotten my picture taken constantly. Mom hasn't taken the class for the camera yet, so she is still just playing around with it to see what it can do. I don't mind being her muse. The beginning of this week was the calm after the two birthday storm. It has been really cold, so I have finally gotten to wear my new winter coat and try out all of the cool winter clothes that I got for my birthday. We've stayed at home a good bit this week where I've just been playing with all of my new toys, giving Tigger some love, and finding new ways to enjoy my old toys, like doing head stands on my singing chair. I have also learned that my princess chair can be used as a step stool to climb up onto other pieces of furniture; that's going to result in new bruises. Speaking of bruises, I look like I have been in the boxing ring. I am just stretching my walking abilities to see how fast I can really go. I guess sometimes I exceed the speed limit. Mom and I even played a good ol' fashioned game of hide and seek the other day, and I hid behind the column every time, very original if you ask me. I even spent a little time hanging out on our huge pumpkin in preparation for the big, upcoming holiday that apparently revolves around candy. Sweet! Overall, it was a nice, relaxing week. On Monday, I did, however, have a very exciting experience; I got to ride in my new forward facing car seat on the way to and from the grocery store. I am so grown up! I literally rode both ways with my mouth wide open like I couldn't figure out what was going on. In the days since, I have gotten used to the new ride, and I love it. Mom even put a mirror on the seat in front of mine so that I can check myself out while we drive. I like to put things on my head and stare at myself in the mirror. I'm a regular Adam Sandler, but even funnier, in my opinion. My new car seat even has a snack holder, a cup holder, and a toy holder. I figured the cup holder out immediately; no more dropping my cup and having to wait until we stop to get it back. Mom decided that the new car seat warranted a car clean out, which resulted in my very own toy box in the car to keep things neat, at least for a couple of weeks. I am also able to walk to and from the car now instead of being carried like a baby. Mom and Dad were all impressed when I stepped up into the doorway from the garage without any help on my very first attempt; it's a step, folks, and I know what to do with a step. Duh! Yay for grown up me though!

On Thursday, Mom and I went to playgroup/Moms' lunch. This week was basically just playtime for Lucas and me at Mrs. Lindsi's house. Jackson was asleep most of the time; Mrs. Sindy and Selina are in the Virgin Islands, about which I am totally jealous, and Mrs. Alisha and Tyler were getting ready for his birthday. By the way, Happy Birthday, Tyler! Remember, have no mercy on that cake, like we practiced. Anywho, Luke and I had a great time, especially now that I can walk and kind of keep up with him. Together, we love to get into things that we are not supposed to; I mean can the Moms really get that mad at both of us!? Just look at those faces. We emptied Mrs. Allison's wallet and tried to pull all of the plates off of Mrs. Lindsi's little shelf, which really was all Lucas that time. Now that we can both walk, we can tackle each other, and there was no shortage of tackling on Thursday. We couldn't stay off of each other; that is until one of us got sick of it and screamed at the other, which would only initiate a few minutes of break until the tackling resumed. We do love each other, but we totally fight like siblings. At one point, we were both in between Mrs. Lindsi's chair and ottoman, and we both wanted to pass each other; however, there wasn't enough room. Instead of one of us just backing out, we both decided to be stubborn, so we just kept pushing on each other and screaming until one of us gave up. By the way, he gave up first; did you really think that I was going to give in!? Ha! Thank you, Mrs. Lindsi, for a wonderful afternoon.

I thought that was going to be my only Lucas-time this week, but surprise, surprise, he got to come over and play on Friday while his Mom signed the papers for their new house. They are moving right down the street from us! Hooray! Lucas and I were wild on Friday. He played the guitar while I danced, and we emptied out the toy basket together. I love to 'talk' on the phone, which is a trait that I don't expect will go away anytime soon, so we made a few phone calls; I now use my hand as a phone when no other phone is available. I showed him my new head stand moves, which didn't really seem to impress him, and he hit me over the head with a paper towel roll, which I thought was hilarious. I shared all of my toys and even showed him where the secret stash was inside the new ottoman. At one point, I had to tell him that "nobody puts baby in the corner". We then chased each other tag-style all over the living room and kitchen, which ended in disaster, at least for me. I was trying to go really fast to keep up with him, and we were both holding our sippy cups when I crashed onto the hardwood floor. I started screaming, so Mom came over to comfort me, but when she picked me up, my hands were full of blood. Mom rushed me to the kitchen and started putting wet paper towels in my mouth to stop the bleeding, but it wouldn't stop, which didn't bother me much. In fact, as soon as she got me to the counter, I forgot that I was hurt and started emptying everything off of the bottle rack. I screamed at her every time she tried to fuss with me, and she was freaking out a bit. Lucas was a little upset as well because he didn't know what was happening. Mom quickly gave him a granola bar, which appeased him immediately. She thought that I had knocked out a tooth, but after finally getting the bleeding to stop, she realized that I had just gotten a cut in between my two front teeth and a gash on my top lip. When she called the pediatrician, the nurse said that she couldn't advise her and that we would have to wait for a callback, which took an hour and a half. Mom was none to pleased; however, Grandma saved the day and told Mom to get something cold in my mouth, and since I wouldn't let Mom hold anything on my lip because I wanted to keep playing, I got to eat an entire Tupperware full of mango ice in the living room. This getting hurt stuff isn't so bad, except for the lovely fat lip that I am not sporting along with my multiple bruises.

This big kid stuff has its ups and downs, but the ups definitely outweigh the downs!

Happy Birthday to Moi!

(Written on Friday, October 16th)

It is official; birthdays blow every other special day out of the water! This past week has been my official all-about-me week, and I have loved every minute of it, with the exception of the doctor's visit for my one year well checkup; if you are well, why do you need to get checked up on? It makes no sense to me. Let's start from the beginning though.

The traditional birthday party is quite possibly the best invention EVER. I had my very first birthday party last Sunday, and it was amazing. As most of you know, I don't have any problem with being the center of attention, so this birthday stuff is right up my alley. I knew that Mom and I were running an awful lot of errands the previous week, but I had no idea that it was all for me - in retrospect, this makes every errand worth it. On Saturday, Mom decorated the already pumpkined-out house with banners and streamers and tons of pictures of moi. It looked quite nice if you ask me. Although I was starting to get suspicious, I still had no idea that all of it was in preparation for a day to celebrate me; although, everyday is a day to celebrate me, but this was on a much grander scale. Sunday, the 11th, started out like any normal day, but everything changed once I woke up from my morning nap. Dad brought home a bunch of balloons, which are quickly becoming my favorite things, and a huge cake; Mom set out a crazy amount of food, including little kid food like Cheerios, cheese, fruit, and my absolute favorite, Yogurt Blends. At this point, I knew something was up.

Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Ian arrived first, and Aunt Stephanie helped me get into my really pretty party dress from Mrs. Sharon. Mom and Aunt Stephanie kept putting funny headpieces on me. By that point, I was sure that something big was about to happen, and that is when everyone started showing up - family, friends, my best playgroup buds... It was chaos, but the wonderful, exciting kind. The best part was that everyone kept dropping of big bags full of tissue paper; now, I have learned quickly in my one short year on this Earth that bags full of tissue paper are always a good sign. Most of my very closest friends came: Jackson, Selina (whose name I have been spelling wrong for months - sorry), Kylie, Parker, and of course, Lucas. The toys immediately came out of their bins, and it was a free-for-all. Lucas and I wanted the same toys, like always, so we battled over the new ball popper that Aunt Mallory brought me. After sharing my toys with all of my guests, Mom got out the parachute, and several of the adults helped us play parachute games. We all got under the parachute as the grown ups waved it up and down. This game lost mine and Lucas' attentions pretty quickly, but Jackson really enjoyed it. Then we got on top of the parachute, and the adults made the parachute wave up and down; they even threw toys and balls on top so that they would bounce all over the place. Lucas really enjoyed this part of the parachute games. Get ready to turn your computer on its side because some of the videos got taken sideways, but they are still really cute if I do say so myself.

To no one's surprise, the parachute did not hold our attentions too terribly long, so we moved on to the best part of the day, CAKE! Can you believe it? The rents actually gave me my own little cake! I was a little wary myself at first, but then it was an all you can eat buffet. I could not shovel the cake in fast enough; Mom and Dad, as well as Grandma and the Aunts, couldn't stop taking pictures with me, but I did not let all of the activity or the entire room full of people watching stop me from enjoying every bite. I even created an icing beard in the process. It was delectable - oh, and the singing wasn't bad either. I have recently learned how to say done in sign language, so I now let Mom know when I am done eating, but I didn't dare make any motion that even remotely looked like done while that cake was in front of me. Yay for birthday cake! I had so much icing caked on me - pun totally intended - that Mom had to take me straight to the bathtub and hose me off with my diaper still on. I thought she was going to make me take a bath in the middle of my party, so I threw a bit of a fit; however, she and Grandma just threw me into a onesie, and I was off to enjoy the festivities once more.

Right after the cake excitement, Mom and I opened my presents; actually, I pretended to pay attention for a few minutes before I was off to play with all of my new toys while Mom opened the rest. Aunt Mallory became the official get-the-toys-out-of-their-boxes lady. I got some spectacular stuff: tons of super trendy clothes, a tutu and headpiece, a winter hat, the Bee Bop Band, a baseball stand, a talking dog that knows who I am, my very own radio, an activity block, books, two different kinds of ball poppers, and tons more. Mrs. Teri is even putting together an album of all of my blogs from year numero uno, about which my Mom is beyond excited, so way to go Mrs. Teri. My favorite gift is probably my very own princess chair that Lucas got for me; however, I really love EVERYTHING that I got. Aunt Stephanie says that next time she goes to a one-year-old's birthday party, she is going to bring a little chair and a bag full of birthday cards since those were the two main things that caught my interest. Grandma even got me a toy chest in which to put some of my new toys so that Mom's living room doesn't look quite as crazy. Thank you, Grandma, for Mom's sake. I definitely made out like a bandit! Thank you, everyone, for my gifts and for helping me celebrate the big 1st! Also, thank you, Mrs. Teri, for taking all of the pictures for Mom; thank you, Aunt Stephanie, for making the yummy sandwiches; thank you, Mrs. Allison, for bringing the bouncy balls; and thank you, Aunt Mallory, for all of the pumpkin decorations. After gifts, everyone started trickling out, but I decided that I was still ready to party, probably due to the sugar high. I tried on my tutu, read a few books with Mrs. Teri, and played with all of my new toys. Aunt Mallory and her boyfriend stayed until it was almost bedtime, and I didn't stop until I was forced to lay down. I don't know if it was the sugar or lack of sleep, but I was slap-happy by the end of the night, and I could not stop laughing. I was running into furniture and laughing hysterically. I have no doubts now if ever I did; I love birthday parties, especially my own!

I want to add a special shout out to Granddad Kendig, Grandma Trish, Uncle Darren, and Uncle Doug for the sweet addition to my savings account; to Grandma Kendig for the lion bank, bubble machine, Olivia sippy cup, and fair funds; to Great Grandma Jenkins for even more savings account moola; and to Mr. and Mrs. Spear for the yummy Bruster's gift certificate. Thank you, everyone near and far!

My actual birthday was just as fun. I watched a little Sesame Street from my new princess chair, hit Opie with the pink soccer ball that Uncle Ian got for me, and played with all of my new toys in the morning. Coincidentally, my real birthday was on a Tuesday, so I got to hang out with all of my playgroup buds. I shared some leftover cupcakes from the party so that Tyler could practice for his upcoming birthday. We had a great time at Mrs. Alisha and Tyler's house. Mrs. Lindsi taught me a new basket-on-your-head game, and Lucas and I discovered a microwave down on our level, too cool. Mrs. Alisha also has a fireplace that was such a tease for Lucas and me; we both desperately wanted to climb on top of it. Thank goodness she had soft blankets covering it, just in case. (By the way, the fireplace picture is not my best, but Lucas looks so cute.) At one point, Tyler started hugging on me; Lucas got a little jealous and immediately booked it over to us. It's probably because I am the only girl there who can walk, but I'd rather believe that it is because I am just so cute. Either way, I pretended not to notice; I mean a gal has got to play it cool. Jackson and Selina are starting to really get in on the fun, which is way exciting, and they shared the walker throughout the afternoon. It was a great playgroup; thank you for hosting, Mrs. Alisha.

That evening, Mom and Dad gave me more gifts, and I was excited to see that one of them was the neat toy that I had picked out at Toys 'R' Us. We then went to dinner at Red Robin, an idea that Mom stole from the Wheelers, and Aunt Mallory met us there. There was a huge bird walking around, and I let him know that he better not come near me, as well as scanned the restaurant constantly making sure that he was nowhere in sight. At the end of dinner, all of the servers came to our table and sang to me, which I loved. I'll take any and all the attention that I can get. I even blew them a kiss at the end of their song, but Mom's camera died before she got my kiss on film. I'm voting it is time for a new camera; this is twice now that it has died during a camera-worthy event. Thank goodness Aunt Mallory had her iPhone to take pictures. Anyways, after they sang to me, they handed me an ice cream sundae. Again, I was not shy. Dad was feeding me bites while I tried to stick my own spoon in to get more, and I even stuck my face in it when they held it up for me to lick. I pretty much ate the entire thing with a little help from Dad. Keep the sugar coming! I think that birthday is definitely my favorite holiday of all!

As if the week wasn't already good enough, yesterday I got to meet my Great Uncle Steve who has been in Iraq for several years. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but then I had a blast walking all over Aunt Robin and Uncle Steve's house and dancing for everyone's entertainment. Great Aunt Robin even got out all of her pots and pans, and we made our own little band. I ate the crumbs off of Miss Haley's plate after she finished her pizza, and Mr. Cameron kept me thoroughly entertained. Great Uncle Ray played with me as well, and Great Aunt Marsha kept worrying that I was going to fall and hit something; I guess she just doesn't know how tough I am. Aunt Mallory, Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Ian, and Grandma were also there, and Grandma snuck me some cupcake icing, of course, before Great Uncle Steve just held up the entire container for me to dig into myself. I love hanging out with the fam, and I had an exceptionally good time until 30 minutes past my bedtime when I let everyone, including Uncle Steve, know that it was time to go. The only blip in my perfect week was my one-year well checkup yesterday morning before the family party. It was the worst one yet. At first I was totally distracted by the window and the kids playing outside on the playground, but as soon as the doctor walked in the room, I started freaking out, and I didn't stop until well after getting my shots. The doctor said that it is normal to get upset now that I know what is going on, but she also said that I am one of the louder ones. I'll show you loud! I wouldn't even let her check my ears; I kept digging my head into the table so that she couldn't see into my ear. She let Mom know that my ears aren't totally back to normal from the ear infections but that we are just going to watch them over the next month. I got my measurements taken, and I am definitely thinning out. My head is 18 inches, which puts me in the 70th percentile, and I am 30.5 inches tall, which puts me in the 89th percentile for height! However, I only weigh 21 pounds and 2 ounces, which drops me down to the 52nd percentile for weight. At the end of the appointment, the mean nurse gave me several horribly painful shots. It was pure torture and should not be part of the birthday week; in fact, it was so bad that I fell asleep while pouting during the 5 minute car ride from the doctor's office. I didn't let it ruin my mood though, which was apparent from the great mood I was in last night.

Today, Dad took the day off from work, and we are going to the Cumming Fair, which is the same fair that caused Mom to go into labor last year, at least that is what Dad thinks. It should be loads of fun, and I better get a deep-fried something. This weekend is Mom's birthday, so I get to spend most of the weekend with Grandma. Life just keeps getting better!

New One-Year-Old Talents: I am totally walking everywhere on my own; making the motions to songs like "The Itsy, Bitsy Spider", "The Wheels on the Bus", and "If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands"; sitting in my own little chair like a big girl; giving real kisses and hugs - when I feel like it; putting shapes in the correct holes in my little shape baker; starting to feed myself with real silverware; and so much more. Here's to year number 2!