18 Month Update + Victoria Zoo

Hello folks!! Another month has come and gone and my - what a busy one it has been. We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas surrounded by a house full of family. It was so much fun watching Charlotte open up her gifts. She would slowly tear the paper off and get more and more excited with each new peek. By the time the gift was totally unwrapped, she could barely contain herself and would start dancing around asking us to open up the new toy. Took forever for her to finally get through everything! She's still fascinated with Christmas and asks where the decorations are every time we walk into Target or Hobby Lobby :) Our precious little girl turned 18 months early this week so I thought I would give y'all a bit of an update.




- Is absolutely obsessed with cooking. She runs around the house screaming "I Cook" and proceeds to empty the pantry and pull out every tupperware bowl we own. My mom and I are currently scanning Pinterest and making her a ton of felt food. I'll share pics of our first project soon!

- I know I say this every month, but her vocabulary has exploded once again. It just amazes us how quickly she picks things up and fully understands what they mean and when to use them. Her newest words include: stop (says this when you ask her what a red light means), rock (the motion), where is, please (peas), go, hide, letters, outside (ow-side), coffee (cough), moustache (stache - she got a Mr. Potato head for Christmas), eat, lunch (unch), circle, cat, again (gan), gas, barn, clothes (cose), run, and race. She also puts "I" in front of verbs and "a" in front of nouns. Ross and I have already started spelling out things to each other.




- Learned to count - somewhat. We were driving home one morning and all of the sudden heard Charlotte counting. Turned around and she was counting her toes! She says 2 and then counts from 5-10 perfectly. It makes me beam every time she does it.

- Can pick out a lot of different letters. We were at the Dr. office the other day and she looked up and said X pointing to the Exit sign. I also got her to repeat the alphabet after me on the way home from the Waco zoo a few weeks ago. It was sooooo cute. My favorite is when she says Q - coo.

- Started singing Ei-Ei-O when you sing Old McDonald. She still loves to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Wheels on the Bus too.

- Mastered using a fork. She wants a grown-up fork for each and every meal and she's quite good at using it. She even uses a fork to poke and eat her Cheerios!




- Has a strong arm :) When you ask her where her strong arm is, she holds up her right arm and flexes it while giving you a little tough face.

- Became a football fan. After observing DaddyO'(grandpa) and Uncle Martin watch a football game, she picked up on one of their habits. Every time she sees a game on T.V. she gets very serious and starts yelling Go-Goo-Goooooo at the screen.

- Gained 3 new teeth. Yep, fun month - not. Teething is tough! This month Charlotte got 3 canine teeth all at once. She kept begging for crushed ice while they were coming in and chewing on everything in sight!

- Became the world's best leg hugger. She loves to run up and wrap herself around you leg and squeeze it. It pretty much makes you melt each and every single time!

- Developed fear. We took her to the airport to watch the planes landing on the runway and she LOVED it. She would yell woosh and wave hi to them as they came by. We took her there hoping to cure her of her airplane fear. Apparently, she loves them close up and crazy loud, but if she hears them flying high in the sky she runs to you and wants a hug until it passes. She also HATES printers. Not sure why, but she goes crazy when the printer is working. She runs to it screaming noooooo and proceeds to rip the paper out of the machine. DRA-MA!

Is obsessed with hiding. It was become our new family game before our bed routine every night. Charlotte screams "hide" and proceeds to hide in the exact same place every single time - the corner of the dining room. Ross and I then scramble to hide and she runs out to find us. I love hearing her yell out Mommy .... Poppi as she searching. Then the look of sheer joy when she sees us is the best sight in the world.




Ross had some vacations days last week so we packed up and headed down to visit my parents in Victoria. While there, we enjoyed our first ever picnic lunch and then took Charlotte to the Victoria zoo. It was a neat experience because that was the zoo that Ross and I grew up visiting as kids ourselves. It's changed a lot since those days. Back then it only included native Texas animals, but now it also has a variety of monkeys and wild cats. Charlotte got most excited when she saw the petting zoo. She immediately started screaming "Barn" and ran to the fence. We weren't sure how she would react to the animals, but she loved them. She petted a sheep and her face lit up and she squealed with delight. She kept running back to the barn every chance she got for one last view.



After the zoo, we drove over and visited the duck pond. Ross and I use to meet there after school during our courting days :) Charlotte loved seeing the ducks, but had a different idea when it came to feeding them. We kept giving her bread to feed to them and she kept popping each and every piece in her mouth. You would think we never feed her at the rate she was going. It gave us a good chuckle.

We are enjoying exploring new things now that the days are starting to get a tad warmer. Can't wait to see what another month brings our way. Thanks for checking in!

Cameron Zoo

Last Saturday, we took Charlotte to the Cameron Zoo in Waco. Ross and I have always loved visiting this zoo so we were super excited to experience it as a family of three now. We kept asking Charlotte if she wanted to go see the animals at the zoo and she kept responding by mooing like a cow ;) We went on a sunny, but cool day so all of the animals were out and VERY active. The first exhibit you see when you walk in, is the howler monkeys. Charlotte would have been perfectly content watching them all day. They were chasing each other, swinging on the ropes, climbing in the tree and just putting on a great show for all of the spectators.



We also spent a great deal of time watching the tigers. They have always been snoozing during our past visits, but were on the playful prowl this time. They paced back and forth the perimeter eyeing each other and the crowd. Several times, they stopped to tackle and growl at one another. That sound will make you freeze in your tracks!!! I can't even begin to imagine what it must feel like to hear that sound in the wild.



Charlotte had fun exploring all of the special kid nooks throughout the zoo. She loved crawling in a little cave to view the alligators from underwater and swinging ropes in the monkey exhibit. However, we couldn't pry her away from the otters. They have a glass slide that goes right through the exhibit. While you slide through, you can see the otters swimming around you and even crawling all over the slide.



My favorite exhibit was the orangutans. I've never seen one up close and they were all out exploring their area and enjoying the nice weather. We watched one climb to the very top of the cage and fiddle with a big stick until it finally figured out how to pull it through the hole. Another walked right up to us and sat down to play with the grass. Their eyes are full of so much emotion and it's so funny watching them slowly walk as their shaggy hair draps around them. We stayed a little over two hours at the zoo and really had a wonderful afternoon together. We are thinking about visiting a different zoo next week so I'll take pictures if we do!! Enjoy your weekend.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!!! We wish each and every one of you a joyous holiday!!!! We can't wait to let Charlotte open her gifts. It has been so much fun this month watching her get excited about everything. She's obsessed with looking at all of the lights at night and still enjoys yelling out "mas" every time she sees something Christmasy. She just so happens to turn 17 months old this Christmas Eve so I thought I'd share a quick update. This month Charlotte:

- has had a verbal explosion. She repeats everything, but has learned so many new words. Some of her newest ones are: light, book, read, hat, bowl, go, hello (whenever she hears a phone ring), awwww ( every time she gives you a hug), star, cold, bye, and heart. The best phrase she picked up lately is "oh man". Makes us giggle. She says it when she drops something, trips or finds trash on the floor. She also started saying "ready, set, go go".

- Has developed the sweetest girlie giggle ever. When she gets excited or finds something hilarious, she starts laughing and then covers her mouth with her hands and continues to giggle and squeal with delight. It makes me melt each and every time!

- has developed a love for hiking. We took one hike down to see some fossilized dinosaur tracks. Ross carried her in a pack on his back and she enjoyed the view. We also hiked out to see an old log cabin. The trail was paved most of the way and ran along a trickling stream. Charlotte had a blast running along the path, kicking rocks, and picking up an assortment of leaves and sticks. She loves being outside.



- never grows tired of stomping or twirling! She loves to stand between you and another person, holding hands and stomping down the sidewalk. Of course she instructs you by saying "stomp, stomp, stomp" the entire time. She also twirls around the house when we listen to music. She can go quite awhile before making herself dizzy ;)

- is still obsessed with cleaning and brushing her teeth. Everyday when I pull the broom out, she runs behind me chasing it and picking up trash to place in the dust bin. She also still makes sure that every door/cabinet is fully closed. She begs us numerous times a day for her tooth brush! It's a tad obsessive!

- should become the next spokesperson for Apple!!! She is an iPad/iPhone user. She knows how to slide the icons to open devices, swish through pages looking for apps or listening to music. It's quite impressive. She has a folder full of apps that she enjoys playing. She sits there saying "ummm" while trying to decide which one to open. One of her favorites is called Toddler Shapes. It gives you 5 different shapes and asks you to find a certain one on each page. So far she can identify a circle, square, rectangle, triangle, heart, diamond, star, pentagon and hexagon.

We can't believe our baby girl has grown and changed so much in such a short time. Can't wait to see what another month brings our way. Thanks for checking in on us. Enjoy time with your family and friends over the holidays!!!!!!

Gingerbread Play-dough

Is everyone enjoying the final countdown until Christmas?? I have been baking up a storm and assembling tins full of cookies to pass out to our friends and neighbors. I took a short break this afternoon to cook something a little different. Gingerbread Play-dough! I found the recipe through Pinterest a few weeks ago and immediately saved it. I thought it would be a cute gift for Charlotte to give to some of her buddies. The recipe is super easy to whip together. Took me less than 5 minutes. It's soft, smells incredible and best of all Charlotte loves squishing it ;) I found tiny tins at Hobby Lobby that perfectly hold one batch. I also bought some gingerbread cookie cutters and will attach them with a homemade tag to the handle. Click here for the link to the original post if you would like to give it a try. Happy holidays!!!

Sticker Magnets

I have finally started using some of the ideas I've found on Pinterest to make a few things for Charlotte. The first one is how to make your own sticker magnets. Click here for the link to the original idea. It's super easy. Just wait for your local craft store to put the stickers on sale and go stock up. I prefer to use the Doodlebug brand because their stickers are a tad thicker and several designs come on one sheet. You then place your stickers on magnetic sheets and simply cut them out. Be sure to leave a little edge around each piece to help protect the stickers. Charlotte loves playing with them. She currently places them on our dishwasher. It's cheap entertainment.

For now, I store each set in those little hinged tins with a clear top. I had a box full of them from my crafting days. I also bought a large metal box at Michael's that we can eventually tote around with us so she can play with them in the car. Would be perfect for a long trip. The next project I'm currently working on is A Box-0'-Princesses. Call me crazy, but I thought it was a cute idea. They've got a boy version too!!! It's going to take time to complete, but I'll share when it's finished!

16 Month Update

A few days late with my update, sorry. We had a packed house for the holiday. Charlotte turned 16 months on Thanksgiving. She had a blast visiting with family, playing with her cousin and hugging my brother's dog - oh and eating the food ;) She loved the smoked turkey, dressing and green bean casserole. This past month has been an explosion of learning and exploring. Her personality is starting to shine and we are having so much fun introducing her to new experiences.


At 16 months Charlotte:

- Is talking up a storm. She repeats everything and surprises us daily with new words. The newest words she has added to her vocabulary are: sit, bike (bice), remote (mote), orange, yellow, moon, help, up, right here, toes, nose, noodle, dance, and my favorite - Christmas (mas). She can also identify the letters C & O as well as the shape of a circle and star.

- loves to help. I open the dishwasher and she comes running yelling heeeelp. She wants to be the one to unload it. She's still obsessed with laundry. She follows me into the laundry room and has to put each piece of clothing in herself, then she wants to push the buttons to start the machines. She loves fluffing laundry too.

- is obsessed with trains and pumps her arm when she sees one. Is also obsessed with balls. Kicking, rolling, throwing - she does it all and constantly wants you to play with her. She even holds them above her head saying 1,2,3 before throwing and chasing after them. She also just learned to color which makes this crafty mama super excited.

- loves to pretend. She has perfected pretend sleeping and it's the cutest thing ever. She lays down on a pillow, doesn't close her eyes, but looks to one corner and then pretends to snore until you tell her to wake up. She also loves to pretend to cook or serve you tea. I taught her cheers so we do a lot of clinking plastic cups and sipping faux drinks around here ;)

- has learned to introduce herself. She holds out her hand for you to shake and will keep doing it until you say - hi Charlotte nice to meet you!

Overall, it's been a busy month and we are loving every minute of it. We are definitely looking forward to Christmas and seeing her reactions to everything. Happy holidays and thanks for checking in on us!!

Pinterest

Happy Friday everyone! Are y'all prepping up for turkey day next week? It's our favorite holiday and we are definitely looking forward to it this year. We can't wait to see Charlotte's reaction to all of the yummy food. Kid eats everything - well almost, she hates bananas. We are getting ready to do all of our shopping this weekend. We are planning on smoking 4 turkeys and feeding a crew of family members. Doesn't hurt to have plenty of leftovers either :)

So I have a question for ya. Are any of you addicted to Pinterest as much as I am? I just discovered it about a month ago and I'm hooked. If you're not familiar with it, it's a site where you can pin pictures/links to things you find on the internet. Think bookmarks, but with pictures. Perfect for me since I'm a visual person and I bookmark things and then completely forget about them. You can also browse categories for things other people have pinned. I originally got on there to get some decorating ideas for the house, but I've found so many neat things to pin. DIY crafts, recipes, helpful cleaning tips and holiday decor. However, my favorite thing to hunt for is kid's craft or games. I've found soooooo many great ideas. Can't wait to try them out with C one day. If you're on there, look me up and if you're not go sign up! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!