HI.

Beach Babies!

popular phrases and sleep schedules

Some random words of wisdom:
"Don't worry, Mommy. I'm going to be ok."
"Don't worry about it."
"Hey Mommy!" You know what?" sometimes followed by: "Santa Clause is coming! He's outside."
"Go get them!" "I want to see them." (whenever she's missing someone and wants to see them)
"Be nice to me." (to her friends)


Miss Manners:
"I sorry. I really sorry."
"I very sorry."
"I so sorry."
"I say Please!"
"Pretty please."
"'Scuse me. I all full."
"Dee-whish-us!" (delicious)
"Thanks for washing my cup, mommy. Oh, tanks!" i've never known a child to be so dramatically appreciative the things we do for her...(like washing her clothes...)
"No tanks." whenever she really means "no-way!"
"My hands are dirty. They have germs. I need to wash them." always after the grocery store, she tells us "I touch the cart. It has germs. They make me sick. I have to go wash my hands."

Kindness and curiosity:
"It's o-tay."
"What-choo doing?"
"What are they talking for?"
"What are they talking about?"

Here are a variety of phrases we wake to each morning:
"Yoo-hoo! Mommy!" "Yoo-hoo! Daddy!"
"Cock-a-doodle doo!"
"The sun waked up!"

Words of persuasion:
"Just one cookie, O'tay?" followed by: "Just one again." (repeat. repeat.)
"Just one freezie pop again. O'tay?"

Games:
"I need to hide!"
"Let's make a tent!"
"I want to dance."
"It's Hannah Ontana!"

and a few I wouldn't mind her forgetting :)
"I need a new one. This one so yucky."
"I need to buy one."
and these declarations are usually followed by: "Please?! I say Please."

and the always-encouraging:
"We need to clean this house. It's too stinky."


sleeping beauty....
Since mid-January, Aiyana has become a phenomenal sleeper! She now takes a regular nap at around 12:30/1pm for 90 minutes EVERY day and wakes up happy and refreshed. Bedtime is around 8pm after she has fallen asleep in her big girl bed with a carefully chosen comfort object under her arm (these have ranged from her "soft blanket", book, new t-shirt, flashlight, or box of pink tissues...etc.). Once, we offered to leave her lamp on, and since then we have had few, if any, bedtime battles! All it took was one little thing. Light. She falls asleep on her own, usually after reading to herself. We love listening to her on the monitor: "best nest. best nest. best nest. (from the book "Best Nest" or "you never what. you never what. something may happen. you never know what." (from the book "A Fish Out of Water" aka "Otto".)

She still gets her cuddles in the rocking chair and a book or 3, but she typically gets into her bed on her own, we pull her pink soft blanket up around her neck, say prayers, kiss goodnight, and say, "Night night sweet girl. Mommy loves you. Daddy loves you. I'll see you when the sun wakes up."

and that's it! When she wakes up at night, she might want a drink, or just to see someone, but she ALWAYS falls right back to sleep. She doesn't cry; she just looks at us, and goes back to sleep. It's really the strangest thing! After our traveling for the holidays, I thought maybe it was just jet lag....but apparently she was just ready.

thanksgiving week in iowa

aiyana's 1st Famous Dave's experience! Yum!

so excited about her Thanksgiving meal!!

so many sentences!

it seems that with nani's first birthday came a flood of sentences! it caught me by surprise at first, but i'm beginning to expect it now.

a few weeks ago, walking into church, we were talking about who we were going to see. Nani says, "See Wally church, too?"

here are a few of the things she's saying now:

• where's my baby?
• baby go night-night. she's sleepy.
• i need that.
• i want that.
• i need more.
  
• where's my knife? i need my knife.
• mommy take away
• i put this away.
• this mine's
• read this one.
• i want this one.
  

i'll think of more to post later. she's quite a talker!

pretty smile

mario started the car, and nani yelled, "oh! oh! my car! my car!" and sprinted toward the car so she wouldn't get left behind.

ok, she was running so fast that these are a little blurry, but i couldn't resist sharing her glowing smile!

storytime with auntie em

nani loved her visit with grandma and auntie em...she really liked the futon mattress in the middle of the living room floor! it was great for wrestling. poor emmie. i hope her bruises are beginning to heal!
in the days after their visit, nani still asked for her nap on "emily's bed" and, in the car, pointed to the seats, saying, "that emily's seat. that grandma's seat."

kid in a candy store

nani's auntie shelly had the idea to take nani to the fancy candy store for her birthday....

"where do I begin?"
nani walked in like she owned the place. her first stop was the pile of shopping baskets. she needed not one, but two! she was going to be prepared!

happy birthday!

she even had to ice her own birthday cake...but she didn't mind. she used A LOT of sprinkles!

nani served her great-grandma joyce a lovely tea party
....she heard someone call grandma by her first name (joyce) and when she was asked to go tell grandma that supper was ready, nani yelled down the stairs: "Joyce! Joyce"

this birthday made an impact on aiyana. she's been singing "happy bert-day" to everyone and everything! we drove up to Indiana to visit our family and just happened to be there on her special day!

aiyana loves....

painting
sept 23

playing baseball

munching on lollipops...she even took mine for a "taste"!
sept 29

dressing herself...she put her sock on and then fell asleep

sleeping in her big girl bed! the first night was a little rough -- she quickly learned how to open her bedroom door, wander down the hall, and then back to her room. except for a little crying, that was the worst of it! she's only fallen out once, and it just scared her (and got her a free ride back to mommy's bed!)
oct 1

cooking in her new birthday kitchen
oct 2

walking in mommy's shoes
oct 4