Halloween

We went trick or treating with my mom and Austin, Trinity, and Lydia. Drea had a great time (she always loves spending time with her cousins) and got lots of candy. Then we came home and had supper with Angie. Afterward we danced to some of our favorite "Halloween" music and acted silly playing with Brian's mask.

Fall

Other than a nasty case of bronchitis and a sinus infection I've been enjoying the seasonal change. The heat really was too much this Summer. We've been getting outside more and playing with Drea in the yard. I've also been letting Aries in the house more, because he's calmed down lot and pretty much ignores all of her running around and screaming. She's fascinated with him and loves to pet him, but she feels overwhelmed by his size and runs toward me when he gets up off his couch to walk around.

Lost Photos

I'm so sad...somehow all the photos I took between our trip in June and September got erased from the memory card before I could up load them. I've always been careful to document nearly everything with photos, and it upsets me that a huge chunk of Drea's second summer has disappeared.

Even though there aren't any photos of it we did have some summer fun this year. We went to the YMCA pool and outdoor water park several times with Drea's Nana and cousins. We also took Drea to her first theater movie (Winnie the Pooh - she used to call him "Da Pooh"), and to see the Wiggles live in Charlotte.

Drea spent three nights here at home with her Nana and cousins when Brian and I went on a trip to Helen, Georgia for our anniversary. I think she had as much fun as we did.

Now that it's Fall and the oppressive heat is gone we're getting outside and having fun more often. Hopefully I'll be able to keep the photos I take to share of it.

Summer Fun

After Smores

With a pitcher on her head

Drea wants to live outside these days. She really would spend the whole 24 hour day outside if we let her. We've been letting her explore and get dirty.

She pulls me to the door and puts my hand on the door knob when she wants to leave. She loves to get in the car and go somewhere too. If she sees one of us grab the car keys she runs straight to the door.

In the last four weeks she's begun using a lot more words in the middle of her baby babble. She now says bottle, mommy, and daddy clearly. She also says "Kipper da dog" when her favorite show comes on. She says "get it" when she wants something and bless you when someone sneezes. She also says thank you sometimes when we give her something. When you least expect it an entire sentence will come out of her mouth.

She loves her little bears and carries them around the house with her. She sleeps with two or three every night. Whenever she's nervous or upset she kisses their noses.

The Duck Pond and the Park

Just a little afternoon visit to the Civic Center.

Easter 2011

We had a pretty good day on Easter Sunday. Mama and I dyed eggs with all the kids the day before, and then we hid them in the front yard after Easter dinner. Drea always enjoys playing with her cousins, and had a great time as usual. She was able to put her own eggs in the dye cups, and she had fun outside during the egg hunt. She also loved her Easter basket. It was a good day, but it was also an exhausting one.

Progress Report

I know it's a cliche, but I never stop being amazed at how fast she is learning and growing. She's grown more confident, and now she's trying to climb onto everything. She's also been pretending for weeks now. She loves to pretend that various objects are a phone. She holds shoes and toys up to her ear and jabbers at imaginary people. She also pretends to feed her bottle to her little bears and baby dolls. She smacks her lips to imitate them sucking on a bottle.
Earlier tonight she climbed into her old baby seat and pulled her infant bathtub over her head to play peek a boo. Brian said she had started doing that last night. She loves for us to ask "Where's Drea?" and yell "There she is!" when she laughs and uncovers herself.
She's developing quite the sense of humor lately. She intentionally teases sometimes. She squeals and laughs whenever she is excited, and is fluent in baby babble. Every once in a while I catch an actual word in the midst of the baby talk. She's surprised me quite a few times with what she says and understands.
She's a big fan of popsicles and the cartoon Kipper the Dog. She also loves to sing and dance with the Wiggles. She loves music, and will try to sing and dance whenever I sing her a song. She claps her hands if anyone starts to sing If You're Happy and You Know It. She also tries to sing the E-I-E-I-O in Old McDonald. She loves to be on the go; sometimes she says "bye bye" and drags her diaper bag to the door to let us know she'd like to go somewhere. She wants to play outside all day, and will cry and beg to go along if she sees someone picking up car keys. She's definitely not a homebody.

Scenes from March

Enjoying her new chair

Wearing one shoe and a Big Top cupcake pan

Playing with her doll stroller

This is Winter??

We had a lovely Valentine's Day this year. No special plans or stress - just a few sentimental gifts and fun with Drea. She loves stuffed animals so I bought her a giant bear that is bigger than she is. It was hilarious watching her try to carry it around.

The last few days have been unseasonably warm. That's putting it mildly. The high has been in the mid-70s for the past two days. I've actually had to turn on the AC. We went outside to play and enjoy it, because we know the yucky winter stuff will be back for at least one more round before Spring officially arrives.
Mama came over with Drea's cousins today. She didn't feel up to going to a park with them; I told her to bring the kids over and we'd just play here in the yard. Drea was thrilled to be outside with Austin, Trinity, and Lydia.

Tonight Drea decided her washcloth should be a hat. She insisted on leaving it on her head for several minutes and kept patting her head to make sure it was still there.
I dread the storms that typically come with Spring, but I am looking forward to more warm days and fun outside in a few months.

Discovering a Personality

During the last couple of months Drea's sense of humor has grown. She loves to "get" people (try to tickle them) and will say "getchoo". She loves to dance (bounce up and down) when she hears music, laughs when I use silly voices and faces, and likes to tease. If you ask her for a kiss she will turn her head away from you then make a point to kiss her baby doll. Her first sentence was "Where Day-uh?" - It was in late November/early December, and she covered herself up with a blanket to play peek-a-boo (I always played that with her by hiding my face and saying "Where's Mama?").

New words are coming out of her mouth all the time. In December she started saying Ba Ba for baby.

On January 5th I asked her if she is a baby and she patted her chest and said "Ba ba Deta". Just a few days later Ba ba became bahby.

She made up her own sign too. Instead of signing "milk" or "eat" she points the index finger of one hand to the palm of the other and says "eee?"

She's very independent and already wants to do everything herself. She also loves the word no and uses it frequently. She's very stubborn (like both of her parents), and I'm pretty sure that while this won't make parenting her very easy it is a trait that has it's good points. At least that's what I keep telling myself anyway.

She also suddenly started wanting to play with some of her baby things again. She wanted to get back in her baby swing and her jumparoo - both are toys she has outgrown. She giggles and squeals when she's in them - she knows she's being silly.

During an unseasonably warm day in December I put Drea on my back and we went for a walk outside. When I got back in with her we turned on the stereo and I danced with her still on my back (she loves this). She also bounced up and down and sang. We tried to catch it on video, and of course she stopped, but we finally got her to do it again. My hair is all nasty looking and sweat from the walk, but I thought this was so funny I had to share it anyway.

More Christmas Photos

Here are a few more Christmas photos of Drea. They aren't in any particular order; I just grabbed five out of my December folder.

Drea's First Birthday!

On Drea's birthday we went out to eat with her Nana and Papa for lunch. She didn't want to sit in her high chair and eat for long, and it was easy for her to con her Nana into getting her out and holding her. That Nana is just too easy.
After lunch, Daddy spent hours putting together a little swing set we got for her birthday present. It looks easy and simple, but took forever. It was made of a lot of little plastic tubes. I was hoping Drea would love it, but at first she was mostly scared of it. She liked the balls in the ball pit though.
On November 6 we threw Drea a birthday party at the YMCA. Her birthday theme was dragonflies and butterflies. We had about 25 family members and friends show up, and Drea enjoyed herself immensely. She got her first ever taste of pizza before it was time for her cake.
Drea didn't realize at first that she could eat her little cake. She kept reaching toward it and pulling her hand away like she was afraid she wasn't supposed to touch it. But once I finally convinced her that she could dig in, she ate quite a bit of it.
After the cake I sat with Drea at the gift table and helped her open presents. She got wonderful presents from everyone, and was excited by all of her new toys.

After everyone else went home Mama and the kids joined us in the YMCA's heated pool. After an hour or two of swimming we finally went home with all of the loot. Drea was tired and ready for sleep by the time we made it home. It was a great day for all of us.