Dog Days of Summer

Amity has become very adept at using her walker/baby stroller...much to Paco's chagrin!

Those of you out there that hold a grudge against Paco for his behavior at some time or another will appreciate this newest "consequence" that we have discovered! Just kidding, Paco! We do love you...most of the time!

Morning at the Museum

Our friends Rebecca and Ella had the fantastic idea to spend the morning inside at the Museum of Nature & Science at Fair Park. Having gone here on quite a few field trips over the past ten years with second and third graders, it was hard to believe that our little 15-month-old girls were actually big enough to go to a MUSEUM! As you can see, they loved it and, for the moms, the best part was not having to ride a school bus on the way home!
Are these eggs or balls? Thankfully, these chickens laid wooden eggs!
This was Amity's typical position for most of the morning. She still prefers knee-walking. The museum should have paid US for cleaning their floors!

Our little farm girls liked carrying around "purses" full of vegetables.

This pumpkin made me ready for fall! I can't wait to take Amity to the pumpkin patch again!

My favorite part of the water tables was the cute smocks the girls wore.

Ella has, apparently, never met a waterdrop she didn't like!

After spending lots of time in the big kids' area (0-6 year olds), we discovered a little area just for toddlers. It was so nice and peaceful without any of those pesky kids and teachers on field trips! :)

These mats were perfect for Amity to crawl/knee-walk/walk all over!

Our little techies didn't seem to notice that the computer was frozen.

Thanks for the great idea, Rebecca and Ella! We always enjoy our time with ya'll! According to Google Maps, the museum was just 12 minutes from our house. I think we will be visiting it much more often from now on!

Independent Woman

I can't think of where she gets this but Amity's GG and KK think it might be genetic! I love how my cousin reminds us that independence from Mom and Dad is our ultimate goal but we should continue to pray for an eternal dependence on her Heavenly Father!

So bright you gotta wear shades!

We have been finding a lot of this around our house lately:

A year ago, Amity loved wearing her sunglasses. Now, she won't let us get them anywhere near her eyes. She does, however, enjoy placing them on all of her little friends.

Amity is 15 months old!

Amity turned 15 months old today and she has been a busy girl! Yesterday morning started out with an unusual bathtime since there were some plumbing issues in the showers at the Grover house. Thankfully, she is fairly flexible and enjoyed her first bath in the kitchen sink.

At 11:00, we had her 15 month checkup appointment at Dr. Moore's office. Here she is patiently sitting in the blue plastic chair and enjoying her Cheerios. Minutes later, Dr. Moore walked in the door and she immediately began crying hysterically. Apparently, she remembers him as the man who cleaned her ears at her 12 month appointment and she does not like anyone to get near her ears. She cried the entire time that he was examining her but, thankfully, showed off her new walking skills when he stood her up on the floor and she practically ran to me. Even with all of the crying, he still said that she looked "Fantastic!"

Her 15 month stats were:
Weight: 25.8 pounds (85th percentile)
Height: 32 1/4 inches (95th percentile)
Head: 18 3/4 inches (90th percentile)

I decided that yesterday was a good day to begin a tradition of going some place fun after a doctor checkup. That may be a bad habit to start but it seemed like a good idea at the time, plus Chik-fil-a just sounded really good! Amity enjoyed those waffle fries and especially enjoyed watching all of the big kids.

After lunch, Amity had her first experience in an indoor playground. She was definitely the least stable on her feet of all of the children in there but, thankfully, there is a special area that is reserved for toddlers. She just crawled and cruised around the plastic tree and continually watched the big kids climbing above her.

Amity could have stayed at Chik-fil-a longer but I needed to make a stop by Half-Price Books. After I found the books I needed, Amity had some time to crawl around the kids area. Again, she loved watching the big kids that played in the house.

Back at home, Amity loves to play "mommy" to her babies. She always makes sure they get plenty of hugs, food, and drinks.

She stills loves to look at her books. Today, I saw her making a fish face and sounds and realized that she was reading the fish book that she got from the Connells for Christmas. So fun to see her make connections!

Our little girl that wasn't consistently saying any words but "Uh-oh" just a couple of weeks ago has suddenly become quite loquacious! Dennis and I tried to make a list of the words that she uses regularly in the car on our way to Oklahoma:

• eyes (This is her absolute favorite word! She points out eyes on EVERYTHING and EVERYONE...including the strange lady in my doctor's office this afternoon!)
• teeth (as she points to her own teeth)
• uh-oh (this is said whenever she drops something or when she falls or whenever else she feels like using it)
• Moo (as in what the cow says)
• Nay (as in what the horse says)
• Da-da (probably her first word)
• Ma-ma (finally!)
• "bah" (meaning ball)
• Gooooo! (when she sees people running or whenever we are driving and see a green light)
• No..no..no (when she is asserting her opinions)
• Jus (meaning anything in a sippy cup)
• Bah-bul (meaning Bible...we pat the Bible and sing "The B-I-B-L-E" before her Bible story everynight...I don't know how much spiritual meaning she gets from it but she loves patting her Bible!)
• Mmmm-me (meaning Amen after we finish praying before a meal)
• shus (meaning shoes)
• Ay-yay (meaning cousin Eli)

Just yesterday, she stopped signing "Please" and has begun saying "Bah". We can't figure out where that came from but she uses it correctly and consistently. We have tried practicing "please" with her and she very respectfully continues to repeat "bah"! Who knows how many other "words" she is saying that we just haven't figured out yet!

Amity, you are a delightful little girl! Every day is a new adventure as we learn together... you learn about your world and we learn how to parent you and guide you through it. We are so thankful for you and your smile and hugs which you give so freely! Love you more!