Say Cheese!

Rachel LOVES to take my camera and play "Cheese". Here's another post with photos from her point of view. Some of these are not very flattering, to say the least.

Here's a few other misc. ones:

She used chopsticks, and actually got some food in her mouth with them!

Jason and I bought a bunch of lego sets and for the past several weekends we've turned off our electronics and played with legos together. All of us love it. And Jason and I love the memories we're making!

 Yeah, this chair isn't a recliner. However, when she sits in it, she pushes the chair all the way back until it reclines!

 This is the girls at Grandma Johnson's playing in the bird bath and having a great time. They were muddy from head to toe by the time they were done!

 The girls putting their shoes and socks on all by themselves.

For Halloween Wendy's gave out Shrek toys. this one was a hat that had donkey ears. She was so excited!

The Ruchert Explanation

It was called to my attention that I neglected to explain the "Ruchert" name. Anytime you ask Rachel her name, she says, "Ruchert!" So sometimes I actually call her that. I noticed that the other kids in the classroom all call her "Ruchert" as well.

Ruchert Stories

I have a few stories I want to capture so I can tell them to Rachel one day. I'll post more pictures soon!

 

My Furry Friend

One day Jason was laying in the middle of the living room floor. I can’t remember what we were doing, but he had his hands behind his head laying on his back. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt. And what happened next we’re not sure if Rachel was just trying to be cute or if there truly was an element of discovery but Rachel started saying “Oh, it’s so cute!” and began to pet his armpit. He was trying not to move as he didn’t want to clock her with his arm, but she just kept cooing over his armpit. Both of us couldn’t stop laughing, which only made it worse.

 

We now have a parrot in our midst. I am ever so grateful that we are very careful about what we say around her. Most of the nasty stuff that comes out of her mouth is really rare and a complete accident or she was trying to say something like “fork” and she’s not quite adept to pronunciation. But some of her new phrases that are cute at the moment are:

 

“What are you talking about?”

“Ah, that’s so cuuuute” (not always is this one used appropriately, as is the case from the story above)

“But, why?” (instead of just Whyyyyyyyyy? Hers comes out as “But, why?”)

 

And all of the above phrases are sometimes accompanied by hand gestures (that she’s picked up from me), putting one hand on her hip in determination after saying one of the above phrases,  and/or looking off to the side and up. Generally she looks up and to the right. I believe I heard somewhere that means she’s right brained?

 

Be Nice

Last week we were sitting at the dinner table, which I do try to have us do a few times a week. Jason was getting ready for an upcoming trip to England and at the end of it he’s heading to Switzerland for a few days because he’s always wanted to go. He kept dragging his feet and I finally managed to get him at least okay with the idea. He purchased his flights and booked the extra hotel and all was set. It was a few days before he was ready to go and at the table he said, “Are you really sure you’re okay with me going?” I don’t remember what kind of day I had, but I was really frustrated we were about to have this conversation again. So I reply, “Are you seriously asking again? Of course I’m okay with it! I want you to do this, I’ve had to talk you into going! It’s all set and I’m good with it.” To which Rachel softly pipes up, “Um, mommy? Please be nice to daddy.” What’s the correct response to your child when they say that! Of course I wasn’t mad, just kind of annoyed so I agreed, apologized to them both and tried very hard not to feel so embarrassed.

 

A lot of times when I’m driving I’ll hear her little voice from the back say, “This way mommy?” “That way?” I can’t tell if she wants me to go that way or if she’s just asking. There has been at least one incident where she wanted to go left and I turned right and she threw a fit.

 

On the nights where I run up to Anderson with her she’ll see the Wendy’s as we go through the roundabout and she’ll either tell me she wants French fries, or she’ll point out the place that has the French fries.

 

Once in a great while she’ll dive into a complete explanation of something absolutely nonsensical. I happened upon one conversation she had at the kitchen table one morning with “Papa” Howell: “And there was a night-night, a blue night-night but then there was no night-night” and it went on and on and one and upon completion she put her right hand on her hip, slightly nodded her head and I’m not sure if I imagined it or if she actually said, “Hmpf!” If she didn’t, that would have been the correct place to do it. Sometimes she’ll go into a huge explanation of something and it’s almost as if she doesn’t breathe. I might understand a sentence or phrase out of the whole thing.

 

Her speech is getting better but she does still pronounce her c’s as t’s. ex: Tome on! Instead of Come on. Otay! Instead of Ok.

 

Sadly, she does now say “crown” instead of a “Happy cake”, which kind of makes me sad. That’s one that could have stuck. The other day I caught her trying to say “Pacifier” instead of “ night-night”. She actually pronounced it almost right! But I’m so used to it being called a night-night that I now call it that as well so at the time it didn’t compute.

 

When I’m driving I do get annoyed when people in front of me are going slower than the speed limit. Especially if they pull out in front of me or are driving recklessly. So of course I talk out loud, “Oh you gooberhead! Why’d you have to do that?” (Again….VERY careful with my vocabulary in front of her). Sometimes she’ll say, “It’s alright!”

 

She does say “UM” a LOT.

 

One of my least favorite of her habits is this:

“Um, mommy?”

“hmm?”
“Um, mommy?”

“huh?”

“Um, mommy?”

“yes?”
“Um, mommy?”

“Seriously, what?!”

 

It’s like how Stewie talks to Lois on Family guy and at the end of the whole thing, he says, “HI!” Oh that annoys me. This is a conversation that normally happens when she’s trying to wake me up. Grunting isn’t good enough, apparently!

 

BEANS

I have 2 bean stories. The first is another conversation we had in the car. We’re driving along and she points out the window:

“What’s that?”

I look. She’s pointing to a field.

“Those are beans”

“Bains? What’s Bains doing?”

“Growing.”

“Growing?”

 

HA! Either I have more of a twang to my speech than I thought, or she has a twang as she’s learning.

 

The second beans story is: we had a bean supper up at my Grandma Esche’s house not long ago, cooked by my Uncle Paul. I was skeptical that Rachel would even attempt them. (Uncle Paul had chicken nuggets in reserve just in case, he’s so good!) But sure enough, Rachel sat at the table and quietly ate…and ate….and ate…she even ate the beans and wanted more!

 

With Alana being home and I get to help care for her sometimes it’s kind of nice to see the differences between the two girls. Alana can play by herself a little more than Rachel can, although she does like to interact with the adults once in a while. But she’s not a good eater. And some nights, Rachel isn’t either. But consistently I see Rachel eat about twice as much as she does. I really do have a good eater! (Although I notice that Alana eats really well when she stays with us. I’m sure it’s because if her little cousin is eating, then she needs to show her up).

 

Also I’ve noticed that Rachel is a GOOD sleeper. More than one person that’s kept her has told us that she’ll suddenly just say, “I want to go to bed” or that she wants to take a nap and sure enough, you give her a pacifier and a blanket and she’ll curl up and go to sleep. More often than not, she does do this. I am ever so grateful. And part of that comes from the fact that we’ve worked really hard to set the boundary that she ONLY gets her pacifier in her bed. There was one weekend that Rachel wasn’t sleeping, but she wanted to pacifier badly enough that she spend just as much time in her bed as she did out of it. Because she wanted it so much and that was the rule. Now she knows when she goes to sleep, she gets it. Breaking the “no night-night at night-night” is going to be tough, but I’m okay with it. For now, we all sleep ALL NIGHT. And as far as her teeth go, sucking her thumb would make that worse, so I’m grateful she’s not doing that. And I’ve heard as long as she’s done with it by the time she’s 4 she should be fine. Considering now she doesn’t have it all the time, only when she sleeps (and it falls out as soon as she’s fast asleep) I think we’ll be okay. It’s one of those little things I’m willing to give on.

 

Potty training right now is going SO. SLOW. At least it is to me. Some kids are done by the time they’re 1, some kids aren’t there until they’re 4. Our kid is at least peeing in the potty regularly, so I’m glad it’s at least started. She doesn’t understand the concept of it’s the diaper or the potty, you can’t live in both worlds. As I’ve learned with our daughter, she does things in her own time and in her own way (exactly like me). And since I know how I operate, I’m trying to exploit that. If I push it’ll take longer, so instead I’ll encourage and offer but that’s about all I can do.

Potty Time!!

Please join us in the glorious celebration of our child's first successful trip to the potty. After a year of patiently asking her to PLEASE try the big girl potty, countless trips to the bathroom for what I like to call "job shadowing" and finally me giving up saying, "Welp, when she's 16, perhaps then she'll use the potty on her own," we have RESULTS!

I knew it was coming....I mean, she does everything already:
Sit on the potty
Count to 10
Wipe
Flush
Close the lid gently

But no tinkling. So now we go through the painstaking process of putting her on the potty every hour (or at least they will at day care). And I'm ready. I JUST bought her new panties last week (Tinkerbell and Princesses....she'll be so excited!). We're required to have 6 pairs of underwear, Huggies pull ups (THANK YOU EJN SO MUCH FOR YOUR DONATION!!!!), and several changes of clothes. I'm absolutely bringing in the kit to take care of the entire request. TOMORROW.

I'm very proud of Jason. Oh gosh! I should probably capture the whole scene!

I'm outside loading up Jason's SUV with all of my garage sale merchandise to take up to Anderson tomorrow. Jason took over bath time so I could load up the car. I came inside, hot and sticky since it's 90° outside and I see our sopping wet child sitting on the potty making the most glorious tinkling sound I've ever heard. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't cry, I couldn't speak, I was stunned. I asked Jason how he knew and he said she just looked at him and he asked her if she needed to potty. She nodded her head, so he plopped her on the throne and away she went.

Rachel was SUPER excited. I'm hoping Jason and I making a huge fuss over her going successfully will result in her continuing to want to be potty trained. How glorious would it be for her to be completely in underwear before she's 3? Gosh I'm so tired of diapers and I have been SO anxious for her to finally start this journey!

On Sunday while I was getting ready for church she came into the bathroom with me and was playing around then suddenly disappeared into our closet. Normally this is a signal she's going to go run and soil her diaper. So I asked her if she needed to go #2 and put her on the potty in our room. I sang a song. I counted. I begged. Nothing. I could tell she was trying, but nothing. *sigh*

But THIS! OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGoooooooooooooooosh! I am so thrilled.

Thank you, everyone, who have given me advice, allowed me to complain and whine about how slow this is going, and for providing me encouragement to help through this time. I know we still have a long way to go, I'm just glad she's starting!!

Family Weekend

Let's not start out with words, let's start out with the really fun part of my blog....photos!

Rachel took "papa's" glasses and put them on. It was hilarious!

Yummy cupcakes from Caroline!

Our new roller coaster!!

The messy, but adorable, new kitchen!

 

 

Yes, lots has happened in the last month. It was another whopper of a busy one. Jason's parents were generous to come up and stay with me while he was in Pennsylvania camping for a week and brought Howell with them. It was a great time! The following weekend we stayed in Avon with some friends to help them with a garage sale and fighter practice afterwards, all of which Rachel was present. This past weekend we had not only Jason's parents and his grandfather, but one of his aunts and all 3 of his male cousins come visit! I personally love having a house packed full of family and/or friends to enjoy their company and visit. It was like a mini family reunion and everyone had a good time. Rachel was surrounded by her family, which gives me great joy. I treasure the time I spent as a child with my family, so the fact that we all live close enough to be able to share that time with her is very special to me. She's building memories and able to warm up to people very quickly. Her attitude and demeanor has brightened quite a bit. Even though we could tell she was a little overwhelmed and didn't feel very good (I think allergies) she was still pleasant for the most part. Not to mention very entertaining. Her imagination is kicking in along with her own "Rachel Language" which leads to some hilarious phrases and mannerisms.

 

It true Aunt Gail style, she'll pick up her dolls to have them play and say, "Well HELLO!" She also has her memory starting to show. Her Aunt Heather came and, in typical toddler style said, "Do you have my kitty?" instead of saying hello. "Kitty" is an app that Heather downloaded on her phone. Rachel will take her phone and talk incessantly to it. I have no clue what the app is called (nor do I care as I have no desire to have it on my phone, lest I never see it again), but it's a little kitty that if she touches the screen will poke the kitty. Anything Rachel says the "kitty" repeats back in a high pitched Alvin the Chipmunk voice. Apparently it also sings songs and if you touch the screen gently (which Rachel kept kissing) the kitty begins to purr. Friday morning when Heather woke up and handed her the phone, Rachel turned on the kitty and said, "Well HELLO kitty! Did you miss me? Where've you been?"

 

She also has resorted to saying "Thanks" instead of "Thank you", but has also added "Yes please!" as a response to a question. I'm thankful that even with a house full of people and her schedule completely thrown off she still remembers her manners more often than not.

 

So the above roller coaster and kitchen....let me explain that. As I said, last weekend all 3 of us stayed with some friends in Avon and helped them host a garage sale. (I of course packed up as much crap as I could to try to get rid of it). Since it's so far away and I knew we needed to get there early, I decided to stay all night. Since Jason's friends with them and their house is monstrous, he wanted to stay too! So we all 3 stayed and all of us had a great time. Rachel climbed all over creation at their house and by the end of the day her bare feet were literally black. This family is preparing to move back to Arizona and had LOTS of toys their kids didn't play with. One being the roller coaster, which she generously just gave to us. It's in great condition and it's perfect for Rachel's age. The little cart is light enough she can pick it up and put it back at the top of the "hill" herself. But it's also sturdy enough for her to ride whether it's on the track or just on the floor. And she loves it! Even if the cart could fall off the track (which would take some doing, it's pretty safe), and she fell, she's mere inches from the floor so she really can't get hurt. She loves it and it's adorable!

 

The kitchen....well, just look at that thing! It's huge! Not to mention came with a shopping cart and cash register. I had found a really nice Kitchen toy for her, but this one was awesome. I bought it from the lady before the garage sale even started. Several people inquired about it, so I'm glad I made up my mind early! It fits perfectly in our living room and it's at the perfect side for her right now. (I'll just sell her other one....2 kitchens is plenty). But the stove makes noise depending on which pot/skillet you use. If you put the pot on the burner, it makes a boiling sound. If you put the skillet on the burner, you hear a sizzling sound. (And if you don't remove the pot or skillet, the thing just keeps making noise forever more amen). It's also got a foam mat for the floor that looks like hard wood. If I had been a kid, I would have loved something like this. So I had to get it for her. I'm glad I gave away a LOT of her toys to make room for that!

 

She incorporates her Dora house, Strawberry shortcake, and kitchen all together and plays with them. She's now to a point where I can sit here on the couch and update my blog while she happily plays with her toys and lets her imagination run wild. I've also noticed she'll talk a lot more if I step away and just let her do her thing. Her toys were cheap enough that if she breaks them (on accident....on purpose will get her in trouble) it doesn't bother me quite so much. So she can just hang out in that area and do whatever she wants and she doesn't hear "No don't do that!" or "pick that up!" which I think she enjoys. It's like that little play area is her "freedom" space to do whatever she pleases and we don't really have to worry about her getting hurt or destroying something.

 

One new phrase she keeps using, and appropriately is, "HELLO?! Anybody here-d?" She'll say that when we walk in the door in the evenings or if she opens the door from the house to the garage and it's dark.

 

She will tell me she wants to take a nap. Sometimes it's just an act to be able to get her pacifier, which we really have been successful in limiting to just when she's going to sleep. Sometimes in the morning we struggle, but on the weekends I can ask her to give it to me because she's awake and most of the time she complies without a fuss. I'd prefer for her to choose to give me the pacifier rather than trying to sneak it away when she puts it down. This way she knows where it is and I hope it helps her to feel she has more control over the situation with her pacifier. However, other times she'll actually say she wants to take a nap and crawl into bed and go to sleep. I LOVE IT.

 

Bath time is also really nice right now. When we announce in the evening it's bath time she'll say, "I want hot water-t and bubbles" and then saunter on in to the bath tub. Recently I've had to have her get in the shower with me for convenience or just for fun and she really likes that. I don't think she gets as clean, but in a pinch, it's one way we can use to get her clean!

 

Her personality is growing and I feel the "Terrible Twos" has started to wear off. PRAISE THE GOOD LORD! That phase was A-W-F-U-L for us. I'm noticing that she's thoughtful, sweet, clever, and daring. She enjoys adventure and thrills. Yet I can tell her cares about everything around her. She'll ask when someone leaves, she'll ask where they went in a concerned manner. She's asked where Monty is several times.

 

I have really worked hard (and it's been difficult) to foster a sense of independence in her. What I mean is, I want her to feel she has some control in her little world, even though she really doesn't have a lot. I feel it shows that we respect her and it allows her to make up her own mind and determine what she wants/doesn't want. And that's tough. I see her struggling to open a container and I'm instantly inclined to go help her and I find I have to hold back to wait until she asks for help. (Sometimes I have to intervene if she's going to end up hurting herself, like dropping the container on her foot). I've put drinks and snacks in the refrigerator at her level so she can choose what she wants to eat and drink (and keep the junk food at a higher level). And this isn't always easy. I really want to give her ice cream and sweets all the time because she asks for them. But we've had enough tummy aches for us to know better and not give in.

 

I desperately want to spoil our child with toys, games and just about every luxury that we can get our hands on. But we've both agreed to draw a line and say no more. I've noticed that when we take her somewhere she likes to look at the toys, but so far (knock on wood) she doesn't demand to take a toy home with her. We can finally tell her "No" and the fit she'll throw is minimal compared to what it used to be. And we no longer have to placate her by saying "No.....but we'll do something else!" No means no and even though she doesn't like it, she does at least recognize that "NO" isn't the end of the world. Don't get me wrong, it's not always pleasant, but at least it is SO much better!

 

Potty training? Well.....I've pretty much decided to just back off. We bought the potty. I take her in the bathroom with me. They work with her at school. She is interested and sometimes will tell us when she's soiled. She can do all the mechanics and actions that go along with using the potty....except peeing in it. I've tried to put her on it every hour one weekend and she would have nothing of it. So.....I've decided to back off and just let her tell us when she's ready. And that's tough. I'm tired of changing diapers. I'm ready to be done with this and she won't even let us get started! But.....like I said....trying to give her respect and independence....I'm just going to let her tell us when she's ready. And if she's 16 when that happens......well.....we might need to have an intervention.

 

Splish Splash!

I FINALLY have all of my photos gathered and in the same place! Enjoy.

The new water table! After we went to Lizzy's birthday part, Jason decided that a water table was imperative. He was right. Rachel LOVES to play in the sink, so he figured she'd love the water table. He was right! Except her favorite thing to do is to put water in the bucket and dump the water on the deck, or to go water my "flowers" or water the "Birds" (which is the weeds and a spot somewhere in the yard, respectively).

Thank you for the cute outfit Grandma!!!

Our new wagon! (The front wheels keep turning towards the wrong way....I can't quite figure out why....hopefully we can get this fixed soon, because we got rid of our stroller!)

Riding the penny horse at Meijer. I let her ride it three times. She was in heaven!

Playing at day care.

She has now decided that she needs to climb on everything so she'll move chairs, and mostly her little potty, to cabinets and light switches.

Speaking of potty.....potty training isn't going well at all. We have tried to keep up with what day care is doing where they sit her on the potty after every diaper change about every 2 hours. One weekend I decided to try to sit her on the potty every hour, on the hour and she fought me. Since I'm afraid that pushing her will put her off of it altogether, we're forced to just wait for her to want to do this. She will tell me when her diaper is soiled......sometimes. It's becoming more frequent. I take her in there with me and try to show her want to do....she will sit on the potty....she'll use the tp....she'll flush. But she just won't turn the water yellow. I am SO ready for her to just take that step and be done with diapers please!!

Today she took an early nap and it was gorgeous, so we ventured out to try something new: the Carmel Water Park. IT. WAS. PACKED. However, I didn't even know it was over there, and I am so glad we went. We're all now exhausted, however it was a great time!

Terry selfie!!

Rachel had a blast going from one pool to the other. She liked the lazy river the first time through, but then was frustrated she couldn't just play in the water the second time around. It was crowded, so we had a hard time letting her just paddle around in the bigger pool. Regardless, she ran and laughed and jumped and splashed for almost 2 hours, then started to get fussy.

And finally, this morning I made breakfast before we left for church and she helped me by breaking the eggs. She's actually getting kind of good at this. Thanks Grandma!!

From Rachel, with love

This is what happens when your 2.5 year old wants to take your camera and play "cheese". The following is life from Rachel's point of view!

For your viewing pleasure, I took out the photos that had nothing but her finger over the lens....there's about one of those for every photo above.

July 4th

I've been putting off updating this blog because our world has been so busy. After I lost my job it seemed everything kicked up into high gear and it's just now starting to settle down: 2 months later. In this time we've seen Memorial day come and go with a great visit down to Newburgh. Followed by an adventurous trip to Hatteras, North Carolina to visit the outer banks. I have so many stories and photos floating around that I have been hesitant to post, lest I forget any of them. However, I don't want to forget them forever and since this blog is for me to remember special stories to tell Rachel when she grows up, I need to stop procrastinating! So bear with me, this might not all be in chronological order.

Let me start with the vacation since it's still somewhat fresh in my mind. We stayed in a gorgeous house right on the water on the Outer Banks (OBX for the locals). As a parent (and one who selfishly REALLY wanted a relaxing vacation), this trip was a LOT of work. I was grateful to see the whole family and spend time with them in a lovely atmosphere. But the drive out there took literally 24 hours from beginning to end and another 18 to return. I think it was actually harder on the adults than it was the kids.

While we were there, however, we got lots of exercise. Rachel insisted on being all over the house, seemingly all at the same time. It was 3 stories and I know I had to carry her up and down all the flights of steps multiple times a day, sometimes multiple times an hour. My calves were in great shape by the time we left!

But she was able to spend time with some distant cousins, as well as Alana:

Getting all 5 of them to look at the camera at the same time? Not going to happen. They were all too busy!

Rachel did a GREAT job swimming in the pool by herself. While she wasn't ever alone at the pool,  we had this awesome life jacket that allowed her to get in and out of the pool on her own so we didn't have to be by her side the entire time. It kept her upright, but didn't force her face into the water. I recommend these things!!

Jason and I were really getting worn out, so often we'd kind of let Rachel wander around but keep an eye on her. She loved playing in our big bathroom that was attached to our room. We didn't realize she'd gone into the bathroom and shut the door, and when Jason got up to check on her found her with an ENTIRE brand new bottle of baby shampoo on the floor playing in it. Thankfully, this was on Thursday and we left on Friday, but and ENTIRE bottle all over the floor! I'm grateful that wasn't my bathroom and it wasn't my towels that were used to clean up the mess!!

Rachel had a VERY difficult time adjusting to being home again. For the entire trip she was always sleeping in someone's bed. My Aunt Gail and Uncle Paul generously offered to let her sleep with them (because they did that with all of us kids and it's a treat for them to get to spend that special time with the kids) and we were grateful for the help. So a few nights she stayed in their room, and a few she slept with us. When she got home, she did NOT want to sleep in her own bed alone. It took over 2 weeks to get her to stay in her bed. And I think I've calculated perhaps 2 or 3 nights where she's slept through the night and hasn't come wandering into our room in the middle of the night.

She also did NOT like being back at day care. Since we were in Newburgh for Memorial day and on vacation for a week, she was able to be around us and family for the better part of 2 weeks. Traveling is hard on an adult. But for a two year old to try to get back into the swing of things, it's really tough! Her first few days back at day care the teachers said she was very emotional and cried a lot. Each day got a little better, but there are still mornings that she has a tough time, and it's been 3 weeks.

We are having trouble at night. She used to willingly go to sleep, now we can't even bribe her with the pacifier. She's up and down up and down and sometimes doesn't go to sleep until after 9:30. If it's raining or storming, it's a lost cause. We aren't going to win, so she ends up sleeping in our bed or I sleep with her in the guest bedroom. With all the rain and storms we've had, you can imagine that sleep hasn't been a luxury we've enjoyed at our house. I know this will get better as she gets older, but for now it's really wearing us down.

One night I noticed that she wasn't in her bed when I checked her monitor, but I didn't hear her outside of her room. I waited a while and when I went to check on her, she was completely passed out on her floor. One night when Jason came to bed he tripped over her coming into our room because she'd just fallen asleep on the floor in our doorway and he didn't see her in the dark!

She is still in that phase where every bird or rabbit she sees she chases after it and desperately wants to touch it. No matter how many times we explain that they are wild or they don't want to be touched, she runs her little heart out and is bewildered when she doesn't catch it.

Her communication skills are improving, but still have a long way to go. One day she and I were driving somewhere and probably someone cut me off or did something while driving I didn't appreciate and I sighed really big. She said, "It's okay mommy!"

She is finally learning the concept of "sorry", although sometimes she'll apologize for absolutely no reason. But at least it's in her vocabulary!

We recently had an adventure with her allergies. They developed into a fever and diarrhea which was caused by an ear infection. She kept telling me over and over again, "Muh belly hurts". I can now tell her she can't have something because it will make her belly hurt and most of the time she'll put back whatever she's asking for. But it was 2 days of horrible diapers and when she finally threw up I collected her up and instantly went to the med check. I thought it was from all the sugar she had eaten one day. After the doctor visit, I'm pretty sure it was a combination of sugar, fever and ear infection. Once we treated the ear infection, the rest of it cleared up.

One of the near pitiful things she says constantly...."You want pay wis me?" (Do you want to play with me?) She can do this sad little voice that makes you melt and of course we want to play with her. Of course, as soon as we stop what we're doing and immediately sit down, she gets up and goes off to do something else. So "play" means, will you touch the toys I'm touching and then I'm going to go do something else?

We have, in some of her recent fits heard, "I don't want it!" followed quickly thereafter by something being thrown in anger. She is also very keen to tell us, "I don't want to!"

She will, however, say, "I like-a dis-a one!" Whether that's clothes, the movie she's watching, the food she's eating, etc."

For some reason she's adding unnecessary syllables at the end of words. For example:

water = Wadurt
Ariel = Ariurt

Every time we have dinner....whether it's steak, pork chops or chicken....all meat = chicken. Eventually she'll understand. For now, it's just adorable.

We're having less trouble getting her to eat veggies and meats now....although we are having trouble getting her to sit and eat at the table. It depends on how hungry she is as to whether or not she'll join us.  

I can't remember what some of her other phrases are right now, but she'll get on a kick and use some of the same ones over and over again.

I apologize there aren't more pictures, I'm in the process of compiling all the photos from the vacation and they are scattered all over creation and I'm having a difficult time getting them all into one place. Not to mention, in total there were 800 photos taken (that's all I have so far, I know there are more) and going through them to find photos to post is quite daunting with all we have going on.

Happy Cake

We have a few weeks of photos and stories to catch up on, so let's get started!

A few weeks ago Rachel spent a week and a half with her Grandparents in Evansville. Aunt Heather had her expensive camera ready and I was able to my hands on several of the photos from their visit! I know they went to the General Store, which is a must while down in E-ville:

They spent some time at Grandpa Howell's house...

And I hear they just played and played and played the whole time she was there!

We met up with her grandparents near Louisville and had some BBQ, then went over to a park not far away and let Rachel play herself out in hopes she'd sleep most of the way back. She slept for about an hour, then woke up and just kind of stared off into space without saying a word. She has a hard time sleeping sitting up, but at least she was pleasant!

A few weeks later, Rachel's Uncle Aaron, Aunt Arlene and cousin Alana moved back to Indiana! Aunt Arlene is only here for a short while for a visit before she heads off to Turkey for 15 months. Aaron and Alana will be staying here. But the first time they've seen each other in a long time went very well...

It was during this visit that GramE and GrampE unveiled Rachel's first Tricycle!

(Sadly, I can't find any of her playing with the tricycle at GramE and GrampE's!)

Not long after that, I came across this cute little coupe. I ALWAYS wanted one of these growing up. Even though they do have them at Day Care for the kids to play with, I wanted her to have one at home.

She loves to play with both of them! Sometimes when I bring her home she'll see the garage and say, "I want my bicycle!" She can't quite use the  pedals by herself, but that's where the awesome handle comes in. I'm trying to teach her, but she's a toddler and really doesn't have much of an attention span. I don't have much patience. Let's just say, it's going to be a while before she gets the hang of it!

Last week I got a call on Wednesday afternoon that Rachel was running a slight fever. Since I'm home right now, I went ahead and got her so she could come home and rest. I'm glad I did. Thursday she woke up with a fever again so I took her into the doctor where they confirmed she had strep throat. Oh goodie! Guess what that means? Yeah. I got it too. Pretty much she ran a fever and I kept her home on Thursday as well. As soon as we started her on antibiotics, she was fine. No running nose, really no fussing....but me on the other hand? Well, it's been over a week and I'm still trying to get back to 100%!

That weekend we headed out for a birthday party for one of my friends. They had a petting zoo and pony rides. Rachel took full advantage of everything....

The following day was Mother's Day, and as luck would have it, I was still pretty fatigued from being sick. So I didn't want to do much other than just lay around, which was pretty nice.

We did go get Dairy Queen blizzards and played outside for a bit....

Then Monday I took Rachel in for a 30 month check up. I was trying to entertain her while we waited....

Ok, I was entertaining myself as she waited in the medical frock. It's kind of cute!

Her appointment went really well. She's a little bit ahead on development, which is fine. I found out she weighs about 27 pounds and is about 35 inches tall. Good to know, since I wasn't at the last few doctor's appointments and had no idea!

So here's a few stories....

Rachel's got this tiara that Jason brought back from London for her. Somehow she's decided to call it her "Happy Cake". We have absolutely no idea why, but that's what it's called.

She absolutely loves stickers. (What kid doesn't?)

She's speaking more in sentences....which is great! But it also means she's becoming more demanding. When we get home from day care she instantly goes to the fridge and helps herself to whatever she wants, but then refuses to eat dinner.

She can now put the straw into her own juice box and insists "I do it!" (And right now, sometimes she'll squeeze it and it goes everywhere).

She likes to buckle her own seat belt in the car seat (but she still needs a little help).

Today my friend Leslie and I went garage sailing and I found these adorable rain boots, which Rachel instantly wanted to wear all over. I told her I wanted to get her picture and she put herself against the wall and actually smiled!

They're a little big, but they are so cute! Look at that fro!!!

We did get some family photos taken this past week, however I don't have the disk to post them up here yet. Rachel was not cooperative, so we didn't try for photos with just mommy and daddy. We'll do that another time.

Also this evening, we officially retired the pig pajamas. They are a size 2T, but she began wearing them quite a while ago. However, Jason said it's hard to get them over her head, so thankfully today I found a new pair of pajamas that are pretty roomy. I'll get a photo of them soon. They're pink, button down and have Spongebob on them! (Spbob. That's what she calls him. "Spbob".)

Rachel really likes birds. Probably a little too much. No matter how many times or ways I try to explain she can't touch the birds, she still likes to run after them in the yard, normally falling completely flat on her face. Sometimes she'll run after them saying, "Birdie! Come back! Wait! Come back!" It's cute, but also kind of sad.

The other day there was this huge bunny in our yard and I thought she was talking to our neighbor who was mowing. She kept gently motioning with her hand for something/someone to "Come on! Come here!" When I got closer to her and saw her motioning and talking to the bunny my heart about melted. It was adorable.

Last night in the tub she was giving her baby a bath (we have one that's meant for the tub) and she kept singing this song I made up whenever I would rinse her hair. Her version came out "My baaaaaaaby.....my baaaaaaby" over and over. It was so sweet. Granted, most of the time she's trying to hold the baby under water or what appears to be choking it...but still. This moment was tender and sweet.

Everything is once again "mine". "That's mah ball!" "That's mah hahsey". "Mah Boots!"

She enjoys playing with playdo, which she calls "Pay-lo", and it sounds like pillow.

We have successfully transitioned her to only having her pacifier when she goes to bed. I've not yet figured out how we're going to tackle weening her of having the pacifier when she sleeps. She can go without it at day care during nap time, I'm hoping to tackle that during nap time at home as well.

She's also FINALLY taking an interest in the potty! Before bath time she insisted on sitting on the big potty. And again today she told me several times while we were out she needed to potty. I haven't actually seen her do anything yet, but she sure tries. She has no interest in the little potty we bought for her, but that's okay. We're using it as a step stool to the big potty. We're so close!