Saturday Play Date

Carmen and the boys...

Our Growing Girl

Carmen J, you continue to make us smile everyday and continue to amaze us with your curiosity, willpower and up-beat personality.  You are really coming into your own.  At 14 months you are cruising around and are interested in everything.  But, you also find the simplest things the most intriguing--the purple ribbon tied to your Valentine's surprise, the old burp cloth you have taken to carrying around, the empty toilet paper roll that you can put things through.  You do so many funny things.  You are into finding your bellybutton, when you bonk any part of your head, you rub it and say "ohhhhh," you like to stick out your tongue.  You finally sit still when reading stories and I love when you cuddle up with me during our bedtime routine.  You have found the snack cupboard and often stand in-front of it pointing to your treats and snacks that are on the top shelf.  One thing hasn't changed--you love to eat!  What you don't love right now is getting dressed in the morning.  What a fit you throw sometimes; it's the putting the shirt over your head that you currently despise.  You also detest putting on your jacket as you know that means car seat time, which is also not your favorite.  We are still bargaining with you and give you one animal cracker for each hand as a bribe to get you into your seat which usually does the trick. You still have a silly toothy grin and oh when you laugh how you light up the room.  Your hair is getting long and is starting to cover your eyes.  I'm not ready to cut it quite yet but you also won't keep a barrette or headband in. So much fun to watch you continue to grow and learn and develop that little personality that is full of passion, spunk and love.

Happy Heart Day

Gate

We finally broke down and bought a baby gate.   Truth be told, it’s not so much for safety but more for mom and dad’s sanity.  Carmen has taken to wondering into the kitchen, pulling each item out of her diaper bag (which sits on the kitchen floor) and then making her way to the stairs.  She will climb those stairs 20 times a day if we let her; all to go get here prize possession, Lamby.  Lamby lives in her room and we try and keep him there so Lamby doesn’t go missing (we’ve been unable to find a replacement).  Because we are tired of following her up and down the stairs more times per day than we can count, we put a baby gate up just prior to the kitchen.  Needless to say, Carmen was not thrilled about this new addition.  We’ve only had it for a day and she stands in front of it pouting.  However, mom and dad are quite enjoying it.  Hopefully Carmen will become more accepting, but I’m betting she’ll soon figure out she can walk around the opposite direction and find an alternate route to the stairs.  In the meantime, we’ll enjoy fewer trips up the stairs!

Big Bottom Lip

Big Toothy Grin