Taylor In All Her Cuteness

Taylor has been doing some really cute things lately. One morning I was removing my eye makeup before getting in the shower and she was standing there paying very close attention to what I was doing. I decided to let her try it out. I pretended to put some eye makeup remover on a cotton ball for her and showed her how to use it. She then started rubbing her eyes with the cotton ball. It was so cute. She started walking around the house rubbing her eyes with the cotton ball. I would have let her play with it, but since I was getting in the shower I decided to get it back from her just in case she decided that it was something to eat and accidentally choked on it.

The day that we went to the Pumpkin Patch Taylor fell asleep in the car on the way home. I was hoping that I could just drop her in bed and she would go back to sleep. Well, that didn't happen. I let her cry for a while and then when it was apparent that she was not going back down, I got her up. She decided to get into some of my music. She pulled out a music book and started flipping through it. Here are some pictures of her looking at music and then trying to sing.

Taylor likes Daniel's gaming chair. One afternoon after her nap she was reaching for her stuffed animals and saying something that I couldn't understand. I got her bunny down for her and she cuddled it for a good while.

"Hello, can you hear me? I'm talking on my bunny phone."

These are all of the pictures I have to share, but Taylor has been doing some other cute things as well. She likes to pretend - A LOT. She loves books of all kinds, but her lift-the-flap Karen Katz books are popular with her right now. She has been bringing them to me in the morning to read to her. There is one in particular - Grandma and Me - that she likes to pretend with. When she opens the oven to see the cookies inside she will pretend to take a cookie out of the oven and eat it. At the end of the book when Grandma gives the little girl a kiss Taylor will give Grandma a kiss. It is so cute.

I know that there were other things that I meant to blog about and I wish I had them on video or written them down because I cannot remember them now. Taylor is continuing to improve in her speech. One thing I have noticed is that many of the words that she uses on a regular basis are words that she knows the signs to. Some favorite words right now are oh no, oh my, wee, no, all gone, ball, woof, star, and doll. The next step is to get her to say two words together like blue ball or big box.

Pumpkin Patch

On October 16th Central Baptist Morning School went to the Pumpkin Patch. The 2 yr. old class did not go, but we were invited to tag along since I teach music there and Mitzi, the Morning School Director, thought she might enjoy it. Well, she enjoyed it in a little different way from all the 3 year olds. I think that she will get more out of it when she is a little older. She mostly wanted to run around the farm. Here are a few pictures of what she enjoyed:

Hayride with Grandma

Cow Train - she seemed a little unsure at first, but once it got going she was fine.

Taylor loved petting the bunnies. She wanted to grab them though.

One of her favorite things was chasing the chickens. Too bad, she just wasn't quick enough to catch one for dinner.

Taylor also liked the other animals in the petting zoo. They had goats and cows.
Before we left the kids got to pick out little pumpkins to take home. Taylor insisted hers was a ball and just wanted to throw it.
Here is a picture of me and Taylor in front of the barn.

A Visit from Mamaw & Papaw

Last week we had a visit from Papaw & Mamaw (Ron & Patsy Poe). They were here from Thursday night until Sunday morning. Even though we did not have a lot of things planned to do, we had a great time just being together. Since they live about 2 or 3 states away (NC), they don't get to see Taylor that often and, of course, they have to bring gifts for her when they come. Patsy likes to shop on QVC and found these cute little books. Actually, they are not that little. They are made of cloth and the covers are stuffed. When they are closed they can be used as pillows. They came in a set of four. Taylor really liked them. She loves books anyway, so anything like that she will enjoy. These books are a little advanced for her understanding, but they will grow with her.



On Friday we all went out to the local hot dog joint called Monroe's. They are touted as having the best hot dogs around. Patsy loves hot dogs, so we figured that would be a good place to take them. Afterwards we went to the church so I could take care of a few things there and we let Taylor play on the playground.

On Saturday we were going to go to a local carnival called Cowpoke. This would have been the first year that we would go, but Taylor woke up with a low grade fever and just wasn't acting herself so we decided that it would be best to just hang out around the house. Later that afternoon she was feeling a bit better. Daniel and I had Praise Team practice at church so Ron and Patsy went with us and watched Taylor while we practiced.

Their time here went by pretty fast, but it was fun while it lasted and I know that Taylor enjoyed getting to see her Mamaw and Papaw. Here are a couple of pictures that we took of her cuddling with them.

Taylor with Mamaw

Taylor with Papaw

Ready To Potty Train???

I have been meaning to post this, but after getting a comment from a friend to potty train Taylor before baby #2 comes along, I decided that I need to go ahead and post this.

Last weekend I went on a scrapbooking retreat. A friend's in-laws have a lake house about 20 -30 minutes from Americus and invited all the girls from church who crop to come out for the weekend to work on our scrapbooks. Daniel graciously allowed me to go and spend the entire weekend while he took care of Taylor. It was so much fun and gave me a much needed break from the day-to-day. I missed them a lot, but Daniel called and gave me updates on the cute things that Taylor was doing.

The first time Daniel called he told me about Taylor and her puzzle. We bought her a Melissa & Doug barnyard animals puzzle. For a long time she was not sure what to do with it and would just take all the animals and throw them on the floor. Just recently she has started trying to put the pieces where they go, but has not been very successful. For the first time on Saturday she got 3 of the pieces in correctly. When she would get one in she would clap and say,"Yea!" Since then she has gotten all of the pieces in with help. It is exciting to see her learn new skills.

The second time Daniel called he told me that Taylor was in the bathroom playing with the mats on the floor. He told her not to do that because the mats were dirty. Well, would you know that she sqwatted down and made a dirty diaper when he said that? I couldn't believe it when he told me. I just wonder if that is a sign that she will be ready to potty train soon. The next time I go to Wal-Mart I am going to pick up a potty chair and a book and video for her on potty training. A friend of mine told me that there is a Barney video and Taylor likes Barney, so I'll probably look for that one. If anyone has any experience in potty training and would like to share what has worked for you, I would be open to any tips.

Naptime

Okay, by now you have probably figured out that I am getting caught up on my blogging since I have posted so many times in one day. With being pregnant I just usually don't feel like sitting at the computer at night and want to veg in front of the TV, but tonight I am on a roll, so I might as well post while I feel like it.

Taylor did something kinda cute or at least interesting - in my book - today. We met Daniel for lunch at Hardee's today. We don't usually eat there, but we had some coupons and I was craving a burger, so we ate there today. We sat behind some friends from church and I exchanged pregnancy stories with her since she is also pregnant. Taylor did really well at lunch until she started getting antsy toward the end and wanted out of her seat. Once I got home with her I noticed her rubbing her eyes. Her normal nap time has been around 1:30, but she has been going down sooner than that since she has been waking up earlier. It was almost 1:00 when we got home from lunch, so I got her diaper changed and started her naptime routine. I always read her a story before bed if it is naptime or nighttime. Today I read That's Not My Dolly. It is a touchy feely book and she usually likes to touch all the pages and point to things that she recognizes. The other day she pointed out and named the eyes and the nose on one of the doll's faces in the book. Today was a different story though (no pun intended). It was like she wanted to bypass the book altogether. She was flipping the pages before I could even get them read. As soon as I read the last page she shut the book and pushed it away as if she was trying to put it back in the basket. She then grabbed her bear lovie and blanket that she cuddles as if to tell me, "Forget the story, I'm ready for bed." I rocked her for a little while and as soon as I put her in bed she went out like a light. I am so thankful that she is sleeping well these days and goes down so easily now. I never would have thought that her sleeping habits would change so dramatically just because we let her cry. She only slept for an hour today (normally she sleeps for an hour and a half), but it didn't take her as long to wake up and she wasn't as grumpy after her nap as she normally is. It gave me just enough time to do my new Beth Moore study that I just started this week. I am enjoying this age so much.

Cell Phone Flush

Taylor doesn't like for you to close doors if you are behind them, so when I am home alone with her I have to leave the bathroom door open when I am in there. When I am showering I usually try and get her distracted in the living room with Praise Baby before I jump in the shower, but she always makes her way back to the bathroom and finds me. She pushes the door wide open and the pulls back the curtain and laughs. She likes to play peek-a-boo. I can usually tell her to go play with her toys and she will leave, but sometimes she comes back again.

The other day I was using the bathroom and she came in. Sometimes I lock out my cell phone so she can play with it. This was one of those times that she had it. When I stood up to fasten my overalls I was not paying close attention to her and then I all of a sudden saw her reach down in the toilet and realized that she had my cell phone in her hand. She hadn't let go just yet, but I said, "no" or something to startle her and she let go. Fortunately I grabbed it before it fell all the way down, but it was already submerged. I rinsed it off and did everything I could to get it dry. I turned the hair dryer on it and opened it all up so it could air out really well. It still doesn't work. I ended up having to get a new cell phone. My contract wasn't up yet, so I wasn't due for a new phone, but since I have the primary number on our account I was able to upgrade at no cost. We went to the Verizon store and they were going to charge a $20 upgrade fee plus the 2 year contract price of the phone. We decided to check online and I am glad that we did because I didn't have to pay the $20 fee, plus one of the phones that we would have had to pay for at the store I was able to get for free online and I didn't have to pay shipping either. I ended up getting a bluetooth headset for only $20 too. The only really bad thing that came out of all of this is that I lost all of my contacts on my phone because I didn't have them saved anywhere. I was able to get some of them off my contacts on the computer and off of Daniel's phone, but there are still some missing.

Taylor's Speech

Taylor has been saying more words lately. We have been teaching her sign language since she was about 6 months old. Of course, she didn't start catching on until much later, but she knows quite a few signs now and is even saying the words along with the signs. She knows mama, daddy (or dada as she says it), baby, ball (although she doesn't do the sign for this one much anymore because she is usually pointing at a ball or holding a ball when she says it), more, doll (this is a new word and sign), teeth, bear, star, bath, dirty, and clean to name a few. Taylor also likes to make animal noises. I can't get her to name the animal. When she sees a picture she automatically makes the corresponding sound. She also groups objects together. For instance, everything round is a ball to her and every color is blue. Taylor's favorite fruit is bananas. Whenever I take her grocery shopping and she sees bananas she will say, "nana!" She is also imitating a lot more now. There are a lot of words that she will say once we say them. For a while now she has been repeating Amen at the end of the blessing. She tries to say apple sauce when I ask her if she wants some. It doesn't come out very clearly, but I know she is trying. She can also repeat names of colors and objects from her flash cards.

Taylor also tells me sometimes when she is dirty. She doesn't usually offer this information, but if I think she is dirty I can ask her and she will say and sign the word dirty, but it comes out "dirdir." It is really cute. If she is not dirty she won't say anything. She is not always honest with me - only if she wants me to change her diaper. I am hoping that this means that she will be easy to potty train. I am considering training her before this baby comes if she seems ready. I know that sometimes they can have setbacks when there is a new baby in the house, but I'd like to get it over with if at all possible.

Taylor has a newfound addiction to Praise Baby. One night we had her in our bedroom and Daniel had her up on the bed playing with her. To calm her down before bed he put a Praise Baby CD in. After this she discovered that not only was Praise Baby on the TV, but we could play the music in our bedroom. Lately she has been waking up before I get up in the morning and Daniel has been bringing her in our room. She doesn't go back to sleep, but she sits on the bed with me until I am ready to get up. Almost as soon as she comes in she starts reaching for the CD player and fussing. If I ask her if she wants to listen to Praise Baby she will exclaim, "Paiseby!" If she wants to watch the video she will bring me the remote. She has started saying it on her own now and a little more clearly. I am not sure why she cuts off baby because that is a word that she says clearly by itself. She'll get it though. It is so fun to listen to them talk when they are just trying to figure it out. I love to watch her face light up when she gets it and says it over and over again.

Pregnancy Contrasts

This pregnancy has been so different from my pregnancy with Taylor. It has been so different, in fact, that I wonder if I am having a boy this time. When I was pregnant with Taylor I felt great the majority of the pregnancy. I had the tiredness and only a slight amount of nausea in the beginning and again tiredness and some swelling and general discomfort in the end, but I LOVED being pregnant. This time I have not quite gotten the enjoyment out of it that I did before. From just about the beginning I have had some queasiness and a lot of lightheadedness and/or dizziness. I thought that it might be because of low blood sugar because I am constantly hungry. I get hungry about 2-3 hours after I have just eaten. I am trying to eat snacks to keep something on my stomach so I don't get sick. I just hope that I don't eat too much and start gaining a lot of weight. I feel like I am always starving. I know they say that you are not really eating for two, but I swear it feels like I am. I have had some different cravings this time and my cravings are not always consistent either. Last time I craved oranges or orange juice. This time I have craved everything from hamburgers to salad. At least when I get snacky I crave mostly healthy snacks.

A little over a week ago I sang a solo at church. During the congregational worship time I started feeling really lightheaded, so I got out my crackers which I had with me for such an occassion and started munching. Daniel and our Sunday School teacher saw me on the front row from the choir and started laughing at me and telling me to brush off the crumbs. The interim music minister got worried about me and thought I was getting sick. When it came time for me to sing I walked slowly up the steps to the platform and made my way to the pulpit and held on to it just in case I got too lightheaded to stand on my own. Once the song started I was okay, but I was praying the whole time for God to give me the strength to stand there. When I was finished and the pastor came up to preach he thanked me for the duet and proceeded to tell the whole church (and those listening by radio) that I was pregnant. I think it is funny that everytime I am pregnant it gets announced at church somehow. The last time it was my boss who announced it on a Wednesday night in front of everyone. At least that wasn't on a Sunday morning in front of the WHOLE church and on the radio. I don't mind people knowing, but I just think it is funny. You can tell that our pastor is very proud when our church is producing babies.

Ultrasound

We are going to a new doctor's office for my OB visits. Since the tornado hit, we have been losing doctors. One of the doctors is retiring and my doctor is moving away. The other two doctors who are left are not taking any new OB patients right now, so I am forced to go to Albany. My first visit was yesterday. I was very impressed with the office. It was very nice and very organized, unlike the office here. It was nice to be in a place where they knew what they were doing. I didn't have to wait nearly as long either. When I went in for my ultrasound I was surprised that it wasn't the over-the-belly kind (if you know what I mean). It caught be by surprise because I wasn't expecting that kind and I had never had one before (unless I did during delivery of Taylor and had just forgotten). Anyway, it caught me off guard. I am just 8 weeks along though, and that is the only way they can do an U/S at this stage of the game. When I was pregnant with Taylor I don't think I had an U/S until later. Right now the baby is the size of a peanut and measures right at 8 weeks. We got to see the heart beating but didn't get to hear it because the frequency is too high. When I go back for my OB exam they will let me hear the heartbeat with the Doppler. She was able to tell me that the egg came from the left ovary. I was surprised that she was able to tell that. I didn't know that they knew stuff like that. Anyway, my first visit was a positive experience and I think that I will like the practice. Here are the pictures that we were given of the ultrasound.

We have been trying to teach Taylor about the baby in Mama's belly. She is so cute because she kisses my belly when I ask her if she wants to give the baby a kiss. She will kiss me and then say,"Aww." I guess she has heard us say,"Aww, how sweet." It is really precious when she does it. I believe that she thinks there is also a baby in Daniel's tummy. She has rubbed his belly before and even tried to kiss it. We just tell her that Daddy doesn't have a baby in his belly, only Mommy. Maybe she will start to understand when I get bigger. I really need to get some video of it. I don't want to forget this time.

Speeking of kisses, Taylor has started kissing everything in sight. She kisses all her stuffed animals and dolls. She LOVES dogs! The other day we were outside with her and a couple of our neighbors walked by with their dogs. The first one didn't stop because her dog isn't really child friendly. The second one had a Pug and stopped for Taylor to pet the dog. She squatted down and gave it a kiss on the snout. I wish that I had gotten it on camera. It was so cute!