Things I Don't Want to Forget

Sprout has another cold. So far, she seems in good spirits and no fever, so hopefully it will pass quickly.

Her aunt brought her a stuffed pig this week. If you hold the paw down it makes all sorts of fun snorting sounds. She loooves it. And yesterday in her car seat she was imitating that pig. She grunted and everything. So funny!

At church on Sunday, when DH brought her back from the nursery for communion, she just kept looking at the hymnals and prayer books, and bulletins, and kept saying, "Book! book! book!" She was so excited. And all the people in the pews around us were trying desperately to keep from laughing out loud

Among her new words: Walk, broccoli (which she pronounces correctly), owl, bear, flakes (for snowflakes), hungry

She knows almost all of her letters. She mixes up E and F, M and W, and B and D. But that's it.

She recognizes her numbers 1 to 10. And she points them out all over the place. She also usually knows what comes next if I count, especially 1 to 5.

She is starting to recognize her colors.

I'm so proud of my little girl!

On Stage

Now that Sprout is doing and saying so much more, it is becoming even more obvious that she is watching everything we do. And it makes me realize how important it is to set a good example. But I don't always do it. I've been trying really hard, but we all have bad habits, right?

I bite my nails. I play with my phone too much. I am doing better, but still don't always make the best food choices. But now it's not just about me. I'm teaching Sprout with every thing I do. And it makes me painfully aware that I will teach her some things that aren't what I would want for her. I hope those things are few, but none of us are perfect. And I will cause her pain. I've made mistakes and not always been the mom I want to be, but as she grows older, she will remember those times that I snapped at her or didn't treat her the way I should have. She will develop habits and ideas about herself and the world based on my own flaws.

I pray that the good will outweigh the bad. I pray that she will see and learn respect and compassion for others, and herself. That she will see us live what we believe and profess and seek to do the same. That she will forgive us for our imperfections and that we will have a close, positive relationship for many, many years. But sometimes I fear that I will mess it up.

Valentine's Day Weekend

We'd been planning a getaway for awhile. We were supposed to go away for an overnight in January, but then my grandmother got sick, so we just had a few hours to go see a show (which was great, but not the same). My mom came this weekend, though, and DH and I set out for Charleston. We didn't purposely choose the weekend of Valentine's Day. It just happened to be the weekend that DH had Friday off (because he was on-call on Thursday). When we realized that it was Valentine's Day, he decided to really do it up.

We stayed in a swanky hotel where the complementary breakfast was served directly to the room. The service was amazing. We had dinner at two fancy restaurants. We took a private carriage tour. We slept in Saturday and Sunday. We actually talked. To each other. Like those long conversations about nothing and everything. It was wonderful.

Sprout had a blast with her Grandma. I think they were both worn out because she has been napping better ever since! And we both still feel a lot better about life, I think. We needed it as individuals and as a couple.

Things I Don't Want to Forget

Sprout never ceases to amaze...

1. Yesterday, we were walking through Target. She pointed at a big price sign and said "six." It was, indeed a six. How cool is that? And she recognizes letters and numbers all over the place.

2. Did I mention that she is scared of the letter block with the letter "J"? She loves all the rest, but if you pull out the "J" block she starts fussing and crying. Strange kid.

3. She keeps adding words like crazy to her vocabulary. Among the new entries this week: Grandma (ga-ma), cucumber, sweater.

4. It's finally been warm enough to play outside and she loves it. She loves investigating leaves and grass and rocks. It's fascinating to just sit and watch her.

5. DH bought her a big ball this week and she loves it. It's so funny watching her carry around this huge blue ball everywhere.

6. If I ask her to go get a specific book, she almost always does it.

7. She is trying to turn somersaults on her own. It's always a big flop, but makes her laugh.

8. I cannot get her to leave any kind of hair clip in for more than about 5 minutes. But her hair is getting long and hangs in her face. She looks like a sheep dog. But, I don't want to cut her hair. She will wear hats, though, so she wears them a lot! She looks so cute with a little bow in her hair, but you have to look quickly!

Things I Don't Want to Forget

What an exciting week! Okay, not really. Sprout is finally feeling better, so we've gotten out of the house. Hopefully, she didn't pick up something new in the process.

1. Her language continues to explode. We've stopped keeping track of her words for the most part. Among her new favorites: bra, blocks, camera, monkey, car, jar, lion, kite.

2. She is learning her letters! How crazy is that? I bought her some blocks with alphabet letters on them. After a few days she started naming letters. I was floored. She can say at least 10 of them and recognizes even more if you ask her to find them. I also got her a number puzzle and she knows a bunch of them, too. I'm so proud of her!

3. She continues to love the game where she runs around the couch and we surprise her. Sometimes, though, she likes to purposely fall down and laugh hysterically in the process. DH laughed once at her and said "safe!" because she looked like she was diving for home. So now, every time she does it, she says, "afe!" How funny is that?

4. She also loves to just suddenly put her head down on the floor like she's doing the downward-facing-dog. She does it a lot when she's getting tired, like she just needs a little break.

Love this girl. She is so much fun!

Things I Don't Want to Forget

I'm only a day late this week :)

Sprout has been sick again. On Monday, she started feeling bad and running a fever again. Sure enough, her ears are either still infected or infected again and this time, they were even worse. So, we switched to a new antibiotic and luckily, she seems to be feeling a lot better. I hope it keeps up!

Did I tell you that she recognizes the letter "B"? She pointed it out at a fabric store this week, even. I am surprised, for sure!

She has a book of cats that she got for Christmas. She points at every single cat and says "at" or "cat," except for one cat that she apparently thinks looks like an owl because she points at it and says, "hoot! hoot!"

She knows "circle," "square," and "oval." She knows other shapes if you ask her, but she doesn't say the words yet.

She loves playing with her grandma by running around the couch and surprising her. They have a blast together.

She claps every time she hears a toilet flush.

New words, grandma (a-ma), peas, carrot (a-ot), bowl, plate, fork, cup. I'm sure there are more, too. She is crazy with the vocabulary. We are past 60 now on the word list and are soon going to have to stop keeping track.

She started helping me clean up before nap time and bedtime. She brings her books to put them on her shelf and knows where certain toys go and will put them away. Love it!

She is trying to blow her nose! She doesn't quite have it all down yet, but she loves to grab a tissue and try.

Just loving my snuggle-bug!

Things I Don't Want to Forget

And we are once again in the "Better Late than Never" category!

-Sprout was sicker than she has ever been this week. She had a fever about a week and a half ago and some cold symptoms, but seemed to be on the mend. Then, BAM! Sunday night she was miserable. She was screaming. She had goop coming out of her eye. She had a fever of 102.5. And Dr.DH was on call and at the hospital. What good is living with a pediatrician if he's not there when your baby is sick? :) Anyway, he told me that the eye goop was a sign of an ear infection (who knew?), so we took her to the doctor the next day and she did indeed have TWO infected ears. So, we started a new antibiotic and I spent the week nursing my miserable girl back to health. She stayed miserable until Thursday when she finally started perking up. Now, she's still a bit snotty, but mostly back to normal.

-She has a love/hate relationship with barrettes and hair clips. She pulls them out constantly and then immediately wants them back in her hair. Her hair is starting to look shaggy, but I don't want to cut it, so we play this game all day long to keep it out of her face. It was even worse this week when her eyes were gooping and it got all in her hair. Gross!

-Her vocabulary continues to amaze me. We have now surpassed 50 words on her word list. New on her word list: Heart, star, corn, o's (for Cheerios), ear, goose.

-And her almost-words: she says "gee-nay" for "penguin" and "see-nay" for "elephant." She knows what she's saying, but they don't quite resemble the real work enough for me to count them.

-She absolutely floored me yesterday. I was changing her diaper on a plastic changing table in a restaurant. There were some instructions in raised plastic and she pointed to the number "4" and said, "four" (well, "fo"). I was stunned. We read counting books all the time and, in one of them, she has been pointing to the four and naming it, but I assumed she only knew it on the page of that book. For her to see a tiny 4 in a completely different context and recognize it, was pretty exciting for this proud mama!

-She also recognizes and says the letter "B" in one of her alphabet books. We'll see if she starts pointing that out anywhere else.

My silly, smart girl continues to amaze me. Such a trooper through illness and continuing to learn so much. It's hard to believe that this time last year, we were so upset and concerned that she wouldn't smile or interact with us at all. And now, she isn't a baby anymore. She is a little girl with her own ideas and personality. I'm so grateful to be on this journey with her!