Silliness

Baa Baa Black Sheep

We love hearing Willow wake up in the morning and from naps and start singing. Since she would most likely never sing this song while I video-taped, here is the monitor version:

(Not sure what happened to the master and the dame, but the lucky boy down the lane gets all 3 bags of wool!)

Cow Appreciation Day

We scored some free Chick-fil-A again this year for Cow Appreciation Day. We were joined this year by Willow's sweet friends Mckenzie and Cadence. They were the cutest cows I've ever seen!!

Multi-tasking

Poor girl has so much work to do she has to bring her computer with her to the potty.

Art Developments

Willow hasn't ever colored for an extended period of time, although she does enjoy art projects. This was the first time I've colored with Willow when she's shown any interest in coloring a specific part of a picture vs. randomly coloring with lines of all colors everywhere. We went to a different library for storytime and the theme for the day was alligators. She (I) made a cute accordion alligator, then they got to take home a coloring sheet. She intentionally colored the face green, the tail, body, and arms purple (?!?), and the feet red. She also matched the little circles onto the colored flowers without any prompting. We named her alligator "Ally" and she put the stickers on herself =) Way to go, Willow!

We were in the art area at the Children's Museum and tried out scissors for the first time. I didn't figure she'd have the hand strength to do well but she absolutely did, so I went out and got a pair of scissors for her. Here's the project we made out of her "first cuttings" (not the fish):

And here's Willow in action. She's found more success with me holding the paper (I think I've scared her with how many times I've warned her about watching her fingers). I love watching her focused face while she cuts =)

First Trip to Auntie Kim's

We are selfishly soooo sad that Auntie Kim has moved 3 hours away but were happy to be able to spend a long weekend with her to celebrate the 4th. We had a GREAT time together and Willow slept really well on her napper (we've officially out-grown the pack-n-play), which was a huge relief. Mountains, cows, horses, and hay were regular words out of Willow's mouth while enjoying the scenery on the drive there and back. She held together pretty well during both treks.

We went to this beautiful pick-your-own berry farm and picked a ton of yummy blueberries:

Willow's position during most of our stay: hand-in-mouth. The guide in the field joked about how they should weigh the kids before and after...not a bad idea...

YUMMY!!!!

This was Willow's favorite spot...

...at this FUN water park!

She was not as interested in the pool as her mother and father hoped she would be. We even tried going two different days! Not interested.... She mostly enjoyed stepping up and down the ledge pictured above (?!?!?), playing in the 1-ft baby pool, walking through the spray from the fountains, or sitting on the edge of the pool and kicking her feet.

We drove out to see the land that Kim and Chad will build a house on. Willow enjoyed test-driving Chad's tractors:

...and playing in the hay...

Future farmer??

We had a nice cookout with Chad's parents and picked wild raspberries by their land:

YUMMY!!

Willow enjoyed the playground within walking distance from Kim's place:

Willow thoroughly enjoyed Auntie Kim's stairs. Maybe that they're carpeted? Maybe that they don't turn like ours? She loved to "go fast" while holding our fingers. She's figured out digital cameras and will say "see that?" after we take a picture or video.

Chad made delicious pancakes with some of our blueberries and raspberries!

Helping Auntie Kim with the corn husks:

We didn't stretch Willow's bedtime with fireworks this year but enjoyed a great local fireworks display ourselves. It was a great weekend!

We can't wait to see you again Auntie Kim!!

25th month

Here's an update from June, Willow's 25th month:

- Willow continues to develop into quite a chatter-box. Chris and I said that once she started walking, all she was going to do was run, which has proven fairly true. We also figured that once she started talking she wouldn't stop. We love hearing her talk more and more! It's fun to see her express her thoughts. Tonight at dinner she randomly said "Baby birds eat worms." Her favorite phrase lately is "Do it myself." She's been pretty successful on the potty lately, but if she's had a wet diaper she'll want to go upstairs to get a new cloth diaper by herself. She repeatedly says, "I throw it to you" and giggles excitedly when she throws it down the stairwell then comes down herself. My favorite thing Willow said this month was "Mama! Come here! Open the door!" upon awakening in the morning (sounded more like "Mama! Num 'ere! Open na' door!")

- She continues to absorb everything we describe to her. When seeing a motorcycle while we were driving, Willow said "helmet head motorcycle fall down." (She remembered our conversation about how helmets help protect a motorcyclists' head if he/she gets in an accident.)

- Willow's imaginative play continues to develop. We were playing with her stuffed animals one evening and Elmo was eating a strawberry. She reminded Elmo not to eat the green part. When he didn't listen she promptly took Elmo to timeout saying "Timeout Elmo no listening." Here's Willow layering about 20 return-address labels on my toe as a "bandaide."

- Willow is generally a very happy girl. She truly enjoys life and has a contagious laugh. When she does get upset, she'll often put herself in timeout ("sit by myself") and come back when she's calm and say that she's sorry. She's a very sweet girl and requests things by saying "please" without being asked the majority of the time.

- Chris and I continually seek God's guidance as we raise Willow and we pray that she'll develop a relationship with the Lord as we have. Willow knows our routine of praying before dinner and recently has occasionally said that it's her turn to pray. We pray and sing "Jesus Loves Me" before going to bed. I love hearing her sing it by herself throughout the day or as she wakes up in the morning. She's also singing songs on her own from the "Seeds" CDs we play in the car. It's a good reminder throughout the day when we hear her sing Bible verses like "All things work together for the good of those who love the Lord" or "The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit" or "My soul finds rest in God alone."

- Willow loves singing and is able to sing all of the words to many of the nursery rhymes and songs that we repeatedly sing (5 Little Monkeys, Twinkle Twinkle, Wheels on the Bus, Old McDonald) and is getting more clear with her ABCs.

- We took Willow to her first "show." Elmo Live came to town so we splurged on some good seats (in an effort to keep her attention for the entire show and make Elmo larger than a speck on a stage far far away). It's an understatement to say that she loved it! It's by far the event that she's spoken of most repeatedly after the event. "Elmo show. Elmo dance all around."

- Willow's learned the meaning of "like" and "love" and will randomly say "I loooove Elmo" or "I like chicken!"

- It seems like in the first year of Willow's life that it was easy to notice all of the physical developments of what she was gradually able to do. One physical development that Willow somehow hasn't accomplished the ability to do yet is to close her eyes voluntarily. Sure, we would joke about how her energy tank would have to be completely drained before Willow could fall asleep since it was so difficult to get her to sleep since Day One, but we assumed that she could close her eyes if she wanted to. I'd noticed that when praying at church she would use her index fingers to physically close her eyes. At dinner one night Chris and I really got to laughing at watching her reeeeeally try to close her eyes. She would squint really really hard but that's as good as it got, then she would use her finger. Silly girl...some day you'll get it...

- Here are a few of Willow's favorites:

* activities: singing, reading books, water play, painting, imaginative play in her kitchen, puzzles, anything outdoors, storytime at the library

* food: Chick-fil-A (she requests it by name now!), fruit (particularly pineapple), sausage, chips, pickles, raw onions, tomatoes, cookie batter

* book: Wacky Wednesday, This is My Hair, Fancy Nancy (we've read some books so many times she can finish the line if you pause)

* cartoon character: Elmo

* animal: Alli cat!!!

Willow followed the directions on the recipe and "combined" the sour cream, chili powder, salsa, and chicken:

Some additional random pics for you!