17 Months and 18 Months

Christmas, New Years, 30th Birthday, OH MY OH MY
Wow, I have been a huge slacker in posting on our blog. We have had so much going on with the holidays, my birthday, Christmas, New Years, Breckenridge etc. Its been a whirlwind but a lot of fun. But I will be honest in that I am really looking forward to hanging out around the house some. Allison has become even more animated than ever. SHE DEFINTELY has started showing us her own independence and NO is often a way of expressing herself. For her 17 month in December she got to do a lot of fun things. She really loves her preschool and you can tell she has really adjusted. She really enjoyed the christmas music especially with her amazing dancing skills :). She loved putting on a show and especially liked Nat King Cole. She liked the Christmas tree and the lights and impressingly enough she didnt take down the ornaments. For my 30th birthday, Will and John planned a suprise party for Emily and I with a lot of our friends in Ft. Worth. Allie went to Jim and Sabrina's and spent the night. The boys took us to the stockyards, we stayed in the Worthington Hotel and then had a suprise dinner at Cattlemans. First we got there and the boys took us to Joe T Garcias where we met dad and Sherry which was a huge suprise for me. Then we hung out around the hotel and then went to H3 and then cattlemans then partied at a bar across the street. Lots of fun... Okay back to the gator.... She met Santa again in Allen with the virtual line where they just text you when to go wait in line. At first Allie cried but then we sung the wheels on the bus go round and round and then she smiled. So we got two great pics-one crying then one smiling. ALLISON loves to walk/run. Sitting is not a strong suite these days. Car rides are harder as Allie does not want to be strapped in. We often try to do the drive around nap time so we can at least get 2 hours then try to entertain her some more. We went to mama mel and grandpa zuker's for christmas. Nat and Wyatt were there too. Allie was such a ham and little turkey too. She got so much from Santa. What a special Christmas. She woke up and we took her downstairs in which she just starred at all of the gifts. She didnt know what to do, so we put her down and she would go to each toy and then look back at us to see if it was either hers or okay to touch. She got a ball pit, dancing puppy, crayons, dry erase board, books, leap frog junior, stuffed animals, baby piano. Mama mel got her lots of clothes, her cute cute pottery barn luggage, aunt natty and uncle wyatt got her a cabbage patch doll, she got a learning purse and picnic basket from Grandmother and Grandaddy, as well as a stroller and baby doll from Aunt Brina and Uncle Jim, and another purse from Uncle Tommy and Aunt Christine. She got a whole lot. Allie then went back with Will to Frisco so she could go to her school and then Nat/Wyatt and I went to WImberley to hang out with daddy for new years. We had a lot of fun and then Will and ALlison came to Wimberley that Thursday before new years. We had a new years party at dads house on the hill and Allie stayed up with us until about 830. Then slept her way through the new year with the party going on downstairs. 17 and 18 months are kindof running together as she is doing about the same stuff although she is talking a bunch more. She loves to say "oh no" and then she loves to say no no. then she says bow,okay,ball,cup,dog,and lots others just cant think right now :) She can do some animal sounds-cow,monkey, dog, pig. She knows all of her body parts AND IS OBSESSED with putting her shoes on and off. She loves to bring daddy his shoes or anyones for that matter. She climbs on stairs alot but now knows how to climb down. She enjoys bath time, and Will and I are still bathing with her. She goes to bed around 8pm. FOOD TIME is another story. Sometimes she will eat but most of the time she wont. I will say spaghetti is by far her favorite and she loves these crescent rolls with ham/cheese although she only eats the cresent part of it. She loves to snack, graham crackers sometimes with PB, granola bars, raisins (although she cant have these too often as they make her sick), organges (same cant have them a lot), banannas, rice/beans, She isnt a fan of meat these days either. She does like PB and Jelly. She will eat cereal and she loves loves yogurt. She loves goldfish and cheezit, and still likes fruit. Only veggies she will eat is if they are hidden or peas and sometimes corn. she likes chicken nuggets. But overall i guess she is a good eater but we only get about 1 good meal eaten. She drinks quite a bit of milk with meals and juice/water. She has started being a little toot at times in that she will try to hit us. We have started implementing time out and then at times a little swat and firm no. She also thinks throwing her food is appropriate which then we tell her meal time is over and another firm NO. We cant take her to restaurants for more than about 15 minutes as she wants out of her seat and gets very mad. So one of us is either scarfing down our food and the other is entertaining and then we get the check. :) Its a fun age though but its a hard age. She is very loving and still hugs/kisses. She does open kisses and closed. She overall is still a very happy baby with some whining on the side. :) She is our pride and joy. I just love watching the new things she does. She really has "grown up" in that she can really understand what you are asking her. I can ask her to bring me something and she will do it. Pretty cool. I love love love my baby. She also loves to color some, still not into tv although this past trip to breckenridge she got into mickey mouse clubhouse. i also bought her some elmo tapes but she isnt there yet. I am really going to start doing more with her on my days off, join a play group, do art work etc. Its going to be a good year- I will post more about Breckenridge on the next post.
Things to Remember:
open kisses, hugs
night night, bye bye
no no
lamb
paci
dancing to everything
the wheels on the bus, row row row your boat, the itsy bitsy spider
christmas
santa
juice
puzzles-putting shapes into things
walking bailey
putting her shoes on and off