19 Months

Allison Allison Allison, What a HAM! She is absolutely precious although can get in trouble quite often. She is not hitting as much but she does it more at night before bedtime because she is tired. But honestly I think she wants to go to time out because we will ask her if she needs to go to timeout and she will nod her head that she does. She loves loves loves to dance still and will point to the stereo for me to turn on and she will start dancing. She loves the song if your happy and you know it clap your hands and she loves do you know the muffin man. She is getting more and more into puzzles and books although she still grabs them from me so that she can read them. She loves ba ba black sheep and has gotten into elmo books. She also will watch (for like 5 minutes) mickey mouse clubhouse. she loves the IPAD and will call it by its name. She knows how to do all sorts of stuff on it and often at times looks at the pictures on it which are mainly pictures and videos of herself. Her hair is getting so long and I am trying to learn new ways to do it as is slippery and she is wiggly. She weighs about 23.8lbs and is still quite tall for her age. She loves bailey and now tries to pick her up. Bailey doesnt enjoy that part as much but bailey often goes up to her room with me in the morning to greet the punkin. Allie still sleeps through the night although we have had some illnesses this month, another EAR INFECTION and last weekend she had walking pneumonia. It was kindof scary as I could tell that she was having difficulty breathing and breathing very fast. But we are much better and she is still enjoying her school. She talks about her little friend Abby although we dont know if she truly loves abby or if its just easy to say her name. She knows how to say PACI like a champ and she says Wills name too. She says Oh no and Oh Boy and knows many words of course dog, daddy, mommy, Wa Wa (water), paci, cow-moo,nana (bannana), apple (which she means orange) as SHE LOVES ORANGES but of course it still hurts her stomach so we cant give her many of those, she says outside a lot as she loves to go outside, either to park or just walk around the cul de sac, and/or to push her baby doll in stroller or walk bailey. She has really gotten into baby dolls. Its cute at night because she will put her lamb or baby in bed with her and then tuck it under her blanket and put it to night night then she will say bye bye to me. :) She still gets cranky on car rides that are long as she wants to be out and about. She still enjoys stickers. She climbs up and down the stairs. She is still a picky eater as one day she likes something and then the next she doesnt. Banannas, brocoli cheese caserrole, green peas, corn, meatballs, cresent rolls with ham/cheese, graham crackers, yogurt,oranges, raisins, NUTRI GRAIN BARS (she is currently obsessed with these), cheetos, PB and Jelly sandwiches, kolache (mainly the bread), and a few other things. But you never know with dinner time. She still also loves spaghetti and chick fil a nuggets. She drinks milk very well and apple juice/water. She gives wonderful hugs and kisses which melt your heart. We are going through throwing our food at times which also gets her put in time out and meal time over. :) I just bought her an elmo insert toilet as she kept pointing to it at the store. but everytime I try to sit her on it she screams. so we are just waiting. She keeps giving me signals that she is ready but then obviously no too much.She loves twinkle twinkle little star and will sing aloud once you get to the part "up above the " and will point to the sky.

Fun age and very cute.

Things to Remember:
Wa Wa, Dada, Mama, Wull (will), PACI, outside,her cute language
pushing baby dolls around and/or walking bailey outside
park- sliding down slides
dancing to her songs
ipad and her knowledge of what to do
her love of oranges
hugging and kissing
bath time
playing in her ball pit
MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC

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

16 Months

Oh Allison, what a character. She is so cute these days and INTO everything. She finally feels better as we have been battling a stomach bug, a bad cough, upper respiratory infections, and sinus problems, but doctor kept telling us it was all viral so we have been doing this for about a month. But finally the doc gave us an antibiotic which has cleared it all up :) SO with all of that plus getting all her eye teeth we have had some clingy moments. Its such a cute age though, she now dances quite a bit and gets down really low with her hand in the air. She also can understand when you ask her to do things such as bring things to you and she will tell you when she is hungry by bringing you to the panty or highchair. She loves mashed potatoes, spaghetti-chicken and meat, grandola bars, graham crackers, apple sauce, brocolli-cheese-chicken rice casserole, she doesnt care for much veggies but loves fruit. Mainly bananas and grapes. She still loves goldfish and loved candy. She had a great halloween and was able to walk and take her little lamb sack to a couple of houses. She was the cutest little lamb. She loved the candy. We went over to Jim and Sabrinas and went trick or treating in Prosper. They were giving out full size candy bars :) so Will and I ended up eating the majority of the candy. She has also moved to another preschool-Primrose which I am loving so much more. The other place was truly a daycare and were not teaching her anything. I am excited, Will and I went to her little school for her thanksgiving meal. She wanted us to hold her and wouldnt eat but all the little kiddos were doing that. She is talking more and singing at times. She has said bath,bannana,mama, dada, night night, hi, bye,She is back to waving at people all of the time especially when we are out shopping. She loves her little horsie still, and she is big about opening and shutting doors. I often hear the doors shutting and then her screaming because she wants out or just attention. :) She loves bath time usually and Will and I usually take one with her now. I sing a song to her: bath time bath time lalalalala and she LOVES It. SILLY yes I know but it works to get her excited about bath time. She is wearing 12-18 but she can wear 18-24 months. She is a mamas girl still and can have stranger anxiety but warms up fairly quickly. Her other favorite toys are her car and building blocks. She is getting more and more into books and I do that with her each night before bed.

15 Months Old

Walking Walking and more Walking!!!
She is just getting cuter and cuter. What a little ham. She is also definitely protesting a lot more regarding being tied down in car seats, shopping buggies, etc It makes it very difficult to take her to a store unless its in a 15 minutes span. She loves walking around the cul de sac and really can walk quite far. She is able to play on the playground which is a lot of fun. She has started a little daycare although I think we are going to move her as I dont think they do as much with her as I like. She is also crying a lot cause I can watch her on the cameras they have remotely which makes me sad and makes me wonder if she isnt adjusting. I think she is moving to Primrose, as I want her to have a schedule and more attention :). Back to allie though, she is laughing quite a bit, and we have kindof started some tantrums but they arent bad yet, she just cries quite a bit if she doesnt get to do what she wants. She loves phones, remotes, pens (with the cap on), crayons, her couze coupe, blocks, play telephones, her grocery cart-she puts all sorts of stuff in it and will push it around the kitchen. Allie also acts as though she is on the telephone and when she sees a dog she mimicks it by barking. She wont watch much cartoons although if they are on she will look at them for a second especially if there is music as that is when she will start dancing. She still loves baths and plays with her alphabet letters. she likes splashing her feet in the water as well. She also loves to be outside!! anytime she can go outside she loves it which we will usually open the back door and let her play. she loves playing on computers and the IPAD. She is still saying mama, dada, dog, ball, nana, and she says na na na na and points to what she wants. she gets very mad if she points to something she wants and you dont have it correct she gets louder with her na na na na. :) she is very loving at times if you can get her to slow down. Every night when its night night time if I take her or Will the other parent will get lots of night night kisses and she will tell you night night. She is still very obsessed with her little lamb as she takes it with her at all times especially at her little daycare. You see her with her paci and lamb. She sleeps with it everynight with her music. She is a good eater most of the time, but once she is done she starts standing in her seat. She loves puffs,cheetos (although I dont give her many at all), goldfish, BUT SHE IS OBSESSED WITH FRUIT. Mainly grapes and oranges although its too acidic so she doesnt get many of those. She loves watermelon, bannans, strawberries, apples. She loves yogurt too. I can always get her to eat spaghetti. She also likes chicken brocoli cheese casserole, hot dogs, rotisierre chicken, peas although not as much as when she was younger. She loves cheese and milk as well. I give her milk at all meals and then water or water/apple juice in between. She has dropped her second nap although at times I can get her to do two although very difficult. But I will say this has been hard because she is very tired but cant go to sleep so she is very tired by the end of the day so her bedtime is now 730 sometimes as early as 645-7. She will sleep all night and always wakes up around 7:20. Even if we keep her up later she wont sleep later. I have also taken her to the mall a couple of times and they have the cutest little play area for little kids. She likes playing with kids, its just such a fun age. They are so interactive and amused. ITS very busy but also so much fun. What a great time.

14 months old

I keep writing this blog later and later when she is almost into her 15th month :) oh well at least im trying to stay on top of it. Well Allison is into almost everything. She is walking very well and fast. Although we are definitely still toddling but she is truly such a cute age. She has found her belly button probably about a week ago though. She has really started comprehending things and if I tell her to bring me something she can usually do it (if she wants to). She has become obsessed with her lamb that we got her for her dedication. She takes it with her everywhere, all day long and sleeps with it too. Its pretty cute. Allison started her little school, aka Daycare at Kids R Kids this month. I have had a hard time with it mainly because I know she isnt used to it and there are so many kids. You feel like your just dropping her off all alone. I cried the first few times and may continue but she seems to like it. I can watch her all day long on the camera they have in the room so that helps. She only goes twice a week and then goes to Nicole still once a week. She loves Nicole and I love Nicole so I am not ready to part ways. Allison loves bath time, I recently went and got her some alphabet letters as she likes the ones on the fridge-which I need to buy those too. She is gotten very good at feeding herself and we are almost to the stage of having plates although I know she is tempted to still throw them at something or me. She has gotten pretty good with using utensils too. Our other huge milestone is trying to drop her second nap. WHICH I HAVE LOVED having her have two naps because it was the perfect amount of time for me to work some from the house and get things done twice in one day. I will say this transition with the naps has been difficult as she is so tired. So sometimes we still do two but since at Daycare and Nicoles she only takes one we are trying to follow suit. She will go down about 11-1 so not a ton of time like I was getting but that means she is exhausted at like 5. She has started having earlier bedtimes around 7-730 as she starts melting down after that. She loves to talk to herself and she is very big about pointing to everything she wants to do. She loves sitting by herself in chairs, and will often at times push me out of the way so she can sit somewhere by herself. If I even put my hand on the chair she gets mad. She is also very loving and at different times of the day will come walk/run to me with big open arms and big open mouth for a kiss. What a blessing. She always gives night night kisses to either Will or I depending on who is not putting her to sleep. She although hates for you to leave her in her crib when its time to take a nap or go night night but will only cry for about 30 seconds and then just plays in her crib until she falls asleep. Allison no longer does any bottles, but she was finished with those around 13 months, and she doesnt like to have any milk before bedtime. She loves raisins,grapes, watermelon, bananas, oranges, spaghetti, hot dogs, graham crackers, goldfish, chewy granola bars, yogurt,cheese but not macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets from chick fil a.. she is a good eater. Everytime from daycare they report that she ate all her meals. She got a another ear infection last week. I am not sure if they are thinking tubes, I dont think they are but we are defnitely watching it and im curious as how it will be during winter considering that is when she will get more colds. Oh goodness. But I will say this is a fun time, she is so interactive still loves music. We are on the brinks of temper tantrums though which scares me because I dont want her to do that :) and I want to do the right thing so she wont do them again, but I know that wont happen, just wishful thinking. We get onto her right now for standing in her highchair, and bathtub. But now she is getting quite vocal to get out of things like carseats and buggies at the store. So the adventures will continue I know. But what a ride. I am going to start doing some new activities with her as I think she is ready and can really get into them, just got to find them.
On another note, natalie got married. It was absolutely gorgeous, and she looked amazing. Her and mother did such a good job. Everyone had a great time. Allie stayed with the Driskells, thank goodness as there wouldnt have been any time to do things with everyone else.
Things to Remember:
Words: dog, night night, banana, ball, momma, mom, da da, uh oh,
sitting in her own big girl chair
her new pink car from mama mel that she loves to hear the horn since it makes songs
her lamb
her love of stairs
playing peek a boo where she makes mommy find her
allie finding mommy's belly button and her own
allie starting to like books, pop up or touch books although wants to hold them and turn the pages herself, then is done with it after 10 seconds.
mommy trying to let allie watch tv for at least 5 minutes straight but no go at this time

13th Month

Allison is WALKING!!! She took her first steps in her 12th month but she was sooo cautious that she would take two steps and fall. She also would get so frustrated. She started walking really when Will and I were in Chicago. They have a lot of open space in their home so I think she was able to have the confidence to move around. Also it helped to have her cousins there and the Driskells encouraging her in that environment. The most steps she had taken with Will and I were about 6 but then with them that weekend she took about 20. The next week August 8th she started walking a lot more. She still falls and is quite wobbly but its so cute. And she is so proud of herself, which of course we are too. Its the sweetest thing for her to walk to you with her arms out and ready for you to scoop her up with praise for doing such a good job. She is such a stinker. She got really sick again the last week of July. She had another ear infection and her fever got up to about 105... very scary. Mama Mel was in town so it helped me since Will was gone. Bless her heart she was so lethargic and so hot. We put her in the bath tub immediately. As for everything else everyday is a new adventure. Its precious, as she mimicks things a lot more... She hugs her stuffed animals, she brushes her hair with a brush, she tries to brush her teeth she always will put something up to her ear like a phone, she is always pointing the remote to the tv... She talks a lot, she has said ball, dog, bannana although its nana, dog is da, ball is ba... She loves to say mamma and dadda. Allison also still loves loves loves the stairs but we did get a gate so that keeps her away for the most part. She loves playing with her toys, but mainly loves to take things out of things and then put them back in. if something is in a drawer she loves to take it out. she likes pulling clothes out of drawers. She also loves when bailey gives her kisses. We tell her to give us a kiss and she opens up her mouth real wide, its precious. She also loves sleeping with her little lamb and anytime I take her out of the crib she has to take the lamb with her.... So cute :) Allison also loves to try and eat dog food.. She loves her baths now too, she plays and plays with her toys mainly putting things in and out of the cubby hole that holds the toys and also puts the toys in the cup. Allison is also the biggest dancer, she puts one arm in the air and just will shake her little butt. Any music that comes on, commericials etc.. its so cute. She smiles and smiles when she does it too. She still gets a bottle at night before bedtime but does sippy cups the other times. She still loves her paci at night to sleep. That might be a bad habit to break. She doesnt need it but to sleep. :( Allison lately has been putting things in her toes adn then eating them.. HAHAH funny girl.
Things To remember:
Open mouth kisses
Hugs
Mama and Dadda
still playing the music over and over at night
walking. wobbling
bath time
play dates at the pool this summer, gymboree a couple of times

12 Months ... LATE POST

So again its been forever since I posted. Most of June seemed like a blur, as Will and I traveled a lot. We went to New Orleans, New York, and Wimberley. Although the last post pretty much still sums things up as it is going here but I will try and remember most of what happened. Allie is such a cutie, she loves to dance still and now shakes her butt while she has a hand in the air. She loves to clap and smile. Although she is more tempermental now in that one minute she is fine and the next she is upset. During the 12 months she isnt walking but cruising like a champ. She is very cautious. She didnt stand much in her 12 months unless you helped her get in the standing position but in the 13th month she has started going from sitting to standing on her own without any help. She has taken three steps. She also in her 12th month started playing a lot with her toys really the way they are intended. Its like it clicked and she understood what she was supposed to do with them. HER BIRTHDAY was this month (12th). WHAT A WONDERFUL weekend. We all went down to Wimberley on Friday July 1st. Natalie/Wyatt came in from NY, mom/Fred came in from Houston,Jim/Sabrina came in from Prosper, Mr/Mrs D came in From Crockett, Lynne/Jody came in from Waxahachie, Jenny/Patrick came ;in from Houston on Sunday,Tommy/ Christine/Jack/Josh came in from Round Rock, Kim/Joe came in from Austin; Amanda/daniel came in from Houston,n; Debbie/Ralph Horridge came in from AustiSandra/Stan were at the party/Shirley; as well as Larry We had a lot of fun. On Saturday we had sandwiches etc for lunch at the River, and floated and everyone just hung out. That evening we had mexican food down at the river and listened to music. Then Sunday we got ready for Allisons' party like mad women. Mom was such a help. we decorated and cooked all late saturday night and sunday morning. the party started at 11am. Will made the hamburger sliders and homemade fries. We had an icecream sundae bar- hot fudge, carmel sauce, blueberries, bananas,and,white,blue M&Ms, crushed oreos, nuts, we had cupcakes from Society bakery. Then we had buffalo chicken dip, ranch dip, all sort of toppings for the sliders- pepper jack cheese/cheddar/american, bbq, avocados, bacon, chipolte mayo, mustard, ketchup, onions, lettuce, tomato, onion rings,jalapenos.... I made these cute little signs that said The All American Burger- american cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayo; Uncle Sams Favorite- bbq sauce, onion rings, cheese, tomato, lettuce; Hot as Fireworks- pepper jack cheese,jalapenos, lettuce, tomato and Declace your independence where you can put any topping you want. We also did homemade sangria. I got so many decorations that were fireworks that it looked like the