18 Month Catch Up

My plan was always to do a blog about 6 months after your first birthday.  Little did I know that so much would happen in those 6 months and that I wouldn't really get around to it until you are almost 20 months old.  So let's recap each month as it happened chronologically.

June

The rest of the month following your birthday was spent playing with your new toys and your cousin Bryson.  You two really do love each other and love your new toys.  They were really a great idea your mom had and it was nice that the weather was good enough for you to play outside.

You also continued to develop your vocabulary.  I can't say for sure what words you said when, especially since I was terrible enough to not post this sooner.  But you started around this time to really start to babble.  Babbling never was your thing up until this point.  And it may just be that we are your parents, but we think your babblings are cute.  Even if they aren't, they are certainly productive to your development so babble on!

July

July was a super busy and warm month.  In fact when we went over to Wapato to be with your gramma and grandpa Compton it got to be near 100!  Your daddy thought he was going to melt!  In any case, all that warm weather meant a lot of time outdoors and at waterparks.

The fourth of July was spent at gramma and grandpa Compton's.  Some of the highlights were feeding the ducks, fireworks and going to the Tri-Cities to visit your cousins Owen and Evan at a waterpark.  We also spent some "Fourth of July" time with your grandpa Compton's brothers here in Kent.  We went to a lake so you and your cousins could play at the beach.  They also had some pretty sweet toys!

You also went to an amusement park in July with your Aunt Nicole and cousin Bryson.  Wild Waves isn't Disneyland or 6 Flags.  It isn't even Silverwood, but it is the best we have locally and for a 1 year-old an 18 month-old I think it was perfectly fine.  Your mom took you so you will have to ask her how much fun you really had.

It was also hot enough that your Nana and P-Pa bought a kiddie pool for you to cool off in.  Boy did you ever love splashing around in there and soaking your Nanna (you can see her soakedness in the photo).

August

In August you and your mom abandoned me.  Well, you actually left to go visit your aunt Ali and uncle Kyle in Utah for a whole week.  You will have to get the details on all the fun you had (yes you had fun without me) from your mom or aunt Ali.  But the important details were this was your first flight and you did fairly well, and it was the first time you had been away from me for longer than a day.  I think it was also the first time your mom had been away from me for longer than a day since we got married as well.

Being away from you was odd.  It was calm and relaxing for sure.  It was super easy because your mom made me a bunch of food before she left and put it in the freezer for me.  But I also missed you both a whole lot.  I missed your cuteness and your energy.  And of course I missed the kisses and loves from you and your mom.

September

September for the most part was status quo.  Learning new words, gaining more confidence in daily life running around and experimenting.  I also think this was when you started loving your clothes and gaining a real knack for climbing.  That is how a toddler is taller than a washing machine in the photo above.  You will find anything to climb to get up where you want and explore.  No matter the peril or possibility for bodily harm, you will brave it and show no fear whatsoever.  You and I will have so much fun later in life defying death exploring and playing around.

As for the clothes, well I'll let a picture say a thousand words for me:

Now when I say you love clothes, it isn't like teenage-girl-shopping-at-the-mall-trying-on-clothes kind of love.  It is a play-around-and-try-to-put-on-in-random-places-but-not-really-want-to-wear-them kind of way.  Hours of entertainment.  Clothing optional.

October

I think the above picture perfectly describes our October.  Of course there was more to the month, but your mom made the costumes in the picture and her wonderful work was noticed by everyone who saw us.  We went to three parties and walked around the Supermall and everyone we saw loved us.  Random strangers at the mall were asking to take pictures with us.  At aunt Nicole's ward Halloween party you and Bryson won cutest couple as Bam-Bam and Pebbles in their kiddie parade.  Truly fantastic and a Halloween to live up to the rest of our years as a family.

If I am not mistaken, this was around the time you wanted to become a one-meal-a-day kid as well.  Taking after your P-Pa all you want is a good breakfast and maybe some smaller meals later in the day, but only if you are really hungry.  That is so opposite your dad and grandpa Compton.  I can wait a few hours before eating breakfast just like my dad.  So it is more like a brunch.  Then I could skip lunch and have a good dinner.  Not you.  Just a giant bowl of Cream of Wheat and you think you are set for the day.

It is also interesting to note that you are on a nearly vegetarian diet.  You will eat chicken nuggets and fish sticks for lunch/dinner.  Sometimes you will eat sausage and bacon for breakfast.  But if your mom roasts a chick or makes a casserole with any kind of meat in it you do not want the meat.  You go as far as to take a bite of the food and eat everything else then spit out the meat.  Not sure how you do that, but it is frustrating to parents trying to give you a balanced diet.

 November

November was a great month.  We started by making your first visit to the Pacific Science Center.  I say first because even as an adult I would love to go back several more times and as a kid there is even more to explore and discover.   We saw animatronic dinosaurs, tropical butterflies, lots of bugs, space stuff, ocean things and some random scientific factuals (more enjoyable for the adults I think).  Of course your favorite part was anything to do with water.

For Thanksgiving we were over in Wapato again.  Gramma and grandpa Compton were volunteering at a Santa's workshop and invited us to go up one day and see the place.  This was by far the most unique Santa's workshop I had ever seen.  It was based in an old Train Station that is now a museum.  There were trains everywhere!  And the best part was we got to take a ride to the North Pole and see Santa himself with Mrs. Claus.  You weren't to thrilled with sitting with them this year, but did fairly well considering how most kids your age react to sitting with a strange old man.

Thanksgiving itself was pretty low-key.  Just spending quality time with my immediate family and their kids.  Which is nice every once and a while, to not have to have a million people around.  It happens a lot during the holidays, especially with large families, which you are a part of.  I remember some Thanksgivings with so many people the house could barely contain them all.  And that was at my aunt Arlene's house with living room, kitchen and basement just packed!  But you'll come to know the joy (with and without sarcasm) of the holidays soon enough.

The other big November news was our announcing that we are expecting another baby!  We wanted to wait until Christmas and make it a present for both your grandmas, but your mom was SO sick she didn't think she could make it through a week in Wapato without spilling the beans.  So we told your Nana and P-Pa before we left and then told my parents when we back in Wapato.  We told them both the same way.  Your mom made you a little shirt that had a picture of a monkey on it that said "This little monkey is going to be a big sister."  Both times we had to point out what the shirt said to their utter surprise and shock.  Your mom thinks the letters may have been to small and I am inclined to agree.  But the absolute best was your gamma Compton.

We were all in the kitchen when your aunt Nicole arrived.  Your aunt Nicole already knew about the new baby and the shirt idea so we had her read it aloud to gramma and grandpa.  What I said was "Nicole, did you see that shirt that Cara made?" at which point your aunt Nicole started reading the shirt.  Your grandpa caught on, but your gramma focused on the "Cara made" part and was amazed at how good the shirt looked. Grandpa then asked gramma if she heard what was said and she said yeah, but she hadn't really paid attention so Nicole read the shirt again leading to gramma's screams of joy.  It was pretty fun.

I think I'll call that good for now.  This was a pretty long post and hard to compose.  And I think I lost a lot of what I was trying to do with it by not doing it more often.  Perhaps I should have a limit of 3 months between posts for the time being.  I promise I will do better about blogging so as to keep the true purpose of this blog - a diary you couldn't make for yourself at this age to know what your life was like at these younger ages; and  so you can know how much I love you.

Nap Time

This one is really just all about the picture.  This was any number of given Sunday afternoons where I put you down for a nap.  You are notorious for not staying asleep after being put down so a few times I decided to just keep holding you.  Sometimes that means I come back out to the living room and watch some TV with your mom, other times it means I take a nap with you (as was obviously the case this time).

I'm really glad your mom snuck in a took this picture because it is one of my favorite memories with you.  You spend a lot of time with your mom.  Which is good.  You love her and in most cases you prefer her.  Which makes moments when you reach for me, or call for me, or stay with me that much more precious.  I know you love me as best you can at this age.  And I hope you will continue to grow your love for me as I do for you.  And I'm not saying I would trade amounts of your love for moments like this, but moments like this sure do make me feel like you have that much more love for me and make me feel great.

I love spending time with you and love it more when you enjoy spending time with me.  I look forward to spending time with your outside playing.  I look forward to spending time with you doing homework.  I look forward to spending time with you on daddy-daughter dates (not optional mind you).  It's crazy how much time I want to spend with you.  All I get during the week is an hour in the morning and a few at night.  The weekends we spend at home you entertain yourself pretty well and I need to take advantage of because soon you will be to grown for me to play with.  You will be playing with your friends.  So I promise now to cherish my moments with you and make the most of your love.

Conversations with Brooklynn

If you are tracking dates on my posts you are probably wondering what happened to me.  Well I got a little lazy and a little busy and that is life.  But what matters now is that you can read this and still know what happened in basic sequence in your life.  This post and the next were started shortly after your first birthday (6/27/2011) but were not actually completed until Jan 2012.  The good news is they are brief and cover only some heartfelt emotions you stirred up in my soul.

Conversations with Brooklynn began sometime near your first birthday.  What I remember most vividly was walking you around the church on Sunday and having a perfect example of one of our earliest conversations.  We were of course walking around the building because you can't sit still during sacrament and be reverent.  Oh no.  Not our little monkey.

On this particular Sunday I was walking around the church and showing you pictures of Jesus.  You had already learned to say who it was (JeJe).  And you had already demonstrated the ability to agree with someone whether you really meant it or not by saying "ya" (usually with a few exclamation points following).  So as we are walking I asked you if a particular picture was Jesus.  Of course it was because you were too young at this point to try and fool and that would just confuse you.  What surprised me was your response.  You said, "Ya! JeJe."

That was a sentence!  It shocked me.  And I was just so thrilled to be having mini conversations with you.  I told your mom the story after church and she agreed that it was very cute and amazing.  Which pretty much sums up our opinion of you.  Cute and amazing.

Several similar conversations happened following that involving affirmations and naming of objects.  The most simple of dialogues, but so monumental in my mind.  Just awesome.