Home Improvement

We have a backyard! We were busy last month with the planning of our backyard. Within a span of 2 weeks our yard went from weedy red clay dirt to THIS!:

I'ts still a work in progress, but we love it. There's plenty of space to BBQ this summer and y'all are invited! Come on over!

My favorite thing is our new planter box...can't wait to get my hands dirty.

I can't wait for the fruit trees to start, well..fruiting! We've got Asian Pear, a four-variety apple tree (ahh, the magic of grafting), and Meyer Lemon. Also about 6 rose bushes, azaleas, a camelia bush, an October Glory Maple, a Sango Kaku Japanese Maple, and a crepe myrtle bush. I'm going to plant my herb garden next week...Yay!

A perfect spot for early morning bowling in jammies.

Spaghetti Face

Sweet Tooth

Daddy's go best with chocolate

19 Months!

Can it really be 19 months (577 days!) since the first time I laid my eyes on my cheekaboo? Every day is a blessing so I'm thankful for the (at least) 577 blessings that the Lord has given us. We are having the most fun we've had since becoming parents...this is really a fun age. New skills, new words, and new insights into the personality of this crazy, funny, lovable and sweetly silly little girl.

Non-stop action
Hopping, spinning, running, exercising (doing push-ups alongside and sometimes on top of her daddy), dancing, climbing up stairs, climbing down stairs, this girl can't sit still. It makes for whirlwind afternoons and pooped parents, grandparents, and aunties. Most evenings, we spend about 10 minutes dancing around the living room before heading up for her bath. It's a good way to tire her out before bedtime!

OCD?
I wonder if it's a phase common to most kids...Lauren likes to arrange things. No, make that NEEDS to arrange things. She lines up her blocks in a straight line with almost military precision. Same thing with her mega bloks and legos. She doesn't like to stack them up high, she likes to line them up along window sills, coffee tables, and baseboards. If I dump a box of crayons on the floor she will arrange them side-by-side before coloring. Be ready for the stink-eye if you move one of her blocks/crayons/toys out of place. OCD? I hope not!



I love you. You love me. Lauren loves Barney.
Lauren LOVES Barney...stangely, I'm not annoyed at all by the big purple dinosaur. Watching the show from a child's perspective, Barney is sweet and lovable and has good lessons to teach about values, sharing and friendship. We try not to let her watch too much TV, but it's hard to avoid because WE LOVE TV so it's on a lot in our house. We just try to balance it with quiet playtime and outside time. Her other favorite shows: Curious George and anything with animals.

Busy litte bee
Thankfully for her grandparents who take care of her a couple of days a week, Lauren can entertain herself. She plays with her blocks, scribbles in her notebook and puts together simple puzzles with little supervision. She's learned to climb up and down the stairs safely and unassisted. Good for them, but sad for us...it's just reminds us that she's getting to be a big girl now.


Big Girl!
She's feeding herself, picking out her own clothes, entertaining herself..and growing so fast! She's growing about an inch a month! She's still a little small for her age (25th percentile) but in other ways she's growing leaps and bounds. And of course, like most moms, I think my kid is in the upper quadrant percentile for smarts!

Peter marking her height on the door.

Field Trip!

"I'm going to take you somewhere cool today!" Peter said.
"Do we have to dress up?" I asked.
"No."
"Do we have to dress warm?"
"No."
"Are we going to the Mall?"
"No."
"The Park?"
"No."
"Out to eat?"
"No."
"Wheeeeerreee?!?!"
"It's a Surprise."

The surprise was the Public Library. It is merely 1.5 miles away, next to the tennis courts that we frequented last spring and summer. It was hidden amongst the buildings of the community sports center...I thought there were only pools and parks beyond the tennis courts. Who knew there was a library there? I think I actually said "Whheee!" when we pulled into the parking lot and I saw the sign. I know, I know...Geek!

I love libraries..and I'm so thrilled there's one nearby. It's not just a regular ol' library, it's got 2 stories and a huge selection of books. It's clean and modern, but comfortable and cozy at the same time. It has a play area with cool, colorful kid furniture and shelves filled with books and bins of toys. Eating and drinking is allowed and noise and laughter is encouraged. I foresee many afternoons spent here with the cheekaboo. I can't wait to break in my shiny bright green library card.

Thanks Daddy for the wonderful surprise!

Howdy Y'all!

A little souvenir from Texas for my little cowgirl

What's up Doc? 18 month Appointment

I swear Lauren remembers what happens to her when she visits her pediatrician. As soon as the nurse pokes her head out into the waiting room and calls out her name, she runs for the door. No joke!

This time, when her name was called, Lauren ran for the glass doors, banging on them for dear life to strangers walking by as if to say "Help me, please! Save me from what torture lies behind these doors!"

I took her hand and led her to the office, she started crying once we entered the hallway. Even getting to stand on cool 'big girl' scale didn't lift her spirits. She clung to me in the exam room when the younger Dr. Wang came in, the wailing began.

He tried his best to "examine" her. He checked her heart and lung sounds, her ears and eyes. From what he saw, he declared her in wonderful health! The only issues I had were her weight (still in 25th percentile but she looks perfectly healthy and active so not to worry) and her lack of teeth (she only has eight but they should all come in by age 2 so not to worry). When the elder Dr. Wang came into the room, Lauren's cries increased in volume. Dr. remarked how smart she was to remember him...not necessarily a good thing though, since she grabbed my neck and refused to let go. I had to put her down on the table and her two doctors had to work together to administer her shots. After a couple of quiet screams she was back in my arms again, poor thing.

The bad news is that she had 4 shots. The good news is that there will be NO MORE SHOTS until her next appointment in 6 months!

Her stats:
Weight: 22 lbs
Height: 32 inches

She didn't have any reaction to the shots but still points to the little round bandaids on her legs and says a sad face, "Hotch." (Hurts). Not surprisingly, it only hurts when she's not wearing pants and the bandaids are in plain sight. What a drama queen!