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More adventures & cute pictures

Okay, I'll admit, this first one is a little mean. She has discovered the cooler section of her diaper bag (where we usually put ice packs & sippy cups) and thoroughly enjoys putting things into it. It's always fun to open it up and see what all she's put in it.

Well, I was working (playing) on the computer one day last week and she started fussing. Being a good mommy, I quickly checked it out and discovered she had put her leg in the diaper bag and, because of where she was, she couldn't get out. So, being a not-so-nice mommy, I grabbed the camera, took a couple pictures and THEN got her out.

She is also discovering the joy of climbing into things like desk shelves. I'm still waiting on her to climb into the middle shelf. For the record, she can't really get to the cords from the bottom shelf and we've been working on a way to keep her away from them under the desk. I think we're going to go with a friend's suggestion of getting a gate.

And, last but not least, part of our bedtime ritual includes brushing our teeth. She inevitably gets ahold of the toothbrush. Daddy thought she was so cute and all grown up looking that he had to get pictures.

Never too young to start

Taylor discovers the computer mouse. She started off pretty well using Microsoft Paint, but decided she preferred eating the mouse instead.

Ever try taking a picture of a baby when she's sitting in your lap? It's not easy.

Sick little girl

We haven't posted in a few days, for good reason. Taylor came down with ear infections in both ears, followed 2 days later by bronchitis. Most of this week was spent in Mama's arms asleep. She's doing better now, still recovering. We'll have more pictures soon.

A note about the website for those of you who have used the Comments feature, you may notice that it is now missing. It seems weblog comments are a new method some spammers are using to advertise their products. Since I do not want to assist in the advertisements of products of ill repute, I have removed the comments feature altogether. If you wish to contact us and don't know our direct email addresses, there is a Contact Us link on our main page.

Our butterfly girl

As many of you know, one of our favorite onesies for Taylor was a red one with a butterfly on it and the words "a beautiful butterly" (this was actually part of a series of clothes at Babies R Us based on the story "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"). Anyway, she outgrew her 3-6 month one so we got her the 6-9 month one and, unfortunately, once she outgrew it, that was it. Well! No I haven't found one her size. I have, however, got her a new butterfly outfit. Considering I love butterflies, this should surprise no one. :) For a little fun and comparison, I'm including the beautiful butterly pictures as well.

First, the picture taken just this past week - her latest butterfly outfit. You can't see it in this picture, but there are butterflies on her jeans and shoes.

In this one, she's 4 months old

In this one, she's 11 weeks old

Is that even the same baby? wow.

Just a cute picture

This was taken on St. Patrick's Day. The dress is actually a size 24 month. Since the bloomers that came with it are way too big, I got some shorts that match it decently.

Fun at the Playground

We went to the playground yesterday. The last time we went was back on October 8th. I just looked back at those pictures and she is such a big girl now!

Back in October, she had difficulty getting through the green tube because it has a slight incline. She had absolutely no trouble this time around except when she tried to turn around and when she tried to stand up in it. When she tried to turn around, she actually ended up crawling backward through it. Oh, and this time we didn't have to bribe her with her favorite toys to go into the tubes!

Our biggest scare was when we were trying to get her to go down the slide. We were telling her to sit down (from experiences in the tub, she knows what "sit down" means). I don't know if she tried to sit down or what but the next thing we knew, she took a dive and went down the slide head first, arms outstretched. Don't worry, daddy was waiting at the bottom. Mommy & Daddy freaked a little but tried to laugh and sound happy so she wouldn't cry. She was fine, actually seemed to enjoy it. Thankfully, she didn't do it again.

The infamous green tube... can she do it? Oh yeah, no problem. :)

This was not where she dove onto the slide. This was us trying to get her to go down it again but from a sitting position instead of diving.

And this is why we're not letting her go down stairs yet.. she hasn't quite figured out to turn around first. She does remember on some things but not consistently.

And here we are playing in the mulch. Thankfully, this time around, she didn't constantly try to eat it. Although, she did try a couple of times. Instead, the game was her picking it up and handing it to us.

Last but not least, we met up with one of the neighborhood kids walking his dog. I think she only poked the dog in the eye once and, thankfully, the dog took it all quite well. From talking to the boy, the dog has had experience with small kids. :)

We have a climber!

On Thursday, we got home from Mother's Morning Out and I let Taylor walk from the car to the stairs. For those who don't know, we live on the third floor of an apartment building. I decided to let her climb and see how far she was able to go. Well, she shocked me.. our darling little girly climbed all the way up from the bottom floor to the top. She tried to walk down the breezeway of the 2nd floor and got mad when I wouldn't let her. Needless to say, it took a really really really long time to get up the stairs but it was SO worth it! Just so you know, she wasn't taking like one step at a time. She started with her feet on the main floor, hands went to the 2nd step, knees to the 1st step, she stood up, hands went to the 3rd step... repeat process for just over 30 steps!

I've also caught her trying to get out of the crib. Thankfully, she was trying it the same way she climbs out of our bed. Turns around and slides down. As we all know, this doesn't work in a crib. One of the bars got in the way and she had her legs dangling. We realize it's only a matter of time before she figures out to go over the rail and then HOW to go over the rail.

Tonight, if she thinks about it, she got a hint on how to get over the crib rail. At bath time, while I'm filling the tub, She and her daddy are playing peek-a-boo around a corner. She squeals and comes running to me and the tub.. grabs the side of the tub and goes up on tip-toes. More than once I've thought, "You know, she's going to tip over and go in clothes and all one day." Well, it happened tonight. I caught her before she went completely in but her shirt and most of her hair got a good soaking and one of her blocks turned into a bathtoy momentarily.

I don't think she'll really start climbing out of the crib until she actually starts climbing up on, well, furniture. I think... I hope. I am so not looking forward to her climbing out of the crib.

A Day at the Park

Brian has started going out to a park on Sunday afternoons where he and some other guys play football. While the guys were playing, Taylor & I walked/strolled around the track and the play area. We were quite pleased with ourselves upon learning that we could climb steps! There were three steps leading up to one of the entrances to the play area. She got up there alright but it'll be awhile before I let her go down them again. I was close at hand for going up and attempting to go down. Here's the only picture I got of her and it's just as she was about to go up the stairs for the umpteenth time. It was tough trying to work a camera and try to keep her from eating the mulch!

And, how can I not include this. Not long after the first game started, Brian got the ball and scored a touchdown!!

And, alas, that was really all the pictures I got from the park. Suffice it to say it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed talking to all the people and scaring a dog or two with shrill squeals of glee. :)

A Day at the Zoo

The weather was so gorgeous, we had to go to the zoo. Plus, there was a special sneak preview of the new penguin exhibit for members! We got Taylor all cuted up and we were ready to go.

But first, she had a call to make...

Okay, so the phone picture was staged... it was still cute. I really wish we could've gotten a picture of her reaction to it ringing. Shocked look on her face, followed by "Woohh!" :)

While waiting in line, we got to see a kestral up close and personal. It's the smallest member of the falcon family and is native to Alabama.

And this was the best picture of the penguins we could get - silly glare and reflections! These are Black-Footed Penguins from South Africa and they're on loan from the Baltimore Zoo. They can't handle the extreme cold. The water and climate in the tank was mid-70's.

At the giraffe exhibit, there was a little excitement. Some birds got out - no clue what kind. They were kind of like chickens but they weren't chickens. One was on the inside of the giraffe exhibit and there were several others just on the other side of the fence... OUTSIDE the exhibit. They were moving too fast for us to get a good picture but it was funny to see them running back and forth.

Here's a couple pictures from the swamp exhibit:

And, last but not least, it's the birds you see upon entering and leaving the zoo. They're absolutely gorgeous and annoyingly LOUD. Yes, they're macaws.

Miscellaneous Pictures

In her excitement of walking around all day on the 27th, she missed her afternoon nap. This became very apparent during dinner when she fell asleep while eating and again while drinking her milk. I got a couple pictures of her then woke her up and she finished the meal. Needless to say, bedtime was a snap that night!

In these, she's playing with a stuffed dinosaur I bought while in college. When you squeeze it, it roars. :)

And, last but not least, a couple pictures of her playing with the linking beads her cousin, Lecil, gave her. She's trying to put them together but hasn't quite figured out how yet.

Our little ham

Okay, she is definitely a ham. It's almost impossible to surprise her with the camera. Even if she's asleep, she hears the chirp of it coming and wakes up. For the record, she sleeps through all sorts of loud city noises (sirens for example) and the quiet chirp of a digital camera turning on wakes her up. What sense does that make?? Here are a few pictures we took Feb 27 & 28. With the first two, you'll see why I'm calling her a ham.

On the 27th, she was walking up a storm and, for the first time, I saw her stand up in the middle of the floor without using anything to pull up on. This was a shocker for me because, until now, I hadn't even seen her *trying* to do this. After standing, she started to walk toward the dining room. The first two are in sequence, the others are randoms of her walking around that day.

She loved crawling with her stars in her hands so I guess it makes sense that she enjoys walking with them in her hands!