Spelling Tuesday

Loralie did her first official pee-pee on the potty this morning. I was beginning to worry that she had no idea what the potty was for. She loves to sit on it and read books, but this was our first sucessfull pee. Caleb and I both got super excited and took a picture of her and the pee, which I shall not post for obvious reasons. Now if we could just get her to poop...

So, what do you do when your fifteen month old grabs the dresser drawer for support, squats down, grunts for a few minutes, says "poop" and then hands you a diaper? That's right. You freak out because it may be time to potty train! For some reason this is one phase I have been dreading, and I don't really know why. It's not like I love changing diapers or anything! It just seems like a big hassle. But I guess she has to learn sometime. It's not like they make pampers for college kids! Oh, and she pooped in the bathtub today for the first time. That is not entirely related, but since we are talking about all things potty, I thought I would share. So, I went out and bought a potty chair, and I think I will start sitting her on it a few times a day. My mom said she always just sat us on the potty chair whenever she had to go on the big potty, so that sounds like a good plan. If I learned one thing from being a Kindergarten teacher it is: never underestimate the p...

Okay, okay, I know, two blog posts in one day is a bit ego-centric. But, heck, I don't actually think anyone but me reads this anyways, and after my earlier post I remembered that Loralie turns 15 months old today so I need to update her stats. She is still pretty teeny, as far as fifteen month old kids go. She is still taking two good naps a day as well as sleeping through the night. She is eating anything and everything that I put in front of her. In fact, when she decides she is hungry she gets out a bib, grabs a container of baby food out of the drawer, goes over to her high chair and says "up". Amazing! We have been working pretty hard on the animal sounds this month, so she can now tell you the sounds that a cow, sheep, horse, and fish make. She calls a phone a "hi". She calls her binky "nigh-nigh". It took me a while to figure that one out. I thought she was actually asking to go to bed! Ha! She loves her "goggy" Scooter, ...

I am a big fan of the snow, but there comes a point about this time in January, when you start to get a little stir crazy! I want spring to get here! I am already starting to think about all the fun things that me and Loralie will be able to do once the weather gets nicer! It occured to me today that she has never actually walked on grass, so that will be a new experience. And last year when we visited the zoo she was far more interested in the other kids to even notice the animals! Hopefully this year she will get more into that aspect! I wanna go to the park and go on walks and have picnics! Caleb and I love to go up to Smithville lake and walk on the walking trails. And our poor dog is dying for a walk. He hasn't been out of the backyard/kennel/garage all winter! So to sum up: Niki sick of snow. The End.

It seems as though overnight my baby has developed a love of books! I am especially excited about this because I was sort if afraid that Calebs aversion to reading was genetic. Her three favorite books right now are: My first words ( she loves to point out all the things she knows, especially the dogs and shoes), The Pocket Bible Promise Book (more dogs and shoes) and Mister Brown Can Moo, Can You. Mister Brown is such a favorite that I have resorted to hiding it after the fourth read of the day. The only bonus is that I now have the entire thing memorized and can pretty much "read" it while not actually looking at the pages much! I took her to the library the other day and picked out a whole stack of books very similar to the "My First Words" book, but she has shown precious little interest. The first thing she did when we got home was toddle over to the toy box, dug out "my first words" and handed it to me giving the please sign. How can I resist...

We have been working with Loralie on all the animals sounds quite a bit lately. So tonight I was putting away laundry, and seeing the chaos of Caleb's side of the closet I muttered "holy cow" under my breath. And then I heard a tiny voice from the other room answer "Moo." Ha! I burst out laughing. Her timing (and general lack of enthusiasm) was perfect!

Okay, maybe not "gifted" but at least smart as a tack. Loralie's vocabulary has been EXPLODING this month. It seems like every day she says a new word or (gasp) phrase I have never heard her use before. Yesterday it was "Oh Boy!", the day before that it was "cookie". She can identify a miriad of animals, including dog, kitty, and bear. Okay, those are the only three. But she can count to three (it is really cute, she doesn't always do them in the right order, and she gets stuck on two, as that is her favorite). She says: mama, dada, up, dog, toy, car, nigh-nigh, ball, book, more, (does the sign for please and all done), Oh Boy, that, on, shoe, arm, and bye-bye to name a few. I think one of the most amazing things is when she retains knowledge, and transfers it to another situation. For example, we got her the "Pat the Bunny" book for Christmas, and she has been loving it. Yesterday, I read her an entirely different book that had...

I got my Dad this really cool book for Christmas. It is called "Conversations with My Father" and it is a book of questions that you sit down and ask your Dad all about his life. I am excited to start working on it with my Dad, but I thought it would also be fun to record my own answers to some of the questions. My book would be called "Conversations with Loralie's Mom." He he. Anyways, the first page is all about your childhood, so here goes. I was born on May 20th, 1980 in Portland OR. I was definatley delivered in a hospital, no hippy dippy home births here. The only thing unusual about my birth, as far as I know, is that I was delivered precisely on my due date. I like to be on time. I think it is a courtesy to others. My parents named me Niki Rochelle Brummett. My mom picked out the first name, after a friend she had had. My dad picked the Rochelle, because he said that the Niki was fun and flirty, but the Rochelle was beautiful and ladylike. T...

But the new paints we got for Christmas are so delightful! The snow is coming down again today, so we are snowed in. No church today. So Loralie and I decided to have some fun painting with her new paints! She started out pretty timid, with more of a pointillism style, but by the end she was all out abstract. The clean up was not as bad as you might think. She only ate a tiny bit of it, and only tried to smear it in her hair a little bit. Overall, a very fun morning!

Wow, I can't believe another year has come and gone. This was me and Caleb's tenth year to ring in together! Can you believe that? What a good decade. 2009 was a very difficult year for me personally, however. Starting a business, stepping out in faith, taking risks financially and spiritually. It was definately a growing year. But God has used those trials to draw me closer to himself, and to increase my faith, so for that reason I say: bring it on 2010! May this be the year that the Tuscan Ballroom brings honor and Glory to God who founded it. I also hope that 2010 involves at least one "overnight without the baby" for Caleb and I. And possibly a great family vacation. I definately hope it brings new friends, new opportunities for learning, and new challenges. My new year's resolution? To develop a deeper prayer life, and to grow my relationship with my Jesus. A happy new year to one and all!