We started out this month with a visit from the Chasey crew. Papa, Gigi, Uncle Ryan and Aunt Angie came to Michigan to celebrate Christmas with us. You squealed with delight when you saw their car pull up and were beside yourself when you got to open more presents only a few weeks after Christmas.

You are learning words and melodies to songs like crazy these days and you love to entertain us with your sweet little voice. The Alphabet Song and Twinkle Little Star get mashed together often and The Wheels on the Bus became a quick favorite. And you finally decided to sing along to You Are My Sunshine…after singing this to you before every nap and bed time for the past two years!

You are very content to sit and play or read by yourself, but there are times when you prefer company and let us know by patting the spot next to you and saying, “Sit there, Mama? Sit there, Daddy?” It’s hard to say no to such a sweet and some times adamant request.

Right now, you are enthralled with the book Love You Forever which you affectionately refer to as “back and forth” and sing along with Mama and Daddy when it’s time to do so…

I’ll love you forever

I’ll like you for always

As long as I’m living

My baby you’ll be.

So precious. This may be our favorite book right now, too.

It’s fun to see how excited you get to spend time with friends. You’re beginning to build great friendships with some very sweet little boys and girls. You call them by name and hug them good bye when it’s time to leave. You try to get them to laugh with you. You also say hi to people we don’t know. You are a little social butterfly.

Randomly, and without any plan at all, we tried potty training. It worked once and then we gave up. We’ll try again some other time.

We laugh at some of your catch phrases like “How about…?” when making decisions, “mo-more” for “more” (we think this came from us saying “one more”), and “Are you having a good day?”.

You had an exciting week towards the end of this month that began with a visit from your friend Joah!

We can tell by the way you interacted with him that you are going to be a great big sister…and that we need to work on sharing. Even though three straight days of company was challenging at times for you, you just loved having him around. You woke up from naps asking for him by name and you were devastated when you realized he was leaving and you weren’t going with him.

It was so sweet of Joah and his Mama, Katie, to drive all the way to Michigan to wish you a happy 2nd birthday! And we were so thankful to have them here for a few days.

A few days after they left, more company started arriving for your birthday party. What an exciting day for you…and us! You even helped with the decorations.

How fun for you to have so many people that love you and you love back in the same room to celebrate you! We know for sure that you felt loved and special and we are so filled with joy because of that.

Not a day goes by that we aren’t reminded of God’s grace. God blessed us immensely when he gave us you, Analiese.

You adore these two boys. They kept inching closer and closer as you opened your gifts wanting so badly to help you open them. They were very helpful in pulling out your new baby doll stroller.

When it came time to sing Happy Birthday to you and eat some cake, it was WAY past your normal nap time, but you were on fire and ready for more partying.

You patiently waited for your cupcake…

you beamed as we sang to you…

you ate some cake…

and then you danced…

What a fun day we had celebrating your birth. We can’t believe it’s already been two years. What great memories we’ve made already!

We love you!
Mama & Daddy

Most of the time, when Analiese sees the video camera, she clams up. But, the other day, I caught a rare performance:

This has been a full month for us. Between people coming and going to work on the basement, Daddy being away for a week for work and traveling to Cincinnati for Christmas, we’ve been a bit all over the place. I wish I could bottle up your energy because I am tired! That could be because I’m growing your little brother or sister inside of me, too. Which, by the way, we think you’re excited about. When we ask you where the baby is, you try to lift Mama’s shirt up to see my belly and often offer a kiss. You are going to be a very sweet big sister.

While Daddy was away, I whisked you away to do something very fun and exciting…

your first haircut! { Please, contain the joy. }

Really, though, you did great, babe.

You probably enjoyed our trip to the mall play area with your friend, A, the day before more. You had so much fun running around, climbing, sliding, hiding…it was a fun day for you.

You love your puppy dog! Parker makes you giggle out of no where. You love retrieving his toys when they get stuck somewhere and he usually has a very willing little person to throw his toys for him to fetch. He’s very appreciative that you now know his name, too!

You stay on guard when there’s food involved, though. Smart girl.

Christmas in Cincinnati was a treat for you. You woke up ready for whatever the day held and greeted everyone by name each morning.

We ate a lot of good food all week long and decorated Nana and Poppa’s Christmas tree.

You went to the grocery store with Nana where you put a smile on everyone’s face when you greeted them up and down the aisles.

You went to the bookstore with Poppa where you “organized” the shelves.

We slowly unwrapped gifts throughout the day so you could enjoy what you had been gifted.

Thank you, Uncle Erik, for the colored bubble launcher. It’s bound to be a favorite. However, it’s hiding until summer.

On our last full day, we went to see the trains at the Museum Center…

…made a gingerbread man with Nana…

…and in the evening took a drive with Nana to see the lights at Sharon Woods in our pj’s. What a fun and festive day that was!

When we returned home, we took advantage of having no plans and hung out with Daddy for the rest of the week. We wore our pj’s a lot. You played with all of your new toys quite contentedly. Some days you entertain yourself so well.

Other days require a project like painting { so focused! } or playing with water at the sink { messier than you may think }.

But you still love to color in your coloring books and are even trying to color specific areas instead of just all over the page. Nana would be proud.

In fact, most evenings before bed, this is what you’re doing:

Butt up. Tongue out.

Love you, Analiese!
Mama & Daddy

A further head turn, and there was this (notice her real milk in the background):

Then, I started roaming the rest of the house to see what else she had lined up and found this in her room:

My little organizer!

This evening, she came out of her room with her arms full of lovies. We have a collection of a few that didn’t make “the cut”, but she still likes to play with them. She also put on the headband herself.

It wasn’t too long before she was lining them up to take a nap on the floor. She’s telling the last one “night night” in case you can’t tell.

You have so many words in your vocabulary! We love hearing your sweet, little voice pronounce real, meaningful words. Communicating with you has recently gotten very easy and rewarding for all of us. You’re also using those words to imitate things you see us and others doing–like talking on the phone, reading a book, and praying. If we hear your rattle off a list of names and then a very clear “Amen!” we know what you were doing! “Night night” is a new favorite saying of yours and you are never shy to give a big “hi!” or “bye!” to whomever is coming or going.

You also love being around people and light up when we tell you we are going to see family or friends. You adore your Grandpa, Gigi, Nana, Poppa, uncles and aunts; You get so excited when you get to hang out with all of the big kids on Bible study night. Just this morning, you literally jumped out of bed when I told you we were going to go see some friends today. And on the way there, you repeated, “Friends? friends? friends?” the entire way.

Speaking of your bed, Daddy removed the side, so you are officially in a toddler bed! Thankfully, you’ve stayed put during naps. Occasionally, though, we find you on the floor in the middle of the night…completely fast asleep. You’ve always been a great sleeper and this transition hasn’t made you waiver at all.

As you near the age of two, however, we are definitely witnessing your burgeoning awareness of your independence in a variety of ways. As your world gets bigger, you are craving the comfort of familiarity. Recently, you’ve become very attached to your lovie and want to take it everywhere. Gone are the days when Cheerios would be the only distraction needed at the grocery store. We’re not sure if this is something we should just let play out or try to set up boundaries.

You are frustrated easily when things don’t go the way you want them to (not because you’re your mother’s daughter or anything). Whether we have to tell you “no” to something or a toy isn’t doing what you want it to, a little comforting and encouragement is needed to get you back on track.

We love getting to know more of who you are, Analiese. Your personality is starting to show as you line up your toys and dolls when you play (organizer?), help Daddy build things with tools (creative?), march around the room dancing to different songs (musical?) and jump at any opportunity to be around people (social?).

Also, you have the cutest bounce in your step when you try to run. And you love riding in elevators!

Love, Mama and Daddy

Dear Analiese,

The beginning of the month surprised us with some very warm, sunny days. We were outside as much as possible–parks, the zoo, Greenfield Village…anything to savor the last few days of warmth!

You are quite ambitious when it comes to climbing and exploring.

And you know how to give yourself a good laugh.

You are so very confident and independent, too. We marvel at how easy it is to drop you off at the gym’s child center, or the kid’s room at a new church. Most of the time, though, we find you playing by yourself, enjoying the bustling of other kids around you. We’re told this is totally normal.

Our trip to Washington DC marked your third time in an airplane. Now, whenever you hear an airplane, you pause and try to find it in the sky. A proud “there it is!” usually follows even if the plane is no where in sight.

Since you love to color with crayons, I introduced you to paint. You were SO focused on what you were creating! It’s beautiful!

We celebrated your 21st month in Bloomington, Indiana, where your Daddy, Mama, Gigi and Grandpa went to college. It was surreal to stroll the same paths we once walked as hurried students with a toddler in a stroller. Gigi and Grandpa bought you your first IU sweatshirt as well as a teddy bear with a little red hoodie. You affectionately refer to him as “hood”.

As the weather has begun to cool, you love wearing hats!

“Gigi? Papa? Gigi? Papa?” was what we all heard immediately after you awoke every day! It warms their hearts to know that you know who they are and you can’t wait to spend time with them.

Love to you, Baby Girl!
Mama and Daddy

We are working on listening and obeying at home. She’s doing such a great job and I’m always so proud of her when she does what she’s told, when she’s told. However, 20,000 feet in the air on a crowded plane with strangers is no place to test the boundaries. Our flight was only 1.5 hours long, but we went prepared.

I made a list of things I thought Analiese would enjoy doing on the plane went shopping at Target. I stopped at the $1 bins first and picked up a colorful snap bracelet and a sparkly notebook. I had stickers and crayons at home. I pretty much never shop for toys (thank you, grandparents!) so, I was somewhat overwhelmed when I walked down the toy aisles. There are so many cool things out there! For my artsy daughter, I decided on a kid-proof Magna-doodle and some no-dry play dough.

My mother in law had a wonderful idea that I didn’t hesitate to try: wrap each “distraction” individually. The unveiling process was a distraction in itself and kept her intrigued.

We knew she’d be content to watch an hour of Elmo’s World on Ross’s ipod, but we tried to hold off on this until we exhausted a few other options. We wanted to keep a few wrapped items for the return flight, too.

Food, of course, is always a good way to keep Analiese content, too. So, we had with us a few treats she doesn’t normally have at home:

• a selection of HAPPYTOT pouches
• a canister of HAPPYMUNCHIES
• Cheerios (her fave)
• water
• juice (to suck on down during take off)

We had to wake her up much earlier than usual for our flight there. She drank her milk at the airport and snacked on some cheerios. Once we were on the plane, we got out the notebook and some crayons. Eventually, one pack of stickers was opened and this kept her occupied and content on my lap for the majority of the flight. Once she started fussing a bit, we took out Ross’s ipod to watch some Elmo. And about 10 minutes later, they asked everyone to turn off electronic devices. Bad timing. This did not go over too well, but since she was pretty tired from waking up so early, she gave in and sucked her thumb for the remainder of the flight. Her ears didn’t bother her at all. She was awesome.

Coming off of five days of busyness and short naps, I was sure the return flight wouldn’t be so smooth. Literally, it wasn’t. It was probably the bumpiest flight I’ve ever been on. My stomach was doing flips. But, we decided to start out with Elmo and Analiese wasn’t phased AT ALL by the turbulence. Or anything for that matter. When Elmo finished, we unwrapped the Magna-doodle, which was a hit, and then some more stickers. When she popped up on the chair once the plane landed, the lady behind her didn’t even realize there was a child sitting in front of her.

So, all in all, flying with a 21 month old was a success. It definitely helps to have two adults, though!

The best word to describe this month is BUSY. Busy traveling, busy playing, busy climbing, busy coloring, busy learning, busy everything.

We made trips to Indiana and Ohio this month. Wherever we go you keep yourself very busy doing anything and everything you can think of. Like, for example, giving yourself a chilly bath in the lake. You even exfoliated yourself with sand. Your hands are never idle. New textures and things to hold are always of interest to you.

I wish I was there when you held a frog in your hand! Gigi and Grandpa said you were intrigued!

We experienced chilly mornings at the lake that called for a warm fire while we played in our pj’s and ate breakfast.

We all marveled at your ability to focus on what you were doing. Whatever it was–mostly moving toys from one place to the other–it was obviously of utmost importance to you. Every once in a while you would take a break before you were on the move once again–moving the same toys to a different location, but always in a very orderly fashion. When you did rest, you found that the best way to do it is propped up against someone you love.

Again, in Ohio, you were all over the place! We spent a lot of time outside on the deck, which you loved. You were busy going up and down the deck steps, bouncing your new ball and playing with Hoagie.

Hoagie is your sweet friend. He’s so patient with you and you love to say “hi!” to him and pet him.

It’s no wonder you need snuggle breaks from time to time. Believe me, there is always a set of arms ready to scoop you up!

The ABC’s are your favorite song to sing these days. Between anything LeapFrog we own, your “AlphaBerry”, and your humming it so sweetly and in tune, it’s stuck in our heads from morning until night. You certainly know the song well! But you really know the letters, too. You know the sounds that each letter makes and you recognize them by sight and sound.

Your vocabulary is growing, too. I think I heard you say “help” for the first time today…that’s been one we’ve  been working on for a while.

One of your toys plays the song, “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”. So, I did the gestures along with it a few times and now you pretty much know all of those body parts. You just pick things up so quickly!

It makes us stop and think often about what you see us doing and hear us saying through out the day. We want to be good examples to you, Analiese. We can try to be perfect parents for you as hard we can. But we know that we are still sinful people who need to rely on Jesus and grace every day.

Gigi bought you your first coloring book and some crayons. Coloring is now your favorite thing to do. And, you figured out how to hold your crayon perfectly. In both hands.

It is wonderful to live in a place that has so many parks nearby because you LOVE climbing play scapes and sliding down slides. Sometimes, though, you’re more interested in cleaning off the pieces of wood chips that find their way onto the steps. I have no idea where you got that inclination from…

Your night time routine consists of Daddy reading a story from the “Jesus Storybook Bible”, turning off the light, and calling Mama in to pray together. As soon as he’s done reading, you’ve started calling, “Mama!” (So cute, but this is where it gets weird.) And when I come in, you stick both of your index fingers out for each of us to suck on. We’re not sure how or why this happens. As strange as it is, we love the little quirks that make you, you.

And we love how you end prayers with “Aaaa….Beee…” instead of “Amen”. Thank you, ABC’s.

Randomly, you started calling Daddy by his first name! How odd to hear “Ross!” come out of your little mouth!

We’re ending this month with a cough that you’ve had for a few days. I hope it goes away soon. There is much to be explored, Analiese!

We love you!
Mama and Daddy

Hi sweet girl!

You really love to laugh. Funny faces, Parker, others laughing and even your own little thoughts running through your head can cause you to giggle. Sometimes you even create a fake laugh to join in the fun when others think something is funny.

But as social as you can be, you insist on some down time to catch your breath. You are a lot like your mom in this regard. We love the company of others, but we need our alone time to thrive.

Mama and Daddy love how you love to cuddle.

We were both sick this month, which meant we spent more time at home than we usually do. We didn’t go to the gym as often, but we did have a few play dates with new friends, which is fun, but also a learning experience for you. I can see your wheels turning as you try to navigate the idea of sharing with others.

Your independence astounds us. Of course, there are many times when you want a companion or play mate, but it is not out of the ordinary for you to occupy yourself for quite a long time. You “read” your books and play with your toys on your own incredibly well, which means Mama has it very easy.

You’ve also become a pro at going down the slide by yourself at the park.

We’re proud of you for being so brave when we leave you with others. Most recently, you stayed with Grandma (Gigi) and Grandpa (Papa) for six days! We met Grandma about half way, buckled you in, and off you went…no tears. From what I hear, you were a busy little bee while you were away. You met Grandma’s friends, had dinner with your aunt, uncle and great-grandma (Baba), got some new toys, went to the lake and learned how wonderful pockets are!

Our reunion was a sweet one. Mama and Daddy woke you from your nap and you didn’t know what to think. You gave us a shy smile and a giddy giggle. You were happy to see us and we were thrilled to be back with you.

You clap when a song is over and you smack your lips when you offer a kiss. You call for “Mama” when Daddy is done reading your story so we can all pray together before you go to bed. We love this time in your dark room, all cuddled together. For some reason, you think this is the best time to put your index fingers in our mouths–one for each of us. Did I mention that you are silly, too?

You are musical.

You are comfortable.

You are inquisitive.

You are creative.

And we love you for all of those things and so much more that we don’t even know about yet.

Love, Mama and Daddy

Really? You’re an 18 month old? I’m not sure when the transition from baby to toddler happened, but it did. You are a sweet little girl with such a friendly demeanor and smile.

And you completely play it up for the camera and an audience whenever possible. You are, clearly, no stranger to having your photo taken.

As I was sifting through pictures from the past month, I realized how easy it is to make good, want-to-hold-on-to-them-forever, memories with you. I enjoy how the excitement of our travel adventures–which happen often in the summer–balance our homey pleasures so well.

Lately, you’ve been content to play independently with your toys, books, or anything else you may come across. You define your own challenges of emptying, sorting and carrying your treasures–whatever they may be–in every room of the house, especially the ones that Mama and Daddy are in. You want to be close and you want to have a purpose in your coming and going.

You have a fascination with your belly button (or “bee-bo” as we call it from time to time), nose, ears and mouth. You also are quite interested in the same body parts on other people.

You are affectionate and loving towards your family and friends. As you walk around the block with Daddy and Parker or watch strangers pass by, you greet them with a wave and a quick “hi”.

“Please” is the word of the month. :)

A friend of your grandma’s purchased a little chair for you at one of my baby showers. I remember thinking how it will be so long until you’re old enough to use it. But sure enough, it’s one of your favorite things right now. You tote it around and plop down wherever you want.

Earlier this month, our church held a carnival that we attended with you. It was one of the hottest days of the summer, so you and your smart little self found the one game with water and stayed put. Once you realized it involved a plastic ducks, you were sold.

Of course, we couldn’t stay away from the lake too long, so we returned for a weekend away with Grandma and Grandpa.

Our familiar routine is met with a whole host of summer experiences.

Wind in your baby blonde hair.

Fresh air and water as relief from the heat.

Being brave in a huge lake of water.

Naked lake baths and homemade ice cream. IN THE LAKE!

The month came to a close with a visit from Nana, Poppa and your Uncle Erik and Uncle Greg, who brought with them a bubble wand set. We took you to the park and you made it your mission to pop them.

Surely, the wedding photographer didn’t mind the background of bubbles we were providing… :/

We had your 18 month appointment today. It’s confirmed. You’re smart, beautiful and capable, Baby Girl. And as far as stats go, you’re 21.5 pounds (petite for your age) and 33.5 inches long (tall for your age).

Love, Mama and Daddy!