Holidays

It has been a while indeed because we've been so busy.  Halloween was quite a blur in our household.  We had heard rumors that we should expect 1300+ in the 2 hours of trick or treating in our neighborhood, so we were expecting the evening to be interesting and boy was it.  First, Fiona didn't want to wear her costume.  That was fine really; we had expected that even though we had been talking all about costumes and Halloween the few weeks before.  No biggie; she enjoyed helping us hand out candy.  Then about 30 minutes in, she hit a wall and couldn't care less about trick or treaters.  This was around when the line to our door started.  Having grown up in a house that NEVER received trick or treaters, it was a shock.  By 7pm things were insane and dark!  We had brought out Fi's picnic table so she could sit in the yard and watch the line at our neighbors (they had a witch in their yard that she was very interested in).  It was great until we lost Fiona in our own yard!  Eek!  Fortunately, as I was entering freak-out mode, a mom mentioned a girl standing at the top of stairs at our walkway--that was our Fi.  Phew.  I was relieved when we ran out of candy at 7:30--30 minutes before trick or treating ended.  

From Halloween through Thanksgiving and on have been a little nutsy in our household.  Fiona is doing phenomenally though.  She talks so much and knows so much now!  Animals are one of her specialties--she can point out polar bears, foxes, turtles, elephants, penguins, etc.  She has also been loving her tutu and generally playing around the house with us in the evening.

We are enjoying every bit of the Christmas season with Fiona.  The Santa picture didn't go so well (even though she was very excited while we waited in line and walked herself into the boat).  But everything else has been a blast.  We went to a tree farm to pick out a tree.  It was cold and windy but she had fun running through the trees.  She helped us with lights and has been consistently pointing out all the ornaments we put on the tree.  Fortunately, she hasn't been pulling at the ornaments, and even though she knows there are presents under the tree, she hasn't tried to unwrap them.

 

18 months old!

Today is Fiona's 18 month birthday.  As of tomorrow, she is closer to 2 years old than she is to 1 year old--oh my!  It isn't so surprising really.  She has become such a big girl.  Her vocabulary is growing like crazy.  Some of her favorite words are no, up, down, cookie, bowl, coffee, paci(fier), and nuts (actual nuts--not "aw, nuts").  She is also becoming an animal expert and knows a lot of the animal noises, although her meow sounds more like moo.  Fi is also finding new fun games.  Recently, she has enjoyed running the obstacle course around the ottoman, under my legs over her chair and around she goes; she gets a big kick out of when I have the blanket since she has to go under my legs and the blanket. She has a little mind of her own too.  Until this weekend when I tricked her into the jacket shown, she refused to wear it.  I still haven't been able to get her to wear any shoes but her Sperry's but she did wear socks finally (phew, it was going to be a rough winter otherwise)!

Pumpkey Picking

We took Fiona out to pick a pumpkin--or in her words a "pumpkey."  She loved the barn area where there were piles of pumpkins.  Actually being in the pumpkin patch was less exciting for her.  She didn't like walking in the patch because there were tons of twigs and things to trip her up.  But we got a pumpkin, and she had a nice wagon ride with the pumpkin and hayride back from the patch. 

Hello Fall

After one last hoorah at the shore this past weekend, Fiona is ready for fall.  The leaves are changing quickly here and are starting to fall.  Fiona methodically picks the leaves out of her water table, but we will see how long that lasts as they increase in number.  She is growing like a weed and it has been a challenge to keep up with her and the changing weather.  But, it has been fun to see her in some new outfits (new to her at least--thanks Colleen!) tromping through the leaves.

Long time, no update

Fiona has been just so busy, there hasn't been time for updates.  She spent Labor Day weekend at the shore with her cousins.  It may be her last good beach time for the year, and she enjoyed every bit of it.  She even made some new friends out on the beach that she played and shared snacks with. 

She also spent a good bit of time with her grandparents in Maryland.  She was definitely excited to visit.  As I was packing her up, including her bathing suit and cover up, I told her these were for the pool.  Now every time I get her bathing suit or she sees it, I here "pool," in the most adorable little voice ever.  There was lots of pool time at Aunt Tadpole and Uncle Mark's house.  And a whole lot of playground time too (I think they visited 5 different playgrounds).  And a walk on the Promenade in Havre de Grace.

Fiona's travels didn't end there.  This weekend we went to New York City.  Fiona and Aunt Mary hung out on Friday night while Tim and I went to see the Book of Mormon.  Then we all went into the city on Saturday.  She loved the train ride but was very confused when the scenery went away as we went underground or through tunnels.  Out first stop in the City was St. Patrick's Cathedral.  She tried to say the word "cathedral" but clammed up after some failed attempts.  Next stop was the Central Park Zoo.  We arrived just in time for the sea lion show, which was fantastic.  We also visited the penguins, the red panda, and the tropical birds before calling it a day.  The little lady is understandably pooped--she barely stirred as we moved her from the car seat to bed tonight.

Playground Fanactic

Fiona has developed a strong fanaticism for playgrounds over the last two weeks.  We started taking her over to the playground across from our house, which has quickly blossomed into two to three playground visits a day.  Every time we leave the house or she gets a glimpse of the playground from the back door, she points and whines.  She has tried to charge across the road twice to get there (scary!).  Here is a compilation of Fiona and playground photos from Maryland to Pennsylvania.

15 Month Check-up and Cousin Love

Fiona had her 15 month check-up last week.  She is sticking to her curve.  31 inches long (59th percentile), 19 pounds 10 ounces (24th percentile), and head circumference of 18.5 inches (81st percentile).  She checked out just fine and was suitably distracted by the purple monkey on Dr. Argeson's stethoscope.  Fi wasn't as thrilled with the nurse who gave her two shots (maybe they could monkey on the needles too), but we managed.

Fiona had a fun-filled Saturday with not one but two parties to attend.  She had a blast at Claire's 3rd birthday party at the Elmwood Park Zoo.  It is a great sized zoo for kids her age, since she could walk a little on her own and explore, which she most definitely did.  It seemed like every time I put her down in the picnic pavilion, she would make her way towards the barn to see the sheep and goats.  She also enjoyed sitting with the other kids at the picnic table to eat lunch.  She was very social (I swear she is indeed Tim's and my child).  My favorite part of the party was watching her and Janie cruise around together.  We have some great pictures of them charging along one of the paths. I think these two may be terrific partners in crime.