Some Fair

Allan's brother M got home from serving his two year mission for our church! We went to visit when he got home. It was fun to be with the family. He gave a great talk in church. We went on a hike as a family, an easier one that all the kids could do. Our niece G let me borrow her sunglasses, for which I was very grateful! Little A loved splashing in the water when we got to the top. She was not happy though when a rock shifted and made her foot stuck.

A1 and F watched little A for us while we went to the Temple. She had so much fun at their house throwing toys (and her cousin) down the stairs, chasing the chickens, and swinging on the swing.

We visited my sister K6 and cousin P another day. Those two always have a fun time together. They played with the pig and goats, jumped on the trampoline, and watched pound puppies. Little A thought it was hilarious when the goats jumped on the trampoline with them!

I decided to make some cookies and see if little A would help me. She usually likes to help with whatever I'm making. I got her all settled, and she helped pour a few things in, and then I put the bowl on the mixer. She freaked out. She thought it was going to be really loud. I told her that Daddy would come and take her away from the loud noise, and she said "Yay!" Then when he picked her up she turned to the mixer and said sternly, "Goodbye!" We got a good laugh out of that!

Little A has really gotten into dancing lately! She has a lot of new moves. Hanging upside down, rolling on the floor, down dog, up dog, stomping repeatedly with one foot, and various wavings of the hands. It is soooo fun to watch her! Always makes me smile!

We must have tired little A out. One morning she was being really fussy, so I asked her if she needed a nap. It was two hours before her normal nap time. She said she did. I wasn't sure if she really understood what I asked her, she says "ya" to just about everything, so I went and got in the shower while she played. When I got out I noticed that it was unusually quiet. I went to check on her and found her curled up on the rug in the living room sound asleep. (Also, she picked out that outfit all by herself.)

We started potty training three weeks ago. She is doing so good! The first week I just took her every 30 minutes. She went every time I took her! The second week I put her in panties. She was so excited about her panties, and still is. Every morning she wants to wear all of them, and gives them a lot of hugs! She especially loves the ones K5 gave her, they have bunnies and cupcakes on them.

She has had a few accidents, almost always when we're eating a meal. Otherwise she's doing great! She has started to tell me when she needs to go. She still can't quite say it, but she manages pretty well with gestures. I don't always understand when we're not at home though. She is still working on telling me when she needs to poop.

Little A always has a hard time sleeping when there is a change in her schedule, or she's reaching a new developmental milestone. This has been no different. She's had some nights here and there that she couldn't sleep and has started dragging her blanket around the house with her. We've made sure to have some extra snuggles. :)

We went out for a walk one day and found this awesome fairy broom. :)

Right after we found it we needed to get back quick so A could use the potty. As we were hurrying she tripped and skinned her knee a little. After she went potty I washed it, put some triple antibiotic on it, kissed it, and then put a band aid on it. She hated that band aid and stood there with her knee raised up in the air pointing and muttering at it all distressed until I took it off, ha! Since then whenever she notices the scrape she gives it kisses. We went to the store for some groceries a few days ago, and she sat in the cart saying "Oh" and kissing her knee. She also does this in the car wherever we go.

She finally started trying to say words today! She said shoes this morning and then on the way to church she said bird and tree. She is also saying dog, puppy, down, straight, and a few other words pretty regularly now.

We went to the Pioneer Day Parade. We weren't sure if this would be a good idea or not since she was so terrified at the last parade, but I wanted to try so Allan supported me. :)  She made friends with the elderly couple that we were standing by, showing them all the rocks she found on the ground. She did well for a while, lasting longer than the last parade. A nice girl threw a necklace to her, and she loved that! She was excited about the candy and would try to run out and get some, but then get nervous and come back. Eventually she was just done trying and ran away again. The picture is of Allan and A running away from the parade.

We had a barbeque with friends that night. We have been blessed to make some really good friends who have children around the same age as little A. It makes for a lot of fun get togethers!

Allan gave me a work day. He took little A to the park to play in the morning, and then to a nearby city to run some errands that afternoon. While they spent the day together I sewed curtains and sanded our kitchen table. Allan helped me paint it that night for our date. It was in pretty bad shape, now it is white, and I love it!

We went to the county fair. We always love to go and see everything people entered, and the livestock. We usually give little A a ride and see a show, but we weren't able to make a show this year, and she wasn't excited about the rides.

She loved seeing the chickens and bunnies, but was nervous about all the other animals. I love horses, and we got to pet some of them; A didn't want to though. We saw a lot of really fun crafts, beautiful quilts, and other art. They had a little area where the kids could play pretend: collect eggs, pick apples and corn, dig for potatoes, etc. A liked the apples and corn, but wouldn't collect eggs. She was too afraid of the stuffed chickens, lol!

We also got to meet the magicians bunny; we couldn't stay for the show though. We did get to see the horse show practice for a while. The riders were riding bare back with no reins, it was beautiful to watch. That is how I liked to ride growing up.

Little A has found a new fascination with sunglasses. It's very cute! We need to get her a new pair, her old ones are broken. We ate dinner at the fair that night. We got A a corn dog. It was huge! She liked it, but liked the tater tots that came with my meal better. We had coconut cream pie for dessert, yum!

While we were at the fair little A had to go potty. Allan took her. They have automatic toilets that flush as soon as you get off of them. She did so good until the toilet flushed. It took her by surprise, and she freaked out! After that she refused to go to the bathroom. She is still going at home though. She did really good today. I took her during sacrament meeting, and she did great. Then Allan tried to take her before she went to nursery. As soon as he took her into the bathroom she freaked out and refused to go. He came and got me to try to take her, but she wouldn't go for me either. So we bagged it for the rest of church. When we got home I asked her if she needed to go and she freaked out, so we just took the rest of the day off, and she agreed to start again tomorrow.

Little A LOVES grapes and strawberries. Whenever we go to the store and get some (which is pretty frequently) she rides through the whole store pointing at them and saying, "Mom! MMMM!" I put the grapes too close to her once, and she ate some! This week we went one day for strawberries and another day for grapes. Both days when we got home she searched through the grocery bags until she found the fruit, then pulled it out and brought it to the table to eat, lol! The grapes didn't quite make it to the table though.

Little A also got her first sliver. :( She cried buckets when we pulled it out.

We did some babysitting this week. It is always so fun to have some of A's friends over. We got out the walker for one of the babies, she was too short for it still, but A loved climbing in it, and getting stuck, ha!