Sugar Cookies

Allan suggested that we make cookies and deliver them to our neighbors for family night. I decided to make sugar cookies so little A could cut them out and decorate them. We had a lot of fun! She loved using the cookie cutters to cut them out and shaking the sprinkles on them. She especially loved eating them! I had to make another batch because we ate too many, ha! (Well, truth be told, it was me who ate too many, ha!) I invited a bunch of friends to help, but it was a rough week for everyone; they, or their kids, were all sick. So little A and I did it together again and ate some more. We had a lot of fun delivering them to our neighbors; we've been here for a year and hadn't met some of them. Now every time we go by their homes little A points to their houses and says "Mom! Mmmm!"

We had a nice long visit with one of our neighbors. She goes to church with us and loves to watch little A splash in the big puddle in front of her house. It was so good to get to know her a little better. She told us that her sister had just passed away, and she was feeling especially lonely that night so she was thrilled that we had stopped by.

Little A and I went on a long walk the other day and on the way home stopped at the community garden. There's a swing there on one of the trees that A loves. We also picked a bunch of cherry tomatoes; little A ate them on the way home. She LOVES them! She was completely covered in little seeds.

I did another radio spot to spread the word about the adoption conference. While I was there A played with some of her friends. They recently got a kitten. Little A was ecstatic about that kitten! She also got to eat a carrot fresh from our friends garden; she loved it! I can't wait to plant a garden next year; I think little A is going to have so much fun with it!

Little A has always enjoyed playing with pictures of our family. Recently she found the pictures of the prophet, apostles, and seventy in the conference issue of the Ensign. She loved it so much I tore it out so she wouldn't destroy the magazine. She played with those pictures for days!

Little A finally figured out the brushing motion to brush her teeth. It's so fun to watch her! She brushes with her right hand and her left hand is held out in the air doing the brushing motion as well, ha! She brushes her teeth while I do her hair, and then again when I brush my teeth.

She's entered the phase where she has to do everything I do. She wants to wear the same clothes, do the same things, talk the same way, it's darling. We both have a pair of Bobs shoes and those are pretty much the only shoes she'll wear because they're like mine. She also loves to try on my jewelry and scarves and admire herself in the mirror.

We started dance class again. It is already going better than last year. She still cries when people clap and cheer for her, but she loved looking at herself in the mirror and trying to do all the movement. 

We also started story time again. They do a welcome song every time. At the end of the welcome song you say hello as loud as you can. This always makes her cry. She had finally gotten used to it at the end of  last years story time, but she'll have to get used to it again. Dance and story time are on the same day, it's a very emotional day. She is always exhausted by the end.

Little A has started telling me when she needs to go potty! I stopped putting her in panties because I was tired of the accidents, but she's doing really well. Most days she makes it to the potty all but two times. As soon as she can tell me when she needs to poop we'll try panties again.

I usually wake up between 5am and 5:30am so I can exercise before little A wakes up. This week she decided that she needs to wake up at 5 too. Ug. She also decided that 3:45am is a great time to wake up.

I took a couple of days this week to deliver the flyers for the adoption conference. Allan and A had a daddy daughter day while I drove all over. I left at 9am and got home at 5pm. Just in time for dinner. Thankfully one of my friends daughters took some flyers to one of the towns for me, if she hadn't I would have been another hour. I stopped and had lunch with my mom that day as well, always a treat!

While I was gone Allan and A went to the dump (she loves the dump because of all the seagulls she can see there), went to the store, went on a walk, and talked to some friends. The best part was riding in Daddy's truck. She loves the truck, especially when Allan rolls the windows down so she can feel the wind in her hair. She still missed me a lot though, and Allan told me that every so often A would say in a sad voice, "Mama come." She was soooo happy when I got home!

Little A has started reading books to herself. She's always liked to look at the books, but now she reads them. She'll look at the page, say "yubby, yubby", turn the page and repeat. Ha! Allan and I get the biggest kick out of it. She never says anything other than "yubby yubby".

We had a couple of really rainy days so A and I pulled out our rain gear and went puddle splashing again! It's so much fun to do with her. This time she collected pine cones and put them in the puddles and then splashed with the pine cones. We got caught in the rain on the way home, but its always nice to have a walk in the rain.

A few days ago little A woke up from her nap, and I heard her cough. I went in her room to get her and she very earnestly explained to me that she had a cough and needed to watch Daniel Tiger, lol! She did actually have a pretty bad cold the next day, so I let her snuggle up and watch Daniel. I showed her the episode where his mom is sick. In the episode his dad keeps telling him "shh, mom's resting". So now every time she comes to find me she says "Mom! shhh. Mom! shhh."

Whenever Allan tells me he has a headache she comes and kisses his head better.

She has gotten a lot more independent lately, and a lot more energetic. She likes to run ahead of us when we go on walks, or push the stroller all by herself. She learned how to say no and will tell me no when she doesn't want to do something - and then go do it because I asked her to. She is walking down stairs by herself instead of scooting. She loves to hang and swing on the handles of the treadmill after I'm done running on it. She wants to dress herself and tries so hard! She is getting the hang of taking her clothes off, but it is still a lot of work for her to do it. She wants to drink out of a cup, not a sippy cup.

She has finally braved rinsing her hair in the bath tub! YAY! What a relief! She has hated that for so long and always fights and screams. For some reason this week she decided it was okay and will lay down in the tub on her own and rinse her hair. She also decided she wants to wash herself by herself. She also finally decided to let us clean her ears out without screaming and fighting to the bitter end. She has to have a q-tip to use by herself though.

She still loves her nap. After I clean her up from lunch she hops down from her chair, says "Bye!" and heads to her bed. She isn't settling down for bed quite as well as before. She's started coming to the door two or three times a night. She's finally decided that she'll tell us she needs to go potty because then she can come out of her room and have a story while she goes.