Category Archives: Monthly List

20 Memories From My 20th Month Since Going Dad

Craziness abound! This girl has seriously taken off this month and left us with plenty of memories. Some good , some bad, some extremely frustrating, and some, well, a little gross.

I’ll spare you the small talk since there are 20 memories to go over, so let’s get right to it.

1. Our couch is your new playground and you get very upset when you’re not able to lift yourself up on the cushions. But you’re determination proves that you can get up there and bounce all over as you please. If only we can get you to stop chewing the cushions with your green smoothie mouth.

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2. You had a busy morning and afternoon with Mommy and me one day and ended up falling asleep during lunchtime. It was right before nap time, but you just couldn’t wait for that sleep!

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3. When Mommy or Daddy drops a piece of food or ice cube or, anything really, you act as our personal narrator by saying “Uh-oh”. It’s cute, but honestly, some days it drives me crazy when I’m in a rush. Don’t worry, still love you lots!

4. “Uh-oh” isn’t the only thing you’re saying, you are getting to complete sentences too! It’s not exactly clear, but you love hiding things you have and saying “Where did it go?” Even when you don’t have anything, you use the sentence after we flush your poop down the toilet.

5. On the topic of toilets and talking, “Bye-bye” is yet another thing you’ve started saying…a lot. When you don’t ask “Where did it go?” when your poop gets flushed, you wave and say “Bye-bye”. It’s cute, of course, but sometimes you get a little too close to the toilet.

6. Bananas have been a favorite of yours for a while, especially with NuttZo, but this month you took eating the fruit into your own hands; literally.

7. Like most toddlers and probably kids in general, your willingness to eat changes with each new bite we offer or food we put in front of you. But Mommy and me have found that reading a book out loud opens the gates (i.e. your mouth) each and every time. As a result, we’ve honed our tongue twister skills with Dr. Suess’ “Fox in Socks”.

8. You had popcorn for the first time and instantly loved it. After munching down on the air-popped goodness, you were hooked on the crunch and demanded more. Now if only you can understand it doesn’t all have to go in your mouth at once…..

9. Another “first” for the month was putting your hair in a ponytail. I have yet to try, but Mommy made use of your wacky hair the best she could. I still think you look like a samurai, which isn’t such a bad thing.

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10. What is a bad thing is your new attitude that appears on a daily basis where we are locked in a standoff. We spend a cumulative amount of at least an hour a day with me asking you pick something up and you either just staring at me with a blank face or running away crying. Mommy and me are both stubborn, which means a lot of standing and waiting. It’s exhausting, but you usually come around and clap for yourself. Then we give you a hug afterward.

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11. One day, while working out, Mommy asked you to do high knees with her and you immediately got right to it! Since then, you’ll stop whatever craziness you are up to just for high knees if we ask you to.

12. Before you and Mommy even begin, you have caught on to when she’s getting ready for a workout. She’ll come home from work, change into workout clothes, and as she’s putting on socks, you instinctively know to go get her workout shoes for her. No asking required!

13. Reading books is quickly becoming one of your favorite things to do. With or without Mommy and Daddy, you’ll go through several books while simultaneously testing the limits of gravity on the couch. That’s what I call action reading for sure!

14. This Fourth of July was technically your 2nd, but we don’t count the first since you weren’t too aware of your surroundings yet. Eager to let you witness your official first fireworks, we drove up the road from our neighborhood to let you watch the city’s firework show. They were kind of far, but still very visible. Regardless, you didn’t seem too impressed…

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15. I think to get us back for keeping you up late and then waking you up early for our 4th of July 5k, you decided to make spending the night at G-Ma’s a living hell. Three hours of non-stop screaming and rolling around definitely got us back! Next year, you can call the shots!

16. Despite the torturous night, you woke up at G-Ma’s all chipper and chatty. It took several cups of coffee before we became functional as human-beings, but seeing you have fun with G-Ma made it all worthwhile.

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17.The same can’t be said for Uncle Preston though, he still has some kid holding practice to do. Maybe then you’ll both bond a little better.

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18. I think what would help is if you both farted together. Lately, you will crack up when you hear a fart or if you fart. Sometimes I don’t even hear a toot, but will hear you randomly laugh followed by the resulting smell, and then it all makes sense.

19. To go along with your samurai ponytail, you are working on becoming a true ninja with karate kicks. Right now you need something to hold on to for leverage, but it’s only a matter of time before you’re kicking things off the bookshelf. Wait till I show you the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles now that you understand what you’re seeing!

20. Another short sentence you say multiple times a day is “All done.” You don’t quite understand its meaning since you say it while eating and then proceed to eat more, but in time, you’ll get it. For example, this was my last memory for the month, so now I’m all done!

With all of her stool, chair, cabinet, and couch climbing, I’m sure next month’s memories will have a few bumps and bruises to mention. I’m also sure there’ll be plenty more full sentences and lots of karate kicking action to share too. Oh, and we just encountered the first “No”. Kelley and I tried to play it off like nothing was said, but…..it’s coming!

Do you have any memories of your kids to share at this time? No matter the age, I’d love to see what you’re experiencing right now. Hopefully all good or at least laughable sometime in the future.

19 Month Photo Session: Four “B” Word Rejects

We actually had her monthly photo session on the day she turned another month older! The past few months have taken a few days, but we’re back on track and even did it early instead of right before bedtime.

We started with the same setup as all of our sessions, sitting her in the rocking chair with her favorite bear. Whoa, unplanned rhyming is the best!

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It looked like she just might cooperate for the pictures at first, but then….

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…off with the bow clip! Okay, that’s normal, maybe she’d enjoy reading a book instead.

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Hey, look at that, she’s calm and reading! This might turn out to be the best session we’ve had in a lo…

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Whoops, spoke too soon. But the bear is still there and he’s usually the first to go.

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Oh, okay, solved that…errrr, problem? How can you get upset with that angel face though? Not possible. After a few rejections of the bear, we thought maybe her big bunny would have better luck at staying on the chair.

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One look at the plush gray bunny was all it took before he went the way of the bow, book, and bear.

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“Uh oh” is a word she’s been saying a lot lately, and it was used frequently throughout our 10 minute photo shoot. That made four things that start with “B” that she rejected; her bow, book, bear, and bunny. Maybe we should try a different letter next time. In an effort to get some pictures of her smiling, we tried the “catch the fly” game she’s been loving lately and got one pretty good shot.

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After that, she seemed a little bored of our multiple attempts.

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So she wandered around her room for a minute. Almost looks like Beavis acting as Cornholio. If you’re in your 30’s like me, you should get this reference.

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But then it was time to climb back on the chair, with a little help from Dad.

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After trying to stand on her head….

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I thought she seemed happy enough to bring the bear back for one last try.

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Her look made it apparent the plush animal would meet the floor within seconds. Sure enough…

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…Rejected again! We asked if she’d ever cooperate for her monthly photo session, but all we got was a nonchalant finger gesture.

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Whether that was an “I’ll think about it.” or an “F you!” gesture, I’m not sure, but guess we’ll find out a month from now!

19 Memories From My 19th Month Since Going Dad

Ugh, it’s this time again already? Stop growing, Avery, not all of us want to get older! Plenty of memories being made daily in our home, and we’re loving every second of it!

Who am I kidding? That’s a quasi-lie, and I bet any parent knows what I mean. That poop in the morning that filled the entire diaper to where no white cloth was exposed? Yeah, we didn’t love that. Crying about something and we have no idea what for….nope, could do without that too.

Such is toddler-hood I suppose, so we’re making the most of it. I’ll cut right to the chase and get started with my list of memories this month, number 19….ay de mi! <—-Thank you, Spanish teacher in high school, for saying this 100 times/day.

1. Mommy and I have been waiting for you to actually get into books and sit all the way through as we read to you. Now, you’ll sit for not just one, but you’ll go and get another after we are done….and then another, and another, and well, we read to you a lot.

2. Your infatuation with lights has been around for a while, and now you’re a pro at turning them off and on too. Of course, the touch light in your room is the coolest because it requires no switches and you can reach it yourself.

3. Also, as seen in your video above, you no longer need us to read to you as you obviously know how to get into a good book by yourself.

4. At our neighbor’s, you decided to sit and play right in the water run-off where you had your first experience with a water gun. You weren’t sure what exactly to do with it, but really hated having to leave it there when we left. Don’t worry, we’ll be getting our own soon enough. 🙂

5. I think you dancing has come up in my previous memories posts, but you continue to amuse us with your expanding skills. Pecking like a chicken and spinning are some of your new moves. Must be from your mom. 😉

6. At another neighbor’s house, we stopped while walking one day and you kinda played catch with your peer, Tanner. His Daddy is a huge baseball fan and I expect you guys will play catch a lot more as you get older. You got a few good throws in too!

7. Since I have 19 of these things, I’m bringing up your dance moves again. While your motor skills have increased, your coordination still has some catching up to do. No worry, you take it all in “stride” quite well.

8. You have grown fond of having a spoon during meal times, but rarely ever use it to eat. Instead, Mommy and me still mostly feed you with our utensils, or you grab food right off of them. And of course, goat cheese is pretty much a daily thing we know you’ll eat.

9. We went to Nana and Papa’s house for a fun little cookout where you kept your cousins Taylor and Ashlee busy playing. You also brought back your demon face in full force which made it difficult to get a good pic with you and Nana.

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10. While there, you got to see your aunt Lindsay and even put away the demon for a real smile. I think she appreciated your kindness.

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11. This past month, we finally took down the baby prison play area in the living room which gave all of us more freedom and less obstacles to step over. It’s amazing how much bigger our home feels when not filled with gates.

12. With our new space, I thought it would be worth trying to make a couch fort just like I used to do as a kid. Turns out, I need to work on my fort building skills and she might need to be just a little bit older. Or destruction is just her way of saying “Your fort sucks, Dad!”.

13. As I said before, you love sitting down with us to read a book, and you walking backwards to sit down in my lap has become one of my favorite times. Instant stress relief!

14. Before the Texas heat hit us, I took advantage of the cooler weather for a few babywearing walks with you. It had been awhile since I last walked with you in our Onya, but to see you running up to me with a smile when I get it out is priceless. I will never forget these times, sweetie.

15. Now that the heat is here, so are the flies…inside our house. They have me swatting at the air constantly, and you’ve caught on. Now you will point at bug flying and say “fly” and then clap your hands just like I do when trying to kill the pests. You do this at dinner in your high chair and anywhere in or out of the house. It’s cute and hopefully you’ll be a great little helper soon.

16. Swimming has quickly turned into a fun activity for you and we’ve already gone more than last year alone. That’s not saying much, but I know we’ll be there a lot this summer, just throwing you in the air (maybe too high) and kicking your legs to make big splashes.

17. This month we celebrated getting rid of your baby bottles! You weren’t too keen about it the first day, but quickly caught on to the “big kid” leak-proof sippy cups. You made sure to savor every last sip of your last time to use the bottle though.

Milk Life, Feeding America, #MilkDrive

18. With the introduction of your new cups, I now have another person to make a daily green smoothie for. I wasn’t sure how you’d take to them when I gave a few sips, but you quickly signed for more and I knew it was time. Now you down one with Mommy at night and I save extra for you to have in the morning. I’m not sure, but I think they make you a little happy.

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19. And finally, to end this month’s list of memories, it’s apparent you are a growing girl. No longer is anything safe on our kitchen counter as you can reach up to the edges quite well. We have to be careful it’s nothing dangerous on the end, but it is sometimes nice when you can get your own drink. Not so much when you try to put it back and it spills though.

If it wasn’t for Instagram, I may not be able to remember these memories, hence why I have so many pictures from my account. I’ll have to keep the Insta-pics going for next month’s 20 or my old 31 year old brain will have trouble thinking on its own.

After 24 months, I will have to find a new way to capture my monthly memories, maybe with a top 3, but until then, I’ll be back next month on the 15th to share my top 20.

What memories do you have of your kids from the past month?