BFF's

Marjorie has made a bff here in San Diego. His mama had a baby a few months ago so he was came to play with us a lot which was fun for her. He's taught her the finer points of jumping on the bed and building towers. One day I caught them snuggling up together, it was too cute not to capture.

Fresno Thanksgiving

I haven't been home for Thanksgiving since I graduated college. It was nice to be home and get to experience a little bit of fall since San Diego has persisted in being warm (it's finally cooling down now). We had a fun and relaxing long weekend.

And kind of think my little family is the cutest.

I'm so grateful for Dan and Marjorie. My life is nothing like I thought it would be and everything that I hoped it would be.

Halloween 2014

This year I came up with the brilliant idea of Little Red Riding Hood for our family's costumes.

This is just a gratuitous shot of M I took sometime on Halloween. It's her new model shot.

So I made a red hood for M and gave her a basket, I made a wolf mask for me and wore a fury vest, and Dan wore a bathrobe, shower cap and glasses to try to be grandma. Most people thought he was a hospital patient...

I can't get over these pics of M giggling with her dada

      

Kisses!

Reading Little Red Riding Hood. This version was much more politically correct... nobody got eaten.

Happy Halloween!

She had a lot of fun walking around the neighborhood and was very upset whenever we tried to help her with her basket. We were some of the first people going out so it felt a little awkward being the only ones for most of our trick or treating. But we had a party we were going to so we couldn't stay out late. I think we all had lots of fun.

Marjorie at 18 Months

At 18 months, Marjorie is non-stop. She is a go, go, go type girl. But! She knows when she's ready for "nigh nigh" and will tell you and head into her bedroom. Here's a snapshot of M at 18 months:

-Talking non-stop. Lot's of jabbering and lots of words--mama, dada, ditz (Fitz), bear, apple, happy, nana (banana/Nana), Papa, water, milky, doggy, puppy, kitty, kitty cat, butterfly (firefly), gah (garbage truck), bird, owl, wow, bye, hi, no, tank yoou (thank you), mine, "Y" (the letter), "M" (the letter), "B" (for the letter A, not sure how that happened), nigh nigh, monkey, baa baa (sheep sound), booooowwwww (cow), e-i-e-i-o, uh oh, oh no, shoes, pool... and probably some more that I'm forgetting. She'll try and mimic just about anything you prompt her to say.
-Understands what seems like everything I tell her. Knows lots of body parts, and can follow commands (when she's in the mood).
-Still loves reading books and will literally walk up to me, open my hand and place a book inside it for me to read to her.
-Starting to get into dress up play and imaginative play. Loves playing with her animal figurines.
-Is constantly moving. Wandering around the apartment, climbing up on things, loves going to the park and is getting better at climbing on all the equipment, but still hates the swing.
-Loves loves loves a horribly annoying Baby Genius show we found on Netflix. It is an awful sing-a-long song show but she asks for it every single time I let her watch something. I'm trying to promote Sesame Street and Daniel Tiger presently. 
-Still super friendly. Sometimes pretends to be shy when someone turns their attention on her, but mostly walks right up to people and chats them up.
-Loves nursery. She goes right in without a fuss and seems to have a blast. (Mom and Dad also love nursery, yay for being able to actually pay attention in church!).
-Picky about food, but I know it could be worse. She's good with all fruit, most carbs (except rice? why?), and most dairy. We eat a lot of eggs for breakfast and PB&J for lunch so she gets some protein because home girl does not like meat and definitely doesn't like veggies. I keep giving them to her but it's always a "nah" with a hand out and firm head shake no. She does however love dried seaweed and will pound an entire container. 
-At her 18 month appointment she was 20lbs and a few oz (can't remember) and in the 5th percentile still.
-She's generally a very happy girl which I am grateful for. And most people seem to think she's adorable and happy too. Just don't keep her out too long past "nigh nigh" time or you'll see the super grump side of Marjorie.

We love her so much and I love seeing her little personality blossom more and more!

Glamme's Birthday

Marjorie and I flew up to spend a week and a half in Fresno for Glamme's birthday. I got to take these sweet pics while mom read to Marjorie in all her dress up glory. It had been a very long time (maybe 10 years?) since I'd been home for mom's birthday so it was nice to spend the day with her. We sure love her!

Back Porch

In our apartment, there's a front porch which is in direct sunlight the majority of the day (=too hot to play in), and has a random dirt patch at the end of it which I didn't want Marjorie messing with. It became where the dog did his business and I lamented the fact that I couldn't just send M out to play.

But we actually have a back porch as well, off of our bedroom. It had leaves all over it and was a bit dirty so I didn't think of M being able to use it for a month. Because I'm a thinker, I finally got it through my brain that if I simply swept it, M could hang out "outside" and have space for messy play. Please ignore the box spring we stuck out there. Dan has dreams of re-purposing it somehow. I think at this point there are too many bugs and outside things involved with it and it needs to go over the fence into the trash. I think I will win eventually.

You can't go wrong with a bowl of water and measuring cups.

Everyday moments

In August, in the middle of our moving craziness, I took an online photography class (I had signed up long before we knew we were moving). I really wanted to be able to understand my camera better and be able to use it in manual and have an idea of what I'm doing as I spin settings up and down. I've been wanting to capture every day moments of our lives in a beautiful way and feel more confident when taking pictures for friends and family. I feel that as I've practiced and become more comfortable, it's easier for me to get what I want, so I can put the camera away faster and enjoy the moment in the moment more, and I look for the beautiful moments more often in our day to day lives.

M was quiet for a while in her room one day and this is what I found when I snuck in on her. Love that little reader of mine.