This is the first of a few movies I need to cut. Obviously I have some catching up to do since this is from the middle of June. Sorry kids, I’m trying.

If you only see a quicktime logo, the video is still loading.

Grandpa came for another visit this week. We didn’t do much, but we did go to the mall. Our intention was to buy shoes, but that didn’t happen. Reese was in a strange mood and almost as soon as we entered Stride Rite she flipped out. So, no shoes. I’ve been giving her pep talks because Grandma comes next week and hopefully we can get some shoes then. We did go to the play area at the mall, which had Grandpa panicking. You can see him here:

We went to P.F. Chang’s for dinner and I found a new way to get Reese to sit still for a whole meal (my previous strategy being giving her a muffin to destroy). We gave her some lo mein noodles and she would stretch one noodle between two hands and bite the middle out. I love pasta.

Despite these successes, I do often realize that I’ve been a mom for a short period of time and still have a lot to learn. Example: she was eating chips a few weeks ago and the salsa I was using was too hot for her but she wanted to dip them anyway. Thinking I was so smart, I gave her a container of tomato sauce. she loves it, it will dip, what could go wrong? Let me show you:

I turned around and she was dipping her hands in and smearing it on her face.

She has also finally learned to stand still for the camera. We got out her 18-24 month outfits and we were so excited she finally got to wear an outfit my friend Paige, from NM, gave her. I told Reese to stand still and smile and she did. How cute is this?!

Courtney’s been begging me to post pictures of my new wardrobe from Atlanta. Sadly, few pictures are taken of me, but the shirt I’m wearing in this photo is one of the shirts:

Sorry we’ve been away so long! Apparently the stories are not enough, you’ve been demanding pictures. Well, we’ve been busy! I want to Atlanta with the Lyman women and Brian’s dad came to visit:

We all drove down to Brian’s big sister Cori’s to see their new place in Americus. We had a great time at the pool:

They were dog sitting a little Jack Russell stray and everyone doted on her. We also went to a farm (sorry no pictures) where we saw a great garden and some animals and we went to hear President Jimmy Carter teach Sunday School in Plains. Now we’re home, back to our old ways:

Reese had her 18 month check up. Only one shot but had to have blood drawn from a finger prick which she hated. Mostly it was being held down and having her finger squeezed that bugged her. I didn’t realize how traumatized she was until today when I got out some ointment and a band-aid for her big bites and she ran away screaming as if I was going to kill her. I need to teach her that shots only come from evil doctors, not nice mommies. Anyway, she is tall, 33″ (90%), and her weight is good 25 lb 13 oz (70%). Toddlers her age are supposed to have 4-10 words other than Mommy and Daddy. When I sat down to write down her words the night before the doctor’s appointment I counted at least 100! Go Reese! Anyway, she’s awake and I’ve gotta go. Videos are coming soon!

No photos again (I’m sorry, ok?!), but another great story to tide you over.

Reese was in a frisky mood this afternoon and was generally getting into everything she should not be into. Not bad stuff, just pulling books off shelves, DVD’s out of the cabinet, and some choice items out of the pantry. She usually only does those things when she’s annoyed with me and trying to get my attention, but I was not getting a clue. I was having a few conversations with people on the phone and was not keen to be interrupted. Finally, I turned around and saw she had a Dove chocolate in her hands. I had seen her dragging the bag around and had thought nothing of it. I didn’t think she would be able to unwrap them. As it turns out, her fine motor skills are more advanced than I realized. I turned just in time to see her remove the last of the foil and pop the WHOLE SQUARE into her mouth. I dove for her, but was only able to salvage half of the chocolate. As I threw it away, I turned back and saw another square in her hands. I confiscated it. After putting it on the counter, I saw that she had another square. She had stashed them in her push-car for easy access and for each square I took, she had more. I finally found them all in the midst of gales of laughter and when she realized her stash was gone she got mad.

Not to worry Reese, I’m sure there will be something else to get into tomorrow.

We are down visiting Brian’s sister Cori and her family in Americus, GA this weekend. We’re having a great time (sorry, no pictures yet). We visited Koninia Farm (http://www.koinoniapartners.org/) today and saw their gardens and livestock. We had a lot of fun, but the funniest thing happened before lunch. There were two little girls who had the most beautiful curly red hair and she kept calling them “monkey”! Oh no! At first we thought she was just having a private conversation, then we thought she was calling herself a monkey (the story which me maintained throughout). We finally realized that she was calling them monkey! My daughter’s first faux pas. *Sigh* She’s getting so big.