Zoolight Safari

Tonight we bundled Miss P up and went to Zoolight Safari.  I've been wanting to take her for the past few weeks but we just weren't able to work it out before now.  And yes, I do realize that she is only 14 months and that at this point it is probably more for me than for her but what fun is having a little one if you don't get out and do fun things?!?!  Did I mention that I am still wearing this big black boot on my right foot but I was NOT going to let it stop me from walking all around the zoo!  So we pushed P in her stroller and took in all of the pretty Christmas lights.  Then we rode the train which was the best part of the night.  Once we were on the train there was a second where I started to worry about how Peyton would react to one riding on the train and two riding on it in the dark.  Thankfully my adventurous little girl isn't afraid of much and she seemed to enjoy it.

Getting ready for our train ride!! 

Taking it all in!

Sitting with Daddy on the train

You can barely see it but this is a pic of a minature pony

Merry Christmas!!

This was a bittersweet Christmas for us for several reasons. First, this was the last Christmas that we would spend in our house, which technically isn't our house anymore :( I have so many wonderful memories of the past 6 Christmas' we have had this house, especially the last two that we have spent here with Peyton.  As Matt reminded me though, we will have a bunch of wonderful new memories in our new house.  The second reason Christmas was bittersweet this year is that the Monday before Christmas my parents' 16 year old dog Zack went missing. We spent every day leading up to Christmas searching for him, including driving and walking through the neighborhood and woods an insane number of times, asking neighbors if they had seen him, calling local vet clinics and shelters, and posting flyers. Unfortunately we never found him. Although we all felt like a piece of our family was missing, we still had a wonderful Christmas with a lot of quality time together as a family.

Our Christmas celebration started on Christmas Eve when we all went to Mass at 4pm.  Mass was very different this year with a toddler compared to last year with a newborn.  Peyton and I had to spend some time out in the vestibule of church because about 40 minutes into it she was over sitting still and was ready to move!  While we were in the back, I decided to go to the restroom, so I took her in the stall with me and one second I see her bending down to look under the stall and then the next thing I know she is crawling out of there!  This is one curious little girl!  After Mass we all headed back to my parents' house and had a delicious dinner of baked ziti.  Peyton enjoyed playing around with her cousins and then we headed home to get ready for Santa.

 

The next morning we woke up to find all of the fun presents that Santa left for P.  She got so many new toys that she didn't know what to do.  I thought that she would be into the wrapping paper and opening her presents but she didn't really want much to do with it.  In fact, we ended up saving three presents to giver her later because she seemed over the whole thing and we knew that she still had more presents to open later at GP and Granddad's house.

We had a little time to play with all of Peyton's new toys before we headed back over to my parents' house for lunch.  We were all looking forward to it because my mom had made kibee (a Lebanese meal that is everyone's favorite).  After we enjoyed our yummy meal, it was present time.  Things were a little hectic with 11 people opening gifts, one baby, and Jamie's new puppy (Will surprised Jamie on Christmas Eve with a Jack Russell puppy they named Bailey) but it was a lot of fun!  Then we all just spent some time hanging out and enjoying the rest of Christmas.

Gotta love that my child has her finger in her nose!

Needless to say by the end of the day we were all worn out...but not too worn out for a little playtime in our diaper cover....

14 Months

This last month has brought lots of changes for Miss P. Her vocabulary has exploded, with the addition of "ball," "duck," "more," "HoHo," "teethees"(teeth), "GP,"(what she calls my mom), "book," "nana" (for banana and Matt's mom), "Pops" (Matt's dad), and "thank you." She points to let us know what she wants and she shakes her head for yes and no when we ask her a question. It may not always be the appropriate answer but a lot of times it is. She also understands so much more than I give her credit for. I can say "let's go brush your teeth" or "time to take a bath" and she will head to the bathroom! It's hard to believe that my little baby is getting so grown up! Now that she is this little person with a mind of her own, she has become very good at throwing tantrums when she doesn't get her way. The worst tantrums happen at nap time and bedtime when we lay her in her crib. We had struggled with this several months ago and thought that we were past this, and then all of the sudden it started again. Except this time the crying has turned into screaming. Makes for a tired Mommy and Daddy!

Peyton still loves to eat cheese and fruit with very little interest in eating meat with the exception of hamburger meat and meatballs without sauce. She has a terrible habit of throwing food on the floor when she doesn't want it and thanks to Ellie it's usually gone before I can clean it up. For the past few months Peyton has been doing the sign for "all done" when she is finished eating and has now started saying "more" and doing the sign for "more". She also says "momma" when she wants something to eat/drink or when she wants more of something. She LOVES her paci and has started calling it "nona." Matt and I have no idea where she came up with that name but think it is hilarious. She absolutely loves to read books and could spend most of her day having someone read to her. Sometimes she will even sit down and flip through a book by herself (which has unfortunately led to several ripped pages).


P is busier and more curious than ever, and is generally not afraid of much. She is super sweet and loving, always waving and flirting with strangers and freely giving lots of kisses to everyone in our family. Although she wears me out, I am having the best time with her right now!