Owl always love you

Update time

Well I have to keep updating even though I'm not doing the specific monthly updates regularly anymore.  You are growing and growing.  You blow us away by all the things we say and you understand and also by the things that you "say".  You are so much fun at this age and stage.

You understand:  Adelaide, bath, ball, shoe, sock, car, bow, dog, puppy, baby, clap, splash, put your hands up and down, graham cracker, give me a high five, dance, peek-a-boo put it in your mouth, sit down, kick it, throw it, time for your nap, milk, good job, no, dance, kiss, fish, cup, give it to me, hey, cheerios, push the button, book, squirrel, cat, Daddy, Lily, and Mommy.  I'm sure there are others but those are the ones that quickly came to my mind.

You "say":  ball, baby, puppy, cracker, no, fish, all done, peek-a-boo, hey, bye bye, book, bow, squirrel, more, Daddy, Lily, Mama.  Again, I'm sure there are others.  You've been able to sign more and all done for a while now.

Your eating has just recently, in the past few days, gotten better.  We went to the doctor at 13 months and you had not gained a single ounce since your 12 month appointment despite eating 3 meals and 2-3 snacks a day.  Because of this the doctor referred to to a feeding specialist.  We are scheduled to go there mid-Dec. so there's still time for you to get better and eat more normally before then.  These past few days have been such a relief and I can definitely see a difference, but let's hope it sticks.  We started to give you Miralax in water each evening and that seems to help things move along so I think you are overall feeling better too.  Hopefully there will be continued good news.

Breaking news!  You have teeth... plural!  I first noticed your bottom right front tooth on Oct. 5.  It was barely breaking through but I could feel it.  You had a high fever after your afternoon nap and a bit later I noticed the tooth.  It was a bit too high for teething so it was just a coincidence.  Within a month you had the top right front and bottom left front ones too!  Now the top left front one is almost through.  I've heard that when they finally start coming they seem to come quickly.  You have been a trooper while getting these teeth.  I've only noticed a couple of times where they seem to bother you and so far it hasn't affected your sleeping (knock on wood).  It needs to be said again, thank you for being such a good sleeper.

Speaking of sleeping, you normally are down around 8 and wake up around 7.  The time change last week threw you off and I wasn't the least bit surprised.  You have slowly worked youself back to sleeping later and not getting up at 6:05 like you did that first day, whew.  For naps, well you aren't totally sure what you want to do.  I think we are somewhat in the stage of 1 nap isn't enough and 2 is sometimes too much.  Some times you take a longer morning nap (still 2.5 hours after you wake up) and then you aren't sleepy for the afternoon nap or it would be so late that I just hold you off for an early bedtime.  That makes planning days hard to do but we are working with it.  The time change actually helped this and you seem to be better with 2 naps.  Your second nap normally comes about 3.5 hours after you wake up from your first one.  That gives us some good outing time or just time to hang out and play.  When you wake up from that second nap we play, take a walk, make dinner, and wait for Daddy to come home.

Your sweet personality is becoming more and more evident.  You seem to be shy around others but more lively around us at home.  When you are in a new environment you are so observant and quiet.  I like those times though because you hold on to me a little tighter :-)  It's fun to see you finally warm up to new things and see the excitement they bring you.  You are kind to other kids, many times offering them the toy you are playing with if they walk up to you.  If your toy is taken away you often just stand there with a perplexed look on your face but very seldom do you get upset.  Who knows if this will change though.  I want you to stand up for yourself, but I also like your gentle spirit.  You are also quite hilarious.  One funny thing you do is whisper when you are talking to us or just talking in general.  It's so cute and we all get good laughs.  Your antics never fail to make us laugh.  I think you know you are being funny because you make yourself laugh as well.  Seems like we are in for some fun and laughter in the years to come and I can't wait!

You are a bigger blessing that your Daddy and I could have possibly imagined.  We are blessed indeed!

Sorry for this silly picture, but you can see a tooth.

 Silly girl... seriously you crack us up!

Your Daddy thinks you look too much like a big girl here.  I agree.

Honestly, that face could not be more precious.  Gosh, we love you!

My Marathon Man

Alliteration... haha... takes me back to Mrs. Cannady's 9th grade English class.  Wow, starting with a tangent. 

Ok, back to the point.  Brandon FINISHED the Raleigh City of Oaks Marathon!  It has been something that he has trained hard for since March.  Through the hot summer (meaning early, early Saturday morning runs before the heat), crazy work weeks, and overall exhaustion he trained... and trained... and trained some more.  I could not be more proud of him. 

It's something, really, to watch someone work so hard to complete something and then seeing them finally doing that which they set out to accomplish.  He was ready, boy was he ready!  After those many months of preparing mentally and physically he was up to the task.  The race started at 7am from the NC State Belltower (couldn't have been a better place).  He left home around 5:45 that morning.  A feat alone if you're asking me.  Anyway, he started at 7 and ran and ran and ran until he crossed that beloved finish line (again at the belltower) at 11:39.  A mere 4 hours and 39 minutes later, only to have travelled 26.2 miles on foot.  On foot people! 

I met him a couple of times out on the course at miles 14 and 20.  At 14 he seemed like it was nothing.  At 20 he seemed more tired and he said his legs were hurting.  Then I rushed home to grab Adelaide (huge thank you to Amber for coming over during her nap) and get back out to the finish line.

The end was all a buzz with cheering people everywhere and so much excitement.  It was really neat because I knew that all those people were there to cheer on their special someone, but yet they were cheering on everyone else's special someone too.  We made it out there with a few minutes to spare and then he came running by.  Tired of course, but going hard nonetheless.  He crossed the finish line with his arms spread out like he was flying... a perfect ending!  He was immediately given his medal and a shiny wrap thing to help keep him warm.  Then came the hugs, congrats, and kisses.  He got to see the "Go Daddy Go" shirt I made for Adelaide. It was emotional for us... more so that I thought it would be.  That first family hug will stick with me for a long time to come.  Anyway, after stretching and walking a bit he ate some pizza and we headed home.  Praise the Lord, he did it!

Mile 14

Mile 20 (14 is going the other way)

Water break and meeting up with Travis.  He is a marathon runner and met up with Brandon at Mile 20 to bring him home!  What an encouraging friend.

FINISH LINE

He's on the way!

 Love it!

So proud of you!

Quack Quack

Meet the cutest duck you ever will see

This Halloween was a little more exciting that last year.  Remember this?  Just 5 weeks old last Halloween.

 My Mama got Adelaide this cute duck costume and we thought it was perfect.  We went Trick-or-Treating with Trey, Amber, and Graham around our neighborhood.  Us parents enjoyed showing off our little ones and then snacking on the candy later.  We figured we would enjoy the candy now because in a couple of years I'm sure that won't be acceptable ;-)  

The duck and cow

Look at this cuteness!

Fun with Daddy!

Ok, Ok, I'm almost done with the pictures.

Happy Halloween!