My siblings got Willa this little "grow with me" tricyle for her 1st birthday. Thank you Auntie Amanda, Auntie Moe, and Funcle Nick!
It was an instant hit! She loves it!
And so does Matt, as you can see in the video below. (These pics & videos were taken in the middle of March. Memphis has since completely bloomed. Matt's already had to mow the lawn and trim bushes.)
JoJo got Willa a sandbox and toys for Easter while she was here. It was not an instant hit. Willa wasn't sure about the sand. You can see her hands and feet are tense in these pictures. But she quickly relaxed and now enjoys playing in her sandbox. Thank you JoJo.
they were alone. Momma Duck was nowhere to be found.
I showed them to Matt and then we spent the next 24 hours worrying about them and checking on them and researching what we should do with them. They stayed on our bank the whole night and of course, a storm rolled through.
The next morning, I sent Matt out to check on them. I was so afraid they were going to be soaking wet and cold and maybe dead. But there they were, swimming around and quacking perfectly fine.
Our worrying didn't stop though.
I figured their days were numbered.
Later in the day I was talking to our neighbor and he said he had been raising the ducks in his bathtub. What!?! He had just let them go and was hoping they would live right there behind our houses. What!?! That's not really the way it works. They have since swam away and we haven't seen them in a couple days. I hope they figure out how to fly and migrate and find food and build nests all on their own...but I doubt it.
My mom came to Memphis for a long weekend. We loved spending time with her. On Friday we went to lunch at Bahama Breeze and then spent the afternoon bathing suit shopping. My whole family is going to the Dominican Republic in May and my mom needed a new suit so now she's set.
On Saturday, we went to an Easter egg hunt for 1 to 2 year olds. Willa wasn't exactly the master egg gatherer. We ended up with three eggs.
The eggs were filled with tootsie rolls and sweet tarts ... not exactly Willa friendly candy ... so she didn't even get to eat the candy she worked so hard to collect.
There was also a little carnival and petting zoo.
Aren't these chicks and ducks so cute?
Willa looks so old in this picture to me. She is really studying the animal in that cage.
This little hairy piglet was Willa's favorite.
We also hit up a kid consignment sale, spent a lazy Sunday going to church and relaxing at home, and visited the Pink Palace Museum. I thought it was funny that Willa growled at the dinosaurs at the museum. I didn't teach her to do that. It was just instinct. Thanks for coming JoJo. Please come back soon!
Matt turned 30 last week. Woo-Hoo! Happy Birthday Hubbs! Matt had to work...boo! But we celebrated afterwards with dinner on the deck and cheesecake. The weather was perfect ... warm and sunny with a crisp, spring chill in the air. The ducks and geese put on quite a show for us fighting. They must be picking their mates or nesting spots or something. And we spotted our first turtles of the season.
The celebration continued the next day. We paid a babysitter to stay with Willa for the second time ever so we could have a night out. We went to dinner with another couple at Cafe 1912. It's a yummy, locally owned restaurant in midtown.
Then we went to a John Mayer concert. The concert was sooo good. John Mayer puts on a great show. If you ever have the opportunity to see him, definitely do it. I think he played a different guitar during every song.
The big screen was great. We had pretty good seats, but the big screen let us see all of the crazy faces he makes when he sings (I guess he's known for that) and his fingers strumming his guitar. He and his band really went to town during every song. They were really good! It was such a great night!
My washing machine, dryer, dishwasher, and crock pot are all running right now. So I get to relax and read a book while Willa's napping and still feel like I'm getting work done. I love it! haha! Thank you modern conveniences.
It was 72 degrees and sunny yesterday. We actually got to pull out shorts and t-shirts.
We went to a park by downtown Memphis on Mud Island. It stretches for a mile and a half along the Mississippi River.
Willa had a blast running around, chasing dogs, and getting dirty.
Spring is here! THIS is why we moved to Memphis (and because we had to since Matt matched here). Memphis has four evenly spread out seasons ... 3 months of winter, 3 months of spring, 3 months of summer, and 3 months of fall. I love it!
Also from January - no talking or signing. We were just playing her favorite game.
I took this one today - please, eat/food, hi, bye, and some kisses.
Somehow Willa has turned into a toddler. It dawned on me a couple weeks ago that she doesn't crawl anymore. She's a walker. Shopping has drastically changed. She wants to help push the cart, take things off the shelves, and choose which direction we go.
Friday, February 19, 2010
It was in the 50's and sunny today. We didn't have any wind. It felt wonderful to be outside in the sunshine. Willa and I took a walk around the block stroller free. We both loved it. Days like today make me feel so blessed and lucky and happy that I get to stay home with Willa.
Matt spoiled me big time at Christmas. He got me a super fancy, super nice Bosch mixer and everything to go along with it...cookie paddles, blender attachment, chopper/shredder attachment, a wheat grinder, loaf pans, wire cooling racks, bags to store homemade bread in, a rolling pin, baking mat, dough slicer, and lots of yeast. (I think that was everything). (Wayne and Marcia were part of the gift givers as well - Thank You!)
So now I have all of the equipment any bread maker could possibly desire, but I must admit I am VERY intimidated by all of it. I've never ever made a loaf of homemade bread before. I was excited when Matt ordered everything, but when the 2 or 3 giant boxes were delivered to my front door, I got scared. The boxes sat in my kitchen for a good three weeks partially opened and I didn't touch them. I swept and mopped around them. Then when I finally got the courage to empty the boxes and find a home for everything in my kitchen, another few weeks passed before I actually turned the mixer on.
But I did it. I used my Bosch this week. No, I didn't bake any fabulous loafs of homemade bread but I used it. And I loved it.
1 - We used it to shred cheese. LOVED IT. One of my least favorite things to do in the kitchen is shred and slice cheese by hand. I am sooo bad at it. But NOW we are fancy and have jars of freshly shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheeses in the fridge and freezer.
2 - We shredded chicken, too. While we were at it, why not shred some chicken breasts. Um, I fell in love AGAIN with my Bosch. I baked the chicken in the oven and then Matt popped the chicken in the Bosch mixer and a few seconds later, ta-da, we had 4 freshly shredded chicken breasts. It tasted very YUM-O in our baked chicken burritos. And I am looking forward to it on our BBQ chicken pizza.
3 - And we made smoothies. Strawberry, blueberry, and raspberry smoothies to be exact. Matt was the chef behind this treat. I love that the blender just pops right on the Bosch base...so easy and so much less clutter. Now I have a blender that actually blends. Our old blender used to just turn stuff around and smoke a bit, not very useful.
I bought the ingredients to make homemade pizza dough (with yeast) so I'll attempt that this week. I've read that pizza dough is forgiving. Keep your fingers crossed that it's true.
Willa hung out in the cabinet below the mixer while we were at work. She loves it in there.
Ingredients
1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped (orange would work too)
1 can Italian style diced tomatoes, undrained
spices - salt & pepper, basil, oregano, red pepper flakes, etc. (whatever you feel like pulling out)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. (It reminded me of cleaning out a pumpkin). Place spaghetti squash cut sides down on the baking sheet, and bake 45 minutes, or until a sharp knife can be inserted with only a little resistance. Remove squash from oven, and set aside to cool enough to be easily handled.
Willa slipped in the tub trying to stand up and got a little abrasion and black eye. Poor girl! But she didn't learn. She was still trying to stand up in the tub last night. I wish she would just sit and play in the tub. She loves the water and taking baths, but she also loves trying to stand up and walk in the tub which is much, MUCH too hard for a 1 year old to do.
I bought Willa two dolls last week. She loves them. I was trying to get a picture of her eye. Of course, it doesn't really show up on camera. You can see it a bit better if you click on the picture to zoom in.
Walking - Willa took her first few steps a couple days before Christmas. She's still pretty wobbly on her feet though. Her record is about 10 steps. If she wants to get somewhere fast, she still crawls.
Talking - She has about five words (mom, dada, du for duck, Biggie, and uh-oh). She jabbers all day long. She also points at everything she wants...which is everything.
Signing - We've been signing with Willa for months. She does all done, more, shakes her head no, and waves hello, good-bye and good-night on her own. We've just started working on water, milk, eat, help, up, thank you, and please.
Animals - Willa loves, loves, loves animals, especially dogs and ducks. Her third word was du for duck. Her fourth was Biggie which is my sister's boyfriend's dog. Really, she clearly says Biggie. She started saying it on her own while we were in Florida over New Year's. We were sitting around and she said it a few times. We were laughing saying, "haha, it sounds like she is saying 'Biggie,'" and then we realized she really was saying it. She also barks and quacks (same sound). Whenever she hears a dog bark or hears the ducks or geese outside, she stops whatever she's doing and starts pointing and barking/quacking. She loves live animals, pictures of animals, stuffed animals, and plastic animals. And the silly thing is that I am not an animal lover. I have bad allergies to most animals (cats, dogs, horses, farm animals, etc.) so that's my excuse. I always said I didn't want pets. But I think if Willa's love for animals keeps up, she is going to be begging us for a dog or something very early. Maybe I'll give in. I know Matt will be on her side. Maybe I'll have to spend some time with some hypoallergenic dogs.
Sleeping - She sleeps great. She goes to bed easy, naps easy (most days), and sleeps through the night. I love spending all day with her, but I also love shutting her door at 6:45 and knowing I have a good 12 or so hours of uninterrupted time to relax and sleep. She takes a morning and an afternoon nap.
Fearless - This may change with age, but so far Willa is a curious, fearless little thing. She wasn't a bit scared to reach her hand in a tank of stingrays at the Tampa zoo to pet them. She loves petting the farm animals at the zoo. She loves crawling through things and climbing on things. She doesn't mind the dark. She spends lots of time these days in our kitchen or bathroom cabinets. She used to just empty them, but now she pushes the stuff over and climbs right in. She'll sit in the dark in the cabinent if I shut the door.
Sensitive - She definitely has a sensitive side. I wouldn't call her tough. When she falls down, she wants to be consoled. When a friend steals her toy or pulls her hair, she cries. She's not one to fight back or just brush it off.
Reading - She loves books. Her favorite book is Good Night Moon. She has strarted to crawl over to the bookshelf, select Good Night Moon, bring it to me, and then climb into my lap. I guess this isn't too surprising since we've read to her pretty much every day of her life. She used to just empty bookshelves, but now she'll also take a couple books off of the shelf and then sit down and page through them on her own.
Binkie - She doesn't have a lovey or a favorite blanket or anything like that. She just wants her pacifier.
Laughing & Smiling - It is supereasy to make Willa smile, but you have to work harder for laughs. If you catch her in the right mood, she'll crack up laughing. Her daddy can always get a good belly laugh out of her by tossing her in the air or swinging her around. (It's a good thing she has a daddy to be a little rough with her and toughen her up a bit.). FYI- video was taken with my phone so it is REALLY bad quality.
Stranger Anxiety - She doesn't seem to have stranger anxiety. She smiles and waves to strangers when we're out and about. She doesn't mind when the young women pass her around at church. We hired our first babysitter Friday night. It didn't bother Willa in the least bit that we left her with the babysitter.
Social Butterfly - She loves being around other kids and adults. She loves storytime at the library and the park because of all of the kids (and the swings). She loves music and loves to dance. She's always clapping or clicking her tongue or babbling or smiling at us to get us to smile or laugh at her.
Eating - Meal time has gotten better. We don't have tears anymore. Willa eats table food and blended fruits baby food. She definitely has opinions and loves things one day and will refuse them the next, but she'll at least try everything now (I'm not looking forward to that changing). She prefers fruits over vegetables. She loves cheese, and she loves meat. She won't eat baby food meat or mashed up meat, but she'll devour regularly prepared meat. She's had and seems to enjoy chicken, turkey, beef, pork, elk, deer, walleye, rainbow trout, tuna, mahi-mahi, snapper, shrimp, lobster, crab... You name it, if it's meat or cheese, she'll eat it.
Growing - She's tall and skinny. At the pediatrican's office this week, she was 29 1/2 inches tall (75%) and weighed 18 pounds, 12 ounces (10%).
