Boy or Girl?

Here is some video of Delanie explaining her day to us today. She is intermixing her verbal skills with her sign language skills, you can see her using the signs for "boy" and "girl."

November Update!

The oh-no-we've-overcommitted-ourselves stress has begun to creep in, and this, combined with the fact that we cannot find our camera, is why there are no November posts! So, here is a Blatchford update!

Delanie is almost 20 months old now, and her little brain is amazing. I know everyone claims that their child is brilliant, but I am 100% absolutely positive that I am raising one of the smartest kids ever! The most amazing things to me at this moment are her memory and her language. She is very verbal, she talks nonstop all day long. She basically narrates her day. And, she knows nearly every word that she could possibly need to use at her age. She goes through entire books, labeling everything on a page. She names every kid in her class at daycare, and several of the kids in the older classrooms. She has memories, and has begun to tell us stories. For instance, one day her baby doll came home from daycare naked. I handed her the doll, only to have her hand it back to me. Here is our conversation:
Delanie: "Dirty."
Mom: "The baby is dirty?"
Delanie: "Yeah, wet. Dirty."
Mom: "Did your baby get wet?"
Delanie: "Yeah. Puddle. Mud."
Mom: "Did your baby get wet in a puddle?"
Delanie: "Yeah. Dirty. Puddle. Wash."
Mom: "Ok, we'll go home and wash your baby."

Last Sunday, we went to her true BFF's birthday party - Daniel. This was the first birthday party where she was legitimately invited, it was not my friend's child. It was so neat seeing her interact with her friends. She knew which children belonged with which adults, she knew that the set of twins needed to stay together. She even tried to sing "Happy Birthday" to Daniel, it sounded something like this: "Haaappppy...tyou, Haapppy Daniel tyou." She had so much fun with her friends at the children's museum, playing with the babies and the huge train table.

Delanie is becoming interested in the potty, but mostly because Daniel is potty training. She insists on going into the bathroom with Daniel when he goes potty at school. She spent so much time in there taht her teacher, Ms. Michelle, set up a chair for her to watch. And, when Ms. Michelle tried to put Delanie on the potty, she ran to Daniel, grabbed his hand, and made him come in with her. She has gone potty at school twice now, but has not gone at home. We are beginning to wonder if we need to blow up a picture of Daniel to put beside the toilet.

This week, Delanie stumbled upon this necklace, which belonged to Dave's grandmother, Loey.



Here is a picture of Delanie with her dog, Kona.

Imitation is the best form of flattery - here is a picture of Delanie with my hat and gloves (don't worry we were at a stoplight)!

And, just today, Delanie went for her first official haircut. We went to this kid-friendly place where the chairs are actually cars and fire engines and there is a tv beside each mirror. Unfortunately, Delanie did not wnat to sit in a vehicle by herself, so she sat on my lap and watched Elmo while getting her hair cut. She only got a trim this time.

Delanie And The Photo Album

For weeks now, Delanie has had an obsession with our wedding albums. She will sit for 15-20 minutes and just point to pictures as we rattle off relatives she has only met a few times. Well, she is beginning to develop a memory, both for the people she knows and for the pictures she has seen dozens of times. So, we decided to finally tape this evening ritual. Dave's Uncle Buddy will enjoy this one!

Halloween!

Here are some pictures of our Halloween! Delanie was battling a rough cold, but she was a trooper! She was our little ladybug in a SNUG Halloween costume! We met several neighbors and friends, totaling 8 children ages 3 and under. This means we made it to roughly 6 houses in an hour of Trick-or-Treating! Delanie was very shy, and would not go up to the door. But, she did enjoy riding in her wagon with Lizzie the pink flower princess/fairy. Every time she got out of the wagon, she wanted her flashlight, snack and drink, along with her candy bag. And, she wanted to be carried - this was quite a handful!

Our Lil' Pumpkin!

Ok, I saw this dress and I just had to get it for Delanie - I mean, this is why I love having a daughter! And, I was determined that Delanie would get her 18 month photos in her little pumpkin dress, holding her Halloween pumpkin. Let's talk about the 18 month photos for a minute...

These are the first professional photos Delanie has had since she's been a walker. For her 12 month photos, she was simply a crawler. When she began crawling up the steps at Meredith, it was just so stinkin' cute, we took pictures of her crawling. Photo sessions are a whole different ball game now that she is walking. First, we waited over an hour, so Delanie was antsy when her time finally came. The photographer helped me set the stage with a white chair, the pumpkin and some fall flowers and leaves. We asked Delanie to sit down so we could get the perfect 18 month photo, she said, "NO!" Then, we grabbed her and sat her down, only to have her get up and run away... Then, she insisted on this bright red rocker. Try to picture this green, blue and orange dress, a giant orange pumpkin and a RED rocker! Needless to say, we spent a lot of time fighting with a toddler in a pumpkin dress, before it was time to change her into her second outfit. And the second set of pictures came out perfectly. So, just humor me here with these photos from our personal camera!

Delanie is a huge fan of the PBS show, "Signing Times." In fact, to date, it is really the only show she has watched, outside of football. She knows 15-25 signs as a result, and I am convinced it really helps her vocabulary. The characters, Alex, Leah and Rachel were in Raleigh for a Downs Syndrome fundraiser. We were so lucky to meet them and get a picture with them! Rachel, the mom, has two kids with special needs and came up with this idea orginally as a way to educate friends and family about communicating with her deaf daughter, Leah. She has a great voice, and sings so great original songs. And live, she was a little less PBS-hokey and a little more real-mom. We also found out that they were pulled from PBS because they have no corporate sponsor and can no longer afford to fund the tv show themselves. This was extremely disappointing news to us. The website is http://www.signingtime.com/ for anyone who is interested in learning more. It was very neat seeing my 18 month old daughter react to the concert like she was a 12 year old at Jonas Brothers, though! She was very excited and animated, and was signing with Rachel. And, we continue to sing some of the songs we heard that day.

More Hillridge Farms

How can I choose only 4 pictures??? Way too cute!