Museum of Life and Science

This is part of a special exhibit - Holiday Sprockets. Both Grandma and Delanie were enthralled with all the moving parts!

Delanie up on a platform so she could drop a ball down a track.

Delanie and Daddy pumping air into a tube to make bubbles.

December

Delanie and Mommy getting ready to make Christmas cookies!

Delanie's favorite gift so far - a new baby from Aunt Kate! We opened gifts with the Blatchfords on Saturday. Delanie opened this gift and was content! It was a struggle to get her to open another present that day.

Here's Delanie with another new gift - a pair of boots from Aunt Kate!

Sportin' the pigtails!

December Photos!

Delanie with the cradle that used to be Mommy's - she likes to make and remake the bed over and over, for her two babies, who she has named "Charlie" and "Kona"

Reading a book with cousin Skylar

"Cheese!"

"Chrisssmas! Ho Ho Ho! Anta!" This is what she exclaims anytime we see something Christmas-y, including our tree!

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!