Week 97: 7 days of Beckett

12/13; at the pediatrician being told she's not sick (for the record - she was acting WAY more sick then when we got there - such is life, right?!) 

12/14; our happy little cutie at church. She picked out the dress herself this morning and was VERY proud of herself, as were we of course

12/15; her face when I slow her down on the way to school. She's already like "ugh, mama?!!!!" when I try to take her picture. She did love her vest and was thrilled that it didn't have sleeves like her "cooatss"

12/16; cutie girl stops by the tree multiple times a day to check out all the ornaments

12/17; a post-bath selfie with my cutie girl. She is so happy and smiley - I just love her to pieces

12/18; pretty standard nightime - naked Beckett and adorable/cuddly poodles - love all my babies!

`12/19; a non-cold day! Playing outside with her toys!

Week 96: 7 Days of Beckett

12/6; our little doll at the new Avalon shopping center outside of the ice skating rink; she said hi to everyone who passed and had a great time in the children's area at the center. She also had a blast in Pottery Barn Kids trying out the vanity, shopping carts, strollers and more - she also got her first Christmas ornament - a little yellow school bus of course!

12/7; Our sweet baby girl wearing her new Christmas dress and new fun tights - she is the happiest baby girl. Tyson and Haley were in town smiling with her as we took this picture - great morning with Beckett for sure before going to church and having a fun family day!

12/8; our happy girl in her holiday pea coat with her favorite: the deer decorations in the front yard from her Mimi and Poppa! She loved them last year as a baby at their house, and this year they surprised us on Thanksgiving with our very own!

12/9; B loved her bath o' noodles!

12/10; B happy at home opening her gift from her teachers after her school's holiday party - ADORABLE

12/11; B when I said time to go upstairs; what a little diva cheeseball, right?!

12/12; B and friend Gavin at the annual Mom's Group Christmas Party at friend Estella's House!

B's Mom's Group Christmas Party

Always chaotic, but always can't-miss events are B's Mom's Group holiday functions! Today was the annual Christmas Party at Kari's house - she throws such amazing parties! Her and Maggie co-hosted and went all out for the kids with a gift exchange, fun decorating gingerbread men, sweet personalized ornaments - you name it. B wasn't feeling 100% so she was a little on the clingy side for a lot of the party but she definitely warmed up and was happy to see her friends and play with all of Estella's fabulous toys. Great party for sure - loved seeing all of the kids and wow have they grown up since last year's party!

Beckett, Harper, Roman, Graham, Gavin & Bonnie

Cutest kiddos in their holiday gear

Adorable

Beckett and Gavin couldn't be cuter

I mean really

Two of the mamas made gingerbread en for the kids to decorate - tons of frostings and toppings for the kids to have fun with - adorable

B and Gavin - stop it. Note she was refusing shoes and her coat at this point

adorable! 6 months apart!

Time for Bed!

So this is Beckett coming in from the cold weather outside! I'm totally feeding in to her addiction to stars - double starring it with the vest and the dress!

Now this is Beckett when you say, "time for bed!" The vest and shoes and socks come off immediately and she starts her way upstairs. I said, "Beckett wait, cheese for mama!" She surprised me tossing her head back, looking right at me and saying, "Cheese!' Snapped it - love it - she is so special!

Our 22 Month Old

I don't even know this girl anymore! She has grown so much in the past month it's amazing. Here is her on December 8 at exactly 10 months, and here are a few highlights on 'Life with Beckett' these days (yes, I babbled, of course I'm proud of her, but yes, at times it's tough) - enjoy!

• She talks all. the. time. She had been saying lots of words, like 8 or 9 new words a week. Now it's 8 or 9 new words a day. It's wild. She definitely speaks jibberish still, don't get me wrong, but she says so many more words (especially nouns) and points things out in books she never had before. Her favorites these days include yes, purple, happy, star, bus, raisin, iPad, tights, 'night night,' sack (her sleep sack), nose, toes, knees, eyes, mouth, teeth, hair, head (really any body part is fun to say these days), salsa, salad, dance, top, shakes, block, bear, rice, bowl, doll, cup, knife, hot, apple, choo choo, train, 'beep beep beep', car, tree, roots, hat, flower, brush, basket, light, cheese, truck, numbers (her favorite is 9 but she has said all of 1 - 10). She also says her family's names now (Remy, Reuben, Gigi, Mimi, Poppa, Ty Ty, E, etc.) and friends' names now (Raegan, Sydney, Finley, etc.). And of course she loves the classics: mama, dad, no, hi, bye-bye, uh-oh, shake, bubble, ball, water, baby, banana, animal sounds (moo, baa, nay, hiss, buzz, oink, etc.).
• She wants to know "What's This?" She asks this question about 50 times a day! She walks all around a room and touches everything and says, "what's this?" then tries to repeat you. Sometimes she does, and other times she just moves on to the next thing. It's sounds like "whas thees?"
• The Yes Thing. So it had been 'no no no' for a while now. It was getting annoying (true story). For yes she would just smile (or not say no). Now, she looks at me and says 'yes' - it's amazing! And she means it - I'll say want to read this book? And she says yes, and sits down and reads with me. I'm on a cloud about this new development. 
• All about stars. She finds stars in things I didn't even see it in (books, a dress pattern, etc.). She also says 'moon' but not nearly as much as she says star. She loves her Twilight Turtle (that makes stars on the ceiling) and "singing" twinkle twinkle little star.
• Cheers. So apparently we celebrate a lot in front of her as she insists on clinging glasses and happily saying "cheers!" (which sounds British like 'cheles') She happily holds up her sippy cup and insists that all cling glasses with her. If you get out a bottle of wine she grins and says 'cheers.' It's really too cute.
• Time Out. Yes, she has to go to time out a good bit. She goes to time out mostly for climbing/trying to jump on chairs or for throwing things. We always give her the option to make the right choice (e.g., Sit down or go to time out). Often she sits down but still puts herself in timeout - she knows it's wrong but feels it's worth it go sit on the floor with her back against the wall for a minute. Sigh! I have to admit I find it adorable that she puts herself in time out, even at her friend's houses.
• All about some laundry. She says the word laundry and loves to point out pants and socks. She goes to her closet and drags her green bucket to the laundry room. I open the washer and she loads all of her things in. I do the soap, and then I hold her to do the buttons. As of yesterday (the day she started saying 'Yes') I can say, "want to do laundry? And she says "yes!" and runs right for her closet to get her bucket. ADORABLE.
• She loves 'clean up.' She can't get enough of tossing things in the trash - you hand it to her and she's off. Even at her schools's Christmas party today she got done with her lunch and emptied her plate in the trash and reached up high to put her plate in the sink. Granted, the plate was paper and it didn't need to go in the sink, but at home she puts her plate and cup in the sink now - it's awesome. 
• Her favorite song (for mommy to sing) is this random Barney song. I love you, you love me, we're a happy family with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won't you say you love me, too? She says 'eye' and 'happy' and now I can say, "do you love mommy?" and she says, "yes!" When I finish singing she says "yay!" and claps her hands. Such a doll.
• Holding hands and cheesing. She is just the sweetest. When she get with Dane and her friends we can say, "Beckett, hold Dane's hand and cheese for the camera," and she'll walk right up and hold hands and smile. She loves to hold hands and LOVES to have her picture taken. 
• She's a dancing queen. She wants to have constant dance parties and demands your participation. True story. Her favorite thing to do is spin in circles and fall down. Then theirs lots of clapping hands, waving arms and squealing - it's adorable. 
• She peed in the potty! What? No, we're not training. Yes, we bought a potty and had it in her bathroom and the books said to just ask her if she wants to use it, not make a big deal about it, etc. She had been using it, but only as a stool to try to climb on the adult potty to get in the sink - SIGH. Well, tonight her bath water was running and she was pulling on her diaper. I said, "Beckett, do you need to go potty?" and she said, "yes!" So I hoped her pull her pants down and took her diaper off and she sat down and peed the potty! I couldn't believe it - like, I thought she was pretending ya know? But sure enough, she'd peed for the first time in the potty - guess it's time to start considering training/watching for more signs/etc!

That's B in a nutshell these days. It's definitely two steps forward, one step back. One week she's an amazing eater, but is throwing toys. The next week she's refusing to eat anything but  her basics (chicken, beans, broccoli, banana smoothie), but doesn't throw food/toys/anything. Then last Friday she threw food AT us, that was new (and frustrating) but the more frustrated we got the more attention it gave her so the more she did it - oh toddlers! We go over our three house rules every night and I can tell she's catching on and loves to be a little pleaser (but DOESN'T love being put in her stroller - wow, the arching toddler needs to start paying my chiropractor bills). K - I could go on and on (clearly). We are absolutely in love with our special girl and hope she tells us she loves us soon! :)

Week 95: 7 Days of Beckett

11/29; family shot in downtown Athens thanks to a kind stranger 

11/30; leaving church hand in hand with Daddy like always

12/1; sorting mail at the tennis courts with mama

12/2; taking a playground selfie (again with the mail - B loves to check the mail and carry it all around the neighborhood)

12/3; waving 'bye' to one of the many buses that run through our neighborhood each day - she loves them so much and the drivers and kids play along often waving back to her!

12/4; B is very excited to see deliveries arrive - today we caught them on our way out to check the mail. She plopped down in the yard and watched them make the delivery. They honked and waved when they left and her day was made by that!

12/5; B and her friend Kinley at Webb Bridge Park - Beckett was trying desperately to hold her hand but Kinley (who is just 14 months!) wasn't having it! They were adorable following each other around the playground

Her Week:

• Saturday: Spend a great day in Athens including Beckett's first UGA game in stadium - we walked all over the town and she said hi to everyone and made so many friends and got SO many high fives. We took pictures everywhere and looked at all of the windows at the pretty displays - it was a wonderful day.
• Sunday: We got up early and headed home to drop the dogs off then to church
• Monday: School in the morning then afternoon with mom
• Tuesday: Toddler room at the gym then library visit in the morning; afternoon playdate with the Hornfeck girls
• Wednesday: School in the morning then afternoon with mom; night with Dad while mom went to the movies with Josie
• Thursday: Toddler room at the gym then lunch with dad while Mom had a massage
• Friday: Toddler room at the gym then Webb Bridge Park with Savannah and Kinley; afternoon with Mom then evening with Dad while mom went to dinner with Shana