For the Shoe Addict

So baby girl is obsessed with shoes. Obsessed. When she sees a pair she freaks out and sits down and puts her foot up - time for you to put them on her! From the moment she wakes up she's looking for shoes, when it's time to go outside she goes to get her 'outside shoes' and sits down for you to help her change into them (because of course she's wearing another pair). She even wears shoes in the pool - her water shoes from Mimi! I keep several pairs in the car as truly she is NOT happy unless shoes are on. She's even gotten to where she wants socks for naps - must have something on her feet and it makes removing the shoes much easier when I have a substitute!

This morning Austin took her out for errands and ended up going to the park, so I took the opportunity to make a big surprise for Beckett - only took a few things!

• I had a hanging organizer in my closet filled with things I never go after - time to purge!
• Beckett was given a box of at least 25 pairs of shoes from her best friend Emma Velotas - not all fit yet, but many do!
• Becks had at least 5 pairs of shoes on her own - mostly summer shoes that she's about to outgrow - sad!
• I quickly got to work hanging the organizer in her room and filling it with shoes - the ones at the bottom fit now, and as you go up they get bigger!

Austin and her got home around 11:30 with lunch, then we headed upstairs and put her in her nap outfit (onesie and leg warmers!) - then we showed her the closet. She. was. pumped. She immediately began pulling out shoes and trying them on. When it was all said and done she tried on at least 7 pairs and is officially a size 5 in most brands!

Best. Gift. Ever. for the shoe lover in your family

She didn't know which ones to touch and try - it quickly turned in to a frenzy!

Love making this doll happy!

We were changing the sheets on her bed to her new girly pink ones... she quickly made her mattress a seat to try on shoes with!

Special thanks to our Velotas family who is so incredibly generous with their kids' toys and clothes - it was such a fun surprise to be given a box of shoes and swimsuits, a box of PJs, and a box of clothes - Beckett is such a lucky girl to have family like this - thanks so much, sweet Emma!

Week 78: 7 Days of Beckett

8/2; diva during walk with mom!

8/3 - omg this girl's hair is getting so long! You can kind of see one of her little birth marks, too!

8/4; playing at Chick Fil A with cousin Dane in South Carolina, en route to meet her Great Grandma Shaw in North Carolina

8/5; cutie cousins running on Grandma's land - love this shot Devon got!

8/6; silly girl playing on great grandma's fireplace!

8/7; silly cousins on Grandma's front porch steps just before we left town!

8/8; Happy to be home, taking all of the books she can reach off of the book shelf!

• Saturday: Day with mom! Austin left in the morning for a guy's trip to Athens, so Monica & Baby John spent the day with us, and then Sharon came by in the afternoon! Everyone left by 4 so we walked the neighborhood, visited the playground and had a great night together - love her! 
• Sunday: Morning with mom! Family day once dad came home!
• Monday: Toddler room at the gym; visit from Aunt Devon & Dane for lunch; hit the road for North Carolina (road trip with Cousin Dane!); playground at Chick-fil-a; meeting Great Grandma Shaw for the first time and seeing her home; out to the Chinese buffet where B completely showed off her healthy appetite; playtime at Grandma's before bed
• Tuesday: First full day at Great Grandma's House; visit to Barnes & Noble for Story time; played with Cousin Dane at Train Table; out to lunch at J&S Cafeteria; naptime; playtime and meeting Great Aunt Melinda; ordered in pizza and met Great Uncle Joel
• Wednesday: Second full day at Great Grandma's House; out to lunch at Diane's Diner; playtime with Cousin Dane outside; visit from Aunt Melinda; out to dinner to our favorite, Geppeto's Pizza!; playtime and bedtime
• Thursday: packing up to go home; playtime with Cousin Dane; first time busting lip open (eek!); pictures before heading out; stop at Chick-fil-a on the way home; back in Atlanta by 3 p.m.; helping mom unpack; running errands with Mom; seeing Dada  - we missed him!
• Friday: obgyn visit with Mom - sweet girl held my hand during the ultrasound and was SO good; visit to the toddler room at the gym; errands with mom and then family night - she had missed her Dad since Monday night!

Beckett Goes to the Train Museum

Beckett, Gavin, Jake, Matthew & Graham outside the art caboose (Bonnie & Ben not pictured!)

Once a month, the Southeastern Railway Museum hosts Toddler Thursday with a theme. August's theme was tractors, and they plan out a two-hour mid-morning event for the kids. Our mom's group decided to go thanks to Bonnie's mom, Maggie, and we all met up there at 9:45 a.m. We were easily put into the same group, the red group, and given our map which told us which center to be at when. We had 30 minutes to kill before it started, so we toured the trains, including the inside, with the kids, and took lots of photos of course. The event included:

• Arts & Crafts in a train car - the kids were given a picture of a barn and tractor to color, and seeds to "grow" on the page
• Sandbox fun - a pool filled with sand and toy tractors; the kids were asked to "plant seeds" and run the tractor over them
• Story & Singing - they read a book on tractors and then sang several songs about the farm and tractors
• Tractor Tour - each kid had the opportunity to sit in the driver's seat of the tractor and play with the wheel, gears, etc., and have their picture taken of course
• Tractor Hay Ride - a hay ride around the property ended our visit

It was a lot! Truly. The closer it got to lunch the more difficult the kids were, and since it essentially went from 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. it got a little dicey there at the end! Beckett loved the arts and crafts (coloring all over the table, trying to climb onto the table); story & singing (especially singing - she clapped hands and had an absolute blast); and any free play - just roaming the property, climbing into the trains, etc. She had no interest in the sandbox, she flat out refused to sit on the tractor for a photo, and by the time we were on the hayride she was just tired and squirmy and ready to go home for lunch. All in all, I would say totally worth it, I would love to go back in September for the new 'School Bus' theme, I will plan to bring a picnic lunch and her milk so she can be 'held over' and make it longer to have more interest in participating for the full event. Anyway - enough about the event, here's the fun part - more pictures!

Graham, Becks & Gavin - and mommy hands to make sure none of the kids pitch forward since they're crazy toddlers

B and a train

B touring the inside of a train - she wasn't sure about it - but she was insistent that only my water bottle would do

Group photo attempt - got Ben but not Bonnie and not one single kid is looking - sigh! haha

Hay riding with Sarah & Gavin - see how Becks isn't into it? But how cool does Gavin look? LOL

Lisa, Tracie and their cuties, Matthew & Jake on the hayride

Beckett's 18-Month Visit

Being a silly girl in the patient room at her 18-month visit on Monday

Our little Beckett has officially broken 20 pounds! We has another great visit with the pediatrician on Monday for her 18-month-old well visit. Here's some details:

• Height is 31.5" in the 45th percentile, almost a foot taller since birth!
• Weight is 21 pounds 12 oz. (so almost 22!) in the 40th percentile
• Head circumference is 18.5" - exactly 5" bigger than her two-week visit in the 75th percentile
• They did the first autism screen asking me a series of yes or no questions - she passed with "a 100" he said, which eased my mind of course! Many she demonstrated during the exam such as "points to things she wants," "looks you in the eye for longer than 3 seconds", "climbs an object", etc. 
• We talked about my biggest concerns of hers (e.g., throwing food, throwing toys in frustration, etc.) and he said they were totally normal and to just continue avoiding saying "no" as much as possible since they think it's a game, and to instead try to avoid the problem all together until she is through the stage or do substitutions (e.g., playing with an iPhone just replace with a toy vs. saying no; throwing food - give only a one bite at a time, etc.)
• We talked through potty training and he strongly suggested waiting until 2, but did say to go ahead and talk about the potty, let her join us in the bathroom, get a potty, etc. She is showing several signs of readiness but not all, and he said this is on right track with her age and gender.
• He confirmed that I can go ahead and do nuts and peanutbutter and all - he actually said for our next baby they say you can do it as early as 4 months! It's changed again - shocker! So, we'll try that this week - I'm excited. :)
•  She was given her last vaccinations and of course she turned bright red and cried and pouted until we got to the elevator - she looks so betrayed afterwards - eek!

That was pretty much it! One big takeaway for me was to sign up for a CPR class. It's funny - when we were looking at daycares we always asked if all caretakers were CPR trained, but yet I take care of her 24/7 and haven't been properly trained! So, I'd like to cover that off this fall just in case something were to happen now that she's such an eater and is at the age still where most everything she finds ends up in her mouth.

So all in all, another good visit! Our next well visit won't be until she is 2 years old!

Week 77: 7 Days of Beckett

7/26; Beckett LOVES to climb the stairs - up and down all day long, usually tries to hold a ton of stuff which drives me crazy! haha

7/27; she often climbs up into the rocking chair in her room and gets books off the night stand and "reads" to herself - pointing and babbling!

7/28; she loves taking care of her baby doll and putting her in the baby bouncer seat. haha

7/29; obsessed with shoes - still - here she insisted on putting on my new running shoes!

7/30; park playdate with Harper & Roman - here's the girls sliding like big girls!

7/31; loving this pony tail - can't believe her hair is long enough!

8/1; insisting on wearing her new Fall shoes that are still a bit too big while wearing PJs in mommy's closet during mommy's water - this girl!

Her Week in a Nutshell:

• Saturday: Family weekend at home! Errands with Dad!
• Sunday: Church and another family day at home!
• Monday: Gym Toddler Room with Mom; grocery store!
• Tuesday: Gym Toddler Room with Mom; walk with dad!
• Wednesday: Morning park time with Roman & Harper; errands with Roman and his mom Josie
• Thursday: Gym Toddler Room with mom; family walk with Mom, Dad, neighbor Jamie and friend Payten
• Friday: Gym Toddler Room with mom; afternoon errands with Mom

Week 76: 7 Days of Beckett

7/19; seriously loving the new playroom which is getting us through these rainy afternoons where we can't go outside!

7/20; emptying the buckets to get inside the buckets = standard

7/21; she climbs into the learning tower herself now which absolutely cracks me up!

7/22; someone scratched her nose during her overnight sleep - time to clip nails!

7/23; this girl cracks me up! Whenever we go into her bathroom she brings a book and plops down on the bouncer seat and stats reading - too. funny. haha

7/24; love this girl's soft, loose, sweet curls! Wish they'd stay, but can tell that the longer it gets the less curly it is

7/25; Family selfie at Mommy's OBGYN - Beckett is going to have a sibling soon - the blurry thing on the left is the ultrasound picture - Beckett wanted to crumble, rip and eat it of course

Her Week in a Nutshell: 

• Saturday: Day with Gigi!; Night with Dad while Mom went to a Favorite Things Party at Chanel's
• Sunday: Church and then family day!
• Monday: Toddler Room at gym and then errands to Grocery Store
• Tuesday: Toddler Room at gym and then errands to Target
• Wednesday: Errands - mostly for the pups taking them back and forth to Suwanee for their comprehensive exams - Beckett loves seeing all the doggies!
• Thursday: Toddler Room at gym; playtime with Dad!
• Friday: OBGYN family visit to confirm the pregnancy and see the baby; Toddler room at the gym; family night!

Week 75: 7 Days of Beckett

7/12; backyard fun at Peyton's house celebrating her mom Sharon's 32nd birthday!

7/13; Becks and mama after church 

7/14; her obsession with this bucket continues! We went to check the mail and then she ran to the playground!

7/15; dress up with Reagan and Sydney!

7/16; Ikea with cousin Dane!

7/17; playdate with Cousin Dane!

7/18; loving her new big wheel that is too big for her - she likes to put her things in the basket though and push it around haha

Her Week in a Nutshell: 

• Saturday: Visit with friend Peyton to celebrate her Mom's 32nd birthday! Backyard fun and dinner with Peyton, Charlotte & Brock - lots of cute kiddos!
• Sunday:  Church with Mom & Dad & then family day!
• Monday: Gym/Toddler Room with Mom; afternoon playground fun!
• Tuesday: Gym/Toddler Room with Mom; playdate with Reagan, Sydney & Finley!
• Wednesday: Errands with Mom; Ikea with Aunt Devon & Cousin Dane; first time playing in new playroom!
• Thursday: Visit from Gigi, Aunt Devon & Cousin Dane; backyard and playground fun; Gigi stayed over!
• Friday: Day at home with Mom & Gigi; PJ fun; errands around town; another sleepover with Gigi!