Field Trip Take 2

Laurelea's first daycare field trip was to the water park this summer, where she ended up falling and busting open her lip. This field trip was marked by another crazy series of events that continued the bad field trip luck.

Laurelea loves to push her strollers, so after trying to encourage her in one direction, she threw a fit and ended up hitting her head on the concrete . . . only to be followed by another fit where she jumped  from my arms and fell to the ground. Thankfully, on both occasions she was fine, but I was left wondering "who this child belongs to?" We take her out all the time, so I'm left concluding that it was a fluke and we are jinxed when it comes to day care field trips.

Here are some cute pictures of course none of the craziness was caught on my camera . . .

;Playing in the blue animal pen;
blue is currently her favorite color and one of  the only colors she consistently says.

inside with Jeffy

Nyla, Angel, David, Sala, L and Jeffy

petting the bunny

Nyla holding the bunny

Sala

L and I got close to the goats

Sulma and Jeffy

Jeffy and this huge cow. I would not let L go in as it freaked me out

running after the chickens was okay

and this was her favorite part . . . finding
a pumpkin (this is one of her FAVORITEST new words)

not many smiles from our little Bee today

Jeffy

Teyako (Nyla's Mom) and Janetta (Sala's Mom) both are expecting. There is something in the water at day care.
(disclaimer: as far as we know, we are not pregnant)

waiting for lunch

Nubia stepped in something . . . 

Pumpkin Picking

Today we went pumpkin picking. It's my favorite time of year with the leaves turning, weather shifting and all fun things to do outside.. It was 70 degrees by the time we left the farm. Check out our finds...

L and Lucy in the wagon that they had for us to take out and pick pumpkins with

someone loves her some wagon (choo, choo)

the huge pumpkin that you could go inside

checking out the gourds

picking out "the one"

giant pumpkins make great seats

family picture

riding pumpkins out to the corn maze

corn maze

Big Girl Bed

L has been a little too close to climbing out of her crib on a few occasions, so we, as very nervous parents, decided it was time to switch her bed into a big girl bed. She has been sleeping on a cot at daycare for the past several weeks and made that transition just fine. She is sleeping in it right now, so we will see if she actually is in her bed...

she tested it out a lot this morning by jumping up and down

"what you looking at, Mom?"

demonstrating for us how you go night-night in a big girl bed

***UPDATE*** After a brief middle-of-the-night cry session (wow, we almost forgot what that was like--thanks for reminding us Laurelea), we made it through the night!  Laurelea was out cold when I (Cory) got her at 7:45 this morning.

Anacostia Watershed Society Benefit

Cory bought us each a recorder so to gear up for the party, we had a jam session

Last night we went to an event at the Anacostia Watershed Society. Our friend Lee (McCamy's Dad) works for the society. Their headquarters is right down the street and it's building, a former Tavern on the site of an inn that Washington visited often during his trips up and town the East Coast.

Official Yamaha Soprano Recorder Player

Jam sessions require cool shades of course

hanging with McCamy at the benefit

Cory was quite popular with Avery and L

Columbus Day

In honor of Columbus Day, we did lots of exploring...

We explored how cool bubble baths are 

and how to play in the dirt with gloves

we explored the big play ground at the park (doesn't she look like a big girl here)

and L's budding techniques as a finger paint master

watch out grandparents--new art is on it's way!

Elk Neck Camping Trip

After our failed camping attempt in the backyard due to a rain out we tried our hand again this weekend at Elk Neck State Park in MD. It was about a 1.5 hour drive and we timed it just perfectly going up there and L napped the entire trip. Lonna, Clay and George arrived shortly after we did. We've decided that if we are going to do a camping trip again that we have got to commit for more than one night. After all the pack up, unpack and then repack we are pretty beat. 

Getting the fire started with Dad

Needed wood

George arrived!

drinking some agua

we headed down a trail from our campsite and found that we had our own private beach

As George had his shoes off, L had to take hers off too

George

L throwing rocks

This kept her occupied, which minimized the sand consumption 

The view

George and L

Getting dinner started

L helped by hanging out in the chair

we visited the nature center as it rained in the morning

They had a terrapin... 

after a long night for all, L was ready for some breakfast

20 Months Old

People warned us that you would change right before our eyes, but we never expected it to happen so suddenly. You are so charismatic and friendly with everyone on the street. You love to greet animals, people and friends you know. Your little personality is really shining through and it is such fun to step back and let you shine. 

This month you are starting to transition to only one nap a day. These means we have tons more time in the morning to play and do activities, but it also means that your old parents don't have the break that we are accustomed to.

 You also have quite the independent streak and really would like to do what you want to do at all times. Most of the time we accommodate you but there are the 10-15 times during a day where you have to things that you are not fan of. You often revolt, kick and if you are really ticked you hit us. We have started putting you in regular timeouts. Timeouts happen in your crib, where we turn off the lights and shut the door.  Timeouts are generally warranted for hitting, throwing food and or out right disobeying our wishes. We have seen some progress as a result of your timeouts... still more is to be made....

You still love other kids, especially those that are smaller than you and we are amazed at how gentle you can be with them, considering how you are with us sometimes.  

A major development this month is your hair. It has finally decided to grow!!! There are even some small traces of curls coming in.

If we had to guess I would say you are about 27 lbs. Your favorite food right now is probably yogurt. You also love juice, which is 90% vitamins and water and 10% actual juice. We also noticed,  that you have consistently had a reaction to seafood so we are keeping you away from fish and all shellfish for the time being. 

You have made great strides this month in starting to potty train. You have made it to the potty several times. We still have a long way to go on the potty training front, but it is nice to know that you can go to the bathroom on the potty. 

We love you Laurelea and can't wait to see what all you are up to this month! 

Look at how big you look 

the always funny try to run from mom and Woody 

Woody fell over so you imitated him... 

Hollar

You are so big!