Siena at 18 months

It's hard to believe our baby is already 18 months old! I feel like the months are flying faster and faster as she grows... Siena is certainly a busy little one who is constantly making us laugh and smile with her goofy personality. Her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds, and it's amazing how much easier it is to communicate now that she understands most of what we say. Of course, along with this comes an increase in Siena's independence, and she's definitely not afraid to tell us "no, no" when she doesn't want to go along with Mommy and Daddy's plans. Her "no's" are at their cutest when we're driving in the car and listening to one of her Silly Song CD's. After hearing just a few seconds of each song, she'll let us know if she wants us to skip ahead by saying "no," or stay on the song by clapping her hands or doing the hand motions. Her motor skills are skyrocketing as well, as she is constantly running, climbing, jumping, rolling, spinning, you name it. Now that spring is here it's all we can do to keep her indoors -- we are spending lots of time outside, and Siena will definitely let us know if we need to get out by shouting "YIDE! YIDE!" (translation -- "OUTSIDE!"), usually to take a walk down the street to visit the neighboring doggies. Another favorite activity is gardening with Winnie, something that Mommy needs to get better about before the weeds take over! It's going to be a great summer of outdoor fun, for sure.

Siena's 18-month checkup was today, and overall she's in excellent health. Height 60th percentile, head 60th percentile, and she's either on track or ahead of all her developmental milestones. The one concern continues to be her weight, which is 21 pounds and puts her in just the 8th percentile. The doctor didn't seem too concerned, though we'll bring her in again in a couple of months just to make sure she continues to gain. In the meantime I'm researching ways to boost her calories, so if anyone out there has any suggestions, let me know! I'm sure she wouldn't mind ice cream at every meal. :)

Easter Photos

Christ is Risen! Lots of great photos from Easter this year. It was a PERFECT day -- we couldn't have asked for better weather for Easter egg hunting. Siena loved her smocked bunny rabbit ("hop hop") dress, as well as the rabbit ears from last year! Compare this picture to last Easter's, below. It's amazing how much she's grown.

Easter 2009. What a difference a year makes!

Inspecting her Easter bunny loot. The Easter bunny was extremely generous this year, probably partly due to the fact that her birthday is so far away and she's due for some new toys (or at least Mommy is ready to play with something new!). Other than some new books, candy, etc, she also received a little gardening set and boots to help Mommy and Daddy in the yard. Should go nicely with the wheelbarrow from Aunt Mary! Another big item was the Fisher Price barnyard set that we all remember so fondly as kids. Other than the people and animals (which are bigger), it hasn't changed too much. Siena LOVES it!


Trying her first marshmallow peep. Despite her initial reaction, she quickly became a fan (clearly taking after her dad, not her mom -- yuck!).

With Mommy, cousin Tim, and second-cousin Leah. Siena learned to say "Leah" pretty quickly after some fun playtime -- it's great to have another little cousin around for these family events!

My Blue Deviled eggs, in honor of our Duke Blue Devils making the championship game this year! They went on the next night to WIN IT ALL, beating little Butler by 2 points. What an incredible game... GO DEVILS!!

Laughing with Mommy...

... and Daddy

The hunt is on! Siena had been practicing all week for the Easter egg hunt, and it paid off -- she had collected the majority of the eggs within 5 minutes. Of course, her main competition isn't yet walking, so she may have had a bit of an advantage... The only downside of this year's hunt was the tiny holes in the plastic eggs, which attracted tiny ants to their tasty contents. By the time the girls had filled their basket with eggs, they'd filled them with ants as well! Looks like we'll be doing real eggs next year.

Leah joins in the fun. She'll be a real contender next year!

Siena and PIcky: great pals

Wowing over Winnie's Easter cookies.

Another Easter bunny surprise -- Siena's very own Cozy Coupe for Winnie and Picky's house. Apparently Picky spent the entire previous evening assembling it, stripping down to his underwear as a result of the technical nature of the assembly. I spared my readers those pictures... Needless to say, Siena LOVES her new "vroom vroom!"

Coloring

Siena's favorite new indoor activity. We recently bought her some big Winnie-the-Pooh coloring pages, and she loves shouting "Eeyore, Eeyore, Eeyore!" when she wants to color. It's been a challenge teaching her to only color on her table (and she's tested the boundaries, believe me!), but she seems to be getting the hang of it. Looks like she's right-handed... Sorry, Grandpa and Uncle LJ.

Spring has Sprung!

We were SO thrilled to welcome in the warm weather this week, just in time for Easter. Springtime is definitely here -- trees are budding, flowers are blooming, and our spirits are high. Unfortunately Siena has been battling a cold / cough for about 10 days now, and I'm not sure if it's allergy-related or not. Thankfully it hasn't slowed her down much. Here are some recent photos from Winnie's yard:

Stopping to smell the flowers

Playing in the same birdbath her mommy played in as a baby

Winnie's big yard windchimes are the best

How 'bout a kiss, Millie?

Running with the doggies, playing ball in the yard. Life doesn't get much better than this.