To My Sweet Genevieve,
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| First day of "school" was a success while Mommy was working! |
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We have been busy, busy, busy getting used to a new schedule that your 20 month birthday zoomed right past us and now it's September! In recent weeks I took on a new project and am working more than I have since you were six months old. This also means you've been spending more time away from me and having fun meeting new kids and getting special play time with a couple of great people in our lives who are taking care of you for a few hours each week. After having very loose schedule since moving in June it's been a big (but welcome) change.
In mid-August we packed up the car for a short road trip to Austin with a pit stop in Brenham, Texas home of Bluebell Ice Cream. Though there weren't any real cows (like your daddy and I thought there would be) there were plenty of pictures, videos and a statue of your favorite animal. We went on the factory tour and watched the ice cream get packaged and ready to ship off to stores all across Texas and some of the surrounding states. To our delight you LOVED the factory tour and said and signed "more", "more", "more" when the boxes of ice cream sandwiches and cartons of Homemade Vanilla slid down the line past the windows we were peering through. The highlight was definitely the ice cream parlor at the end--you of course picked strawberry ice cream for your scoop and savored every bite.
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| We had to get in a little live music in Austin and went to Stubb's Gospel Brunch. You tried the fried catfish and couldn't be restrained by the high chair so we let you out to boogy down. |
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| You didn't need any help figuring out the "corded" phone in our hotel room. |
We had a very nice, relaxing time in Austin. It was the first time your Daddy and I had been back since we lived there seven years ago. The city has definitely changed and grown but after driving around a bit we started to get our bearings and found one of our favorite spots--Mt. Bonnell. Our city girl was a little unsure of what to think about looking over the hills and lake from that high up, but you enjoyed running around the trails as long as we didn't take your picture. We even saw a huge hawk soar right over our heads! You learned a few new words in Austin including "bat", "bat", "bat" when we watched the bats take flight from under the Congress Ave. Bridge (one of my favorite "weird" Austin things to do). I honestly had forgotten how beautiful Austin is and I'm so glad that's where we decided to go for a little reprieve, and was most appreciative that you even understood by the second day that vacation days don't include 6:15 wake up calls (we all slept until 8:00 three days, an amazing gift for mom and dad!).
You are adding new words and even a few phrases to your vocabulary every day. You've perfected "peeees" and "thayn you" and use them frequently (sometime accompanied by their sign), but "here you go" and "there you go" are my personal favorite things you say. And just this week you started putting your finger to your chin and saying "hummm" when pondering a selection of choices like snacks or books or which vegetable to pick at the grocery store. On a recent trip to the store we passed by the berries and as I looked over the prices and at the condition of the berries you pointed at the blueberries and said something else for the first time, "Momma, boo!" I looked at you and asked if you really wanted them because they were pretty expensive this week (seriously, $5/pint--they were $.99 at the same store a week earlier), and you looked at me square in the eye and said, "Mom-ma" very seriously. You ate half the pint before we got home.
You continue to love music, hum along, dance and have VERY strong opinions regarding what we listen to in the car and at home. Right now Zac Brown Band's "Jump Right In" is frequently on repeat along with Sugarland's "Genevieve" which you start bopping around to the second it comes on the iPod.
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| A very rare moment in our house, napping on the couch. |
We've been able to squeeze in a few more swim days between invitations from friends and our vacation. You've dunked your head in the water dozens of times now and love to "1, 2, 3, jump!" from the edge (which is more like a belly flop). Counting down is another favorite--you haven't joined in yet, but I've pretty sure you're understanding the idea and it's a saving grace on grocery and Target runs these days now that you can escape the buckle of the cart. When you start to get fidgety I say, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, blast off!" and it keeps you entertained and in your seat just a little while longer (Why? I have no idea, but I'm grateful I figured it out.).
12 Days of a Minnesota Christmas is still a favorite book, but it has a lot more competition these days from
Curious George, So You Want to be President and
Corduroy. Saying your night-time prayers is also high on the list of favorite things (it's one of our favorites too, especially when we list our intentions and you start saying, "Momma, daddy, momma, daddy"). The other night you didn't even want me to sing you a song, you just wanted more prayers.
And we can't forget the animals--you now mimic a rooster (thanks to a few in our neighborhood), chomp like an alligator, yawn like a hippo (you also fake sleep including a few snores like daddy ;)), whinny like a horse, say "hisssss" like a snake, "buzz" like a bee and you never miss a chance to pucker your lips at every picture or mention of a fish and sniff every real or pretend flower.
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| Discovered this great play area at Jenni's Noodles |
I wasn't even going to mention food, but after last night, I was reminded that this month has been all about mastering using a spoon by yourself and you are excited to eat anything that can go in a bowl and be eaten with a spoon without help (yes, this is very messy and I've had to up my game in the stain removal department). It may have been the height of a Houston summer, but we were inside having soup and chili many nights in August. Beef and barley from grandma and my veggie chili were two favorites--you at bowl after bowl of both. Chicken and hummus have been your favorite proteins and many fruits and a few veggies made a comeback after being on the rejected list for months including cantaloupe, watermelon, blueberries and zucchini (you insisted we get five of them at the grocery store this morning, so I hope it's still in the line-up of acceptable foods).
I love you sweet girl, and I look forward to what the fall and the return to going to the playgrounds and parks on a regular basis bring after making it through our first Houston summer. The good news is that we still have six-eight weeks of pool-worthy weather left so we won't be putting our little splash zone away for awhile.
Love,
Momma
Well, it finally happened, I stopped telling people your age in months and started replying that "You'll be two in December" or "a few days before Christmas". We have had a fun month with a few struggles thanks to all four of your canine teeth coming in and yet another growth spurt (I'm guessing you're closing in on the 3-feet-tall mark and are close to 30 pounds now!). That's actually why I started telling people you'll be two around Christmas, because strangers keep asking me if you're two or if you'll be two soon and I figure that if they think Christmas is soon (which it's not to me) then yes, your birthday is soon.
Your Great-Auntie Gerry, or Mamaw Gerry as we decided to call her, visited at the beginning of September. You two completely fell for each other, it was so cute to watch. She spoiled you by reading you about 100 books while she was here and doing puzzles over and over again. We showed her some of our favorite spots including Jaycee Park where the splash pad and huge playground are and picked up our produce co-op share at the Arboretum where the turtles you love live. You were really showing off the day we went to the park and followed one of your buddies up to the top of the tallest slide and went down right after she did--this slide is seriously two stories tall and all you wanted to do after you zoomed to the bottom (while I dashed to catch you) was do it again!
Eating from a bowl with a spoon is still how you prefer every meal so you've been eating a lot of yogurt, granola and berries for breakfast and I've been busy finding new soup recipes to try. Some of your favorites have been a Pulled Barbeque Chicken (Soup), Ginger Chicken Noodle Soup which after eating two helpings you swiped my bowl and slurped every last drop of the broth and this weekend I made a Mexican Squash and Pork (err, we told you it was chicken) stew and you ate everything in it and gave me three kisses when I refilled your bowl for the third time! I have to admit, I've really enjoyed the new dishes too even if we do have to crank up the air conditioning in order to get in the mood for a steaming bowl of soup (today the thermometer in the car reached 103!).
You are adding more words everyday and are really getting the hang of longer words and a few names--bubble, butterfly (buh-by), blue berry (bu-bee), belly button (bee-bee), baby (bay-beeee), apple, turtle, dino, Elmo, George (Goge), and Jo-jo (though you don't seem to understand that Joe is Daddy's "other" name). 
It's been a great month and I can't even imagine what the next few weeks
have in store, but one thing's for sure, I know you'll be keeping me on
my toes! I love you my sweet girl!
