Lauren Elizabeth: January 2014

14 Months

It has been a crazy month! Christmas holiday flew by. It was a really eventful time with the passing of my Grandpa Magleby and Christmas and New Years and trying to see everyone. I have many posts that I need to do to get all caught up, but for now I am going to do an update on Violet since I feel like she has been changing so much lately.

Her vocabulary has sky rocketed since we got to Utah. She learned how to walk while we were home and I'm pretty sure she gained the most weight over the holiday. She is seriously such a crack up. She tries to copy almost any word you say to her and it's usually pretty close to sounding like the real word. The other night we were at dinner with our friends Patrick and Sarah and she practically said Patrick perfectly. She still fake laughs whenever she hears other people laugh. She has started acting silly on purpose, which I love. She will make goofy noises or blow spit bubbles and look at us and laugh histerically. She is still sassy and sweet and a hoot all in one.

She learned everyone's names while we were home. She can say Grandma ( Mamaw) Grandpa ( Papaw) Max( Maaa) JoJo( Doe Doe) Kate ( Kay) Vinny( Dinny) Frankie (Ankie) Jayne( Nane) Dayna( Nana) Steve( Seeee) Chloe ( CloeCloe).

She learned new animal noises- Snake, Lion, Elephant, Bear, Bunny( this one she just blows air out her nose and wiggles it) and Alligator( this one she claps her hands together and says chomp)

She learned new animal names( she doesn't say them well but if you ask her to point at it she knows which one it is) Zebra, Giraffe, Elephant, Snake, Rhino, Alligator and Bear.

She learned to say 2 after you say 1.

She learned to say "Go" when you say " ready set".

She learned to say peek a boo and cover her eyes and throw her hands up.

She learned to blow kisses

She now pretends to be on the phone when she hears the phone ring and says " hello"

She learned to say snow right in time for this crazy storm that hit Michigan.

She learned to say please and thank you and all done. Lots of times when I give her some food on her tray she says thank you without me even prompting her. It's really sweet.

She learned the word no which has not been my favorite thing. It has been helpful in lots of instances for her to genuinely tell us she doesn't want something. I am not loving it when I try to wipe her hands and face though.

Her most favorite word is show. It was so nice in Utah because she had cousins to play with and new toys and we were out and about a lot. She hardly ever watched any shows( I would prefer it that way honestly) Then coming home on the airplane she got to watch to her hearts content b/c if she does she is the world's easiest traveler. Now since we have been home she constantly asks me for a show. It's not that I am anti TV or anything. I actually think she has gotten so good at her animal noises and names because of baby einstein but I love it when she reads her books and plays with toys.

She walks all over the place now and has yet to pull anything off a shelf or open a single cupboard. Seriously you guys the only thing she pulls off are her books from her toy shelves. Fingers crossed is all I have to say!!

She builds towers with her blocks. She is actually really good and gets them really high.

Now for the not so fun parts. She still hates it when any other baby comes into her space and touches her ( example: using her to pull up or steady themselves) She cries and will lots of times tell them no. We had a few instances with her cousin Frankie and hitting. Oh joy! She does not like being crawled on having toys taken from her. She doesn't seem to react that way to kids her size or older but if they are smaller than her she gets really defensive really quickly. We have taught her being soft and it is working for the most part.. except when she is soft with her sippy cup on babies heads.We will be working on that. She gets very distraught when I tell her no show. It usually involves some amount of crying and pouting. About once every other week she totally avoids her afternoon nap and plays in her crib for an hour or so. It makes for a really fun evening. I think we will be transitioning to 1 nap soon. She is a total drama queen if she falls or bumps into anything while walking. Mike and I usually just ignore her but she can pull out the theatrics real fast. We are not shocked at all that she has a flare for the dramatic. We could tell from a pretty young age that she was going to be like that.

Sorry this is such a long post but this is my journal for Vi and our family so if I don't jot it down then chances are I won't remember. Violet is a sweet heart and incase you were wondering she is still totally in love with her daddy and asks for him all the time. I still snuggle her to sleep almost every night because I love that time with her. She makes everyone happy around her because she is such a happy girl! I am grateful for her content personality and her ability to learn. She is already so compassionate with people and stuffed animals( seriously she holds them and pats their backs). We love her so much! I can't believe how big she is getting and how long her hair is starting to get. Before I know it she won't be a baby and that kind of kills me a little. Anyway that's our update on the Vi girl.