When she finally lost interest in the bucket, she decided that reading her books was a good idea. Her new book she got for Easter is called "A Tale of Tails" and is very cute. One of her favorites right now is "The Monster at the End of the Book," which she is reading here.
When people say that kids grow overnight, they are so right!! I put Holly to bed one Sunday night and she woke up the next morning and I KNOW that she grew. I had to get out the 12 month clothes finally and put a bigger size sneaker on her when I dressed her the next morning. And she can still pack away the food. No more baby food for this girl; she is on all solids. She feeds herself at lunch and dinner and is drinking from her cup instead of using a bottle. She is getting to be such a big girl and its a little sad for me - but great at the same time.Here is one of my favorite pictures from spring break at Grandma and Grandpa's house. The poor girl was running a fever for a couple of days and I was thinking "Those pesky new teeth are finally coming in!" When I took her in for her 12 month checkup, she had an ear infection, which was why she was running a fever. Oops! And those teeth still aren't in! Even with the ear infection, she was pretty good and recovered quickly once we got the antibiotics into her. How lucky I am to have such a trooper when she is sick!
We celebrated Holly's birthday at my parents. The whole family was there for the big day and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves. Even though Holly was sick, she had a pretty decent day, I think. Here is her yummy birthday cake!
We practiced blowing on things for most of the day so that when candle time came around she would know what to do. She did a great job of blowing all day, but needed a little help when the pressure was on.
As usual, Holly enjoyed ripping the paper off of her birthday presents. She got a handmade blanket from Cousin Mike and his girlfriend Kala. Aunt Darla and Uncle Troy got her a cool swimming pool, bathing suit, robe, shades, books, and lots of toys! Grandma and Grandpa, who had just returned from the Cubs spring training, got her a Cubs T-shirt, bib, and socks. Her babysitter, "Grandma Millie," got her a fun piggy bank that plays music. Mama got her a musical aquarium with plastic fish and will be getting her an outdoor playset soon. Cousin Jessica got her some cute new outfits, bibs, and the awesome plastic floor tiles in the picture below. The have animals and buttons to press that make the animal sounds, as well as mirrors and puzzle pieces. (If I forgot anyone or anything, I am sorry! I do have it written down in her baby book.)
I am pretty sure that the best part of the day for Holly was cake time! She rarely gets sweet treats and gobbled up that cake like there was a danger of it disappearing. Of course the frosting was fun for a minute until she figured out that the cake tasted so good. She's become quite the little begger when she sees that someone has big people food. She will toddle on over and say "Mmmmmmmmm!!!" then open her mouth like a little bird for bites of whatever anyone is eating! She will go from person to person if she needs to. She is a funny, funny girl!
After presents, cake, and ice cream, we did a traditional Chinese birthday activity. We set out several items that represent possible things that Holly could be when she grows up. The silver spoon represented wealth, the book represented becoming an author, the apple juice (we had to improvise) represented teaching, the pen represented a business person, and the tape measure represented an engineer. I set Holly down in front of the items and she went right for the tape measure. She played with that the entire week we were at Grandpa's house! Of course, she had to examine all the other items after the tape measure, but that was the one thing that held her interest.
When we got home from spring break, a neighbor called to say they had a gift for Holly, too and were dying to bring it over to her. They came right over and presented her with this adorable little red tent! We put it up and she crawled right into it. You can see from her face how she felt about it! The cats also like it because they can play with Holly by peeking through the windows at her when she is inside and they are outside. So, now in addition to millions of toys, rocking horse, and excesaucer in the family room, we now have a tent set up as well! I am going to have to move us to the unused living room or turn the spare bedroom into a playroom.
Hopefully the weather will turn nice very soon so we can spend some time outdoors in the yard. Its supposed to get warm this weekend, but I'm not holding my breath, as I have been disappointed time and again this spring.But, as I am sure you can tell, things are wonderful in our home and I enjoy each and every day I get to spend with Holly. She has made my world a perfect place and I am lucky to have her in my life. On that note, I will leave you with one more adorable picture of my Little Bear. Sleeping pictures are just so sweet that I can't help myself from taking them!
