Puddle Jumping

Ainsley was scheduled to go to Lisa's yesterday, but Lisa woke up sick.  That meant Ainsley stayed home with Mommy, which turned out to be a pretty good day.  It was so nice outside, in the 60's, so after her nap, we took a walk to the post office and then came back home to have some fun in the puddles in front of the house. 

We haven't been able to go on a walk for a few months now because of the weather, and Ainsley loved it.  She waved to everyone we saw.  If she even heard a vehicle in the area, she would look all around until she found it so she could wave.  She also had to point all kinds of things out on our walk...a "big" truck, car, grass, and of course she found a clock.  She thought her speedometer on her car looked like a clock. 

In case I haven't mentioned lately, Ainsley loves clocks!  It can be the smallest clock, that I would never have even paid attention to, and she'll point it out and say "clock", "tick tock tick tock". 

She couldn't understand why I wouldn't get the slide out of the garage for her to play with, but finally settled on a ball and her Cozy Coupe for a while.

Then, we went out to the puddles.  Boy, oh boy, did she have a blast!  At first, she wasn't so sure about it and would barely jump.  She then figured out she would stick her hands in the water and splash, but of course, she didn't like it on her hands at first.  Here's a video of her dipping her hands in the water.

She would close her eyes at first when jumping!

Check out that face!

After a little while, she really started jumping and decided it was pretty fun!  Here's a video of her jumping.

She then figured out she would pick up rocks and throw them in the water, (video here) which led to getting her hands as dirty as she could by grabbing handfuls of mud!  In the earlier video, you can see her pick up rocks and she laughs when she throws them in.  She thought it was funny!  Here's a video of her playing in the mud.

Of course, she got water/mud on her face from jumping in the puddles, which led to her trying to get the water off of her face with her muddy hands.  That led to a muddy face!  She didn't care, though.

After playing outside for almost two hours, she was wore out and finally just sat down on the curb to take a break.  She had to show me where the sun, clouds, and trees were.

I finally got her to go inside, where we immediately got in the bath tub.  She didn't understand why I took her clothes off in the garage, and why her rubber boots weren't coming in the house with us!  She left a pretty good dirt ring in the bathtub yesterday afternoon.  I can't wait for more adventures with my little girl!

Keeping busy

I think everyone is finally starting to feel better in our house.  I went to the doctor again on Tuesday and got an antibiotic, ear drops, nasal spray and some more Tylenol sinus.  I didn't sleep but a few hours Monday night from the ear pain, so it was a huge relief to finally get an antibiotic and the ear drops.  I'm still not 100% back to normal, but getting closer.  Ainsley seems to be doing good, so I hope we can continue to stay healthy.

Little cheeser!

We've had a busy week.  Work has kept me very busy, and not feeling well has really put a damper on the week.  Jim's birthday was on Thursday, so we all headed over to Evandy's Boatel for supper.  Of course, it was a little crazy with all the kids, but it all worked out.  I love listening to the conversations between Drake and Lani.  Drake looked at her at one point and asked her if she knew how much he weighed.  He informed her he weighed 40 pounds.  The things kids talk about!  Later, after he got his food, he looked at Lani and asked her if she wanted her Hushpuppie.  He held his up in front of her and said: "This is a hushpuppie....if there was a puppy in here, we could say "hush", "puppy".  He's so funny!

Jim and Drake

It's amazing how fast Ainsley's changing.  I love to sit back and watch and listen to her.  She's started jabbering and we have no idea what she's saying.  She'll repeat it 5 or 6 times trying to get you to understand, and we finally just have to agree with her because we have no clue what she's trying to tell us.

She walked all around the house the other night with the box on her head.  She only ran into the walls a few times...

She no longer calls me "Trista", instead she calls me "Mom".  And, she literally yells "Mooommmm" 50 times a day now.  If she wants something, she'll yell "Mooommmmm".  Joel swears she says it all the time just to annoy me.  She says it that much!  We're working on getting her to call Joel "daddy".  She still calls him "Joel".  He gets mad and starts ignoring her when she says it, but I think she continues just to make him mad!  Here's a video of her saying "Mom" and then yelling for her Daddy, "Joel".

Another new thing she's started doing is acting like her spoon/fork is an airplane.  She'll use her baby's spoon and act like it's an airplane when putting the bananas in her baby's mouth.  Today at lunch, she decided to do the airplane with herself while eating her macaroni and cheese.  Here's a video of that.

She loves dancing, and has even started singing!  There's a song on one of her Mickey dvd's that she watches in the car that she loves.  When it comes on, she starts singing right along with it and even knows when certain parts are coming up.  It's so cute!

Hollywood!

If you asked Ainsley what her name was for the last month or so, she would tell you "Ainsley".   The other day, I asked her what her name was and she responded with "girl".  Not again!!!!  Blaine calls her "girl" at the sitter's, so I guess she thinks that's what her name is again.  No matter how many times I say "Ainsley" or tell her that's her name, she still responds with "girl" instead of "Ainsley".  Here's a video of her dancing around the basement and then telling me her name is "girl".

Her rubber boots are still a staple in her wardrobe when she's at home.  She walks around the house in them and refuses to take them off.  At least they matched her outfit the other day!  She absolutely loves her Minnie Mouse dress that Grandpa Bill got her, and will walk around all day pointing to Minnie on her belly.  Here's a video of her showing how she can jump (in her rubber boots and all)!



She had to eat with her boots on the other night

I was taking a picture of her in the high chair with her boots on the other night and she kept asking for "more".  She wanted me to take more pictures!   She never wants her picture taken!  I would snap another picture and she'd laugh and ask for more again. 

Loving it!

Asking for more (in sign language)

Doritos have become one of her favorite foods.  She'd eat them for every meal if I let her. 

Look at my cheesy fingers!!!

Ainsley usually falls asleep while watching tv or in her high chair for nap time, but she's wanted me to rock her two days this week.  This Mommy isn't complaining!!!  It was so nice to rock my baby to sleep!

Picking her nose has also become fun this week.  I don't know how many times I've had to tell her to get her finger out of her nose...

There are pictures hanging down the hallway and Ainsley loves it when we hold her and point everyone out in the pictures.  I was getting ready the other day in the bathroom, and Ainsley stood in the bathroom doorway and would point to everyone in the pictures.  She knows exactly who everyone is and where they're at on the wall.

I ordered a new dress for Ainsley's 2 year pictures and it came in the mail this week.  Ainsley couldn't wait to put it on and then didn't want to take it off! 

Loving her new dress

Ainsley stayed at Grandma Shelly's Friday night while Joel and I went to a friend's house for a few hours.  She had fun playing with Uncle Tanner and the puppies.  We woke up Saturday morning and I gave her a bath in the kitchen sink.  She had a blast and thought it was so much fun!  She didn't want to get out.

I caught her playing in her room the other day.  She was busy reading books!

She can't quite put the tiara on her head the right way by herself, but at least she tries!

Princess Ainsley

Mickey is still her favorite show to watch, and she'll watch it any chance she gets!

Sitting at her table watching Mickey

Watching Mickey on the laptop...

We went to Grandpa Bill's for a few hours yesterday afternoon and Ainsley is still scared of her Princess car.  As soon as you push the pedal for it to go, she hops out.  She finally hit the pedal herself on accident and seemed to be okay with it for a few minutes, but it's a lot more fun to just stand in it and make Mommy a nervous wreck while trying to grab stuff off the table.

We've got another busy week coming up with Ainsley's second birthday on Friday!

Celebration

I'm working most of the weekend, so Joel's on Daddy duty.  He was able to take Ainsley outside for a little bit yesterday morning.  It was in the low 50's, and she was excited to go out.  The wind was blowing pretty good, so they didn't stay out long, but it was nice for her to get some fresh air.  She likes to play hide and seek with Daddy, and yesterday figured out she could hide, too.  It was pretty cute.  She ran into where Joel always hides and would yell for him.  Of course, she wouldn't wait for him to find her.  She isn't very patient!  She would jump out after being in her hiding spot for only a few seconds!

Last night, we went to Lonzerotti's to celebrate Ashton's 15th birthday.  I can't believe she'll be driving next year!

Party time!

Of course, Ainsley couldn't wait for the cake and wanted some as soon as we got there.  Ashton finally blew out her candles so we could eat cake!

Happy 15th Birthday, Ashton!

Drake wasn't happy when Ashton smeared icing on his face.  Major meltdown!

I brought a few toys to try to keep Ainsley entertained, but ended up not really needing them.  I'm glad we didn't need them, since Drake was more interested in her toys than she was.  He especially loved her baby doll, and played with it most of the night. 

Ainsley being our "perfect" child!

Drake drinking from the baby's sippy cup

He took good care of the baby, and made sure she had plenty of bananas and juice.