17 Months

Helen Grace turned 17 months old on October 25, 2010. Here’s what the little munchkin has been up to…

• Helen Grace weighs 23 pounds, wears 2T/24 mos shirts and 18 mos pants, and is in size 4 diapers.
• She loves to draw, and she has recently gotten attached to the Magna Doodle thing. She can even erase it when she’s done.
• I don’t know where she has picked this up, but she has just started trying to measure things with string. The other day at Grandma’s, she was trying to measure their heads, leg length, etc. Maybe she’s just playing with the string, but we think she’s somehow remember how the nurse does it at her check ups and is mimicking that.
• She can play games, look at pictures, and watch videos on my iPhone completely on her own. I’ll be in trouble when she figures out how to punch in my numerical code to unlock my phone!
• She adds new animals sounds by the day. She surprises me every time we go through the animals with one I haven’t heard. Tonight I heard a version of zzzz for a bee and something that was supposed to be a cock-a-doodle-doo for a rooster. She also says “bump” when we go in or out of the driveway.
• She has just started getting attached to/excited about bows. She really doesn’t have the need for one yet- she has a ton of hair but it’s not in her face yet- but she likes you to put one in it sometimes.
• She runs with reckless abandon, and for the most part, she does fine. She has a few tumbles now and then, but she’s pretty tough and rarely cries.
• Her coordination gets better by the day. She is quite the climber and can get up on any chair, couch, etc. all by herself. She is making great strides to putting socks on by herself too. She can now go up the stairs ‘big girl style’- only one foot on each step. When you sing “If You’re Happy and You Know It,” she claps at the right times. She can also match shoes or socks together.
• Although she does switch it up sometimes, she seems to be predominantly right handed.

Pick of the Patch

Since we enjoyed our trip to Cedar Hill Farm so much last year, this time we decided to bring along the grandparents. It was all that I had imagined (despite a few unfortunate raindrops and an impending thunderstorm)…Helen Grace trying to figure out the tractor and loving it when it started rumbling, climbing and tumbling on the hay bales, running full speed into the pumpkin patch, grabbing as many pumpkins as she could hold in her arms, trying to touch all the animals and then pulling her hand back with a squeal when they moved toward her, and giggling at and dancing to the animated chicken show. As much as she loves horses, I thought she would love the pony ride, but she FREAKED OUT. While it might look like she is hugging my neck in the pic, the video will show you that she really has me in a head lock and is threatening me if I don’t make the pony immediately stop moving. There’s always next year, right? We all had such a good time watching, laughing, and smiling. We are so blessed. I apologize in advance for the obnoxious amount of pics. I just couldn’t narrow it down anymore- too many good ones to share!

Cedar Hill Farm 2009: 5 months old Cedar Hill Farm 2010: 17 months old

Jackson Crew

On Saturday, we traveled to Jackson for a bittersweet trip. My cousins’ father passed away, and his service was that morning. I was sad for the occasion, but I am always grateful for the chance to hug my family and watch HG run around with her cousins. The girls swarmed Helen Grace like a cloud of locusts. She was a little overwhelmed by the attention at first, but she soon warmed up and was leading them around the church. Afterward, we stopped by GG’s for a visit. Helen Grace never ceases to be amazed by the French doors at her house. She would stand on one side and knock. My mom was on the other and would say, “Who’s there?” And then HG would poke her head around the door and just cackle…over and over!

“Knock, knock” “Who’s there?”

She just looked like such a big girl to me that day. She' cracks herself up! If you ever want to drink your own banana milkshake, don’t get within a mile of HG. She bats those long eyelashes at you, and even if you didn’t plan on sharing, you hand it over. And you’re lucky if you get a few sips by the time she’s done with it! That night at dinner she found the cars and wouldn’t eat a bite. She had to be sitting in the driver’s seat. She obviously has a little bit of her Granddaddy in her too.

What Happens at Grandma’s Doesn’t Always Stay at Grandma’s

Today Grandma and Geggy’s showed me some adorable pics of Helen Grace that they had taken on their camera, so I borrowed their memory card tonight so that I could save the pics on my computer. As I looked through the pics to find the ones I was searching for, I stumbled across some hilarious and cute ones from the summer. I laughed out loud at several of them! Enjoy a ride down memory lane of the summer through Grandma and Geggy’s eyes! Can you tell both of her grandmothers and her great-godmother are all teachers??? She’s quite comfy in a desk. :)Years ago, Peggy fell in love with their neighbor’s horse, Stain, who used to live across the street. He later moved to a farm down the street from us, so they often go visit. HG loves the play house and the big red barn!