Firsts

First smile... First tooth...
First steps... First words... First birthday...

And of course... First jet-ski ride!

Then... And Now...

Some things never change... Besides the chang in clothes and the swing technology, toddlers still spend their nice sunny days enjoying the same simple things.

My mom dug up these pictures from when I was a little girl this weekend. She brought them up to my Grandma's house while we were there. I handed them to my Grandma and she goes "Oh, look at Taryn..." I said "Grandma, that is me." She started looking through the pics and said "Which ones are you and which ones are Taryn?" I said "THEY'RE ALL ME." I don't think that Taryn looks THAT much like me, but there you can definitely tell we're related!

Whoops... 11 months come & gone

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Yeah, so... Taryn turned 11 months like 5 days ago. And I'm just getting around to blogging about it. I'm telling ya, I'm busy. For real. This was a really big month for Taryn. She started walking!!!! She went from taking a couple steps between toys on one day. To the next day taking three steps... To walking across the living room the next day. She is still a bit scared of falling, so she is timid about walking, but if you can take her mind off of things, she can really walk! She got her first molar. She is up to NINE teeth now. According to the books, this is really early for her to get a molar. I'm pretty sure that it is part of her love of eating. She willed a molar to come in so she can better chomp some big people food!

Taryn is a little chatterbox. Her main words are "Mum" "Dat" "all done" and "bye". Other than that, she spends most her time saying "uh duh". She can do a 10 minute lecture entirely comprised of "uh duh". It is the same word over and over but it has different facial expressions, intonations, etc. Sometimes she'll get right up into my face and look deep into my eyes with a look of total seriousness and say "UH DUH". She loves to give her "cheesy smiles" where she scrunches her face all up and gives a big smile.

Taryn is into EVERYTHING. With every passing day, she can reach new shelves that she couldn't reach the day before. We are running out of places that she can't get to! Our printer was on the receiving end of her delicate touch and now needs to be propped up by a box. Taryn also had a run-in with Jasper that didn't end too well. Taryn actually fell on top of Jasper and Jasper kicked to try and escape and scraped up Taryn's arm pretty good. The woman at daycare was none too happy with our parenting skills the next morning...

Taryn took her first jet-ski ride last weekend. She wasn't a big fan of the life jacket, but she seemed to enjoy the jet-ski. Taryn still hates her shoes, which is frustrating since we have been going outside so much more. We just got her a swing for our front porch. Her response was luke warm. She likes it if we are entertaining her while she is swinging. However, just the swinging doesn't do a whole lot for her.

Taryn now wears size 24 months shirts and size 18 month pants. She is wearing size 4 diapers. We are planning her 1 year birthday party which is mind boggling to me! This month has made me feel like she's not going to be my little baby much longer. I think the walking is what really made me feel that way. I can't believe my next blog will be talking about her being a whole year old! In some ways, it feels like that year has flown by, but I can barely remember what life was like without her.

Upcoming excitement for this month: mommy is going to teach her to swim, we got a sprinkler for the front yard, Taryn's first Cubs game in a couple weeks, and of course, the big FIRST BIRTHDAY!

What have we been doing?

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Because clearly the answer is not blogging.

Besides being busy with work, student teaching, school, Taryn, wedding showers, bachelor parties, Easter... Yeah. Besides all that, we have slowly been making our bathroom liveable again.

This used to be our "wall" between our kitchen and bath. It was rather convenient if you were sitting on the pot and needed to say something to someone in the living room. Just open the shower curtain wall and BAM you're there.

This is where the old vanity used to be. Notice the ugly walls behind the shower. Yeah. Not only are they ugly, but they are completely not water resistant. Great idea.

Can you say UGLY? And sadly, we had already done some stuff to make the bathroom look better. Like rip out the carpet. GAG. HURL. You don't need to notice the handicap bar in the tub to know the people that lived here were OLD.

We ripped out most of the walls and ceiling. We put in insulation (there used to be none, brrrrr) and new dry wall/cement board.

We had to take out the old tub which weighed all of 3-400lbs. And it was just Lee & I. Our neighbor came out (conveniently right when we were done) and told us that it took them four men to move theirs. I must give Lee and I credit. We worked smart and utilized some creative tools. Like getting the tub halfway into the Explorer and then using the Explorer to relocate it. Removing the tub was rather gross, if you can't tell by my face in the pic above.

Bare bones.

New tub & insulation.

New vanity is in.

This is now where there used to be just a shower curtain dividing the kitchen & bathroom. Much more privacy!

The tile in the shower has begun.

A better pic of the vanity with the top on!

So, at the moment, we are having to take baths because the tile around the shower isn't done... That is kind of a pain in the butt in the mornings when we are both getting ready, but you can really see the progress and tell that the bathroom is going to look great when it is done. When we had ripped out all the walls, I told Lee it was sad, but the bathroom looked better with no walls than it did when we moved in. Yeah. It was one. ugly. bathroom.

Daddy's little protege.

A little late... But... Happy Easter!

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We had a pretty busy little Easter weekend last week. Saturday was spent out in Fowler, IN at Lee's grandma's house. We went up to his parents' in Monticello that night and watched the NCAA games. Sunday we visited with his family a bit more before coming back into Lafayette to eat with my family at my grandma's house.
This was Taryn's first Easter basket. It is pretty tough to make a basket for someone who is too young for candy... Taryn's basket contained a couple bottles of bubbles ("I wish I loved anything as much as my kids love bubbles.") and that kind of creepy Mr. Potatohead-bunny. Oh, and some plastic eggs. What did she like best? Yeah, the plastic eggs.

Ahhhh, I love having a little doll... I mean little girl. While I hate dresses, they sure are fun to put Taryn in!

I believe the caption for this should say, "The hat, mom? Really?"

"You look ridiculous, Carly."

Look at that little pose. What a little ham. An Easter ham?

Double Digits... 10 months!

Taryn is 10 months old today! As usual, it seems like time is flying by and everyday she's less of a baby and more of a little girl. It seems like a lot has changed in this last month. She is now taking a couple steps here and there. When she is standing up, she'll let go of whatever she is leaning on and balance for awhile. She has crawled a little, but it is usually just so she can get into a good position to get back on her butt and scoot.

Taryn has started to assert her independence by throwing some little tantrums. When I try to put her down when she wants to be held or, you know, keep her away from light sockets, she'll throw back her head and arch and get stiff as a board. Or if I try to stand her up when she doesn't want to, she gets jello legs and collapses in a whining heap. I have started to try to just ignore them, so when she starts, I just let her lay on the ground and I walk away. She usually calms down pretty quick.

Taryn is a baby who knows what she likes and doesn't like. She hates my mom's shower curtain. She also hated a comforter that we saw at Bed Bath Beyond. (My mom is pretty sure Taryn is trying to tell her that her shower curtain is ugly.) She is particular about the patterns that she likes. She is also very wary of certain textures. As I mentioned, she hates grass, she doesn't like scrub brushes, she is iffy when it comes to bushes out in the yard. Apparently she is also scared of the big tube at daycare (good to know since I was considering buying her one for her birthday). Oh, and she hates shoes. She likes to pull her socks off constantly too. She likes the kitties, but she is still too rough with them. Apparently my mom's cats will let her beat on them... Our cats are not so laid back.

Taryn is still in size 18 months clothing. The pants are still a bit big on her, but now the shirts are bordering on snug. I think she has a long torso. She wears size 3 diapers, but wears size 4 at night. We would put her in all size 4's if they weren't more expensive... She likes to eat things when she can pick them up and feed herself. She enjoys greenbeans and cheese the most. She also still loves her puffs and Lil' Crunchers. She is drinking less and less formula, but really isn't a huge fan of juice. She generally goes right to sleep at 7pm and sleeps until 6am. She still fights naps, but she has been taking 2 hour naps at daycare. She LOVES the Puerto Rican lady, Wanda at daycare and can say "ti ti" which means auntie in Spanish.

I'm really excited to spend the summer with Taryn. I want to take her to the pool and let her run around in the yard (if she'll get over her grass aversion). We'll be able to take her out on the boat at Lee's parents' lakehouse. Just 6 more weeks of student teaching and then we have 5 weeks to hang out!

I pass on grass

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The ground has thawed. The snow has finally disappeared. The sun has come out of hiding. The river behind out house no longer has big chunks of ice floating in it.

We have all been wearing fleece jackets instead of our bulky coats.

And when we all get home from school, we hang out in the yard or on our porch.

Taryn loves to be outside. She likes the breeze blowing through her whispy hair. She likes to be carried around and touch different plants, the fence, the grapevine. She was amazed by the pine cone and the long grass growing down by the coop.

But then... I tried to put her down on the ground... And she arched. And she cried. And she pulled her feet up. And she acted like that might not be grass, but boiling hot magma I was trying to dip her in.

I sat her on my lap and tried to get her to touch the grass with her hands. Not gonna happen. She clung to mommy.

In the next few weeks, Taryn is going to have to overcome one of her aversions... Her aversion to grass, or her aversion to shoes!!

Soon to be Mrs. Critt...

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Last weekend we made the trek over to Tipton, IN (it's as exciting as it sounds) to shower my cousin Jamie with gifts for her upcoming nuptials. She is marrying Dr. Matt down in Cabo in about a week. Their wedding is going to be just the two of them on the beach with a champagne toast at sunset. I'm sure it is going to be beautiful and amazing which is just what they deserve!
Me & the Bride-to-be...
Jamie & the hostess Jenny

Jamie pretty much stocked her kitchen...

Taryn thought that the gifts were for her.

Here is Jamie with her soon to be mother-in-law and her soon to be step-daughter.

Save the Drama for your Mama...

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I have mentioned before that I have a feeling that Taryn is going to be a bit of a drama queen. She likes to be the center of attention. I can already imagine her wanting to be in theatre class instead of calculus and the school musical instead of track & field.

This...

Is...

What....

I Mean.

It doesn't matter though. Her interests don't have to be my interests. She's her own little person and I'll be proud and amazed no matter what she does.

it was strange to be teaching and then one of your students just sinks down to the floor... the low rider desk.

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