20 Months

Time keeps flying by and Laneah is almost two! She is growing and changing so much every day. She is so smart, sweet, beautiful and fiesty. Every day I just look at her and think how lucky I am to have her.

Words and phrases:

She is at the age where she is repeating pretty much everything people say (the stage where parents say "yikes, I really gotta watch what I say! :) So there are a lot of new words but I will just list some of my favorites.

Jesus- "zeezus" She loves looking at pictures of Jesus. We have a picture of Jesus with a woman kneeling at his feet and she looks at it, points and says "Jesus, mommy, Jesus, mommy"

Shoes- "Suse". She still loves putting on people's shoes. This little girl has the biggest feet. She is already a 6 1/2 shoe size. I bought her some shoes for fall and got them in a size 7, but am debating about exchanging them for a 7 1/2 with the way that her feet keep growing. She loves her new shoes though and wants me to put them on her every time she sees them. One pair of her new shoes she can put on herself so she puts them on every time she sees them and walks around in them.

Boom- Laneah is crazy about the Boom Boom Pow song by the Black Eyed Peas. When she hears the song, or wants to hear the song she says "boom, boom, boom". Lately she has been bringing me my Ipod and saying "boom boom" because she wants me to play the song so she can dance.

Hat- Hats are all the rage at our house. Laneah loves to put them on and make funny faces. My parents had a hat made with her name on it while we were in Ocean City.

Cool- Everything new is "cool" now, and it is so cute when she says it.

I love you- "ove ewe" So sweet, especially when it comes with a kiss!

Where did they go?- "Where dey go?" is Laneah's new game. She either sits on something or puts it between her legs to 'hide' the item, then asks "where dey go" and laughs.

New Things:

High Fives

Blowing Kisses

Being shy- lately this social butterfly has been very shy of certain starngers. She looks at them and then covers her face, thinking herself invisible.

Jumping and marching- She can actually get both feet off the ground when she jumps now. She learned to march from Barney.

Dancing and Twirling- This girl loves to dance and she loves to twirl even more. She loves going round and round. She likes when we spin her too and as soon as we stop, even though she is super dizzy, she says "again". She also likes to play Ring Around the Rosie.

Animal sounds: She has been able to do certain animal sounds for a while but she is starting to branch out now. Her favorite sound to make is the sheep sound.

This little piggy is a new favorite game too and it is a great way to get her not to kick us when we change her diaper:)

When she wants to show you something, or take you somewhere, she will take your hand and lead the way.

Current Obsessions:

Arcades and Kiddie Rides- Laneah loves arcades and her favorite games there are skee ball and bowling. She played the basketball game last time we went to Chuck E Cheese and had a lot of fun. The kiddie rides at the mall and stores are great because she doesn't usually care if they are on or not, she just likes to sit and play in them. But her favorite rides are the really fun ones at carnivals and amusement parks.

Barney- yep, she is still in love with Barney. She brings me the remote or one of the Barney dvds and says "Barney" when she wants to watch him. She doesn't really care for any other cartoons or movies.

Umbrellas- I am not sure why, but she is facsinated with umbrellas. So much, in fact that my dad bought her her own princess umbrella that is just her size. She loves playing with it and twirling it around.

Balls- balls trump all other toys and is her favorite word to say besides "no"

Animals- especially cats and dogs.

Water- she always wants to play in the water and is really funny about it. For some reason, if she finds a glass of water, she tries to get in it. I don't know if she thinks she can fit, or what, but she does succeed in getting one of her feet into the glass.

Flags- We have to stop and look at flags all the time, and if there is a flag around, that is what she wants to play with and look at.

Needless to say she is a lot of fun and a lot of work. As mom says, "Laneah wakes up and hits the ground running" and she is non stop all day. My little ball of energy hates to sleep and makes bedtime a very long and drawn out process. But I treasure the moments when she finally settles down and snuggles in my arms. Happy 20 months sweetheart! Daddy and mommy love you.

Up

We took Laneah to see her first movie in the theaters, 'Up'. She loved it! I was surprised, I didn't think that she would do well at all, but my mom told me that she would get up with her during the movie if she got upset. But the movie was full of balloons and puppies so she was happy and she only got up a couple of times near the end.

Laneah also got popcorn for the first time. Nana bought some popcorn and Laneah couldn't get it in her mouth fast enough. When she got to the bottom, she stuck both hands in to search for more kernels. And then she tipped it upside down just to make sure she got all of it. Lol. My mom had to get more popcorn! It was a really cute movie too.

A Day Trip to Ocean City

My parents are in town visiting this week and we decided to go on a day trip to Ocean City. When we arrived, we went to the Boardwalk. Laneah was happy to be out of the car and so we let her run around. She ran into one of the many arcades and had a great time playing the different games. Her favorite games were skee ball and bowling. She would throw the ball as hard as she could and just giggle and squeal.


After playing games for a little while, we had lunch and then headed for the beach. It was a nice day and the water was actually pretty warm. I had bought a little pool to fill up and put on the beach next to our stuff and Laneah loved it. It was nice not having to run into the water every few seconds.

Poppa helped her build sand castles. Although it was more like he built them and she destroyed them...but she had fun. She kept getting wet and then tripping in the sand. She was covered head to toe in sand most the time and looked like a little churro!
She also thought the seagulls or "birdies" were hysterical and loved chasing them.
She was so tired from chasing the birds and having fun that she passed out on the beach. When she woke up she was not happy at all. We got her some ice cream as a peace offering and she calmed down and let us put her in the stroller so we could get back on the boardwalk and have some more fun.

On the boardwalk we ran into Sponge Bob....
And a balloon maker; who made a flower bracelet for Laneah
About a month ago Laneah started going through a shy phase where she covers her face and thinks that she is invisible to the world. Since she had just woken up, she was being shy with the balloon lady.
But warmed up to her when she realized that she was going to get a cool balloon bracelet.
We munched on funnel cake and board walk fries, maryland style, and then went to the amusement park Jolly Roger, which I love because they let you ride the rides with your kids. The first ride we went on was a puppy dog ride and she loved it.
Her favorite ride was the balloon ride. She saw the "balloons" from a distance and gasped and covered her mouth. She couldn't wait to get on and we rode it twice.
The teacup ride was really funny because she had her arms out over the sides like she was just chilling out in a teacup. It was really cute.
She also loved the motorcycle ride.

She was so funny because she just loved the rides; when the rides would slow down she would say "no, no" because she didn't want them to stop. She laughed and squealed so much and did not want to leave the park when it was time to go. We will definitely have to go again. It was a really fun packed day!

First Hair Cut

Laneah's hair has been growing so fast. I can't believe how long it is. It is so cute, and even flips up in the back. Her hair had grown past her eyes, so it was time to have a first hair cut. Jen, my sister-in-law came over to the house and cut Laneah's bangs. We sat her in the high chair and gave her popsicles to keep her occupied. The cut only took a few minutes and I am sure that she can now see a lot better:)
Before her hair cut
Jen cutting her bangs

She looks so big with her bangs! I can't believe how fast my little girl is growing up.

Just a Little Ornery Today:)

Me: Laneah, what does a pig say?
Laneah: No!
Me: What does a duck say?
Laneah: No!
Me: What does a kitty say?
Laneah: Meow No!

Laneah's Dream

About an hour ago, I was ironing, and I felt very inspired to write this poem. The words flooded into my mind, and I knew that I had to write it down right away, so I kicked Jason off the computer:) This poem is based on a dream that I had about Laneah while we were working on our adoption papers. I knew it wasn't an ordinary dream, and when she was a couple months old, she was sleeping in our bed, and dressed and wrapped in blankets, and was even in the same position that she was in my dream. In his wisdom, to ease my pain and longing, Heavenly Father had given me a glimpse of the beautiful future I was to have.


Laneah’s Dream

Before you existed, I dreamed of you
Wrapped in blankets, so tiny, so new
In the morning, I woke with a start
A sweet baby girl; I knew in my heart

Meanwhile, your birthmother knew she loved you
“Adoption will be hard, but it is what I must do”
She made a plan, self less and strong
And stuck by it, even when people told her she was wrong

A few months later, as I held you tight
I thought that my life had changed forever, and boy was I right
Then one day, as you slept soundly in bed,
I remembered my dream; for you see, it’s forever in my head

There you were, wrapped in blankets, so tiny, so new
Looking the exact same as my dream, its true
All the heartache and longing we had been through,
Was worth it all, because now we had you.

18 Months

Laneah has been 18 months for a couple of weeks now, but we just had her 18 month check up this week.

Stats:
Weight: 23 lbs, 12 ounces - 40 percentile
Height: 33" - 80 percentile


Favorite songs:
'Eat Your Veggies' by Kidsinger Jim, The 'ABC' song, and 'I Love You' song from Barney

New words this month:

Hot- all food is "hot" and she has to blow on it before she eats
No- favorite word
"Boon"- Balloon
"Nana" - Grandma and bananas
Book
Cracker
Drink- she also has a hand sign for drink
Why
"Meow Meow"- when asked what a kitty says
"Oink, Oink" - When asked what a pig says
"Dal"- Dallas, her best buddy
Shoes
Uh oh
Cheese
Ow
Barney
"dank ew"-thank you
"Mmm...num, num" -when she eats something yummy

She had her first bubble bath.


She learned how to climb out of her crib and thinks it is a really funny game. It makes nap time and night time a big pain. Last night we put her in her crib to go to sleep at 9 pm, she climbed out of her crib repeatedly with us continually putting her back in her crib, until 10:30!!!!

She can undress herself and does it often:) She wants to be a nudey baby!

Laneah thinks jumping is lots of fun, she just can't make it off the ground. She bends her knees and raises really fast onto her tippy toes. She also likes to watch other kids jump.

She started coloring. She enjoys it, but mommy not so much, because Laneah is more interested in eating the crayons than in coloring.

She likes to help mommy cook, especially as a taste tester:)


Laneah loves to do somersaults. She is actually pretty good at it.

Laneah is learning all about body parts; ears, eyes, nose; but her favorite is the belly button. She loves showing her belly button and finding mommy and daddy's belly buttons. Also, if you ask her where her nose is, she sticks her finger up her nose.

Trying on mommy and daddy's shoes is a favorite activity.


Stuffed animals are now Laneah's friends. She has a kitty that she is especially attached to and takes it around with her often and sleeps with it.

Laneah is all about water and wants to play in the water all the time. It is great except if you leave her unattended for a few seconds and she will climb into the toilet. Ew, she has done it three times this week. I am going to have to get those toilet locks.

She is so much fun, even when she is ornery and we love her so much!

4th of July

4th of July was a lot of fun. Laneah looked really cute in her "little sparkler" shirt. She loved the little flags we got her and kept waving them around.
In the afternoon we went to the parade with Jason's cousin Brandon and his wife and daughter, Amanda and Tessa.


While we waited for the parade started, we got some yummy ice cream.


Laneah really enjoyed the parade. She kept laughing and clapping.

The parade had lots of different bands...these guys were dressed up like colonials.

They had a big group of dogs in the parade, Laneah really liked that.

And Santa came with his red, white and blue beard!


They even had belly dancers!
After the parade, we got something to eat and came out just in time for fireworks.

Kidsinger Jim

Once a month, Kidsinger Jim comes to our local mall and plays music for kids. It is a lot of fun. He sings great songs and the kids love him. They also have a lady that paints kid's faces and gift card drawings for kid's clothing stores.

This month, we went with Kami and her kids, Dallas (2) and Scarlette (10 months). Dallas and Laneah love playing together and Dallas calls her "Neaha". This month Kidsinger Jim had a stage, but he still likes to go out into the crowd and sing to the kids.
Laneah and Dallas loved the stage, but they kept trying to climb onto it.

Dallas was copying everything that Laneah did, it was really cute. He even laid on the ground with her after one of her temper tantrums:)

We had a great time and both Kami and I bought his cds after the show. Can't wait for next month:) Below are a couple really short video clips of Dallas and Laneah dancing.