17 Months

Laneah turned 17 months on Wednesday. I can't believe how much she has grown. She is all toddler now; into everything, funny, clumsy, so entertaining. Since I use this blog to document Laneah's life, I wanted to write about some of the things she is up to right now.

She says "Quack" repeatedly throughout the day, especially when she sees a duck, but she also says it when she wants a cracker (or I give her a cracker) because to her it apparently sounds the same.

She is able to imitate the motions to her favorite songs like 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' and 'Popcorn Poppin', she also does the motions for 'Head, Shoulder, Knees and Toes'. If she wants you to sing her one of those songs, she will show you one of the motions from the song she wants.

Laneah loves to twirl and spin until she is dizzy and falls over.

She still loves to play peek-a-boo.


She loves to count and uses her fingers and she can say the numbers 1-5.

She loves to cheer and clap. At Andrew's (my brother) graduation, she was so excited and cheered and clapped everytime the crowd did.

When we throw her in the air (or other fun things like that) we count one..two..three.. and throw her on three. When we put her down, she will yell "three" again to let us know she wants another round.

She has started posing for pictures sometimes and loves to make cheesy smiles and funny faces.

She doesn't say the word "no" yet, but will shake her head no when she is upset or doesn't want something.

She always needs a snack in her hand and loves to eat. She eats about the same amount that I do in a day.

She loves stuffed animals now and carries around a little kitty cat all day long.

She classifies all animals as either "kitty" or "puppy". She loves to chase kitty cats.

We usually only give her a pacifier for naps and bedtime, but I swear she has a built-in pacifier detector because she finds them all over the place anyway.

She loves to get into boxes or containers and play in them or pop out of them.


She runs and plays hard but comes up to us about every ten minutes for a quick little hug or snuggle before she is off to play again.

She loves being outside right now and when she wants to go out she will take a set of keys to the door knob and try to unlock the door (so smart!). And when she wants to go "bye bye" she will go to the car and try to open the door.

She still is very impatient and wants things right away, but we are trying teaching her how to say "please" rather than grunting or crying when she wants something.

Thank you swim lessons! She now likes the water and is willing to get her hair and face wet. She even learned how to blow bubbles and does it every time she is in the bath tub.

Laneah loves to be chased and she loves to squeal. When Jason comes home from work, she starts squealing and laughing and runs into my arms because daddy is going to "get her".

She doesn't want to crawl up the stairs anymore, she wants to walk up the steps and come down on her bum:)

She is able to communicate her needs very effectively. The other day she went to her high chair and climbed in and then tried to fasten the buckle; letting me know she was hungry.

She loves to put on our shoes and try and walk around in them. She also likes to carry around purses. One of her favorite activities is cleaning out daddy's wallet (she already knows:) She takes out everything one or two at a time and then hands them to Jason or me. Then we fill it back up and she empties it again.

Her other favorite activity is emptying EVERY cabinet, draw, basket, etc in the house. Within 15 minutes of being up, the house is destroyed, it looks like I never clean, but I am constantly cleaning. All my friends with kids have assured me that phase will end (can't wait for that)

A lot of times when she is about to do something naughty, or has just done something naughty, she will look at you and smile and say "hi" in her cutest voice. Other times when she does something she knows she is not supposed to do she will look at you, shake her head "no" and then do it. Testing those boundaries:)

She is very silly and loves to entertain and make people laugh.


She will give kisses now when we ask and every once in a while she will plant one on you on her own. It is really sweet.

We love this little girl so much. She is tons of fun and knows how to keep us on our toes. We are so lucky to be her parents!

Hershey....The Land of Chocolate

Jason and I wanted to do something special for our five year anniversary and decided to go to Hershey, PA. We wanted to stay at a Bed and Breakfast but nothing was available during our anniversary weekend so we decided to go my birthday weekend instead since Laneah and I will be in St Louis for the next two weeks. We left Saturday morning and started our trip at Hershey's Chocolate World!
This was so much fun. They had this cute free tour that was a ride and very interactive. As you rode through they showed you how cocoa beans were made into delicious chocolate. They even had funny singing cows.And yes, these are giant sheets of chocolate. (It smelled so good!)
They had a counter of how many candy bars had been made that day, it is crazy how many they make each day.
They even have automated wrappers. These kisses went from chocolate to wrapped chocolate before you could even blink.
They ended the tour with a free sample of chocolate that only makes you want more as you enter the huge gift shop full of delicious chocolate and a food court and activities. We had chicken tenders with chocolate flavored BBQ sauce. It was surprisingly good. We got a few gifts before leaving.
Then we went to the Hershey Gardens which was very pretty and peaceful but we didn't stay long because a wedding was about to start.
Then we headed to our Bed and Breakfast at Cameron Estates which is this colonial mansion on acres of beautiful land.
Our room was gorgeous

and had a free standing whirpool tub (with a remote control!)
and a fireplace
The grounds were equally as beautiful and amazing.

The food was exquisite. For breakfast we sat in the sun porch dining area and they served us apple pancakes, country potatoes, candied bacon and fresh fruit. The Bed and Breakfast was wonderful and I would recommend it to anyone. On Sunday after breakfast we went to Hershey Park and spent the day riding roller coasters and enjoying each others company. Even though I was nervous to leave Laneah overnight for the first time ever, we had a great time (and Laneah had a great time with her grandma) and I am so glad we went.

Budding Artist

Today I had Laneah try finger painting for the first time. I used vanilla pudding separated into little containers and added food coloring. No surprise that she loved it since she loves to make messes:)
She looked at me when she ate it excepting me to tell her "no".
She is thrilled that she is allowed to eat the "paint".
She got covered head to toe in pudding (I didn't get pictures after she dumped a container of pudding on her head. We went to the bath pretty quickly after that:)
The Masterpiece!

It was a fun day, and Laneah loved it so we will be finger painting a lot this summer:)

What Happened to Spring?

It went from cold to chilly to hot! Today was in the 90s and humid! Hopefully spring will make a comeback. I had to go outside to water my flowers and Laneah came with me because she loves to be outside and therefore no one can go outside without her:) She thought that the water spray from the hose was so fun. She put her hand out to feel it first, then both hands and then her legs and then she ran through it and was laughing hysterically. I had Jason come out and film a little of it. I guess I will have to get a sprinkler for the summer:)



In other news, Laneah learned how to twirl and spin last week and also thinks it is really funny. She spins and spins until she is dizzy and falls over. She also added the moonwalk to her dance routine...I have no idea where she got the idea from, but one day she was dancing and then just started walking backwards. I have been trying to get it on film, but no luck yet, I will keep trying. I have a short video of her spinning though....just don't mind the bra on the floor...haha



Laneah has been showing off her belly and belly button lately. She especially likes to show her "friend" in the mirror. This video is really funny.

Swim Lessons

This week Laneah and I started 'Mommy and Me' swim lessons. Laneah has never been a fan of water, and since summer is coming up, we thought it would be a good idea to get her into the water to adjust. They just built this swim school close to our house and it is really great. The pool is heated and very warm. They have locker rooms as well as individual changing rooms. They had to delay the opening of the school for nearly a month because of construction issues, so we had to make up some classes. I thought it would be nice if Jason could take her so he could spend some time with her in the pool (there are classes are offered in the evening too and of course, dads are welcome). Jason and Laneah both had a good time. Laneah has already improved in her acceptance of the water. Some of the pictures aren't very good quality because I had to take them through the glass (you aren't allowed in the pool area if you are not swimming; you have to sit in the observation room). But it was fun to watch them interact in the pool. I am really looking forward to the rest of the lessons.

Happy Easter!

We had a fun Easter. I was excited to put together an Easter basket for Laneah. I didn't give her any candy except for a sucker, but I gave her a doll, a book about bunnies, a bunny puppet and some other cute little toys. She has a real sweet tooth and loves chocolate, but I try not to give her very much. I did give her her first sucker because it was a cute pink sucker in the shape of a butterfly. She was really excited about the basket and all of her new toys. And she looked so beautiful in her Easter dress. After church, we ate lunch and took naps and then went over to Jason's grandparent's house for Easter dinner and an Easter egg hunt. Laneah is still too little to care about hunting for eggs, so she just chased the dog and ran around outside while all the boys ran around getting the eggs. It was cold, but at least it was sunny. The dinner was delicious and it was a great day with the family. There were quite a few cute pictures so I did a slideshow since I haven't done one in a while:) Love you all, Happy Easter!

Our New Backyard!

We are so blessed! Jason's grandpa's company came and fixed up our back yard this week. The fence was falling down and it was a giant mud pit. Nothing can grow back there because it is such a shady area with all of the trees surrounding the property. So they poured concrete in the back and put up a new fence. It looks wonderful. My parents bought Laneah this cute little playhouse and we got her a slide and an adorable crab sandbox. And today we bought a really nice grill, I can't wait to cook on it! It is so nice to have a fun back yard and Laneah loves it. Thanks Grandpa, Kathy and Uncle Johnny!

This is the part of the back yard that is fixed up. The other side will have the grill and patio furniture.
Ha, Ha, I know, already messy. This kid doesn't waste any time:) I put the slide in the sandbox so she would have something soft to land on. I'm just a little over protective;)
Laneah playing in the sand box. She loves to dump the sand out of the sandbox....I guess I'm going to have to buy more sand:)
It was such a nice day, warm and 65. I was able to put these adorable flip flops on Laneah.
Playing with her play house. I love that it has a picnic table. She loves to sit on the little benches and also pick them up and carry them around.
Apparently, the pretend food tastes really good:)
Laneah loves the door to the play house. It also has a doorbell that has several different rings.
Just having fun, enjoying the new back yard:)

The National Zoo

While my mom and sister were in town, we went to the National Zoo in D.C. The weather was supposed to be nice, but it ended up being cold with a misty rain; I ended up buying a sweat shirt at the gift shop because I was so cold. We still had a great time though. We took the Metro into the city and Laneah thought it was a fun ride. Every time we would start moving she would throw her arms in the air and say "weeee!" Laneah loved looking at all the animals. They have a kids farm at the zoo and Laneah ran from one fence to the other looking at all the farm animals.

I thought that the coolest part of the zoo was the Orangutan crossing. They actually call it the "O Line", like it is a Metro line. They built this tower in the Orangutan cage and the Orangutans can climb to the top of the tower and then climb to 8 other towers throughout the zoo. As we were leaving the zoo, we saw this sign and laughed and decided to take a picture. While we were taking the picture, an Orangutan started climbing directly over us. We got a cool video of it and I posted it below.




Laneah was so tired from running around that she passed out on the Metro ride home. She loved the zoo so I imagine that we will be going plenty more times this summer.

Chuck E Cheese

Today we went with my sister-in-law Jen and nephew Blake to Chuck E Cheese. Laneah had a good time in the toddler section where they had a little playground with a slide. She climbed up the steps to the play area and then I think she wanted to get down so she turned to go down backwards, but instead of going down the steps, she went down the slide. Her face was priceless! She looked at me like 'what the heck, I'm sliding?'. She liked it so much that she ran back over to the steps, climbed in the play area and then to my astonishment, went down head first giggling. She did that over and over for a while and I got a little video clip of it. She also went on one of those little kiddie rides for the first time and loved it. We ordered pizza and while we waited, Laneah and Blake danced away to the Chuck E Cheese puppets and their songs. Then Chuck E Cheese himself came over. Blake gave him a high five and Laneah was curious about him but didn't want to get too close. She loved the puppets though, I could hardly get her to eat pizza and ice cream because she was so into them! After we left, she passed out in the car, she was really worn out. Thanks Blake and Jen for inviting us to a fun day at Chuck E Cheese!

Buckethead

For some reason, Laneah loves to put buckets (sand pails, baskets, etc) over her head and walk around. It is so cute. She will just pick up a bucket and start walking. She thinks it is so funny and she laughs, claps and of course, trips. Sometimes she uses it to play peek-a-boo too. Adorable. Now if only she would wear her hats......