Greg took Geneva to daycare yesterday morning. This is an email he sent me describing the car ride:
“She had a chat with Taylor on the car ride over (imaginary). She said, ‘Hello Tay tay’ and ‘play play’ and then ‘Bye Bye Tay Tay.’”
*Edited to note that Taylor is her real life friend not a friend of the imaginary variety.
Here they are at 3 and 4 months.
Doesn’t she look cute, all intent and serious, as she works on her shape sorter?
Thank you for the suggestion about the videos! I was so bummed when I realized they didn’t work and I could not fathom why.
It is so nice to have tech-savvy family! :)
It might be two days late, but as long as the flowers are still beautiful- and they are, then I think it counts :)
(Flowers on right and left are from mom, dad, and Nate for Tracy and I. Flowers in center were from Greg to me.)
Here is another shot of the flowers from Greg, which I found sitting on my bench at our mid-day workout class. Awwww….
But, let me back up a bit because our Valentine’s Day began with our little sweetie wearing the dress I made her the night before (more about dress-making on the other blog which also hasn’t been updated in forever):
And just for fun, here she was last Valentine’s day at 9 months:
Geneva had a really fun day at “school” where she had a party with her friends, exchanged valentines, and gave her teachers this box of treats:
(cranberry/coconut/nut mix, mixed nuts, dark chocolates bought from the bulk bins at the grocery store and put into an inexpensive but sturdy box from Hobby Lobby)
When we got her home, she donned her tiara and showed us the art projects she made as well as the treats and valentines she had gotten from friends.
This is a long video where Geneva eats a sucker and tells us (unprompted) who gave her which treats (a serious WOW moment for us when we realized what she was doing).
After show and tell, Geneva got to open her gifts from her daddy.
You can see her trying to “count” the monkeys, which she does by pointing and saying, “two, two, two” which is how she counts.
For another flashback, here she was opening her gifts from daddy last year:
Geneva and daddy played the piano (while Geneva kept on looking at her treats):
Before she went to bed, Geneva took time to smell the flowers from Gram, Gramps, and Uncle Nate.
And then Greg made me the most delicious dinner. It was his first real go at an entire vegan meal. We had a delicious salad with mixed greens, diced carrots, and a sautéed mixture of kohlrabi, almonds, and onion. All tossed with a little balsamic vinegar. YUUUMMMMM. For the entree, he made a Kashi bake and roasted squash. I made raspberry-almond filled chocolates for dessert.
At 20 months, Geneva is such a big girl!
We are constantly blown away by her use of language. She labels everything in the environment (e.g. towel, plate, fork, spoon, hair, Stella, etc. etc. etc.). What she doesn’t know spontaneously, she tries to repeat. When I say “try” I mean she tries every syllable of words like “caterpillar” “vacuum cleaner” etc. She calls her daycare friends by name (all syllables like “Dalton” “Chloe”). She also says phrases like, “Here you go” and “thank you.”
Her daycare teachers told us a little story about them saying that she is going to be a valedictorian someday and apparently Geneva turned it around and said, “I valedictorian.” She is good about appropriately reversing pronouns to “I.”
She has been singing lots of tunes and using some of the words. She does parts of “Twinkle Twinkle” “Baa Baa Black Sheep” “Rock a Bye Baby” and “Three Blind Mice”
She also follows all kinds of directions without other context or gestural cues.
But her most favorite of all is still having books read to her. She will sit on our laps for over an hour looking at and listening to books being read. She picks out “Doctor Seuss” books on her own. (it is seriously cute when she pronounces every syllable of “Doctor Seuss”).
Though “No” is still one of her favorite responses, she has started saying, “yea” more often when she is asked a question.
One of her favorite things to do lately is collect coins around the house and put them in her piggy bank.
She loves to pretend to play tea party, with her train set, and with baby dolls.
When one parent holds one of her hands, she holds up the other hand and looks back for the other parent to take it.
Here are some pictures I have taken on my phone lately:
Drinking her “smoothie”:
She put my “boots” on:
First Ponytail:
It was kind of cold in the house one evening:
She LOVES the park! And yes, Greg is wearing shorts in January. It’s Texas! :)
She pulled her arms out of her shirt the other day on our walk:
For me this year, Christmas came wrapped in many blessings. I have spent the majority of the past few weeks deep in thanksgiving for my family- my wonderful husband, the toddler who brings tears to my eyes with the wonder of her beauty and spirit, my mom and dad, brothers, extended family, longtime friends, and the kind and loving family into which I married. I am thankful for my health and that of my loved ones. I am also thankful for the kindness that is imparted on others in the name of family and friendship.
The lights and trimmings on this big thankful tree was experiencing the joy that the mythical story of Santa brought to Geneva. It was heartwarming to see her delight in pictures, stories, songs, and figures of the red-suited, bearded guy. The memories of her first real experience of the Christmas season will be enough to warm my heart until Spring.
I loved giving the gifts we gave and deeply appreciate the thought and care that others took in giving me things they thought I would love and use well. The gifts of the season may be the star on top.
Here are pictures and an album of family photos that mark the past few weeks.
I’m lucky enough to have four beautiful (inside and out) women that I call “my best friends.” I have probably mentioned before how we have been friends since we were 5. Despite long distances and much time in between visits, I think we have grown closer as we have gotten older. I know for sure that my appreciation of their reliably steady friendship and sisterhood continues to grow.
It has been especially wonderful taking part in one another’s weddings.
Thus, my dear friends Suzanne and Clayton were married in our hometown church the week before Christmas. The wedding, reception, and the pictures and events prior were filled with the spirit of love, friendship, and family.
Here are some pictures:
Geneva absolutely loved dancing! She wasn’t the least bit shy about dancing in a group of people. She literally danced until she dropped and then was still grooving on her way to the car.
With Sabrina, Bonnie, and little Lyla. Bonnie was quite the trooper at 37 weeks pregnant with baby boy.
I love how Geneva and Lyla are friends at an even earlier age than Bonnie and I.
With gramps, gram, and daddy.
Dance! Dance! Dance!
And… She’s done.
I love how my whole family was at this wedding (though Nate is absent from these photos due to his 16 year old urge to go home early).
Suzanne and Clayton: I wish you both a lifetime of love and happiness. Thank you for including us in your special day.
