we all scream for ice cream

It may only be spring, but we've had a few days of summer weather. On one of those days we decided to make a trip to DQ for our almost one year old's first ice cream cone. Here are the yummy, but very messy results!

these shoes were made for walking

She finally has some walking shoes that fit. I first tried the inexpensive route of finding a really nice pair at a consignment store. They were so cute, but her feet were just too thick to fit in them. Then I went to Stride Rite and had her sized and she tried some on, but I couldn't bring myself to pay their prices when she'll grow out of them in a couple of months. So I shopped on ebay and found the exact same shoes she tried on, brand new, for a third of the price!

They finally arrived yesterday and she's wearing them today. She doesn't quite know what to make of these big things on her feet. She's lifting her feet really high off the ground, almost like marching. It's really funny, but she's walking more normally as the morning goes on, so hopefully she's getting used to them.

spring has sprung!

And to honor the first day of spring, here she is....Miss Cotton Tail herself:

I know it's a little early for Easter, but her overalls have little bunnies on them, and I knew if she didn't start wearing them soon she wouldn't be able to wear them, since Easter will be here soon, so what better day to don the bunnies than the first day of Spring!? And once the bunny overalls were on, I couldn't resist trying on the bunny ears, too.....

I know, 12 years from now she'll be looking at these pictures saying, "Mom, what did you make me wear???" Oh well. She can't voice her opinion yet, so until then, I'll dress her to make me happy! :)

We had great weather today to inaugurate the new season. It looked kind of iffy this morning, but as the day went on it got brighter and eventually the sun came out and it was at least 70 degrees! We ate dinner outside on our deck (where our little one tried to eat leaves from the bushes for her dinner) and she got to swing in her swing some more.

more outdoor adventures

I thought Sunday was beautiful...well, today is even better! Not only is it sunny and gorgeous, it's SEVENTY FOUR DEGREES!!!! My parents are in North Carolina visiting my brother and his family, and I was a little jealous that they get to enjoy the warm weather, but not anymore! We have our own North Carolina right here today!

So because it's so nice we went outside again...several times. First we went out to get the mail. I sat on the front step to read it in the sunshine and she sat down on the sidewalk at my feet and played with the things she found on the ground--leaves, pebbles, dirt...whatever she saw. I only had to say "yucky" twice this time! Mostly she just played with them. When she decided to crawl to the flower bed and get dirt on her hands, I decided it was time to go in.

A little bit later we went out to the swingset in the back yard. The last few times she's been in it she hasn't been sure she likes it, but today she loved it. She was in it for about a half hour, just looking around, listening to airplanes, birds, cars driving by, and finding our shadows on the ground and talking to them. She liked that part best, I think. Toward the end her eyes started getting heavy and I could tell it was close to nap time, so we went in.

After naptime we went for a walk with the stroller. I put her new spring hat on and tried to get her to wear her sunglasses....no such luck. She couldn't wait to pull them off and chew on them. But it was quite funny to watch!


What are these things, Mommy?

I don't think I like them.....

But hmmm....they're fun to play with and chew on....

...but I think I like it just like this instead...just my pretty face!

Oh yes, she has an ear infection...we went to the doctor yesterday. I'm glad I took her in. She hates her medicine, though. I thought all kids were supposed to like the pink stuff??? She can't stand it, so the battle to take it twice a day for the next 9 days will not be my favorite part of the day. Yuck.

a whole new world

What a gorgeous day it was yesterday! Sunny, 50ish...beautiful. We all three went for a walk around the neighborhood. She loved it--just looking all around, "talking," and leaning back in her stroller, relaxing, enjoying the ride. She loves being outside, and I think the added motion of the stroller just made it even better. She hasn't been for a real walk outside since last fall when she was still rather little, so I'm sure it seemed like a new experience for her.

After we got back home we didn't want to go inside just yet, so we took her out of her stroller and let her experience walking outside for the first time. She didn't have her walking shoes on, but the sidewalk was dry, so I figured it would be okay for a little bit. She discovered a whole new world of rocks, dead grass, leaves, and holes in the pavement.

And as part of discovery, of course, she wanted to eat everything she encountered. Oh boy, we've got our work cut out for us now! "Yucky!" I must've said about 50 times, as I swiped something out of her hand as it was headed for her mouth. It was a fun afternoon watching her explore.

Sadly, I think she's sick again. I'm going to call the doctor when the open in a few minutes and see if they'll see her. Another cold and possible ear infection--that's why I want her to be checked. She's been rather fussy, which isn't like her.

So the World of Weed (and daughter) has just gotten bigger to include outdoors. I'm so glad--I've been having cabin fever for a month or so now, and can't wait to get back outside in the sunshine.

Oh, and here are a couple of pictures from her 11 month birthday on Friday. I can't believe her real birthday is only a few weeks away! What a grown up girl!!!

a new look

I finally updated to the newer version of my blog, and in doing so, I made some changes. I hope you like the makeover!

We have a bonafide toddler in the house now! She's literally "toddling" all over the place now, holding onto things less and less and walking on her own more and more. This morning she saw a toy on the floor that she wanted, walked over to it, bent over and picked it up, and stood back up and continued on across the room. What a big girl. What happened to my little baby girl?

a walk around the room

She started walking on Monday and already she's tearing around the house. Well, tearing probably isn't quite right....stumbling is more like it. But she's really taken off and is becoming more and more brave. Yesterday was the first time she went after something besides Mommy or Daddy. She saw her snowsuit across the room (that pink thing on the floor...lazy Mommy didn't put it away) and wanted to get it. She made it all the way across the room and only stopped walking because she bent down to get the snowsuit.

Later she saw her toys across the room and headed toward those. She seems to do better when she has something in her hands/mouth. Otherwise she has to think about it more.... "Hmmm...do I really want to make the effort? Is it worth falling down?" she seems to ask herself. With something in her hands she's too busy thinking about that to contemplate the risks involved! (She's a pretty advanced almost 11 month old, isn't she to be contemplating ANYTHING?) Here she is coming toward Mommy, block in hand.

guess who's walking???

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's true! That's my girl!!

And just like when she crawled, she did it first for Daddy while I wasn't home! BUMMER!! What's up with her? She's with me all day long every day, cries for me all the time if she's not within sight of me, and then she walks for Daddy???? Silly girl. Maybe she's a daddy's girl after all.

But anyway, first she walked to him, then she crawled up the entire flight of stairs. When I got home (I was getting my driver's license renewed and I didn't even have to wait in line! Woo hoo!) she did it for me and we were able to get it on video. She went back and forth, Daddy, Mommy, Daddy, Mommy... and then she had had enough, I guess. Walking's over for the day.

wearing a dress again!

So last week it was so fun to put her in a dress that I decided to do it again this week, even though it was cold. I just put her snow suit on over it and she was toasty warm (I think!). Here she is this morning.









When she wakes up she is usually SUCH a happy girl and has the reddest cheeks. Lately her right cheek has been chapped, either from the dry cold or the fact that she rubs her face on her blanket a million times before she goes to sleep, so that makes that side especially red. A couple of days ago when she got up from her nap she was just as happy as can be and I couldn't resist taking a couple of pictures.

I don't think I have any other exciting news to report. Oh, I finished my cake decorating class and at the last class we learned how to make roses. I wasn't especially looking forward to the task, since the week before we had tried a little bit and my super stiff icing was like clay, trying to squeeze it out. It was awful. This week I purposely made my icing a little thinner (even though we weren't supposed to), and it worked wonders! I learned the roses pretty easily. My cake, on the other hand, left much to be desired. I used a different icing recipe to ice the cake, and it was way too soft (I only used butter instead of half butter, half Crisco, like the class recommends) and it allowed way too many crumbs to come up and show through. It tastes delicious, though, so that's all that counts, right? It's an applesauce spice cake with cinnamon buttercream icing. Anyway, I will only show you the roses....I'm too embarassed to show the rest of the terrible icing job!!!

Oh wait! I remembered something exciting!! She learned to wave this week! Everytime Daddy leaves to go to work he waves at her and we try to get her to wave back. Finally on Wednesday she figured it out. It's so cute I can hardly stand it. She waves her whole arm....sometimes both arms!

That's what's up in my world these days.