DINO-mite Party

Ivory was invited to her first birthday party! It was a dino-mite party for our friend Lawson who turned 4. Lawson's Mom did an amazing job hosting the party & creating the dinosaur "cave." The pictures do absolutely nothing to give a glimpse of how great it was, but they do capture a little of the fun Ivory had. Ivory had an absolute blast! Between the strobe lights, inflatable slide, dino hats, dino clickers, remote control dinosaur robot with flashing lights, moving limbs & blinking lights, great food (remember this girl loves to eat), balloons, and kids--she was practically in baby heaven. She was giggling and squealing just climbing the giant slide with dad--imagine her glee when she rolled/slid down it "on her own" from Dad to Mom. Picture a wide open mouth and loud squeal of delight and you've just about captured her delight.

New (to us) Wagon

We are super excited about our recent gift of a wagon! A sweet mom in our church passed on her kids wagon for Ivory to use. We've been wanting a wagon, but it's been on the "list" of things to buy...eventually. As you can see--Ivory loves it--maybe as much as we do! {smile}

From 09.September-Ivory

From 09.September-Ivory

From 09.September-Ivory

From 09.September-Ivory

From 09.September-Ivory

We also spent some time enjoying our bounce-a-roo from Nana & Grandaddy. She actually enjoyed bouncing (enjoyment usually requires swinging) in it this time!

From 09.September-Ivory

We also received a tiny trike, which I'm sure Ivory will enjoy in coming months. We praise God for generous brothers & sisters in the body of Christ! We are blessed beyond measure with a very generous and thoughtful church family. And not just because of physical or monetary gifts, but kind words & consistent love & support. While like any church, ours has its flaws, I'm honored to be apart of a church that does such a great job of showing Christ's love!

September Happenings

One of our teenagers, Tatianna, brought her 5 month old cousin over, Anniston, to meet us. Isn't she gorgeous?!

Church Events

Launching this:

From Blogspot

And planning this:

From Blogspot

Consumes my free time during naps these days.

Ivory 101

I realized the other day that I've kept up with picture postings, but very little journaling of Ivory's development, idiosyncrasies, and other such details.

Thus, random facts about Ivory as of late:

She...

• confuses eat with more (sign language) & will only sign the correct sign when she wants to. Which leads to the next point...
• is as stubborn as ever--but cuter then ever.
• throws tantrums often. gets disciplined often. catches on pretty well.
• wants Mom's 100% attention 96.7% of the time.
• signs: milk, apple (sort of--it sometimes resembles more of an open handed scratching of the upper cheek/ear), bed (one handed)
• points to her head, tummy, nose (she especially loves pointing to Dad & Mom's nose), toes, and mouth when directed--most of the time
• immediately cheers for herself upon finding & pointing to the correct body part
• still laughs best for daddy
• walks on her knees, yet is completely disinterested in moving on her feet
• loves books. I leave a book in her bed always and she will often hand it to me when she wakes up and wants me to read it several times before getting out of bed. She also drags books out & looks at them for long periods of time or hands them to people to read to her. She especially loves books with flaps, like the ones she received for her birthday and the set of small books (Peter Rabbit treasury) handed down from cousins Bella & Alex.
• can find & identify cats in almost any setting. Yesterday, she screamed ca at the top of her lungs upon sighting Angel (our cat) on the back porch.
• in addition to cats, identifies anything else exciting as "ca".
• still adores animals of any kind. She thoroughly enjoyed playing with my friend Jennifer's cocker spaniel puppy, Nora, while Mom & Dad took the youth group on a canoeing adventure.
• holds up one finger when asked, "How old are you? Can you say one?" -- when she wants to.
• has four teeth.
• is less fun while teething & pacifier weaning.
• passionately loves swinging in any form. She especially enjoys the pink swing Mommy & Daddy bought for her birthday. Swinging outside cures almost any ailment. Seriously considering hanging another one inside...
• acts like a complete wiggle worm / fuss budget in church lately.
• possesses a definite attachment to her crochet blankets (she has 2 favorites: one pink, one multicolor. Made by Mrs. Feral, a lady from church & my older sister, Sherri). She likes cuddling up to them, dragging them everywhere she goes, sticking her fingers through the holes, laying on them in the oddest places as well as her bed, and being wrapped up in them.
• still thoroughly enjoys eating. Whenever she sees me cooking, someone eating, or finds food in her diaper bag, she begs for food with "please, eat, please, eat!"
• completely tunes in to Sesame Street in the morning. She is so focused sometimes she misses bites of food I try to feed her--that's serious focus for this food-loving-kid.
• thinks Elmo is her best friend & enjoys making her stuffed Elmo dance as well as dancing to the elmo songs on her musical Elmo from Grandma & Grandpa C.
• believes washcloths make great hats & loves taking people's hats off & watching them put them back on, over and over and over and over...you get the point.
• talks on the "phone" (phone, fork, hand, etc.) constantly, "hewo, hewo, ya, babble, babble" hand it to mom to talk. Over and over and over...we do this often.
• says "hewo" every time a phone rings--yes, even in the middle of church service.
• acquired a deep interest in rubber ducks, bath time, and pooping in the tub (4 is the current running total...).
• actually picks up a few of her toys every now and then.
• helps put her arms through her clothes as I dress her & swaps things from one hand to the other on her own while dressing / getting in the carseat--such a big helper.
• grows cuter & bigger every day!
• misses her grandparents, aunts, uncles & cousins!!! (or maybe it's Mom who misses their entertaining skills)
• is extremely excited about playing in the leaves with her cousin Carter & all the other family this fall! (well, I'm sure she is, she just hasn't verbalized it yet)

School Pep Rally

Ivory went to represent at the school Pep Rally last week.

She enjoyed visiting with one of her favorite cheerleaders & babysitters, Aliya...

who also happens to have very shiny pom-poms.

She also played with one of her favorite football players, who happens to claim the status of "brother"...

...and has a great hat.

She also had the exciting oppotunity to meet the gator mascot. Too bad we had to go home to bed before seeing the big bonfire!

After Party Fun

1st Birthday

Sink Fun

Soooooo, I was cutting Ivory's nails and accidentally cut a fingertip. Man, did I feel bad, especially when the wailing began and blood flowed. I had to think quickly about where I could put her so the blood wouldn't get everywhere while I tried to bandage it and stop the blood flow (those finger tips can bleed now! and band-aids definitely come right off the fingertip with 1 yr olds). Solution: sink. Ivory *loved* it! She didn't even notice her finger. She splashed in soapy water until the bleeding stopped. She even helped wash dishes. Also, water is readily available if you get thirsty. No bleeding--no tears--clean finger. Problem solved!

Hewo

Listen carefully, you'll hear Ivory's favorite word.