Nature Scavenger Hunt

Today, we did a fun thing around the 'hood- a nature scavenger hunt!  We had to take pictures of everything we found on our list.  The girls had a good time, and Parker went along for the ride!

They used their duck callers for when they found an item on the list.

Here is what we had to find:

1.  A green leaf.

2.  A rock that's as big as your hand, or bigger!

3.  A pinecone.

4.  A blue flower.

5.  An orange flower.

6.  A yellow flower.

7.  A purple flower.

8.  A stick shaped like a Y.

9.  Something red.

10.  A beautiful rock.

11.  A big leaf.

12.  A funny shaped leaf.
(Sydney thought this looked like a rocket)

13.  A plant that is taller than you!

14.  A big stick (added in by Sydney)



"What's that?"

It has been such a joy having two daughters who are so close in age.  They are best little buddies, and when one is away from the other, you can tell that a piece of them is missing.  Another fun thing that I can easily compare the two, since they are only 26 months apart.  And boy, are they different!
I noticed something today that made me think.  Do you recall that Sydney, around 2-1/2 or so, would always ask, "Why?"  Well, I've noticed that Taylor always asks, "What's that?"  And I think it's fitting with the difference it shows in them. 

Sydney is very inquisitive, and she really ponders things.  She is my thinker, my memorizer, my pay-attention-to-details kind of gal.  She's the one that could spell her name at 17 months and count to 20 by 19 months.  It is fitting that she would ask, "Why?" because she really wants to learn the purpose of things.  She can then apply that knowledge to life.  She is smart but dramatic, and she has the best memory of any little 4 year-old I know. 

Taylor, on the other hand, is just happy-go-lucky.  She is more laid back (she still can't spell her name at 29 months) and is more of a sweet, funny, and loving child.  I think she'd rather make people laugh than learn how to do things.  She is into EVERYTHING.  I mean, if she is playing with something and you take it away from her, instead of focusing on it being taken away, she immediately turns and gets into something new.  She is constant.  So, I think, "What's that?" is fitting for her, because she is so curious about anything and everything around her.

My two different daughters... it's great that they each have their own personality and character traits, and it's so neat to watch them come together and just work. 

I am so very blessed!!!

Taylor's 2nd birthday!

Happy birthday to my sweet girl!  We had a fun couple of days celebrating Taylor's birthday. 

Yesterday, I made some cupcakes and took them in time for Taylor's afternoon snack at school.  When I walked in, she immediately ran up to me and started crying, wanting me to hold her.  She was not in a very happy mood the whole time!  She got a little cheerier when I went and got Sydney from her class to partake in the festivities.

Not so happy...

That's more like it.

That night, we had a little family birthday party for Taylor.  I made a little impromptu cake from the extra cupcake batter, and she got to open her presents from us.

This morning, my family met up at Mimi's Cafe to have a yummy brunch.  Yes, the girls were everywhere.  I don't know when we'll fully be able to enjoy a meal out again!  But, it was great company and lots of fun.

Happy birthday to my sweet, sweet girl!

24 months!

Happy birthday to my sweet Taylor- she is officially TWO years old! 

It has been fun documenting Taylor's monthly accomplishments, but I am going to be wrapping it up here at the age of two.  She is growing leaps and bounds and learning new things all the time that it is getting hard to keep up! 

This last month has been a good one for Taylor.  Accomplishments include:

• Continuing to count, say her ABCs, and talk up a storm.
• She is getting into music now- like, pop music.  First thing she says when we get in the car is, "Mommy, dance!  Call me."  She means that she wants to dance to Call Me Maybe (when it was warmer, we would roll the windows down, blast this song, and dance on the way home from daycare).  We got her a CD player in her room so she can fall asleep to music at night.
• She loves to read books!  Her favorite is Gossie.
• She recognizes people and calls them by name.  Like, people at daycare that she doesn't see that much, she'll walk by them and say, "Hi, ____!" with much enthusiasm.  It's too funny.
• She knows her letter sounds up through about K.  She'll say, "A says ah, ah, ah... apple!", etc. through K. 
• Her sassiness is starting to show up, including saying "NO!" and "Stop!" to Sydney in the car.  You can probably imagine where she learned those words from.
• She is starting the "terrible twos".  In addition to the above words, she is hitting.  In the face.  It hurts.

Here are some pics from this month!

22 Months!

Oops, I'm a day late with Taylor's monthly blog celebration!

Taylor is 22 months old!!!  Hard to believe she'll be hitting the big 2 in two months.

She's had a big month with lots of accomplishments:

• Most noteworthy accomplishment- becoming a BIG sister!!!!
• Going on the potty a lot!!! 
• All sorts of new words.  I can't even keep up anymore.  She's talking in mini sentences now.
• Having a month full of sicknesses- strep, coughing, congestion, etc. 
• Having a blast at her sister's birthday party.
• Swinging more on the big girl swing.

Here are some pics from this month!

Meeting Parker for the first time.

Eating her favorite snack (a peach!) with Daddy.

Galloping on the horsey with Sydney.  Thanks, Meg!

21 Months!

Taylor is 21 months old!!!

Taylor's accomplishments this month include:

• Totally rocking using her fork/spoon!
• Jumping and blowing her nose (not at the same time, thank goodness).
• Lots of new words: "Bless You" (after someone sneezes), she says all of her teachers' names, "Sydney" (not just "Sissy"), "Taylor", "Kitty Cat", "Pig", "Horse", "Capri Sun", "Boots" (as in Dora).  She is totally trying to talk in conversation now, it's just a little hard to understand everything. 
• We've been using the potty more this month, and she's had several successes!  I know it's still kind of a fluke each time it happens, but she gets so excited.
• She's doing great in her big-girl bed!  Her little internal alarm clock gets her up between 4:45 and 5:45 AM.  We'll hear her on the monitor shuffling out of her bed, then she'll shut the door behind her, and then we'll hear the "swish" of her diaper as she walks down the hall to our room, carrying Elmo and her little doll "Addie" in her arms.  She'll come lay/sit in our bed until about 6 when we get up. :)
• She's singing more of the alphabet!
• We're working on her counting- I'll say 1 through 4, and then she'll say, "5, 6, 7, 9!"  We'll work on that 8 and 10. 
• One night at dinner, Sydney was completely dominating the conversation when Taylor was trying to talk.  Taylor yelled, "SISSY!" and then went, "Shhhhhh!" with her finger over her lip.  It was quite humorous.
• She's learning more and more animal sounds.  Before, she'd say "mooooo" to every animal we would call out.  Now, she can make the correct sounds for dog, cat, pig, horse, duck, and yes, cow. 
• She loves to look at you and say, "Boo!"
• She is walking up the stairs on her own, and probably could walk downstairs all on her own (I'm just still freaked out and always walk down next to her).
• She has dominated our playground.  She climbs up the ladder on her own, goes down the super-fast slide all by herself. 

Here are some pics from month 21!

Waking up her sister by climbing in her bed.

Saying "Boo!" at the doctor's office.

Actually keeping the headphones on.

Weeeeeee!

Rockin' her sister's bathing suit in the backyard.

After a messy dinner out one night, this is how she rode home.

Sisters.

PS- Happy birthday to my favorite Dad!!!

20 Months!

Taylor is 20 months old!

8-1-2012 (You like Sydney's Wacky Day outfit in the background?)

Her accomplishments this month include:

• New words!  "Sure", "Yes, sir", "Big Bird", "backpack", "Dora" (more like "Do-da), "potty", "sit", "Big Bird", "Cookie" (as in, Monster, mostly), "boo!" (she loves to scare us), "Parker".
• She's really repeating most of the words we say, so it's getting hard to document all her "firsts"!  But, the words above are the ones she says regularly.
• She has totally gotten into Sesame Street, which, secretly, I am loving!!!  Most of the time, when we watched TV, it was for Sydney's shows (Dora, Diego, Super Why, Little Einstein's, etc).  I was sad that Taylor never got to watch Sesame Street.  I started putting it on this summer, and Taylor loves it!  Sydney is actually getting back into it, too. 
• Climbing down the stairs... mostly backwards.
• Using her spoon and fork really well!
• Starting to sing her "ABCs"!  She'll sing, "A...B...C..." in the right tune, and then will repeat "ABC" over and over. :)
• Starting to sing "E-I-E-I-O".
• She's learned to slide under the gate at the top of the stairs (thanks to our 2 year-old neighbor who showed her that trick!) and walk down the stairs.  SCARY!
• We pulled out the little potty, just for her to see it and get used to seeing it.  We haven't been very consistent with having her sit on it.  She prefers to sit on it and read, fully clothed.
• She loves to watch the Lion King in the car, and everytime she gets in her car seat, she points to the tv and says, "Roar!"
• She loves giving kisses.
• She is really loving to "read" books. 

Here are some pictures from this month!