Whitley in January

Whitley has definitely hit her "toddler" stage.  She is a fast little walker, but she definitely wobbles - so cute to see her!   She picks up several new words a day - but definitely has her own vocabulary terms from her own language for things too.  Steph has helped to translate a lot of them (or I've figured it out), but there's still some mysteries.  Last night, we were all puzzled by "Soma" - the best we can come up with is "Baby Einstein Videos" (vs. "Dona" meaning "Dora", or "Choo Choo" as "Choo Choo Soul").  And, then, there's lots of talking where we know she has something to say, but there's no translation.  She gets her point across, though - more and more every day.  

One thing that's no mystery is her love for the play areas at the malls - particularly this one with the slide.  Love these expressions.

Unfortunately, adjacent to, but outside the "protected" play area, are little pay-to-ride-on gizmos.  She's constantly trying to escape and get in these now.

Not sure if you noticed the barrettes in the picture, but it's become my new fixation.  Just can't get over the cute-quotient of these little animal barrettes.  So, it's my fault that Whitley now thinks barrettes or hair bows are called "Owl" and making the "hooooo" sound.  (Which leads to the age-old question when we put the fox barrettes in...."What does the fox say?"  ;)   )

We also got a visit in to see Mikayla's girl friends, when I had to pick Mikayla up early the other day from school.  She's a hit. 

 

Unfortunately, not every part of every day brings smiles.  Whitley has recently discovered the joys of "bouncy-bouncy" (trampoline) and "ouside" (being outside).  It BREAKS HER HEART when she can't go out there.   She'll go to the door and just cry and wail.  On days like the one in this picture when it is raining and in the 40's, there's just not an option.  Sorry, sweetheart...how about a bath instead?  (The video that accompanied this pic, not shown due to missing clothing - was so sad and pathetic....she just couldn't understand why she was being denied).

So, when it is NOT raining (even between cloudbursts - and even when it's chilly) - I try to indulge her.  Even when 45 minutes goes on and we're still out there, it's really not a bad gig.  She's self-contained, happy, moving, getting fresh air - and I'm either exercising along with her, or relaxing along side of her.  If she's going to be obsessed with doing something - there's a whole lot worse she could choose!

Also, last week, we got a visit in to see Heather.  She works at the same place as Nancy, so we peeked in to see her too.  It was a hoot (pun intended....note her outfit) - I think Whit could have run down the hallways playing peek-a-boo with Heather's office mates all day.

 

This last Thursday, Kaela came in to town - and yes, we chose to have our catch-up conversation on the trampoline.

Later, Whit got to visit Mikayla's volleyball practice.  Again, hard to get her to leave.  "Baaaaalllll!"

Finally, on Friday, Christi came over to help Kaela (and I) decorate for Elaina's surprise bridal shower that evening.  Whit had a rough go of it all that afternoon, but after some Advil to help with her obvious teething (a constant stream of drool from that girl this last week) - she came around by the end of the day.  (Huge kudos to my teenage boy who whisked her off for fun times as soon as he walked through the door from school....times like that I chant again and again to him, "You're my hero, Brayden, you're my hero, Brayden!")  At one point, Christi's little Elsie woke up and Whitley was very interested in tending to the little baby.  She put her binkie in, "stimulated her" by playing with the carseat toys, and worked on buckling.  We used the word "Gentle" a lot, but largely, she showed signs of capabilities of being a very good big sister... Something to think about, Travis and Steph!  =)