Currently

Poor Buddy has been tormented by Syd a lot lately.  She gets so excited when he comes in from the garage...which is probably why he's wanting to come in less and less.  She's a tad rough.

She gets in the strangest positions to pet him.

Wednesday, we met some friends at Boingo Bounce to celebrate Millie pooping in the potty!!  She's been doing such a great job and definitely deserved a prize.  We even got to go to lunch with the girls afterward, and Millie loved every second.

Mills is going through a no-napping phase, even though she still really needs one (picture mommy pulling her hair out!).  So after her big day at Boingo Bounce and then no nap, she couldn't help but snooze on the way to the Tontitown Grape Festival that evening.

We got to see Elle twice in one day!  She and Mills had the best time riding all of the kiddie rides.  Millie loved the cars, Elle loved the carousel.  

It was hot.

Millie was very brave to go on this ride that went high up into the air!  She was a bit timid since it was a bumblebee and she doesn't like flying bugs (remember the wassuses?!).

She loved it and had to ride it twice...

We finished the evening with some grape ice cream and exhausted kiddos.  Such a fun night!  Next year will be great when Syd gets to ride the rides too.

Thursday, this girl turned 35!  Three weeks old here and I think this looks a lot like baby Millie. :)

Glamour shots.  The Summer before 8th grade.  Everybody was doing it.

On my birthday, we decided to go out to lunch.  The day was quickly turning into a train wreck.  First thing that morning, Syd tripped in the kitchen and face planted into the cabinets (massive bloody nose and gums).  By the time lunch rolled around, I guess the Tylenol had worn off because she had the biggest meltdown and we ended up getting our food to go.  Millie peed in the car seat, and then decided to not nap.  She was pretty much terrible that day, and I'm guessing 3 is going to be a hard age for mommy to deal with.  It really wasn't a good day and I was counting down the minutes to their bedtime.  After they were in bed, things got better...I got to talk to my brother and have some champagne outside with JKK.  Sorry girls...sometimes the best part of the day happens after you're in bed. ;)

Last night, we went to a birthday party for one of Millie's friends.  It was a pool party, and Millie stayed in the pool the entire time.  She had a blast...the blue cupcake was a nice finish.

I didn't bring Syd's swim stuff because I thought she wouldn't want to get in the pool.  I was wrong.  Couldn't keep her away from it, so the guests got a real treat when I had to strip her down.  Girl, look at that body...

Midge Surprise!

Thursday I received one of the best surprise early birthday gifts a girl could hope for...BFF time.  It was much needed and much appreciated.  Thank you so so much, Midge, for coming to visit, and thank you, JKK, for watching the girls while I was unwinding with my best girlfriend!  We had a great weekend together...we laughed so much.

Other happenings:
Sunday night, we (plus Stevo and gf) went to a super awesome bluegrass show at the new Amp: Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, featuring Edie Brickell.  Did you know Steve Martin has played the banjo for over 50 years?!  He was really good, yet very humble about it...and kept the laughs going to.  It was such a lovely show.  We are so lucky to have this new venue right in our backyard!

Syd learned to say "snacks".  She says momma and dada, but this is her first real word.  This might be one of my favorite videos of all time. ;)  Plus, she FINALLY got in another tooth...a bottom one.  She now has one top tooth and one bottom tooth.  Kind of weird.

For Father's Day back in June, I got the girls some rocker shirts to try for a fun desk photo for JKK.  They didn't come in in time, so I finally broke those out for a photo shoot with a real camera when Midge was here.  The girls weren't in a very cooperative mood, so I'll try again...but we did get a few cute ones.  I love Syd in this rocking chair that JKK brought home from his dad's house recently.

Gearing Up for Goodbyes, Vacation, and Back to School

Weird that our Summer break is ending in just a few weeks...can't believe it is almost August.  In the next couple of weeks, Millie will have to say goodbye to her best friends, Cayden and Grey.  Cayden will be going back to Brazil and Grey is moving to Memphis.  I'm sad for Mills and also for myself...love those two mommas.  It's going to be interesting raising kids here in Walmart land where vendors and employees are constantly coming and going.  In the next month, there are three families who work for vendors in our neighborhood that are also moving away.  I'm learning that it is going to be difficult to get attached.  Surely we can find some friends who are here for the long haul...

Anyhoo, Summer finally arrived and we had a couple of weeks of stifling temps and humidity.  This prompted Syd to actually get in the pool with Mills for the first time.  It was pretty funny to watch.  They play so well together (most of the time).    Here is some video of what is pretty much business as usual around here: circles and dancing

Sunday, we visited the Gentry zoo again...which Millie now refers to as "the farm".

Millie loves that place, and Syd was very excited to be able to walk around and explore this time.

Syd had no fear with the animals, which made me a bit nervous.  The goat got a few kisses.

She's in a very independent stage right now, so I'm sure our flight to Denver in two weeks is going to be a fight.  She's going to be hate being forced to sit on my lap for two hours!  Worth it to see these guys though...

Syd makes this pucker face all day, everyday.  It's both her concentration face and her way of talking. It's adorable.  Here is a super cute video with her new peekaboo bear (Thanks Kelly!) peekaboo, Syd!

Millie's choice of accessories has been entertaining...glasses & necklace

rain boots with undies

 and a green tutu

After we get back from Denver, the girls immediately start school.  I'm looking forward to getting back into the school routine, and I think Millie has missed her friends. ;)

Poop Rules My World

Millie has now pooped in the (baby) potty three times.  This is huge!!  We have never been able to get her to poop in the potty.  I pretty much consider her potty trained when it comes to the pee pee part (at least during the daytime), but pooping has been a whole different story.  We tried bribing and charts and stickers and treats with no success.  So I put the question to a mom forum that I'm part of on Facebook and got a ton of great advice.  One suggestion was that sometimes kids like to poop on those baby training potties so that their feet can touch the floor and give them leverage.  Well....that hadn't occurred to me.  A few days ago, I brought in our "car potty" and decided that would be the poop potty.  AND IT'S WORKING!!!!  I've never been so relieved.  I've never felt such joy over poop.  Parenthood is crazy.

I broke out the reward chart once again and promised her a trip to Chuck E. Cheese if she filled up the first row (one X for each poop in the potty).  However, she has been doing such a good job and Olaf seemed so far away, we decided to do a mid-way Chuck E. trip.

It just so happened that Cayden was free to meet up for the celebratory trip!  Mills was thrilled.

Syd and Beck were less impressed. There was one point where Syd was standing on the skee ball runway, Beck was walking (yes, he's a closet walker!) around with one shoe, Cayden was missing, and Mills was playing some violent game with a gun....and I thought "this is just bananas".  Amanda and I were able to regain control quickly though and we headed back to the toddler section.  Phew.

A glimpse into the future...Mills driving Syd around.  I need a hug.

In a strange twist of fate, it just so happened that some other kid was having a poop problem at Chuck E. Cheese, and we ended up having to sidestep human feces on the floor for a good 5 minutes until a worker was alerted to the problem.  That place is disgusting.  Next time Millie gets a poop reward, we'll have to visit the ice cream shop or a special playground.  No more Chuck E. Cheese for awhile. But Millie and Cayden loved it, so I guess it was worth it. ;)  Yayyyy for Millie and pooping in the potty!

3 Year Pediatrician Visit

Today was Millie's 3 year pediatrician appointment!

Daddy kept Syd, while I took Mills to her appointment.  It felt very grown up. ;)

She weighs 36.6 lbs (90th percentile) & is 39 inches tall (90th percentile).  Her BMI is 16.8 (79th percentile).  I almost hate hearing the percentiles...is 90th % in weight supposed to make me feel like my kid is overweight?  Is this my fault...too many corn dogs and treats?!  Is she going to be taller than every boy in her class???  Clearly she's going to be above average, but is there something I can be doing better to make sure she grows in a healthy, normal way.  She seems healthy (& kind of perfect) to me, but what do I know?!  She eats vegetables more than anything else on her plate.  She eats a huge variety of foods.  She's not afraid to try new things, & she's great at drinking her milk...but she also has a sweet tooth, just like her parents.  Dr. Averitt wasn't worried about it, and the only thing she suggested was taking her from whole milk down to 2% or 1% milk.  It just feels like a big responsibility to show two little girls how to grow up with a healthy attitude about their bodies (instead of completely neurotic, which seems to be the norm) in this world we live in.  I don't want to let them down.  Look at this beautiful face...

Oh yeah, the doctor also mentioned that our brown girl could use a little more sunscreen.  ;)

14 Months Old

I won't be doing monthly updates for Syd anymore, but I will, periodically, do some posts to record her new tricks and tell her likes/dislikes.  14 months old is a pretty adorable stage...and apparently, pretty independent.  She doesn't like to be held...she wants to be down so that she can go go go and follow Millie around and climb on stuff.  She jogs everywhere, and it cracks me up...her tiny little legs go so fast.  Video: Syd's quickstep

Trying out this Baltic Amber teething necklace; can't tell if it works because once she figures out she has it on, she rips it off...same with bows in her hair.  She still only has one tooth, but surely any day those other three top teeth are going to poke through.  Her gums are bulging and it looks painful.  Some days she's whinier than others...teething is such a long process.

upside down snuggles...she gives the best hugs & kisses right now

Our big girl has outgrown all 6-12 mos clothes and is now in 12-18 mos sizes.  She wears size 4 diapers and size 4.5-5 shoes.  She weighs around 22 lbs.  She's such a little butterball with her roundness: perfectly round head and belly...nice and curvy. ;)

first bubble bath...she loved it, which is kind of a big deal because bath time isn't really something she usually likes

Syd's current likes:
duck-watching, high-fiving, food of any kind, pointing, jabbering, clapping, waving at the pets, giving kisses (especially to Buddy or her baby dolls), Peekaboo Barn iPad app, Yo Gabba Gabba TV show, swinging, playing chase with Millie, popsicles, puff cups full of cheerios, yogurt melts, cut-up fruit (especially peaches, pears, and strawberries), going night night, sleeping with multiple pacis, eating anything she finds on the ground indoors or outside, cucumber, climbing, sliding Video: sliding, remotes & phones, flipping through books herself, playing peekaboo.

Syd's current dislikes:

wearing hats or bows, waiting for food, having remotes or phones taken away from her, diaper changes, being read to before bedtime (she just wants to go to bed), mommy leaving (separation anxiety is in full force now).

She's still the sweetest <3