Monday, March 24, 2014

22-23 months

Scarlett just turned 23 months! One more month until she is 2 years old! I can't believe how fast time is flying by. We have had so much fun these last few months. Scarlett is growing in leaps and bounds and it is so much fun hearing the new things come out of her mouth. We like to compare her to Shirley Temple because she is so expressive. Her surprise face, happy face, angry face, sad face, and scared face are all so hilariously exaggerated. I think my favorite face of all is her love face, when she has a sweet small smile and spontaneous wraps her arms around your neck and says "My mommy!" or "Haaaaaaappy!" in a very high pitched pickachu kind of voice. Her angry/threatened screams (aka when another kid wants to take a toy away from her) is louder and more piercing then i think any other little girls. She can definitely be heard wherever she goes, and knows how to hold her own around other kids...well at least she knows how to scream bloody murder to make the other kids back down. With that said, she is really the most tender hearted little sweetie pie ever.  In fact its really sad how much other kids push or down or accidentally run into her while playing, she never hits back and isnt physical with any others. But its really sad when these incidents happen at the park etc because she goes from over-exaggerated happiness and giddiness while playing to (when she gets pushed -even accidental) an over-exaggerated head hang and sad pout and cry that just breaks your heart because you know her heart just got broken.

But enough about the sad times, my little shirley temple is far more often over the moon happy. Recently she has really gotten into  the movie Frozen, and loves when Elsa sings "let it go!" In fact Scarlett calls the whole move "let it go," and sings and dances along. She stamps her foot when Elsa does and waves her arms just like the queen does too. Its the most darling thing ever.

Scarlett's favorite things/games are: Eeewa (her teddy bear), Dora doll, baby doll, giving baby its bottle, pushing eeewa in the stroller, buckling any buckles that are undone (stroller carseat etc, shes alittle OCD about it), bubbles, reading stories (especially her princess stories), hide-and-seek, running does this girl love to run, throwing and catching balls, recently really gotten into her puzzles, and "I'm gonna get you" game.

Scarlett has been talking more then ever with her favorite words and phrases being "Happy mommy, i happy!" (oh be still my heart i love my happy girl). "My nummies"(anytime she has or wants food she calls it nummies) "no, mine!" "Go Away!" (which means both go away and come here), "Let it go" "Me!!!" "Eeeeeewa! Dora!"(She named her teddy bear Eeewa). "Bubas mommy bubas." (bubbles which she also sometimes calls bobby). "Mama iiiiid da ball! Tee-Tee iiiid da ball! Papa iiiid da ball!" (We went to play tennis with my parents and sister and she hasnt stopped talking about how we all "hit the ball"). "peep peeps mommy!" "Mommy nigh nighs" (she loves to play in her crib and tells me to sit on the rock chair next to her" "deee-daws!"(this is what she calls horses because of all the times i have her say "yee-haw!"when riding or playing with a toy horse). "Hi beeps!" (all cars are beeps). "Nana" (this is her pacifier). "Hey wait Ah!" (she calls her Arial balloon Ahh, because thats what Ariel says, you know-aaaaaah-aaaaaaaah.) "Heeeeeelp me!"(she says this with the cutest little southern accent). "wawa, juice, cheese, pop," are just a few of the many many more things she says.  I wish i could follow her around with a tape recorder. My newest favorite thing she does is in our prayers whenever we say what we are thankful for she chimes in and always starts with "mama, tee-tee, papa, iiid da ball, eeewa, nana, dora, beeps," and recently she's been grateful for "me" (herself) and "owies." So cute.

We've done a lot these last few months from two trips down to LA to visit her sweet cousin simon and new cousin Charlotte. We always have a blast with the Hankes. And one of our trips she even got to go to Disney Land for the first time with Simon, Owen, Trin, and Me. It was a blast...I wish she knew more about princesses a few months ago when we went, but she loved it all the same just being around her cousins and going on rides. She was really into the movie Cars when we went though, so going to CarsLand and seeing Mator and Lightening McQueen was a very special treat for her.

This last week Scarlett got potty trained. I wasnt quite ready for it but she kept talking about how she had to "peeps" and wanting to go on the potty that I figured I'd better try. She was great and made the experience incredibly easy for me. She had two mini accidents the first two days an then nothing since and its been officially a week! I'm so proud of her and how much she's learning. Now she uses it as an excuse to try and stay up longer though, because right when I want to put her down, she'll hold herself and say "peep peeps" and then continue to just sit on the potty for as long as I can last before I finally have to tell her that we are all done. She cracks me up.

Here are some pictures documenting our last few months!

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 She loves the carouse! Mother daughter matching!
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She is such a big laundry helper!

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Captain America

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Whatever her big cousins are playing, she's going to play to!

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 On our way to Disney Land!

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Such a magical place! Best three kids at Disney Land!

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Dumbo Ride! So much happiness!

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Carousel!

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Cousins

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"Cheese!"

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 Feeding the Ducks at the Arboretum in LA

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 Isn't my new niece Charlotte such a princess?!?!
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First trip to the zoo with Brady and Jax! Scarlett is holding on to dear life to her big cousin Brady!

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My little monkey (or as she calls them "ahh- ahhs!")

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She loves to cuddle Owen!

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This is what potty training looks like at our house!

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Scarlett loves to press her cheek hard into my face when we are cuddling...Sometimes it even hurts a little, but I don't care because she's actually cuddling with me!)

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More Owen love, she does not want to leave him alone!

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obsessed

Don't mind the end of this video, I just tripped over my nephew. She has soooo much fun with all of Simons toys!



Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Christmas '13

Christmas was soooooo fun this year! Scarlett turned 20 months right before Christmas and understood the idea of getting presents and opening them! She loved opening each present and always did a "oh wow!" face and reaction when she saw what was inside. She is so theatrical with her expressions I love it. She also understood who Santa was and loved watching her Dora the Explorer Christmas dvd. We had a Santa in our house that rocked back and forth and played Christmas music (Doug's old favorite Christmas decoration as a kid) and Scarlett called him "Tanta!" and would give him and the Christmas tree a kiss every night before going to bed. And now every time she sees a white haired and beareded man she cries "Tanta!" We also started "The Elf of the Shelf" tradition this year, and although she didn't understand yet that our Christmas "Elfie" travelled back to the North Pole each night to report to Santa, she did understand that every morning when she woke up she had to find Elfie. Each night we would hide Elfie in a new spot and she walked through the house calling "Elfie" until she found it. On Christmas morning we hid Elfie in the top of her stocking so that when she pulled her out she would see all the other fun stuff in her stocking that Santa Brought her.  We also had a special gift this year of puppies! The Hansens dog had puppies on Thanksgiving, which means they were full of energy and ready to play around Christmas. Scarlett loved it! And we loved seeing all her reactions and learn all the fun traditions that go with Christmas. It truly is the most magical time of the year!!

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Tanta!!! So happy we got to see him with Owen and Simon!

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Scarlett loves holding the puppies. Here she is saying "cheese!"

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Ba Humbug! Merry Christmas!

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She plays basketball a little differently...

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She loves riding Grandmothers horse!

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Have a cool Christmas

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Christmas eve at my parents

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Loving her recorded book from Owen

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They re-lit and blew this candle out at least 5 times!

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Puppy love

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She is obsessed with Doug's hat...She even brings it to her crib to sleep with

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"Look at me while I'm talking to you!"

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 Scarlett's face in this family picture is hilarious. Hansens and puppies = good times!

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 She loves looking the puppies in the eye. So in love.
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She loves Daddy's head lamp. Especially when she turns off all the lights and plays in the dark. 

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Cousins wearing grandmothers and grandpapala's motorcycle helmets.

Christmas morning video
Loves her new fancy shoes

Playing at Grandmothers

Family Pictures '13

We did our yearly family pictures for our Christmas card this year. Having a toddler who has opinions and attitude of her own definitely makes family pictures a challenge. My sis-in-law Hannah is truly the best photographer. I thought for sure none of our pictures would turn out and we'd get none of Scarlett smiling since she seemed to be pulling away, screaming, frowning, and throwing tantrums the whole time. However, somehow she did it and we ended up with a handful of great pictures. Enjoy!

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