Squirt's favorite "person" in the world

Squirt LOVES duke. Absolutely loves him. She's apparently learning from him, too. Today, I followed her into the kitchen to see this:





Duke soon saw that she was in there and started getting jealous:



So I took the baby out of the kitchen and filled up duke's food and water. I even blocked off the doorway into the kitchen with Squirt's baby walker and the trash can so that duke would be able to eat uninterrupted. Then I went back to the computer and played "Geo Challenge" on facebook (a newly discovered app from playfish that I am currently addicted to). I kept looking over at squirt to make sure everything was ok, and she was just standing up on her walker and waving her arms in the air, babbling at duke. I'm sure that if I spoke baby, I would have heard "Help me in, Duke! I'm stuck out here!"

Well so a couple minutes later, I heard the splooshing boing sound of Duke's water bowl hitting the ground, so i looked over and Squirt was no longer there. I have NO idea how she could have gotten through, and the barricade was completely sound still. I walked in and saw her sitting in a puddle of water. She was so pleased with herself, and just thought it was hilarious when I picked her up and she stuck her dripping feet up against my stomach, making me scream.

So I called my mom and was telling her about the recent shenanigans when I looked into the front room and squirt was no longer anywhere to be seen. Then I looked over at the gate blocking the stairs and realized that it had been left open (again). I went upstairs and saw her chasing duke around the hallway. I'm just glad she didn't fall!

Needless to say, though, she loves her duke:





He's not totally picked on, though. She always has fun throwing her food over the edge of the high chair for him to eat.

Catch Phrase

We had some friends over tonight and had dinner then played catch phrase, which is now Squirt's favorite toy. She was pushing the button then watching it while it beeped. Then when we actually started the game, she was being SO cranky because every time the game would finally make it all the way around the circle to her (me), I would pass it off to the next person. Poor thing doesn't understand how to play catch phrase ;)

She has also discovered where her toys are kept:





I think the first of these two is my favorite picture of her (recently) because she's trying so hard to reach whatever it is that she's looking for and she's stretching up onto her little toes... It just makes me smile.

Here she is a few days ago doing her best impression of Steve Urkel:



We also went and got professional pictures taken of her and Katie at Sears with a coupon the other day. Normally their individual sheets are $19.99 each (total rip off) but Sukie gave me a coupon that was 1 8x10, 2 5x7, 16 wallets and 16 minis for $4.99, so that's less than $1 per sheet. pretty good if you ask me, and I thought that it would be a nice gift for my mother in law for christmas... don't correct me if I'm wrong, Lorna, b/c it's what you're getting. :D (Although I didn't draw your name so it's not the only gift you'll get, so don't be too disappointed).

Achy Breaky Ear

We took Squirt to the Dr. today. She has just not been doing well with this cold and I was starting to think that she may have an ear infection. Our Dr. is the best pediatrician I have met. Granted, I haven't met a whole lot of pediatricians, but I love this guy. He checked her ears and said that the right one was infected, then gave us the option of a few different medications: an oral medication for a few weeks, or a one time shot in the office. Since Squirt tends to spit out as much medication as she swallows, we opted for the shot. I felt bad when the nurse came in and said, "this is going to be a pretty painful shot, so you'll want to make sure to rub it for about 20 minutes to help it spread out". I still feel like we made the better choice, but that doesn't mean that I don't feel bad for torturing my poor child.

She's sleeping better so far tonight, though. Her nose is also not running quite so much, so that makes me feel hopeful.

I'm taking Katie and Squirt to get portraits on Saturday morning, then we're going out for lunch with the rest of the in law gang. It's to celebrate my father in law's birthday. It should be a good time, if not completely bittersweet.

Meryl showed me some family pics they had taken and they turned out really good! It made me want to go get pictures taken. I'll probably wait until spring some time... but I have been thinking about getting family pictures for a while now. Maybe I'll just do it when we do Alice's 1 year pictures.

I can make this pencil disappear... only not...

Squirt was playing with a mechanical pencil yesterday, so being the wonderful mother that I am, I took it and pushed the lead back in so she wouldn't scratch herself and then gave it back. A few moments later I looked over at her and she had the pencil next to her eye and she was squinting, so I took it away at that point thinking that she had stuck herself in the eye. I was wrong though, which I knew when her nose started bleeding. Poor Squirt's first little nose bleed :'( I think the worst part for her was not the scratch or the blood but the fact that I was holding her nose to make it stop bleeding (which it did within a few minutes). Mother of the year award over here!

She has been playing and sharing a lot lately. We got her vanilla wafers, which she loves... not because she likes to eat them, but because she likes to feed them to the dog. It's kind of cute to watch him gently take them from her hand...but not so cute when he doesn't quite get it and she then puts it back in her mouth. yuk!

She was playing right inside the front door yesterday when the UPS guy came with a package. He always rings the doorbell and knocks 3 times. Well I was in the kitchen and when he knocked, I came over to the door and she was crawling away as fast as she could, screaming. Seems that the UPS guy's knock is pretty startling.

She's starting to get better balance, although she still holds on to things in order to stand and won't walk unless you're holding her up. She is doing so much talking and babbling though. It reminds me of t-rex because she'll just be talking to her toys or herself and it's just so adorable.

I got a surprise in the mail today from Archie:



I was jealous of one that she has that is similar (read: the exact same), so she got me one. Thanks, Archie! I love it!

We've all been working over here for the past couple days on building our immune systems up. That is to say, we have all caught a cold. It stinks, but it's the worst for Squirt. I hate seeing her so miserable and sick. Hopefully we'll get over it in time for goonies night this weekend!

I give in...

Place an X by all the things you've done and remove the X from the ones you have not. Answer the 30 questions at the end.



( ) Gone on a blind date

(x) Skipped school

( ) Watched someone die

( ) Been to Canada

( ) Been to Mexico

(X) Been to Florida

(X) Been lost

(X) Been on the opposite side of the country

(X) Gone to Washington, DC

(X) Swam in the ocean

(x) Cried your self to sleep

( ) Played cops and robbers ... not very recently

( ) Recently colored with crayons

(X) Sang Karaoke/Tried

(X) Paid for a meal with coins only

(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't

(x) Made prank phone calls

(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose

(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue

( ) Danced in the rain

(x) Written a letter to Santa Claus

( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe

(x) Watched the sunrise with someone you care about

(X) Blown bubbles

(X) Gone ice-skating

(X) Been skinny dipping outdoors

(X) Gone to the movies



1. Any nickname: carebear

2. Mother's name: mickey mouse

3. Favorite drink? milk (but maybe I'm just thinking that because I'm eating cookies...)

4. Any Tattoo's? No

5. Body piercing's? Ears

6. Do U love your job? Yes

7. Ever seen or been in a tornado? No

8. Favorite vacation spot? Disney World

9. Ever been to Africa? No

10. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? yes

11. Been on TV? on the news at a broncos game, being interviewed about why I came.

12. Ever stole a traffic sign? No

13. Ever been in a car accident? Yes, I ran into a truck in a parking lot while he was backing out and then when I got out to check the damage, locked the keys in the car. Luckily, he was a locksmith.

14. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4 door

15. Favorite salad dressing? Outback Ranch

16. Favorite Pie? Elsha's apple pie

17. Favorite number? 1 million

18. Favorite movie? I like TV shows more because there's always something new.

19. Favorite holiday? christmas, thanksgiving, and most of the others.

20. Favorite dessert? outback chocolate cake

21. Favorite food? I'm not picky

22. Favorite day of the week? Weekends b/c I can spend time with people.

23. Favorite brand of body wash? Anything that smells good.

24. Favorite Toothpaste? Colgate total

25. Favorite smell? Clean laundry or clean house

26. What do you do to relax? sit around bein' lazy

27. How do you see yourself in 10 years? living in a big (ish) house with a couple more kids and having a husband who makes lots of money (same one as I have now... just making more money b/c he'll graduate)

28. How many siblings do you have?5

29. Furthest Place you will send this message?

30. Who will respond to this the fastest?