17

Blakely is 17 months old today!  I've resigned myself to the fact that she is rapidly becoming a little girl.  It is amazing to watch really.  Here are a few of my favorite pics from this month.  

She climbed into his shirt and was soooo proud of herself!

Her big things this month.  

• Girl is obsessed with shoes.  All shoes.  My shoes, her shoes, or Lonnie's shoes.  Shoe was actually one of her first words...it sounds like ISH.  Her new favorite is to put on our shoes and walk around in them.  She thinks this is hilarious.  Also, wearing shoes with pajamas is cool too.  

so excited...

• She is also obsessed with bracelets or "pretties".  This is my aunt Jenni's fault.  She always wears bracelets and Blakely has played with them since she was months old.  I have given up on keeping any of my bracelets to myself.  The other day we were outside playing and she was running around like a wild child.  But girlfriend kept her left wrist raised up the whole time so her pretties wouldn't fall off.  Smart.  

• She is for real interested in the potty.  I am not sure what to do about it.  I still feel like she is too young to quite understand but then I also don't want to miss our opportunity to teach her about it either.  I guess I need to read a book.  Anytime I use the bathroom this is what she does.  I mean....this is hilarious!

• She loves fruit.  Especially berries.  Her favorites are strawberries, raspberries and blackberries.  She will eat a carton of raspberries in one sitting easily.  

• I am looking into getting her started in gymnastics.  My friend told me they can start when they are 18 months.  I think she is ready, don't you?

Hi mom!

• She went to her very first birthday party this month!  She had such a great time.  It was for our sweet friend Eli.  Katie did the party in a camping theme and everything was so adorable.  She had a huge tent set up and I swear B ran in and out of that thing 200 times.  

• Her vocabulary expands by the day it seems.  I can ask her to say a word and she tries to repeat it.  Most of the time it sounds pretty close.  Her newest 2 words are yellow (ya-yo) and purple (puhpuh).  Her most frequently used word is uh-oh.  
• I am working on teaching her shapes right now.  She can pick out a heart every time, star and diamond about half of the time.  For some reason circle, square, and triangle go right over her head.  The flashcards I have are the shape on the front and then an object in that shape on the back so she calls the square a cracker.  Then we have to eat a cracker so that is the end of the the shape lesson!
• Animals are still a big favorite around here.  I found these "toobs" (no idea why they spell it like that) of animals on Am.azon and at Mich.aels.  They are pretty small but she doesn't really put anything in her mouth anymore so I don't worry about it.  I also don't keep them out.  We put them up and bring them out to play when she wants to.  

We have this one which is pets.  We also have the jungle and ocean animals.  I can't really explain how much she loves these little animals!  They have other things besides animals as well.  I have the "on the road" toob (different types of cars, trucks, etc), "in the water" toob (types of boats, submarines, etc) and "in the air" toob (planes, hot air balloons, helicopters, etc).  We have a book of first words and her favorite page is the one with all of the tractors, trucks, boats, cars, and trains so I thought she would like these toobs as well.  I haven't given them all to her yet.  I'll be waiting for a rainy day :)

This girl makes us so happy.  After she goes to bed at night Lonnie and I sit around and talk about how great she is and how happy she makes us.  We are so lucky to be her parents!  She makes us laugh constantly.  She has such a little personality.  I look forward to watching that little personality grow and grow!  Happy 17 months Blakely!