18 Months....and 3 weeks

Hello everyone!

Now that Taylor is almost 19 months (will be on March 16th) I decided it was about time to post her 18-month stats and some pictures. ;)

You guys will love the "mom" moment I had at the doctor. While the nurse tried to measure Taylor the first time, Taylor was being fiesty and the nurse kind of rushed it. When the doctor came in, she noted that Taylor's height had dropped off from her normal 95th percentile. I didn't think anything of it because I figured it would happen someday. Then after she had finished her exam and left the room, I looked at the sheet and it said she was in the 55th percentile! That just didn't jive with me considering 3 months prior she was in the high-90s still. So at first I was going to let it go, but then knew that it would bug me. I know these things aren't an exact science, but that seemed way off to me.

When the nurse came back into the room to give Taylor her shots, I asked her if she could measure Taylor again. She kind of looked at me surprised, but did it anyway. Sure enough, she had shorted (no pun intended) Taylor by 3/4 of an inch! I know, I'm being one of "those" moms, but I had to. 3/4 of an inch is a lot in 3 months! So here are Taylor's stats after I made the change on our take-home sheet and looked up infant height stats online. Hehe.

Weight 25 lb 10 oz (70th %ile)

Height 32.75in (75th %ile) (was noted as 32 inches and 55th %ile on the doctor sheet)

Head 19.25in (96th %ile)

Other than that, we had a pretty good appointment. She still had an ear infection that was left over from her double ear infection two weeks prior, but everything else looked great and we got her some more antibiotics for that ear!

Some little tid-bits of Taylor at 18 months:
- She is still very much a daddy's girl. I think that will be a permanent trait and I find it endearing now. Unless she is pushing me away from Al as I try to hug him, then daddy has to let her know that's not cool...which he does. ;)
- Her favorite foods are fruit (especially bananas and strawberries) and cooked carrots and cheeeeese! Oh and of course bread. She eats at least a half of a piece on the way to daycare because she sees Al give the dogs their medicine in bread. When she eats her fruits and carrots, she sometimes sounds like the Tazmanian devil because she is so frantic to get them all eaten.
- She is giving "real" hugs and kisses now. It's so sweet to watch her give her daycare buddies big hugs when she greets them in the morning. They all greet her too, "Tay-Tay!"
- LOVES saying "No". I guess that's just her age though.

I have to admit, it’s been increasingly difficult to get good pictures of Taylor. She is not camera friendly lately and will not “ham it up” for us. Silly girl. So here’s what we have!

One day after a nap, Al started putting her stuffed animals in her crib. She loved it!

Ok, this is not the most attractive picture of Taylor, but I had to show you her "No" face when she is really emphatic. It's kind of funny. You'll also notice her new couch from Aunt Joan and Uncle Bryan. She loves it because it's her size! Oh, and the hat is a clown hat she made in daycare and wanted to wear around the house:

Climbing into the laundry basket, another favorite pasttime:

Taylor with her buddy Chewy:

We have also been going out for breakfast on Sundays a couple times a month. Taylor does pretty good and chows down on her fruit and pancakes:

Funny girl:

I LOVE this video. Taylor loves putting on gloves, especially if they aren't hers. She apparently walked into the bedroom with one of Al's goalie gloves on and asked him to put on the other. This made her night!

Here's one more quick video. We really don't let Taylor watch much t.v. unless it's Texas football or KU basketball. There is the occassional "Jack's Big Music Show" for a few minutes in the morning, but she normally turns off the t.v. which is funny. Anyway, this past Saturday, Al recorded the KU/UT basketball game and we thought it would be fun family bonding to watch some of it with Taylor before her bedtime. She even got to stay up a little late!

Poor girl is going to be so confused with her daddy's college sport teams. For basketball, he will always be a KU supporter, even if they play his Longhorns. So for those non-Jayhawk followers, whenever KU has free-throws, the fans hold their hands in the air and if the basket is made, they bring their arms down and make a "Woosh!" sound. Here is Al teaching Taylor this very important move. You can't hear it, but she actually tries to make the sound too.

Some "firsts" - Basketball and Pigtails

I should be doing homework right now, but I started this post a couple of weeks ago so I want to get it finished!
Anyway, a couple of weeks ago Al's firm received a lot of free tickets to the Timberwolves game. We decided to try to take Taylor even though the game was at 7:00 and her bedtime is usually 7:30. As usual, she did great. She really likes the environment of places like this! As long as there is action, she is up for it.

Here is a picture of daddy and Tay...yes, the Lakers were a MN team back in the day (see the statue)..hence the name "Lakers". ;)


Our good friends Matt and Stef were able to come with us. Taylor was loving Stef's lap!



Here are some fun videos from the night.

Our seats were great because the stairs ended at our row so Taylor couldn't really go anywhere. She had a blast sitting on the bottom step because it was just her height.
There was a set of grandparents in some rows up top who were enamored with Tay. They had thrown her their program so this is her retrieving it and being a bit perplexed. :)



First walk through the skyway! These are lifesavers in MN!!





Now for the other "first". Pigtails!!! I had just gotten done trimming Taylor's bangs (not an easy feat) and decided her hair was long enough to try the piggies.
She LOVED it! She likes looking in the mirror when she has pretty things in her hair.


And LOVES to chew on her toothbrush.

Tagged!

Ok, this is just a quick post because I was "tagged" by my friend Jane in her blog. The rule is, you have to pick the fourth picture out of your fourth picture file and post it.

Surprise, surprise, my picture is one of Taylor! It was fun to look back about 8 months ago and see these pictures. This one was taken on May 29th in our backyard. She was about 9 months old. You could see one small curl forming on the right side of her head. Who knew that would turn into a whole mop of curls on her head!

Ok, so if you haven't done it yet, it's your turn Suzanne, Beth & Whitney!

Christmas Day

Happy New Year everyone! I started class again today so before the semester gets out of control and Al gets crazy busy with tax season, I thought I would at least get our Christmas pictures posted!
Christmas was in MN this year and we realized it was the first time we have had Christmas in our house even though we moved into it in 2006. It was a relatively nice and quiet holiday break for us which was good. We all needed some R&R and time to recoup for the new year!

A quick festive picture of our fireplace with Santa toys laid out (the Nutcrackers are not for Taylor..those are part of our collection). Even though our family room is decked out in wood paneling and old-school ceiling tiles, it's actually our favorite room in the house. It is so cozy in the winter with all the Christmas decorations up. Al and I were commenting the other day that our house looks best during Christmas. ;)

Taylor with her first taste of present opening since her birthday in August. She was pretty excited about it for the first couple of presents.

Her big Santa present was set up in the basement. Our basement is actually not ideal for hanging out in. We plan on refinishing it in the next few years, but until then, Al did a great job of clearing out some space and cleaning up a good spot for Taylor to have a play space. That's where her new tunnel toy was set up. It's four tunnels, an intersecting part and two tents. It's so big that we couldn't put it all in the same space. She LOVED it. I wish we had taken a picture of the whole contraption put together!

Later that morning, we made the 90-mile drive to spend Christmas day with most of my mom's side of the family in Rochester. Not everyone lives in MN, but we had a pretty good number show up.

Four-generation photo with both Grandma Kneeskern's:

Taylor loving her Santa hat that great-aunt Mary let her wear!

The Kneeskern/Voigt women, Grandma, Taylor, Joni and Katrina:

Some of the great-granddaughters, Taylor, Bianca, Mia, Megan and Benaysay:

Almost 50% of the great-grandchildren with great-grandma:

The day after Christmas, we had our immediate family's Christmas dinner and present opening.

Here's daddy helping Taylor clean off her fingers! These two are always cracking me up!

Taylor helping Grandma clean up the turkey. The outfits were a coincidence!

Here a just a couple of additional fun photos of Taylor post-Christmas.

I just bought her some barrettes for her bangs because she won't let me trim them. She looks like such a big girl when she wears them! This is also another classic "cheese" face of hers. ;)

Taylor loves her "ba-bas" and they seem to like her a little too. Here's a picture of her and Chewy hanging out one morning while we were trying to get her dressed.

One of Taylor's most recent Christmas gifts from Mimi (Al's grandma). She bought Taylor her own rocking chair and the first one we received wouldn't go together correctly. So we had them send us another one and just received it on Friday. She loves it!

Holiday Tid-bits

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! It's Christmas Eve and I wanted to add a couple of pictures on the blog of some holiday fun. I'm sure there will be another posting of Christmas-day events. Now that I am on vacation and have a few weeks off from school, I can "play" a little and keep this blog updated a bit more. :)

Taylor is getting pretty "hammy" lately. Someone taught her how to say "cheese" when a picture is being taken and now says "mo, mo" (more) when we are taking pictures. While it doesn't produce the cutest face (saying cheese) it is really pretty adorable when she is doing it:

Every year, my family has a tradition of making Christmas cookies. About five years ago (give or take) my Godparents, Joan and Bryan, offered up their big kitchen to us. With their nice countertops and 2 convection ovens, we are able to make an octuple batch of cookies in about two hours! It has been a fun tradition for everyone.

Here is Taylor's first cookie cutting experience assisted by Grandma and Grandpa (or as Taylor says it "Bumpa"):

"Bumpa" helping Taylor decorate:

Even Mommy did a good job, "Yaaay"!:

Here is the new "cheese" face. Like the shirt? That was a gift from Godfather Kolin in Austin:

It has been awhile since we posted a video and I was finally successful today.

Here is a little glimpse of how Minnesota parents torture their toddlers: You begin by wrestling them into snowpants, boots, coat, jacket and mittens. All the while, they turn completely limp and lose all functionality of their limbs. It is literally like wrestling a greased pig or putting a cat in a kennel, depending on the level of agitation of said toddler. Then, you get to strap the poor kid into the car seat with all the gear on and head out into a blizzard. It is advisable to double check the temperature before you head to the park, but what's the fun in that?

I leave you with Taylor's first sledding experience. This was run number one of two. We hadn't realized that the temperature had dropped to 6 degrees (that's right, SIX) during her nap, and the wind was really blowing. Needless to say, she did not have fun, but we have a great video! Did I mention she throws tantrums now? I don't really blame her for this one....

Thanksgiving and 15 Month Stats

Hi everyone! I can't believe we didn't manage to get a post in the month of November. We're getting worse instead of better! School is going well, but it's definitely created a deficit in our "free" time bank. We're managing though and enjoying as much family time as possible.

Taylor just turned 16 months yesterday and becomes more and more enjoyable each day. Who knew that was even possible?? She loves exploring her environment and discovers new things every day. Of course her favorite passtime is stacking and unstacking Tupperware containers. LOVES it. What's even better, she loves to put them away when she's done. Everything has its place and she is very aware of that. Apple of mommy's eye!

We have her 15 month stats from her appointment last month:
Weight - 23 pound 13 oz (70%ile)
Length - 32 inches (90%ile)
Head - 19 inches (96%ile) BIG head! Makes us very aware of the types of shirts we buy. They need to have a stretchy hole opening or lots of button. ;)

Now for some pictures!

Loving on her stuffed tiger that grandma bought her the day she was born:

For Thanksgiving this year, we drove down to Kansas to see Al's family. It was a great weekend and so nice to spend four full days down there with everyone. Even Al's great-grandmother, Mawlene, made it up from Texas with Al's grandma (Mimi). So we had a few opportunities of 5 generation photos. Very special.
We were also there for the arrival of our newest nephew Caleb Isaac and during the weekend, Al's cousin Kristi got engaged. Big weekend and lots of pictures!

Taylor running around with Nana's hat:


All the little grandbabies loved getting a ride on Mawlene's walker:

Running around Nana and Papa's backyard. The weather was great the first couple of days!

Al's family (Taylor was napping):

Baily (Taylor's cousin) was trying very hard to get Taylor to laugh. Taylor just laid there motionless with no expression the whole time. Finally Baily put her hands in the air and said, "That's all I've got!" and walked away. So funny!

Baily spent the night at Nana's since her mom (Al's sister Kelly) was schedule to go into the hospital the next morning. The two cousins got to play that night, very sweet.

Taylor hanging out with her cousins Deidric and Tavaris. They were so sweet to share their toys with her.

We also found some time to visit a high school friend of Al's (Adam) and his family. They have a 2 year old daughter, Ainsley and a 2 month old son, Fletcher. Now Fletcher, Al and Adam all share the same September 22 birthdate!

Taylor and Ainsley being goofy together:

Taylor not sure what to think about this little baby in daddy's arms:

Later that night, Caleb Isaac was born. Here's a picture of big sister, Baily with the proud daddy (Justin):

Nana and Taylor hanging out in Taylor's favorite chair of the weekend. She loved it so much that we're getting her one for Christmas from Mimi:

Taylor not happy that she has to share her ride with Al's cousin's boy, Logan:

Five generation photo including Joni and Les (Papa):

Al and Taylor with Grandpa Voigt:

Taylor and Joni finally getting to meet baby Isaac: