Her Favorite Things

What better way to sum up the past two or so months than with a posting about our Strawberry's favorite things?!

Despite the challenges that toddlerhood inevitably brings, such as willfulness that requires discipline which "requires" tantrums (when you're the toddler, that is...though somestimes I feel like throwing myself on the floor, I must admit!), we find ourselves enjoying our walking, signing, talking, exploring 16-month-old more than ever before! All the world's a toy to her, and as such it becomes the same to us as her parents. Seeing the marvels great and small in our world through the eyes of our little girl makes them seem like new to us. I don't think I had intentionally gazed upon the moon in years...but now we look for it every night before bed and every morning when we wake up. Sniffing flowers was something I did on occasion, but now we admire every petal...and every bug between every petal! The pebbles covering the ground of the Tot Lot at the nearby park, the flag on the mailbox, the lids on empty spice containers, the holes in her bath cups that allow the water to trickle out, the children playing outside at the nextdoor Christian school, the details in her sand blocks, the colorful pom-poms that cover the kitchen floor when she "cooks" with them in pots and pans...all of these little wonders and so many many more flood our days with happiness! What a blessing it is to have a child in our midst!

Just when we thought she was pretty much the most incredibly exciting, wonderful, and fulfilling little creature on the planet earth...SHE GOT EVEN BETTER!!!! Oh, how we adore her...

Read on to see a few of her many favorite things!

Bike Rides

Riding on the back of Dada's bike is always a special treat! She will sign and say BIKE every time she sees it parked in our basement. And her light aqua and pink baby helmet makes her a delight to watch as she and Dada circle the park...

Sophie's Visits

Playing with cousin Sophie is always a treat! Aunt Jenna and Sophie visited us in early August for the day.

Splashing in the backyard wading pool was one of the greatest activities we did all summer! Mama was sad to put it away when cooler fall weather moved in a few weeks back.

BLUE GOGGLES!!!

GOGGLES!!! And blues ones, at that! Susannah would wear goggles or glasses all day long! She asks for them in both word and sign :).

Visits to Grammy and Grandpa's

MMMMMMM...WATERMELON!!!!







Giving kisses...especially to Grandpa...is a favorite pasttime. Susie Joy gives THE BEST KISSES IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!!

Riding Rody at Grammy and Grandpa's house is always a bouncin' good time

Playing with "Aunt" Betty in the baby pool in Colonial Heights in August was such fun, especially when she learned to pour water on the concrete then go "splash, splash, splash"!

"Riding the horsie" on Grammy's leg!

Doing ANYTHING Outside

Hanging out in the backyard on a sunny afternoon

Riding the BIG horsie at "Aunt" Jackie's house! Sara was sooooo kind to take our horse-loving-yet-timid Strawberry for rides in her front yard several times this summer! That real horsie sure is a lot bigger than her toy horsies!

Rylie

Helping Dada bathe Rylie (anything related to Rylie is a certain favorite thing!)

Playing at the Tot Lot with Judah

Bouncing on the big dinosaur with her best buddy, Judah

(She ADORES Judah...talks about him all the time. Tells Mama "JUDAH SLEEPING" every night before bed, perhaps as a way to assure herself that she's not missing out on any fun by approaching slumber herself!)

I think Judah would be my best buddy, too! Look at that curly grin!!!!

Driving the stationary train at the Tot Lot! This is her latest fascination...driving, climbing on the train's seats, and...

...peeking out the windows!!!

Trying to operate the digger just like she sees the bigger kids doing

WALKIN', WALKIN', WALKIN'!!!!

Labor Day Weekend at Grammy and Grandpa's

Sharing the activity table with cousin Sophie Grace

Eating corn on the cob, her new favorite food! She will freak out if you start to cut her corn off the cob, as she prefers to hold it herself and nibble down!

Snuggling with Big Bunny, which is the softest, sweetest stuffed critter imaginable! We are thankful that Grandpa bought it for the girls to play with while they visit!

Sharing the rocker with Sophie...but not her book!

Sampling the fake food at Grammy and Grandpa's! This one is entitled, "Ode to Dada," as Pringles are his very favorite snack in all the world! Susannah has developed quite a liking for "chits," too (though we try to discourage her from saying it in public lest others think she is cursing...!!!!)

She carried around this piece of plastic corn on the cob all weekend, seeking it out every time the tub of toy food was opened!!! Hilarious! When Sophie came over and attempted to have a taste, Susannah was not pleased...at all.

Straws!

This baby has always loved cups of any sort, and that fascination has now been transferred to straws, which she uses like a pro. We don't even take a sippy to restaurants anymore, as she would much prefer to sip her milk or water from one of their cups with a "taw."

BED HEAD!!!!

Yes, sometimes she wakes up looking like this!!!! Makes us love her even more...as if that were actually possible or something!

Singing and Playing

"Twinkle Twinkle" is her favorite song (along with "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "The Wheels on the Bus"). Here, she is singing in a high-pitched voice while signing TWINKLE. The book she has features babies signing this song.

Signing STAR along with the baby in the book

Playing with nesting blocks in her room (she loves to un-nest them, stack them, knock them down, and nest them again!)

She will play for hours with these brightly-colored pom-poms. She puts them into measuring cups and dumps them, fills bowls and jars with them, and stirs them with her big wooden spoon or whisk in a skillet on the kitchen floor. Such great fine motor "work" they provide!

Non-Stop Movement!

Who wants to sit in the high chair at the Bistro and wait for our food when she could be walking?!

Our family

Very Favorite-EST Things...

Lucy, her new tan noise-making horsie from Grammy and Grandpa (we named it after friend Kacie's baby girl, Lucy Caroline, who was born on the same day Susannah received her beloved horsie toy)

Moon gazing...

Never have we ever seen a little one become sooooooo enthralled with the moon! She asks for it at least 20 times a day in the cutest little way (with voice and sign), and if she sees it, will simply stare and stare and stare, undistracted. Then she wants to see its friends, the stars ("taws"). She becomes disappointed if it is "sleeping" or "hiding," but never cries. What a sweet, sweet little one she is... Daddy has a photograph of the moon reflecting on a body of water which we look at all the time in our house, and she regularly kisses it then giggles with glee!

As of now, her favorite book is, Good Night, Moon, which she clearly calls (with her voice and signs), "Nigh-nigh Mooooooon." I'm going to try to get her on video "reading" the book, because it is absolutely impossible to believe until you see this wee one in action! Among many other cute things, she finds the mouse on every page, says "shhhhhhhh" to the quiet old lady, "tick-tocks" while looking at the clocks, and, of course, she finds the moon on every page. If I don't eat her soon, her father certainly will! :)

Her red coat and hat

I purchased this 4T coat and hat for the future from a friend who was selling some of her 8-year-old twins' clothes. When I got home with my "loot," I hung the coat and hat on the pantry door in the kitchen to show Harry. When Susannah saw it, she absolutely LIT UP and started signing/saying, COAT! HAT! We allowed her to try it on, and she spent the rest of the evening looking at herself in the mirror, walking around, trying to read books and do puzzles, and, overall, simply basking in its warmth and redness. SOOOOOOO ENDEARING!!!!!

Just a few other things that I haven't captured on camera but that I want to remember forever...

• She calls herself "Sa-sa." Whenever she sees a picture of herself or we ask her, "Who are you?", this is what she replies!!!!

• She doesn't exactly have a very clear "s" sound at this point, so it comes out more like "sh." Her new favorite word and thing to do? SIT. Sooooooo...she walks around the ice cream shop, the library, our church saying--you guessed it--"SIT SIT SIT, MAMA!!!!" Only she doesn't pronounce it "sit." Embarrassing...

• She LOVES shapes, and labels them everywhere we go: MOON, STAR, HEART, CIRCLE, and TRIANGLE are the ones she says and signs consistently. When we give her paper and crayons in her high chair or at the kitchen table (a new favorite hobby!), she immediately asks us to draw all of these things. Recently, she has added "pumpkin," "strawberry," "horse," and "apple" to the list of requests! Obviously the horse needs something to eat, which is why she requests the apple and sometimes a carrot, too! :).

• Nose kisses and sniffles as we dance...the "Amazing Grace Wiggle" every time Twila Paris's version comes on the CD we've been listening to lately...the way she will tell me "FUTE" with sign and voice every time she hears a flute playing...her "Penguin Waddle"...the way she says a loud "Amen!" three seconds into prayers at mealtimes...the way she prays for Grandpa every night first and foremost...her immediate and EXCITED glance toward the freezer when we ask her if she wants ice cream...her delight in "Peek-a-Boo" (she even plays it while nursing, and uses it as a "stall tactic" while we are dancing her pre-bed songs...and it works, I'll admit! Who can resist giggling when a fuzzy head pops up from your shoulder and big blue eyes burst open accompanied by a high-pitched, "Boo! Mama!")...

Our Strawberry is a source of never-ending JOY!!!!!!