Sally is Three!

There's so much more I need to update from the past six months, but I wanted to share some about Sally's third birthday and what she's up to at this point in her life. Today Winnie actually turned 10 months old, and I kept saying, "Winnie, you're ten months!" And Sally would say, "And how old am I?" And I realized she's three years, one month, and 13 days old. It's already been over a month since her third birthday, and I've yet to document her big day. One of the downsides of having a very busy business is that I seem to have time for nothing else. And while I know the craziness is only temporary, some moments will fade if I don't record them in the here and now, such as my memories of my kids and their milestones. So Sally's third birthday will be documented right this moment. And then I hope to document Winnie at 10 months.

I was so excited for Sal's big day. We decided not to throw her a party since we weren't sure how much she'd actually enjoy it. I think she would have gotten really worked up and then had a meltdown when something didn't go how she imagined it. So instead I wanted to make sure she just had a fun, special day. That can be hard when it's freezing cold outside, but I think she ended up having a really great day.

The day started with her waking up, and I recorded a little birthday interview of her. And then we came downstairs and fixed her three banana pancakes. And then we went to IKEA and she was able to pick out three separate candies from their candy section. She loved having her bag of candy, and held onto it so tight for the car ride home. Next, we went to Harmons and got ingredients for her birthday cake, which we didn't have yet because life had been so busy because of our business. We also got her a helium balloon, which she was obsessed with. When we got home, the girls took naps and then when they woke up, Sally got a visit from Sarah, Bella, Violet, Poppy, and James. And then she got a visit from Ashley and Calvin. They both gave her the cutest gifts, and she was so gracious about saying, "Thank you so much! I love it!" She's got pretty great manners right now. I made her cake during their naps, so it was ready, but we still had a few hours until dinner. We popped her popcorn (her favorite snack) and let her watch a movie. I assume we went to the post office, since we go there every day, and then on the way home, we stopped and got pizza for dinner. Sally was so excited that she didn't have much of an appetite that night. After dinner, we had her close her eyes, and we hid her birthday presents around the room. Then we did cake and ice cream, and she was great at blowing out the candles. She was so excited about her gifts that she said, "I don't want any of it" about her birthday cake. And she didn't eat even one bite! So Johnny and I got to enjoy that all by ourselves. She went to bed very happy and satisfied about her life. And Johnny and I felt a little more sentimental than usual about our beautiful little girl. She's so smart and beautiful, and I really can't believe she's ours. I'm in awe of her and Winnie all the time.

I wanted to share a few little tidbits about Sal these days, our spunky little three-year-old.

• Sally wakes up with so much energy each morning. As soon as she's awake, she's talking a mile a minute, ready to start the day.
• Sally has really liked mimicking me lately, like if I get a scratch or something she says, "Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie." Or at nap time today I said, "I love you babe. And she said, "I love you too, babe." and rubbed my arm.
• Sometimes she also copies what I say to Johnny. I'll call hime "duke," and she'll follow suit. She'll say things like, "Bye, duke!" or "How are you, duke?"
• Sally has gotten so great at articulating her words and feelings. It's crazy how different it is from this time last year. When she's angry, she doesn't just scream anymore. She says, "I'm so mad! I'm gonna throw this stuffed animal!" (usually said when she's mad about going to bed) or "No, don't talk to me like that!" (usually when she's getting in trouble) 
• Sally loves to sing and loves to learn new songs. I love hearing the lyrics that she makes up. She got a play tea kettle from Grand Jan for her birthday, and it makes music, including "I'm a Little Teapot." She'll sing that song and say, "I'm a little teapot! Tip me over and pour me some tea!" 
• Sally also loves dancing. She would do it for hours if I'd let her. She loves Taylor Swift's songs from 1989 and the soundtrack from Home, which include songs by J. Lo and Rhianna. When I played "Wildest Dreams" in the car a few days ago, she said, "Hey, this is my favorite song!" 
• We've been working on her alphabet with her, and she has an alphabet puzzle she loves working on. It's so fun that Sally's finally old enough to actively learn new things. 
• Sally also loves to color, paint, draw, stamp, and place stickers.
• Sally has become so much more social, and she loves to give compliments to people. She'll say, "Hey, I like your hair." She also loves thanking people for things. Sometimes I feel like she has better social skills than I do. 
• Tonight I left to go somewhere, and I don't leave very often, so I could see that Sally was kind of surprised to see me leaving the house. As I was starting the car, the garage door opened, and she peeked her head out and waved and said "Bye, Mom! Bye, Mom!" so earnestly, even though she knew she was going to get in trouble from Johnny for opening the door. It was so sweet and totally made my night.
• Sally is very aware of the moon. We go out at sundown a lot to take boxes to the post office, and she loves spotting the moon in the sky.
• Sally continues to be jealous of Winnie, but it is getting better for sure. Today I took pictures of Winnie at 10 months, and Sally wanted me to take pictures of her, too. She has a very difficult time sharing her toys with Winnie, but we've been trying to help her learn to give Winnie a different toy to play with when Winnie tries to play with her toys. 
• Sally is a very picky eater right now. The only vegetable she eats is carrots. She likes bread, yogurt, cheese, and fruit mostly. Last night I made dinner, and she went and looked at her plate and said, "Hmm... Yuck!" 
• Sally loves her stuffed animals. She can't sleep without at least couple each night. Her current favorites are George and a smaller sock monkey she got from Kim for Valentine's Day. 
• Sally is very particular at bedtime and will do whatever she can to delay it. She'll ask for milk, then juice, and then finally settle for water. She wants her blanket on just so, her fan on, and her stuffed animals. She's also very dependent on her sound machine/nightlight. 
• Currently, Sally has a hard time listening, so she ends up in time out a lot. But I feel like she's starting to get easier to reason with. I feel like we can have actual conversations with her, which is so fun, and she's so inquisitive. She is constantly asking us questions.
• Sally has different names for all the different stores we go to. She calls Walmart "the sun store," Target "the red store," and IKEA "the blue store." 
• Sally gets obsessed with holidays. It took her over a month to get over Christmas ending. She would pretend it was Christmas morning every single day and make a huge mess, as she turned everything in sight into a present that needed opening. She loved Valentine's Day, too, and I'm excited for Easter with her this year. 
• Sal has become much better at cleaning, and she's starting to appreciate her room being clean, which is something she and Johnny do together at night a lot — clean her room as quickly as possible. 
• While Sally is sweet, she also has a backbone, which makes me so proud. If someone isn't nice to her, she'll tell them not to talk to her like that. I've seen kids be unkind, and she's great at talking back and letting them know it's not okay. I'm so proud of her because she used to just cry in those situations.
• Sally continues to be very tall and wears all 4T clothes. She's in the 95th %ile height and 88th %ile for weight.
• Sally is really into unlocking the door right now. If anyone knocks or rings the doorbell, she insists on being the one to open it.
• She also loves to go into help me get Winnie out of bed in the mornings and after her nap.
• I love the way she pronounces some words: she says "wost" for "lost," "Uncle Cado" for "avocado" and "Calentine's Day" for "Valentine's Day," among so many other cute pronunciations.

I can't get over what an incredible girl Sally is. I have never found so much joy in my life as watching my girls grow and develop. I love them both so much, and I'm excited to see how Sal learns and grows this year.

Sally's Hospital Stay

I wrote the following soon after Sally's hospital stay:

Last Thursday night began like any other night. Johnny and I put Sally to bed and then got working on this or that. Sally had a cold and had been coughing a ton. She was also being treated for an ear infection. When we were getting ready for bed, we realized she was coughing nonstop and couldn't sleep at all. So we brought her into our bed. As always, Sally immediately was wide awake and chattering away because of how excited she was to be in our bed. We explained that she needed to sleep, but she kept coughing over and over. We also noticed her breathing was labored and rapid. We called our pediatrician, and she said to take Sally to the Mount Sinai pediatric ER on the UES.

We called an Uber and went over there, feeling unsure of whether we really needed to go. Despite her labored breathing, Sally chatted nonstop in the car, exclaiming that we were in a car, going on a trip! In the ER, they put us in a temporary room and gave Sal an albeuderol nebulizer treatment. It didn't help, but they decided to give her a few more. They also took an X-Ray to rule out pneumonia. The time just slipped away, and we'd been sitting in one room for hours. All we knew was that Sally's breathing was a concern, she had a fever, and her oxygen levels were lower than they should be. No one was telling us anything else. We were just waiting for someone to tell us what was wrong so we could go home. Then a nurse came in to check her vitals one more time, and based on her reaction, something seemed off. Next thing we know, the doctor comes in and says, "Mom and Dad, she's gotta stay." In other words, they were admitting Sally to the children's hospital. Her oxygen levels were at 90% and nothing was making them improve. She didn't have pneumonia, but they tested her for RSV. We waited another few hours for a room to be prepared and for the results of the RSV test to come back.

I was super emotional, as it was the morning of my due date and I was sleep deprived. Seeing Sally so sick was heart wrenching. She was on constant oxygen and the albeuderol had made her super jittery and sweaty. She looked awful, and we didn't know what was wrong. Johnny left and got us breakfast sandwiches from a deli, and I swear they were the best I've ever had. Neither Johnny or I slept a wink that whole night. Finally, at around 9:30 a.m., we got admitted. Sally had tested postitive for RSV, which had turned into bronchiolitis.

The nurses and staff were all so sweet in the children's hospital. They brought Sally a doll house to play with, and they were super understanding of our situation with my being so pregnant. Sally was monitored and given saline breathing treatments periodically. They attached a clip to her toe to check her oxygen every couple of hours. We put Sally in diapers, just to make things easier, and she drank out of a bottle while she was there. The trick was keeping her entertained in the hospital room. We had TV, coloring, and the dollhouse.

At 1:00 that afternoon, I went home to sleep, and Johnny called me after three hours to tell me that Sally was throwing crazy tantrums. She'd been given a steroid, and she was hulking out because of it and her sleep deprivation. I went back almost immediately and helped calm her. We were told she was looking better and that we might be able to be discharged that night. Sally fell asleep finally, and her oxygen levels just weren't good enough, so they had to keep us overnight. Johnny went home for a bit to shower and be there for a Prime Now order and then came back with burgers for us. We finally got Sal to sleep late that night and then tried to get some rest ourselves. Johnny had gotten zero sleep still. They made a special exception for us to both sleep in the room since I was so pregnant. They brought in a chair that turned into a bed for me, but Johnny was on the floor. I decided to go home at 1:00 a.m. (via Uber) and give Johnny my bed and sleep in our own bed.

When I got home, I had so much pent up stress that I scrubbed our kitchen and bathroom for an hour before finally going to sleep. I was so happy Persie was home with me so I wasn't alone. I woke up at about 6:30 and showered and took the bus back to the hospital. That morning, Sally seemed like she was doing better, and we just hung out with our girl while the doctors decided whether to send her home. During the night, her oxygen levels had been okay, not great but good enough to discharge her. And she was consistently getting about 94% or 95% oxygen levels during the day, so they told us we could go home. We were told to monitor her and watch her closely the next few days to make sure she didn't worsen. And they told us to just bring her back in if she did. We also had a followup appointment with the pediatrician for the following Monday. Luckily, Sally has steadily improved, and she's been doing great since.

And now back to present day:

There were so many emotions surrounding Sally's hospital stay. Not only was it horrible to see Sally so sick and not be able to do anything, but we were worried about me going into labor and having Wynn while Sally was still contagious. And I was worried that Johnny and I would get RSV and Wynn might get it that way, too. I called my doctor the day Sally was admitted, and she was very concerned and told me that we'd need to quarantine Sally away from the baby if I went into labor while she was still contagious (which would be for the next week or so). I was certain I'd go into labor while Sally was still sick, and the whole situation really weighed on me. Somehow it all worked out. Sally got better before I had Wynn. I really don't feel like it was chance that it all worked out how it did.

Thankfully, Sally ended up being totally fine, but the situation really put everything into perspective for Johnny and me. We were grateful she wasn't more sick than she was, as many of the children in the hospital had much more serious illnesses. It also reinforced how nothing really matters but our little family. I'm so grateful for little Sal and that I get to be her mom. Being a parent makes you so vulnerable, but it's also the very best thing in the world. The week after her sickness was a great time to appreciate each other and spend some final time as a family of three. 

Sally Starts School! (Kind of)

This was a big milestone for us, so I had to share a little about it. Sally has had some separation anxiety, so we wanted to start her in a little program to help her be more independent. I also needed some time to myself, too, to get things done that I can't get done when she's around.

I was really stressing out about finding a good program for Sally. I've never let someone else watch my baby on a consistent basis! I'd given up on getting Sally in a preschool out here, but I emailed one near our house that that I thought she could possibly start in the fall.

Serendipitously enough, they were just starting a pre-preschool program in February, and it's been just what Sally's needed. It's twice a week for two hours each time. And Sally loves it! She's really blossomed. She loves her three other classmates, and she has really bonded with her teacher. I feel totally at ease leaving her, and she gets to do all kinds of fun things that she can't do at home. It's going really well, and I think it will be good for her to have this when the new baby comes, too. I love seeing my girl become more confident being away from her mom and dad. And when it's over, we're so excited to see each other! The past two times, Sally has been happy to see me, but she hasn't wanted to leave school! She's a whole new independent woman!

Sally's Second Birthday!

Sally's second birthday was a snowy one. I wanted it to be a special day for her, so we spent the morning and the afternoon at the park. We went to Central Park in the morning and Riverside Park in the afternoon. Her favorite gift was her stroller, so I let her push it as far and long as her heart desired in Riverside Park. That night, we had pizza (Sally's favorite dinner by far) and some chocolate cake from Trader Joe's and ice cream. Sally got the pizza ALL OVER her face, but birthday girls can do whatever they want.

I considered throwing Sally a party, but we were still getting settled, and it seemed like a bit much. And since it was just the three of us, I just bought a small cake instead of baking one. The poor girl had a toothpick for a candle because I dropped the ball on that, too. Sally, I promise your birthdays will be more exciting in the future!

So, two! I can't believe Sally is two. Sometimes I get sad that Sally is growing up, but I also love watching her grow. Although, it's crazy how much she's grown up since moving to NY and turning two. And that is kind of bittersweet.

Sally struggled with our move. She had major separation anxiety, and I couldn't even attend playgroups without her freaking out. But she seems to have gotten over that hump. She's such a fun little girl. Some nights Johnny and I are exhausted when we finally get her in bed. But other nights we miss her immediately. And we talk for several minutes about what an incredibly fun, smart, and beautiful little girl she is.

So let me share a little bit about little Miss Sally at age two.

• Sally is quite the chatter box. It cracks us up, but I think other people are amazed (in good and bad ways) by how much she talks. She will try to say pretty much anything, and I can understand pretty much all of it. But she's not super articulate, so I think others have a hard time understanding her. She especially does it when she's in a new situation, and I love it about her.
• Sally started a pre-preschool program to help her be more independent and have some guaranteed social time each week. I was so worried that she'd be too clingy to be able to do it, but she loves it! I love seeing her blossom in an environment away from her mom and dad. It's only two days a week, but she asks to go to "school" every day.
• Sally goes to bed at around 8:00 and wakes up at 8:00 each morning, and she takes a 1.5-2 hour nap each afternoon. 
• Her favorite show is Curious George, and she also loves Toy Story and Frozen.
• Her favorite toys are trains. She's obsessed, almost too obsessed. She especially loves the Thomas train, and refers to him as "Homas." 
• Sally's favorite foods are cheese, pretzels, popcorn, fruit, and pizza. I can't get her to eat vegetables or much meat. She'll drink milk and eat eggs and chicken occasionally, so she gets most of her protein that way. I also give her a daily vitamin to help with whatever else she's missing. I'm not sure what else to do with such a picky girl!
• Oh, and she also loves candy. I cannot eat it in front of her or she will plead for it incessantly until she gets some.
• Sally loves to look at herself in the mirror once I've fixed her hair. "Mirror! Mirror!" She also loves looking at pictures and videos of herself. She says, "I cute!" and is very unabashed about her vanity. If this stage is still around in a few years, we may have to work on scaling it back some :).
• Sally isn't potty trained yet, but she likes to sit on the toilet every day, and she lets us know when she needs a diaper change, mostly by saying, "I pooped!"
• Sally loves her baby doll and George stuffed animal, and she likes to practice changing their diapers. She also sleeps with them every night and tucks them in before she gets out of her crib each morning. 
• Sally loves the playground! She loves the slides and swings and could spend all day every day there.
• Sally also really loves books. Her favorite right now is Dragons Love Tacos ("Taco book!"), as well as several others.
• She asks to "fly like Buzz" when her Daddy's home, and he usually obliges her.
• Instead of saying "Yes," Sally says, "I do!" It's so cute and enthusiastic. "Sally, do you want to take a bath?" "I dooo!" 
• Sally asks to take baths every day, which means she takes one almost every day. She says, "I need a baf all day!"
• Sally also likes dinosaurs a lot, and for the last few weeks, she's been roaring as a greeting when Johnny comes to get her out of the crib in the morning. 
• When it's almost time for Johnny to be home from work, she says, "Daddy home little bit!" 
• When Johnny gets home each night, Sally can barely contain herself. She squeals, runs up to him, and flails her arms in excitement. She loves her dad. 
• Sally can whistle, and she loves practicing with her dad. I love watching the two of them work on her whistling skills.
• I'm working on counting with her, and Sally pretty much knows how to count to 10, but she doesn't like to do it. I think it seems kind of pointless to her, which is understandable. 
• Sally also knows most of her colors and shapes, and she loves showing off to her teacher Michelle in preschool.
• Sally gets toys taken away from her a lot by other kids. She used to cry when it happened, every single time. But now she says, "I share!" and I'm so proud of her for that. 
• In other manners, Sally has finally started saying "Sorry" after she does something naughty. It's never very remorseful, but we'll work on that.

It's almost impossible to keep track of her milestones because she hits so many all the time now. Two is a crazy age for learning. Her vocabulary is endless, and sometimes Johnny and I don't even know where she learned certain words. She pointed out a "camel" a couple weeks ago, and we were shocked.

It's so fun to see her learning so much. She's an incredible little girl, and I LOVE being her mom. It's the best, really. I can't believe how lucky I am to be her mom, even on the hard days. Some days Sally will go from one naughty activity to the next, just to get a rise out of me. Those days are really hard. But other days, I feel overwhelmed by how great she is, and I don't want her to grow any older. I'm so excited to see her as a big sister. She is such a sweet little girl, and I'm sure it will be hard for her, but I know she'll be a great friend to her little sister eventually. Sally, your dad and I love you more than you'll ever know!

21 Months

Sally will be 22 months on November 6, so maybe this should be entitled a 21.5-month update. I don't know what to say about Sally... she's crazy. And so very sweet. And crazy. As unpredictable as her moods and actions are these days, it's actually a really fun age. 

For one, Sally talks a ton. She just flipped a switch a few weeks ago, and now she is a nonstop talking machine. And she uses actual words from the English language! She'll try to say almost any word so I can't even compile a list of her current words. Suffice it to say, it's very long, which is so much fun. 

Every single day, Sally asks to go to the park. She asks it in the morning, afternoon, and evening. She asks it while we run errands, while we drive around town, and when it's nap time. She also asks to color just as often. I've never known a girl who could color for so long. She does it at least an hour a day, and she's fairly reliable with only drawing on paper, although we have had a few incidents involving our couch and coffee table. 

Her next favorite thing is taking a bath, probably because she has bath markers. So she can both color and be in the water at the same time -- the best of both worlds. 

Sally also throws tantrums. And if we're at the store and she doesn't like it, she'll just start yelling and fake crying and trying to do really insane things -- like sticking a pencil in a banana that's in the cart. It totally takes all of my patience not to freak out. Instead, I attempt to ignore her and resume my shopping. She has one or two tantrums a day, and I really hate them. There is currently nothing that stresses me out more, but I think she's starting to get better.

Now, let's talk about how sweet Sally is. She gives hugs all the time. She'll run full speed at me and wrap her arms around me and nestle her head into my legs. And she loves holding my hand when we walk places. She also gives the very best kisses. When Johnny goes out of town, she asks about him several times a day. When she wants to show us something, she grabs our hands and says, "Moc, moc!" which is her way of saying, "Come on!" 

My favorite phrases Sally says right now are, "I did it!" "All done!" "I tired!" and "Again!" I seriously don't know where she learned, "I tired!" but she takes a deep breath and says it in the perfect exasperated tone. I guess Johnny and I say that a lot when she's around? Not surprising. She has 10x the energy we do. My least favorite phrase she says is "Uh oh!!!!" She will drop (or even throw) something while she's in her carseat and hysterically yell, "Uh oh" over and over and over. But luckily she stops when we say, "It's okay. We'll get it when we're done driving." 

It's crazy how different every stage of parenting has been so far. I'm really loving this stage, though. Sally has gone from being my baby to being my little buddy. And while she has her moments, she's getting to a point where I can explain things to her and reason with her, which is such a relief. She has finally started staying in nursery all by herself for the full two hours. Each Sunday Johnny and I would explain to her that we were going to our class but that we'd be back, and two weeks ago it finally clicked. We made it through two hours without the teachers coming and getting us. 

Anyway, we really love our little girl. And she's as tall as ever. I'm worried 2T won't fit her much longer. Although, she is really thinning out. She is the pickiest eater on the planet, and she barely eats a thing during the day. I'm just happy she still drinks milk each morning and evening. And I'm giving her vitamins to hopefully supplement any other nutrients she's missing out on.

As far as Johnny and me, we're doing good. Johnny's work has been busy and stressful, but we're looking forward to the upcoming holidays. And we love our weekends, especially me. Coparenting is a dream.

18 Months

I can't believe Sally is a year and a half!! I've been terrible about documenting her updates lately, haven't I? Yes, yes, I have. For that matter, I've neglected any and all updates lately, which I hope to remedy sooner than later. But back to my main gal Sal.

Oh boy is she a handful right now! It took Flarp (noise putty) to get her to sit still for the above picture. So that should tell you all you need to know. The girl just doesn't sit still. One of her very first words was "Go, go, go!" (which I guess is more of a phrase), and does she ever! I'm glad I quit my job when I did because I couldn't have kept up with her the last two months otherwise.

What can I tell you about Sal in the everyday right now? Well, she loves throwing things in the toilet. Loves it. I know parents say that sort of thing. "Oh my kid loves to play in the toilet!" But I'm not joking around here. Sally has thrown dozens of things in the toilet at this point. And I watch her like a hawk. The problem is that she knows how to open all the doors in the house, so I can't just close all the bathroom doors and be safe. She will find the toilet if its the last thing she does. I really hope this phase ends soon.

For the first time today, I felt like Sally was actually listening when I was scolding her. She likes to shake the gate at the top of the stairs, which is really quite dangerous. And she's actually knocked it down twice and almost fallen down the steps. But I think my words of caution are finally starting to sink in, so I hope she will stop doing that and playing in the toilet if I just keep on with my lectures.

Now let me share a bit about little Sal's personality. She's got a lot of it. Sally is a happy little girl, and she loves joking around with Johnny and me. She likes to hide things and then lift her hands in the air and say, "Go?" as in "Where did it go?" Yesterday, she and Johnny were hiding things on the top of their heads, which she found to be extremely funny. In the past few months, Sally has become much more friendly than she ever was previously, and she loves making new friends with adults. She still hasn't caught on to the whole making friends with other toddlers thing, but I figure that will come eventually.

Really, there's just so much to say about our little girl, so I'm going to switch to bullet points:

• Sally loves the water. She loves baths and loves swimming pools.
• Sally loves animals, especially "goggies!" Today, one of our neighbor's dogs ran up to her while we were outside our door waiting for Johnny to get home. She squealed with excitement. Right then, Johnny came around the corner, and the combination of both a dog and her dad getting home caused her to let out the loudest scream/squeal I've ever heard her make. And then the excitement was so much that she started crying. It was sort of the cutest thing ever.
• Because of her ear infection, Sally is once again using a pacifier at night. Aaaarrghhh. I'll wean her off of it as soon as I muster up the energy to do so.
• Sally goes down for her naps and bedtime wide awake. She waves goodbye to us after we sing her a few songs. She snuggles up with her stuffed animals and her blanket and is happy to go to sleep. Hallelujah for no more sleep struggles (for now!).
• Sally gives the best kisses. And she keeps her mouth closed now, rather than the open-mouthed kisses from a few months ago. If she doesn't want to kiss you, though, she'll push your face away with her hand, which we're teaching her is not very nice.
• Sally likes to throw her food on the floor, and we're not sure how to break this terrible habit. We can't take her to any sort of restaurant because of it. I really hope she quits finding it funny sooner rather than later.
• Sally's two favorite foods are peaches and strawberries. That's all she'd eat if I'd let her.
• We have a little routine right now when we get in the car. I turn on music, and Sally immediately starts dancing in her car seat. It's the funniest thing, as she she punches her fists in rhythm into the air.
• Sally loves playgrounds. Her favorite activities are the swings and the tunnels and the slides (if mom or dad goes down with her).
• When Sally is in a bad mood, she refuses to say "yes" about anything. Even if she obviously wants something, she'll say, "No!" if you ask her about it. "Sally, do you want a strawberry?" "Noooo!" "I think you do want one, so I'm going to give you one."

And now, onto Sally's vocabulary! She is learning so many words right now. It's so much fun to watch her picking up on new stuff. Here's her current vocab:

• go, go, go
• no
• yeah
• momma
• dada
• kitty
• doggy
• bath
• ball
• please ("eese!")
• cheese
• car
• bye bye
• okay
• mmmm (when something's yummy)
• teeth
• more

That's all I can think of right now. She's really good at pointing and yelling at things she wants, and Johnny and I keep telling her to "Use your words!" as if that's going to make sense to a one-year-old.

Sally is a ton of fun right now. She's so busy and curious, and she soaks up every drop of every day. I'm exhausted when I put her down at night, but then I miss her once she's in bed. I know that's cliche, but it's so very true.

Lastly, here are a few pics of our little year-and-a-half-year-old whom we adore so very, very much:

Sally's First Owie

Last week at Johnny's softball game, Sally fell off the bleachers. She was walking, slipped, and fell through the back, dropping about four feet onto the concrete. I ran down, but Johnny got there first, and Sally was screaming like no other. We were both a bit hysterical at first, too, but after checking her over, we realized she was fine (somehow!!). I thought for sure she'd broken an arm or gotten a concussion, but she was totally okay, other than a scratch on her head. Within a couple of minutes, she was scrambling to get down and go play again! That night, we treated her to a shake and a churro, and she couldn't have been happier.