Fort Erie

Today we decided to spend the morning at the Best Start program and the afternoon in Fort Erie.  We went to a park close to the water and had a picnic and played with some bouncy balls.  No idea what's going on in the second picture!

Wee M's speech continues to progress well.  She loves to sing and will often try to join in for ABC's, twinkle twinkle, or Happy Birthday!  We are continuing to find books that Wee M will tolerate.  Most recently it has been an Elmo book with six songs/music, a twinkle twinkle little star book, and Goodnight Gorilla.

Her walking is pretty steady now and only trips up occasionally.  She has started to do a quick step / run over the past week or so.

Most impressive is Wee M's ability to make believe and play independently.  As recently mentioned, Wee M just loves playing tea time.  Usually it is with the play cups and teapot, but I walked in to find her drinking from an imaginary cup and pouring more tea from the wall!  She immediately asked if I'd like some when she saw me!

She continues to sleep like a champ, but her 5:30 - 6:30 wake-up calls are a bit much for me!

Cottage Water Activities

Turns out she likes a rock bottom when she swims.
She had a great time in the water!

The excitement of paddle boating was
just too much for her!

Cottage Land Activities

Ice cream ... mmm... So far, she's a mint chip girl!

Outdoors picnic

Chippette's Money.  Cottage tradition is to
have an old film container with coins for
cottage treats.  Wee M loved 'counting' her
money into the bucket!!

Chippette's lounger!

Saturday street toy shopping resulted in a
tea set for Wee M.  This is by far her most
favourite toy right now!  She'll serve tea to
whomever wants it!

Safari

Continuing to love the animals!

Each day she loves her big brother
more and more!  She's even starting to
cry when Chippy leaves the room and
she can't go too!

Hanging out on the Safari equipment

Adventures with Dad

If Chippy was going over in a barrel ...
she was going to go, too!

Bird Kingdom

Picnic in Niagara on the Lake
(i.e. we're too unruly to take to a restaurant!)

Safari Niagara

After Gala Days, she's a pro!

Not smiling for the picture was just payback for not
letting her go on the ropes course with Chippy!

New Friend

Adalyn is two weeks older than Wee M. They don't converse a lot (yet), but they do have a lot in common including two big brothers!

Hello Port Colborne!

Since being in Port Colborne Wee M has learned how to open door handles, had her first complete toddler inconsolable meltdown, and had a conversation with me where she was using individual words (with gestures) to initiate the conversation.  I.e. hot - to take clothes off; dress - to get dressed; snack - pretty obvious!

Watch out - we have arrived!

Never thought we'd see the day where
she WANTS to read!

Still sleepy!

Playing with dolly!

Gampy's piano lessons

The diva - loves a good hat and sunglasses!

Mummy Friends

Hanging out with Mummy's friend and Claire, Jack and Ava!

Good Bye Port Lambton!

It's in Port Lambton that Wee M really turned into a little girl!  She started to assert her independence (not letting me buy her boy water-shoes when they were the only ones in the store that fit), she became a lot more vocal about what she wants - using words and gestures to get to what she wants.  Wee M ... you want Krispies?  NO! ... Wee M ... you want O's?  NO! ... Wee M ... you want Raisin Bran?  Yes (big nod!).  On that note, she is eating a lot better and hasn't had a 'food bag' since the beginning of the month.  She also insists on being given a choice of clothes to wear in the morning - tending to pick the outfit that is most 'girly'!

She is getting really good at her independent play, and she also plays with Chippy a lot better, too.  She knows when Chippy is playing and will play along.  Probably the biggest news is that she can count to 10!! She sort of just bumbles along in a loud strong voice until she gets to 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and then you can really make out the words.  While her pronunciation may not be perfect - she still has 10 distinct sounds that she utters - video to follow when we can get a clear count recorded.

 Overall, she's a pleasant 1 1/2 year old who loves cuddles and blowing kisses! :)

Grammy decided enough was enough and
gave her a proper hair-do!

Cindy's tickle trunk! She is a dress-up girl at heart!

Do I look like my Grammy?

Hand wrassles with Pa!

Crafts with Grammy

Gala Days

We stuck around in Port Lambton long enough to take in all the fine attractions of Gala Days!  The parade was a big hit as was buying lemonade from Grammy and watching the water ball competition!  Wee M has mastered the bouncy frog and is as good as the big guys when tackling a slide!