tuesday post

First of all, I would like to report an abrupt ending to Rachel's paci usage. That's right--we packaged them up and "mailed" them to the hospital for little babies yesterday. I was anticipating a loooooong night last night, but Rachel did great! I have been dreading the end of paci era, and I am relieved that it hasn't been a big deal so far. I hadn't planned to take them away so early, but Rachel face and lips have been so chapped lately, and she always had a weird white film on the inside of her lips whenever she woke up, so I decided the time had come.

We have also officially switched to training pants by day. Rachel is finally big enough for the smallest sized cheap training pants, and I am relieved to be rid of diapering a busy toddler. She averaged two accidents for the first few days, but she's only had one (usually during dinner) or none for the past 3 or 4 days. There are still times when she wears diapers: when she sleeps, and when we're on long car rides, for church and for a babysitter. She doesn't seem to mind switching back and forth for now.

Saying "byebye" to the paci and "byebye" to diapers really makes me feel like my little girl is growing up. To prove she is getting closer to two every day, the last week or so has been full of meltdown after temper tantrum after extreme mood swing. It's a roller coaster living with a toddler! Here's a video of Rachel begging for a cracker, as she does innumerable times a day. She usually uses a sign she made up for cracker, but she already knew that I knew what she wanted, so she didn't bother here...

Rachel is really talking a lot lately, too, although her words are few and often unintelligible. She kind of just talks about whatever she can name, putting the words together into nonsensical sentences. My favorite is that she likes to say "maamaaaa" so sweetly now, and she absolutely yells "DADDY, DAAAADDY," when Jarrad's in another room. Also, whenever I say, "where's the _____?" (fill in the blank with whatever I can't find at the moment), Rachel immediately calls for whatever it is--"jaaaacket, jaaaaacket,"--and then hugs and kisses the item as soon as we find it.

cute moment

Today, we got in the car to go to the grocery store. Rachel started yelling "glasses, glasses, glasses" (in her language, of course), as she pointed to my suglasses that were clipped to the visor. I put them on, and she said, "yay!!" and clapped her hands.

Rachel had a meltdown one day because I wouldn't let her climb onto the coffee table, where she intended to sit on a little plush couch that goes with one of her dolls. I did let her sit on the toy couch on this chair, though, and that made her happy enough.

And, finally--last but not least--we visited MiMi and Poppy over the weekend, with Uncle Travis, Aunt KiKi, and Cousin Tyler. Tyler has suddenly become very interested in Rachel, so getting the two to pose for a picture wasn't difficult. Awwwwwww.

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel has enjoyed learning to use crayons and stickers. Her artwork would be so fun, if she didn't usually ball it up and declare it "TA" (i.e. trash) as soon as she was finished. I guess she's one of those artists.