This summer we have had so much fun! In no particular order--Kelsi and I have gone to the park up by our house and played in the mornings before it gets too hot.
We have swam and grilled at Grannie and Grandaddy's.
We went to the Georgia aquarium where Kelsi got to see all kinds of "Nemos".
We went to Uncle Jonathan's and Aunt Susanne's. They have goats and a donkey. Kelsi did not know what to think about them!
We have gone on play dates with Braxton and Olivia and Luke.
We had a get together with Haylee, Kaleb, Sawyer, Laura Kate, and their mommies and daddies. The older kids loved playing in Haylee's tent with each other and running around. They kept each other very entertained while the mommies caught up on things. For the 4th we went to the fireworks at Lake Martin. Kelsi wasn't too sure about how loud they were, and TJ ended up sitting in the truck with her. (Sadly no one had their camera.)
classroom. She climbed up in the big
kid chairs and colored and "typed" on the computer. She pulled books, flashcards, magnet clips, and all sorts of stuff off the shelves and loved exploring everything. Then she napped in the stroller so Mommy could get some work done.I took 18 month pictures of her in a pretty little white dress in the yard, and she went to her 18 month dr's appt. This was the first time she did not like the doctor. In the past she has just sat there and stared at them. This time she did not like anything the doctor was doing, and she was so upset about the shots. :( She is tall for her age and weighed about 23 lbs.
In June we went to the beach for about a week. We went to Destin, FL with Mama, Daddy, Shaye, Rachel, and Cody. We had a great time! We went to the beach last year around the same time, but Kelsi was only about 5 months old, so there wasn't much for her to do. This time she walked on the beach for the first time! She absolutely loved it. She ran up and down the beach slinging her little arms with her little sassy walk going.
She actually kept her hat and sunglasses on as she strolled up and down the beach. As she was walking she would come across older children playing and she would stop and point at what they were doing and start jibber jabbering at them. Then she would keep right on going. She liked letting the waves roll over her feet, and if we would've let her I think she would've jumped right into the water. When we were walking along the beach we pointed out the shells to her. There was other stuff on the beach like seaweed, pieces of sand dollars, etc. But after we pointed out to her what the shells were she started picking them up and handing them to us. She caught on to that very quickly. When she wasn't strolling up and down the beach (only because I wouldn't let her stay in the sun the whole time- if it was up to her she would've stayed on the beach for hours) she was in her wagon. We took all of our stuff and Kelsi down to the beach in her wagon.
This was a beach trip to always remember and cherish!
I keep a calendar and try to write down memorable things that Kelsi says and does. In the last week or so she has gotten even more of a personality. Sometimes she is just silly, and it is so funny. So I'm just going to list out some of the funny things she has done and milestones for this age so that I will have a record of them.
~Outdoor girl!- Kelsi loves being outside. She loves to swim in the big pool or sit in her little pool. Grannie takes her outside with her in the yard in the stroller, and she loves it. She loves to sit with Grandaddy in the boat and press the controls and beep the horn. She loves running around in the yard. As long as she's outside she's happy!
~Nemo- or as Kelsi so lovingly calls him "Momo". This child adores Nemo! When she was about 4 months old she would scream her head off in the car. It was bad. So I asked the doctor if she was too young to watch t.v. in the car. The dr said it was ok, so we got her a dvd player for the car. I only had a few kids' movies and one that I had was "Finding Nemo", so that's what we put in the dvd player. And from then til now she loves to watch it, and every fish she sees is "Momo". Grandaddy bought her a Nemo for the pool. She has a Nemo in the tub, car, crib, you name it. Every fish she saw at the aquarium was Nemo, no matter the shape, color, or size.
~Waking up- Kelsi loves to sleep in. I'm not sure where she gets that from. When she wakes up she grabs her blanket with one hand and her Nemo with the other. Then she waits on me to get her out of the crib. It's one of my favorite parts of the day. She is so happy and talkative when she wakes up.
~Petco- TJ took Kelsi to Petco for the first time and she loved seeing all the animals and fish.
~Animal noises- Kelsi knows about 10 animal noises. Duck-cack. Pig- ink. Horse- little longer ink. Snake-ssss. Cow- moo with a frown on her face. Dog- woof. Tiger and lion- roars. Cat- mow with no e. Bunny- she hops.
~Reading- She loves to have someone read her a book. Her favorites are animal books. She will bring you a book, listen to you read it, go get another one and continue this process for as long as you are willing. She can identify many objects in her books.
~Bath time- This baby loves her baths! Her favorite thing to do in the tub right now is take a container and pour water back and forth into another container. (Below she's shown doing that at her little pool.) If she is not ready to get out when you think it's time- well things could get ugly.
~Booboo- Any time Kelsi hurts herself we kiss her booboos. Tonight she pointed at a place on my leg and said "booboo". Later she came back and kissed it all by herself! So sweet.
~Phone- Kelsi is amused with seeing herself on my camera phone. Today we made silly faces and looked back at the pictures. She thought it was hilarious! Anytime she sees a phone she picks it up and holds it up to her ear and says "Hewo" or holds it front of her face and says "Cheese".
~Hide and seek- Definitely her favorite game to play. She loves to run and hide in her closet or behind something and wait til you ask where she is and then she jumps out giggling.
~Mirror- She likes to take the mirror door on my dresser and get behind it and say "Where she go?" and then put the mirror in front of her face and say "There she is!"
~Seep- Anytime she sees anybody in real life or in a book with their eyes closed she whispers "seepin".
~Excuse me- Mrs. Carole is working on manners at daycare. The other day Kelsi was trying to get by Mama in the hall and she said "scuse me"!
~Oh gosh- I'm not sure where Kelsi got this from, but she walks around saying "Oh gosh", and she sounds so funny when she says it. It's such an expression for older people that it just cracks me up when she says it.
~Do you love _______?- When you ask Kelsi "Do you love Mama, Daddy, etc.?" she grins and giggles. It's so sweet. It's like she's saying yes but with a sweet little giggle instead of saying the word.
~NO- Kelsi says no to just about every question you ask her. Even when she means yes she still says no. For example I ask "Do you want some gummies?" She replies "No" while grinning and reaching for the gummies. I always correct her when she means yes. I taught her to make fists and pull them down like you do when you're excited and you say "Yes!" In the last week she will say no and then correct herself and say yes and do her little fists. Her yes is more like "Says".
~Hugs and kisses- Kelsi has blown kisses for a long time, but this summer she started giving real hugs and kisses. Sometimes I tell her "Mama loves you. You're so so sweet." and she comes all the way across the room with her lips puckered up to give me a kiss. It's like it's her way of saying I love you too. She also gives hugs and pats you on your back while she's hugging you. When we are shopping she pulls on my shirt and puckers her lips up so I can lean down and give her a kiss. She does that without me prompting her which melts my heart.
~Roll Tide- TJ has taught Kelsi that football players are Bama, so any football players she sees no matter the uniform are Bama. Also, he took her to Academy and taught her every time she sees an Auburn logo to say "Boo". We went back the other day and he asked her what an AU logo was and she indeed said "Boo". She also knows how to call a touchdown.
~Other things she says/does- Pease/psss (please), wanna ride (for bike, stroller), outside, animal names, matman (batman), I don't know, I want to see it, wanna bite, thumbs up, high 5, grunts when she gets up/picks stuff up, fake laughs, tunder (thunder), rain, waves at random people in public and says hey or hello, knows body parts- eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, fingers, hands, toes, feet, hair, belly button, says got it, and so much more!
I hear people say it, but it is so true I love her more and more everyday. It doesn't seem possible that I could love her anymore, but with each passing day I do. She is such a sweetheart. Her personality develops more by the day. She is constantly exploring and learning new things. She is so smart already.
It has been a wonderful, fun filled summer with our little entertainment committee- Kelsi Shianne. I hate to see it come to an end, but I am so grateful that I got to spend the last couple of months with my baby girl. On my birthday I will head back to work. Who will cry more when I drop her off at daycare everyday that first week- me or her? I'm sure it will be Mommy, but there's one thing about it- at the end of the day I have my precious little girl (and her Daddy) to go home to!! Life is good.
