No, ball & Nanna

So, I remember being concerned at her well check about Jordan's lack of vocabulary--at least words that didn't need interpretation by Kenneth or me! Like the good doctor said, there was no reason to be concerned! I think I've read that children go through a word "growth spurt" where they learn a word a day. We might be hitting that!

This morning on the way to school, Jordan said "no" about 100 times. She didn't shake her head with it, which I thought was interesting because she's been doing that and knowing exactly what it meant for a while now. I would say "yes" and shake my head and she would just tell me "no"!

Then, after breakfast, she found the balls that were on the floor for the babies and told me about them..."ball, ball, ball"!

And as we were going through pictures from Nanna's visit at school yesterday, she lit up with delight and said "Nanna"!

Exciting times around here, folks--exciting times!

Bubbles!

Today was supposed to be Day 2 of the firetruck visit, but was postponed due to rain. Nanna was already pretty much at school, so she stopped in to say Hi! Miss Tiffany was blowing bubbles for the friends and their families that were visiting, too. Next thing you know, Jordan is saying "bubble, bubbles, bubble!"! She was very excited about it and just giggled with delight in between saying her new word!

Firetruck visit!

One of the local fire stations comes each year to visit the kids at school! Since Jordan attends 4 days, she will get to see it twice! She didn't really know what to make of it and since we were on the playground, was really more interested in playground stuff. As you can see by the picture of the 2 of us, she really just wanted me to let her play in the street! I finally found that she was happy if she thought she was in control and driving the truck. It was time to get her out of there when she started leaning around for buttons to push! Maybe she'll be more interested tomorrow!

Tigers win!

In honor of Clemson's beautiful defeat over Florida State last night, she wore her orange dress today! These pictures are just too darn cute not to share...

15-month well check

Just a quick note about our doctor's visit today. It was nice to not have to wait! I'll have to remember that the first appointment after lunch is a great time to go. There was not a soul in either waiting room!

She weighs 24 lbs (70th %ile) and is 32 1/4 inches long (95th %ile). I speculated at her last appointment that the nurse may not have gotten her length correct because she was only in the 50th %ile then. I mean, how accurate can it be when they lay her down on a piece of paper that gets wrinkled because she's writhing around!?! Her weight has been in the same range, too, so I would think that if she really shot up in height, her weight would drop a little. Who knows; doesn't matter, anyway, Dr. S. thinks she looks great and is very happy with her development.

We go back in 3 months for another check and then she's done until she's 2. Doc told me that in the next 9 months I can expect behavior challenges and feeding changes. Translation: she's going to get more independent and become a picky eater. I think the independence is already peeking through. And, when all else fails, she'll eat fruit!!

Oh yeah, she also had 3 shots! Thankfully, those are done until she's 2 because she did NOT handle them well today...

MMMooooo...

Wednesday evening, one of the other teachers asked me if Jordan had any words yet. Words that anyone could understand without interpretation from me. Uuummm, not really. We also talked about her lack of verbal response to questions. "What is this?" while pointing to the ball yields no response. Apparently, Jordan likes to prove me wrong because while we were playing this afternoon, Kenneth asked her "what does the cow say?" and without hesitation she belted out "mmmoooooo"! Assuming we all consider Moo a word; it's official!!

Princess Mimic

It has really hit home how interested Jordan is in each and every move we make. This morning, I had a bowl of cereal while J ate her waffle. Around lunchtime, Kenneth had a bowl of soup. We both tipped our bowls up to drink the last bits of liquid. Jordan tried to "drink" the vegetables out of her little bowl at lunch, too! It was really cute, even though she did spill vegetables all over the front of her. Even after we thought we got them all out of her lap, Kenneth still found vegetables jumping out of her clothes.

I don't remember the context of the conversation, but the word "jerk" was involved and Yep, you guessed it, Jordan attempted to say "jerk". Everyone on their P's and Q's around the Princess, please! :)

in the pool!!

Jordan received this pool for her birthday from Titi Cassie. I'm embarrassed to say this is the first time we've put it up, but it was tons of fun, so it will happen again soon!

It took Jordan a couple of minutes to get used to the water temperature (not bath temp), how much water was in the pool and walking around. The back yard is not level anywhere, so we did the best we could! After she warmed up to the idea, she really enjoyed circling the pool, tossing toys over the side and watching Daddy stick his face in the water and blow bubbles. She tried it, too, but inhaled instead of exhaled, so she came up sputtering!

Today was an interesting experiment, though. She took a nap for about an hour around the same time that she has been sleeping at school. We played in the pool afterwards and then she did go back to sleep for another hour and 1/2! Tonight was so much more peaceful! She wasn't grumpy, she played and led Daddy around by his finger. I think we may stay at school and play a little while before we come home for a nap. It can't hurt--it's not like she's sleeping now, anyways! If that doesn't work, then we'll just see if we can find something else that does.

Tonight was too cute! I don't have a picture, but J was sort of playing with Mackenzie. Mack has these hard bones that J loves to pick up. J brought the bone over to Mack and was trying to give it to her. Mack was being so gentle and really wanted it, but J was holding it smack in the middle, so there wasn't enough room on either end for Mack to get a grip without getting J's fingers. Then when we could convince J to just leave it on the ground for her, Mack would only play with it for a second and when J came back her way, M would just leave it for her. Mackenzie never acted possessive about the bone or anything--it was so sweet!!

Why won't you sleep?

So, if my post about school made it seem like the 3 hour nap was going to be a regular phenomenon, let me just clear that up right now!! To date, that was the only day that she took a nap after we got home. She sleeps at school, which is great, but it's not enough. She's sleeping 45 minutes on average. If we weren't at school, she'd be sleeping 2-3 hours. And it shows because she is grumpy before and after school. Either that, or it's true that your kids really are just better for other people. I mean, she fusses at me on the way to school, fusses at me on the way home, fusses at me as I watch her on the monitor because I keep thinking if she lays still long enough, she'll fall asleep! I need to give it some more time, but the majority of people I've talked to say that I should still put her in the bed after we get home so that she knows that I think she needs a nap.

On another note, Kenneth and I have been so amazed over these things that just start happening and we don't know why, how, or when! The best example is that Jordan is now shaking her head NO (emphatically, I might add!) and knowing exactly what she is trying to tell us. I will go to put Goldfish on her tray while something is heating up and she shakes her head NO! Someone will come up and just act like they are going to pick her up and she shakes her head NO! I don't have a clue how that happened.

playing in the kitchen

Jordan received a play kitchen from a fellow teacher at school. Her daughter had outgrown it and offered it to us. I have been looking for some plastic dishes and food to go with/in it. Well, Mimi Patty to the rescue!! She found a cute set with cups, food, milk, etc. Jordan loves it. The milk carton has a cow on it and she picks it up and says "Moo!". I couldn't get to the camera in time, but one of the cutest moments was when she and Daddy were sharing a cookie--Daddy had the cookie half out of his mouth and Jordan bent over and bit it to take it out of his mouth!

(Please excuse the dinner on the dress and dissheveled hair--it's been a long day!)