Details

I feel as though I have not been sharing enough details of Summer life lately.  She is taking more and more steps every day.  She started a week before her birthday and can take about 3-5 steps at a time.  Then she falls down.  It is really cute to watch her try and to cheer her on.  I try to make a big deal of it even if she only takes a few steps so she will know she is doing good even though she hasn't quite mastered it yet.  She has mastered crawling both on her knees or just with her hands and feet.  She wants to take steps and tries often, but she knows that it is just quicker to crawl.  So, if she does not succeed after a few attempts, she drops to the floor and crawls.  She does fall down quite often, but she has not really gotten hurt yet.  I try not to make a big deal about her falling down that way she doesn't think she needs to cry every time she gets a scratch.  She very rarely gets hurt enough to get her attention, but I have to stay on top of my game watching her and making sure she does not get into things she is not supposed to.

That is another thing that she is starting to do more and more -- getting into stuff she does not need to.  So far it is not too bad.  She will rifle through the trash can every once in a while.  She LOVES to get into my purse.  That is a sure way to keep her attention for a while.  I often let her do it at Wal-Mart to try to keep her occupied while I shop.  I have sort of been avoiding Wal-Mart the past few days.  It seems like I am always there getting something.  I have put if off as long as I can, so we will be venturing to a Wal-Mart in our area sometime this afternoon. 

First, we have to get pictures at 3:30.  Then I have to teach a Jazzercise class at 4:30.  After that, we will visit Wal-Mart and hopefully not find a million things we just can't live without like we usually do...LOL.  It is crazy just how many different things you can get there.  Anyways, that is what our afternoon is looking like as of now.  Summer is taking a nap getting all rested up for those 1 year pictures.  We were supposed to get them done yesterday, but we had a full day so I rescheduled for today.  We have already been to Playgym this morning, so we have already been on the go today.

Yesterday we went to the zoo with Selena, Willow, Melissa, Mason and Teresa (their mom/nanna).  We had a good time.  Summer really liked all the different cats they had.  They got to see monkeys and lizards and birds and goats and all kinds of animals.  Summer got to pet a goat, a dog and a donkey.  I think she enjoyed it as much as I could expect from a 1 year old.  She was pretty good and said all kinds of animal names.  She growled like a tiger when she saw the bobcats and lions.  She was cute, as usual.

She is definitely becoming more independent every day.  She will still let me feed her at times which is good.  I am glad she sees that sometimes it is okay if Mommy feeds her.  She does love to feed herself and I let her whenever the food we are eating allows.  

She did not eat much of her birthday cake.  Mostly it was just the icing.  She got to eat some chips and strawberries with her cake because it didn't seem like the cake was her favorite thing.  Maybe the icing was too sweet for her; it wasn't for me (I ate all the rest of both cakes by myself except for the 4 pieces I put in the freezer).  She wasn't really into opening her gifts.  What she was into was putting the toys back into the bags after we were done.  I let her cousins help open a few gifts at the end when it was apparent that she had no interest in doing it herself.  She did love the toys she got.  Her favorite is probably the ball popper which blows balls out a hole and then they make their way back to the bottom only to be blown up and out again.  SHE LOVES IT!!!  She also got a Weeble tree house with tons of accessories that she plays with a lot.  She got several bubble blowers.  She has not got to play with all of them, but they will all be used numerous times over the summer.  She got a couple ofreally cool books, a magnetic easel, and some clothes.  Her Nona and Nono gave her her first porcelain doll which is really adorable.  Her Memaw and Nanny gave her some fridge magnets which I hope she does not sneak into the garbage can thinking she is putting them up. 

It is crazy the things I find in my bags (and bathtub) sometimes--puzzle pieces, toys, clothes, books.  I hope this desire of hers to put everything into something turns into a desire to clean as she grows up.  That would be awesome.  I am thinking maybe we will get her a toy box for Christmas.  I really want to get her a room set up that we can keep all her toys in.  So far she does not spend any time in her bedroom unless she is sleeping, so it does not really make sense to put the toys in there.  Plus, she does even really have a real bedroom yet.  This is something I really want to get done.  We are in between moving/selling our houses and will be for an indefinite period of time.  This has been going on for a few years, so why not a few more???  I don't want to wait until we move to set up her room, but I don't really have a great place for it at the time.  I am patiently waiting for the day when I can create a little girl haven for her (at least this is one thing I can be patient for...LOL.  I never said I was perfect.).

I'm not sure what else I need to say about her right now.  But, I am sure as soon as I finish this something will pop into my head.  Oh well, I feel a little better having said all this so you all can stay up-to-date on my little girl--Summer Julianna.

I knew I forgot something.  She is really into pushing things around the house.  Chairs, her highchair, her booster seat, her walker, trashcans...whatever.  She loves to move objects to places where they do not go.  If only I could get her to put them back where they go; I'll have to work on that.