Florida here we come!

We will be heading to sunny Florida tomorrow.  I am soooo looking forward to this trip.  I just hope it is not too hot down there, but it is hot here anyway so at least we will have the ocean & pools to cool us off.  I am about 99% packed, but there is always something I come across that I NEED to take with me.  I'm not sure if it will ever end.  I am trying to get everything done this morning before I go pick up Summer. She spent the night with my mom last night and Tre is watching her today.  I have talked to them a couple of times and they say she is being an "ANGEL" as usual. 

She has finally mastered the word "Bye-bye."  She says it all the time when we are leaving somewhere or when she wants to leave...LOL.  She will say "Bye" and walk up to her stroller meaning that she wants to go out for a ride.  I am happy she likes her stroller because she spends a good deal of time in it.  It is our downtown "vehicle."  We walk a lot down here, so anytime we leave on foot, she is in the stroller.  It is well equipped with toys and all the necessities - diapers, wipes, jars of food, hats, a blanket, water bottle, chapstick, sunscreen, bathing suit.  Needless to say, I don't think we would be able to live without the stroller and it was worth every penny I paid for it...obviously!

There is another baby sale coming up at the end of July.  I hope they will have some fall clothes because that is about all we need right now...that I know of.  I might try to get a few Christmas presents there too for my nieces and nephew if I see something they would like.  You can get brand new stuff in the original boxes for pretty cheap.  If you've been reading this journal for a while, you already know I love me some consignment sales!

I've got to get ready to get Summer, so I better run.  Here are the only two pics of Summer on this computer...wish I could share more, but they are on the laptop.

She likes the pool!

Summer really likes swimming!  We have been at my mom's pool and my Aunt's pool a few times this summer and she really likes to get in.  Sometimes she wears a swimsuit with floats built in and sometimes we just put her in/on her own float.  Yesterday, I let her get on my float with me and she really had a good time.  She fell off a few times, but did not get scared once I don't think. 

Clint got in the pool to play with us.  We were letting Summer "swim" back and forth to us.  She loved it!!! She would giggle and smile and clap.  Then my mom got in and we were all passing her around.  Sometimes she swam (with a big push of course) and sometimes we threw her out of the water.  She went under about 3 or 4 times I think.  Although she was a little startled by the water, she did not make any big fuss about going under. 

This morning I got up and read about teaching babies/kids to swim so I have a few new things to try out today.  It is so much fun teaching her new things and watching her grow.  Everyone is saying that they think she is getting taller, but I have not measured her yet.  I did get a thing to hang on the wall where we can measure her as she grows.  I will have to work on getting Clint to hang it  (wish me luck!!!).  I'm sure I could do it, but I really like seeing him be a part of raising Summer so I don't want to hog all of the duties...LOL. 

She really loves us both I think.  When I put her down for her nap this morning, I sang "Go To Sleepy Little Baby" or whatever it is called.  Actually, I hummed most of it.  Summer started humming with me.  It was SOOOOO SWEET!  What is more precious than a little girl laying over your shoulder holding her bear and humming "Go To Sleepy..." with Momma?  Nothing.  That's one of those priceless moments that you hope you never forget...or lose.  Of course, there are many of those moments....

Summer was the only person at Playgym last week which was not as bad as you would imagine.  We still sang the songs, rode the train, rode the see-saw, painted a picture, played with stuffed bees, made music, blew bubbles, and rode on the parachute pretty much as usual.  I had a good time playing with her, but I did miss the other kids.  Summer had full rein of the room which she crossed many times.  She found my purse once which took her off task, but we were able to distract her rather easily and get her back to the organized fun they plan for you.  Have I ever mentioned she loves my purse?  LOVES IT.  Well, she is up so I guess we are going to leave.  I will have to finish my story later.

She's SOOOO big!

Summer loves it when we say, "How big is Summer?  Sooo big!!!"  It is one of the things they do at the playgym, but I think we were actually doing it before we started going there.  She is walking everywhere and saying more and more words every day.  She actually started saying "Momma" last week before my Pepaw's funeral.  We were doing the last viewing and she was squirmy so I put her down.  That's when it happened....FINALLY!!!  She has said it every day since then, so it wasn't a fluke.  And, I LOVE IT!  She also says "bite" and "cat" which I am not sure if I ever mentioned.  She will say random people's names when she hears them which drove me crazy when she wasn't saying "Momma."  It is actually more like "Momma Momma Momma" when she says it...music to my ears.

She is such a swimmer too.  She LOVES the pool which is good and bad.  At the rate she is going now, she will be swimming by the end of the summer.  We go to Florida in less than two weeks, so I am anxious to see if she will still dislike the sand like she did in March.  She is getting a little tan despite all the sunscreen I put on her.  Her hair looks like it has been highlighted about 4 different shades of blond.  I must say she gets more adorable every day.

She loves to clap for herself...LOVES IT.  She will do something and start clapping and then look around to make sure everyone else is going to clap too.  She likes the clapping.  A lot.

I was going to add some pics, but it is not working right now....

Life Goes On

We got home from my Aunt's house a little while ago.  Summer was ready for bed, so that meant we had to leave.  I wasn't ready to leave my family, but I'm sure they will all be ready for bed early tonight.  My Pepaw passed away yesterday evening.  I had been at the hospital for most of the day, but I was not there at the end.  It is hard to let go of him, but I know life will go on.  The days will still go by and we will continue to live our own lives. 

When we would visit him, Summer always gave Pepaw (her great-grandfather) a kiss when we got there and when we left.  It was sweet.  I know Pepaw loved us, and we loved him too.  He was a very special man and I just wanted to take a minute out of my day to remember him.  He will always be in my heart.

New teeth & a birthday party

Summer has two new teeth that I know of.  It is very possible that there are more, but she will not let me investigate for too long.  She also bites me when I feel her gums.  It was cute when she just had two teeth, but now she has 6 teeth.  I know they will probably be popping out left and right over the next few months.  I have to make sure to write them all in her baby book as I notice them.  Wish me luck!

Liliana's 1st birthday party was this afternoon.  It was a lot of fun.  They had a swimming pool and slide set up for the babies which was fenced in.  They all had a pretty good time in it.  When got all 5 babies in at the same time, it was very interesting to say the least.  They also had a double slip-n-slide set up and an inflatable slide with a pool at the bottom (which was Summer's favorite of the day--she did NOT like the slip-n-slide).  She slid down the inflatable slide at least 10 times and would play in the water until other kids came over and she had to let them have a turn.  She did pretty good taking turns.  She is still too little to climb up the steps on the little slide right now...at least she did not/would not do it today.  I got soaking wet carrying her around from one side of the yard to the other.  It was a lot of fun and we were all exhausted when we got home a little while ago. 

We will probably go to bed early tonight since we have been child free for the past two nights which means we have been staying up way too late....

I was up early this morning anticipating Summer's arrival.  She got here about 8:30 and was very clingy.  She leaned on me and I loved her and tried to soak it all in while she is still so precious and innocent.  I hope she will always be this way, but I realize she will change immensely as she ages and grows over the next 17 years.  I hope they are happy years for us all. 

Utilizing Nap Time

Can you say post deleted???????

I have dedicated Summer's nap this morning to getting all my pictures organized into their appropriate folders.  I am almost done, but not quite.  I wanted to share some with you so I decided to update this journal.  There are quite a few good pics of when my dad was here.  We will get to see him again at the end of the month when my whole family is going to Florida.  We are all so excited!!!  I know we will have a good time.  I just hope Summer likes the beach this time.  If not, there are 3 pools, so I think we will be okay.

We went to Coolidge Park last week with Alicia and Liliana after the girls' Play Gym class.  We let them play in the fountain and also rode on the carousel (the pics have mysteriously disappeared...or they didn't take).  Summer really liked it and we will probably be taking her back this week.  Selena and Willow are going with us, and Mason & Melissa might too.  I am anxious to see how Willow and Mason react to the water.  Hopefully it will be pretty so the water will not be too cold and the kids will be warm enough to enjoy it.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Today I am performing at a dance recital downtown.  I am excited, but I will be glad when it is over.  I am looking forward to watching the little boy break dancers after we perform.  I think they will be good.  I got to see most of the dances before ours the other night at dress rehearsal.  So, all I am really interested in watching is the people after us.  Hopefully Clint will get a few good pics of us so I can show you what we looked like on stage.  Wish us luck!!!

I just finished organizing all my pics to date.  YEAH!!!!  I will save a few of them for the next post.

She's Everywhere!!!

Summer is all over the place now that she can walk....and so is EVERYTHING else.  She drags things from one side of the house/condo to the other.  It is amazing how quickly she can make a mess.  I didn't realize what a big difference her walking would make.  She is very mobile now, and I can't remember the last time I saw her crawling.  It almost makes me cry not being able to, but life goes on.

This morning she broke a glass.  I was on the couch watching Curious George and she was roaming around.  Then I heard a glass shatter.  Clint said he had just seen her with the glass in her hand and was on his way to get it from her.  I guess he got to her a little too late.  So, he picked her up and held her while I swept up the glass.  When I got her, there was a little blood on her hand, but it was not bleeding.  I am not sure how it got cut, but it was not bad at all.  I gotta run, but I wanted to share the following videos with you.  I will try to get caught up soon since these were taken mid-May and I have many, many more.  But, in the mean time enjoy these.

In this video I think she says Aunt Deborah, but I could just be reading it into it.  What do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y60-JIgrIZE

In this video, taken on May 15, she is walking on the back porch.  These are some of her first steps.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyZa2s6HQ9Y