From the Mouth of Amora

We have so much fun listening to the complete sentences our daughter is able to conjure up. Here are a few:

• We're at church taking the Sacrament water. Amora says (not whispers), "Mmm, nummy water."
• At church Adam asked me about where a friend of ours is. I told him that he was probably out in the hall with his son Max because he's a boy and boys are harder to keep quiet. Amora announces, "Max is a boy!"
• When she wakes up in the morning or after her nap she says, "Done sleeping, Mommy."
• We were at a friends house where I was chatting with the mom and I hear Amora yell, "Mommy, Izzy hit me!" I'm pretty sure Izzy is not going to like that Amora can now tattle on her.
• Amora and I were in the car driving to go shopping. She says, "I love shopping Mommy."
• When Adam got home from work yesterday, she exclaimed, "Daddy home!"
• But probably the best thing I hear all day is when she says, "I love Mommy" or "I love you."

This makes up for her premature terrible two tantrums. I love her.

So Cute

I love watching my daughter learn and grow. Here are a few highlights at 21 months (don't remind me that she's almost 2--it's gone by too fast):

• She loves animals. Pep=Pet an animal
• She's learning colors. She'll hold up a crayon and tell me the color, waiting for me to confirm that it's correct. My favorites: pinky=pink, geen=green, boo=blue
• She loves shoes and insists on choosing her shoes for the day. She'll try them on and switch them if I tell her they're on the wrong feet.
• Anytime we finish a fun activity, she'll say "again!"
• Nore=More
• Nummy=Yummy
• Amora is now getting into dinosaurs, thanks to Jacob (the boy I babysit). She insists that I give her a dinosaur sandwich every day and we read dinosaur books from the library.
• Last week as I'm changing Amora's diaper, she says, "Poop, looloo (doodoo)." I explained that poop and doodoo are the same thing but Mommy calls it doodoo. She responded by saying "I call it looloo."
• She loves to tease her daddy and call him Mommy.
• We got her a pillow that she absolutely loves. Since getting the pillow, she doesn't thrash as much in her sleep and hasn't fallen off the bed.

My shoe girl. This is how I found her after her nap.


At the fish hatchery. She kept exclaiming, "Mommy, fish!"


Looking for trouble.


Purse, check. Phone, check.


Dress up is fun!

Family Reunion

We went to Utah a couple of weeks ago for a family reunion on the Loumeau side. It was so nice to get to know everyone. We stayed in awesome condos in Park City and were able to sneak away to the outlets as well. Even though a lot of people were there, most of my pictures included one special little girl. I can't help it. Seriously.

She had time to play with her daddy. They love every minute they get to spend together.


She got to see her grandma and grandpa. Here she is taking a look at a picture of herself.


Impromptu family photo without the in-laws (what I called "Team Ron").


With the in-laws. Amora looks a little crazy in this picture, but I look nice. :)


All tired out after a long night of fun.


Thanks to everyone who made this weekend happen. A lot of sacrifices were made for us all to get together and we're all really grateful. Can't wait for the next reunion!

First Haircut

Amora's hair was driving me crazy! With a comb and scissors in hand, I resolved to cut her hair. I gave her a Popsicle to keep her still (which worked surprisingly well) and hacked away. The only way to become good is by practice, so here is my guinea pig.

The before:


After (not perfect but a definite improvement):


Another after (this time an action shot):

My Obsession

I love my little girl. She is the sweetest, sassiest thing I have ever beheld. I've been able to spend a blissful summer with her and absolutely loved it. Here are a few highlights:

Having an indoor picnic with stuffed animals. Amora makes sure all of them are taken care of.


Playing computer games. Fisherprice.com has a great game that speaks whatever letter she types on the computer. It also shows an animal that starts with that letter and the animal's sound. This a perfect game for Amora because she loves learning the alphabet and adores animals. She already can identify quite a few letters: A, B, E, O, P, and Z.


We also play in the water a lot. This picture is for you, Aunt Esther. Does the swimsuit look familiar? My friends joke that Amora is in a different swimsuit every time they see her. That's because of awesome family members that keep her stocked up!


This is also for you, Aunt Esther. I know the purse was for me, but I think she's got the 'tude to pull it off!


This is Amora's favorite part of shopping--checking herself out. Of course we love it too.


We found a fun Hawaiian restaurant. Amora enjoyed drinking through a straw.


She also enjoyed making faces. :)


Back to her obsession with animals: We found this "horsie" at the park and Amora fell in love.


Here she is bossing me around. Somehow, I don't really mind.


Going down the slide like a big girl (but holding Mommy's hand to be safe).


Riding the tiger at the zoo.


The penguins are probably our new favorite exhibit. She loved that they swam right next to her. Her daddy loved it too (he is also quite an animal lover).


What could be a better toy than a bucket? This entertained her for the longest time.


"There's a hole in my bucket, dear Amora." I wonder why.


Hope you enjoyed! I see her everyday and still catch myself staring at these pictures over and over. Please, Amora, stop being so cute. Maybe then I can get more done. :)

Interactions with a Rascal

Here are a few of our recent interactions:

Amora is starting to be naughty. I say, "Amora, do you want a time-out?" She says, "K," and prances to time-out.

At church, another child is playing with her toy. She snatches it and gives her a stare down. She comes to me where I explain that it's nice to share with our friends. She says, "No. Nope."

At dinnertime, she grabs a handful of corn and throws it on the ground (I am at the sink washing dishes). I run over as her daddy tells her no. She stares at her daddy in defiance and throws her entire plate, then her fork, and lastly her milk.

We are at the grocery store. She grabs a can of pineapple juice to put in the cart (her favorite grocery store activity). I tell her that we don't need it and walk to her to put in away. She starts running and throws the pineapple juice halfway across the store (after it rolls a good deal).

She falls off her new toddler bed almost every night and cries for me to get her. I rush in the room, searching for my little girl. All I see are two feet. She is stuck under the bed.

When I'm in another part of the house, Amora stays where she is and yells, "Mommy! Mommy!"

Amora got a set of stuffed dogs. When you put their noses together, it says "I love you!" Amora proudly repeats this with the exact same inflection.

Tell me, do I have a prayer in the world? How can they be so cute all the time, especially when they're naughty?

We Love Summer

Summer is the best time of year. We have been able to play outside almost everyday with absolutely gorgeous weather. Here are a few of our favorite things:

When Grandpa (as Amora calls him, DaPa) comes to visit. They like to read together.



And give kisses.



And just play together at the park.



Here's Amora giving me a fake smile. How can she be so sassy and yet so little?



We took a trip to Utah to visit siblings and play in downtown Salt Lake. We went to Temple Square. Amora loved looking at all of the pictures of Jesus. She called him GiGi.



Any running water is basically the best thing ever, so here she is playing in a fountain. It was great; it entertained her for the longest time while the rest of us got to visit.



We converted Amora's crib into a toddler bed recently. She loves it! Her favorite part is climbing up and jumping on the bed. I'm sure we'll have to break her of it someday, but for now I don't even care.



Proud mother moment: My big girl went poop in her potty for the first time (18 1/2 months old). Here she is enjoying her throne afterwards.



And of course summer requires many trips to the park.



And also getting into mischief around the house.



Another note: Amora's vocabulary has multiplied exponentially. She will try to say basically anything. She loves to say prayers (she'll repeat the last word of every phrase I say). She's also combining words like, milk fall (meaning the milk fell) and sleep bed (she slept in her bed). Every day gets more and more fun with this little one!