Penelope Jane is 18 months!

I cannot believe my baby girl is already 18 months old, she is now technically considered a toddler.  Wow!  I hate the sound like a cliche but what they say is true that time really flies the older you get. I am worried I will blink and she will be graduating from high school and off on her own adventures too soon.

Her 18 month well child doctor appointment is next Thursday so I don't have her weight or stats. to up date with yet.  I'll try to remember to post them afterwards but she is growing like a weed!   Sometimes I swear she has grown taller from the time I lay her down for an afternoon nap to the time she wakes up!  And her hair is really starting to grow and thicken up as well, I am excited for that!

We have a lot of fun plans for the summer including a few weddings of family and friends.  The first is this weekend; our friends Mike & Caroline.   Ryan will be a groomsmen in the wedding so we will all be going to the rehearsal dinner on Friday night and just Ryan and I to the wedding Saturday.

Ryan's Parents should be arriving from AZ later today or tomorrow for the summer and are looking forward to spending more time with little Penelope.

Penelope is learning to say and do new things everyday, she still amazes me on a weekly (at least) basis of the things she has taught herself to do or has picked up from Ryan or I.  She now clearly says: Yes, No, Daddy, Mommy, Doggy, Uppie, Wawa (water), Catty (cat), Uh-Oh, ease (please), icky (sticky or icky), "air me" (not sure yet if this means tickle/chase me or scare me?)  and she continues to regularly sign eat and thank you.  She is also loving to eat on a plate or bowl with silverware and will make sure to ask for it because she does not like sticky things on her hands.  She also has started trying to do the hand gestures with the song "the Itsy bitsy spider"and try to sing it is really cute!  She continues to like "head, shoulders, knees and toes" and knows all body parts except shoulders so far.  She also knows hair, chin, belly button and loves tongue (by sticking out her tongue and wiggling it back & forth).  She also continues to be obsessed with shoes, bags and make up.  She often wants to put shoes on right when she wakes up and goes downstairs, even when she has sock pjs.  She also knows how to pick out matching shoes and will often go pick out shoes for me after I get her shoes on in the morning and then walk to the front door and bang on it saying "side" (outside).

She loves to wave hello & good bye and blow kisses.  She is still hesitant to give anyone but me kisses (but that is okay with me!).  She recently starting grabbing my face and kissing me on the lips right before I lay her to bed.  The first time she did it I was trying so hard not to laugh because she had such a serious look on her face.  It is adorable!

Ryan recently bought her a training potty and we were so excited we set it up in her bathroom that night!   We made a big deal about her sitting on it that first night so now she loves to sit on her potty and does so throughout the day - still with her diaper and clothes on though.  I'm not sure we are totally ready to start potty training because she doesn't quite have the language.  I am just glad she likes her potty chair and enjoys sitting on it already, I think potty training will be that much easier because she is used to the chair.  She often will demand that I sit on the toilet across from her when she brushes her teeth at night, she is funny!

Her favorite books are still The Numbers book, Cuddly Animals, Brown Bear/Brown Bear and Peekabook I love you.

She is a very active girl and is constantly climbing on things.  She is now tall enough to climb onto the couch and chairs on her own.  She also enjoys sitting at the computer and playing with the keyboard and mouse.  She also enjoys watching children's music videos like Charlie Hope and Casper Baby Pants.  I posted her favorite at the bottom of my blog.  Here are some pictures of what she has been up to the last couple of months

Memorial Day on the Snoqalmie Historical Train Ride

 Waiting for food at the Playdate Cafe 

 She loves to look at herself in this mirror

 She tries to pile as many toys as she can find into this little ring with her

 Mt. Vernon Tulip Festival

 Woodland Park Zoo

 After helping to put laundry in the hamper she believes she gets a ride upstairs!

 She loves hangin' with her cousins in Sumner

 Penny loves giving hugs and snuggling.  This is little baby Kevin our friends Scott & Hazel's son

 Best Girlfriends!

 Mmm chocolate milk shake from Dicks

She loves driving (we are parked in the dicks parking lot)

...still working on the sharing thing ;)

Sweet Penny Jane

I'm going to start writing here, somewhat regularly to document parenting and life with my sweet Penny Jane.  A friend of mine has been doing this regularly since her son was born and it has motivated me to try as well.  I am really looking forward to being able to go back and read posts when she is older

Penny turns 16 months old tomorrow, holy crap! Where does time go?  She had her 15 month well child check a few weeks ago...after almost 2 months of what seemed a never ending ear infection.  Poor baby!  She is all better now though.  Her stats were: Weight: 24lbs.6oz (65%), head (65%) and length (95%) she is super tall for her age and almost catching up with little Molly Bakker who is 8 months older than Penny!  She is now walking with ease and is quite a little monkey.  She is very limber and tries to climb everything, she is also really good at going up and down the stairs on her own (on her bottom, or "boomper" as Ryan calls it). However, I have recently caught her trying to use the railings and walk up and down so we're going to have to be more careful with the stairs now!  She goes to daycare 1 day every week where she enjoys playing with the other kids and going up down the play stairs there! This girl loves to climb!

Penelope seemed to slow down a bit in developing language while she was sick, the doctor explained this is common from ear infections since children have a hard time hearing others or themselves trying to speak when their ears are infected.  Since she has been feeling better she has started talking and trying to say new words at such a quick pace.  She now says: Momma, Dadda & Daddy, Doggy, Kitty Cat, Cheese, toes, belly button, knee, shoes, Ball, Up, MaaaMaaaa (which I think was her attempt at Grandma), wawa (anything to drink), Yuk, Uh-Oh. I'm sure there is more that I'm not thinking of right now.   She is also learning body parts and her favorite song is "Head, Shoulders, knees and toes" as well as "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Patty Cake".  She loves to make people smile and recently started dancing A LOT when she hears music.  She will stop what she's doing, look at you with a big smile and then start bopping up & down.  Penny also enjoys reading books, of which she has many, thanks to all the birthday books from family and friends.  We read a few books every night before bed but sometimes throughout the day she will go to her books and grab one and back her self up to my lap & sit down, wanting me to read to her.  Her favorite books right now are a disney ABC book (also one of her fav. songs I forgot about earlier), That's not my Pirate, "A is for Apple" slider book (thanks Darren & Abbie!),  "I love you Stinky Face" (thank you Aunt Alison & cousin Madyson).  We just finished reading her "The BFG", one of my favorite childhood books.  We started it soon after moving and would read a little before bed every night.  Penny's favorite toys right now are her new kitchen set & play food (Thanks aunt Amy & cousin Ella!) and getting into her drawer of cups and plates etc. in the kitchen (all plastic of course) as well as her shoes.  She also loves trying to put on our shoes and trying to walk in them already!  I try to keep the closet doors shut so she doesn't get them but I think she has a 6th sense for this and is always in there if it is ever left open.  I also recently set up a low cupboard in our kitchen with all of her food and snacks, thanks for the suggestion Amanda!  Now she regularly goes to her cupboard when she wants something to eat, grabs it & brings it to me.  SO much easier than holding her in the pantry and trying to figure out what it is she is saying she wants :)
I'll try to upload some pictures of what we have been doing lately and update with another post soon!

Memory #7: Penelope The Prelude

When I was sixteen I was SO excited to get my license and a little bit of freedom that seemed like SO much more back then.  I was all set to get my sister Katie's old car but then unfortunately I was rear ended in this car while driving with my dad when I still had my permit.  Not surprisingly that small accident totalled her car and she needed to get a new one and then subsequently I needed a car too.
 
My parent's turned to my Grandpa who was then working at The Little Nickel.  He was the family's "go-to-person" for many things one of which was cars.  He was so knowledgeable at finding good used cars, through the adds in the Little Nickel.  I'm pretty sure that is where my parent's found the Corolla in the first place :) 

My Grandpa was good at finding good deals on used cars but it was not a quick process as he patiently waited for a good deal to come a long.  I was anxious for a car and finally the day came...I was almost 17 years old by this time :) I remember my dad telling me that him & my mom were going to meet my Grandpa to go look at a car for me that afternoon while I was in school.  I was beyond excited.  It was all I could think about that day at school and I couldn't wait to get home to see if they had bought it.  I had no idea what kind of car it even was!  ...and was a little nervous it would be a big old boat of a car.

When I got home I was so happy to see that they had picked out a cute little 2 door Honda Prelude WITH A SUNROOF!  I was in heaven.  I remember going to Bath & Body Works with my sister Katie and buying some air freshener and wipes especially for the car (even though it smelled fine).  Sometimes I have smelled the same scent at B&B works and it takes me right back to that time, driving through Edgewood to my best friend's house with the windows down and the sunroof open :)   I named her Penelope

Penelope was a great first car,  thank you Grandpa!

Memory #6: Beard

The last time I visited with my Grandpa at his house I remember he was holding Penelope (and she actually let him!)  She had been experiencing some "separation anxiety" and would usually cry whenever someone else would hold her for more than a minute or two.  On this day however, she was happily content in her Great Grandpa's arms.  It was such a sweet moment because she seemed to be in awe of his beard. She was just staring up at him and gently touching his beard with her little hands.  My Grandma and I were both surprised at how content she was in his arms and how she seemed to like his beard because she doesn't normally like people with beards.  My Grandpa offered the explanation that it was because his was so long it was probably softer than most so Grandma and I joined in with Penny in touching Grandpa's beard and it was indeed very soft :)

Memory #5: The Movies

When I was in elementary school, I think maybe 3rd or 4th grade? My parents took a trip to New Orleans and my sister, Katie, & I stayed with my grandparent's.  During this time my Grandpa & Grandma took us to go see a movie, The Beverly Hill Billies :)  This was a special occasion for us because our parents rarely spent money on the movies and I remember Katie & I were so excited to see this.  Now, if I ever see this movie again it will bring back those fond memories of that time I went to the movies with my Grandpa & Grandpa.

Memory #4: Suspenders

My Grandpa is the only man I know to wear suspenders on a regular basis.  I'm not sure how many pairs he had, probably not too many because he was a pretty frugal man.   It would be a rare occurrence to see him without his suspenders on and if you did, chances were he just had a jacket on covering them up :) 
Love you Grandpa

Grandpa Memory #3: Accent

With a last name like Schmidt, no one ever asks you what your family origin is.  It is a very common German name.  When I was younger my mom would tell me that back in Germany our ancestors were known as Von Schmidt and were actually royalty.  So, if we ever moved to Germany I would be a princess :)  I have realized this is a "Big Fish".

However, when I was a kid, I believed it.  I also thought my Grandpa moved to the US from Germany as a child.  I thought this because when I was younger I had a hard time understanding my Grandpa.  He had a uniqueness in his voice that made it sometimes hard for me to understand him when I was a kid.  Because of this I thought he had a thick German accent.  I actually grew up thinking this and would tell teachers and friends that my mom was a second generation American, her father coming to the US as a child from Germany.  I will forever remember my Grandpa's sincere and unique voice.