Happy New Year!

 Ms. Kay took me to the Natural History Museum and Butterfly Gardens.  Here is a giant tarantula that eats birds. 

 We ate lunch and tried to find all the butterflies on our chart.

 Dinasour bones!  I was amazed and couldn't get enough of them.

 Where do I fit in?

 Greg stopped by to read me one last story before he does his year long world tour.  I hope he sends some postcards!

 Dressing up and dancing :)

 I am getting really good at stacking these blocks that the Hoekerts gave me.

 Scout and I are in a staring contest.

 Texas born but still a Spartan fan.

 Ms. Sara brought me a whistle, football bead necklace and a football hat for Super Bowl weekend. 

 Practicing standing like a meerkat from the zoo.

 Heading out for a walk on a cool morning with my owl hat from Aunt Angela.

 I really love playing at the park.

 As soon as Alex can walk we will be partners in crime.

 I love hugs from Mommy

A monarch butterfly flew inside our screen porch one afternoon while we were playing.

Christmas

We didn't smile for Santa but we didn't cry either.  The kids before and after us were crying and screaming so Mommy and Daddy felt like this was a total success. 

 Merry Christmas Ms. Kay.  Enjoy your 2 week vacation while we are in Michigan.

 This was a pit stop somewhere between Texas and Michigan.  22 hours in the car was not all that bad.

 Christmas eve at Grandpa and Grandma Smiths house.

My first present! 

 Christmas morning at the cottage.  Santa had no trouble finding us.

Alex and I got some great presents.  I had to help Alex unwrap his gifts. 

 At Hama and Bob's house on Christmas morning.

 Hama got me an amazing pop-up book.

 Back at Grandpa and Grandma Smith's house for Christmas night.

 Last year I started taking off my fancy Christmas dress after only 15 minutes. This year I made it almost an hour.

 Ah...back in my John Deere pjs.  That is way more comfortable.

 Aunt Missy is teaching me how to stack blocks. 

 Cousin Nora is sharing her guitar and teaching me how to make music.

 I got burned out on Christmas night before I opened all my presents so Grandpa and Grandma Smith came over a few days later to give me my remaining presents.  These are my new monkey pjs.

 Later that night I puked all over Daddy.  It was the start of a long couple of days as Alex and I both got sick.

 By New Years I was feeling better and helped Daddy and Bob burn the big brush pile at the cottage. 

 This is a chair that Daddy used to sit in and watch TV as a kid.  We found it in Hama's garage and got it re-upholstered so Alex and I can enjoy it as much as Daddy, Tia, Aunt Angela and Uncle Matt did when they were young.

November 2012

 Sunglasses and a stuffed animal under each arm.  Life doesn't get any better!

 Mommy puts curlers in her hair so she let me give it a shot too.

 Still working on the potty chair. 

 I like to try on all of Mommy's different glasses.

 Ms. Kay is really brave and finger paints with me.

 Pure joy of playing outside.

 Ms. Kay's fiance Nate is awesome.  He comes over and takes us to lunch and plays catch with me.

 Steve and Debbie let us borrow their bouncy castle so we set it up in the living room and bounced until we couldn't stand up. 

 Hurray for Mommy and Alex!

I adore Nate.  He took us to the Children's museum and showed me how to drive a truck. 

 Ms. Kay lets us go shopping at the pretend store in the museum.

 Pucker up fishy.

 I'm brave enough to go down the slides on my own now.

 I used to be able to fit in this swing.

 Playing at the playground in our neighborhood.

I really like the swings.

 Who is that pretty girl in the window?

 Daddy's thanksgiving picture with the kids turned ugly.

 We had our turkey dinner as a picnic in the backyard.

 Kisses for Daddy.

 The day after Thanksgiving we put up the Christmas tree.

 I got some early presents so I could practice unwrapping and saying thank you.

 I got a tent for my bedroom. 

Riding the carosel at the mall after getting pictures taken with Santa for the Christmas card.