Arianna Updates

Ari is 20 months old and is surprising me everyday. I have to say that parenthood is better than I expected it to be. I can't believe how much I enjoy watching Ari learn. For example, today was the first day that she said the full word "Apple" instead of just the final syllable and I wanted to throw a party. She helps me unload the dishwasher and remembers where things go, not just her spoons and forks, but other things that only I use. Ok, this might be boring for some of you, but you can just skip down to the pictures ;)

Ari understands more than I thought was possible for her age. I had no idea how fast kids pick things up...she can recognizes the numbers 4-10 (she thinks 1,2 & 3 are all "2") and can count to 2. She knows all the "normal" colors and even points them out on shirts and signs she sees. She is also starting to put 3 and 4 word sentences together.
We have a Melissa and Doug puzzle that has doors that open and have magnets behind them...she knows where each magnet belongs. Here is a short video, of course I caught the tail end of it, but you can get the idea.

As far as sleeping, she has been doing so much better. She has a great bed time routine, that she asks for, and is now sleeping a full 12 hours at night. She also normally takes 2 hour naps during the day. I know we will probably hit a rough patch again, but I am glad things are going smoothly again.
Ari is still growing very fast. I haven't measured her, but she is in 3T clothing. She really enjoys being outside and going places in the car. I have started to think about winter plans and what I am going to do with her when I can't take her on a walk or to the park everyday. She really enjoys swimming so I am hopping to join one of the community centers to get her in the pool at least once a week, but I welcome any suggestions for keeping a toddler busy and happy indoors!
Saturday we went the Harvest Fest and Ari rode a pony and played in a toddler bouncy house. 

 

















 

Sunday I took a few minutes to take some pictures. It is still hard to get her to smile for the camera, but you can see how much she has grown. 

 

This is the face I get a lot when I am trying to take pictures. She loves her tongue!

The underneath of Ari's hair is very curly. All I did was put a little gel in it to stop the fly-a-ways. The top is still very straight though...

 

Yes, this is Ari trying to climb a tree in her Sunday clothes :)

 

Ari has been having fun at home too...
We bought a new footstool and she thought this was a better use for it...

Coloring with some friends :)






Eating whipped cream...

St. Louis Weekend

Sorry it has been a little while since I have posted. We have had two adoption options that have stalled, so it has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster. 
Last weekend we went to St. Louis to visit my family. We had a blast! My mom brought out a bunch of my old toys, including this car. We called it the Flintstone mobile. 


We also went to the Botanical Gardens. It was beautiful but the weather was pretty hot. We were able to get in free, though. Who knew that if you are a STL county resident, you get in free on Wednesdays and Saturdays?

This was at the end. Ari was pretty tuckered out.

This is just to give a scale...

We fed the Koi fish and they were huge!

Ari loved throwing food into their open mouths

Ari had fun playing with the fake sheep :)

Silly Girl :)

She really wanted to touch the water.

Playing music with Daddy

They had this neat "foodology" exhibit about where food comes from. It was inside so we enjoyed it a lot :)

This is how Ari plays with new things...'I will play with it if I can keep it at arms-length'

This is my attempt at taking a "beautiful" picture

We spent a great Sunday with my dad. I had forgotten my camera and the pictures above are from Skylar's borrowed camera. So no pictures from my dads...
We are so happy to be a family. Ari is continuing to learn and grow and surprises us every day. I promise an update more specifically on her shortly.