Way too LONG!

Wow, it has been WAY TOO LONG since I posted last! Raychel and I had so much fun over the summer that I forgot to update along the way! This little girl continues to amaze me and brighten every moment of my day! She started back to day care this week and it has been quite traumatic for both of us...we peel her off of me, give her to day care, and Mommy and Raychel cry. Raychel cries most of the day but Mommy has to be a BIG girl and get all of her work done! I am hoping that this will stop soon....We are back 5 days tomorrow and seeing a few positives! I know she will get used to it, just hard to go through the process! BE STRONG RAYCHEL!!! One day Mommy knows that she will wish you still wanted me as badly as you do now...

What has Raychel been up too? Playing, reading books, saying new words, connecting animals and their sounds and saying those sounds, walking up to 6 blocks at a time, running, giggling, playing on the piano, stacking and nesting blocks, eating grapes-watermelon-green beans-peas-carrots-broccoli (just a few of her very favorite foods--gee, wish I could get her to eat something healthy!), switched to milk, left the bottle behind (July 20th), dressing up with necklaces, watching Barney, playing chase and peek-a-boo with Daddy, growing hair (little curls in the back too) and sleeping all night long.



Funnies and surprises:

Mommy was taking a nap one afternoon and Daddy and Raychel were doing laundry. She spied Mommy when they went to get hangers and the race was on....she would run to the door and Daddy would block her. She would laugh, run across the room and try again...eventually she decided she would sneak around through the kitchen to Mommy's door! Smart little girl...there is more then one way to beat Daddy! Her reward: Waking up Mommy!

I really did cut her hot dog up in little pieces! She grabbed the whole thing and took her own BIG GIRL bites! :P

One day at Grandma S's she got excited upon seeing a picture of all her cousins. She pointed to her only boy cousin and said, "Riley" just as clear as day! She REALLY likes Riley. She watched him show his pigs and cheered/clapped when he won Reserve in his class/breed! Then, she found a picture at our house and tried saying "Jackie" (his sister). I'm sure the rest are next! I think she loves all her cousins!

She waves and says HI to EVERYONE we see at EVERY store we go too! And she says it like she is SOOO EXCITED to see them! LOL Such a fun age!

She gives the BEST hugs and kisses. If she can't reach you to kiss you, she will blow one or make a kissing noise and lean towards you! She is very loving! So much so that one night when Mommy was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, she came running over and where I usually move my head back there was a wall...so she left a bruise on Mommy's cheek! Mommy cried...Raychel didn't! =)

Tonight, in the bathtub, she used her bath tub markers and wrote a letter J. I didn't think anything of it...its just a mark, right? Then, she says.... J!!! I wrote another J next to it...she looked at it and said...cat! (Our cat's name is JJ!) WHAAAATTTT?????? Was it an accident? I have no idea!

Pancakes are her favorite breakfast food. She held up the pancake the other day and said, "Good, Mom!" Then, stuffed a huge bite in her mouth and giggled!

Her animal book is her favorite book. She is learning the names, sounds, or signs for many of the animals. Earlier this month she lost her book for a few days (err, Mom ruined it and we had to buy a new one). We picked up a new one and she refused to let go of it, even fell asleep holding onto it on the way home!

Playing peek-a-boo and chase are her favorite activities. Daddy and Raychel play chase all over the house (especially around the doors of the kitchen and through the living room) and around the kitchen island. I HAVE to get them on video...hopefully soon! =)

Itsy-Bitsy-Spider is her favorite song. She CAN do all the actions, but rarely shows anyone but Mom. She will always do the "spider" part though and giggles when you sing it to her!

She learned how to push her wooden duck and musical push toy around the house. You would think that she is copying Mommy vacumming, but the reality is that she is TERRIFIED of the vacumm and Mommy does that when she goes to bed! =) She was VERY PROUD of herself for learning how to do that!

We were getting ready for bed one night and Raychel was busy with her visor. I asked her what was on her hat and she replied with, "MOO"! (Yes, it was a Cow visor!)

Raychel was standing in the bath tub one night....holding onto her hand I told her to sit down...about that time she wiped out and went down...laughing she said, "I DID!"

She received a dress as a late birthday present. I put it over her head and she pranced through the living room. Later I asked if she thought she was pretty in the dress, she looked down at it, back at me with a big smile, and said, "YES!"

As you can see she is a handful of FUN...a true JOY in our lives! =) We LOVE watching her grow up and never grow tired of sharing all of her developments!!