We'll never be royals

Tucker is 2 months old!

We made it! 

Well almost, I really don't consider newborn phase over until the 3 month mark.

We sure love this little guy. He's still my perfect baby. He sleeps great as far as newborns go! He really only cries when he's hungry (which is often... but at least I know exactly what's the problem). He does eat ALL the time. This is frustrating for Zoey, but we're falling into a rhythm.
She LOVES helping with Tucker and gets very upset with me if I don't pick him up the minute he starts fussing. 

Tidbits about Tucker:

-weighs 11 lb 6 oz (30% and 30% for height)

-outgrown most of his newborn clothes, but still kind of drowning in the 0-3 months
-size 1 diapers around 6 weeks! (it felt like it took zoey forever to outgrow nb diapers)

-he can stand on his legs while I hold his hands for a long time

-he's great at holding his head up

-HATES tummy time

-likes the moby wrap

-still very stoic... if you get a smile out of him, consider yourself lucky

-easy going and chill 95% of the time, the other 5% well... 

watch out, he's got a fierce "tippets temper"

We're gonna have a good time

Cary turned the big 2-8!

We started the day with Daily Donuts (they're delicious... mmm) and presents!













I think Cary's favorite was the lottery scratch off's I got him.
(He LOVES playing the lottery,
but obviously we realize gambling is wrong and a waste of money we don't have...
so he only gets to buy a ticket if the jackpot gets over $300 million....
and his birthday!)

He won $12!

We were both pretty stoked! The lottery is a lot more fun when you win.

We didn't really get any other time with Cary between work and young men's that night, but I made him some delicious black and white cupcakes to share with the boys.

I think turning 28 wasn't too bad.

May be simpler than it seems

Ok, I'm not a sponsored blog.

And I'm not a fashion blogger (I cringe anytime someone gets me in a photo).

And I definitely wouldn't normally talk about undergarments on a public forum...

BUT...

Have you heard of trueandco.com?


via

It's a bra shopping experience that isn't painful! Crazy talk you say? No, seriously, not painful.

You find your fit through a quick questionnaire, then they provide all the possible options based on your questionnaire, you pick 3, their experts pick 2 and they're shipped free to your door! Keep the one's you like and send back the one's you don't.

Seriously, no creepy sales people asking to fit you, or other invasions of personal space.

Love it.

(And they just sent me a promo code for $25 off $100, promo: PPTRKA... enjoy.)

I'm sexy and I know it

via

Cary and I are starting a 10 week fitness challenge!

It'll end (healthy living never really ends--but the "final" weigh in) on Christmas, so we're calling it...

Santa's Bringing Sexy Back 

:)

The dets:

(details... i'm poking fun at my younger cooler sisters who abbreviate everything)

Cary and I are trying to lose the extra baby weight. 

My goal is to lose 10 lbs and his is to lose 15 lbs. 

We will have our weekly weigh in on Saturday mornings. 

We are going to cut back on the crap we eat,

 but since I'm nursing this is more about exercising. 

Our goal is to exercise 6 days a week.

With a newborn and extreme sleep deprivation this can be challenging, but even if it's 5 minutes of push ups and sit ups, I'm determined to do something each and every day!

We did take before shots... but I'll spare you. 

Please feel inclined to check up on us and keep us accountable! 

(Especially with the holiday eating coming up)

And even better, 

if you feel inclined to join in the fun I always love friendly support. It doesn't have to be about losing weight, 

you can set any fitness/health goal.

 It's about not waiting til New Years to feel better and make the changes you know you should.

I sure would like some sweet company

I'm gonna say what no mom who blogs ever says...

Some days the kiddos drive me absolutely crazy! 

Some days are filled with no sleeping newborn and a toddler who screams and cries and tests every boundary and word you say. Those days are tough and it can be easy to lose sight of the gift it is to be these kiddos mom. 

Our week started off a bit in that manner, the last two days however, my kids are perfect. My boy smiled and smiled some more at me, and boy does he have the best smile in the world. He's also started to get his baby chub and look a little less like an old man!

And my zo, just keeps making me laugh. Oh I don't know what I'd do without her! She sure makes the tough newborn days a lot easier to get through. 

My favorite moments this week include:

Everytime she pulls out a "mom" book (i.e. a book with just words and no pictures) she thinks it's a hymn book and starts singing "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam." (maybe I should read more often so she knows there's other books without pictures)

Her favorite activity this week is calling people. She gets especially excited when they don't pick up and she gets to leave a voicemail. 

She named her stuffed pig Penguin. It's really confusing people, but it is a funny looking pig that is a similar shape to a penguin, so it kinda makes sense. 

 

I got the eye of a tiger, fighter

(Reading the DVD cases since I said she couldn't watch the shows)

Lessons from a week unplugged:

1. Zoey is happier. I really thought it would be hard for her to give up watching her shows, but she only asked once all week to watch something. She woke up happier and generally behaved better throughout the day, I think because she loves having our undivided attention. (I started to realize I acted the same, and was pretty excited to get Cary's undivided attention in the evenings--like mother like daughter.)

2. It was brutal for me. Though I was pleasantly surprised at the better behavior from Zoey, that didn't make it any easier to get cleaning, cooking, or even just showering done. 

3. The art of bribery is alive and well. The least painful way to get some things done around here is to let Zoey watch some tv in exchange for what I need/want (i.e. When needing to comb her hair, getting her to sit is possible if you offer tv time. Last week just turned into me offering treats instead of tv. So ya know, rot her brain or encourage poor eating habits... I'm not sure how much I improved.)

4. A 1 year old is pretty capable of entertaining themselves. Zoey did really well with reading her books and doing puzzles when I had to feed Tucker.

5. A 1 year old isn't very capable of entertaining themselves. Her attention can only be held by puzzles/books/her toys for so much time each day which created a lot of pressure to go and do something to occupy our morning hours. Although I often try to plan a fun activity for Zoey each day, knowing I had to was challenging some days when balancing Tucker's needs and my sleep deprivation. 

6. Tv time makes getting ready possible. Showering or even just combing my hair and applying a touch of make up was ridiculously hard without something to hold Zoey's attention. Packing a lunch/supplies, unloading groceries, and cooking were also difficult and almost broke my conviction to limit screen time just about every day.

7. I felt really uninformed. I like knowing when hurricanes are forming and heading my way, or the government is in shutdown and our good for nothing representatives are not making any progress in getting it back up and running. These things are hard to know when you don't use tv, phones, or computers.

The take away: Generally, we're better off without the screen time and plan to keep it limited. However, there are certain circumstances in which it is a lifesaver and I fully plan to embrace it because, hey, I was born in the 20th century for a reason, right? 

We're hiding behind skin that's too tough

Recently, I was out in public with both kids and I went into a public restroom to change Tucker's diaper (props to me for actually finding the restroom... at this age it'd be so much easier to just change his diaper on the floor and move on, but people tend to frown on that).

Tucker was crying as I changed his diaper because he'd just woken up and was hungry. A lady comes up to me as I finish changing his diaper and says "I can see that you're a new mom, but you know- babies cry for a reason, and you need to figure out what that reason is."

Ummm. Really. 

Babies cry for a reason?

Mind blown. 

Then I read this article Dear Parents you need to control your kids, sincerely non parents.

I laughed. Especially when he moved on to the more annoying- parents of grown children who criticize parents (see above scenario). 

But then I also realized I'm guilty as charged. I see other parents with children who throw things at them, or have a yelling match, or are generally acting like horrible brats and judge the parents. I take these opportunities to observe behaviors, parent and child, around me and make mental notes of things I do and don't like, and things I plan to do or not do. And though this is probably just part of figuring out parenting in an attempt to avoid trying every parenting technique... we (I) can be a little kinder. 

How often have I wished someone would help me rather than stare? Or lost my cool after a particularly challenging day? Or been mortified at my child's behavior in public? 

Here's to trying a little harder to be a little better...

When I'm wiser and I'm older

When I get to the pearly gates, my first question:

Why will my babies sleep in my arms while I'm standing perfectly still, but as soon as I sit down they wake up??? Seriously, they're in the same position, is there some slight change in the force of gravity on their tiny bodies or what?

Followed by:

Why can babies laugh in their sleep long before they can laugh while awake? Is their slumber that much more amusing? Are they also already having complete conversations in their sleep? I think we need to tap into newborns dreams.

And I'll tell you baby it was easy

Tucker is 1 month old... 

and some change 

(still learning this new balancing act...)

stats on Tucker:



-He weighed 9 lb 9 oz at his one month appt. which put him in the 40 percent, can't remember his length but it's the 20 percent. So he's chubbing up a little :) and shorter than zoey was but I'm hoping part of that is from coming early (and bless you for that child).

-Gave up his first smile today! It's the biggest smile I've ever seen on a baby and completely worth the wait! I'll catch it on camera soon.

-Still master of the skeptical grump face.

-Great sleeper! He probably sleeps about 18 hours a day! He has even started giving me a chunk at night about 10:30 pm to 4 am, which is very generous of a one month old... and not to sound ungrateful, but he then wants to be up til 6 am and then zoey is up at 7 am, and well, the 4 am wake up is just kinda brutal.

-Not really much else to say. He doesn't track me yet, and is definitely not as busy as Zoey was at this age, which had Cary and me a little worried about his hearing/eyesight. But, after some unscientific tests we've concluded he's just a chill baby and doesn't really care when we're all making loud noise.

-Oh and I'm still his favorite. There's nothing quite like cuddling with a little baby, and I try to focus on how much I love it instead of what I could get done if he'd sit with his dad.

Basically, he's still my perfect baby. So easy, so easy going... we're all pretty smitten with this little man!

So wake me up when it's all over

I have a confession.

I let television co-parent.

I attempt to make myself feel better with whisperings of "you don't let her play on a computer, ipad or phone," "it's pbs-it's educational," "she's expanding her language skills watching," "maybe sesame street can teach her the alphabet faster than I can"

I wasn't always this parent.

There was a time we never turned on the tv. On the occassion I did attempt to get something done by letting Zoey watch tv, it bought me a meager 2 or 3 minutes. Then we discovered this super obnoxious baby music video, and suddenly I had my 20 minute window to shower, get dressed and perhaps clean up the kitchen.

And then she discovered Tangled.

 Ahhh, something enjoyable for me as well 

(I think this fueled my problem). 

Tangled became somewhat of a lifesaver during the particularly sick days of pregnancy and those long rainy days that never seemed to end in June/beg of July. 

(Do you remember those? Yeah the summer ended fabulously--but the beginning of summer was rainy and dreary and hardly screamed "let's go to the park"!)

Fast forward... Tucker was born and I'm at a complete loss.

 How am I supposed to take care of a newborn (newborns are supppperrr needy) and my rambunctious 1 year old, who left unattended (meaning parental figure is predisposed) turns the furniture into a jungle gym, colors on walls, and other mischievousness?

We started watching shows pretty much every morning to wake up and every feeding, and some nights just for fun. 

That is a lot of tv. For anyone. But especially for a 1 year old. 

Enter this article, 8 Ways Screens Are Ruining Your Family's Life

(I know, I know. Huffington Post. But it was a provocative read)

So we have embarked on a screen free week. 

Almost.

I'm allowed "essential phone time" (gps, messaging, calendar) and screen time during Tucker feedings in the middle of the night--because otherwise I get really angry that I'm up for hours when I'm exhausted/it's really boring to just sit for an hour in the middle of the night awake.

And now this post is just too long... 

check back to see what I'm learning.

do this and joy...

In the church talk I mentioned in the last post, the sister missionary talked about asking for blessings and then living our lives so that Heavenly Father can give us those blessings. She also shared this thought that stuck with me:

 "Roots before Fruits"

One example of this concept she shared described a family where the parents were raised in the gospel and praised their childhood because of the great values that were instilled in them. They enjoyed church and got along well with their siblings because of the lessons they learned there. And although they said they wanted the same values and lessons for their children they chose not to actively live the gospel or take their children to church anymore.

She said this was ridiculous. 

You can't expect the fruits of the gospel if you don't have the roots of the gospel. 

Although, I suppose this should be obvious and is essentially why you hear the ABC's or sunday school answers of the gospel so often... it stuck out to me.

So as a reminder to myself to be better and to live this gospel I know to be true, 
"Roots before Fruits"

I have a family... they are so good to me

The senior missionary couple spoke in church, and though I only got to hear the first talk (thanks tuck...) I really enjoyed it. 

The sister shared a story. 

She described how when she and her husband were younger, they had only been married a few years, had 2 young children and were very poor. She said sometimes she'd go searching through the couch cushions to find an extra dime to be able to buy milk for the babies. One such day, her husband and her were feeling down about their situation and decided to make a list of all the things they would buy if they had the money. 

She said it was fun and made them feel better to make this list and pretend money wasn't an issue for a moment.

Fast forward 3 years and they are packing up to move, when she happens upon the list they had created one night. She marveled at the fact that she had everything they had written on their list including a dryer (this was probably 1960ish: dryers were a big deal), a new car, and they just bought a house which is why they were moving. 

Her point being sometimes we need to ask Heavenly Father for the blessings we want and then live our lives so that he can give us those blessings. 

As we drove home, Cary and I decided we needed to make a list, so we too can have everything we want in 3 years... and the list started with things such as all the infomercial crap we've ever wanted to try (read: nuwave, no!no!, dyson vacuum, every workout video, etc.) and other silly items, I thought to myself "I am so blessed." 

We are so blessed to obviously have everything we need/want to the point where our list of wants includes crap off informercials I see in the middle of the night. 

Feeling pretty lucky tonight.

Work hard, play hard, keep partyin' like it's your job

Zoey has seriously been making us laugh this week. 

Here's some of our favorite conversations/comments:

Dinner time, after I just cut up her food and put it on her plate:

"Zoey can you fold your arms to pray?" "NOPE, I'm eating (as she shovels everything in her mouth)"

Zoey climbs up to the table and starts grabbing the water pitcher:
"Zoey can I help you?" With a smug look "No thanks. I get it."

"Zoey, what did you learn about in Nursery today?"
 "How to kiss Jon Bradley" 



"Zoey, did you have a good nights sleep?"
"Yeah."
"What did you dream about?"
"Jesus."
"Jesus?"
"Yeah. K?"

Zoey wasn't eating her bagel, so I eat a piece.
"MY BAGEL BACK!"
"Umm, sorry zoey, I can't give it back"
(meanwhile Cary is laughing)
Zoey gives the stern look I usually give her when i want her to listen, "my bagel back!"

We have a mini boppy for tummy time for Tucker. 
Zoey grabs boppy "I feed tucker, k!"

We're safe and sound

Introducing:

Aaron Tucker Tippets

(We call him Tucker. Or Tuck. Or Tuckmeister. Or Tuckerman.)

(Cary is a big fan of nicknames.)

Tucker was born August 25, 2013 at 2:15 pm.

I went boating the day before, went into labor around midnight, and headed to the hospital around 6 am. Labor was night and day different from Zoey's. Tucker's delivery was great and recovery has been soooo much smoother this time around. I call him my perfect baby because I wouldn't change any of it. 

Also, that was probably the best boat ride of my life!

Physical Stats on Tucker:

-Born 2 weeks early weighing 7 lb 12 oz. 20 in long

-He has a little hair, less than Zoey initially had, but he's kept it longer :) Cary also wanted me to note that he has a perfectly shaped head... apparently it runs in the family.

-He's got long long arms, and super long skinny feet.

Personality Stats on Tucker:

-Easy going!

-He is pretty much only interested in sleeping and eating

-Total mamas boy. He loves me best. It makes me feel pretty great (especially since Zoey didn't reallly care if it was me holding her or not), but it does make it hard to get things done.

We're all in love with "baby brudda" (as zoey says). It's nice to have a punctual member in the family and we're adjusting well to our new family of four status.

And I'm loving every second, minute, hour

I've kinda lost the passion for blogging (ya think? you say... yeah, yeah it's been months since I last posted, but only Kim reads this anyhow...)

Anywho... I've been feeling about done with the bloggity blog, but then I think I should really write down the cute/funny things Zoey does lately, so...

1. If Cary or I is getting ready to go she INSISTS on a kiss before we go, and then demands we kiss each other. It sure makes you feel loved.

2. Zoey loves to remind us to pray... and also to interrupt the prayer with reminders of every. single. person. we should possibly include in the prayer. Family know that Zoey wants you to be well blessed.

3. She has recently tuned in to the radio in the car, and if a commercial comes on she screams "NOOOO. SONG!!!!" I feel the same way kiddo.

4. She has discovered that "colors" (crayons) work on the walls and floors. I don't like this and we're on a coloring ban currently.

5. She has become a very picky eater. She'll eat fruit. Any fruit really. Oh and she LOVES to eat cereal for breakfast like mama and daddy. She tries so hard to get the spoon of milk and cereal in her mouth and her favorite part is drinking the sugar milk left in the bowl (although I'm sure about half her meal ends up in her lap).

6. She constantly asks "what's this?" She learns probably 15 new words a day, and it's amazing, but hard to keep up with--so she's always surprising us.

We sure love this little girl!

I'm gonna pop some tags

So we're having a BABY BOY!!!

We are very excited. I've always planned on having a son so he can play basketball for UNC and his mama can have excellent seats for all the action ;)

So, it was especially fun that we got an ultrasound of our little tarheel...

Of course now we have the task of picking a name for kiddo! As of now, we're open for suggestions.

Criteria include:

a. Not a top ten name or super common (sorry don't want the 10th michael or jacob in his class)

b. No super weird names or off the wall spellings

c. Must make for great cheers when he's playing in the Dean Dome... so sweet nickname or ability to make some slogan on the posters would work :)

Ready, shoot, I'm all ears.

I belong with you, you belong with me

In Zoey news....

... We are working on our p's and q's. Sometimes I hand her a cup while she has her pacifier in, and she responds thank you. But, I can't understand her so I ask her to take out her pacifier and repeat herself, she then screams "THANK YOU!!!"

I choose to just be glad she says thank you every time.

... She has learned to bow her head and fold her arms during prayers, but if the prayer is too long, she lifts her head and says "DONE. done, done done." No idea where her impatience comes from... ;)

... Before Cary will hand her anything she wants, he makes her name 5 body parts or tell him the different sounds made by at least 5 animals. She usually plays along, unless she's having a real sassy day and then she purposely answers every question wrong with a smug smile. Too smart for her own good!

                                                       (She loves seeing the chickens)

... We decided to participate in Easter Egg hunts this year. My expectations were extremely low to say the least, but Zoey blew me away. She pointed to an egg right away and I told her to go put it in her basket, and then she just went to town. She was pretty stoked to collect a bunch of eggs, and even more stoked when she realized they had chocolate! (yeah, I'm just now learning that parents of young children put healthy treats in the eggs, or stickers, or little toys... don't judge me for eating way too much candy with my 1 year old!)

... We had the stomach flu, and Zoey decided she was ok watching a movie (never sat through a movie before) as long as it was Disney's Tangled. I was very ok with this since it's a great movie. However after 3 days of watching it on repeat all day, she seems to think this is an acceptable routine and asks every morning to "watch, watch?"

I know... it sounds bad. Don't judge me.

... Zoey finally has some hair! and she brings me rubberbands every day and asks for a ponytail. Only problem is... she doesn't have much hair and it's very fine. But we do the best we can.

... According to the pediatrician she has an extremely advanced vocabulary for her age. She repeats everything, which mostly just makes me laugh and totally catches strangers off guard. Most people just don't expect her to answer their questions. But my favorite is still that when she wakes up at 6:30 she screams "DA-DEE" and then if I go in to get her she sits down and says "no, want da-dee." No loyalty I tell ya...

... And Zoey stats just for my own comparisons down the line.
She'll be 17 months in a week, and she's about 23 lbs.
She still wears a size 2 diaper.
She's outgrown her 9-12 month clothes in length but the 12 mo and up clothes just fall off because she doesn't have enough chub to hold anything up.
She has become a very picky eater. It's frustrating. But she loooovvveeees chocolate. That girl is just like her dad. I think she learned how to say chocolate around 14 months that's how deep the love runs.

Settle down it'll all be clear

So I get this text from my sister informing me that I haven't blogged in 6 weeks...

followed by "you suck at blogging."

Well, yes, yes I do. But you try growing a baby and teaching a toddler all her body parts and animal sounds while keeping her from eating off the ground. S'not easy.

Yeah, you read that right (in case anyone reads this blog that isn't related to me... which I'm guessing is ... probably a big fat goose egg). Baby numero 2 is due beg. of sept, so expect arrival sometime mid october probably, and we find out the gender next week!

Anyhow, I realize there are lots of other mothers out there who manage to be pregnant, raise their child(ren), keep their house clean (please don't knock on my door today, or probably tomorrow either... i'm serious, i won't even open for the fedex dude), blog, craft, and all sorts of other tasks.

And to them I say.... quit making me look so bad!

Or maybe perhaps share some of your secrets... because only thing I'm sure to get done each day is take a nap! (I wish I wasn't serious. 'k maybe not EVERY day, but at least 5 a week... yeah, i'm pathetic I know)

Valentine's Day

Have you seen the Hallmark commercial for Valentine's Day?

The one where someone says "Just tell me you love me", another person "Just tell me you miss me", etc etc. And ends with a cheesy Hallmark plug... All you need this Valentine's Day is a card to say what you need to say.

False. I turned right to Cary and said "No, I don't just need a card, sorry."

Even Kelly Ripa, said she'd be happy with a card for V-day (and, her husband picking his clothes up off the floor)

LIES. Everyone sits on a throne of LIES!

C'mon I get a card from my dentist for heaven's sake! I need a little more, not much more, but something that says you love me more than the dentist...

Say you agree? No?

I'm never changing who I am

Yikes! Has it really been over a month since I posted?

Whoops.

Well I'd share about Christmas and our December adventures but my pictures all got deleted (I was really sad, and now I'm trying to move on...) But we had a wonderful Christmas! We got to spend time with both families and couldn't be more blessed.

In Zoey news... She is hilarious. She repeats most things I say and always laughs right on cue. She's miserable this week though, as her whole set of teeth it seems has decided to show up--poor girl.

It's a new year, and for me that means new goals. In the last 4 years-ish I've gotten really serious about my New Years Goals. I love the opportunity to really have a good start, to reflect on what I want to change throughout the year, and I never forget to look back and reflect at the end of the year since that's all anyone is talking about.

I usually try to pick 4 goals, one spiritual, one physical, one social, and one mental. Last year I set goals to 1) Have FHE each week 2) read a book a month 3) Plan/participate in a social acitivity for Cary and I at least once a month and 4) Run a half marathon

I did awesome on the first 3, and although I didn't run the half marathon, I did step up my exercise regimen to at least an hour workout a day, lost 40 lbs, and was in excellent physical condition. Looking back the half marathon wasn't very realistic for me financially as well as with a new baby--but I was a new mom, I didn't know what life would be like.

This years goals include:
1) Read the entire standard works
2) Do one Rosetta stone lesson a week (this has been on the to do list for 3 years, yikes, time to finally do it)
3) Keep in touch with friends/family. I want to touch base by email/text/or call at least once a month.
4) Workout at least everyday I don't work (since going back to waiting tables it's hard for me to find the stamina to workout and then walk/be on my feet for 4-7 hours.... so a little less ambitious on this one) and ideally I'd like to end the year weighing the same I do now--sooo maintenance is the goal of 2013!

Wish me luck!

Look at this photograph, every time i do it makes me laugh

Can I just say... I dread family photos.

I mean, we all have mental images of our awful 80's family photos that seem to haunt us. (Sorry mom, it's true, my bangs, all the denim... )

Then the fact that Cary and I are not photogenic.

You don't have to lie and tell us we are. I think we have a rare gift for squinty eyes, producing double chins, and adding 20 lbs on picture day.

That being said, this mom gig makes me feel super guilty for not getting pictures taken. So I asked a friend, Monica (if you want her info so you can get pics, let me know) to meet us for a quick 45 minute jaunt through campus before I had to be to work.

And I liked a couple... which is all one really needs.

I laugh so hard... every. single. time. i look at this

Turkey for me, Turkey for you

(So I started this post two weeks ago... whoops)

Happy After Thanksgiving to you! I hope yours was wonderful!

I have a lot for which to be grateful, namely the gospel and my family. Those two things are everything to me.   Of course I also feel I should express my gratitude for a job and the abundance we are blessed with--we were able to buy a new camera! So i can actually show you some pictures!

Also, in zoey news... her words of the week are "cheese, clock, and grandma." We were very impressed when we pulled up to grandma's for thanksgiving, she knew exactly where we were and excitedly said "grandma!" and pointed to the front door. And then while eating dinner she just got real excited about her cheese--that's normal, i know adults who do that :)


Zoey has also learned....
... to clap
... wave and say hi and bye (she's been doing this for a month or so, but it's very clear now)
..."twinkle" she smiles and winks with both eyes... it's too cute, and maybe I'll get a pic soon
... tell you what a dog says: "ruff ruff"
... dance... it's an upperbody twist, she loves dancing
... to "high five"
... to go get things when I ask her. She's especially good at collecting her shoes, hat or coat to go outside... but she'll also gather toys for me.

Chocolate milk for the first time... she didn't set the cup down til it was gone. Girlfriend LOVES chocolate milk.

"Why are you trying to take my picture?"

Out walking with "papa" as she calls grandpa.

So stylish.