A Mind of Her Own

My Staley is growing up.  She has an ever-expanding vocabulary and an impressive understanding of the world around her.  And she has a mind of her own.  Firmly set, unwavering belief in what she wants and doesn't want...and she is not shy about letting us know.  'No' is a powerful word, and Staley has learned to use it with force.  Reading a book she doesn't want to read at that moment.  'NO!'  A request to take another bite of vegetables.  'NO!'  Time to stop playing with sidewalk chalk at the baby-sitters and go home.  'NO!'  Bath time is over.  'NO!'  There are sometimes tears.  There is sometimes drama.  But there is no doubt that my baby girl has spunk.  And as easy as it would be to have Staley agree with me 100% of the time, I love the fact that she is developing a strong personality.  I want her to grow into a strong woman with the self-confidence to fight for what she believes in, to stand up for those who can't, to boldly share her ideas.  And if that all begins with arguing against vegetables and for longer bath times, then bring it on!

And the Loser Is...

...the number 9.  Speaking in reality TV terms, the number 9 has been voted off the island.  The number 9 has not been given a rose.  The number 9 will not be holding a mirror ball trophy, singing in a finale, or receiving a million dollar check.  Staley loves to practice her counting, and she has gotten very good at counting from one to ten.  Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, the number 9 was lost.  So although America hasn't voted, apparently Staley has.  And the number 9 just didn't make the cut.

Baby Proofing?

Can you really say you are 'baby proofing' if you let your baby play with the cordless drill while you install the gate for the stairs?

"Helping" Daddy install a baby gate

Could She Bee Any Cuter??

Down and Up

Down and up.  Just the name of the game makes it sound so fun!  Down and up.  The rules are simple and there are no limits to the number of people who can play.  Down and up.  Staley invented this game, and she'd be so pleased if other people got the same enjoyment out of it.  Down and up.

Staley is becoming a walker.  Yes, she took her first independent steps almost a month ago, but it has really been in the past few days that she has begun walking more than crawling.  I'd say she has a 75% walking percentage now.  Until a few days ago, Staley would walk until she fell and then crawl the remaining distance to her desired location.  Then 'down and up' was born.  Staley began practicing squatting down and then standing back up.  Down and up.  She would take a few steps, squat down, stand back up, squat down, stand back up (smiling the entire time because 'down and up' is so fun) and then take a few more steps.  This evolved and today (for the first time) she fell down and then stood back up in the middle of the room all by herself.  Down and up.  What a great game for my big girl!!  And what a fun 'first' to add to Staley's ever-growing list.

Free Association

Everyone has participated in a little free association game at some point in their life.  You know how it goes:  I give you a word, you tell me the first thing that comes to mind.  Well, life with my talkative little girl is an on-going game of free association.  Usually whatever I say prompts a free association response from Staley--sometimes she responds with the same word that I said last, but more often she responds with her own connecting word.  She also will free associate with herself.  She'll say something and then follow up with the word that she connects with her previous word.  Sometimes the associations she makes truly amaze me.  So welcome to Staley's world of free association.

I say ________________ and then Staley says ____________________ .

Uma-Papa
Grammie-Grandpa
Aunt Carrie-Elliott
Cade-Basketball (or ptschh or bounce--words that Staley associates with basketball)
Princess-Tiana and then Belle
Shower-shampoo
Bear-Sneeze and then ah-choo (because of her 'Bear Snores On' book)
Packers-Boo
Rinse-Owww (another book association where a little boy rinses his hair and gets soap in his eyes)
Drama-No (because Staley knows what we say about the drama)
Movie-Cow and then booo (because the only movie she knows is her farm video)
Breakfast/lunch/dinner-Eat
Train-choo choo
Library-book
Strong-shampoo (because the first time I told her she was strong was when she was trying to pick up and hand me a full bottle of shampoo.  She remembered this, even when I didn't initially make the connection.)

Happy is one of Staley's newer words.  And now when she says 'happy', she follows up with 'mama.'  What an accurate association, because she is so right.  Staley makes me SO, SO happy!!!!

Because It's Been Awhile Since I've Posted a Picture...