New Words

Taylor has been adding some new words to her growing vocabulary over the past several days. A few nights ago when I laid her down in her crib and told her goodnight she said, "Night, night. Night, night. Night, night." And she has said it several times since then. Saturday as I was at Paint and Pals Nick got her to say "Love you." And as of today she's been saying "No" and sometimes repeats it several times. Right now she's not directing it at anything, but seems to be enjoying saying a new word. She is so funny and so much fun! She's also gotten very squeally (when she's excited or playing) and continues to be loud at times. As for the walking, she continues to improve. Nick counted her taking 22 steps on Saturday at one time, then later she walked all the way across the den without falling. Yay! I'll post pictures of my art from the other day at Paint and Pals.

No More Bottle

For about a week or so Taylor has been officially drinking only from a sippy cup. No more bottle! She is 14 months today so it's about time. For the past month or so she would drink from the bottle in the morning and then occasionally at lunch and dinner during those times when she would act like she didn't know how to drink from a sippy cup. :) And if you're wondering which one she uses out of the plethora of sippy cups...Gerber. But thanks for the suggestions, everyone.

A few random snapshots

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF FALL!

Yay! It's the first day of Fall! Not that it necessarily feels like it here in Mobile. But I'm still excited! Thanks to the internet for this lovely picture. I wish I could say that I took it, and I know Nick wishes that we lived in a place that looks like that this time of year.

Learning to walk

Taylor took her first steps a few weeks ago, but up until a couple days ago was never really interested in walking as a mode of transportation. She knew that she could get to where she wants to go by crawling and that was all there was to it. But since Thursday she has really started to walk more often. In fact she took about 10 steps a few times today. She gets a little camera shy when we bring out the video camera, but after some coaxing we got her to take a few steps.

Mmmmm

We're a day late making this post but we thought we'd share a fun tradition with you--we call it Saturday Morning Fun Breakfast. This happens practically every Saturday and usually involves cinnamon rolls or bacon and eggs or some other kind of good breakfast that we never eat during the week. Not much else to say, just wanted to let you in on our tradition.

Bathtime for two

We let Taylor and Ella take a bath together when the Crooms stayed with us as they fled from Hurricane Gustav (more pictures from that later). They seemed to have fun. Ella is used to taking a bath with Streed, but this was Tay's first time to have a guest in her tub. I think she had fun. She likes bathtime alot anyway, so having her cousin to splash around with made it even better!

Future performer?

We think Taylor is going to be musically talented...or at least love to listen to music. She loves to stand on her tippy toes and reach up to the piano keys, and she loves it when Nick plays the guitar. He lets her hold a pick and occasionally she'll try to strum the strings. I think it makes him happy that she loves music. As for what she does when she hears music or any sort of a beat...she loves to dance! It is this that makes me happy. I know, I know, all babies do that, but it's still cute and funny. I do hope that she inherits my love for dance, but I will love her no less if she doesn't.

A Plethora of Sippy Cups

How many sippy cups does one girl need? Apparently several...when you're trying to figure out which one(s) your child will actually drink from without makinga huge mess. We did not buy all of these ourselves, some were given to us by her Aunt Mel (thank you, again). She's drinks well from the Gerber ones most of the time, but she sometimes prefers to drink from her bottle. My favorite is when she fills her mouth with whatever is in her sippy cup and instead of swallowing decides she'd rather just let it spill out of her mouth and get all over the front of her outfit - that's really fun (can you sense the sarcasm?)! Also, some of them leak, so we're trying to figure out which ones are best. The Gerber ones are currently winning. At least they make a very colorful and pretty display.

Update

Thanks everyone for your prayers. I'm feeling much better tonight. I woke up this morning still not feeling very well, but I got better as the day went on, and as I finally got some food in my system. Neither of us are 100% yet, but we're getting there.

I can't believe my 14 1/2 year streak is over!!

p.s. happy birthday to my mom! We love you.

Sick Nick

Just a quick note to ask you to pray for Nick. He got sick this morning at church - we think it's food poisoning, but aren't sure. He's feeling a little bit better tonight, but definately not great. I didn't feel great yesterday or today, but didn't get sick like he did. We both had McDonald's yesterday for lunch and for dinner we ate a casserole that I made. So we're not sure exactly what the cause is, but we're hoping it's not contagious so Taylor and the Crooms don't catch it.