We took this video of Taylor last night after dinner (sorry that we didn't put a shirt back on her). We've been working with her on ABC's and we sing "Jesus loves me" to her every night before bed. So after dinner last night she wanted to practice.

Today she counted to 10 by herself (without repeating or skipping any numbers, like she usually does). She also knows all the letters of the alphabet but has a hard time putting them all together. It's fun to teach these things to her because she really seems interested to learn.

words, words, words

These days I should refer to Taylor as Little Miss Chatterbox. She's always been pretty verbal, but lately it seems like she surprises us daily with the new words she knows and says. She will repeat most things and just this past week, she said "golly", "goodness", and "that's not good" just to name a few. My three favorite things she said today were "dot com" which she repeated after hearing it on tv, "anyway" which she repeated after me, and "newbies" (as in the nickname for New Balance shoes) which she's heard Nick say but this time she came up with it on her own. She even pitched a fit because I told her she couldn't wear her "newbies" to the grocery store. I wanted her to wear her pink shoes because they looked better with the smocked bubble she was wearing, and I don't like when a pair of shoes ruins an outfit...can I get an amen?! I let her win and wear the newbies - don't judge me for giving in ;) - and she still looked cute.

She's also been quite the little songbird lately. She sings parts of "Jesus Loves Me", "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", and the alphabet. I don't have it uploaded yet, but we'll put a video on here that Nick took of her singing. TOO CUTE! Oh, and when we got home from church she was singing "round and down" and I figured out that she was singing "The Wheels on the Bus". I guess she heard that in the nursery and misunderstood round and round.

I'll have Nick post a video soon for your viewing pleasure and entertainment.

I promise I'm coming back

Sorry for my lack of blogging. Have had a lot going on. I will return, I promise!

This picture was taken one year ago today. So much has changed since then. Her hair is so much longer, she is walking and running, and she has a huge vocabulary! Nick and I watched some old videos of her on the computer tonight and it is hard to remember her as a baby, when she didn't walk and talk. But in the same breath I can say that time has flown by and it's hard to believe she'll be 2 in July! Crazy.

"Tain-tu Mommy"

This is how Taylor says "thank you" and she says it every time she brings me something that she knows she's not supposed to have (i.e., remote control, phone, pens, etc.) And believe me, that's alot. I'm trying to teach her to say "here you go" but she is so used to me saying thank you when she hands me stuff that it just comes out. We'll keep working on it. Speaking of other words we're working on...yes ma'am. I'd even take "yes" over "huh" which is short for uh-huh. Can you say tacky and rude? My Southern Belle will say yes ma'am, not huh...I hope. Nick is not Southern so this is a bit of a foreign concept to him. I'm positive my parents thought he was rude when they first met him since he didn't (and still doesn't) say ma'am and sir. Perhaps they've gotten used to. Or perhaps they still think he's rude...hopefully the former. Anyway I'll keep correcting her and hope that it sticks.

This picture has absolutely nothing to do with the post, but it's cute. This was taken almost one month ago and I forgot to post it. She had just put one of my socks on, which looks more like a leg warmer. Doesn't she look so proud?

As I type this she is working on her ABC's. She knows the tune of the first four letters and has gotten the order right a couple of times over the past few days. Most of the time, though, it's more like A D C D or C B C D. But, hey, cut the kid some slack...she is only 21 months old. We're also working on counting to ten, which is quite humorous at times. She does not like "7" and pretty much always skips it. Not sure why. Anywho, enjoy the funny picture!

Photo Shoot with Poppy

My Dad, "Poppy", took these pics of Taylor the other day when he was babysitting. These four are my favorite. I hope they make you smile.

Now about that stress test...

I totally forgot to blog about it. Thanks, Lisa, for the gentle reminder :)
Quick recap for those who don't know/forgot: last fall I was having some breathing issues, went to the Dr, had some tests run with no clear diagnosis, Dr. wanted to try me on Singulair (which does NOT come in a generic and is rediculously expensive) and I never got it filled and just lived with the breathing issues. Side note: I do not agree with treating symptoms when you don't have a proper diagnosis! Now I'm not talking about the common cold or minor things like that. I'm saying, don't just shove drugs, prescription or otherwise, in my face and hurry me out the door without diagnosing me! And if you can't, then send me to a specialist!
Have I made me point? :)
Ok, enough about that. Anyway, I began having some new symptoms (heart palpitations, a little bit of heart burn) and I know enough about heart disease to know that women can have weird symptoms like that. So I called to make an appt and my regular Dr. was out so I chose to see another one in the group. He ordered a stress echocardiogram and wanted me to wear a heart monitor for 30 days. The stress echo was just fine and revealed that I have some PVC's (premature ventricular contractions) which are basically just some extra beats. I just have a little more than some people and I happen to be very aware of mine. Oh, and I don't have to wear the heart monitor.
So is the breathing mystery solved? Nope. But at least we know my heart is ok.