The First Snow

Last night we had our first (real) snowstorm of the year. (We had one before but it didn't stick, this time it did)
So this morning, after Kourtney ate some breakfast, I started layering her up. I kept her pj's on, to keep her warmer, added denim overalls, a big warm coat, shoes and a hat. By that time she was getting fed up with all the layers so I thought, "who needs gloves? We'll use them next time." Turns out, we did! She didn't like the COLD snow, so we didn't play in it much, but we did have fun outside anyway. She slipped on ice a couple times, but don't worry! She's okay! :)

It's COLD!


This is better!



Just wandering around...






...and around...





Mama and Kourtney having fun!


Funny hat hair!

Bragging Rights

So I'm taking advantage of my bragging rights as a Mom, to brag about Kourtney.

She is SO smart!

I may not be able to understand the difference between her babbling and her words, but she is signing so well and I can understand her that way!
Kourtney is saying a few words (I wish I could tell you all the words, but I really don't know, except for "Mama" and "Dada", unless told by someone else) and signing even more. Here is an updated list of her signing vocabulary list:

(ones I've already told you about)

• Baby (grabs her hands and rocks them back and forth really fast)
• Food (just like we sign it)
  
• Milk (just like we sign it)
  
• More (signs it right now, instead of with only one finger)
• All Done/Finish (does this after eating, after a diaper change, after she's done with her bath and when she doesn't want to be in the car seat any more)
• Banana (only uses her index fingers for this one)
• Fish (her hand zooms out in front of her really fast)
• Water (her index finger goes to her mouth)

(new ones I haven't told you about)

• Kangaroo (she only does it when she's watching Signing Time and sees the kangaroo and the other kids signing it)
• Mom (she FINALLY signed it right a couple days ago, and finally started saying "Mama" too at the same time)
• Dad (is getting this one right more often too, instead of in the middle of her face while saying "Dada")
• Dog (pats her leg, or the side of her ribs...depends on her mood I guess. She'll also do a sound similar to "woof, woof", or "dog", but I'm not sure exactly how she says it.)
• Cat (I've been told she says "cat" at the same time)
• Bed (her right, open hand, palm in, to the right side of her face for bed)
• Grandma (Her first time was today, while saying "grandma" at the same time. More like "gama" I assume...)
• Ball (This one she is still working on. I know what she means, usually, when she signs it. I keep trying to show her over and over that the fingers meet. She'll get it eventually!)

Here is a list of other noises she makes, and words I've been told she says, but isn't signing yet.

• "Bottle" (but I don't really know how she says it)
  
• She has a fake laugh now
• "Oooooo"
• Blows "raspberries"
• Makes babbling noises while sliding out her tongue, usually while looking at a book. She wants to read to us too!
  

Thanks for letting me use my bragging rights! I am SO proud of my daughter! :)

Putt Putt Fun

Last week Grandma Sue invited everyone to a round of Putt Putt golf.
It was a great day, so we took advantage of being out in the warm sun while we still could and we had a lot of fun doing it.
Grandma Sue showed off her skill, Aeryn and Clayton impressed us all, and Aunt Kelli and Kyden cheered us on! :)

Kourtney tries her hand at golf



Aeryn and Clayton joined us and made the day so much more fun





Kourtney cheered us on


And Aeryn and Clayton helped each other out


Mommy tries her single hand putting skill


And Aunt Kelli and Kyden rooted for us all


We had to get a picture in front of the castle!


Kourtney helped by carrying the golf balls in between holes

Just a Few Cute Pictures

These don't really have a story. Most of them were taken while trying to get pictures of Kourtney's teeth (that I still haven't been able to do). But these were so cute, and I wanted to post them anyway, story or no story.

Children's Museum Adventure

Last week Kourtney and I joined her cousins Aeryn, Clayton, Devanie, Ainsley and Aunt Krista at the children's museum, Discovery Gateway (www.childmuseum.org), in Salt Lake City.
There was so much to do and we had SO much fun! By the time we left, Kourtney was very tired and crashed in the carseat, but I know we'll be going again. We were there for 3 hours and only saw half of the museum! Now we need to go back and explore the other half. Here are some pictures from our adventure and explorations.


There were balls...


...(lots of them!)...


...blocks (part of "House" in a play house)...


...musical toys...


...wall toys...


...fun chairs...


...bird houses (and beaver houses too!)...


...Fire cars (and cop cars)...


...big Legos...


...the "Robo Photo" (it led into the Robot section,
that we'll have to see next time)...


...and lots of other fun things like water exploration, a mini farm and market, a toddler play place made especially for kids 3 and under (they had books, toys, small slides and other fun things to do), and a communication station, with different ways of communicating between long distances. And those were only the things we did see. We can't wait to go back again!

The Third One is Here!

Kourtney woke up this morning with a third tooth!
One of her upper teeth came through last night. Thats 3 teeth in a little over 3 weeks! She's been working hard! And she keeps figuring out more uses of her teeth, and is taking advantage of them. ;) Good job Kourtney!

Introducing the Toddler Bed!

Here is another first for all of us. We've introduced the toddler bed to Kourtney! We wanted to make the adjustment before her little sister comes along, so Kourtney doesn't get any sibling rivalry feelings. Its only been one night, but it seemed to work well. It was a bit of a rough first night, but not too bad. Let me explain.

Kollin set up the toddler bed, and took down the crib all at the same time. We put the bed in the same place that the crib was and made a big deal out of her "new bed". We played with her in the bed and around it. We made sure we added the 2 blankets she always sleeps with and a little stuffed elephant that was in her crib. I laid her down in her bed and I laid with her for a bit too. We wanted to make sure that she knew this was a safe place, and that Mommy and Daddy were excited about it so that she would be too.

When it was time for Kollin to put her to bed, we wanted to make sure she was really tired. But she ended up being overtired, so Daddy walked her around in her room, singing to her, until she calmed down. He placed her in her bed and left, and within a couple minutes she stopped crying and fell asleep.
2 hours later she woke up screaming. I ran in to nurse and comfort her. She wasn't in her familiar crib, and it scared her. In fact, she was so scared, she refused to nurse. So I grabbed her blanket and gave it to her, and walked around the room singing her bedtime song. Once she saw that she was still in her bedroom, she calmed down, and eventually stopped crying. I kept singing for a bit longer then put her back into her bed. She didn't fuss at all. She just held onto her blanket and rolled over.
The second time she woke up (another 2 or 3 hours later) I walked in to find that she was sitting on the floor in front of her bed. I picked her up and nursed her and put her back to bed. No problems there.
She woke up 2 more times that night. When I went in both of those times, she was sitting in her bed with her blanket, fussing for Mommy. But again, no problems nursing her quickly and putting her back into her bed.
Even nap times today went well. Because she had slept in the bed all night, she was used to it, and took good naps. Ha, both times she woke up from her nap, I went in to find her just sitting on her bed. But we'll see what happens when she figures out that she can easily get out and get to where she wants to be!

I'm hoping that she'll get used to her bed quickly and go back to only waking up once a night, with her occasional all nighters.

Kourtney's NEW bed!


Trying it out


Daddy taking down the crib


Kourtney figures out how to slide out of bed

A Couple of First Signs

I am too excited NOT to share this. Kourtney has shown us that she is understanding more than we thought! :)

Last night, she, Daddy and I were at the grocery store. I was picking out bananas and Kourtney signed "banana"!

Then this morning while watching Signing Time, she surprised me by signing "fish"!

This girl never ceases to amaze us. Its so fun to see that she really does understand what we're teaching her, even if she doesn't always sign it back to us right away. Who knows when she'll sign these two signs again, but then again, they could be here for good!

Here are a couple other signs she's added to her sign language vocabulary lately:

• Baby (grabs hands and rocks back and forth really fast)
• Drink (at least I think its drink. She points one finger to her mouth)

Go Kourtney Go!

The Second Tooth is Here...With More Comming

She may be a "late bloomer" but they're coming quick!

Kourtney's second tooth cut through last Thursday, on November 1st. The tooth right next to the one that came two weeks ago. And now, I can feel her top two teeth trying to push through too!

I still don't have any pictures, because she won't let me see them long enough, and barely lets me feel them, but they're definitely there! She's figured out that she can use them while eating. She will gnaw at her food with her tooth (now, teeth) and has discovered that they help her eat her food better. Its been fun to watch her figure that out.