God is always working to make His children aware of a dream
that remains alive beneath the rubble of every shattered dream,

a new dream that
when realized will release a new song, sung with tears,

till God wipes them away
and we sing with nothing but joy in our hearts

--Larry Crabb


Friday, September 28, 2012

18 Months of Lauren

Eighteen months ago we held our little Lauren for the first time.  Those early days with her are somewhat of a blur as we were overwhelmed with being responsible for such a precious gift, but I do distinctly remember looking Craig in the eye and saying things like "What do we do now?" and "What have we gotten ourselves into?"  Tonight, I sit in amazement of this little girl that is growing up before our very eyes.  She is getting so big and picking up new words all of the time.  Being a mom is MUCH more demanding than I ever imagined, but so much more fulfilling.  Here are the latest tricks that she is up to.

Lauren has discovered that she has a hole in her nose.  As far as I know she still thinks there is only one...on the right side.  She has also realized that her right pointer finger fits perfectly in this hole.  Yuck. 

The ever expanding vocabulary is amazing.  She will not say many words on command, but when you are not expecting it, she has LOTS to say.  The other night, for example, we were at a friend's house and I was standing next to a veggie tray.  (I tend to hang out by the food...go figure!)  I dipped a carrot and offered some to Lauren.  "No."  Then, as clear as can be, she said "Tomato."  Sure enough, after giving her a tomato, she was happy as a clam.  Her other favorite word is "Poo."  She says it at least 50 times per day.  In Lauren's world Poo is a universal term for pretty, shampoo, and, well, poo.  She'll look at my earrings or a picture of herself and say "Poo."  She also says it repetitively during diaper changes until we either confirm there is poo or tell her no that it is just potty.

Her first kiss.  It has happened.  From a boy.  I think it caught her off guard, but her little friend Connor planted a big old kiss right on her lips during a recent playdate.  The look on Lauren's face was priceless as he pulled away.  Completely frozen.  I don't think that she really liked it.  Psshhew.  P.S.  Daddy is keeping a closer eye on Connor these days.

Books.  This girl LOVES books.  We read at least 40 books per day...no exaggeration necessary.  She doesn't show a lot of favoritism, but really likes ones that have animals in them.  She also has her favorite pages within them.  For instance, in the Big Bird's Big Bike book, she only wants us to read the 3 pages where Big Bird is riding the bike down the hill going "EEE-YII-YIKES"  "EEE-YOW" and "AAII-EEEE!"  Every now and then we have to shove a particularly annoying book under the couch to keep from having to read it constantly.

Eating.  If you ask her before any meal what she wants, she will always tell you "ga gog."  Hot dog.  Gross.  She does get hot dogs a couple of times per week but I cringe every time and feel like I am failing as a mother.   Lauren doesn't like potatoes, (which some say means she can't be a true Riedel), but loves most vegetables.  Corn on the cob, green beans, tomatoes, avocado, squash, cole slaw(!), and brussels sprouts are the favorites.  Yeah!

Mario Kart.  Craig and I still play Mario Kart quite regularly.  It is one of those things where we are almost equally matched (although I admit I am usually not the one with the higher score).  As soon as she hears the music, Lauren chants "go Mama go."  On occasion, she'll say Dada but then smiles and says "No, Mama!"  Smart girl.

"Melmo"  aka Elmo.  Tonight we went to Wal-Mart for a bit.  I never realized that they display Elmo in nearly every aisle, but they do, and Lauren pointed each of them out.  I am not a big fan of commercializing kid's clothes, diapers, etc, but I do love Pampers Baby Dry diapers and they happen to have Sesame Street Characters on them.  While it is mildly ok to wear "Nernie" (Ernie) and "Bir Bir" (Big Bird) at times, the girl's eyes tryly light up when an Elmo diaper is pulled out of the box.  I broke down and bought her a pair of Elmo jammies this week (because they were cheap and she needed new pj's) and was awakened in the night more than once to Lauren giggling "Melmo Melmo Melmo." 

While she truly does cute things all day long, sometimes she is a little on the naughty side, too.  She likes to throw food.  And toys.  And make the house look like a bomb went off.  And lift up my shirt in public to show others my belly button.  However, I thank God every day that He allowed me to be the one that she calls Mama.  So in love with her.  Here's a short video of her and Daddy reading a book.

                                                    
(Sooo...we bought a new video camera and I evidently STILL can't figure out how to upload videos. Sorry!  Check back...I'll keep trying!)

1 comment:

Lonita said...

Sounds like you are having so much fun with her. Love the first kiss story (Joshua's was similar - the girl came on to him :-). I know what you mean about the hot dogs - Josh would have been happy to eat them for every meal as well(though I did feel *slightly* better springing for the no nitrate ones). He's now moved on to wanting PB&J every meal...