She Left Proof {Special Edition}-- September 2010

A special "edition" to announce our newest "addition" due February 2011.

Small Things Continued...

Today we had our Leaders' Workshop for BSF and I found out who Finley's teachers were going to be this year.  I had to laugh when I found out that Finley would have ANOTHER Ms. Pam as a teacher this year!  She will have Ms. Pam and Ms. Donna!  BSF is very big on teaching and not just being a childcare option so it's going to be so fun to see what Finley learns this year!

Finley's First Day of School 2010

Sometimes it is the smallest things that warm my heart and a few weeks ago what might seem like a relatively small thing did just that.

I went up to the church where Finley will be going to Children's Day Out for the next several years to drop off all of her paperwork and while chatting with the receptionist, I happened to ask the names of Finley's teachers.  She said "Finley?  Hmm... She's in the Early 2's, right?"  I reply "Uh-huh" and she says "Oh! She's with Ms. Pam!!!!!  And let's see who else?  Ms. Pam and....  Ms. Pam..."  She finally came up with "Ms. Penny" for Finley's other teacher, but it didn't matter.

Finley is going to have a Pam in her life!!!!!!!!  I just teared up!  Of course, it isn't the Pam that I had always expected my little girl to know, but I still can't help but be thankful that there will be a Pam in her life even if it isn't her Grandma Pam.

I love how God orchestrated this since my mom was a teacher and Finley's "Pam" is a teacher too.  Oh, I know it's just a name and that no one can replace my mom and nothing can change how much I wish that Finley could know her Grandma Pam or how much I will still try to make her Grandma Pam real to her, but again, it is the small things....

Anyway, here is our girl on her first day of school this year!!!!!

Finley was not in the picture mood! (I may try again after naptime even though I think this one is pretty cute!)  And yes, I am such a copy-cat with the chalkboard, but I just love the idea of having that information recorded for each year's "1st Day of School" picture!  We also packed her teachers a Survival Kit that included a candle, some bubble bath, and of course, chocolate! =)

She wanted to get in the car and not pose for a picture!  She and Lola would just take off when I tried to pose her! =) 

She seemed pretty excited about school this morning, but did fuss a bit when I dropped her off.  It was only a half day and when I picked her up, her teachers said she did great!!!!  I'm so excited about this program and all that Finley is going to learn this year!

All About Finley

At 22 months, Finley is really exhibiting a personality!  She is much more opinionated on just about everything and I am sure this will only increase as we enter full toddlerhood!  She continues to be a joy, however, and we couldn't ask for a sweeter little girl.  It always seems impossible that we could love her any more this month than we did last month, but it doesn't change the fact that we do!

1. Size Matters: Finley is 25-26 pounds and 34-35 inches tall.  Everyone who sees her says she has gotten so tall, but I still can't get an accurate height measurement.  She is in mostly 12-18 month clothes, but I've been buying some 18-24 months and even some 2T for later this winter.  She is wearing size 5.5 in shoes and I bumped her up to size 5 diaper because every time Devin changed her diaper this happened....

It cracked me up!  (Okay so maybe it only happened once and not EVERY time...) The size 4's were getting too short and as wiggly as Finley is, they just weren't staying on as well.  The size 5's are super droopy though which I hate! =)


2. Food Junkie: Finley continues to go in food phases.  She eats quite a bit, but still has limited variety in her diet.  She refuses pineapple and kiwi, but literally lives on most fruit.  I gave her some raspberries the other day and she would've eaten the whole container if I had let her!  She also ate 2 bananas in a row!  She just cracks me up.  When she likes something, she REALLY likes it.  We did have a HUGE breakthrough the other day at the mall.  I gave her a bite of my Chik-fil-a nugget and she put it in her mouth and immediately spit it out... totally giving me the look like "Why do you even try, Mom?"  Two seconds later, I turn around and she has stole one of my nuggets and is eating it!!!!  I think it's because we were eating with Mary and Hunter and Hunter was eating one!

3. Fun Facts to Know and Tell:

• She is crazy allergic to bug bites... I know I reported this last month, but we can be outside for 10 minutes and she'll have 3 or 4 huge, swollen bites.  She has also started scratching them. =(

• She learned how to jump this month!  It's so cute.  We've played a few times at the mall's play area and the floor is pretty cushy so she was able to get both feet off the ground... Too bad I wasn't able to click fast enough...  I tried several times, but always got the landing.
• She is still at the parallel play stage and hasn't really learned how to play with someone.  We are definitely working on sharing.
• She can do somersaults on her own now.  She was totally showing off for Aunt Beth the other night.
• She is pretty good at walking up and down the stairs now.  Usually she holds my hand, but she can also maneuver them fairly well by holding on to the wall.

• She is still in love with her shoes... The other night she was holding on to them like they were her lovey and insisted on going to bed with them... This is how I found her the next morning!  She had managed to put them on all by herself!  She's done this a few times now and at least so far has always managed to get them on the right feet!
• She hates getting her diaper changed now.
• She is still showing a bit of stranger anxiety.
• She gets the "If you're happy and you know it" song and the "Head and shoulders" songs mixed up.  It's pretty sweet.
• She still calls a phone a dog.  every. single. time.
• She loves getting pedicures and will drag me into our bathroom and point to the drawer with the nail polish and say "Peas, Peas" until I paint her toenails.  She can be so girly at times!  I just love it!
• She has incredible hand eye coordination.  I know I'm biased, but she seriously is very good at putting things together, taking them apart, or lining things up very precisely.
• After months of calling all drinks "wa-wa", she is now learning how to say milk!

• She has initiated her own chore!  She just loves to feed the dog.  I help get the cup full of dog food and she pours it into Jenny's bowl.  So far she has yet to spill it all over the place!

4. Toys R Us: She is kind of bored with her toys right now, but is crazy about books.  She has been letting us read a bit longer, more involved books just recently which is fun...  She loves to sit together in the rocking chair when she gets up in the morning and read for about 30 minutes straight.  I love it because more and more I find her "reading" by herself...

She also loves her Gloworm right now and insists on music playing at all times.  And she has recently discovered the Swiffer and broom and love to play with them as well.

5. Can't Live Without's:  Other than her Gloworm and music, she also can't live without Baby Faith DVD's... and yes, we've been watching a bit of TV this last month.  

I broke my own rule.  I had really wanted to hold off until she is 2, but she's fairly close and I really limit how long (only 20 minutes) she watches TV each day (if we even watch it every day) and always watch it with her so that we can talk about what she is seeing.  I do this for me as much as for her!  Unfortunately, it is just WAY too easy to use TV as a babysitter and I don't want this to be the case in our house.  She is really crazy about Baby Faith and the message is really good.  She is in LOVE with Bibles... whether it's the one on the Baby Faith video, the one we read at the table, or the two toddler Bibles that she has in her room and by the potty.  She gets so excited about the Bible and can identify all of them as such even though they all look different.

She also is still addicted to Mr. Bear.  She remembers him when I don't!  She can also work the clasps in front which I find very impressive!

And lastly, she is in love with stickers.  On a particularly hot day, I just gave her a sheet of stickers and let her have her fun... This is how she ended up...

6. Can't Live With's:  She still hates flies.  She also hates being inside all day.  It has been so hot that we haven't been outside much at all, but I've found that going out even for just a few minutes really helps her mood.  She really needs time to run and play so I'm anxious for cooler weather.  She also can't live with sitting in her booster chair at the table anymore.  She really wants to sit in the big chair and it has become quite the fight at times to get her to sit in her chair.

7. Trick or Treat: Well, one of her newest tricks in climbing.  

She loves to climb onto the furniture which we're still trying to discourage.  She can also now remove the plastic safety plugs from the electrically sockets and is close to figuring out the safety gates.  How can this be????  Seriously, she isn't even 2 yet and our safety precautions are already failing us!  Not to mention she can open levered doors now which means she can make a mess out of her closet in 2 seconds flat!  She also out of nowhere started saying "Bye, bye!  See ya!"  I don't know exactly where she got that from, but it's so funny the way she says it!

8. Little Miss Personality: I hesitate to say that Finley has been cranky this past month because I know that even her fussiness is mild compared to a lot of kids, but she has not quite been the same super-happy girl that we are used to.  I am not sure if it is because she's teething (possibly getting the 2 year molars), has had a major change in routine (see #9), hasn't been in MDO in a month, is super frustrated at not being able to communicate better, or is just being a toddler, but it has been a bit rough this month.  I'm sure it is a combination of all of the above, but she has been more challenging than usual.  I have noticed that she does a lot better on days that we have playdates so I'm really hoping that being back in school will help some.  With the fussiness has come more opportunities to discipline which has been a learning experience in itself.  I'm hoping to post more on discipline soon!

9. All in a Day's Work: Finley has basically weaned herself of 2 naps and is down to one.  This has had it's pros and cons.  The pros are that it will hopefully help with the adjustment to MDO when she will probably only get one nap those days this Fall and we can actually leave our house for more than 2 hours at a time which opens up a lot more opportunities to go have fun.  The cons are that her little body is still adjusting to losing that extra sleep which can create a lot of frustration and that obviously cuts down on my productivity since I've now lost a nap time as well! =)  I'm pretty impressed that we made it to 21 months with 2 naps and I can never complain about her sleep habits because she is such an amazing sleeper!!!!

1o. I'm Loving It:  I love being a mom and this last month has really proven that to me.  Being a mom is a JOB and that's one of the reasons I'm so thankful that it is my full-time job because it isn't just about doing fun stuff together or giving and getting lots of hugs and kisses.  It's also about the times when she is frustrated and can't tell me what she needs.  It's the times when she continues to disobey and I've tried every discipline method I can and am still at a loss as to what to try next.  It's about training her in the way she should go.  It's about calling out to the Creator of Life when I have no energy or am at my wit's end.  It's being a servant in one of the truest forms.  I love all of it and am blessed to have Finley as my daughter.  She is still the wonderfully sweet, adorable, cuddly, kissable, obedient, creative, persistent, and curious girl I've always known even if she has had bouts of crankiness thrown in.  I cry just thinking about any one else raising her or her being anyone else's daughter!  I am ever completely enthralled with her and am continuing to learn who God created her to be!