Some Cute Whitney Stories

I keep a hand-written journal on my bedside, and every so often I will write some of the cute or funny things Whitney did or any new milestones that I remember right before bed. I was pretty good at doing monthly updates for her first year, but that stopped once she hit 12 months and we stopped the monthly chair pictures. I'd like to start keeping track here instead of having some stuff here and some stuff written down in a journal. Some cute stories I jotted down in recent weeks:

*You are repeating almost everything we say. We could never count the number of words you use, and you astonish us with the new things you learn everyday. You remember words we've only mentioned once or twice, and use them correctly in context.  Last night (9/10/10) we were playing in yor playroom. You wanted the "Whitney" and "Bass" blocks your Aunt Gerry sent when you were born. (She made them herself!) I keep them up high because you had a habit of smashing them into the TV stand, like drumsticks. I handed you the "Whitney" set and you shook your head and nicely said, "no."  So I handed you the "Bass" blocks.  I asked, "Whitney, do you know what that spells?" (never thinking you would actually KNOW), and you smiled and shouted, "BASS!!"  We obviously had told you a few times through the year, but certainly not recently and never in any way intentionally believing you would read them! We were stunned and just laughed at how smart and receptive you are. You just soak up new situations and environments, and really love pointing to numbers on signs at Walmart or letters you see on trucks or billboards as we drive.
I wasnt sure if you just knew that those particular blocks spelled "Bass", or if you really understood that the letters B-A-S-S spell our last name, so I grabbed a few books I had written "Bass" in when I was teaching. I opened the front cover and asked you "What does this say?" and you happily proclaimed, "BASS!!" Again...amazing us. :)

*Two days ago, we went outside to get the mail. The mailbox is across the street, so we held hands and you yelled "Run! Run! Run!" as we started towards the mailbox.  I often say "run, run, run!" when we are playing outside, so it was fun to hear you repeat what I say to you.  As we got to the mailbox, I grabbed the mail and we turned around the walk (run, run, run) back across the street. You bragged my hand and I said "Ok, let's RUN RUN RUN!" and we started home. You stopped dead in the middle of the street, pointed down to the ground, and yelled "SHADOW!" as you had recognized our shadows on the ground. On the way TO the mailbox, the sun was on our faces, but as we turned around the head home, the sun was at our backs, making our shadows appear right in front of us. You were sooo excited to see your shadow, and you happily watched your shadow "run, run, run!" back across the street with us :)

*We love letting Faith borrow your green Minnie outfit when she joins us at Disney World.  You and Faith have so much fun, and everyone stops to tell us how cute you are. :) Faith wore the green outfit last weekend, so it was in the pile of dirty clothes ready to go into the washign machine.  You spotted the green and white polkadots, pointed and ran to the shorts. You picked them up, waved them in the air and yelled "FACE!" (Faith) When I said, "Yes! Faith DID wear those shorts, didnt she?" You said "Yeah! Face? Face, pweas?" as if you wanted Faith to come over and play again.  You walked to the front door with the shorts and looked outside, saying "FACE!" We are both loving the weekly playdates with Faith, and always look forward to spending more time with friends.

*You wear size 18 months clothes, size 4 diapers, and size 5 shoes. You never want to leave your room until you have a bow and shoes on. "BOW!!!? SHOOOOES!?"

*We wake up every morning listening to you talk in your crib. Somedays you will call each of us, one at a time, "Mommyyyy! Daddyyyyyy! Bay-yeeeee! Hi." Some days you will say your colors (you know: red, blue, yellow (yeh-whoa), purple, green (geen), pink, white, and sometimes black. We'll work on 'orange', since youll need to know that as a Clemson Tiger!). Some days you wake us up counting. Some days you just sing silliness. The other day you woke me up saying "Crazy!! CRAY-ZEEE! Crazy!" Im not sure where you heard it or in what context you meant it, but you were so funny, with your teeny little voice screaming "CRAZY!" as loud as you could. :) You also like to say "I know! I know. I know. I KNOW!!" over and over. And half the time, you're right...you DO know what youre talking about! :)

*You surprised me and Nanny the other day when we went to visit her in the hospital.  It was close to nap time and you are going through a growth spurt AND teething, so you were TIRED.  The toys I brought along were too boring for you, and the novelty had worn off of the water cup I was letting you play with.  So you reached into the diaperbag and started saying "Moe! Moe. Moe!" I thought you were trying to say "Milk." since you sometimes say "Moe-lk", meaning milk.  But when you shook your head and said 'no', I asked you to show me what you meant.  You pointed to wear I kept the motrin.  You leaned in, grabbed the medicine dropper and showed it to me, and proclaimed "MOE!"  You wanted mortin. awesome.  Mother of the year. I dont give it to you THAT often, but you sure knew where it was and how to ask for the yummy bubblegummy goodness that helps your teeth/gums feel better! haha

I'll save the pictures for the next post, since this one is getting long :)