Skylie at 17 Months

I'm too lazy to crop this picture, but it's still cute. I think.

I love this picture of her smiling and twirling.

She loves getting into my socks and nylons.

In St. Louis

• Skylie is her mama’s girl through and through. She loves being on the go. Lately she has started grabbing her coat--or mine--and standing at the door asking, “Go. Go. Go. Play. Go. Pees!” These requests come at all times of the day, like 7:00 a.m. or fifteen minutes after we’ve arrived home from an outing.
• Sometimes she’ll wake in the night and call out, “Mama. Mama. Mama. Mama. Play. Play. Mama. Mama. Play. Mama. Goo (her word for drink). Dadda. Mama.” A few weeks ago this chatter when on for a good hour, from 1:00 to 2:00 a.m. Thank goodness pillows over my head muffled most of the noise!
• We stayed overnight in St. Louis a few weeks back. What could have been a nice evening away from home turning into a disaster when Skylie refused to sleep in her crib. She slept in our bed until 11:00 p.m., then woke and tossed and turned and cuddled with us for five hours! Her favorite position was to lay her head in the crook of my neck—like between my chin and my collar bone. None of us were getting any sleep so in desperation I said, “Matt let’s put her in the crib. She might cry for an hour, but eventually she’ll fall asleep.” Here’s how that scenario played out: “Whaaaa. Whaaaaa. THUD!” Then we saw our toddler running toward us, arms outstretched, peddling those little legs as fast as they’d go. Needless to say, she did not sleep in the crib that night.
• Her favorite new song is "The Wheels on the Bus". She does some of the actions and requests that we seranade her practically non-stop.

Christmas Highlights 2010

It was so nice to spend a couple weeks in Utah visiting family during the Christmas holiday. We missed Layne's and Troy's families, but considering our families are quite spread out, I consider it a success that we got to see as many family members as we did!

Some of the highlights with the Pitcher's include:

• Seeing the lights at Temple Square. Miss Independent (aka Skylie) decided that with hoards of people milling around it would be the perfect time to insist on walking around by herself, sans stroller. She LOVED the escalator in the Visitor's Center!
• Visiting Ogden, where there's a bunch of miniature buildings lit up.
• Watching The Inception three times, and still not understanding it completely.

We caught this little rascal getting into the flour, just minutes after I'd professed my distain for parents who don't keep an eye on their children.

Skylie and Braylie

Skylie, Kael, and Braylie

Tyler, Ginny, Madison, Kael, and Kohen

Nana and Skylie in Ogden

Papa and Skylie in Ogden

Me and my baby

My other babe with his baby

Matt, Skylie, and I at Temple Square

Madison, Kael, Braylie, and Skylie

Kael, Braylie, and Skylie

Then we visited my family. Highlights with the Zane's include:

• Celebrating Christmas Eve-eve with the traditional pre-Christmas gift opening.
• Opening presents Christmas morning in Heber then feasting that evening at my brother's home.
• Matt had to fly back to Des Moines on December 26, but we managed to have a blast without him by going swimming at the Kamas Rec Center (Skylie loved it!) and then eating lunch at Dairy Keen.
• Two feet of snow fell on the eve of my departure back to Iowa, but fortunately Skylie and I made it home to Matt with no problems!

Opening presents Christmas day

Matt showing off his new shirt

Grandma and Skylie on Christmas Eve

Porter, Skylie, and Savannah on Christmas Eve wearing Christmas PJ's that Grandma had made for them

Christmas Eve

Matt and Skylie

Not sure why, but I love this picture of my little girl.

Skylie quickly fell in love with Savannah, most likely due to the massive amounts of attention Savannah gave her. In this picture Skylie had crawled onto Savannah's lap to give her hugs and kisses.

This was probably our last Christmas in Utah for a few years, and we feel so thankful we got to share it with family!

Month Sixteen

Skylie,

This past month has been so fun! I love the stage that you’re in right now. You are easy to please, fun to play with, and are learning and growing so much! You are quick to laugh and show off your smile to anyone who’ll give you attention.

At sixteen months:

• You celebrated your second Christmas and LOVED unwrapping gifts!
• You are obsessed with cats. Once at a friends’ house, you spotted their feline friend, and stalked that cat constantly for two hours! She darted under the Christmas tree and behind the kitchen table, and it was no surprise that you too, squirmed your way into those tight spaces in an attempt to follow her.
• You tasted hot chocolate and soda for the first time. Both were a big hit in your book!
• You loved playing with your cousins at Christmas. You became four-year-old Savannah’s sidekick. In her words she “made sure you didn’t get into trouble”. You loved all the attention and soon were climbing onto Savannah’s lap to give her hugs and kisses.
• You took to your grandparents like no other! I’d never seen you want to be held by anyone other than your dad or me, but on more than one occasion you reached for each of your grandparents instead. They completely adore you!
• You also loved playing in Ethan’s toy tent, so when we arrived home in Des Moines, we set up our—slightly larger—camping tent in our living room for you to play in.
• You now say “more please”, and “thank you”. Teaching you manners has been my downfall, because now when you want candy and you ask, “Mo pees. Mo pees.” it is nearly impossible to deny you your wish.
• You experienced time outs for the first time after punching my face incessantly. After your one minute time out you proceeded to rub my face and give me kisses.
• You say “Brr!” when it’s cold! So cute!
• You take one nap, usually beginning at 1 p.m.. If we’re lucky you’ll nap for three hours.
• You are completely a mama’s girl. If we snuggle in bed in the morning, you’ll flip and turn until our heads are smashed together, which I don’t always appreciate considering you have gross morning breath.
• Your verbal skills are soaring and you’ll attempt to repeat almost anything I ask you to say.
• Often we’ll look through books, and Dad or I will ask, “What’s that?”. Lately you’ve begun mimicking us and will point to something, ask “That?”, and wait for our response.
• You try to be a grown up and do whatever we do. We read the book, Where is Baby’s Mommy? by Karen Katz. The book goes something like this: “Is Mommy in the closet? No, my wagon is in the closet...” When reading that book, you now say “No!” with the exact same timing, tone, and emphasis that I use. It is a little scary to think you’re becoming a mini me!

You bring so much happiness to our lives! What did we ever do without you?!

Love,
Mom