First Night in the Big Girl Bed: Great Success!!

Boo hoo- last night was Phoebe's first night in her big girl toddler bed! I can't believe she's ready for the big girl bed already...she seems so little...but since she's learned how to vault out of the crib, it was time to make the switch before any bones got broken! Grandma and Grandpa Derringer got her some special new "big girl" bedding, Daddy took the front off the crib and put up the toddler rails, and Phoebe watched the whole process like "What is happening to my life?!?" She climbed in and out, tried it out, then rushed over to get her little "friends" (Pooh and Cookie Monster) and make sure they were in the bed, and then she didn't want anything to do with it! Mommy tried ten thousand different ways to get herto get in- and STAY in- the bed, like reading a bedtime story, rocking, snuggling with her, sitting off to the side, leaving the room for short periods- but most of them didn't work (which Daddy was quick to point out). After about two hours of exploring her newfound freedom and making Mommy question her parenting skills, she finally wandered back over, crawled up in the bed, flopped over on her belly, and passed right out...she didn't wake up ONCE all night, even to roll over or find a paci! She did get up at 5:30, but hey- we count this as a great success! Now let's see what tonight has in store...

Aloha!!

During our last trip to La Porte, Grammy Dunlap hosted my cousin's Hawaiin luau-themed birthday pool party: everyone was required to wear Hawaiin attire, the men wore straw hats, the women wore hibiscus flowers in their hair, we all wore leis, and there were tropical decorations and Hawaiin-themed food at every turn! The weather didn't cooperate, so Phoebe didn't get to bust out her teenie-tiny hawaiin bikini, but she did enjoy getting to wear her grass skirt that Uncle Nick and Aunt Amber got her! In fact, she enjoyed it so much, she wore it for two days straight! Great job on the par-tay, Grammy- same time next year? :)

Splash Park Video

A Few More Splash Park Photos

A few more...Phoebe clapping her hands and saying, "Yay!!", her purposeful stride from the jungle gym to the water area and back, and a moment of down time when she was getting tired... :)

Splash Park

Here's the Superphebes on our first family trip to the splash park- she LOVED it! She was just go, go, go nonstop for a good 45 minutes straight- pushing the buttons, playing in the sprinklers, and RUNNING all over the place in that funny way she does: kicking up her toes while on her tippie-toes- I don't know how she does it!

Baa Baa Cute Sheep!

Phoebe's favorite part of the fair was the sheep barn! She kept pointing at the sheep going, "U-oh!" and "Wow!" and "Oh no!" She was thrilled when Matt got her out of the stroller to let her pet one of the sheep- she tried to mush herself through the gate to get in there and play with them! Then she tried to make a break for some sheep that were getting a bath, and then stomped her feet and had a little fit when Daddy caught her and put the smack down...baa baa and waa waa go hand it hand! :)

First Trip to the Indiana State Fair

Here we are on our first trip to the Indiana State Fair! We pretty much just toured the animal barns, but we had a blast!! From top to bottom: Phoebe, looking too cool in the cowboy hat we got for the kids to share; Phoebe trying an elephant ear for the first time- a little hesitant at first, but then she did a good job helping Mommy polish the rest of it off; Joey, sweating away in his bib overall shorts (which matched Phoebe's- thank you, Grandma Adams!!); a photo of the World's Largest Boar, which was so freakishly large it looked like some sort of mutant hogzilla- 1,175 lbs.- that's a lot of bacon!! And finally, Phoebe and Daddy heading into the barns.

Phoebe's Fancy Dress

Just a few cute pictures of Phoebe in her fancy dress- which Daddy picked out- on the morning of Joey's baptism. She had great fun running around the kitchen in her dress and slippery shoes and "accidently" falling down, to the amusement of all. :)

Silly Girl!

So here's the little drama queen, cheesin' it up for the camera- what a ham!

Toys, Toys, and More Toys!!

Oh, the days when my house looked like a grown up's house...now this is the state of my living room during Phoebe's waking hours...shudder...and this only represents a bin of her current favorites- the rest of the toys are in her room! Wow! Some of her favorite things to play with right now include her barnyard frinds, which she likes to take out one at a time and squeeze them to make the sounds. She also enjoys carrying around her galoshes like purses, putting small toys in them and not wearing them on her feet. You may also notice all the DVDs strewn about- she will sift through all of them and bring me her favorite, little Mermaid, and smile and say, "Wassdat?" (Which is Phoebe-language for "What's that?", which in this case translates to "I want to watch the Little Mermaid for the third time today, please, right now!!") She also likes carrying around her orange shovel, which she sometimes uses as a pretend spoon too. And finally, the two clearest examples that my little girl is growing up: her first tea set and her first My Little Pony. Sigh...

Ready to Garden

So Phoebe is ready to hit the garden with her new golashes and watering can... :)

Washington Park Zoo with Uncle Carl

When we were in La Porte last week, Uncle Carl went to Washington Park Zoo with us for the day! He was a big help pushing the stroller up those steep hills! Phoebe had fun as he pointed out the tiger, the bears, the monkeys, and the donkeys- even though we had to speed through the barn due to the stink! :) Joey chilled out under his blanket tent, and we all had a great time walking around, looking at the animals, checking out the awesome view of Lake Michigan from the top of the hill, complaining about the subpar zoo food, and shopping for the perfect souvenir in the gift shop...which turned out to be a teeny tiny leopard print mini-purse that Phoebe has positioned on her arm for almost every car ride we have taken since then! :) Thanks, Uncle Carl, for spending a great day with us! We love you and miss you already!!

Toy Box

Ah, my daughter is following in my footsteps...I can't tell you how many photos I have seen of myself at or around age two where I am sitting in things besides chairs: buckets, baskets, hampers, boxes, bags, etc. Looks like Phoebe has repurposed her toy bin, just like Mommy would have...a girl after my own heart...