Kids learn what they live

Lark has now started mimicking Randy and I in our attempts to interact with Aria :) We were treated to an acapella concert of Ring Around the Rosie, which quieted Aria, unlike e ither Randy's or my song attempts did :)

growing strong

lark's in another growth spurt, and showing such great moments of being a big girl. when aria cries now lark runs to instead of from her and usually barrels to aria bringing a toy, or caroling a song :)

no more baby, except in my heart :)

she now officially a big girl, sleeping in her own bed most of every night, and fully day-and-night potty-trained....that was my xmas present this year, b/c her nighttime pee-freeness started xmas eve :) she loves spot movies, and is voraciously devouring all new books, so i'm gonna need to start bringing a wagon to the library, lol

The End is in Sight! (Toothwise)

Lark suddenly popped in 3 of her 4 back molars! And the fourth has one edge peeping through!

Verbal Lark

We have ascended into paragraphs of speech, but the problem is that Lark's sentences are so long she often forgets what parts she's said, or even sometimes what she was talking about :P
She's also gotten to the point where she goes to bed without me! She can be easily read to bed now (Thank goodness for Dr Suess books on tape!) and cuddles the person putting her to sleep even if the adult falls asleep first (childrens books can be VERY tiring:P)

From sentences to paragraphs!

Lark's developing so fast that I'm really glad I'm such a camera junkie; otherwise I'd miss so much. She's started doing long, unprompted sentences. She also adores her little sister and hovers, reading and 'playing' with her :)

Toddler whimsies

Lark no longer falls asleep in the car. Lark has very definite opinions about which clothes she wants and what food she eats. She also has conceived a passion for avacados, strawberries, ground turkey, salmon, cherries, melon, rice noodles, and oatmeal, in varied mixtures :)

Finally the Beast in her Belly is Satisfied

This has been the most insane growth spurt yet. She has been eating nearly non-stop for the past month and a half, but FINALLY it's tapered off. she's now back to a normal amount of food, breakfast lunch and dinner, instead of eat for an hour, take a ten minute break to relieve herself/play, eat for another hour and a half, nap, eat, eat while playing, eat, eat, eat!
I thought I would go insane there for a bit :)
Oh, and so I don't forget, she drew her first art project for Daddy October of 2009 :)

Growing Girl

Lark is growing up so fast it's kind of scary. Yesterday we were reading a bunch of books and she fixated on one ( Close To Me, which features a red-headed little girl who looks a lot like Lark, and who we refer to as Lark often in the book) and had me reread it about 7 times, then just kept flippingto the last page and having me read that over and over about 12 times. I noticed she had tears in her eyes as I read the last page for the umteenth time and asked her why she was sad. She replied, " Bobby uh-yone (Baby alone)" I said but there are her mommy and daddy watching her sleep. She then said Bobby in-yide, mama dadda out-yide, no mama dadda (Baby inside, mommy and daddy outside, no mommy and daddy ((aren't with her))). Then she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said No Bobby uh-yone, Bobby yad ( No Baby alone -Don't leave me alone- Baby sad - I am sad-) My heart nearly broke and I cuddled her and reassured her we weren't leaving her alone and she didn't need to be sad. We then called Daddy and talked to him and he reassured her also, and said he'd be coming home soon too. I dried her tears and we went on playing but it stuck with me how much she is learning/thinking/extrapolating.
I need to stop thinking she doesn't understand, and be careful of my words, since she is transferring concepts now.

Transferrance :)

LArk woke up form her nap today and the first thing she said as she woke was Gigi Happy Birthday Mama Present, and pointed to my new necklace mom gave me :P Then she continued to astound us as we went into the kitchen to fix her oatmeal and I was tying on my new blouse and she looked at me and pointed and said Tie Mommy Shirt. Neither of these sentences were coached or practiced in any way. I've never HAD a shirt that ties until today :P She transferred from me tying her shoes or something :)
Such a bright girl, so verbose :D

Momma Brain Kills Me

Lark said a very cute and smart 5-8 word sentence yesterday I promised I'd write about, but I forgot what she said :(
Anyways, on to pictures :D

More funny sentences

This morning Lark was eating oatmeal while Randy was eating some french toast and I was cooking and suddenly she reached over, and said Cue Me Wa-wa (Excuse me, water), picked up the water cup that was resting atop the napkin, picked up the napkin and wiped her mouth clean with it, then replaced everything where it started :) Randy and I busted up laughing. We'd been working on "excuse me" yesterday at the grocery (b/c it was super crowded) but I didn't realize the concept had transferred :D We have such a smart baby :D

So Many Sentences

Lark is becoming more and more verbal. Now she puts together 3 word sentences :) Today as I was feeding her some cassarole at my mom's house Lark piped up into a lull of our conversation.
"Baby Food Hot"
Mom and I were so amused and stunned. We'd been talking about my mom's phone, not the food at all. Lark is independantly making sentences about her own experiences :D

3 word sentences and more

Lark is growing so fast, and I seem to be slowing down. I blame pregnancy and her soon-to-be sibling :D She unprompted can now count to 8 or 9. She can prompted count to 100. She unprompted said Thank you Daddy when he gave her applesauce form the fridge this morning. She has a fish she named Ariel, and loves her Mickey Mouse blanket and stuffed doll she got for an early Christmas present from Heather.

Toddlerhood Trials

Lark is quite stubborn (she gets it from her maternal grandmother!) and is particular about specific routines, ie: bedtime. For her to be willing to sleep she must have her jammies on, have the music on, have already toasted her toes, hands and nose at the heater fan (this is a new thing, sinc ethe cold weather, lol) and be snuggled up between randy and I. she also is showing strong preferences for which foods she'll eat. Yesterday, she ate nothing but avacados, two days before that she ate an entire box of strawberries. The only break she gets is in the car. Monotonous choices are limited to dried mangos, dried bananas, and puffed rice. (Once in a blue moon I'll bring something else, like chicken or something, but it's to bribe her to staying in the car longer) She is still a little carnivore, snarfing chicken, turkey, salmon, and steak (or hamburger). Her favorite food lately is peas. Frozen or cooked.

Keep Growing Up up UP

Lark's getting too big! She's out of her size 5 and 6 shoes now and into 7s! She's wearing a 5T jammie set for bedtime and 3-4T during the day. She loves repeating (have you tried living with a parrot who can follow you all day long?), and can say 'I want' unprompted (we're still working on what she wants though)
She can identify people by their picture and watches the slideshow of pictures on my computer screensaver with avidity and calls out who is in the picture. She also has QUITE the little opinions on what she will wear, eat and do :) She can name colors and count to three unassisted.

Smart Little Buggie

Lark 'went to school' yesterday. She was able to correctly identify different colors and shapes and put them into the proper book-puzzle spot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko04E7QL9ss

Lark's Wordcount

She is repeating most all words/word sounds we say to her. She can clearly repeat I, You, Me, My, Diddy (Disneyland), Yark (Lark), Maw (Mall), and shje adores repeating any and everything she can possibly hear :)

Lark's Diet Changes

SO I'm utterly nauseated by the sight/smell/idea of chicken (thanks to pregnancy), so poor Larklet will be eating steak/salmon now for her protien fix instead for the next 7 months, except on weekeneds, when Dadda will make her some (gag) chicken :)

Potty!

Lark poo'd in the potty yesterday!
She came up to me and cried. I asked what was wrong and she replied 'poo'. I asked if she wanted to sit on her potty and she said 'yes', so Randy and I took her in and sat with her in the bathroom and read her a birdie book and she stayed there! We asked if she was done and she shook her head no. Then waited about 2 minutes and asked again and she pointed down and said 'poo' and signed 'all done'. I was SO PROUD of her
First time going in the big girl potty!
Soon no more cute fluffy bum for her! Make way for the new baby's fluff-buns! (We found out I'm pregnant on Sept 27th :D)(Due around the end of May 2010)