20.5 MONTHS- RHINO / HIPPO

Nevaeh has such a good memory....We skyped tonight and she asked where her rhino was. She then tried to feed the rhino her apples through the computer. TOO CUTE. By the way, grandpa reminded me that rhinos have a horn....Nevaeh should be asking for her hippo not rhino....Oh who cares ....I don't want to confuse her with a new name for the animal.

STARTING A NEW THANKSGIVING TRADITION

Now that Nevaeh is old enough to sit through a movie and enjoy it, Grandpa and I have decided to start a new Thanksgiving tradition.  We are NOT black Friday shoppers, instead we prefer to spend quality time with the grandkids.  Our first movie outing will be Disney's "The Muppets".  Nevaeh loves, loves, loves Elmo.....Hopefully he makes an appearance alongside of Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog!  We can't wait!........Wait a minute....I just realized that Elmo is with Sesame Street, not the Muppets!  Oh well.......I'm sure she will enjoy it none the less!  I know I will!

 Here's a picture that Grandpa took of us watching the show!  Nevaeh kept asking were Elmo was!  HaHa!  When the crowd laughed, Nevaeh would clap her hands and say "yay"!  She even made it through the whole movie without falling asleep! All the kids had a great time....Even us BIG kids!

20 MONTHS - NEW SKILLS

Today on the road trip to the Barnett's side of the family, the kids had dinner on the go. Nevaeh finished her chicken nuggets, and asked Daddy for a napkin. She wiped her face and hands and gave the napkin back to Daddy saying, "All done, thank you!". She has used napkins in the past correctly but always with us initiating the act. It was cute to see her initiate it this time!

Another new thing....she can now unzip her coat by herself ! Such a big girl!

20 MONTHS - GREAT MEMORY

Nevaeh has a great memory. Today she visited with Grandma Barnett. As soon as she walked inside, Nevaeh asked, "Where's Mitzy? Mitzy where are you?" Mitzy is their cat, which she has seen 4 or 5 times over the last 20 months! In fact she remembers all of our pets names and calls for them as soon as she visits with all of us. We just never thought much of it before because she sees these pets on a regular basis. But today when she called for their cat, it really hit home what a great memory she has!

20 MONTHS - PROBLEM SOLVING

Mommy was in the bathroom and ran out of toilet paper. She asked Nevaeh to get some toilet paper out of the closet. Nevaeh went over to the closet that had a sliding door on it, but she couldn't get her fingers between the side of the door and the wall to pull it open. Mommy told her to pull the door open from the bottom to make it slide open. She looked at the door and followed Mommy's directions. Then she followed Mommy's multi-step directions on opening the pack of toilet paper and bringing her one roll.. She said, here Mommy! Nevaeh was so proud of herself!

THANKSGIVING 2011

20 MONTHS- PRACTICING!

Nevaeh was practicing her potty skills......She had to take her jammies off, then she needed her blankie and paci!  No luck this time, pee peeing in the potty......but at least she asked to use it!

20 MONTHS- PRETEND PLAY

 Nevaeh couldn't find her baby doll to feed the bottle to, so she picked up the Rhino.

 She said, "I feed the Rhino".

 Next she wanted to show Grandpa Dason.  She said, "Sit Down!", "Sit Down Crappa!"

 "I love you Rhino.  I give Rhino kisses.  He is crying"

 "You kiss Rhino, Crappa!"

"There's a monkey on the bottle.  I feed the Rhino.  You drink the water.  You drink the pretend milk.  It's not milk.  It's pretend milk.  It's pretend Rhino milk!"

She sure does entertain us!!!

HOUSE REMODEL!

Mommy and Daddy bought this 100 year old home last April.  It was one of the ugliest homes on the block....but the inside had potential.... all the original stained woodwork, fireplace, staircase and stain glass windows, 3 pocket doors, 2 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms, front room, family room, dining room, kitchen, laundry room and a mud room, attic. basement, and newer 2-car garage with attached shed......2,500 square feet!  All for $45,000 ......yes you read that right.  This house was a bank repo and sat empty for a year!  Luckily the inside wasn't destroyed by looters. 

7 months later, thanks to Grandpa Baker's skill and hard work along with Daddy's  manual labor the house is now the prettiest on the street!  The new front porch will be painted white, but the new wood has to "cure" over the winter since it is treated lumber.  Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?!

20 MONTHS-MELTS MY HEART!

I needed a Nevaeh fix....so I called her on my lunch break at work today....Here's our conversation:

Hi Nevaeh!
Hi Grandma.
I love you Nevaeh.
I love you Grandma.
Then she melted my heart with....
I spend the night? I spend the night?
No honey grandma has to work tomorrow.
I spend the night?

I heard Mommy in the background saying "Did she just ask to spend the night with you?"
YEP!  :-)

20 MONTHS- POOPED OUT!

20 MONTHS OLD!!!

Dear Nevaeh,
You are 20 months old and such a big girl now.....even though you are small for your age. You wear 18 months sizes, size 4 diapers, size 5 shoe, and you weigh 21 lbs. You are still favoring your left hand. The other day you were coloring and I noticed you would switch between a fist grasp to a normal pinch hold with your fingers!

This past month you have transitioned to a " big girl" toddler bed, but you think it is more of a game than the real deal. Last night you wanted to sleep in your bed, but every couple of minutes you would come into Mommy and Daddy 's room and say hi, or peek a boo....then go back to your bed. This went on for about a half hour until they gave in and put you in the playpen in their bedroom in order to go to sleep!

Yesterday, your Mommy shared the biggest news of all....YOU TOLD US YOU HAD TO GO POTTY. You even held it until she was able to take you in and get your diaper off! We are sooooo proud of you. Thinking this wasn't a one time deal, I asked you if you had to potty before your bath. You said yes.....I put you on the potty and you said, " All done, I wipe now".... You didn't pee pee this time.....but.....when I started running the bath water you peed all over the floor....I yelled....NO NO NO....you realized what you did and hung your head and puckered your lips for a start of a good cry....I changed my tone of voice when I realized I hurt her feelings and a big old smile came over her face.

You have a new table and chair set that Grandma Baker gave you. Uncle Andrew pulled a chair up to him....you sat in it for about an hour listening to stories.... He would even say, right Nevaeh? And you would say Yes or nod your head confirming your interest in the stories. One time he tried to get up and you pointed your finger at him demanding that he sit down, NOW! TOOOOO CUTE!

You melt my heart!
Love Grandma Dason

20 MONTHS TOMORROW!

Nevaeh went out to dinner with us tonight. Here's our conversation over dinner:
Me- I'll have a salad and breadsticks.
Nevaeh - I like salad. I like salad....(while nodding her head). Waitress walked away and Nevaeh said, thank you.
Nevaeh- drink, drink, drink..... Mommy gave her a drink and Nevaeh said, That's chocolate milk. I like chocolate milk.
The salad came and I gave Nevaeh a piece. She shook her head and said- No No No that piece is too big!
As you can see, she is quite the talker! She makes us smile on a daily basis!

19.5 MONTHS- SICK :-(

Poor baby!  She has croup  :-(  Do you see Hershey on the left side of this picture?  She is watching over Nevaeh, while she sleeps!  So sweet!

19.5 MONTHS- TODDLER BED

Ever since Nevaeh learned how to climb over the baby gate, Mommy worried about her climbing out of her crib.....so the next best thing.......convert the crib to a toddler bed (3-in one crib conversion).  Mommy told Nevaeh it was her big girl bed and Nevaeh sat in it with a smile....then she started bouncing on her knees singing, "My big girl bed!"  The first night was somewhat successful, Nevaeh stayed in the bed for about 3 hours and then wondered into Mommy and Daddy's room singing the numbers song....Needless to say she was wide awake, so Mommy put her in the playpen in the room, so they could all go back to sleep.  The next night, she slept in her big girl bed all night!  YAY!......Let's see what tonight brings!

19.5 MONTHS- HALLOWEEN 2011!

Our little Ladybug loved trick or treating this year.  She walked up to each house and said, "Trick or Treat" and smiled as they put candy in her pumpkin.  She even said "Thank you"!  SO MUCH FUN!

19.5 MONTHS- B. DAY PARTY AND PUMPKIN FUN!

Jordyn celebrated his 5th birthday!

Later that night, they all carved pumpkins!

19.5- MONTHS- COMMUNICATION SKILLS!

Nevaeh's communication skills continue to grow by leaps and bounds.  She can count to 25 on her own!  And, she responds in words or sentences appropriately.  For example, tonight they were leaving a shoe store.  The cashier said "Have a good night".  Nevaeh looked at the lady and said, "You, too!" and waved good bye!  Pretty impressive!

19.5 MONTHS- PETS

 Nevaeh loves giving our dog, Chael, a "stodder" ride!  LOL

This is her new dog.  She is a Chocolate Lab.  Mommy and Daddy swayed between the names Coco and Hershey.  However, Nevaeh decided that she was calling her Hershey.....So Hershey it is!  She tries to ride her like a pony!  LOL  (This is their new house in the TV room looking into the dining room)....Not quite ready to post before and after pictures....but will soon!

19.5 MONTHS- SHOWERS

Nevaeh has learned how to take a shower.  She does a good job trying to wash her hair and her body.  Many times she gets in the shower with Mommy, but she doesn't like to take turns getting under the shower head.  She tells Mommy,  "My water....No Mommy, my turn.  My water!"  Yesterday, she watched Mommy shave her legs.  After they got out of the shower, Nevaeh sat on the floor and rubbed her legs.  Mommy asked what she was doing....Nevaeh said " I shave my legs".   Then she told Mommy she had to POOP, NOW!  She even squeezed her butt cheeks together.  Mommy sat her on the potty.  Nevaeh tried and tried.....but no luck.  Afterward, she had to get the toilet paper and wipe herself!  She said, "I pooped, I wipe with toilet paper"!