Never forget to pack a second outfit!

This morning, Siena and I went for a walk around a local lake. When she would ride in the stroller I got some exercise and then I got to rest while she explored. She loves to walk and run down the path. We saw turtles and ducks and fish--very cool. Maybe too cool--Siena got a bit overly excited over some ducks and I somehow lost my hold on her and she tumbled down a small bank (really only a foot or 2) and landed in a bunch of mud and duck poop. Luckily she did not hurt herself at all and most of the mess was limited to her clothes.
But putting her in the car seat in her clothes was not an option!

Yellow?....Blue?....Red?....White?...Peas!!!!

One of Siena's favorite indoor things to do is to play with Play Doh. She stands near where we keep it and never says "Play Doh" which I am sure she can say (she can say ostrich for crying out loud!) instead she calls it by the colors "Yellow?" with the most adorable "please" which sounds more like "Peas." Uncle Daniel (pronounced something like Dungul) and Aunt Beth (Beff) were great Play Doh friends this weekend.

Oh what a difference 22 months makes!

We loaned our bouncy chair to a friend who returned it on Saturday so it was sitting around and Siena kept climbing into it. We thought this was a crazy comparison--5 days old vs. 21 months! Holy cow!

First Haircut!

After a few weeks of nervously pondering a haircut, we bit the bullet. I am not sure why I was so freaked out about it. I think I was scared the curls would disappear. We took her to a kid's place where she got to watch Elmo the whole time (which is why she's not looking at the camera). She wouldn't sit in the chair alone, but did great on my lap. The hairdresser even put a cute clip in her hair which didn't last too long, but might be worth experimenting with. A great success, no hair in her eyes and the curls are still there! Our big girl!

Zoo Reprise

It was an incredibly beautiful day today (the calm between the 2 hurricanes) so we decided at the spur of the moment to go to the zoo. We took Siena a few months ago and while she had fun, we knew she'd be much more interested now that she's a little older and boy were we right. She loved all the animals, but especially the ostriches (she could even almost say it!), the elephants (there is a baby) and the monkeys. They must do a dance at daycare about monkeys because every time we saw monkeys she started to dance! We're going to have to check into this tomorrow! ***UPDATE: There is no monkey dance at daycare. Apparently monkeys just make her feel musical. Hmm...***

Like our last visit, one of her favorite parts was the children's Petting Zoo. This time, though, they gave the kids brushes to brush the goats. Siena loved this. She ran from goat the goat and gave them each about 2 brushes. Here she is grooming:

Bobby

For some reason, my mom has been disturbed that Siena doesn't have a "lovey." We figured that if she got attached to a stuffed animal or a blanket then fine, but we didn't try to encourage it. Well last week, while staying with my parents, mom and Siena spent lots of time with a stuffed bear that my mother named Bobby because Siena recently became enamoured with our friend Bob and calls him Bobby and says it very well. Siena doesn't care much about any of her stuffed animals, but somehow mom helped her to love "Bobby." It's very cute, she feeds him, reads to him and shows him her toys. So far she doesn't have to have him around all the time and doesn't want to sleep with him, so we're lovin' Bobby too.

Nenna

Some names are easier than others and Siena had proven to be more difficult for some folks than I had anticipated (especially for older southern folks!). A few months ago some of the older kids in Siena's daycare started calling her "Seena." So I figured that's what she would say when she started saying her name. Nope, she's an independent spirit! About a month ago she said her name for the first time "Nenna." In the past week or so one of her favorite mealtime games is to go around the table saying everyone's name, "mama," "dada," "nenna!" A few days ago I was giving her a banana and calling it a "nanna" which I thought would be easier for her to say. She looked at me like I was nuts and pounded her chest with her open palm and said, "No! Nenna!"

Fun stuff.

We spent another Labor Day weekend at our friends' cottage in Virginia. Siena had a fabulous time at her semi-private beach. We spend most of our time nowadays marveling over what she is doing or saying. She's talking so much. She can parrot just about anything you say to her and has stared putting a couple words together from time to time. She continues to love animals, the beach and anything outdoors. She currently obsessed with identifying colors and is getting very good at it! When in doubt, it's yellow! (said in the cutest possible way with the tongue getting tied up with the lips a bit!)


We took her to the MD State Fair a few weeks ago and she loved all the animals and was completely in awe of the rides. When we walked out through the midway she kept saying, "Wow! Wow!"

Life's just full of exploration nowadays!!!!