nineteen months

dearest Sweetpea,

we're into the full swing of summer and you love it! just like last summer, you're staying home with Daddy on Mondays and Wednesdays while i work. you're excited to see all your friends at school on Fridays -- in fact, one morning when we were walking into the building, you said "fwends! fun!" as much as you enjoy it there, you love your time with Daddy even more. you read lots of books, play outside, and sometimes, Daddy even lets you help work on the car. 

you love doing the hokey-pokey, ring around the rosie, and "row, row, row your boat" (you sit facing me and "row" your arms back and forth). lots of times you'll start dancing on your own, but as soon as we join in, you stand there and look at us like we're crazy. sorry to break it to you, kiddo -- we are! 

you're pretty good about saying thank you ("doodee"), and you like to count aloud. usually it goes something like this: "one! two! five! six!" you say "lah loo" for love you, and give us hugs and kisses out of the blue, which is the best thing ever. if you really like something, you smack your lips and say "num num!"

we visited Idlewild for the first time this month, and promptly bought a season pass. it's such a magical place, and you loved riding the balloons, the carousel and the tea-cups. you especially loved riding the hand-cars with Daddy. you weren't too sure about the actors in Storybook Forest, though. your alltime favourite was riding the train around the park. you said "choo choo! choo choo!" whenever you heard the whistle blow! 

and our most exciting trip of the summer was to visit the Outer Banks with Pappy, Nana, Auntie Becca and Uncle Josh! we spent a week in the Sea Lady, a wonderful house just a short walk from the beach. your favourite activity was playing in the water from the hose by the pool. you liked to sit on the first step going down into the pool and fill up your bucket and play with your mermaid. the beach itself was not quite such a hit -- you were scared of the ocean waves, and kept trying to sneak bites of sand. but you loved playing with all the toys and books in the house, and spent some quality time with Nana and Pappy while Daddy and i had a date night (or two!). 

we love you so much, baby girl!