Thanksgiving, Birthday Party, and Random Pics!

Thanksgiving at Auntie Susie and Uncle Phil's (and singing to Taylor!):

Taylor's first birthday party:

First time in the bath without the infant/toddler tub!

At the daycare Christmas party!

Stealing mommy's apple!

Above, I have posted some pictures of Thanksgiving, Taylor's first birthday party, and a couple of couple of cute randoms from home. It's hard to believe 3 weeks have gone by since Taylor turned 1! We recently had her year checkup at the doctor's office. Here are her latest stats:

Height: 30.3 inches (80%)
Weight: 24 lb. 1 oz. (87%)
Head Circumference: 45.7 cm (66%)

With only a few more days until Christmas, we are finally on winter break and have some down time before the craziness of the holidays begin! I hope everyone enjoys the holiday season, and hopefully everyone will stay warm through the upcoming snowstorm!

My First Birthday!!

Waking up on my birthday!

Good morning, mommy!

How do I get out of here?!

Climbing up the slide!

Playing with hula hoops!

Learning how to color with daddy at Red Robin!

Listening to the waitresses at Red Robin singing "Happy Birthday" to me!

Infatuated with our waitress's flair!

All tuckered out after my big meal!

Today, we celebrated Taylor's first birthday! What a year it has been! We have watched our little girl grow and change in innumerable ways. She has gone from being an infant, completely dependent on us, to a little toddler who is constantly trying to figure things out and do things on her own. She continues to amaze (and entertain!) us every day. She is the love of our lives, and we are looking forward to seeing what an amazing little girl she is going to become! We are truly blessed.

We had a wonderful day today celebrating her birthday!! Mommy was off of work and daddy had a half-day. Mommy and I went to Tot Time at the Channahon Park District in the morning, where we played with our friend Gillian. Taylor loved it - she especially loved the hula hoops, the slide (she mostly enjoyed sitting at the bottom of the slide and putting her shoes on it, or trying to climb up the wrong way!), and the push toys. Also equally amusing were the lights, fans, and people running the track! She was very social and enjoyed waving and pointing to everyone she saw. Later in the day, Sam, Taylor, and I went out to Red Robin for dinner, where she dined on a delicious quesadilla, broccoli, and melon. When we got home, we had a nice visit from Grandma & Grandpa Forst, and Auntie Kim! What a fun day!

We don't have her well visit for another couple of weeks, so we don't have her current height and weight. Here are a couple of other stats: Teeth count: 8
Diapers: size 3 (almost ready for size 4's)
Shoe size: 4
Words she can say: mama, dada, no, stop, car, hi, door, good girl, Nuk (she has said others, but these are the most consistent)
Favorite foods: chicken nuggets, whole wheat waffles, bread & butter, quesadillas, any kind of fruit, carrots
Here is an update of her likes and dislikes!
Taylor likes...

READING BOOKS, Polly, her cookie jar toy, putting things into places and then taking them out, going through drawers and opening doors, listening to music, dancing, pushing chairs around the kitchen, cuddling, sleeping, remote controls and cell phones, eating, exploring different things and places, playing with boxes, running around the house, climbing on the stairs, rolling around on mommy and daddy's bed, playing in her crib, being outside
Taylor dislikes...

Bathtime, putting her pajamas on, getting her fingernails clipped, being in the car bundled up in her winter coat, green vegetables (will eat them eventually, but needs to be "tricked" into eating them!), being told "no", having toys taken away from her

Happy Halloween!

Taylor's first Halloween was so much fun! She was dressed as a butterfly (thanks Lydia!) and looked ADORABLE! We went trick or treating and saw lots of our neighborhood friends! Taylor seemed very confused, but was happy to wave to everyone that she saw!

Mommy, would you like some candy? Close-up

Not in the mood to pose for mommy!
Saying hi to our friend Gillian!
Visiting with Roman and Maya!

11 Months Old!

Taylor Grace is 11 months old today! Time is flying by - I can't believe we are approaching her first birthday already! She has recently learned how to stick her tongue out when you do it to her, which is super cute so I'm going to let her do it for a little while longer!! She is fully eating table food now, which she LOVES. She has 8 teeth total, so she can chew pretty well now.

She has become very vocal about what she does and does not want to do (like when she wants to play with the garbage can and mommy and daddy say no!). She loves to hand things to you and waits for you to say "thank you" before taking it back! She also likes to take things out of buckets and put them back in.

We think that she might be on the verge of adding a few words to her vocabulary. As of today, she can say mama, dada, hi, and "deep deep deep", which are the last three words of her favorite book. She repeats them every night after I finish the story! We think that she might be saying "car", too, because she loves to watch the cars drive by from our kitchen door. She is going to miss the view when they build a house back there soon!

We spent the day today at Rock and Read, a literacy program put on by Minooka High School's NHS. High school students dressed up and read stories to kids, and there were crafts and snacks for the kids to enjoy as well. We went with our friends Madison and Bre! It was a really fun community event, although I think Taylor might get more out of it next year! She loved listening to the stories for about 2 pages, and then wanted to grab them. She also loved digging through the candy buckets, playing with balloons, pushing the stroller around, and looking at passing cars though the big cafeteria windows. It definitely was a fun way to spend the day!

Reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Clearly more interested in the bucket of candy!YUM! She kept taking them out and putting them back... at least she was tidy!Listening to The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything (mommy's favorite Halloween book)Hey, this reading thing isn't so hard!

Mom, have you SEEN how cool this is?!?

Pumpkin Patch #2!

Taylor got to experience her second pumpkin patch last weekend! Sam, Taylor, Grandma Pavelka, and I went to Dollinger Pumpkin Farm. It was a beautiful fall day, and Taylor had a great time! She loved playing in the pumpkins, and observing some of the goats at the petting zoo. She did NOT, however, enjoy the cows! She also got to meet Abraham Lincoln and General Custer as they prepared for Minooka's own Civil War reenactment. Taylor picked out a pumpkin with a ridiculously long stem. Afterward, we ate lunch at a great sub shop in Morris, where Taylor dined on her first kids' meal item- cheese raviolis.

We have thoroughly enjoyed all of these fun fall activities with our little girl!

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

Taylor and I visited the pumpkin patch today! We spent the day there with our friends Quinn, Colleen, Andy, Ali, and Michael. We went to Spiegel's Cottonwood Farm in Lockport. It was a beautiful sunny day, albeit slightly warmer than we would have liked! Taylor really enjoyed playing with the pumpkins, riding the train, watching the animals, and walking around the grounds. She also enjoyed picking up rocks from the ground and trying to eat them, despite mommy's protest! Here are some pictures from our fun day out!

Wandering around the pumpkins!

Sitting with my pal Quinn

Walking with Ali

Watching the goats!A little frightened on the train ride!Hugs from Colleen!