Not Going Down Without A Fight

Peyton has been a bit of a challenge at bedtime the past few days. Our great little sleeper is no longer a great little sleeper...at bedtime, anyway. Either she is so in love with her Mom and Dad and doesn't want to spend a minute away from us, or she is just being a total brat. Either way, her new thing is to feign normalcy during bath, bedtime bottle, and story time, and then scream her head off as soon as we put her in her crib, stand up, reach longingly for us, and throw an absolute temper tantrum when we leave. This is usually followed by one, maybe two, middle of the night wakings with the same ritual. Good times.

On Friday, night, she was extremely overtired (she had only slept for 35 minutes all day at daycare) and not feeling all that great (a reaction to her MMR shots from the week prior left her with a slight temperature and a little rash on her back). I stayed with her for awhile, giving her milk, reading her a few stories, and calmly rocking her to sleep. She was out cold when I gently set her in her crib. Upon hitting the sheets, her eyes popped open, she reached out her arms, stood up, and the scream fest commenced.

But tonight, the fatigue took over. As hard as she tried to continue her protest, it was all in vain. She fell asleep standing up, with her head resting on the edge of her crib. That presented a challenging dilemma for us: do we go upstairs and reposition her so she doesn't hurt herself, yet risk waking her and thus instigating the blood curdling screams all over again, or leave her be? Luckily, she fixed herself after about 10 minutes, as we contemplated what to do.

No So Happy Easter

Let's just say the visit to the Easter Bunny wasn't all fun and games for our dear Peyton.

All smiles while waiting in line...

Clinging onto Mommy's arm for dear life...

"I DO NOT LIKE GIANT SIZED BUNNIES!!!"

"YOU LEFT ME HERE ALONE? IS THIS A CRUEL JOKE?!?!?!"

Somebody Loves Her Daddy

We've known from day one that Peyton is a Daddy's girl. She worships the ground he walks on. She looks out the window and waits for him to come home from work, squeals with delight every time he walks into the room, and giggles uncontrollably whenever he so much as smirks at her. Now that she's talking, her adoration is even more apparent. Mind you, MOMMY is the one who feeds her daily, changes most of her diapers, picks her up and drops her off four days out of five, and spends the majority of time with her. But whatever, who's counting?

Fun Photo Friday

In an effort to not deprive my loyal readers of any adorable picture of Peyton, I've compiled a few of the latest below.

"Ms. Amy, can Amber please come out and play?"

"I inherited my pile making skills from my Mommy."

"You're right, Mom and Dad. Friday nights are the best. Dinner, ice cream...and MARMADUKE!"

"Seriously, I can't get enough of that silly dog."

Too Much?

Peyton is learning the art of accessorizing. And after this weekend's bow extravaganza, I believe a lesson on "less is more" is in order. What's that saying? Before you leave the house, take one accessory off. In Peyton's case, I think she needs to take all BUT one accessory off.

PK grabbed her bag of hair bows out of her dresser drawer and instantly starting putting them in her hair. She can't quite clip them in herself, but she holds the bow up to her head until I put it in. First one, then two, then three, until the entire bag of bows was clipped to her head.

I think she realized she overdid it - she handed a few bows to Daddy and demanded he put them in his hair.

And then, just as simply as it began, Peyton took each bow out of her hair, one by one, and put them back in the bag.

Rollin' With Her Homie

And so it begins. Peyton has learned the art of batting her incredible long eyelashes to sucker her parents into doing whatever she wants. Case in point - her new trike. Peyton saw her friend Brynn cruising the streets on Friday night in a four wheeled push toy. Her excitement and glee proved irresistible -- no less than 24 hours later Mom and Dad were at Toys 'R Us purchasing a similar toy for the princess. Not wanting to be too much of a copycat, Peyton opted for a pink and grey trike with a push handle, cup holder, and play cell phone.

She tested out her new ride this weekend, allowing her best buddy Amber to join her. The two cruised the circle for hours - round and round and round and round and round and....

15 Months Old!

P Bear is 15 months old! She had her check up this morning, and according to the doctor, she is the most perfect baby ever created. She weighs 23 pounds 6.5 ounces (60%), is 31 1/4 inches tall (76%) and has a head size of 17 3/4 inches (27%). She is trending right on target, although her head size continues to be that of a small pin. Some of her latest milestones include trying to mimic every sound we make - she's not really forming full words yet, but she'll say "beh" for book and "peh" for puff. She also knows what sound a snake makes, and tries to moo, meow, and woof. She's a signing champ, however. She learned the concept of saying please if she wants something, asks for help, and signs about 20 other words consistently.

Peyton is obsessed with being outside. She races to the front door and bangs on it until we let her go out. And she apparently does the same thing at daycare. She loves playgrounds (and cries if we pass one and don't stop). Peyton is an ok eater. She eats vegetables like they're going out of style - corn, spinach, and green beans are her favs. She's getting much better with meat - she loves chicken, turkey and london broil, and even enjoyed a little hamburger the other night. We're trying to teach her to eat with her own fork and spoon. She has the concept down, but not the coordination.

We're so glad the spring is upon us - we have an energetic, happy girl who is just dying to get outside and see the world.

This month's winning shot:


And the runner up:


Outtakes:

Getting beautified by her own personal glam squad with hair and makeup before her photo shoot.

"I draw the line at the bow. There are some things I just won't do."

"Fine, I'll wear your stupid bow. But, I'm doing so in protest."

"I think I'll trade in my modeling gig for one behind the camera. Let me show you how it's done, Mommy."

"Gizmo!!!"

"Do you paparazzi have no respect for a person's right to privacy?!? I am going to smash that camera in a million pieces if you don't stop!"

Kids 3, Parents 2

Martin and I spent Saturday night getting schooled by a bunch of kids. We babysat Amber and Ethan while their mom and dad enjoyed a night out on the town. Within moments, we quickly learned who was in charge.

Peyton and Amber fought over every toy - but thankfully, we have two chairs for them to each sit in and enjoy some snacks.

The frenemies took to arguing over lawn mowers, walkers, and puffs until I busted out the princess fairy tent. All was right with the world once again, and the two girls giggled uncontrollably. Ethan got in on the fun as well.

Next, it was dinner time - Peyton and Amber enjoyed turkey, spinach and yogurt (Peyton) and turkey stew and peaches (Amber).

Next, Peyton introduced Amber to the mesmerizing world of Marmaduke. Ethan enjoyed the movie as well, and tried his hardest to make the girls as hyper as possible right before bed.

Finally, it was bath time. The laughs continued.

By the time 8:00 rolled around and both girls were in bed, Martin and I were wiped out. I was thankful Ethan is such a good kid and wanted to relax on the couch and read his book about Presidents until his bed time. Martin and I both slept like rocks...and contemplated the thought of ever having to deal with more than one child for more than 2 hours....

Happy Birthday Brynn!

Beautiful baby Brynn turned 1 on April 2 - and Peyton was honored to be a part of the celebration. Brynn's mom and dad are neighbors of ours. It's been a lot of fun watching these two girls grow up -- hitting all of their milestones one right after the other.

Brynn was decked out in the most adorable Burberry dress for her big day. Peyton tried to keep up - wearing a teal tulle skirt and matching shirt. Brynn treated her guests to hamburgers, hot dogs, awesome guacamole (even by these picky guacamole eaters' standards), and of course, birthday cake! Happy first birthday Brynnie!!

"Cool's not a look, Daddy. It's an attitude."

Baby cakes.

Cake demolition.

"Um, what do you mean I'm not the center of attention?!? That's preposterous!"

"Yum, yum yummy! Cake is good!"

"PLEASE!!! More cake!"

"Oooh, the guac ain't bad either."

"See you suckaz next year."

Emma Turns Six!!

I'm hopelessly behind on uploading pictures from our camera. So for the three of you who follow this blog, your email alerts are about to be flooded.

Last month, Peyton was amongst the lucky ones to make the prestigious invite list to Emma's birthday party. It was her (and my) first trip to Chuck E Cheese. And as evidenced by the perma-grin on her face, I think she loved it! Happy (belated) birthday Emma! Thanks so much for having us at your party!

Cage dancing.

"School buses are for NERDS!"

"Oh, hi, Daddy. I didn't realize you were on the bus, too...NERD!!!"

"Hi, Amber. Fancy meeting you here."

"Smell ya later, Amber. Pizza's ready and the animal band is playing!"

"Chuck E Cheese is da bomb!!!"

A Girl Can Never Have Too Many...

SHOES!

She's got 15 pairs here - with several more that didn't make the cut. I will admit that sometimes I buy the shoes first, and find an outfit to match second (the green converse are a perfect example).