Family pic...

I love Conni's grin in this one. Thanks Aunt Steph for keeping her attention! And I must add that I made the trick-or-treat bag that's on Dave's lap. Look how domestic I can be!

Halloween...

Last night, we had our annual family Halloween get together. Conni was as cute as ever, and we got some cute pics and videos of her in her costume.

A word behind the idea for the costume: when Conni is very tired and doesn't want to get her bum changed or get in her pajamas, she is very squirmy. She seems to be all arms and legs. So we call her our little octopus. Then I saw the idea for this costume in a magazine and couldn't pass it up. Thanks to my mom for helping me figure it out and tying my bows!

Our little octopus!

We've been trying for a while to get a video of her waving. She has a very unique wave. My dad calls it "waving to her peasants". Its so cute!

Here's the octopus on the move.

I was worried that Conni would have a hard time crawling in the costume, or that she would want to pull all the bows, off, but she doesn't seem to worry about that.

Hopefully trick-or-treating goes this well on Saturday!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Peanut butter and cheese sandwiches...

Many of you know that I am a pretty picky eater. It is getting better as I get older. But there is one weird thing that I love to eat - open face peanut butter and honey sandwiches, with grated chedder cheese on top. How did I come across this you say? Well, one day when I was young I was having a pb&h open face sandwich. My dad was slicing cheddar cheese and offered me some. A piece fell on my sandwich and I thought, "hmm, I wonder how they taste together?" An instant success!

Well, all those who know of this concoction have always looked at me a little weird. Yesterday, my almost-six-year-old nephew Brad asked what could he fix that had cheese on top. I suggested my sandwich. He said it sounded interesting, but he'd try it later. Well, come to find out, that's what his two little brothers Bronson and Bridger had for dinner last night - and they loved it! My sister is so thrilled. Well, they always say Bronson tends to take after me... :)

First Steps!!!

Conni took her first steps! Last Friday night (the 16th) we were having dinner at a friend's house. One of our friends helped Conni get balanced on her feet, then ran away from her. :) Well, Dave was closer and she cautiously walked two steps to him!

Then a few minutes later, she was standing with me and took three steps to the coffee table to get her drink.

We were (obviously) ecstatic. Conni has taken the periodic step since then,, and we keep practicing to help her take more unaided steps.

All caught up...

Now I'm all caught up with the videos and pictures - for now. I know its a lot, but I hope you enjoy what Conni's been up to!

Quack quack - oh what was that?

Conni has found a new "easy chair". Hardly anything can get her out of it when she wants to sit and read. However, when she hears the "beep" of the microwave, she drops everything to go check it out.

Pasta Please?

We are transitioning Conni off baby food to table food. We are trying to serve her what we have for dinner each night. This night we had a pasta dish.

Conni and Mommi...

Here's our "company" manners:

Here's reality:

I know each one of you can relate!!! Ha Ha :)

Yes - No - Loves...

Conni got this pony for her birthday that crawls and says stuff. Rather than crawling along with it, Conni likes to pick it up and give it loves and cuddle it then throw it down. We were trying to get video of her cuddling it, and this is what we got.

Because I haven't said it enough yet, isn't she cute!!! (Sarah - that one's for you!)

Playing Peek-a-boo

I mentioned in one of my earlier posts how much Conni loves to play peek-a-boo. Daddy got the camera - but we couldn't figure out why its so yellowy - and I'm in the corner playing peek-a-boo with Conni while Dad records.

Isn't it so blasted cute!!!! And she gets this excited every time! She loves to play with us, her cousins, her bears, any one. When she has her blanket with her she will throw that over her face to play.

After church nap...

We have church from 11:00 - 2:00 - right in the middle of nap time. Conni is a pretty good sport and normally makes it through pretty well. Then when we get home from church its time for a quick bottle then to bed for a good nap. This particular week she fell asleep in Daddy's arms before she finished the bottle. I love her face in this one!

Go BYU...

Dave found Conni a BYU onesie to wear on game days...



The best part is my older sister found a U of U bib the other day that I'm going to put on Conni over the onesie for the big rivalry game. I wonder what Dave's reaction will be? He He!

Piano stories...

Many of you have seen my shiny black piano - one of my pride and joys. I'm obsessive about it! Here's two cute Conni stories...

For Christmas the year before I got married, my parents gave me the down payment on my piano. But, since they couldn't wrap the actual piano to put under the tree, my mom found this cute little kiddie piano to wrap instead. I've held onto it for eight years, and now its out for Conni to play.



We ended up taking the legs of it so Conni wouldn't pull it over on herself. But she still enjoys playing it!


Here's the other cute story :)

My piano has a shiny finish - when its all polished clean you can see yourself in it. As Conni comes down the hall from her room, she always sees the "other baby" in the piano reflection. She frequently will stop and say hello to the baby and give her kisses. It kills me that she licks my piano, but its so cute that it still just melts my heart. ;)

Catching Up...

I have a ton of stuff to post (lots of pictures) that I keep trying to get up. So while Conni's sleeping here's me trying to catch up...

Another reader...

I am excited to say our family has another reader in our midst. Dave and I absolutely love to read, and Conni has definetly inherited that. I just stood in the doorway to her room, unnoticed, and watched her pull books off her shelf until she found one she wanted. Then she sat down and "read" it, put it aside, and repeated the process.

Conni will frequently find one of her favorite books and bring it to Dave or me to read. She gets so excited too!

I hope I can continue to foster this trait in her and she will always love to disappear into a good book!

Behavioral Issues...

Conni has developed a habit of shoving her hand in her mouth and making herself gag - sometimes to the point of vomiting. It started around 11 months and comes and goes. At her one-year visit, her doctor told me it was a behavior thing she did for attention, and that she would out grow it. I haven't seen any other kids do this before.

Normally, with me, she does it when she's stuck in her high chair or her car seat and is frustrated. If I give her a drink that frequently distracts her. However, today when she was at Grandma's playing with all the kids she did it and made herself vomit. Luckily my mom can handle that and got it all cleaned up and is washing Conni's clothes for me :)

I am at a loss as to how to handle this. Lots of comments online say to just ignore the behavior or put something yucky tasting on their hands. I may try vinegar or something - I dunno yet. Any suggestions from someone who's dealt with this before?