Just Serena

Today Serena turned 16 months old! It just so happened I had an appointment at the midwives' so I took the opportunity to weigh Serena on their scale. She was 21 pounds! I think she's pushing 30" so that puts her in the 13th and 20th percentiles respectively. Still on the small side, but definitely growing! :)

"See how I put my pretty bracelet on?"

"And this is how I move the zipper on my purse!"

"A bracelet on each wrist and a measuring cup to clap with! Fun times!"

Holding Hands

Serena loves holding hands (well, actually, she just wants to hold one of your fingers). It's so sweet! She comes up to you, arm reaching out with her hand opening and closing while she says, "Uh, uh!" This means, "Hold my hand and let's go somewhere and do something together!"

I'm pretty sure Serena's teeth are moving some more today. A couple days ago, I discovered her second molar had cut through. It's the other top one. So, maybe now it's the molars on the bottom? Who knows! Anyway, she was a kinda pathetic today and she definitely earned herself a dose of Tylenol before bed, haha! Hopefully, tomorrow will be better!

Out for a walk this afternoon

Holding hands

First Movie and Bird Calls

Today was a very exciting day for Mommy! Serena kept a bow in her hair all morning!!!! Yay! She has not cooperated with bows since she was about 11 or 12 months old, I think. Every now and then I would try, but she always pulled them out. Then, Friday night when we went to the Christmas thing in McKinney, it was so chilly out that we wanted her to wear her hoodie. (She doesn't have a hat yet; but don't worry, I'm planning to get her one this week!) At first, she kept trying to pull it off like she always does, but then Jordan put up his hoodie and showed her how great it was. After that, she kept her hoodie on the entire evening! So, this morning, after getting her dressed for church, I put a bow in her hair, hoping that Friday night's hoodie episode was the dawn of a new era. As usual, she reached up to pull it out. I told her to leave it there because it was pretty, and she seemed satisfied enough with that explanation to just leave it there! It finally came out when we got home this afternoon! Woohoo! Bring on the bows again!!!!! :D

After Serena's nap this afternoon, we walked to the playground. By the time we got home, it was already a quarter after 5. I needed to get supper going, but Serena was already hungry and really wanted me to hold her or play with her. So, what did I do? What any American mom does in that situation, haha! I plopped her down in front of the tube!! ;) Back when Julie was visiting, she got Serena a Christmas CD that came with a companion DVD of "Little People." Sure enough, it held Serena's attention (along with some homemade graham crackers) long enough for me to whip up some omelettes for supper! Thanks, Aunt Julie!

Serena enjoying her first kid movie

Today was the end of the first duck season down here; but don't worry, there's another one opening in a couple weeks! ;) In the meantime, Jordan is going to be working on perfecting his duck calling. And, apparently, so is Serena! After listening to Jordan's duck and goose calls for the last month or two, she has developed a great interest in them. Today, for the first time, she managed to blow enough air into them to make some noise come out! You should have seen her face! She was so pleased!!!! Oh, and don't worry! I got a video and it's already sitting in the archives just waiting for Thursday! ;)

Our little bird caller. Maybe next year Jordan can just bring her along on his hunts to run the calls while he does the shooting, haha!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Baby Doll Play

Serena has recently taken a renewed interest in her doll. For quite a while, the doll was just one of the toys that she carted around in the doll stroller, haha! For the last couple of days, though, she's been carrying the doll around a lot again. She loves hugging her and kissing her, pretending to change her diaper (with one of Serena's own diapers even though the doll has an extra diaper, haha!), pretending to feed her, and trying to cram her into my bathroom drawer (surely one of these times the drawer will shut...nope, better try it again!). I think it'll be interesting to see how her doll-play changes after we have a real baby in the house! There will be lots of imitating, I'm sure!

Once again, this is the only picture of the day! :P It's not a very good one, but Serena's trying to put the bottle in the baby's mouth.

Black Friday

Well, today was Black Friday, but we did not do any shopping. Instead, we were home for most of the day and then spent the evening with our friends, the Olsens.

Serena loves watching The Biggest Loser while she eats lunch. It's been her & my ritual for the last couple of weeks. Jordan loves it! ;)

We took a little stroll down to the park. Serena looked so cute in her spotted sweatshirt!

This evening, we met up with the Olsens to go to the downtown McKinney "Dickens of a Christmas." There were lots of vendors and cute shops lining the streets. We even got to see some real reindeer! We watched a live nativity that was really good, and also watched the annual lighting of the Christmas tree (which turned out to be hilariously anti-climactic)!

Serena all bundled up for the walk around downtown

Afterwards, we got some pizza and went to the Olsen's house for supper! It was fun to catch up with them after not seeing them for a few weeks, and Serena had a great time playing with Fox & Max!

On the way to the Olsen's house, I kept hearing Serena do her high-pitched "Ah! Ah!" which generally means she's playing peek-a-boo. So, I turned around and here she was pulling her hood down over her face and then pulling it back! It was so funny because that's what Jordan had been doing with his hoodie before we left home earlier this afternoon!

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Serena managed to stay awake through this year's Thanksgiving dinner! ;) She enjoyed eating a bunch of smoked turkey, a few green beans, and lots of stuffing!

I divided today's video into three episodes so that hopefully it'll be a little easier for everyone to load them!

Video #1: Serena's opinion of the Christmas tree & her new-found ability to blog the doggie whistle

Video #2: Chatting on the mirror phone

Video #3: Sheer silliness! We took this one this afternoon. There's lots of belly laughs...mostly induced by Rocky's antics!

Mirror Phone

Serena continued with her mirror phone conversations today! The only way I can think to describe it is H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S.! I really hope I can get some decent video tomorrow, because you guys just have to see/hear it!

I don't know why, but I only have two pictures from today. And, believe it or not, this one is the better of the two! :P You can't really see the little mirror, but she's holding it up to her ear. I caught her mid-'word' in this shot. ;)

Tiny Tree

Serena is very interested in the Christmas tree (as you can imagine a 15-month-old would be!), and it's very hard for her to be content with just 'touching' the ornaments when she'd really like to be able to take them off and carry them all around the house! I have this little tiny tree that I originally bought to sit on my desk back when I worked in the Maintenance office at Northland (wow, that seems like forever ago!). Last year, I put it in Serena's room just for fun, and thought I'd do that again this year. But, last night when I was contemplating getting it decorated, I had a light bulb moment...Why not let Serena just play with that tree?! So, this morning when Serena went for the Christmas tree, I handed her the mini one and some ornaments. She played busily with them while Rocky looked on with lots of curiosity (jealousy?)!

The best part about the ornaments was not putting them on the tree, but taking them in and out of the box, of course!

Happy times with her little tree (and Rocky!)

We received another surprise package in the mail today! This time from Grandpa & Grandma! Jordan was like, "Is it Serena's birthday or something?!" Haha, I guess when it rains, it pours! ;) So, we opened it up and found an adorable pink Cowboys wind suit!

Cutest Cowboy fan out there!

Serena got out her purse again today. She hasn't played with it much for a while. I was surprised she still remembered how to 'put on' the lipstick the way I'd shown her! ;) After carrying the lipstick and bracelet around for a while, she went back to the purse and pulled out the mirror. Although she noticed her reflection in it, she didn't seem too interested in that. Instead, it apparently reminded her more of our phones, and she walked all around with the mirror up to her ear, talking away! It was so funny, you guys! Now and then she would look at it and apparently pretend to push some buttons and then it would go right back up to her ear for more talking and laughing and even sighing, with periodic breaks while she apparently listened to the other end! I'm working on getting video for Thursday!

A Box from Grammie & a Spaghetti Dinner

Serena has been such a happy girl today having Daddy back home again!

Today's big accomplishment for Serena was finally figuring out how to use Daddy's dog whistle! She was pleased as punch to finally be able to blow on that thing and make noise come out of it just like Daddy does! Now, if she could just figure out why the dogs don't seem to respond like they do for Daddy...even when she goes and stands RIGHT IN FRONT of them and blows the whistle as hard as she can, hahaha!

This afternoon we got a package in the mail from Grammie for Serena! Inside was this adorable soft cozy sweatshirt! It looks so cute on her!

I wanted to get a picture of Serena in her new sweatshirt (I wish I'd thought to take the tags off first! :P), but she wasn't really into posing and smiling for the camera...until Daddy came to the rescue with his hat, haha!

When we have spaghetti, I use whole wheat rotini rather than spaghetti noodles for Serena so she actually has a chance at getting some of it in her mouth. Have you ever watched a baby try to pick up spaghetti noodles and eat them?! But, even with the better gripping surface, it's still a huge mess! And then comes the inevitable itch on the forehead with the spoon in hand...and then the tickle from the food deposited on the cheekbone from the spoon...and then before you know it, she's rubbing her face between each bite because of all the food on it that's tickling her!

Snowman! Foot! Ear! Poopytime!!!

Last night after Serena went to bed, I turned on Elf and put up the tree! Serena didn't notice it until after breakfast this morning. When she did notice it, she was standing about 5 feet away from it and suddenly burst out in a very high-pitched tone, "Da! Da! Da!" and pointing and giggling! It was so funny! I set a few other little Christmas-y things out too. One of them being a cute little beany-baby snowman. I put him in the corner of the kitchen counter on the right side of the stove. He's not really conspicuous there, but I thought he could sit leaned up against my cooking books and make me feel a little more festive in the kitchen, heehee! Well, this morning when Serena came into the kitchen for breakfast, somehow her eyes caught sight of the that snowman right away! I really didn't think she'd even notice him stuck in the corner like that, but she insisted I let her get her hands on him! And then, oh, the love that little snowman got!

Loving up the snowman!

Serena is getting very good at identifying body parts. She's known where her nose is for a long time (thanks to The Nose Book from Aunt Julie!), but lately we've added ears and feet. I think she could get a lot more of them pretty quickly, but she's kinda choosy about when she feels 'in the mood' for that game, haha!

Foot!

Ear

I was trying to get some pictures of her reading her book, but I didn't realize until a minute or so later (when my nose picked up on a clue) that it was poopytime for her, hahahaha! The pictures are too good not to share. (Sorry, Serena!)

Poopytime! This one made me laugh so hard!

Seriously, Mom, you really think now is a good time for pictures?!

Slide Mastery and Other Things

This afternoon I took Serena to the playground again. She wanted to swing for the first 10 minutes or so, and then she spent about half an hour walking/standing around watching all the other kids. She can be so pensive at times! Finally, I encouraged her to climb up the steps on the playset and then I went down the little kiddie slide with her on my lap. After we had done that 3 times, she was kinda tired of it and went back to watching the other kids. Then, she suddenly decided to climb the steps again. This time, I stayed on the ground right next to where she was. When she got to the slide, she turned around and went down on her tummy! I don't know how she got the idea to do that; I hadn't shown her that option and none of the other kids had been doing that! After that, she was Queen of the Slide and went down all by herself several more times before we went home!

Serena took a break from sweeping the floor to go through the ads that came in the mail today

Yesterday, Serena spent a lot of time dragging her xylophone around the house. After she went to bed, I found some string and tried to find an appropriate toy to tie it to for her. I settled on this little car. She thinks it's so great to drag it around! It's added a whole new dimension to playing with it! Of course, she makes sure the passengers are always inside...which can be hard work when they keep getting flung out!

This toy has just amazed me! Serena was 5 months old when Grammie gave it to her for Christmas last year. It has been an awesome toy since Day 1! She still loves to play with it! Whether pushing it, dragging it, maneuvering it out the door to take it into the backyard, or just sitting and playing with all the activities on the front, it has provided countless hours of amusement for her through all of her different stages of development over the last 10 months. Truly an amazing feat for any toy!

New Version of an Old Favorite

Serena loves her ring-stacking game. Tonight I put one of the rings on my finger, and she thought it was so fun! She then got busy gathering all her rings from the dog kennel where she'd thrown them earlier today and began stacking them on my finger. She's still just barely short enough to be able to stand inside the kennel without hitting her head!

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

Things got a little out-of-hand this week in the video-taping department, and I ended up with over 13 minutes of video...about 4 minutes of which I just couldn't live without. My system is that I edit the video clips together each week and then just delete what I don't use. Then, I keep the edited version in a folder for us. So, in a big way, this blog has helped me stay up-t0-date on keeping my photos and videos of Serena organized; which is really good because it's so easy for me to get behind on stuff like that!

This first video has a bunch of Serena & Daddy goofiness. They are quite the buddies! ;) Then, there's a little teeny clip of Serena doing the snorty thing that Aunt Julie taught her (Serena thinks it's REALLY cool to do that now. Thanks, Aunt Julie. Haha!). And a teeny-er clip that I just couldn't bring myself to edit out of Serena smiling at me from the playground set. I thought I had the camera set to take a picture, but it took a video instead; but it's actually really fun to see her smile in an action shot rather than still!

This second video is a little longer, and if you don't watch the whole thing, I completely understand! I even edited out a good 3 minutes, you guys! It's all just Serena 'reading' her book, and I just get the biggest kick out of it! She is so expressive and earnest in her reading! In the mornings, the first thing she does (after sitting up in bed and chatting at her still-sleeping parents) is to climb down from the bed to go find a book. She then brings the book back to the bed, asks to be lifted back up (which I grudgingly pull myself from my comfy spot to do), and commences her morning read...which happily for us can last a good 15 minutes or so! ;)

Where's the Truck?

Tonight we played a rousing game of "Hide the Toy Truck Under the Pail and See If It's Still There When You Lift the Pail Up Again." Guess what?! It was! Every time! And it got a smile every time, too! Haha! Gotta love playing with a one-year-old! ;)

A Walk

When we left for tonight's walk, we forgot the stroller! We had driven over to the other side of our neighborhood so Jordan could take the dogs out in the field for some exercise, so we didn't really want to turn around and drive all the way back home for the stroller. So, Serena got to walk! She thought it was really great and it was fun to watch her explore! She found a big dead branch lying on the ground with all its leaves still on it. When she grabbed a hold of it, she realized that whenever she shook it, the dry leaves made a rattling sound. For some reason, that really struck her funny bone!

Trying to keep up with Daddy

After a while, Daddy came back and brought her out in the field with him!

She did pretty well navigating the uneven terrain. It certainly did not hold her back!

Big strides while holding onto Daddy's finger

Reading

Serena's 'reading' has gone to a whole new level lately! It's so funny to hear her 'read' to herself and watch her point to the pictures. I already got some video footage for this Thursday's video!

Serena was such a NUT tonight before bed! Jordan was laying on the floor throwing a toy into the air and catching it, which is something that has always fascinated Serena. So, Serena had a toy in hand which she held way above her head and then dropped. She laughed and laughed! And then she did it again. And again. And then, she started throwing it from up on the couch to the floor where I was sitting. That really made her laugh for some reason, and we pretty much just kept playing that game for the next 30 minutes until she finally went to bed! Her laugh was just hilarious and she was being such a goof!

Playing with Daddy

Serena thought it was so funny to chase Daddy around while he tried to snap pictures of her!

Awe, a hug for Daddy!

Daddy makes me fly and it's SO fun!

Stuff Serena Did Today

After her morning nap, Serena wanted to sit on Daddy's lap and watch sports news on his computer. She was very 'into' it!

Getting a 'Big Squeeze' from Daddy

We went to the park at the front of our neighborhood that has a playground. Serena got so excited when she caught sight of it. She started talking in her high-pitched voice and laughing!

On the playground. Yes, Rocky went down the slide with Daddy & Serena! ;)

Baby-face

Brushing Macy

Whenever Jordan sits down to brush, trim, or clip the doggies, Serena rushes over as fast as she can! She was so insistent that Daddy should let her brush Macy out today that I went and found her the other dog comb so she could 'help.' She used it (as you can see in the pictures), but she still offered to trade with Daddy every few seconds or so, haha! ;D

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

Serena's officially cutting a new tooth! We've had our suspicions for several days now, but this morning I spied the nasty little blister on her gum. It's the one on her right on the bottom completing her set of 4 front teeth down there. No more crooked smile! ;)

Today's video has 3 sections:

Section #1: Serena came up with a 'new' way to eat her Cheerios the other morning that was so funny! I think she could win a prize for coming up with the most creative ways to eat Cheerios, haha!

Section #2: A typical Serena & Rocky play session. Unfortunately, I did not get the part where Rocky ran in circles around her as fast as he could while Serena just sat in the middle of the yard belly-laughing!

Section #3: A very short clip of Serena 'reading' to herself until she realized I was standing right there and "Hey! How about you read this to me?" ;)

Serena Girl

Serena slept in this morning! It was SO great to sleep in past 9!!! It's been WAY too long! ;P

Today's morning nap fell apart (BOO!), but thankfully she took a good afternoon nap. I hope that this is because of teething and not something else! The rest of the day went pretty well, except that she was a bit on the I-need-Mommy side.

By the time we left for Jordan's softball game, though, she was doing great! She 'talked' the whole way there, which was very entertaining! When Serena, Macy & I got to our usual spot on the bleachers, a couple of little girls (maybe 5 or 6 years old) came over to pet Macy. Then, they asked what Serena's name was, which she apparently took as an invitation of friendship. She reached out her hand to them saying, "Ah! Ah!" This is what she does when she wants to hold someone's hand. They each took one of her hands and asked me if it was okay if they walked her around a little. I said "Sure," so off they went! It was pretty cute! Serena was very pleased with her new-found friends! They didn't stay for long, though, since their dad's game was starting on another field; but that was okay. I was thinking an hour might be a long time for those little girls to want to play with Serena, and Serena was probably going to have a hard time leaving them alone if they stayed! ;)

Reading herself a 'boop'

Serena signing "Eat." For some reason, she usually points to her nose rather than her mouth!

Just being a cutie

This is her "Do-You-Think-I'm-Funny?" face

Serena's "Awe-So-Sweet" face

Shopping Day

Today we went shopping in Frisco with Aunt Julie!

Play Day

Today we just stayed home all day and played. In the afternoon, we took a walk to the park (complete with a trip to Sonic at Happy Hour!)! It was a really pretty day!

Serena had so much fun at the park! She cried when we left! :(

Serena was completely worn out from playing at the park!

In the evening, Serena turned into a big goof! She went and found her boots (which she L-O-V-E-S!) and wore them all over the house (after wearing them on her hands for a while first, haha!).