Pearly Whites

Paige had her first dental visit today. Her daddy had an appointment, so we decided to take Paige along to see Dr. Barnhart, too! Paige was super excited about this; she has been asking to see the dentist since I went to my last check-up in July.

To prepare Paige for what to expect, we read her book Barney Goes to the Dentist beforehand. We have read this book several times before, but we thought it would be a good idea to refresh her memory. Paige really loves this book and was so excited to talk about all the things that she would be doing today that were also happening in the book.

Here is Paige waiting for her turn...her daddy is in the dental chair right now!

Just being a little silly to pass the time!
Paige's turn...she got to sit on her daddy's lap!

Paige and Neil with Dr. Barnhart. Dr. Barnhart counted Paige's teeth (16) and said, "Your teeth look great; there are absolutely no brown spots at all. Keep up the good brushing Paige!" Woo-hoo!

After the visit, Paige was pretty excited that she got to pick out a ring and a sticker for doing such a good job...guess we will see Dr. Barnhart again in a year!

Halloween- Foofa

Big Girl Bed

Paige graduated to her big-girl bed today! She was super excited about the switch...actually all we did was take off the front of her bed, so now it is like a day bed. We thought we had a guard-rail in with our conversion kit to make it more of a toddler bed, but we were mistaken. It seems we only have the conversion kit to make it into a full size bed (we won't be needing that for a while), and I found out it costs an extra $89 for the guardrail...jeez!!


Anyway, Paige loves her new bed. When she saw it for the first time without the front crib rail she exclaimed, "Oh Daddy, it is so beautiful!" and then she climbed in and laid down. Of course, we had to take some photos of that...here is our big girl!

Halloween Surprise

When we checked our mail today Paige received a special surprise from her Aunt Jill and Uncle Mikael. Paige was super excited to get some mail of her very own. This excitement intensified as she opened the package and discovered what was inside...her Aunt Jill knows her very well!

Pumpkin Carving

Paige and I spent some time this afternoon gearing up for Halloween by carving a pumpkin. We decided to go with a cat this year...actually it is called 'cosmic kitty' in the pattern book. He has a bit of an evil look to him, but Paigey still liked him.

Amazingly, Paige enjoyed the pumpkin carving this year. She was not completely terrified of the 'guts' like she was last year. As we began to clean out our pumpkin last Halloween, she ran away when she saw me scoop some of the 'guts' out and then watched from afar. Today was different; she actually stood close by, examined the 'guts', scooped some out herself, (using a scooper, though, not her hands) and even helped me carve a little bit! It was a lot of fun!

Paigey with her pumpkin!Checking out the 'guts' Helping with the 'clean-out'

Paige took this picture of me...she did a pretty good job!

Happy with the finished product!

All lit up!

Brandt's Dairy Farm Tour

Paige and I went on a tour of a dairy farm today. Paige's grandma, Kathy, invited us to go along with her. Paige was pretty excited to see cows, although she sees them every time she goes over to her grandma and grandpa's house. However, they don't have dairy cows, they have Herefords. So, seeing how cows are milked was a new experience for her (and me too!). BTW, my camera date got reset somehow, so the date is wrong on all my pics...but I am sure you would have figured that out since it is definitely not 2005 :)

This looks a little painful, but it didn't seem to bother the cows at all!

All the weaned baby calves were lined up outside, so Paige got to go down the row talking to them. She was saying, "hello and how are you doing" to several of the calves. She even told each one goodbye before she moved on.

Pumpkin Patch

Neil, Paige and I went to the pumpkin patch in Jefferson City today. It was a Kid's Adventure that our playgroup planned, so there were a lot of friends there that we knew. Paige loves to go to the pumpkin patch. Her favorite thing there is the corn box, but she really enjoys the hayride, the animals, and looking for pumpkins in the patch a lot, too! It is always difficult to convince Paige to leave when it is time to go...here are some photos of the fun we had!

Scarecrow PaigeyPaige and her friend, Kacey.

Posing with the pumpkins...and looking cool! On the hay ride...going to choose a pumpkin!

Our friends; Heather, Dave, and Kacey. In the pumpkin patch...Paige picked her pie pumpkin.

On the way back!
Paige and her playgroup friends in the corn box.
They even had a basketball goal, so Neil taught Paige the art of dunking (assisted).

A Day In The Life

So in case you were wondering what a day in the life of Paige is like, I thought I'd just lay out one for you all.

6:45 AM - Wake up- proceeded by yelling, "Mommy, Daddy, ready to get up!"
7:00 AM - Watch some cartoons- which currently consist of Dora, Sesame Street, and Yo Gabba Gabba. She'll drink some milk and eat some fruit to go with her cartoons.
7:30 AM - Eat breakfast- which was biscuits and gravy, eggs, and sausage links.
8:00 AM - Since it's Sunday, she gets to watch a couple more cartoons of her choice.
8:45-10:00 AM - Play with her kitchen and make all kinds of wonderful dishes for Mommy and Daddy. Believe me, she can make anything you want.
10:00 AM - Grandma & Papa showed up and wanted to take Paige to some rummage sales. She's always up for this because she usually can talk Grandma into getting a new toy that she can't do without.
11:00 AM - She gets back home just in time for her hair appointment to cut Daddy's hair. Don't believe me, check out the picture below.

12:00 PM - Now she's cooking some spaghettios for lunch. One of her personal favorites.

12:30 PM - After lunch, she's turning into Michaelangelo by stamping letters on paper and herself to make beautiful artwork.

1:00 PM - It's time to re-energize the batteries and take a nap.
3:30 PM - Grandma & Papa are hosting a birthday party for Uncle Wayne so we're getting ready to head there.

5:30 PM - We're singing Happy Birthday to Uncle Wayne and Paige is busy blowing out the candles and getting the first "piece" of cake...after her first taste of the icing!

7:45 PM - Wrap things up at the birthday party and head back home to get ready for bed.

8:00 -8:30 PM - Brush teeth, put on 'jammies,' read two books, and then lights out! That's the end of just another day in the life of Paige.

Potty Training- Take 2 (Day 3)

Paige had another accident free day...I am such a proud mommy!! We even went shopping at Wal-Mart and had lunch at Fazolis with big girl panties on...wasn't that brave?

Potty Training- Take 2 (Day 2)

When Paige awoke this morning, she had already gone to the bathroom. We changed her diaper and then began our second day of big girl panties! Paige seemed excited to wear them again, and I am so excited to blog about how well she did today!!

Paige didn't have any accidents today and she used the potty successfully all day. She did go in her diaper at nap time, but that's it! And the most surprising part...we went to a wedding reception tonight, so I put a diaper on her (because I was a little nervous) and she still told me when she had to go potty. Isn't that amazing!! I am so proud of my little Paigey...and she is proud of herself, too! I hope tomorrow brings more awesome potty moments...tee-hee-hee...it is kind of funny that I just wrote that! :)

Potty Training- Take 2 (Day 1)

Well, Paige is showing a bit more interest in potty training, so I decided to give it another try! We bought a new potty seat at Wal-mart yesterday (one that goes on the big potty) and she was super excited about it! She picked out a princess one...even though I thought she would choose the Dora one. (What is it with little girls and princess stuff...they are just drawn to it, without even really knowing what it is!)

So, today we started out the morning with big girl panties and it went pretty well. Paige was super excited to climb up onto the big potty (using her new stool) to use the bathroom, and at the end of the day we were 50% successful. She had three accidents and she used the potty three times.

That's not too bad for our first day, and this is much better than the last time we tried (two months ago). If you remember, she had two accidents and then decided that she wanted to put her diaper back on...so I did! Guess I wasn't that ready for potty training either because I didn't even try to convince her otherwise. :)

So, what will tomorrow hold for my big girl?

Doctor Appointment Correction

Okay, so I went back on the blog and checked...it was actually Paige's 15 month appointment that was really awful. Paige cried every time Dr. Herrbold tried to use the stethoscope, and I believed that it was because she had bad memories of getting her blood drawn for her lead screening.

The last three doctor visits have been really good, though, so hopefully it will be smooth sailing from here. Of course, every time a parent thinks that...it is probably not coming true :)

Two Year Well Check

Paige had her two year check-up at the doctor today. She can actually say her doctor's name now, Dr. Herrbold, but she was a little shy and didn't say it correctly to him. She just sort of said "Dr. Bold" and smiled at him.

Paige did really well at the appointment; she wasn't scared at all. She wasn't scared at her last visit either, but I think her one year appointment was pretty awful (I will have to check back on the blog to see which one it was.) It is because of those darn immunizations...what can you do though?

So, this time I informed Paige that she was going to get some. I thought she was only getting one (Hep A) but she actually had to get two because of this new updated Prevnar 13 vaccine. Anyway, instead of just springing it on her, I told her about it. I was honest and told her that it would hurt but it would be over quickly. I believe this really helped her because as soon as they were done, she calmed down really quickly. Yay!

So, the appointment went well and Paige got a good report. Even though she is still not on the growth chart for her weight, she is growing well. Here are her new stats: She weighs 21 pounds (she would be in the first percentile if she was 22 lbs), her height is 32.75 inches (25%ile), and her head circumference is 18.5 inches (45%ile).

Paige's 2nd Birthday

Paige turned two years old today...WOW! These two years have really buzzed by quickly...it seems like only a couple of months ago that I gave birth to this precious baby girl that could barely hold up her head, and now she is running around and talking in sentences! God is so amazing...as a mom, I have no idea how anyone could ever doubt that!

Here are some things that Paige is able to do at the ripe ol' age of two:
-knows about 30 signs, but only uses them on occasion (out of habit) while saying the verbal word. She will do the signs for me if I quiz her on them :)
-can count to 15
-knows these colors: red, blue, purple, yellow, orange, brown, pink, black, and green
-sings along with me while I sing the alphabet and, although she can't sing it all by herself, if I stop and pause she will say the next letter in the song
-can identify a circle, star, diamond, heart, square, triangle, and oval
-can identify some letters and make their sounds

Here are some of Paige's favorite things to do:
-swim at the Linn pool or at Little Splashers (Memorial Pool) in Jeff City
-play with water balloons...filling them up is half the fun (especially with Daddy)
-wear dresses and spin around in them
-watch Yo Gabba Gabba and Elmo
-play at any park (swinging is her very favorite and sliding is a close second)
-play with play-doh and cut out shapes with cookie cutters
-attend music classes at Musikgarten with Ms. Helen
-sing and dance
-get pushed "fast" in her cozy coupe through the kitchen and living room.
-color with markers and paint (with a brush or her fingers)
-play "band" with her pink piano and Sesame Street guitar...she says she has to practice
-ride on the Kawasaki Mule on Grandma and Grandpa Loethen's farm

Here is Paige this morning (bed head and all). We started out the day with a birthday waffle and sang her Happy Birthday...she enjoyed it!

Blowing out her first set of candles.
We had Paige's birthday party at the Linn Community pool. She had lots of fun swimming, spending time with her friends and family, and opening presents. Here she is getting reading to go inside the Linn pool for her birthday party. She is with her friend, Elle, and she is super excited!
The dessert/treat table!

Close-up of the cake, cookies, and cupcakes that I made for the party!

Paige and Elle swimming in their rings...Paige calls her ring a hoop (she thinks it is like a hula hoop)...which I think is pretty cute!

Paige and her grandma Loethen.

Paige and her grandpa Loethen

Neil and I...we enjoyed swimming too!

Blowing out the #2 candle on her Foofa cake...she needed a little help!

Paige had to stick her finger in the cake to take a lick of the icing...her friend Alice has been teaching her how to do that!

There is a water slide at the Linn pool and some of the adults had fun going down it...so we got some photos. I thought I had one of Neil too, but I must have been mistaken...unfortunately!

Here is our friend, Andy, coming out of the slide!

Grandpa Loethen...can you believe it!

Our friend, Kara!

Time for presents!
The Dudenhoeffers made Paige this awesome chair...it has "Paige's Chair" written on the back!

One of her favorites...a Dora backpack!

Presents from Mommy and Daddy at home...Paige is sitting on her new Rock, Roll, and Ride Tricycle.

Her very own stool...with Paige written on it and decorated to match her bedroom.

I just love, love, love it!

Opening the big one!Her very own table...she can have tea parties for four!

Opening her big present from Grandma and Grandpa Loethen...a basketball goal.

We ended the two year celebration with birthday pizza and one more Happy Birthday song. What a fun day...Happy 2nd birthday, Sweet Paigey; we love you!