Is Inara really 2 months shy of turning 2?

I'm a few days late on the 22 month birthday blog, so I thought I better use nap time today to wish my sweet girl a happy birthday. I seriously can't believe that Inara is 22 months and will be reaching the 2 year mark in just a couple short months. Man, time flies exponentially faster when kids are around. I mean, I always feel old but I feel even older now that my baby is getting so big.

Life as usual has been a roller coaster ride, mostly on the up swing though. We've hit a few road bumps as Inara just does not do well at all with teething. The poor girl has been running slight fevers and drooling like crazy, along with the usual teething cranks. On days like this, she usually just wants more of mommy's attention and to be held and snuggled. It can be hard on me, but I just have to remember this too shall pass. I've turned to giving her an assortment of pain relievers that she is now, thankfully, taking. After a few moms suggested it, I am going to try Motrin tonight since I'm not sure if the Tylenol is working. She is taking the Hylands Herbal Tablets finally and those seem to help too. I'm just concerned about the fevers though, since she's never been one to run a fever in the past. And this all comes in perfect timing too as we are preparing for our trip to CA in 5 more days. More on that in a sec.

Let's see what else is new with Inara. The talking and vocabulary are out of control now. She amazes me every day with all the new things she says. The other night I asked her if she was done with dinner so I could clear her plate, and she boldly responded, "Wait a minute." I commended her because I use that phrase with her all the time, and she used it appropriately. She is definitely a girl who has her own opinion. This is most reflected at meals, unfortunately. I say unfortunately because she's developing some picky eating habits. This could be due to her teething or her turning 2 soon. Foods that she ate just a couple months ago are now turned down with a wrinkled nose. Once she loved strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes, bananas, but not so much lately. The one thing she always seems to eat though is cheese. That girl could eat cheese for all 3 meals and snacks in between. This means most meals consist of a grilled cheese sandwich, mac & cheese, or cheese quesadilla. I'm going to start mixing things into these three staples to see if I can get more vitamins into her diet. We'll see how that works.

One of our daily rituals is playing outside. She absolutely loves the outdoors. She's gotten so brave when we go to the park and now goes down slides all on her own, without me waiting for her at the bottom. It's amazing to see how much she's grown by observing such behaviors. One thing that cracks me up (and totally reminds me of me) is she always has to clear the wood chips off the steps before she can climb up, and if there is dirt or debris on the slide, she will politely point it out to me and have me clear it before she can slide down. She's so concerned about things being clean and orderly that's for sure. (She does this with her hands to. When eating, she continously asks me to clean her hands. She doesn't like to be dirty for long.) I've recently taken her to the outdoor pool at the rec center, and she does fairly well in the water. Most of the time, she'll play here and there with friends, but she'd much rather sit on mommy's lap and be an observer. I try not to push her too much, but sometimes I would really love to see play more with other kids and have fun rather than be the passive observer. Again, this so reminds me of me though. I've always wished I was a more active player vs. the calm observer.

Another of our daily rituals is taking walks. I bought her a little buggie/car that I can push her around the neighborhood in. Most of the time, this is her toy of choice after dinner when Daddy is home, but she and I have taken many walks too. I find it amusing to walk with her because she loves to point things out to me. Of course, we have to look for airplanes, and when we do see them, she always says "NeeNee" and I respond, "Yes, soon we'll go on an airplane to see NeeNee." She then quickly follows with "Toby?" Jacked. Toby has now taken the #2 spot, pushing Pop and Spanky to #3 and #4. (Actually, I think this is kinda cute since she only knows Toby from web calls.) When walking, we also look for flags. The girl is fascinated with flags, particularly the American flag. We also look for flowers, birds, kids, bikes, dogs, rabbits, etc.

One thing that truly amazes me is Inara's ability to recognize similar objects. For example, our friend with the little boy Owen drives a white SUV, a Trailblazer I believe. So any time we see a car that looks like this car, Inara will yell out Owen. The same goes for a black SUV like Kristi's. Inara will point it out and call out A for Avery. We have a couple Fisher Price Little People books and one of the little boys has short blonde hair, who she instantly associates with her friend Owen. Unbelieveable what a great memory she has and how she can associate various things with people she knows. Of course, this is also true with Curious George. She associates so many things to her favorite monkey: carrots, rainbows, boats. She may watch too much TV, but I've said it before and I'll say it again, Inara has learned SO much from George.

I swear Inara has the happiest, bubbliest personality that is so adorable. She does the funniest little things all the time. Something she started when my parents were here is she makes beeping noises when she walks backwards like the beeping trucks and vans make. Now she does it all the time, not just when she's walking backwards but even when she moves cars, strollers, etc. backwards. So funny. Also, her responses to questions can be so cute. We often ask her "Whose silly?" when she's being funny. Her response now is "ME!" Yes, she now can use the pronouns me and you, and she uses them correctly. She also has to mimic so much of what I do. If I'm sweeping, then she goes into the cupboard and gets her little broom and dustpan. And if she sees me wearing my apron while cooking, then she has to put hers on too. I love that I have a mini me running around her. It's one of the coolest feelings in the world.

One conversation we have numerous times throughout the day is when we go see NeeNee and Pop and all the fun things we're going to do. She can't wait to swim in Pop's big pool, even more so now that she saw videos of Kylie jumping in the pool. I've also told her about going to the fair with Kylie and all the farm animals we're going to see. She gets so excited. But she gets even more excited when I talk to her about going to Mickey Mouse's house called Disneyland. She always asks if we're going to ride the train with NeeNee. Yes, sweet pea, we're going to ride the train at Disneyland. I think she's going to have the time of her life when we go to CA. But I know for SURE that my parents are also going to have the time of their lives with this little munchkin. Even though they just saw her in April, she really has changed so much in just a few months that they are going to have a blast. So 5 more days, NeeNee, Pop, and Spanky, so be prepared because you're going to have your hands full for 12 days. We can't wait!

The girl has a gas problem

So this will be one of those blogs that when Inara is older she will find out I wrote this and seriously want to hurt me for telling the world about her gas issues. But what are moms for if not to embarrass their children?

For the past few months, Inara has found great humor when she toots. Yes, it can be rather cute when a little kid lets one slip, but Inara lets them go all day long. When she does, she usually giggles, and I then have to prompt her to say excuse me. I know she's not quite two years old yet, but I want her to learn now that it's not polite to fart in public, especially if she doesn't excuse herself. Last night was one of the funniest things she's ever done. She was taking a bath while Shawn and I sat and watched her splash around and be her usual silly self. Suddenly, she puts one hand down, leans over, and seriously let out the loudest toot she's ever done. Of course, it was even louder because it vibrated off the bathtub. This startled her at first, but then sent her into giggle mode. So she then had to do it again. Shawn and I died laughing, which didn't help matters much because if mom and dad get a kick out of it, then it must be good to do. She did this at least 4 more times. I then became worried she'd poo in the bathtub, so I told her to stop. I could tell she wanted to continue making mommy and daddy laugh, but I was grateful that she listened and stopped.

Then after lunch today, she outdid herself once more. She was sitting in her highchair trying to go poopy. Her new thing is she covers her face when trying to relieve herself as if to ask for some privacy. I saw her do this, so I said my usual "Mommy will leave you alone so you can go poopy." I started cleaning up lunch dishes when all of a sudden I hear her go, "Mommy. Ta da. Stinky." I looked up at her and asked what she said. She then obligingly replied, "Ta da. Stinky." My daughter was so proud of the fact that she had done her business that she had to announce it with a congratulatory ta da. I lost it. I laid on the counter and died laughing, tears streaming down my face. Not the best response because again she's going to think this is acceptable and do it again in the future I'm sure. But it was honestly one of the most hysterical things she's ever done.

I'm worried now though. Why is my daughter so fascinated, entertained, whatever you want to call it with bodily functions? Is this normal? I mean come on. Where does she learn these things? It's not like Shawn and I walk around tooting and saying ta da when we go poo. Oh boy. I can't wait to hear what the preschool teacher says when Inara starts her class. "Um excuse me, Mrs. Tomlinson. Can we speak about Inara's infatuation with expressing herself so freely by tooting up a storm in class?" I can just see it now. And the worst part is most of the time I encourage it because I laugh when she does such things. But really how do you not laugh and who knew a toot could be so adorable? Sorry baby girl, but I had to share this one. I love you though.

Happy 4th of July

Thought I'd take advantage of Inara napping, so I can get caught up on the blog. I have to tell everyone about my great job last weekend. Shawn's birthday was Mon the 29th. About a month ago I was trying to come up with a great gift idea for him since he's so impossible to buy for any more. He really needs to find less expensive hobbies. I realized the best gift would be a visit from his good friend, Greg. I emailed Greg and threw out the idea. He said he and his wife were in need of a vacation, so he'd get back to me. I wanna say the very next day their tickets were booked and plans were in motion. I was excited to surprise Shawn with one of his BFFs coming to visit but also was super excited to finally get to meet Greg and Tracy's daughter Kate.

Last Friday, Kristi came over in the morning to install Inara's old car seat since I'd need an extra one for little 9 month old Kate. That afternoon I went to the airport to pick up the surprise guests. I had been coordinating with Thane for a few weeks too so he could make sure to get Shawn home after I got back with our guests. One thing my brother-in-law is great for: he's a perfect partner in crime. We pulled it off perfectly. We had been home about 10 min by the time Shawn and Thane got home from work. When Shawn entered, I yelled from the kitchen, "Honey, you better come here. We need to talk." He slowly came around the corner to see me feeding a baby in the high chair. I told him, "Honey, I found this baby at the park. I already called the cops. Don't worry." He paused for a brief moment and said, "That's Kate! Where's Greg?" Greg and Tracy came out from their hiding spot to greet a super excited Shawn. He was totally surprised and thrilled. That night Shawn told me I was "good." Usually he picks up on surprises, but I never lead on that something was brewing. He was so happy to have Greg and his family here to celebrate his birthday. Ahhh, it's the least I can do for a great hubby.

Greg was here a year ago before we bought the house, so it was great to show him and Tracy around HR. We took them to one of the rec centers and played in the pool. Both Kate and Inara love the water, so this was a perfect outing. We had a bbq Saturday night for Shawn's birthday and had some other friends over along with the Tomlinsons. Sunday Greg wanted to go see the REI flagship store, so we went to Denver, shopped, and walked around 16th Street mall for a bit. Of course, we had to introduce Greg and Tracy to Survive, our favorite board game. We now have another family hooked on the game. Hope we can find a few Survives for sale at garage sales soon. All in all, I've gotta say Shawn had a perfect birthday. All the stress I've been going through planning the surprise was well worth it.

Can't do a blog update without Inara news. Our biggest recent milestone is Inara finally says her name. A week ago she started saying Inara Grace. I think it's hilarious that she doesn't just say Inara but has to say her full name. I have always loved the flow of her name, so the fact that she says Inara Grace makes me so happy. I realize now that I more often call her by her full name than just her first name and frequently do it when I'm trying to reprimand her. Guess it stuck because she says Inara Grace all the time now.

I've been thinking alot about our trip out to CA lately. It's now less than 3 weeks away, and I'm so excited to be going. I know my parents and brother were just out here, but seriously, the girl has changed so much in just the past 2 months that I can't wait for them to see her. As for all the friends and family that I want to see, they are going to get a kick out of how fun Inara is now. She's got the best personality ever. She's so funny and full of life. She asks me at least once a day when we hear an airplane if NeeNee's on it. I've been telling her that Inara, Daddy and Mommy are going on an airplane to OC to see NeeNee, Pop, Spanky and Toby (because she's always referencing Michael's dog now). She always responds with her enthusiastic, Curious George-like "Ooooooooh!" Given the planner I am, I've already started looking into all the things I want to do while we're there. (Why do so many of them revolve around food though? There are a bunch of our favorite restaurants we're hoping we can get to while visiting. Mainly, we can't wait to get us some frozen yogurt!) Of course, we'll go to the beach one day. I definitely want to take her to the OC Fair. She will love going on the rides and seeing the farm animals. I'm debating whether to go to the Long Beach Aquarium or the Santa Ana Zoo. The aquarium is so expensive any more, but I think she'd love to see the fish and aquatic animals. But then again, the kid loves zoo animals, so that's always an option. We're heading up to Bakersfield Aug 1 and 2 to see Kim, Danny and Mady along with all our Bako friends too. I've also been thinking a lot about taking Inara to Disneyland. I used to always be so against taking kids to Dland until they are old enough to really get it, but I think Inara would really love going. She knows who Mickey and the gang are, plus she's a huge Pooh fan and knows other characters like Nemo, Boo and Sully from Monsters Inc, and of course, the Disney princesses. I recently told Sierra no matter how much you try to keep your daughter away from the princesses, she is going to learn who they are from friends and seeing them in the stores. Plus, Inara would absolutely love riding the train, the cars, and some of the kid rides. I'm hoping we can go even for just a half day. Shawn's definitely in too. Shocking since he generally hates going to Disneyland in the summer: too hot and too many darn people. Anything for his little sweetheart though. The one great thing about my parents living in CA (although I would kill to have them move to CO) is SoCal is a great place for vacationing. There are so many touristy things to do, even with a 22 month old. I will be sure to take TONS of pictures to share our trip out to CA with all 5 of my readers. Well maybe I have 7 or 8 readers now. Ha ha.

Hope everyone has a fantastic 4th of July. We love you all!