My head is spinning

So, over the last 3 weeks or so, I've realized such a change in Jenna. She's really a little person, displaying her wants, her needs, her desires. She's throwing less tantrums because she's really able to express herself now.

I can *talk* to my child now. She can converse back with us. She says so many words every time I try to write them down, I miss A LOT. She sings 'take me out to the ball game' with us. I'm going to try to list a number of the words she's saying but I know this list will not be all the words. I.just.can't.keep.up!

Tree, apple, light, more, please, up, down, Pop, Poppy, Mama, Daddy, Mom, Dad, Daddy, bath, potty, broccoli, cheese, sock, shoes, zapatos, boca, eye, nose, head, cabesa, mesa, Noble, bye, hi, go, Ohhhh Doctor!!! (phrase used when the Yanks hit a home run), kisses... the list goes on and on. She repeats new words daily and frankly, I don't know what to do with such a verbal child! Oh, I left out the word 'crap' which she's repeated but not used in context... much better than some of the other words that came out of our mouths during the 49ers game the other day.
We went to the pumpkin farm a few weekends ago. We had a blast. Jenna loved pushing the pumpkins over then trying to pick them up...

She's so big, so independent, such a toddler. I *love* this age. I love that she's striking out on her own every chance she's got.

Although I can't say I'm surprised. The girl has always been opinionated. Need I remind you that she likes to make a statement?

Seriously... look at this kid. So different than 6 months ago. When they say 'this too, shall pass' they're not kidding. The blink of an eye yields a different child entirely. And yet, she's not all that different. She still makes us aware of her wants, her needs, her desires... rather forcefully. But now I'm able to encourage her to phrase things instead of just balling or screaming. Crazy cool is what it is. Crazy cool.

Jenna is just shy of 16 months and blowing my mind.

Blogger Challenge #2

Do you enjoy reading? What do you read and when? What's your favorite book ever?

I do enjoy reading quite a bit. I read: blogs (um, duh), business nerd books (self improvement, business management, personal growth), Mommy books. I tend to like Non-Fiction. That cracks me up, by the way. I remember when I was in elementary school and non-fiction was totally lame. I didn't understand why people would read non-fiction when there were stories of Ramona out there to immerse yourself in! Now a days, fiction just doesn't grab me the way it used to. I have a book sitting on my nightstand that I've been reading over the course of the last year. It's fiction, about knitting (Friday Night Knitting Club for anyone interested). Oh, I guess I don't read entirely NF. I will pick up some chick-lit every now and then if I don't want something too thought provoking.

I read blogs on my phone in the evenings, and when I'm in the middle of a book I read it whenever my butt hits the couch and Jenna's not around.

Favorite book ever? Ugh. So tough for me. I'll list books that I rec to others frequently
Business Nerd Books: 4 hour work week, Am-bitch-ous, How to win friends and influence people and Think and grow rich I think those are my 4 biggest reference point books. And I fully admit the titles are a bit lame on some of them, but the content is friggin awesome.

Mommy Books: Sippy cups are not for Chardonnay; Love & logic, early childhood years and It sucked and then I cried.

I love my family.

This was taken at Disneyland (duh) by my brother. Jenna was ALL ABOUT touching Minnie... Luckily Minnie didn't mind, too much. She decided to take a step closer to Nick, though.



I love this picture.

Blogger challenge

I belong to an awesome community, a community of Mom's that support each other through the good, the bad, and the ugly of parenting. Many of these Mom's have now become my near and dear friends, which I will forever be grateful for.



There's been a 'blog challenge' and I hope to be able to keep up with it weekly. Sadly, I've had virtually no time to blog with changes at work (trying to decide how much I want to discuss that here) and when I'm at home, the last thing I want to do is sit in front of a computer in the evenings or on the weekends.



Why do you blog? What do you hope to get out of this challenge?



I blog for me. Initially, the blog was to remind me of the little changes, to get the neverending thoughts of being pregnant, having a baby and now having a toddler out in a form that I could look back on. I'm happy I started blogging when I did. It's exciting to look back on when I found out we were expecting, on telling Nick, on finding out the gender, sharing news with our families and friends. Looking back on the colicky times (although I didn't blog a lot about those, not enough time and they were difficult.



The trials of breastfeeding, working, being a working mother. Reminders to be true to who I am, not lose myself in the process of wake up, work, Jenna, bed, crash. I blog to remember. Mommy-amnesia is real, people!



I've also been able to use the blog to open up about my real feelings, share my photos, share my life. I used it to write Jenna a monthly letter and I hope to print those letters up and give them to her for her birthday one year.



I hope these challenges really 'force' me to not forget to make time to make memories. To get me writing. I really don't want to forget anything. I want to be able to look back on the blog and remember that today Jenna signed please and SAID it, too for the first time. I want to remember how hard it is to throw myself into work and leave it behind to throw myself into my family when I get home. The conflict of having a working dinner meeting and stepping away from my loving and supportive husband and my little girl as she blows me kisses goodbye.



I just want to be able to remember how life is RIGHT NOW.

Mini photo shoot

It's been so long since I picked up my camera. Work's been crazy, lots of changes, and that leaves me exhausted at the end of the day. But that's really no excuse not to catch the munchkin on camera. This past weekend was a great one filled with friends and some time with our little family. We headed out to run around and play on Saturday morning.

Little Miss Independent. This is the view I get lately... of her running away. I can't keep up!

Under Daddy's watchful eye...


She really liked watching the water slap against the rocks.


She's never shy about what she wants...
They're my favorite.