March 2007
JoElle is still doing so great without pullups (except nighttime, I really don't feel like taking her to the potty in the middle of the night right now...)
She has developed a few fears; she is scared of thunder, seems to be a little scared of the dark, sometimes is scared of being alone in her room at night, she was scared to swing at Aunt Ana's house, scared that dogs will bight her....
JoElle's ability to formulate thoughts is amazing to me! I love to ask her why when she tells me things, and a lot of the time she will tell me "because.......(fill in the blank).
I can't even begin to describe the things she tells me, but she uses complex sentences of 6 or more words, uses verb tenses very well and personal prounouns correctly, too.
The other night, she was scared by thunder, but she still prayed for thunder, rain, and the frogs. (We have toads in our pond, it's mating season and they croak all night long...)
JoElle counts to 10 (usually skipping 6) and then counts past to 13, skips over 14,15,16 and picks up again at 17, all the way to 20! It's funny listening to this. She recites the entire alphabet, she can carry a tune very well. She loves to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle," she knows every word and has the note right :) Some other fave songs to sing are "Halle Halle" (you know, "you're love is amazing, steady and unchanging..."
The word "NO" resonates from JoElle's mouth daily. It drives me nuts, so she does it even more...I finally put her in time out a week or so ago for saying "no" to me in such a nasty manner, over something really simple I asked her to do. She cried hard in time out, especially when I saw that she had her purse and I asked her to give it to me. But she is being nicer.
Tim tells JoElle all the time to "be nice to Mommy" and I hear her telling herself this out loud all the time! I am also working on "listening AND obeying Mommy," which is working quite well actually.
The past few weeks, JoElle and I have been enjoying Saturday morning breakfast together. So far, we have visited I-Hop and La Madeline. The other day in the car, she told me she wants to go to Madeline, and I couldn't figure out what she was telling me, finally it dawned on my she was talking about La Madeline. She has a great memory for details.
JoElle likes to pretend that Peyton is here with her, he is kinda her imaginary friend, even though he is real!
We visited the Water Gardens in Ft. Worth this month, she loved it there.
JoElle still attends the Little Gym. She is learning so much there; she is very athletic (from Daddy), she can do the splits, she runs fast (I can't run fast enough to catch her sometimes), she can do the balance beam by herself, but she doesn't have the confidence in her ability yet, she is great on the bars, she pulls her toes to the bars by herself and loves to swing. She can almost flip while hanging from the bar. She is still working on forward rolls.
JoElle enjoys having Daddy read the Bible to her at bedtime. She loves praying for her friends and family every night and loves to go to church. JoElle loves to sing worship songs.
She knows the words to so many books by heart and is begining to identify letters and words in writing.
The other day, JoElle told me Grandpa (my dad) was in the car with her, when I asked her what was he doing she told me "Sitting in my chair!" I love her imagination, and I can't help but smile because I really don't talk to her much about my dad unless we are looking at a picture of him, so I know he is here with us, some way some how (you'll have to ask God about this kind of stuff when you meet Him one day, since, as a human, I can't explain these things and I don't try to either!)
Februray 27th No More Pullups!!!!
So, JoElle was dry all night two nights ago, then she wore panties to school and had NO ACCIDENTS all day! She went to the potty whenever she needed, and also held it at Chick-Fil-A (she demanded to go there before we went to work out at the Y) and then at the YMCA she also held it.
She finally had an accident after bath because she was too busy washing her hands (which she does for hours on end, probably 25-50 times a day) and didn't want to stop.
Today she played at the Little Gym with no accidents there either.
JoElle has been in panties for two days straight and tonight chose to go to bed in them, we'll see what happens! But at least in the day, she is out of pull-ups!! I am excited!!! FINALLY ! She has been potty training for about 7 months now.
February 25th, 2007 Happy Birthday, Daddy!
We surprised Tim for his birthday by telling him Nana's car broke down and she had Peyton, so we went to pick her up and everybody was there to surprise Tim at Texas Land & Cattle. It was fun!
JoElle got to play with all her cousins; the three of them (Elena, Peyton and JoElle) were playing outside while we waited for the food. They got up on the bench outside and JoElle started telling everybody walking in "Hi!" so then Peyton started to chime in and they harrassed everyone as they walked in! Then Elena helped by waving hello to everybody.
Some little girl was leaving in the parking lot and JoElle yelled to her "Happy Birhday!"
In the middle of dinner, JoElle started singing "Happy Birthday to Daddy!" It was so precious!
That night when we got home, JoElle helped me make brownies for Daddy, she likes to mix up the brownies. Then she licked the bowl clean and had brownie mix all over her face and arms. We sang Happy Birthday to Daddy and then JoElle blew out his candles for him!
JoElle couldn't fall asleep, so I gave her a book to read in her bed, her face just lit up! She fell asleep reading; when I checked back on her, she had put the book back in the basket and fell asleep with her feet hanging off her bed, she couldn't quite make it into bed all the way without falling asleep!
Feb 24th JoElle has a new room!
JoElle moved to the front bedroom today, she wanted to move her bed in there, so she helped Aaron and me move her old toys into her old room and move her bed into the "purple" room. It is much bigger and she now has a walk in closet where she can reach her clothes hanging up. She loves her new room!
February 13th, 2007 The Little Gym
JoElle is loving her Little Gym class on Tuesday nights and so are we! She is learning so much, tonight, for the first night, she actually stayed on the red mat during group time instead of running to the equipment; I am so proud of her!
She really likes her teacher, Mr. Jeremy. He is great with the kids and teaches them so much. She is getting even better at the bars, she can pull her toes up to the bar and hang. She can't quit flip on the bars yet, but she is close. JoElle is almost brave enough to walk on the balance beams alone, but she still insists on having Daddy's hand (or mine!)
Tonight JoElle prayed and thanked God for the Little Gym and Mr. Jeremy! So sweet! On the weekends, she asks to go to the Little Gym, a few Sundays ago, she wanted to go and when I told her they were closed, she said "People, go open the doors!" hehe
February 13, 2007 Something to make you smile.....
Her new teachers like to write on her daily sheet: Something to make you smile.....
Here are some of the recent ones:
2/13/07 JoElle singing Happy Birthday to her biscuit. (this one is very funny because JoElle loves to sing Happy Birthday to everything and everyone!!!)
2/12/07 JoElle keeping her pullup dry (all morning, all the way until after naptime at 2!!!)
2/1/07 JoElle playing with the new boys.
1/31/07 JoElle doing flips on the carpet.
1/29/07 JoElle with shaving cream in her hari :)
1/29/07 JoElle playing in the mud and NOT getting dirty :)
February 12, 2007 "I love you mommy!"
After school/work and working out at the Y, JoElle and I were both starving, so we stopped at Chick-Fil-A. While we were standing in line, JoElle hugs me, looks me in the eyes and tells me "I love you, Mommy!"
Doesn't that just melt your heart???
February 12, 2007 Stats: 24.5 lbs and 33.5 inches tall
JoElle went to the Dr for her 2 year old checkup, she is in the 25th percentile for weight and 50 percentil for heighth.
2 new teeth, her 2 year old molars FINALLY broke through on the bottom, they have been budding since she was 18 months old, and they seemed to have been bothering her for longer than that!
Her doctor asked me if she throws tantrums and I told her no, she never does, she just starts crying; her dr. said she isn't sure what to make of that, thanks JoElle for throwing in something different on us....
Her doctor also asked me if she says at least 20-30 words, and I looked at her and told her, "yeah, she can say that many in about 1 minute!"
All JoElle could talk about was wanting a sticker since she knows she will get a sticker at the end... only one shot when they are two, for Hep A. They also take blood, everything is good. She doesn't have to go back to the Dr. until she is 3!
Feburary 8th, 2007 Her friend, Bubba is looking for her
Bubba's mom, Yvonne, told me this morning that last night, Bubba was asking her "Where's JoElle? Is she at church?"
He was really concerned about where she was :)
Bubba and her have been friends since JoElle was about 11 months old, they are finally back in the same room together, he is almost 3 (I think in March) so he will probably move up again soon!
February 5th, 2007 Ft. Worth Stockshow and Mommy's Birthday
We took JoElle, Peyton and Madison to the Ft. Worth Stock Show on Saturday. My sister, brother and I grew up going to it every year to ride the rides, since we grew up in Ft. Worth and got a day off from school to go.
JoElle and Peyton were so excited to be there together. As soon as we got out of the car, JoElle was asking "Where's Peyton???" Then we walked into the cattle barn and she kept exclaiming "It's stinky in here!" Oh yeah, she was in panties ALL DAY there, from 7:30 in the morning until we got to Aunt Ana's house around 4:30, with NO ACCIDENTS!!! Wow, I am impressed.
Back to the Stock Show, they were holding hands, making silly noises, dancing to the country music, and saying "poo poo" over and over, since it was all over the ground!
In the horse barn, JoElle told the horses "No more accidents, horses". I was cracking up!!!
They kinda liked the petting zoo, Peyton fed the goats and giggled. JoElle made me hold her because they were "hurting me!" They really weren't, but she insisted that they were.
JoElle wanted to ride an adult ride, but she isn't even tall enough for the kids rides!!
As for my birthday (on Friday Feb 2nd) Nana offered to babysite JoElle, she fell asleep in Nana's arms watching the Good Night Show on Sprout network, right at 8:45 p.m.!
JoElle sang Happy Bithday to me! It was very precious. Daddy made a card for me and gave me beautiful pink roses and a whistling monkey. Very cute!
