Bookworm

As a child, I loved to read.  I wish I had time to read for enjoyment now, but there are so many other things that "have" to get done.  Navy loves to have us read to her, and most recently she has started "reading" to herself.  I snuck up on her today and recorded a little of it. 

Christmas and What Comes After....

Things have been busy in the Helm house since Christmas.  I feel like things have finally started to return to "normal"...whatever that is :)

Navy and Uncle Stephen

We had a great Christmas.  My brother,  Stephen, came to visit us from New York.  Navy loves her "Uncle Fephen" so much! 

Grandpa Harry and Mamaw Vickie also came to visit.  Navy enjoyed seeing them a bunch and loved having all the attention on her! 

Navy and Grandpa

Grammy and Grandpa Helm with the grandkids

Navy wasn't in to opening her presents this year.  She loved to play with the wrapping paper and tissue paper after we had unwrapped her gifts, though. Next year will be another story I'm sure.  She got so many new toys that we didn't have enough room for them!  I was able to convince Jonathan that her changing table/dresser could be moved out of her room and replaced with shelves and storage bins for all of her new toys.  Navy seems to really like her new room arrangement and now plays in her room by herself, which is something she hadn't done before. 

Jonathan has been teaching Navy all kinds of things this past month.  They mainly involve climbing up on things, like the couch, coffee table, bed, etc.  While she can't climb up on our coffee table yet, this hasn't stopped her from climbing on other people's tables!   Hopefully this new found ability will get old soon :)

Navy has learned a couple of new words as well.  Her favorite so far is "no."  Everytime you ask her a question, she says "no."  It's funny how quickly she picked up the appropriate times to use this word, even if it isn't what she really means!  When she gets hungry, she goes over to our fridge and hits the door.  If you don't give her something or if we tell her it's not time to eat yet, she gets mad.  She will stomp her feet and throw a little fit.  She also loves to drink milk.  I truly believe she would drink it all day long if we let her.     

She is so independent and strong-willed.  I can't wait to see what the next few months bring! 

Santa: Round Two

Henderson sets up a Christmas display in Central Park every year.  They have several photo props and fun things for kids and Santa is there sometimes as well.  Navy didn't like us trying to take her picture every five seconds, but she did enjoy herself until...............she saw Santa again.  This Santa didn't have a fake beard or a hat on so I thought she might be a little less scared of him. I was wrong.
 

Navy and Santa

We took Navy to see Santa on Saturday at the FOP.  I don't think she liked him.  Maybe it was the crying, or the back arching, but something made me think she didn't want to sit on his lap.  At least Jonathan was happy to see Santa! 
 

I felt bad for the photographer.  Navy wouldn't sit still, so she wasn't able to get a good picture.  I think you can get the idea, though. 
Maybe next year....

Random

I don't really have anything specific to post about, so here is some randomness....

Thanks to Grandma Wendy's help, Navy can now climb up stairs and slide down them feet first on her stomach.  She is so proud of herself when she gets to the bottom!

Navy said her first word --"hi"--- at 13 months.  She said this after picking up her play phone and putting it up to her ear.  Maybe she has seen that somewhere????
She now says "bye" "all gone" "bath" "outside"  "dadda" and "all done."  I am one of those moms that didn't count the babbling that sounds like "momma" or "dadda" as real words.  She had to use the word correctly and consistently for me to count it :) 

Navy loves to have someone read to her now.  Before, she would rarely sit still for you to read to her, but now she brings books to us and wants us to read them, over and over.  Her favorite book is "Goodnight Moon."  We have two copies and she has broken the binding on both of them! 

Navy doesn't like to be told "no" and has started throwing fits that consist of her waving her hands or throwing herself down on the floor.  Sometimes she swats her hands at me too!  She is also very good at arching her back to try to get out of your arms when you tell her something she doesn't want to hear. 

She loves to give hugs and kisses to everyone.  She doesn't really kiss people though....she just leans her head in to their face/mouth.  She will do this over and over just to hear us tell her "how sweet" she is! 

Navy also likes to get Jonathan's shoes for him.  Poor kid....I can see a lot of this in her future :) 

Navy has also started walking backwards.  It's funny to watch because instead of walking towards us to sit on our lap, she will purposefully turn around and back into our lap.  Sometimes she doesn't turn around and she misses our lap completely :)   

She still loves playing with kids, especially older kids.  She doesn't like to be "babied" by them, though.  Her cousin sometimes tries to help her or correct her, and she gets mad.

On another note......I have only put up one Christmas decoration so far.  I like to have mine up by Thanksgiving, so I am hoping that I can get them done this weekend and next week.

Navy's cousin, Tenley, came over with her dad the other night to play with Navy.  Their dads were playing video games, and the girls had a lot of fun.  They got out every toy in our house!  

Navy does wear pants most of the time, regardless of what these pictures show.

It was fun watching them play together.  There wasn't any fighting or hair pulling, which is a good thing when Navy is around :)