My Name Is Now Mom

TerraDactyl turned 18 months old the other day!  And whether by chance or design, she got some presents in the mail!  TerraDactyl got a stuffed chimpanzee and elephant as well as a new pair of shoes (all shown in picture above) from the Ruvalwoods.  She also got a new book, Ada Twist, Scientist  from the Juggernought family.   I found a recipe for 3-ingredient toddler cookies .  I was so excited to try them out because it's literally just oats, bananas, and cinnamon.  Once I made the cookies, TerraDactyl would NOT eat them.  She wouldn't even acknowledge them.  And then one day, she just picked up a cookie and ate nearly the whole thing!  It was weird.  But it was also exciting because this was the first food that she's actually taken bites of.  So that's been fun too.  There's a few variations for the recipe.  The picture above is the peanut butter one, but I haven't had a chance to try the carrot variation yet.  I'm hoping I can just keep sneaking random h

TerraDactyl's version of helping with laundry:  stealing the dryer balls and running off with them.  Sometimes she'll climb into the dryer to get to the balls.  Sometimes she'll close the dryer door.  She also really likes pushing the button that tells the dryer that the door is shut so it's OK if it runs.  So far she hasn't been able to open the dryer door, so that's good, but I'm still keeping the laundry door shut, just in case.   TerraDactyl's first go-kart.  She likes being pushed around the house like this.  But it's pretty rough on my hamstrings trying to run around the house pushing something that's 12 inches off the ground.   Laying continues to be one of TerraDactyl's preferred fashion choices.  She even willingly wore her headbands for nearly 15 minutes after asking me to put them on.  Usually she wants me to put them on just so she can rip them off.  This time, it seemed like she was making a real effort to follow through on the c

TerraDactyl is not quite as tall as she would like to be.  So she's been looking into using different tools to help her get what she wants.  Usually it's a place mat.  She pulls the place mat off the table and whatever was on it comes with.  (Yay for the heartiness of Corelle dishes!)  She almost always wants the steak knife (of course).  But lately, she's started experimenting with stepping stools.  I may have to re-think the ingenuity of giving her an empty milk carton to play with...   TerraDactyl is also making advances in showing affection.  She's done both the sloppy wet kisses and the funny air kisses to family for a while.  But she also wants to show affection to her favorite dolls and stuffed animals.  She's started kissing them (and rubbing their heads). And of course, TerraDactyl hugs her favorite toys.  It took her a few days, but she's finally figuring out how to hug two toys at once (one in each arm).  I like this photo, it looks all artsy with eve

DH and I finally got around to hanging up our pictures in the "new" house.  It's only been nine months....  The delay was actually pretty helpful.  TerraDactyl is better about not needing to cling quite so hard (sometimes), which allowed us to actually get something accomplished.  I think the pandemic didn't really help.  Why bother decorating if no one is going to see the house? TerraDactyl chose this outfit herself.  I'm not sure if it was luck or what, but she's already waaaay ahead of me on making sure her clothes match.  When I dress her, I usually just aim for "weather appropriate".  Getting a matching outfit is a secondary goal. This milk jug with a bit of water in it is actually a great toy.  TerraDactyl LOVES it.  It makes noises when she shakes it, it's light enough for her to carry it, AND (most importantly) it's just like something that Ma Ma actually uses! It's really interesting watching TerraDactyl cycle through her interes

  We loaned our bassinet out to one of DH's coworkers and they just returned it to us.  I left it in the living room, thinking it would be fine there... But TerraDactyl still managed to climb into it.  She got onto the couch and then managed to cross that gap and get into the bassinet.  She really loves climbing and has zero fear.  I also think it's really funny that TerraDactyl knew the bassinet was for sleeping (based on her pose in the picture).  She hasn't used it for 9 months and she's only 18 months old!   Talking on her Duplo phone and wearing her super chic outfit and boots.   I didn't realize that some of our horse shoes are kids horseshoes.  They're super light.  TerraDactyl really likes running around with them.  She even throws them occasionally (not far).   The lightweight horseshoes definitely mean we could be playing a family game of horseshoes a whole lot sooner than I initially thought.   DH bought us some more dishwasher detergent and TerraDact

I walked into our upstairs bathroom the other day and I saw a big bird directly outside the window.  I thought it was a hawk or something, until it turned its head fully backward to look at me.  Clearly an owl.  But it was only 5pm and fully daylight, so that was weird (that was why I hadn't even considered it might be an owl initially).  Anyways, I think it might be a Northern Spotted Owl.   Oh, and we made it back home safe and sound!  It was a long drive back, so we stopped half way at Oma & Opa's to spend the night.  TerraDactyl had a blast running all over the house discovering all the new things.  She wasn't nearly so mobile the last time we visited, so there were a bunch of new things for her to play with.  But she still remembered her favorite toys from last time. She loved that baby stroller last time.  TerraDactyl wasn't so good at walking, so I think she was using it as a crutch a bit.  She still enjoys pushing the stroller, but she also insisted that I p