The Totman's: 13.5 months and Christmas at the Dells

Bethany is almost 14 months old! She is getting better at saying words we understand however I wish one of them were not "no" :) She loves saying "cheese" and "uh oh" and tries to do the "uh oh" thing over and over and looks at us to see what we think. She is climbing on everything! I find her on top of her little rocking chair in her room holding her book and trying to read like that... silly girl. In the tub at the cabin she tries to climb onto the seat part but because it is slippery usually slips back into the water. I'm right there, but she doesn't mind if she goes under the water for a second, she is a little fish I think! She likes climbing into the dish washer and fridge whenever they are open too. I love that she enjoys reading and grabs books all over and if she sees an open lap climbs right in or backs up and plops down and says "booK" with heavy emphasis on the "k" sound. We're still working on her picky eating habits. If we put food on her tray that isn't cheese she signs all done and shakes her head no and says no. Sometimes we get her to eat her fruit and shredded chicken, turkey or pork is good sometimes. Veggies are usually tough along with pasta and anything mixed together she won't touch. However, if you say the magic word she runs over to the fridge yelling "chhhheeese" and bangs on the door smiling from ear to ear. We've learned to spell it now along with a few other words. The other day I dropped Bethany off at Westwood and said we were working on her screaming. On cue she starts shrieking from across the room. I think it is a phase but I felt bad that she was playing nicely and heard me mention it and then I had to leave... sorry, gotta go to work, good luck with that! I told them I'd spell it from now on. She has a good friend Abe that she plays with and that day he ran over to say hi and when the screaming incident started he thought it sounded like a great game and chimed in.... whoops.

Here are some recent pics of freedom after her bath. Bethany with her beloved cheese.

Typical

Being very gentle with the tree, but we do have the decorations on the top half only :)

Last weekend we missed the big blizzard in Minneapolis because we were celebrating Christmas at the Dells with Dan's family. His sister came with her family from Chicago and we stayed at resort with Dan's parents. There were 2 units so the kids could have their naps and Monica cooked all the delicious meals. Friday evening we celebrated all the birthday's between Bethany's on Oct 28th through Emily's on Dec 20th.... 5 in total! We sang and blew out 5 sets of candle's :). Saturday was Christmas and we opened so many fun presents while it snowed and snowed outside. In total my guess is about 12 for the Dells vs. the 17 we got at home in Minnetonka. We were very excited to get a new camera and also a little netbook! The pictures below are from the new camera which is a step down from the DSLR camera's, but has a bigger lens than our current camera so hopefully we can get some great shots of Bethany. I am very happy with my mini-laptop so I can blog more, shop online and read my digital magazines/books in the evenings after Bethany goes to bed. If I don't have my work computer open I'm always trading off with Dan's computer, so it is so nice to have my own! Bethany got a mini kitchen and a bunch of play food. She is going to really enjoy it... now if we can only get her more interested in eating real food!

We went to the resort pool several times and Bethany is getting so good at jumping off the side. She also started blowing bubbles in the water when we showed her how to do it. It is fun to see her be so brave and enjoy the water like she does.

Bethany was sad to come home, I know she missed all the activity with her cousins! Thanks for all the fun Totmans and Springers! Can't wait to all be together again soon!

Running around being silly after her bath