Happy 4th of July!

Darby, Lanie, and Emerie: Aren't we just too cute?

The Girls with Their Daddies....the way it should be : )
Me and My Daddy....watching the fireworks....

We celebrated the 4th of July with the Mingledorff Family! Robbie, Marcie, Emerie, and Darby all came down to visit us for a weekend of fun in the sun! We took the boat out to Cumberland Island and enjoyed a day at the beach, then went back out in the boat to watch the fireworks Friday night. Saturday, we went to the pool and played with the slip n' slide.

Lanie's 1st trip to the Zoo!

Today we took a trip to the Jacksonville Zoo with Granny Dot, Tyler, and Nicolas. It was a hot day, but we had lots of fun seeing all of the sights. Lanie enjoyed the monkeys and giraffes the most, and had her first carousel ride! We were all ready for a good nap after our long day....

Lanie Graduates From Swim Lessons!

Cousins Tyler and Nicolas were there to help us get through our last few days of swim lessons, so they probably really deserve a trophy too! Lanie did great when they were there to watch and help out. They were able to get in the water with her and both of them learned how to hold her and how to help her float and swim to and from the side of the pool. She loved swimming with the boys, and most of the time when they were at lessons with her, she never cried, in fact, she laughed and had lots of fun! Now that we are done with lessons for the summer, Lanie is very happy just to swim in her Granny's pool and play, with no tears until you try and take her out of the pool before she's ready! : )

Happy Father's Day!

Lanie spent the weekend in Sylvania celebrating Father's Day with her Daddy, and her Papa Marty, and Papa Frankie!

A Day on Cumberland Island

This Weekend, we took Lanie and Parker out in the boat to Cumberland Island for a Beach Day. They both had a blast... playing in the sand and the water, after a long day of fun in the sun they both were ready for a nap but were too excited to take one - Oh well, an early bedtime works just as well... : )

Memorial Day Weekend at Shellman's Bluff

We took Lanie to the Coast for a visit with MeMe and PaPa Frankie for Memorial Day Weekend. She had a great time boating, at the sandbar in her pool, and in the "big water" with her daddy. There was no R&R time for any of us though while out at the sandbar, Lanie was too busy to take a nap, and wanted to be in the water the entire time!

15 Months Old TODAY!

Today is Lanie's 15 month birthday, and yes, her mommy still made her go to swimming lessons! She did great, more work on practicing the same skills - locating the wall, floating on her back, flipping over from back to front and front to back, and even more underwater swimming. She's still upset for most of the lesson, but very happy to accept the reward sticker that Miss Inga gives her when she gets out of the pool! Today during one of her crying spells, she called out for her "Daddy" - and thankfully Daddy wasn't there to rescue her, because her lesson would have been over for the day! : )

Lanie's Swimming Lessons Week 2

It's already week 2 of swimming lessons! Today, Lanie did a little more floating on her back, some practicing flipping from front to back, some underwater swimming, and of course, some more crying. I thought that she was a little better with the crying today...maybe?.... and she stopped crying as soon as she was out of the pool. She was happy to sit and watch the other students who's lessons come after her.

Lanie's Swimming Lessons Day 4

Today was more practice floating on her back, flipping over, holding her breath, and just practicing getting the sequence together. Lanie seemed excited to get to the pool today, we were waiting for lesson time, looking at the ducks that come up around the pool area.... and then Inga, her instructor came over to say "Hello." Thats when Lanie's meltdown started.... so she's already associating Inga with "not so much fun in the pool." She never stopped crying until she was out of the pool and in my arms. Here's hoping next week things will lighten up a bit! : )

Lanie Swimming Lessons Day 3

Lanie's 3rd Day of Lessons went well. Inga worked with her more on getting her to hold onto the wall, holding her breath when she goes under, floating on her back, and then going from back to a "little swim" to get her to the side of the pool. Eventually, this is the sequence that she will learn to perfect as the lessons progress over the next few weeks. From a floating on her back position, to a face down "little swim" position with a few kicks, then back to a floating position, until she can get herself to the side of the pool, or be rescued. It's hard to believe that she can even be learning anything at all as much crying as she is doing, but as we watch the lessons that come after hers I am reassured that all of the new students her age react this way, Lanie does seem to be a little more verbal than the others, and a little more dramatic! : )

Lanie's Second Day of Swimming Lessons!

Today's Swimming Lessons went pretty much the same as yesterday. Inga worked with Lanie again on getting her to grab the side of the pool and pull herself up out of the water (the technique that you will see in the top video clip). Also, today, she worked on getting Lanie to hold her breath when she went under to minimize the water that she swallows! She did well with this which you can see a little of in one of the video clips (the lower video clip), and Lanie also surprised her that she already knew how to kick....Yea, I've known she was good at that before she was even born, and if you've ever seen her mad, you know she can kick... and as you can see from the video, the lessons DO make her a little MAD! Again, the Instructor assured me that this was normal, and that the first week, sometimes two weeks of lessons were like this and then after that they begin to enjoy it ---- sounds like I'm in for some fun for another week or so! : ) In both video clips I also got a shot of Luke, another ISR student who is 14 months old, his lessons are right after Lanie's and his responses are very much the same as hers, just not quite as dramatic!

Lanie's 1st Swimming Lesson

Today was Lanie's first ISR (Infant Swimming Resourse) Lesson. It was quite an experience for the both of us. She didn't mind getting into the water, or going to the instructor, whom she had never met, she just had her own idea about what she wanted to do, and it didn't include the lesson for the day. Her instructor, Inga, was very patient, and Lanie really did well - although she cried throughout most of the lesson (her instructor assured me that was normal)! She learned to hold and pull herself up using her arms at the side of the pool which was pretty amazing to watch. She even held her breath several times when she went under, which is a skill that she will certainly have to perfect as she learns to swim over the next few weeks. Her lessons are weekdays for the next 6 weeks, so I will try and keep the blog updated as she progresses!

Lanie's Officially Walking!

I've finally taken a minute to post a few videos of Lanie walking! She's getting better and better every day. She definantely was not one of those babies who just woke up one day and decided that she was going to walk, and started walking. She has been slowly teasing us with a few steps here and there for months - but finally, she has decided that walking is her prefered method of transportation now (other than mommy's hip). And as you can see in one of the videos, her favorite toy is a set of golf clubs that her daddy is helping her to become a pro at using. It's the first game we play when we get up, and the last game we play before bed!

Lanie's 1st Beach Trip of the Year!

Today Lanie and I took a trip over to Fernandina Beach for the day. She had a great time, chasing and feeding the seagulls and playing in the sand. She ate more sand than I could put in a bucket, but she didn't seem to mind. She enjoyed her snacks and juice right along with the sand on her hands. No matter how desperately I tried not to take home sand, the majority of it came home with us anyway. It was worth it though.... she took a nice long 2 1/2 hour nap after the beach trip and I was able to enjoy a chapter or two in the book that I took along with us to the beach. So much for those relaxing days on the beach that I used to have !

Pool Party at Lanie's!

Play date Pool Party at Lanie's house today! Pace, Jack, and Brody came all the way from St.Simons to have some lunch and playtime with Lanie today! We all had a great time! Lanie mostly enjoyed her time in the pool, while the others enjoyed swinging, riding in the wagon and cozy coupe car, and playing in the sprinkler.

Lanie's 1st Crawfish Festival 2008!

This weekend, Jack and I took Lanie to Woodbine to enjoy some of the Crawfish Fesitival festivities. On Friday night, we enjoyed taking the golf cart down to the waterfront and listening to the bands play... On Saturday, was the parade, arts and crafts show, and just more fun riding around Woodbine in the golf cart. Lanie had a great time seeing all of the new sights!

Here's Lanie blowing mommy a kiss!

Lanie in PigTails!

In one of these pictures you can see Lanie's two, and only two, bottom teeth. I also attempted to put her hair up in pigtails... without her cooperation of course! I wasn't able to get the normal rubber bands in, just a few barretts to hold her pigtails. It took several tries to get these! She's not a big fan of having her hair fixed! She is growing and learning everyday, and she continues to amaze us with the things she understands. Her favorite things are still listening to her music, watching The Wiggles, and playing with her cookware set. On most days, she carries around a fork or a spoon from the set all day long, even to bed!

We are still working on the walking... she has taken quite an interest in pushing her toys around and walking behind them and has taken about 5 or 6 steps alone at one time. She much prefers just to stand up and hold onto something, cruising around it, or just crawl over to what she wants.

I'm still trying to capture some of her new words and phrases. When the camera comes out she likes to smile but she gets quiet. She still says "DaDa" a lot, "MaMa" when she really wants something or is in distress, "DaGee" for Madi (doggie), "UhOh" when she falls down, or intentionally drops something, and "ThaThu" which is her thank you. She does a few signs for "more" and "milk, " of course "ByeBye" and waves "Hello" and a lot of pointing to what she wants, and lets mommy and daddy play the guessing game!?

Jack and Lanie are checking out some of Pace's toys...

Pace and Lanie share crunchies on the floor.

Lanie at Pace's Easter Party, having her lunch of Strawberries, Grapes, Crunchies, Raisin Bread, and Goldfish... Goldfish still seems to be the favorite snack (and sometimes lunch) of her choice. In the background is Sophie (or Simon, I can't tell which), one of Pace's furry sisters.

Here's Lanie on her way to her friend Pace's Easter Party. She's ready for the party! Surprisingly, she will wear these (and a few other pair that she has) for hours at a time.

HAPPY 1ST BIRHTDAY LANIE!

We took Lanie to her favorite hometown spot... Angelo's for a pizza lunch to celebrate her birthday! The staff there treated her like royalty, with a special "Happy Birthday" song and whipped cream with chocolate syrup for dessert! Later we celebrated at home with a cupcake, candle and balloons for practice... her BIG BIRTHDAY BASH is on Saturday!

All Dressed Up!

Getting ready to go to church... and playing the music on mommy's cell phone. I love to dance and wave my arms to the music!

A New Riding Toy!

Her wheels are by far her favorite toys these days... and here's a new toy from Aunt Stacy, Uncle Ben, Sarah, and Colson... Thank You!

11 Months Old!

It's so hard to believe that Lanie's 11 months old! She's so much fun... growing and changing everyday. We still have NOT aquired our first TOOTH... although she seems to work those gums daily... in search of one - it doesn't stop her from eating, as you may can see from the pictures. She crawls all over the place and most of the time, depending on her mood will either follow you all over the house, or head the opposite direction looking for something new to explore! She loves watching and following Madi around, and for the most part Madi tries to run from her, not wanting her hair to be pulled. Her favorite toys are her cozy coupe convertible (we try to keep it in hiding unless we want to spend at least an hour pushing her around), anything that plays music, and anything that mommy and daddy says "no-no" to. We have resorted to giving her the old remote, as she enjoyed playing with it so much and it wasn't worth the fight anymore. She is now pulling up on any and everything and taking a step or two behind her push toys. She'd rather move around the floor crawling for now, and hasn't made many attempts to let go and walk without mommy and daddy nearby. Her words now are "MaMa", "DaDe", "ByeBye", and "Adi (for Madi)", she waves hello and bye-bye consistently now, and certainly has her way of letting you know when she wants something!

My first trip to the Mountains!

Jack, Lanie, Madi and I enjoyed a fun little vacation in Blairsville at the cabin. It was Lanie's first mountain experience. We went for some strolls in Meek's Park and just relaxed,and had some family time!

Lanie and Madi both agree... it's too cold to be outside! For the most part, the weather was beautiful but it was in the teens most nights and some of the days were barely over 40 degrees! That's cold when you're from South Georgia!

Lanie at the cabin, enjoying one of her favorites... cheese toast!

I have bad hair days, too!

One of Lanie's favorite things to do is go through my purse, and pull out everything! If my purse isn't available, she'll take her diaper bag down off of the chair and empty it out... looking for treats along the way.