great eight!

poppy is eight months old.

i haven't been keeping up here on the blog but i have been taking pictures

and mostly just watching in amazement at her progress.

seriously, she's an amazing kid! after ellie, i honestly thought that it would be hard for poppy to keep up (sorry, boo). i was fine with that - totally ready for a relaxed baby that wanted to take things slow. i was so wrong about her!

she has been full-on crawling for weeks now. she gets around and into everything. ellie was never a really good crawler because she went straight to walking, so i'm still getting used to sweeping the floor of every minuscule item a poppy might put in her mouth. she always has something in there that she shouldn't.

i'm not sure that she's going to stick to crawling long, though, because she wants to stand all the time. when you try to set her down on the floor she straightens her legs and tries to stand up instead. she pulls up on everything and is now experimenting with a few seconds of unsupported standing. she just started taking steps behind our little push-walker. those delicious legs are more than chub! she's very strong. i can't believe how fast she learns. she is very, very proud of herself.

she wants to be big just like her sister. 

she wants to eat everything (gave her a cooked carrot the other day to suck on, she gummed it up and ate the whole thing), she loves sippy cups and always tries to get ellie's, and she wants to play with whatever ellie is playing with (this is going to be an issue for at least the next... 15 years, right?). 

she holds her own against her sister. she wrestles her, pulls her hair and lets everyone know (loudly) when ellie does something that she doesn't like. she won't stand for bullying. :)

she looks so much like her daddy. i think she acts like him, too. loves getting into trouble, but you can't stay mad at her because she is just too funny. also, if you surprise her she scrambles like she has been up to no good. sometimes i sneak up on her just to watch her try to cover her tracks.

she still makes lots of noise and loves to smile. she grins and grins all day long. she loves to baby cuss and call for dada when she's upset, but when she's happy she motorboats around the house and screeches. she hates when it is quiet (lucky for her it almost never is, thanks to ellie). 

poppy loves: 

being in the water (splashing)

foooood!

playing with toys

tickles

bathtime

being held

standing up

jumping

drinking from a sippy cup

exploring the house

pulling hair

giggles

snuggles at night

giving big kisses

hugging the doggie

chewing

milk

music

dancing

flirting

french fries

oatmeal

cake 

singing

holding hands

poppy dislikes:

being over-loved (smashed) by her sister

when somebody takes something out of her mouth

being left behind

sleeping alone... (insert exhausted mom comment)

she still rarely complains and is generally good-natured. i feel bad because a certain older sister is very dramatic and needy and poppy is just so easygoing that it seems that she gets a little neglected at times. she gets all the snuggles and milks and hugs that she needs, but sometimes when we're out i realize that i have been so busy trying to keep ellie from destroying the place that i have barely even noticed poppy. she always gives me this sweet "i'm good, mom!" smile when i finally catch her eye, but i still feel guilty. maybe that's why she wants my full attention all night long... i don't blame her. 

 here's a video of her latest accomplishment,
it's a little boring unless you're an adoring grandparent. fair warning.
also, my finger makes a guest appearance.

ellie put it best when she told poppy the other day:

"poppy, i'm so glad you came to our family!"

we are more than glad. you're our perfect little poppy and we love you. 

island fowlers.

(little travelers. they're really great in the car.)

we went to jekyll island for a few days last week.

island life was wonderful,

but it was also a typical fowler vacation with all the complications.

(our main mode of transportation.)

we endured mosquito attacks like nothing i've ever seen! at one point, we had both girls in jogging strollers on a trail and we decided to run for it because they were just swarming us like crazy. life was an action movie for about five minutes, and the mosquitoes were the enemy. daddy stopped when he thought we were safe, but i was behind and saw at least a dozen mosquitoes land on his back immediately. "don't stop! they're on us!" i yelled. we ran until we were clear of all vegetation before stopping again. sheeeesh.
we spent a lot of our time walking with the girls in strollers and most of that time we were bugged (ha ha) by the island pests, even using spray. we realized we didn't see a lot of people walking, most were riding bikes. the mosquitoes can't really attack when you are going that fast. we were sitting ducks. oh well, now we know.

ellie was so excited about the ocean after our visit in the late winter, but we didn't realize that she had never actually been in the ocean. she hated it. poppy dealt with it, but she preferred to not be hit by waves. ellie loved the tide pools but would not go in the waves as they were breaking. we carried her screaming out into the water far enough that the waves weren't crashing and she was okay... but for the rest of the time we enjoyed the sand and shells rather than the water. i didn't even get pictures of us playing in the ocean.



it was mostly a party, though.

driftwood beach was fun because there is a lot more to explore than the terrifying waves, and really, that's one reason why we wanted to go. we found lots of shells and saw a lot of wildlife. some people even caught a stingray while we were there. ellie had fun in a shade-fly that someone had left and called it her "treehouse."

("the egg" above the hotel)

we spent some quality time in our freeeeeeezing hotel room, cuddled up and watching cartoons with daddy. ellie loved it so much that she kept asking when we were going back to "our room" for more cartoons (i think she just liked the special dada time).

ellie loved the walks and even jogged with us. so much energy! too bad i can't wear her out at the beach every day.

i also thought poppy would never sleep outside of her stroller again.
how can you not smile back at that face?

 (we drove home at sunrise. hard to leave it, especially at the most beautiful time of day.)

i had really needed that break. i felt like i had stalled.  i came back refreshed and exhausted, but excited to get going again, though.

which is perfect, because we have plenty going. poppy is working on a friend for her lonely little tooth and ellie has spent her first full week pacifier-free.
she keeps saying "i had a rough day."
you're telling me, kid!



i hope to be back with some ellie quotes and a poppy post, because she's 8 months today and she is getting to be so grown-up. let's be honest, though, somebody has been kicking me in the back the whole time i wrote this post and somebody else tried to eat dog food soooo...
like i said, i hope i can do it. :)

(ellie's "wizard clouds")

vacation, all i ever wanted.

no, but seriously, it was all i ever wanted. 

 

that's right, i've been here this week: 

and honestly, we deserved every minute of it. 

we haven't had a true vacation (just for the sake of relaxation and fun) since... ever. 

 even our honeymoon was a total bust, but we made it fun.

 

we're technically still on vacation until the weekend is over, so i'll tell you more about it later. 

for now can i just say....

this is good.

a case of the terribles (random quotes included).

the terribles are in full swing over here.
one minute ellie is saying: "we are having so much fun!"
(literally) the next minute she screams: "no! mean mommy!"


several times i have considered never leaving the house again.
then, when there is a tantrum at home, i consider leaving the house and never going back. 

shopping trips

we had a rough day at the store the other day. i told her that we would have to go to another store later...

ellie: "no, we not go to another store!"
me: (exasperated) "yes, we are. we didn't get everything we needed because you were being bratty."
ellie: "no, mommy, YOU were being bratty."

and it's impossible to keep her in the shopping cart lately. i have to try my best to keep her occupied with pushing the cart or helping me choose food. she loves to look at the vegetables and fruits - they really are pretty interesting.
but the other day i had to buy broccoli because she said,
"mmm! i'm so hungry!"
 and took a bite out of one of the stalks dinosaur-style (without using her hands).




she talks often about when she will be "big like daddy" or "big like mommy."

about to see her first movie (brave)

she ate more popcorn than a normal adult could handle

from the backseat of the car i heard:
"mommy, you just poke poppy in the eye? i didn't!"





ellie was eating a piece of bread, but judge cornered her and took it (i warned her that he would, but she wouldn't sit and eat it).
i put him in the laundry room and ellie was sobbing.
then she started laughing through the tears and said:
"mommy, he's a naughty boy!"







she always quotes her favorite show, dinosaur train. pretty sure she wishes she could be a pteranodon or a t-rex (she does a pretty good roar).

since she loves it, she knows wayyyyy more about dinosaurs than i do. i was reading a book to her and trying to sound out "quetzalcoatlus" and she said,
"it's ketz-all-coh-aht-lus, mama!"

she also knows all sorts of different species, like ornithomimus and giganotosaurus. it's crazy to hear her say the names.

she also calls frogs palaeo...somethingsomethings. i don't know what it is. she has caught on that i don't know and she will make fun of me by saying  
"it's a palaeoWHAT?"






she was giving me a hard time at the park when it was time to go home. i thought maybe i could get her with the old "we're leaving without you" trick, but no (of course not).

me: "okay, bye, ellie! we're leaving."
ellie: "okay, bye, mom! i love you! thanks for all your help!" 

playing hide-and-seek

i love my girl, but some days i want to drop her off at work with her daddy and head for the beach with the good baby*.
but then she does something cute and hilarious, like trying to put high heels on my feet while i'm still in bed in the morning.

she is so much work.
at least it is worth it.

here's a video of her singing. i have so many more to put on here - maybe we can make this a week of videos?

"toniiiiighht, we ya-ya. set the world on fiiiyah, we go bwightah dan da suuuuuun!"

*i realize that she's only the good baby right now. it may be another story next week.

is it tomorrow yet?

did i say tomorrow? i meant... today. :)

recently:

poppy loves to play and explore. 

i can just set her down and off she goes, happy as can be. 

whoops! she's maybe a little toooo curious.

she has eaten more than her fair share of grass, dirt and sand. 

 fine with me.

we've made the rounds to our favorite playgrounds and parks and even some backyard time (despite the record-breaking 110 degree heat wave). i have to spend a lot of time and energy wearing these girls out so that they will sleep at night. 

but when i succeed at wearing them out it is so worth it.

there is a lot of hair-pulling and face-pushing and slap fights --

you know, the usual girl stuff...

but there are a lot of hugs, too. 

little sister wants to be just like the big one 

and she's growing up fast. 

and life has been made infinitely easier by the addition of

the van !!!!

oh, and let's not forget the discovery of our new favorite saturday morning stop:

ike and jane's.

lucky charms, bacon maple, red velvet, blueberry, just to name a few. yum.

good things are always happening for the fowlers.

i have a video for tomorrow! 

xoxoxox.