In Her "Meowr" Pants

When she wears her Halloween outfit she points to the many black cats on the leggings and says "Meowr" all day! So cute..
Since the last post, Jocelyn has been trying to say a couple names. She saw her Nana a lot over the weekend so she has been pointing to her picture on the fridge and saying "Numanum"! It is way cute to hear and kinda sounds like Nana!
We went to visit Katie and Lily the other day and before we left, I said, "Let's go bye bye to see baby Lily." She pointed to the door and said, "Lalala" her little tongue moves in and out real fast when she says it..way funny! She pointed at Lily in person and her picture on the fridge and said it again several times so I know she gets it!


Also, I forgot to mention with the other development updates that she is still going pee pee on the potty at least once a day. She points to the toilet paper right after she goes! We are taking this slow and just making connections right now. I will probably get more serious about it at around 18 months...also the age I will start weaning her from nursing unless the 2 at once is too hard to handle. We will worry about her sleeping in her own bed even later than this. We are fans of the family bed :)
Oh, and she has been doing the funniest re-enactments when she gets hurt. She will show us over and over again how she got hurt in mid cry. She will completely redo the motion that hurt her or point to the body part that got hurt and what she hit it on. Sometimes it's hard not to laugh while we are consoling her because it is so funny how she tells us what happened!

Language Leaps and More!

It seems like every day she says something new. It is such an exciting time of development. At 13 months, this is a list of the words (or half words) that she can say:

• eye
• no
• ball
• ni ni (night night)
• bye bye
• dada
• momma
• book
• baba (baby)
• bir (bird)
• bu (bug)
• all (all done)
• ba (bath)
• hi
• uh (uh oh)
• hot
• du (duck)
• ish (fish)
• shh (shoe)
• orse (horse)
• hop

She also makes the sounds of the following animals: dog, cat, horse, cow, duck, and sheep (her favorite). She is REALLY into farm animals and bugs lately!


"Where's the bird, Jocelyn?" Jocelyn: "Bir"

More development updates:

• This girl loves to climb EVERYTHING! Levon keeps warning me that we will probably have several trips to the ER and lots of broken bones. Apparently, she inherited his love of risk and adventure!
• She understands everything we say, or so it seems, which amazes us so much. She follows directions so well.
• She must brush her teeth with her own toothbrush several times a day lately. She will stand there holding it up to us until we pretend to swipe it with the toothpaste tube before she starts brushing. She has to do everything just like we do it. :) By the way, she has 12 teeth now! Her 4th molar is coming in now.
• She still has an intense love of books, which is awesome considering mommy has a bad habit of having the tv on for background noise a lot. She doesn't really pay much attention to the tv unless music, dancing, or animals are on!
• She does a pretty good job following the rules and staying within the boundaries we set for her. She understands what a spanking is, but doesn't need one very often because she obeys to the word No most of the time. By the way, my spanking consists of one swat on the back of a very meaty thigh, so it's very appropriate for a 1 year old. Although, I think Mommy is still the only one to give them as of now!
• Jocelyn can identify the following body parts: eyes, nose, hair, head, belly, toes, feet, mouth, teeth, tongue, hands, ears.
• She is in love with songs and fingerplays...good thing mommy has plenty of experience with these as a preschool teacher! Singing in the car is often the only way we get from place to place without tears. She is especially a fan of Old MacDonald and Itsy Bitsy Spider.
  

I just pray that God will keep within her such an eagernness to learn throughout her school years and beyond. We feel so fortunate to have a smart and healthy little girl!

Vote!

This adorable picture of Jocelyn's cousins is entered in a contest on Adoptive Families Magazine's website. It was taken 3 months after bringing him home from Ethiopia. They took him on their first family vacation to Florida. It captures a very special time in their lives!
If you go to the website and click in the "most viewed" category, you will find my sister's picture of Luke and Anteneh labeled "Anteneh, 3, Ethiopia"...click on the picture, then click on "Vote as Favorite"...She has to get like 170 votes to be close to winning...THANKS!!!!!!! Follow this link:http://adoptivefamilies.mycapture.com/mycapture/photos/Album.aspx?EventID=615189&CategoryID=43839

A Day at Mimi's Animal Farm

I took Jocelyn and her cousin Gracie out to my mom's place, where these two animal loving little girls could run around with 5 cats, 7 dogs, and 5 horses!



Even the smallest of animals couln't be neglected. Grace shows Jocelyn a rolled up caterpillar, which she later took home with her, of course.



It's time to feed the horses!


"Stick it through the fence, Jocelyn." What a good older cousin. She even read and sang to her on the long car rides there and back!



See the horses nose? I couldn't stand back to get a better shot out of fear that her tiny fingers would get mistaken for corn!





Trying to get a hug from Tator Tot, the cat with stubs for back legs.


Next, we went down the road to the neighbors farm, where there are endless amounts of barn kittens.

Grace caught one! They all ran out to see us, but were not always easy to catch.



Kitties EVERYWHERE! This is heaven for Jocelyn.






1 week old kittens.


Gracie, "I wish I could have another one." They adopted a kitten from this farm a couple weeks ago.



After listening to cats meow all afternoon and several rounds of 'Old MacDonald Had a Farm' on the way home last night, it is no surprise that Jocelyn woke up this morning making all kinds of animal noises. She is especially talented at imitating a kitten's cry and you should hear her 'Baaaa' for the sheep! SO cute.

Is It Ever Going to Feel Like Fall?

This girl is like her Daddy in more ways than just her looks...she also LOVES to be outside. She is always bringing us her shoes and trying to open the doors to get out with her doggies. She loves to play with them and swing and play on her slide, explore around the yard, and play in her sandbox. I guess I should be thankful for the warm weather since before long it will be too cold to take her outdoors, but I just wish it could be cool and crisp like fall is meant to be!


If you know Reagan and her ball, you know that she is practicing some great restraint in the picture above! "Ball" is Jocelyn's favorite word to say lately. She spots them everywhere.



Look close at this picture..you will see Levon and his friend Justin on top of the shed trying to shoot their bows at a new angle! Boys will be boys.




Jocelyn is really getting the hang of climbing the steps of her slide.



Daddy is ready for some colder weather to have some more successful hunting trips. Here, Jocelyn is having fun trying on Daddy's new hunting boots.



It is supposed to be in the 60's tomorrow! We will keep our fingers crossed that they are right. We are ready to break out the cute fall and winter clothes that have been so generously handed down to us!

Traveling to Never Never Land

Peter Pan, Wendy Darling, and Tinker Bell at a Halloween party!

Tink is having so much fun!

Some of the girls!

Jocelyn made her rounds getting everyone to hold her up to the fish tank! She calls them "ish"!

How cute is Peter Pan with his little Tinker Bell!

Our friends the pirates!

Wild girl...too much pixie dust!

A Pumpkin on the Step Makes Fall Official!

Jocelyn was dressed in her new sweet fall outfit from Nana and her new fall shoes from Aunt Brooke and was ready to go pick her very first pumpkin!


Jocelyn was even more excited than we expected!





We saw bumpy pumpkins...


...and white striped pumpkins...


...and funny shaped ones...



...and even ones that were just her size!


Of course, she had to keep the little baby one!



This family LOVES fall!



"I want this one!"



Back home on our front step!

The Perfect Kitty

Jocelyn has a love of all animals (she was even entertained by a fly today) and she is especially in love with cats recently. So my mom brought a tiny kitten from her neighbor's farm over for a visit.


"Whoa, Jocelyn! Don't choke the kitty!" I seriously thought she was going to pop it's head off a few times!


"Don't hug the kitty so tight, Jocelyn!"


Okay, so clearly she is a little too young for a cat! It is hard to explain the meaning of "gentle" to a 12 month old. She even picked it up by it's leg once and almost fell on him. But even after all of that abuse, the kitten was still purring and rubbing up against Jocelyn's leg! He is the perfect kitten for a child! Too bad Jocelyn's mommy is allergic and her daddy said "No, we can't keep it." Maybe Nana (who has always wanted a cat) will adopt him. hint, hint. Or maybe Aunt Brooke will talk Uncle Daryn into keeping him so Jocelyn can visit!