17 months

This past month has flown by.  I feel like time always moves faster through the holiday season.  Somehow we have a 17 month old.  We are so thankful for her sweet and funny spirit.  We had a rough few weeks with 4 teeth coming in :/ But it looks like we may be in the clear. For now. She has been so chatty this month.  She will copy every word you say.  Chris thought it would be funny to teach her to say "sketchy".  She unfortunately latched right on.  She also tells Riggs to "sit", but has managed to turn it in to a four letter word.  She says it over and over as she trys to climb in her high chair or a bumbo.  Nursery workers, I'm sorry, its not what you think.  That being said, little miss is definitely learning to push her limits.  So far she has proved to be a little hard headed but a pretty quick study.  Poor thing says "no" whenever she sees a flower now, because she was intent on picking all of my mom's new neighbors bushes.  Hopefully I didn't scar her, although if she is anything like her momma she may have to learn to look from afar.  No green thumbs here.
My favorite new phrase is "wuv you".  I could hear those sweet words all day.  She has also mastered "orry" (sorry) Although this one is accompanied by a hand gesture we can't quite figure out.  It looks like she is thoroughly put out with having to say it.  She loves making towers from her stacking cups, collecting every gumball and acorn in site, and loving on her monkeys and babies.  She has gotten pretty good with the spoon and fork and is not a huge fan of assistance in this area.  We hear "outdee" a million times a day.  This girl could live outside.  Poor thing doesn't understand the week of rain.  Mama either for that matter.  We have solved it with extended play time on the big bed.  Our mattresses are on the floor since our bed is in storage.  She loves being able to get up and down and tell us "night-night" as she snuggles in.  Too bad she wont stay still for more than half a second.  This girl is all about her crib.  You can forget about it in the big bed.

I broke my number one holiday rule.  Apparently having kids has caused me to break a lot of my "rules".  I love the holiday season more than is probably normal, but I like it one at a time.  And in order.  No Christmas before Thanksgiving, with the exception of a Peppermint Mocha of course.  I like to shop at the stores that pledge to take it one at a time.  Nordstrom, thats you.  For Christmas I wish you would come here.  Anyways, my parents were in town and the Holiday Festival of Lights (didn't we used to just call it Christmas Lights?) were up so we bucked our system and took a ride through.  Emerson absolutely loved it.  She was in complete awe and the excited noises that came with each new display would bring the biggest cynic to tears.  In addition to causing you to break rules, like her riding in the front seat through the lights, having kids apparently causes you to be a complete sap.  I am so excited and we are so blessed to get to experience all the holidays through her eyes.  It forces you to slow down and take it in.  Appreciate all the little details.  Be captivated.  That little 17 month old is teaching her momma as much as I'm teaching her.