Allie Joy-17 months old!

Our baby girl Allie turned 17 months old yesterday and as each day passes, more and more of her sweet, funny, silly personality shines through and the 3 of us fall more in love with her. In honor of her 17 month birthday, how about I fill you in on 17 fun things about our Allie Joy....

1. Just like her mommy, she loooooves shoes. She will find a pair of shoes wherever she is and will attempt to put them on. If she can't get them on, she gets very aggrevated and will then throw them across the room...

which brings me to #2....

2. She is not a very patient child and gets easily frustrated when something doesn't go her way. She has definitely got the second child act down and I know this because I was the second child. As soon as Marissa does something she doesn't like, she falls to the ground and starts crying and Mommy and Daddy will get on to Marissa. (Russell and I are catching on though and realizing it's not always Marissa's fault...)

3. She loooooooves bananas. Every morning when she wakes up, we walk into the kitchen and she points up towards the bananas and screams "nana!!" (going back to that whole impatient thing...)

4. Her hair is growing out and she has the prettiest, big blonde curls. I love it:) It is just now getting long enough for a bow, however she will not leave the bows in. I have a feeling she and I will go 'round and 'round with those bows....A girl needs her accessories;)

5. She has turned out to be a wonderful sleeper....which is something I wan't sure would ever happen. She sleeps 12 hours at night and usually takes 2 naps a day, each about 2 hours long.

6. She can say quite a few words these days....mommy, daddy, puppy, baby, byebye, nightnight, milk, 'nanas, more, and a few others I can't think of right now. Although, she still does a lot of pointing and grunting when she wants something.....we are hearing new words all the time:)

7. She can climb all the way up the stairs by herself. (with mommy or daddy right behind her, of course)

8. One of her favorite tricks is to stand in the middle of the living room, jump up and fall right on her bottom. She thinks it's hilarious:) I guess her diaper pads her bottom enough so it doesn't hurt!

9. Her breathing problems have improved greatly. She is no longer on breathing treatments and only needs them when she gets a cold. We are hoping and praying she eventually grows out of her respiratory problems.

10. Allie has become a full-fledged thumb-sucker. However, only if she is holding her silky (teddy bear blanket). As soon as she gets her silky, her thumb goes straight to her mouth.

11. She is a very busy little girl....which is so different from Marissa. I could put a movie on for Marissa and she would sit there quietly and watch it from start to finish...but not Miss Allie. Allie will watch for a minute or so, then go play, watch, then play...she is always finding something to get into:)

12. She really enjoys bathtime and the after bath routine as well. I will sit her on the counter, put a little toothpaste on her toothbrush and she will brush her teeth while I dry her hair. She loves it!!

13. One of her favorite new tricks is to "fake sneeze". She thinks it's hilarious! When she hears someone else sneeze she will (very dramatically) go AHHHHH-CHOOOOO and then start laughing. It's so funny. We have been desperately trying to get it on video, but she stops every time she sees the camera...go figure.

14. She is still a really good eater and will eat just about anything we put in front of her. Her favorites are bananas (of course), lunch meat, cheese sticks, applesauce (but only if she can eat it herself), fruit snacks and mini nilla wafers.

15. When she looks at us like this with those big blue eyes....our hearts melt and we can't imagine our lives without her.

16. One of Russell's favorite things with Allie is their bedtime routine. Allie is very cuddly at bedtime, so he gets the chance rock her and cuddle with her before he lays her down for night-night time.

17. When she laughs, she crinkles up her little nose and it's oh so cute:) She laughs a lot too, which is wonderful:)

Well, I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into the life of our sweet Allie Joy. :)