Dear Vera...

I had so much fun with you tonight!  Your daddy went to a ball game with his friends, so you and I spent a lot of time outside enjoying this terrific spring weather. 

We flew your new ladybug kite tonight for the first time.  I wish I would've taken pictures because you were so excited to see your kite fly up by the clouds.  You had to wear your sunglasses so you could see the kite way up there.  You got to hold the kite string and you swung it to the left and to the right...your exact words.  Pretty cute! 

After daddy left, we played golf in the yard with your golf clubs.  You pouted because you didn't want to play with me.  You stood at the edge of the grass with your arms folded and your back to me.  I'm amazed at how well you can do this...already!!

We spent a lot of time playing in the dirt tonight.  We pulled weeds and you kept saying, "Get on outta here weeds!"  While mom worked, you also dug in the dirt with your shovel and filled your bucket with dirt.  Then you asked me if I was ready and you dumped all the dirt out, all over yourself.  Your crocs were full of dirt; you did a little fretting about that and then you went on your way.  When the neighbor dogs came outside, you stopped in your tracks with their barking and yipping.  Plenty of times you asked me, "What you doing mommy?" When we came to the front of the house, you insisted on "getting up there" in the flower beds.  You climbed over the landscaping rocks, gracefully, and thought you were pretty big stuff tromping around in the mulch.  Without missing a beat, you stomped right through my Creeping Phlox and sat down in the middle.  You were entertained for a good bit sitting there admiring the white and purple flowers.   I didn't have the heart to chase you out, and I couldn't resist the photo opportunity so I ran inside and grabbed my camera.  You said "cheese" for about 1/4 of a second and then went back to picking flowers.  Here's what I was able to capture...



Sweet girl!  You're growing so big!

Our playing outside was cut short when you peed your pants, which seems to be a nightly event lately.  You didn't tell me that you had an accident, and I didn't notice until we went inside to wash your hands and sit on the potty.  I just didn't have the heart to scold you and make you sit on a chair. (Don't tell daddy!)   I know you were busy outside playing, and I didn't want to ruin our fun with tears.  Instead, we started the bathtub and got cleaned up.  It was the first night (of many, many more) that we had grass blades and mulch floating in the tub water.  I'm glad you had fun outside.  You sure were dirty!

After the bath, since it was still warm and sunny, I took you for a bike ride.  The entire time we were gone, you jabbered, pinched me in the butt, waved at your shadow, and sang.  You told me that the "palm trees were attacking" at one point in the ride.  I'm not sure what you were trying to tell me, but your little creative mind was definately at work.  Just a few days ago you told dad there was a lizard (or a wizard?) in the house.  :)  Your imagination makes my heart smile!

For the last 15 minutes of our ride we sang songs.  You wanted to sing "Hop Goes The Weasel" (as you call it) and we kept singing faster and faster just like your music in the car does.  You even sang the part "A penny for a spool of thread, a penny for a needle.  That's the way the money goes.  Pop! Goes the weasel!"  I was pretty amazed that you sang so well. 

By the time we got home, you were pretty tired.  We put on your M&M jammies (which you love) and read Clifford the Big Red Dog.  You call him Clipterd.  :)  After our book, we said our prayers.  I just love how you fold your little hands and pray with me.  You're really good at praying.  Tonight you even prayed for your friends, cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.  You did it all by yourself and mentioned everyone's name.  We even asked Jesus to help you be a big girl and keep your Dora panties dry. 

We sang more songs before you went to bed.  You sure did make me laugh because while we were singing "Ten In The Bed" you said "...so they all rolled over and one fell out!  OUCH!"  You make your mom giggle.  We sang "The Ants Go Marching..." as we marched to bed.  You told me I was your bestest friend in the whole world as I laid you down.  You sure are the best girl Vera Lou!  You asked me to pat you a "yiddle bit" before I walked out.  I checked on you ten minutes later and you were fast asleep.  Sweet dreams my little girl!  Your mommy loves you! 

Playing at the Park

Last week I took Vera for a walk in town on one of the warm evenings.  We stopped at the park to play.  Vera was a little confused about what a park was, but she quickly learned when she saw the other kids and all of the "toys" as she calls them.  Ward Park has a really nice, fenced in play area for small kids.  It's perfect for her age.  She can climb up by herself and the slides aren't too fast for her to go down.  She had a blast.  Her favorite was the steering wheel and beeping the pretend horn. 

Welcome Spring!

Just the beginning...

Tonight Adam was fixing his bike in the garage and Vera was playing. I was in the house picking up. I went outside to find Vera BLACK. Hands, pants, coat and face. Adam said he wasn't quite sure how she got so dirty. (I'm not quite sure Adam was watching her!)  He thought maybe she was playing around the tires of my car. Hmmm...

Then we discovered this:

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She was covered in black from the exhaust of my car!  Gross!  Adam had to use a coat hanger to fish the rocks out because his hands certainly aren't as small as Vera's.  I guess it's a good thing we discovered this before we drove off in the car.  This is just the beginning of her mischief outside!

 

She also tromped around in the mud puddles with her boots.  She was so filthy when she came in the house tonight.  She had mud slatters on the hood of her coat.  Her pants may be ruined, but she had fun.  Getting dirty is part of being a kid, right? 

 

 

Vera's 2nd Birthday

On Vera's birthday, we had a family wedding.  We celebrated before and during the wedding, and it worked out fairly well.

We started the day with her birthday gift from mom and dad.  Vera loves fishing, so we thought this would be the perfect gift.  She was actually afraid of the wiggling fish at first and refused to touch it.  But, after warming up, she was fairly excited about the fishing pole.  After a bath, I painted her toe nails and put her hair in curlers.

Vera stayed at grandma and grandpa's house with her dad during the wedding mass so she could nap.  After the mass, we put on her pretty dress, fixed her hair, and had a little birthday party.

Look at the little guy showing off his new trick!!  He was determined to help Vera...

From grandma and grandpa, Vera got a tutu made with love by grandma and a pair of shoes for summer.  They're a little big, but really cute.  Vera hates them.  She's in a phase where she hates new shoes (see Easter post) and she cries and throws a fit.  This happened for the wedding when she had to wear her black shoes.  Eventually she wore them.  I feel fairly confident in saying that after she wears her new shoes a few times, she'll like them!

I made cookies for Vera's birthday.  She shared some with her friends at Patty's and the rest we ate at grandma's house.  Grandma also made and decorated a cake.

We sang happy birthday and Vera tried to blow out her candles.  Lindsey gave encouragement and offered a little help too.

Eating only the icing and turning blue!

From Mandy, Jeff and Blake, Vera got a cool Minnie coloring book with stickers.  On Sunday, Vera opened her gift from Aunt Karen.  It was Minnie ears all the way from Disney World. 

Vera celebrated at the wedding by eating yummy food, snacks with papaw, and dancing with mom, grandma and Karen.

Vera is 2!

Vera's officially 2 years old now.  She's been telling us for the last week or so that her birthday is coming up and she's going to be 2. 

Throughout the day on Vera's birthday (and the day before), I found myself thinking about what I was doing and feeling two years ago around that time.  Giving birth is something that a mom will never forget.  God has been so good to us.  Vera is a healthy, sweet, and inquisitive little girl.  She brings a smile to our face and joy to our lives every single day.

Right now Vera can carry on a conversation with us.  She doesn't miss anything and doesn't forget anything.  Adam and I still look at each other and say, "How does she know that?"  Amazing.  Some funny phrases that she's said lately include:
"Here my go!" (She means "here I go!")
"My hold you."  (Will you hold me?")
"Don't forget about me!"
"Let's catch up with mom/dad." (As we're leaving in the morning.)
"I have just the thing!"
"I have very important announcement!"  (No idea where she got this!)
"Take you time.  Concentrate."  (When she's playing golf.  I bet you can't guess who taught her those phrases!)
"You're my bestest friend in the whole wide world!"  (Aww!  Sweetest girl!)

Vera's become a better eater within the last few months.  She will eat meat now, but she has to be in the right mood for it.  She really likes ham and cold meat.  Mac and cheese is still the #1 favorite.  Jello is a newfound favorite.  I finally was able to get her to eat applesauce...but it has to come from the squeezable pouches, and it can't be plain apple.  What a pain.  She calls it sauce.  A few weeks before her birthday we started giving her 2% milk.  We were having trouble using up the Vitamin D milk before it expired.  I appreciate only buying one kind of milk.  She's still not the best at using a fork and spoon.  She uses her "pinchers" to eat most everything, unless we insist on using silverware. 

We're maintaining on the potty training.  Vera still doesn't really tell us she has to go potty, but if we put her on every 2 hours or so, she keeps her pants dry.  Some mornings she even wakes up dry.  It's often a fight to get her to sit on the potty.  She'll cry and whine, but she almost always goes right away when we put her on the potty.  We've tried the panties a few times on the weekends and she's done ok.  Patty says she stays dry at her house almost every single day.  My goal is to have her completely trained by the end of summer. 

Vera's starting to pretend a lot when she plays.  She makes up stories and games to play.  It's fun to listen to her "read" books.  She re-reads them after we read, and tries to remember the story.  There are some books that she has completely memorized, such as the Super Duper Underwear book, as Vera calls it.  Her favorite toys right now are her Doc McStuffins doctor kit and Mr. Potatoehead.  She still loves to color, and I must say she's getting better at coloring.  She tries to color the picture a little more instead of randomly scribbling.  Vera loves to watch Toy Story, and she asks to watch it nightly.  She also still really likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Doc McStuffins, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and Peppa Pig.  Vera can say some of her prayers all by herself now, and she knows how to make the Sign of the Cross. 

In the car, we've been listening to a kids' CD of music.  Vera can sing many of the songs from the CD like "Wheels on the Bus," "One, Two Buckle My Shoe" "There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea," and the tongue twister "She sells seashells..."  When she sings, sometimes she pretends to have a microphone and she'll say "And a one, and a two, and a one, two, three..." and then she'll start singing.

Vera still twirls her hair when she's tired or trying to fall asleep.  Patty always laughs about how she twirls her ponytail.  She has her mom to thank for this habit.

Recently, Vera's learned that her dad works at Midmark (she says MooMark.  MooMART is the name of a store on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.)  Over Easter break, Vera woke up one morning that I didn't have school but Adam had to work and she said, "Sorry dad.  You have to go to MooMark."  haha  She also knows that her mom works at Ansonia, but she has a little trouble saying that.  Vera knows that her mom's name is Kim, her dad's name is Adam and her name is Vera Louise Pearson.  She remembers that Blake's mom and dad are Mandy & Jeff and she knows that Bailey's mom is Mindy.  She can count to about 14.  The sequence goes something like 11, 12, 14, 19, 18, and then jibberish.  She can count to 30 if you help her.  She knows all of her shapes including the diamond, oval, pentagon and hexagon.  I don't know how she knows these.

Vera is not always the innocent little girl that she looks like.  She's become quite bossy too.  We often hear phrases like
"I don't like/want..."
"Give it back!"
"No!"
"I have it."
"My turn!"
and to Papaw Otte, "You not eat smarties!  Those grandma's smarties!"  With a pointing finger and all.

We're so lucky to have Miss Vera in our lives.  She's the best thing and we love her so much!  Here's to a safe, and enjoyable year filled with many milestones and memories!

My Best Nephew

Isn't he just the cutest!?  Blake is just the sweetest, squishiest little guy! :)  And he's growing like crazy!  We get to watch him next month, and I'm so excited!

Blake @ 3 months.

 

 

Opening Day 2013

We sported our Reds gear yesterday for Opening Day! 

Vera was excited to see the Reds on TV and she repeated everything Adam said during the game.  That ought to be interesting!  She cheered for the players and told them "Don't be scared!"  :)  It'll only be a  matter of time before she knows the Reds clap and the Bruce/Choo roar.  Go Redlegs!!

An Easter Birthday Party

 

Vera and Bailey celebrate their birthdays within 2 days of each other.  Vera's birthday is Saturday the 6th and Bailey's is Monday the 8th.  So instead of throwing separate parties, we celebrated the girls' birthdays on Easter.  I brought a Mickey cake, which seemed to be a hit, and we had cake, ice cream, and way too many presents.

Vera will be 2.  Bailey will be 3, or in this case she will be, 2+1.  Or you could say Vera's 1 right now and Bailey is 2.  Only at the Pearsons does "creativity" like this really shine.

From grandma and grandpa, Vera received a plastic golf set, PJs, a keyboard, and candy.  From Uncle Brian, she unwrapped a Color Wonder desk set that has sounds and themes.  She also got fruit snacks and plenty of candy!

Vera calls it a pinano.  :)

 

We had an egg hunt in the basement sponsored by Brian.  There were tons of eggs and even more candy!  Vera had fun running.  Her basket was over flowing. 

 

Look at all of those eggs!

She's no dummy!  She immediately opened the eggs and shoved in a mouthful of candy!

Happy Easter!

Our Easter this year was especially blessed.  I mostly say that because I got to spend a lot of time at home with Vera and Adam.  We've been off school for 5 days, and I must say that I did accomplish a lot: some shopping, some cleaning, some laundry, some projects, some playing, some time with family, and lots of time enjoying Vera.  I've realized over break how much she's changed in the last few weeks.  She communicates in full sentences and can carry a conversation with you.  She's also started to pretend when she plays, which has been most enjoyable to watch and listen to.  This break is making me really look forward to summer--and warmer weather (sigh!)  We're going to have a lot of fun with Vera.

This is the best picture I could get.  Read on.

The Easter bunny was really good to us this year.  He brought a Doc McStuffins book, a 31 bag with Vera's name embroidered, stickers, bunny glasses, a bubble machine, and of course candy!  Vera had a good time "hunting" eggs Easter morning in our living room.  It sure didn't take her long to figure out how the egg hunt works!  She went to the egg hunt in town too and found 7 eggs. 

On Easter morning, we had a bit of a meltdown before church.  Vera absolutely refused to wear the shoes that I bought for her to wear with her dress.  She screamed and cried saying she couldn't walk.  Due to lack of time, we didn't fight the fight and she wore silver loafers to church that are too big and looked rediculous.  We had the same disagreement when we were leaving for Easter at Mike & Rosie's.  She won.  Again.  I was so irritated with her.  And so it begins...

She's crying because I tried to make her wear the Easter shoes.  Notice she isn't wearing any in these pics.