More Texas Snow!

We are having close to a record "snowiest" winter, thanks to the 12" of snow in some areas that we got last week! It snowed all day last Thursday, from before we woke up, until just about bedtime. Teagan was fascinated with watching it out the window, but she has not wanted to be out in the snow. I kept asking her if she wanted to go out and play, but she kept saying, "No, too cold." Paul stayed home from work on Friday and we finally convinced her to go out for a little bit and watch Paul build a snow man.

Teagan says her "ABCD's"

Last weekend when I was reading Teagan the Dr. Suess ABC book, she asked me to sing it. I sang her the alphabet song and she immediately loved it. After singing it to her for about a week, she totally surprised me yesterday by singing the entire alphabet all by herself! It always cracks me up at the end when she says "Now I know my ABCD's". So, Teagan doesn't sing the ABC's, she sings the ABCD's.

Teagan Talk

We have been so busy with getting our house ready to sell and finding a new house, that I have not been doing very well with taking pictures and writing down some of the funny things that Teagan has been saying. She is so conversational now when she talks, and we are constantly surprised by the way she has picked up vocabulary and grammar. Of course we think she is just the smartest little girl ever!

Here are some of the things she has said to us lately.

"Baby has crusty nose, just like Teagan."

When we pull out of the garage, Teagan usually says either "too sunshiney" or "gray and gloomy."

After hearing the alphabet song for the first time, Teagan was immediately a fan. At first she requested the song by saying "double double", which quickly turned into "double double ABC", but now she just says "sing ABCD."

I asked Teagan, "Do you wear hats Teagan?" She answered, "Sometimes." I was surprised that she would come up with an answer other than yes or no.

When I was eating lunch with Teagan, I said to her, "These blueberries are yummy." She said back to me, "I like them."

Teagan likes to stand on her step stool playing with the drawer full of measuring cups. She usually says, "Quarter cup, where are you quarter cup?" as she is shuffling through the drawer.

While I was taking a shower, I watched Teagan throwing handfuls of Q-tips on the floor saying, "playing basketball."

Swim Class

Teagan and I started attending a parent/child swim class with several of our friends this month, and it has been quite a challenge! Of the first three classes, Teagan cried the entire class twice, and then last week she only cried half the class. Despite her protests during swim class, her favorite thing to play with her dolls is "swim class baby." She loves for me to demonstrate with her dolls all the things we do in swim class. Teagan tells the baby "elbow, elbow, tummy, knee, knee" when helping her climb up onto the pretend pool edge and then we pretend to throw toys in the water so we can hold our breath and have baby go retrieve the toys under water. She also loves to sing all the songs that we do during the swim class. I'm hoping with all this swimming play that we will have a good class next week with minimal crying.

Teagan has really turned into a non-stop talker! She often wakes up talking before she even opens her eyes, and continues to chatter until she falls asleep! She amazes me with her ability to describe what is happening and what people are doing. I walked by her in her room and said "What are you doing T?" Her answer, "yawning." I guess she was feeling tired!

Snow!

I've been slow to get this posted, but I wanted to share Teagan's snow pictures! We have had so much cold weather this December and even had quite a bit of snow on Christmas Eve! Teagan likes to watch the snow out the window and say "really coming down!", but she's not so crazy about being out in it. She complains that it is "wet" and was really bothered by the snow covering up her shoes.

Christmas Day

Teagan really enjoyed Christmas this year. We spent a snowy Christmas Eve with Paul's family, where Teagan got to open her first round of presents. On Christmas Day, she wasn't sure she really wanted to wake up for presents, but when Paul mentioned "toys" she decided she was ready to get out of bed. She was so excited to see the presents under the tree and her stocking. Teagan kept busy playing with her new toys all morning, and then we spent Christmas afternoon/evening with my side of the family where Teagan got to open her third round of presents with her cousins. It was really time for bed when we got home, but we let her stay up for a bit longer to play with all her new toys. What a fun day!

The video is about 3 minutes long, but it has her really cute reactions to the presents and her stocking.

Super Star!

One of Teagan's new words is "sunshine." The sun was bothering her in the car the other day and she was saying "too sunshine." When we got home, I guess she thought the Christmas tree was also too bright because she put on her sunglasses and was standing by the tree saying "sunshine."

Teagan loves her Daddy's hats. She thinks it is really fun to see Daddy wear them, but she also likes to put them on herself. We should get her a hat that actually fits her and see what she thinks.

We recently got Teagan her own robe to wear after our shower in the morning. She looks like a giant marshmallow, but she stays cozy and warm. I'm actually jealous of her robe. It's much more plush than mine!

Tee Dell New

We got our first snow of the year on 12/2. We woke up to a lot of snow flurries and snow sticking to the ground, roof, and bushes. Teagan was fascinated with watching it out the window and we took her outside for a few minutes. When we asked her what she thought about the snow, she said "wet." Unfortunately, the pretty white stuff only stuck around for about an hour.

Teagan loves to write with a pencil and to dictate words for us to write while she watches. She usually says "name" and repeats all the names we say when we write her name, our names, and all the names of her cousins. She is so cute when she says her own name. She pronounces Teagan Adele Knutson as "Tee Dell New."

We are enjoying hearing Teagan talk more and more now, and of course we think she's the smartest toddler ever! She says two word phrases frequently now and will even say some three word "sentences." I love it when she comes to me, hands me something, and then says "right back" before she runs off to get something else to bring to me. She is a little happier riding in the car now as long as we talk the whole time. It's fun to be able to actually have conversations with her.

Wash, Wash

Teagan has now discovered the joy of playing with running water in the kitchen sink. This is a good thing and a bad thing! On one hand, it keeps her busy. If I need to chop vegetables, or load the dishwasher, it is a pretty surefire way to keep her occupied and out from underfoot. It's a bad thing though because now she wants to play in the sink all the time! She picks up her little stool, carries it to the sink, and then climbs up and says "wash, wash." The answer "not right now" just prompts her to ask louder.

Minnesota Trip

We just got back from a quick trip to Minnesota. Teagan did really well traveling and spending time with a lot of her relatives. The first 2 days of our trip were spent in Montevideo, my mom's home town. One of my cousins recently had triplets and there was a baby shower for them. Teagan also got to see her ND aunt, uncle, and cousins, along with 2 of my cousins, 2 of my aunts, an uncle, and my great aunt. After traveling back to the Minneapolis area, we visited with Paul's grandma, aunts, uncle, and a cousin on his dad's side of the family along with several aunts, uncles, cousins andTeagan's second cousin on his mom's side of the family. It was a busy, busy trip, but Teagan handled it very well.