Her hair is finally growing

I (Andrea) am volunteering in my church's sunday school rooms. I help out with the older 2 year olds and early 3 year olds. I have found that most little girls this age have a ton of hair. And than I see Rachel with her short wispy light brown hair that has so much curl in the back it does not yet hit her shoulders. However finally she has enough hair on top that I can successfully put 2 small pig tails on top of her head, she is just too cute!

Happy Birthday Rachel!

She is finally 2 years old and she knows it! We had a great birthday party with a Winnie the Pooh cake and decorations, she got lots of great gifts, and really enjoyed eating that red icing! She learned to sing the 1st line of the Birthday song....Happy Day to you, is how she says it.

Day at the Park

Rachel has become quite the outdoor type. She really loves to go to the park and becomes quite independant when she does. She loves to climb, and slide, but most of all loves to swing. She tends to show some nervousness at first but really gets to giggling with the speed. She shows no fear at anything. With all the rain the Dallas area has had our park days have been few and far between. The picture above was on our summer trip to Iowa in June. As we approach August we are getting excited to celebrate Rachel's 2nd birthday. The 1st birthday was so much fun I can not believe another year has gone by so quickly.

Update

Rachel is officially a toddler. She is not just walking and talking but successfully climbing our of her crib. I caught her red handed. She had pulled herself up the side of the crib, balanced on her waist while she swung her legs over the edge and began to shimmy down. So she is now in a toddler bed which has given us a whole new set of challenges. This new freedom she has enlisted us into a whole new set of concerns. Like....she wont' go to bed or stay in bed. YIKES what a nightmare (no pun intended). One day at a time!

17 Months

Rachel is truly turning into a little girl, so much of her "babyness" is slowly going away. She now knows how to put her hands on her hips and cock her head to the side when she disagrees with one of us. She loves to talk on the phone. She is constantly grabbing a cell phone or the house phone, turning it on and jabbering. She knows the say "hi" when she puts it up to her ear, and has even once said "hi-Mimi" Mimi is her maternal grandmother. We can tell she is going to be a very funny silly girl who enjoys making people laugh. As she gets closer to 2 years old she tests us and pushes the boundaries of discipline more, we are learning together!

Christmas Time

We had a great Christmas...we enjoyed getting to see both sides of our immeadiate familys. It was the 1st time we had to put in the 2nd leaf to our dinning table so we could sit 8 people. The family just continues to grow. Rachel had a great time, she napped through Christmas lunch, but did not miss opening presents. We could not tell which she enjoyed more...opening her gifts or playing with other family members gifts. Her cousins were very gracious. She is growing so much, she gives big hug and sweet kisses. She loves to run and hide and chase her daddy around, pin him to the ground and climb on his back. She just giggles with delight.

Winter

Rachel is growing so fast...as winter approaches it was time to pull out the new pajamas with feet. She looks mighty cute in them and she just squeals with delight to wear them. She is very chatty. She says all sorts of words, but we love to hear her say "thank you." It just comes accross so sweet and innocent. We are looking forward to Christmas, we will get the opportunity to see all of our parents, and Rachel will enjoy it and understand it a little bit.

Another month past!

I can't believe I let a month pass before posting again. Rachel has grown so much in the past month. She is in her repetative stage...she tries to repeat everything we do and say. It is not always clear, but she tries very hard. She makes us smile so much. We are entering the discipline stage as she is coming close to 15 months. In the past if she was touching something she was not supposed to we would say "no-no" and slap her hand. Last night Rachel was touching the T.V and she knows she is not allowed too. Her daddy said, "Rachel, that is a no-no" and Rachel stepped away from the T.V and slapped her own hand. We could not help but laugh which is the worst thing you can do when trying to discipline. For the most part she is very obediant, except when it comes to the dog food. Rachel just can not seem to leave it alone. She grabs it by the handfulls and quickly stuffs it in her mouth and then runs off to her room so she won't be caught. Now she goes in her room and shuts the door as if that will keep me out. She also enjoys to play with water outside of her bathtime. She has repeatedly thrown not only her stuffed animals but Sebastians as well in the toilet. So we now shut every door but her bedroom door. And she likes to put her feet in the Sebastians water bowl. I think she will grow to like pedicures. We are looking forward to the holdiays, taking some time off and seeing family. I kind of hope it snows a little bit this winter so she can play. She loves to be outside, maybe next summer she will get a small playground in the back yard....we'll see how much adventure her dad is up for.

50's Flashback

Even though it is fall we just can not help but dress Rachel in pretty pastels...and who could blame us in the pretty pink poodle dress from Mimi. Rachel has added a new word to her vocabulary, it is PUPPY. It is not as clear as BABY, but she tries very hard.

School Days and 1st words!

Rachel has graduated to the toddler class at Daycare. She is quite smaller than the other toddlers, but from what we hear: she can "hold" her own. She has brand new teachers and they just love her as we all do. She said her 1st her word the day of her 13th month "birthday". It was BABY. She saw a picture of her self on the fireplace mantel of when she was 6 weeks old. The picture made her smile, so I pulled it down and let her look at it closely. She pointed to the sweet face and said "baby" just as clear as could be. Does that mean she is vain? :-) Of course not, she just knows how cute she is.

NFL Season is Here!!!

It is football time and Rachel is ready. She is all geared up and ready to root for the Tennessee Titans. She even got to help her daddy draft for his Fantasy Football team.

She is WALKING!!!

Rachel began walking on the day of her birthday! What a suprise and treat that was. She is very slow and very wobbley, but on the go. Sometimes she gets tired of going slow and drops to her knees to crawl, but she is walking more and more. She just has the best and brightest smile when she walks because she is so proud of herself.

Because 1 Picture is never enough

It was at this point, we knew she was out of control!

Rachel's Birthday

Can you believe a year has gone by? Rachel will be 1 years old on August 16th. We had a small party with her cousins on the 12th. She loved her chocolate cake as you can tell. She went straight from the table to the kitchen sink where she was successfully hosed down. However, we are still finding reminants of chocolate in the oddest of places....like her nostrils. We are so proud of our chocolate covered cupcake. She is almost walking all by herself. She will walk holding your hand and stand alone and maybe take a small step. Any day now she will just take off.

Iowa

Rachel and the family spent a week in Iowa visiting Mimi and Boppa. We took her to the zoo, she liked the seals, the lions, the giraffes, and the regular birds you can see anywhere. She also spent an afternoon at the park having a picnic. She still does not like the grass, so she was great at not leaving the blanket.

Happy 4th of July

Rachel is sporting this years hottest summer look in her brilliantly colorful Ms Independant freedom dress. She was all the rave at church this Sunday, and in her acceptance speach of the cutest 4th of July baby ever...she just wants World Peace! All joking aside, I just can not help but to buy these frilly things that I swore I never would, and I hate it that she will most likely only have 1 oppertunity to wear it.

10 Months and counting

The countdown to her 1st birthday has begun. She is growing so fast. She is so close to just breaking out in a new vocabulary that extends beyond dada and mama. She mimicks many sounds as Matthew and I speak, and she watches our lips very closely. I am so curious to know what her 1st word will be (other tham mama/dada of course)! The nursery at chuch just loves her. We went to pick her up after service and they did not want to let her go. They say she is the sweetest and cuddliest baby they have ever been around. One teacher said she wants one just like her. I said I would take 5 more like her.

Florida Anyone?

Rachel decided she wanted to go to Florida with mom, so she climbed into her suitcase and found she fit perfectly. Unfortunatly she did not get to go, security at DFW really frowns upon that :-). Florida was nice except for the high winds and rains from Tropical Storm Alberto. I missed Rachel terribly, and I know she missed me.

Sebastian

Sebastian is our 9 year old dog. He is a miniture schnauzer and for 8 years was #1 in the Johnson household. He is curious about Rachel and most likely a little jealous, but over all USUALLY leaves her alone. We will see how that changes when she is walking. He is fun, cute, and has a great personality. You heard me "personality" Yes...we believe dogs have those.

Meal Time!

Rachel is a messy eater. She has 3 teeth on the bottom and two coming in on the top. With theses 5 new friends she can successfully grab the spoon with her teeth and hold on to it. Is it just us....or is she cute no matter what? :-)