Sweet Sisters

We had a fun playdate with Claire and Grace the other day. Laine enjoyed their playroom, and their doggie! They were both so sweet to Laine, and it was great for me to catch up with Dakota!

Laine in a Box

I thought Laine might like to play around in one of the moving boxes we have hanging around, and I was right! It doesn't keep her interest for long, but she enjoys climbing in and goofing around inside every so often. She wants her sleepsack placed over the opening like a curtain, and then she lays down and pretends to sleep. There must be something about a small space all your own.


I keep saying that Laine's slowed down on words, but then when I look at my list I realize how wrong I am. She is just starting to repeat some things, but as always, these are words she uses and totally understands. Here's what's new over the last two weeks: Loud (yow); Hannah and Amy (Anna and Mimi) our neighbor girls; Nose, eye, ear and back (she knew the location of these but didn't say them until now); Duck, Block, Box, Bike, Yogurt (first she called it "baby" as it has a picture of a baby on it, then it was yoyo, and now it's very clear); Park, Slide (Yie); Sock (yuck); Shoe (used to sound like "you" but now the "s" is said); Toe, Straw, Watch (then says "tick tock" and tips her head back and forth), Cheers (shersh) then wants to knock our glass with her sippy; Snake says "sssssss" and turkey says "doppadoppa"; Nikki (our Little Gym teacher.) This one came out of nowhere! Jayson was asking her what she would do at Little Gym in the morning and she said, "Baby." He said, "What else?" Laine looked up and said, "Nikki." Clear as can be! Also, Brielle (yell) Another neighbor girl.
I love that we can have conversations (sort of) with her. You can say, "Tell Daddy what we did today..." Laine will say, "Park. 'Wing. Yie. Bike!" Another day it might be, "Boppa! Auntie! Car."

I had my first phone conversation with Laine the other day. It's funny that it's just now the first time, but I realized it because we're almost always together and I'm the one usually holding the phone out to her! Jayson took her to Grandma and Grandpa B's and they called me later that afternoon. There was a lot of heavy breathing, some babbling, and a repeated mention of "Boppa!"

Sick Again

April and May have not been kind to us. When we got home from Arizona, we had colds, and then Laine began her Great Injury Extravaganza. There was the "ow" in Arizona on her knee--then the week we got home she was horsing around on the couch and gave herself a rug burn on her forehead from the couch pillow! (See our Easter pictures as a reference.) Before that had a chance to heal, she was jumping in her crib and got a bruise on her right cheek when she slipped (I may have surprised her as I came in the room to stop her jumping...) Then, we spent the afternoon at the park (injury-free) but when we got home she was limping! She had walked to the car at the park and I couldn't understand what had happened. I think now maybe her foot fell asleep but at the time I was panicking, trying to figure out how someone deals with an 18 month old who has a sprained ankle! Before that night was over, she tripped on her feet and bumped our dresser (lots of crying but nothing to show for it) and not 20 minutes later thunked her head on the tub just before she got out. I was ready for April to be over!
Well, we weren't done there. After coming home from the park two Fridays ago, Laine seemed a little off and rather lathargic. She'd wanted me to carry her at the park, whereas normally I can't get her to stay on the path--and that was odd but I thought maybe she was just tired. When we got home she wanted to play outside and got some of her pep back. But by the time Jayson got home she was cranky, didn't want her dinner, and was not my normally happy-go-lucky girl. She was asking to go to bed and it wasn't even 6:00 yet! We checked her temperature before we put her down and it was over 102! Since she was so exhausted we let her simply go to bed and agreed to keep an eye on her and check her in the morning. She slept through the night and her temp had gone down in the morning but went up again a little as the day went on. It never got up past 100 again, however so we kept putting off the doctor. Finally by Monday morning, it was still hovering around 99 but she was fussy and didn't want to eat so we decided to take her in. I just kept thinking--I don't want to be one of those moms who goes running in at the drop of a hat, but what if something was really wrong!?

This does not look like a happy, healthy girl.

The doctor checked her lungs, her ears and her throat--all was good but her throat was a little pink. The verdict was that she had a virus that was on the way out. Either that, or as I think is possible--it was our enemy, Teething. I'm beginning to become convinced that it's the dreaded Two Year Molars. Shudder. (More on that later.)

Flower Child

Afternoon at Farrel-McWhirter Park.

It's a Three Doggy Day

Can you spot the three puppies and Laine? Puppydog, Schnapps, and Dirty-Dog all came along on our car ride the other day.

Biggest and Best Book

As a child, I loved Richard Scarry books. The drawings were so detailed and it seemed there was always something to see that you'd missed before. Laine is no exception. Her current favorite book is The Best Word Book Ever. It covers just about anything you could think of, from Waking Up (getting dressed and all the articles of clothes,) Transportation (cars, trucks, planes, boats each get their own page,) and all the seasons and holidays. Most of the items have a label written next to them to identify what you're looking at. I imagine as an 18 month old, it must seem a bit like a reference manual for life. What was that thing I saw at the park? Oh, a teeter-totter! What might I see when in the city? Ah--a parking meter, a newspaper office, and a taxicab (among many, many other things.)

I think these are great books for this age--learning words--and will be great for her in the future when she realizes she's seen the spelling of these words a million times.

Life Lesson::Disappointment

The weather has been sporadic this year, to say the least. One day last week I promised Laine we'd head to Ebright Park after her nap. It had been gray but dry out all morning and I always say, if it's not raining, then why not go out? She woke up, and while it looked a little questionable, we got in the car anyway. I figured, at least we wouldn't be walking to our neighborhood park and get stuck in the rain. As we backed out of the driveway Laine's cd was playing "Rain, Rain, Go Away." I crossed my fingers and hoped it wasn't a sign.

A mist appeared on the windshield as we drove down the hill. We can work through that, I thought. I parked at Ebright as the only other car drove away. "Wimps!" I said to Laine. We walked out to the playtoy under a big golf umbrella as the rain came down a little more. We stopped under the picnic shelter and I hesitated. This was not swinging weather.

Laine decidedly ventures out.

Irritated at Mommy.

Waiting for the rain to stop.

If you read my title, it's needless to say that the rain didn't let up, and Laine didn't get to swing. There was quite a bit of whining, some sneaking off towards the swings (as if I wouldn't see!) and general disappointment from my peanut. But that's life--we don't always get what we want when we want it. I was just hoping to hold off from teaching that lesson so early.

Mommy's Day

If this doesn't epitomize being a Mom, I don't know what does!
It was a wonderful Mother's Day--much more relaxing than last year, when we hosted at our house! This year, both families went to a lovely brunch at Anthony's and then headed back to the Buechler's where we spent the day enjoying each other's company.

I am so lucky to be Mommy to such a beautiful, sweet, caring and spirited little girl named Laine. She has become our whole world and every waking thought involves her. It's been so much fun to watch her grow and it is sometimes mind-boggling when realizing how much change she has yet ahead of her! Each step has been memorable (if not always a cake-walk) and we're currently having the most fun with her yet as she responds and reacts to life around her.

I'm Hilarious...Just Ask Me

The other night, Laine was half dressed in her pajamas when she discovered my makeup mirror in the closet. She pulled it out and starting chatting it up like there was someone else talking back, pausing as if to wait for a response and laughing hysterically. After about 10 minutes, I had to go grab the camera but only got a short bit filmed before I took a deep breath from trying to stifle my laughter (which is the point that Laine heard me and turned to see the camera). Then she immediately wants to see the "baby" on the camera. (Her.)

House Hunting

We haven't listed the house yet. After a double landscaping debacle (don't ask) our grass is finally thatched to our specifications and we're scheduled to have our roof treated, trim painted, and windows washed. But in pouring over potential future homes, there were two that just had to be checked out, no matter if we were ready to list. I thought it might be fun to document our house hunt on here to look back someday.

The first we went to was a 1980's Buchan--with a decent size lot (10400 SF) but a too small kitchen. Even with remodeling I just wasn't interested.



The other house I had to see strictly because it was on 1.25 acres. It would have been like living in a park--but I would have wanted to actually live in the yard, because the house itself was not Our Future Home. Another big problem was street noise. The house itself is on a cul-de-sac, but off a main road (244th,) which they recently opened up so that homes south and east of us (currently) can go down the plateau another way. In this case, it equals quite a bit of traffic next to this house. We've been so spoiled living on our cul-de-sac, and didn't even know it!

But oh! Doesn't the yard make you swoon?!

Our Little Engineer

Lately Laine has taken a new interest in her MegaBlocks. She gets rather frustrated when her towers break apart (she stacks BIG blocks on top of little ones) but enjoys herself quite a bit. She built a structure taller than herself the other night, with some gravity defying assistance from Mommy and Daddy. Below is her post diaper change/pre-pajama building session. (Hence the pantless activity.)

Big Bouncers

Last week, we met up with Courtney and Cami at Kidz Bounce in Issaquah. It had been before Christmas that we last saw them! We had a great time bouncing and Laine loved watching Courtney--who we like to say Laine is the "Echo" of. They are so sweet together with their blonde hair and blue eyes.

Courtney and Cami ventured into the obstacle course, which was a little too advanced for Laine. She sure enjoyed watching them, though!

Laine loved this red ball (actually a huge balloon).

It was quite a feat getting Laine up this slide. She couldn't master climbing it, as it was very steep--and at a certain point I couldn't carry her, so I sort of shoved her ahead of me as I went. I could only manage doing it twice as my arms were killing me from the awkward climb. If we could have, I think she would have done it all day--as her first word at the bottom was "more!"

Signs of Spring

This lovely robin (and many of his friends) have been hopping around our yard on warmer days. I adore our birdbath and CAN'T WAIT to find a spot in a new backyard for it!

Hippity Hop

I don't know if the Easter Bunny messed with my camera when he delivered Laine's basket, or what...but I didn't get very good photos. I had my flash turned off for much of the day, and Laine's quick moves equal general blurriness, I guess. Here's what I did get documented--somewhat decently.

Egg Hunt at our house.

Checking out her Easter basket, and looking over all the visiting bunnies. (About 20 of Mommy's old ones came out to play.)

Cuddles with Grandpa.

Showing Granny her eggs.

Kelsey Creek Farm

The day before Easter was gorgeous, so we headed to Kelsey Creek to enjoy the sun. Laine had a blast seeing all the animals and made sure to say "Hi!" to them all. She gave the pig bench kisses and "baa'd" at the sheep. It was a wonderful afternoon and we ended the day by grilling out on the deck! A perfect Saturday for the Buechlers.

I don't know where she picked this up; it must be in her genes. This is the "Good Farmer Stance:" hands behind the back and on the hips. Must have just come out of her as it was her first trip to a farm!

We no longer walk, it's a running (or galloping) policy with Laine.