After enduring a long week of peering into an empty fish tank as we prepared the water, Lauren finally got to pick out two fish at the pet store today. We went from tank to tank as LP contemplated her selection. I asked which fish do you want and Lauren responded, “One funny head.” And indeed the goldfish in that particular tank all had kind of bumpy heads. One down and one more to go. A few tanks down, a big orange and white one caught her eye so they were both bagged up and we headed home. On the way home I asked the same question I had been asking all week,

Lauren, what are you going to name your fish?”

She replied with the same answer I’d been hearing for a week, “E. 9.”

I then asked, “Which one is E?”

“One funny head.”

Yes, each time she says the names of her fish, it does sound like she’s calling bingo. However, it seems that they are now part of the family getting blown goodnight kisses. She so enjoys watching them in their tank as they, in her own words, “Swim. Poop. Drink water.”

To see some pictures of us getting the tank ready, picking out the fish and then finally introducing them to their new home, click here.

It’s easy to understand why Lauren seems fascinated with taking pictures – she sees me do it all the time. We have allowed her to doodle a little with an old digital camera of ours every once in awhile. This month, during her photo shoot, she grabbed my big camera. She had it turned on and was clicking away in no time. Most of the pictures were of the ground or her legs (if you look at the August photos, you’ll understand) but she did get a couple of shots of other things. Check out Lauren’s works of art, click here.

Holy Cow! Lauren is only 1 month away from being two! The time has just flown by!! As I reviewed the pictures from our photo shoot this month, I beamed with pride as any mother would.

Lauren is kind and happy and so full of life! I feel so fortunate to be at home with her and to have the opportunity on any random day to visit the park with my daughter after a lunch with Daddy. It’s such a blessing to witness her excitement as she splashes her feet in a stream or to see her frustration as she yells at the squirrels because they are running away from her and the leaf she’s offering them to eat. As I watch her dart from bush to bush, searching for the elusive creature that’s making all of that rustling noise, I can’t help but to day dream – what will she be like next year…in five years…10 years…as an adult? And as I looked at the pictures I took, I cried a little too. They are not tears of sadness, but due to this enormous sense of longing. I have such a strong desire to hold onto every last moment with her, no matter how insignificant it might seem. With all of my being I want to expose her to all the wonders of the world but at the same time shelter her from any harm so she can always remain my sweet innocent baby. Oh, to have no fear (but, of course, clowns) or no preconceived notions as to what life should be (just enjoying running around the pool table naked) is inspiring. It’s that overwhelming yearning that makes me cry because I know that’s such an unrealistic wish. And it’s these moments, as the tears streak down my face, that I always remind myself to live in the present – cherish each minute with my family, and mercilessly protect all of these precious memories…forever. Here are a few of those memorable things from the past month.

If you’ve ever been around Lauren for any length of time, you know that some of her favorite phrases now are, “too spicy” when she eats something she doesn’t care for – whether it’s spicy or not, “just right” when she’s requesting the temperature of her bath water, and “A B C 9 10” – her version of “A B C 1 2 3”. A few of her current favorite past times are playing “under covers” as she “tickle Mommy”. Yes, it seems that now instead of just pulling off all of the pillows on our bed to dive into, she’d much rather mess up our entire bed by playing tickle under the sheets. Lauren also seems to be driven by challenges. She loves for you to ask her questions about her day or even what happened months ago at the zoo or park or a seemingly normal day. Ryan and I are continually astonished by how much she remembers. She wants you to quiz her about animals, sounds, colors and shapes – and when you run out of questions she still doesn’t let up, responding with a resounding, “More questions!”

LP is so enjoying her Mommy & Me gymnastics class and instead of replying with “Hard to say.” when I ask where we are going, she now says “Gym nas tic” as if it’s three separate words. Her favorite apparatus is the beam – no surprise since she’s been scaling curbs for months now. However, she also enjoys the foam pit where she can do back-bends into and is quickly mastering her forward roll after only 3 classes. She even gave Ms. Kay a hug goodbye on Tuesday and talked about her on the way home. Big steps for my little social caterpillar!

Her dexterity doesn’t stop with her gymnastics. She’s picked up on one of her Daddy’s talents and quite frequently grabs things up off the floor with her toes while she’s standing instead of bending down to get them. I’d have to say she’s a Daddy’s girl in more ways than that. She gets such a kick out of combing her Dad’s hair after bath time – spending at least 5 minutes working with it – first pretending to spray it with her bottle of detangler and then combing it with impeccable precision and concentration – she’s very serious about her work. Her instructions are clear and concise with “Head down, Daddy.” “Move head, Daddy.” “Comb tangles out.” and I can’t leave out her “Shhhhh. Shhhhh.” which is her making the spray sound for the detangler. Odd? Maybe. Cute? Of course, I’m going to say absolutely – I’m her mother!

Over the past month we have also discovered her complete dislike of clowns. She’s seen a few in person and was not thrilled either time, crying once and clinging desperately to my neck the other time. I think a pretty understandable reaction – clowns do look pretty strange and scary. But now she’s found one in a book of hers and regularly proclaims her like for the bunny standing next to the clown, but does not care for the clown at all. Ryan routinely lists various foods and animals to get her impression on them and nothing fazes her as being bad (even some pretty strange foods & animals) – until you mention a clown. The circus might be out of the question for a few years.

I could go on and on – but instead I’ll just leave with this. When running late for our gymnastics class one morning, I was trying to encourage Lauren to hurry up on the big girl potty as she tends to not focus sometimes.

I asked, “Are you ready to wipe?”
Lauren responded, “All done. Wipe.”
As I reach for the paper, LP grabbed it and said, “Tease Mommy. More potty.”

Tease Mommy – where does she come up with this stuff!? It’s these silly little moments that I wouldn’t want to miss or ever forget. Check out our 23 month pictures, click here. We had a special guest, I caught LP doing her forward roll, and we visited the park!