Hi!

This is not Millie's actual Halloween costume, this girl just loves to play dress-up.  It was a back-up costume from last year.  This post needed a picture, and she just so cute (even if she does look a little sad, I promise she insisted on wearing it).

I don't know if its that I've finally faced the fact that summer is over or that Millie is getting so busy but I have nearly lost all sense of motivation.  I say nearly because I still try a little.

Sure my idea of scripture study is reading my quote of the day calendar.  Perhaps my idea of exercise is researching gyms and making low offers on treadmills on Craig's List.  Maybe Millie and I eat breakfast (again) for dinner when Buck has a work thing.  And yes, Millie learns a lot from Clifford, Sesame Street, and Curious George but so what?

The good news is that while I feel at a stand-still, Millie is still moving forward.  She still eats a lot, but her likes and dis-likes are becoming more apparent (darn it).  She is still gaining weight and getting taller, but a lot of her clothes from last fall still fit.  I don't mind though, since we haven't bought her anything new yet.  The big one, though, is that Millie is finally catching on to the whole language thing.

She had what I like to call a "language explosion" a couple of days ago.  I pulled out family pictures to teach her a few names, which she repeated for the first time.  I also finally got her to repeat a few different animal sounds and names (poor girl has been stuck on dog forever).  She's still dog obsessed, and insists on wearing her dog P-jams all the time.  Even in the day over her outfit.  It's unfortunate that Papi (Buck's Dad) sounds a lot like puppy, so he gets a bark after his name is repeated.  Yes, language is great.  It's only a matter of time before I can threaten to spank her bottom and she'll get it.

I'm really proud of her and all her hard work.  It just melts my heart anytime I see her "studying" her little books or sneaking into her room to point at our picture and say "mama" and "dada" just to practice.  That reminds me that I should probably put up some pictures of other people.

My goal to get out of this rut is to get back on a schedule.  We are strict with nap time and bed time but that is it.  I need to carve out some learning/activity time, alone time, snack time, etc so she and I have more consistent days.  I was pretty good at that when she was a baby-baby, but seriously she never stops moving anymore.  Maybe now that I put it out there, I'll actually do it.

Hope y'all are having a beautiful Fall day!