Winter Fun with Daddy

This entertainment was courtesy of Grandpa Betke. Thanks for building the snow slide in the backyard. Maria loved it!

22 months old

The holiday season is over, and already another month has come and gone. Maria is now less than two months from her 2nd birthday! Where does the time go. She is speaking in short sentences now mostly 2 words, but occasionally 3 words. She is becoming quite easy to understand now too, at least to me, Grandma Epler, and Shannon (her dayhome provider), although I would hazard a guess that other people would now understand quite a bit of what she says. She is also getting a lot of use out of her new toys (the kitchen and table were quite a hit), and as soon as I get the "art" center set up I'm sure she will love painting too (thanks again Grandma and Grandpa Betke). She has also discovered the joys of playdough, which has actually been a sanity savior for Mom some days - and she has yet to decide that it looks like food....maybe it's because of it's unnatural blue color.


(Tea time with Grandma; Playing ball with Cousin Ben; Learning to play with playdough)

As for the two of us, well Aaron continues to be busy. He's currently on a job in Fort McMurray and away a lot, which would be tough at the best of times, but with only 3 months to go until baby two arrives, it has me more exhausted than normal. However, we are coping, and Maria and I have a really good raport and routine going right now. I wonder if it will all go out the window when Aaron returns home though....guess we'll see.


(My first pigtails; Winter fun with Daddy)