Sasha at 16 Months

This month Sasha has started to help us dress her.  We say "feet" when putting her pants on and she will put her feet in the holes, and "arms' to put her hands in shirts and jackets.  It makes it that much more enjoyable to have a little assistance.  

I've had fun trying new outfits.  I'm still nowhere near the extent some 'toddler and tiara' moms go to, but with all the hand-me-downs she gets, it's fun to find new ways to mix and match. 

 This is my tribute to the 80's:

 I wish I had gotten a better picture of this outfit, but I specifically went searching for white undershirts just so she could wear this outfit (especially in the winter)

Of course, as she has gotten more helpful, she occasionally like to cancel that out by playing around with her clothes.  Here she is after her nap, having stripped a sleeve off.  She also likes unzipping and taking off her hoodies right before we leave the house.

 This month, Sasha started learning to follow directions.  It was nice while it lasted, and unfortunately for her, this means that she will receive disciplinary correction when she doesn't follow said directions.  She thinks it's so funny to push the limits, waiting until I count to 2 and go after her before really obeying sometimes.  This has caused the occasional attempt at reverse psychology (which works like a charm), but I'm always afraid to encourage that kind of communication.

 I guess it's just part of her personality to push her limits.  Here she is at the park trying to follow Kaleb onto the monkey bars.

Most of the time I try to take her misbehavior as a sign that she is still learning or being playful, but then occasionally I see a little bit of the devil in her:

 Then she gives me these adorable grins, and I just melt!

This is the month Sasha became completely obsessed with her butterfly Pillowpet.  It was a random gift from my older sister and her hubby, and it seems to be a constant source of comfort for her, won't sleep without it.    The cool thing is that we decorated Kaleb's nursery room with bears and he has Blue Bear, and Sasha's nursery was full of butterflies, and here she is now with her obsession.  Go figure.  Makes me wonder what random thing we could decorate our next kids room in?  Bacon?  Violins? Sticks?

This month, we started practicing her "L" sound.  We had to exaggerate to help her understand and she had a lot of fun talking with her tongue sticking out of her mouth.  At least now she can say "Lie" for light.  

She started saying "HI" this month and became totally obsessed with the word "Daddy."  It's still fun to hear but there were a few days where EVERYTHING was daddy.  She also learned to say "tickle" or "Teeteeteee" and liked to tickle her belly like we often do.

Sasha has also been shaking her as if to say "no" for almost any question we ask, so I've tried to teach her nodding "Yes" by pushing her head up and down with my hand and saying "yeeeeeesss" very slowly.  She seems to be picking it up, but now she puts her hand on her head whenever she does nod.

Even though I call Sasha a tird because of her constantly challenging behavior, she does seem to have some compassion deep down.  Whenever Kaleb is put in timeout, she likes to sit with him until he is done.  

I've been trying to get Sasha to say sorry for her wrongdoings lately by encouraging her to give hugs. Well, so far it's usually her walking up to the other person and allowing them to hug her.  This is gonna be a tough road, I can just feel it.  

Yep that's my little Sasha!

Teller Christmas 2012

Yep, that's right... blogging about Christmas... in February... That's how I do it... sokay?

Anywho, Kaleb got to help put the tree up with Daddy!

 

And the kids loved the decorating. Much like the way she cleans up her toys, Sasha would put an ornament on... walk away for three seconds then come right back and take it off and would do that with the same ornament over and over.  They both just loved looking at the Christmas lights, and Kaleb was a huge fan of  switching the tree on and off once it was all decorated.

Every year, each person gets an ornament to symbolize that year somehow.  This year, Ammon got an Eeyore ornament because he felt with a lot of drama at work, he just kinda grinned and bore it, like Eeyore.

I chose the Tasmanian Devil dressed as an angel because I felt a little bipolar all year.  

Kaleb got a set of wind-up chattering teeth as his ornament because the kid LOVES to talk and ask questions.  "Why?" is his fall back when I say anything and he loves to talk to random strangers, so this seemed the most appropriate.  

Sasha was my climbing, never-stopping little daredevil, so we got her a fun little monkey ornament.  

We had a family get-together (for my side) at our house the Saturday before Christmas.  All the cousins enjoyed watching each other open presents.  I took lots of pictures which came out fuzzy (stupid black Friday camera), so I am only posting my kids.  My brother Devin's family sent us a movie and a whack-a-mole type game.  (Thank you, Liz)

Sasha was kinda bummed we didn't get to play with it that night...

But really had fun when Daddy showed her how to use it the next morning.  

Sasha also discovered how much she loves baby cousin Ian, and I must say he couldn't stop laughing at her.  

The Sunday before Christmas was got this postcard shot before heading off to church.  

SO STINKIN CLICHE!  I LOVE IT!!

One of my Christmas gifts from last year was a new dishwasher and it was also a gift this year since we finally got it all hooked up in November.  

Ammon gave me mostly cooking things:  a wok skillet, fondue pot and this griddle.  He felt bad, but I loved experimenting with them.  This was me making 6 pieces of french toast at once.  IT"S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!!

Since the kids are still pretty little we were able to enjoy the morning and go through their toy-laden stockings (way better than doing the candy, a note to myself for next year).  

Sasha got maracas, a bunch of earrings (that I have yet to put in her ears) and hair bows.  Her favorite was a new hairbrush.

Kaleb got Hot Wheels and Whoopie cushions and a magnifying glass.  They both got balls with flashing lights and these great expandable tubes that they both fell in love with.

Some of Kaleb's big presents included a Play-doh candy maker (this picture is of him "eating" the candy he is gonna make)...

And a Big Rig truck to hold all his Hot Wheels...

But the best present was his first bike... something we bought back in August that he apparently grew out of already... silly mommy and daddy.  

Sasha got some farm animals and that farm animal "The cow says moo" thingamajig and some Disney princesses.  

They got a joint gift of bath musical instruments. 

They also both got dress-up clothes from Gramma Teller... Sasha got a fairy dress and wings

And Kaleb got a Super Cape and Mask.  Here he is as a Super Train conductor (combining two costumes) 

And Ammon got a little jealous so he had to try Kaleb's on.  

The kids also both got Doodle boards which they both love.  Overall we all had a bunch of fun this Christmas and are counting the days till next year.