Peyton has been BUSY!!!

Again, I have some catching-up to do! Since my last post about 4th of July weekend we have had a lot going on in the Todd household! That following Thursday, Grandpa & Grandma Todd came to visit us! Peyton showed-off her excellent coloring skills but was only happy if Grandpa took the lid off of her markers - guess Grandma, Daddy & Mommy couldn't quite cut it in that area. After playing for a while we headed to Garozzo's for dinner - yum! Peyton enjoyed her spaghetti and ate like a champ as always.



Then on Saturday, Daddy headed to Iowa for a golf tournament so Peyton & I met-up with one of my old friends, Valerie, from Sprint for a play date - the last time we got together Savannah was barely walking and Peyton wasn't even crawling! My, what a difference a year makes! Here is a pic of Peyton & Savannah on the playground -


On Saturday afternoon Grammy & Grandpa stopped by for a visit. Peyton was just waking up from her nap when they arrived so she was ready to go! After a little playing and running some errands we headed to Cheddars for dinner - one of my favorites! We even took in a little mall time while up by Oak Park - Grammy & Mommy did a little shoe shopping while Peyton tried the carousel again with Grandpa - this time with much more success. The girl does LOVE horsies right now!


On Saturday since Daddy was already gone before Peyton woke-up she asked if he was at work. I told her yes, after all, he was working on his golf game ;) and she followed it up with "bye-bye Daddy, uv you." How priceless is that?!?!

On Sunday, Daddy & Peyton teamed-up to make fantastic omlets for breakfast, Peyton is such a big helper!


Peyton has also learned the pattern apparently that after she is done eating we give her leftovers to Apollo. We have never shown her this but she is very observant! One night last week after she was done eating she asked to carry her plate over to me at the sink. Chad handed her plate and she headed straight for Apollo's food bowl, dumped her leftovers in there and brought her plate to me - wow, she learns fast and Apollo is very happy with her new skill! :)


Last week we had a fun event with my moms group at church - Kiddie Olympics! Here's Peyton participating in the soccer ball kick! She had fun with the games but was more excited about the playground time at the end! The girl worked-up an appetite though and ate two whole pieces of pizza!


Then this past weekend we headed to Clinton for a visit on Friday night. Peyton passed-out on the way down and was ready to play on Saturday! Chad & I headed down to Springfield to visit Courtney, one of our friends from college and had a super fun day! We ate a TON, more than I think I had all week until that point, and saw a lot of changes that have been going on in Springfield. Peyton enjoyed her day with Grammy, Grandpa, Granny, Great-Grandpa, Aunt Mary & Uncle Mark! I think everyone had lots of fun playing and swimming even though it was 100 degrees outside! On Sunday, Daddy & Grandpa played in a golf tournament so Grammy, Peyton & I had breakfast at Granny & Great-Grandpas before heading to church. Peyton looked ADORABLE in her dress on Sunday and was quite the hit at church. She even graced the early arrivers with a little organ solo - oops!




Here's Peyton earlier this week just looking adorable so I couldn't resist the picture!


Peyton is gaining so much control when she eats - we have graduated to eating cereal with milk, quite the pro I think!


While in Springfield last weekend we found a tent and tunnel for Peyton to play with - this was quite the hit! On Sunday she ran in and out of the tunnel at least 100 times. I really wish I would have had the video camera close because it was hilarious. Of course, she can't be the only one using the tunnel so Mommy & Daddy have to go through several times too, which Peyton thinks is hilarious!


And the "tickle monster" has been come out more and more recently - Peyton will giggle non-stop and say "more, more, more." This, I did catch on video - her laugh is so infectious!


Peyton now talks about several of her friends at school and is starting to tell us what she does at school. She LOVES to splash and was a little disappointed earlier this week when we have gone on walks/runs past the pool without stopping. I think a trip to the pool this weekend is a MUST!

Last night Peyton helped me make brownies for work. She poured the oil in all by herself and even helped lick the bowl a bit! As long as she can be helping she is a happy little girl!

Peyton is also starting to show some interest in the potty. I'm not sure how long her interest will last at this point but she loves a commercial that is on the Disney channel and yells out "potty" when she sees it. She also has asked several times over the last few days to sit on the potty and twice has gotten a drop or two out. As soon as she is done she wants toilet paper to wipe and is then ready to wash her hands. She at least has the process down, we'll see where it goes from here!

Olde Glory Days

Last Friday Peyton's school was closed so after swimming lessons on Thursday we loaded-up the car and headed to Clinton for the 17th Olde Glory Days! We had a very busy couple of days!!! On Friday we started with a visit with Granny & Great-Grandpa followed by a trip up town for some play time in the Little Tykes Toddler Tent. Peyton really got into this and had a good time with all of the fun toys. She really wanted to try the mini-bounce house but wasn't quite ready for it yet. After Pizza Glen for lunch we headed to Optimist Park for the Firequacker 500 - a race of 500 ducks down a creek. Although Peyton had a few ducks in the race hers didn't make it to the finish line first - luckily we still had a great time! Peyton even tried-out the merry-go-round and thought it was great fun! Later on we went back up town and Peyton wanted to ride the carousel - well, she wanted to ride it all the way up until the point where it actually started moving! Oh well, we enjoyed the majority of the ride from a bench. Then Grammy & Grandpa were walking by the ponies and Peyton begged to ride. Grandpa was ready to walk beside her to help her balance and she assured them she really wanted to ride the "horsies". About two seconds into this ride as well she was DONE! Even though she didn't ride for long she was quite proud of herself for riding the horsie and is still talking about it today! She even remembered the horsies being up town the following night and wanted to ride again!

Saturday morning started early with a visit with Clifford the Big Red Dog - she was super excited to meet Clifford but when it came time for pictures she wanted nothing to do with him! Oh well, I'm still glad that she got to meet Clifford! Clifford was followed by the parade. It took Peyton a little while to figure out the whole candy picking-up process but once she did she loved it! She enjoyed three suckers during the parade since she kept dropping them on the ground - gross! The parade was long but Peyton clapped along with the bands and music and waved at most that drove by. Saturday afternoon was relaxing and then we enjoyed a dinner back up town before Peyton took her bath and got ready to head home. We had an awesome few days!!

Sunday and Monday were spent relaxing around home and in general just getting a few things done. Having a 4 day weekend was awesome - I think I could get used to that! :) Monday Peyton went to school for a few hours so that we could get a few things done - she had WAY more fun at school! Chad & I enjoyed a nice lunch on the Plaza followed by a little window shopping that is often hard to do with Peyton's quick hands! ;) We tried to wrap-up the weekend with a dip in the pool but the weather had other ideas so instead Peyton went "swimming" in her swimsuit in the bathtub!

Ride on the carousel -

Playing with Granny -

Family pic at the parade -

Waving the American Flag -

The traumatic visit with Clifford!

Posing with Grammy & Grandpa before dinner -

The Firequacker 500 -

Daddy and his girl!

Peyton helped Grammy pick some cucumbers at Granny & Great-Grandpas -

Earlier in the week - loved the pigtails!

Swimming Lessons, Counting and More

The last couple of weeks have been VERY busy - we have had swim lessons every night, Monday - Thursday so I am just now playing a little bit of catch-up.

Peyton cracks us up almost daily - the other night she was helping Daddy get Apollo some food and usually she LOVES to carry the bowl over to where we keep the bowl but this time, Peyton simply pointed over to the spot and told Daddy - "right there"! Hilarious!!

While watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse one morning they started counting something - anyway, they counted one - she said two then three, four, five, six, seven, eight and nine - wow! She counted right along with Mickey - we were shocked to hear it but it was so much fun!!

Here are some pictures from swimming lessons. Every night after we got to the pool she would "patiently" wait at the door until it was our turn. She was not a huge fun of waiting but she was quite fond of her lessons! I think her favorites were jumping into the pool from the side and singing "The Swimmers in the Pool". The two weeks went by so quickly!

Peyton is enjoying coloring more and more here recently and loves it when Daddy colors with her - I couldn't pass up this picture -

And two weekends ago Grammy came up for a visit. I hadn't been to Chipotle for a while so after getting some cleaning done and lots of playing we headed to Chipotle. We got some chips and guacamole and about 1/2 way through the meal we almost had to go and get some more guacamole since Peyton had practically ate it all! Luckily, she did share a little with us! ;)

Earlier that Saturday, Grammy & Mommy were doing some cleaning. Our little helper strikes again - here's Peyton with her spray bottle and sponge. She worked on that tub in our closet for quite a while and was very proud of herself to be helping clean. Grammy & I were cracking up at her cleaning!

All-in-all, Peyton is very much in the "helping" stage and wants to help with everything from laundry to sweeping to clearing the table after our meals. It is wonderful that she wants to help and we are amazed at what all she can do!