Such a fun stage!

My sweet baby is not much of a baby anymore these days. She turned 1 1/2 this month and has been showing her personality so much. This stage is a blast and I'm starting to understand how one's child(ren) can become his/her best friend. They are just little people, little friends!

Here are some things Sybil is doing/saying these days:

1. She's really beginning to tell me what she wants. If she's not doing it verbally, she is showing me in very blatant way. Two examples of this...a) We were reading a book that was teaching counting in Spanish and it just happened to use fruit with each number. We got to number three where there were three strawberries displayed. She said "three" and then "strawberry". I then moved on to "four" and she said "strawberry". After agreeing that there were strawberries, I ignored her and went on to "five". She stood up, walked over to her high chair, climbed in and touched the tray, saying strawberry. This mama finally caught on and I went and got the girl some strawberries!
b) I went for a run this morning. After I showered up and came downstairs, Sybil followed me into the kitchen. She opened the cabinet and pulled out a pan and then handed it to me. Then she tapped on the oven/stove. I looked at the clock and realized I had lost track of time and it was lunch time! So I followed her cues and made the girl some lunch. She's SO obvious and SO clear.

2. The Sybil show airs at 5 and 7pm every night. When this girl gets tired, she gets so goofy. So every evening she entertains anyone around. Most of the time she just makes silly faces or runs around the room as fast as she can, but sometimes she does some really weird/hilarious stuff. Yesterday she went up and down the stairs with her head between her legs, laughing and smiling. Then today she would pick up a toy, set it on the shelf, and then secretly knock it off and die laughing. She is her father's daughter--a true goof at heart.

3. She is saying everything right now. She pretty much repeats the end of anyone's sentence. We figured out her method the other day. Andrew asked, "Sybil, do you want a dog or a cat?" She excitedly replied, "cat!" One second later, "Sybil, do you want a cat or a dog?" "Dog!" Whatever you end with, that's what she chooses to repeat. (We must beware on those accidental one-word sentences :/)

4. She's learning to sit still (finally!). We have just recently introduced a few Disney movies (starting with Frozen). She is obsessed. This child, who usually has an attention span of 15 seconds, is sitting for whole scenes, even whole movies now. She calls Frozen, "Broze" and asks for it by name every day. While she watches something that she likes, she sits on the couch bouncing her legs, smiling, and laughing under her breath. It is the. CUTEST.

5. I once thought Syb was going to be a tomboy, but her inner girl has been coming out lately. Her newest thing is getting freaked out by dirt. She will come to me, shrieking, with something stuck on her finger. The second I pull it off, she's fine. Or, if there is a hair or spec of dirt floating in the bathtub while she's bathing, she shrieks and frantically pushes the water away so that the "gross" thing will not touch her. It's comical.

6. Lastly, she's so affectionate. Just recently she learned to say "love you," but even before that she had been signing "i love you." Now she willingly will hug my back and say "wuv you," and...I melt.

Just wanted to share with some of you a few things my child is doing. I am one proud mama.

Kicking the sugar habit

I read an article a couple months back about the negative effects of sugar. It made me so sad because I am such a sweet tooth. I love sweets. When it comes to them, I have no self-control. None. So naturally, I ignored the article.

It kept coming up in my mind though. Each time I picked up a sweet, it whispered to me, "you eat this and you know what it'll do to your body." After the knowledge of sugar's death trap haunted me for a while, I decided I would try to give up sugar for a while and see how it made me feel.

So, this month, I am starting slowly. I'm giving up sweets--cookies, cake, ice cream, candy, flavored drinks, and all that refined sugar in all its glory.

Next month, I'm giving up all sugar...so, I won't eat anything with sugar in it (basically all carbs too). I've been waiting to do this because we haven't had fresh veggies for the winter, but now as summer approaches, veggies are literally flowing in our household. <---- This is due to the fact that my sweet in-laws work at a Farmer's Market and get us fresh veggies weekly for free. Last summer, we basically became vegetarians, but not on purpose; we just had so many veggies and couldn't eat them quick enough. Anyway, because of this, I have no excuse to not eat healthy the next several months.

I am also starting a food journal. I was reading a blog about giving up sugar and the writer encouraged people to write down what they eat and how they feel after they eat it. I took to that right away, because I feel so crappy and bogged down so often after a meal. I am so excited for the next two months. I think this will be a great challenge and fabulous change for my health, which will hopefully lead to long-lasting change in my eating habits.

As I enter this challenge, I think of why God made food. He made it to nourish our bodies, to give us energy, to enjoy it and glorify Him in eating it. I have been abusing food for too long and I'm finally seeing and feeling its effects now. I want to be energized when I eat, not feeling like a nap is imperative. I want my baby belly to go away (I mean, for the love, it's been a year and a half). I want to be healthy. This is the only body that God has given me and I want to steward it well. Happy eating, everyone! I hope this is an encouragement to all.