Fun at the park and other stuff

We have a park a couple blocks from our house that Raegan likes to play at. Sometimes she is more interested in just watching the other kids play and run around than she is with climbing on the equipment but either way, she seems to enjoy herself. She likes going down the slides best. The slides in the photos are small but she is pretty brave to go down the big, twisty ones all by herself. I am amazed how fast she has turned into a toddler! It seems like yesterday she was an infant.

Since I haven't blogged for awhile I'll catch you up on a few things. She is talking a lot and just about everyday she is adding a new word or words to her vocabulary. One of her most popular words right now is "no, no, no" or simply just "no". She walks around saying "no, no, no" and shaking her finger at Sayde, our dog. This girl definitely knows what she wants and she'll let you know. I may show her five books before I get a "yes" for the one she wants to read. She also is sure to let me know what she wants to snack on or to eat as well....not that she always gets her way, but at least I know.

She has always been very independent. She likes to figure things out and do them for herself (which usually takes about three times what it would if she'd just let me help). Anyway, lately she has had to pick out her shoes she wants to wear for the day. For example, the other day she had to pick her swim shoes (which have now disappeared to the summer storage bin)to wear. This would have been fine around the house but we had to run errands and when I went to try to get her take them off she threw a fit . Needless to say she wore the swim shoes out and about. She looked a little silly but I figured it was not worth the battle. I'm waiting on her next phrase to be "I can do it myself". I'm sure I will appreciate her independence later in life but as toddler it sure would be easier and faster if she would just let me help :) However, I realize she is learning a lot by being independent.

Lastly, we have yet to get a good video where Raegan isn't distracted but this is the best short one we have so far. It is impossible to video her with just one person because if she notices the camera in her face all she wants is to get it and play with it. Since we had her favorite babysitter over one day, she helped us capture a few words on tape. When Raegan is focused and wants to, she can do, pickout or act out about three quarters of the stack of flashcards that you see in the video. If we ever get a good video we will share more.