Hanging at Home

Have you gotten the impression that our little family hasn't spent nearly enough time in our Kumquat Garden? I'd have to agree with you. For that reason, I put a travel moratorium into place. I decreed that none of us are allowed to leave the state for the entire month of February. It may not sound like much, but it's a big step for us. I looked back at our calendar and discovered that the last time all three of us were in the state for the entire month was December of 2008... the month after our Kumquat was born! Actually, you'd have to go back to July of 2008 to find a time that we were "all" in the state (Baby K didn't go anywhere without her mama then!) AND we had no out-of-town guests staying with us. Kinda long time, eh?

So, we've really been enjoying being homebodies lately. We've gotten to spend lots of time with our neighbors, which has been just wonderful. I remember when I was in college how wonderful it was to live in the middle of friends. It was a real sense of living in community... sharing meals with people, running into friends as I was going about my day, living on my own, but not feeling like I was alone. When I left college, I thought it was sad that I probably wouldn't have a chance to live in community like that again. DKG & I had a fun taste of it again in Houston, when our dear friends (and wedding party members) moved into our apartment complex and lived down the (long & winding) hall from us. It was so great! We could pop over to each other's places whenever, work out together, ride the bus to work together... It was such a good time. We were just sad they moved in shortly before we moved away. When we left Houston, I thought that really, really would be the last time of having such a community feeling. Thankfully, I was wrong again. Have I mentioned how much I ♥ my neighbors? Somehow, I think it may have come up once or twice... ;) I love that I can just call someone up and we'll take a walk or have dinner or whatever. No serious planning required. I truly feel so blessed that I can live in a true community again.

OK, so other than having a big neighborhood love-fest, I've been spending most of my days marveling at how big my Little Kumquat (can I even call her Baby K anymore?! sniff) has gotten. In fact, when I tried to take her 15-month picture a few weeks ago, I decided Phil the Elephant may not be the best comparison friend for her anymore. So, I'd like to introduce you to Ted the Tiger.

I'm going to try to continue taking monthly pictures of K, but we'll see how that goes. She's getting pretty great at exerting her opinion on things... for better or for worse. :) I did manage to take this picture, in spite of her protestations. Poor girl. It's a rough life.

Other than forced photo-shoots, we've been reading lots and lots of books lately.

K has just started reading books to me, which I think is SO stinkin' adorable. Goodnight Moon is her fave.

She still doesn't have many words (really, it's still all about Da Da), but she's doing some sophisticated babbling. :) She has also been working on her mad stacking & matching skills lately. It's so cool so see little ones learn so many things. Last week, she gathered up giraffe puzzle pieces from different puzzles and brought them all to me. Nice grouping, K! She's doing so many funny things like that lately. For example, she noticed DKG put on his pj pants when he came home from work one day. Obviously, it was time for jammies (she did have hers on already), so she went into my room, got a pair of my pj pants and brought them to me in the kitchen. Adorable, no?

This is another cute example of her super grouping skills. During our Super Bowl party (more neighborhood love!), she saw all of the drinks in the ice bowl. Naturally, her drink should go there, too! She does make her mama proud! :)