Baby Lively Week 29

Baby Lively Week 28

Baby Lively Week 27

"I mean it's crazy, we finish each other's sandwiches..."

24 Months

Loves her daddy!

Rooftop playtime

Mid-November--already?! A 2-year old in the house--already?!  Time is passing so quickly!  This month, we began our birthday/holiday months.  Atley and I will always have our birthdays exactly 1 week apart (poor Taylor--so much planning and shopping in 2 months--ha!).  We celebrated my day with some breakfast out with friends and a nice dinner, the two of us, on my actual birthday.  31 is looking so different than 21 could have predicted--but I love it!  

And of course, our sweet princess, chose a Frozen style birthday party (with a requested chocolate M&M birthday cake...).  She had friends over for the occasion and seemed to be just as overwhelmed as everyone else--what can you expect with 20 people in a tiny apartment?! It was pure fun, though!  We have loved every minute of her precious 2 years!

Cloak wearing days!

Stats: 36 inches and 28 pounds. Our baby that was once so scrawny has now started to take the lead amongst her peers.  Atley's feet continue to grow (her parents were the same!) and groooow.  She is now wearing a size 9 and wearing 3T clothes, if not 4.  Everything is still covered with a cape (sometimes I wish this season away but know I will miss it dearly and the cuteness of imagination that comes with it!) or replaced with a Cinderella and Elsa dress.  Atley LOVES to twirl, dance, curtsey and dip in her fancy dresses.  I even see her walk the hallway with a bit of a sashay to her stroll!

Loving her boho pants from Thailand (and Jenny and Dave!)

Favorite Words and Other Milestones:  Atley's communication has changed this month--it's hard to explain how--but I think she has more opinionated tones or sass to her dialect (oooooh, goody!).  She has such a humor in things she says and drags out words or tones for a laugh (when told it's time to go to bed she'll say, "Uhhh noooooo.")   It's like she has picked up on our ability to say more through changing our expressiveness--it's very fun (and funny) to witness.  She likes phrases that sound funny, "Goodygoodygoody," "Oh fooey," and "Aiyaaaaaa" are some of her favorites.  Taylor has begun instructing Atley on our dinner prayers.  It's so sweet and innocent and is usually something like, "Thank you God for this food, for Mommy, for Daddy, for Mila, for Lively, and for me.  Ammmmmmmen."  Atley has made some good friends in the neighborhood (kids of friends we work with) and she loves bringing home their phrases from playdates.  One night we were sitting around and out of nowhere she gasped, spent a couple seconds in thought and then yelled repeatedly, "Hey guys! NO!"  It was unrelated to the conversation and we could easily tell she was SO happy to have learned it!  Too cute! Once, while asking Atley about the size of my belly, Atley claimed, "Whoa, Lively!"  She has such a fun way of picking up new phrases and words and we're loving the combinations that come from this!  We find she is often speaking in 5+ word (ok, ok I've been known to count...it just catches me off guard when she makes such clear sense!!) sentences ("Mommy, I'm looking for the match"..while trying on my shoes!) and speaks of upcoming things like birthday parties and Halloween. We have to be careful if we discuss future plans because she will hold us to them!  She has asked if she will be able to hold Lively on the couch--we think this little girl is excited for her sister! She loves to match my essential oils to colors of Barney and characters (picks them out and says, "Just like Barney, just like BJ and just like Baby Bop!).

Beach baby bummin' it!

Favorite Foods: Atley is still pretty consistently, a good eater. She is not the biggest fan of sandwiches/American food so we do always think about what she will eat (anything on rice) and make foods that we can sneak veggies into (she loves cooked veggies and is slowly eating more raw). Recently she gobbled up some Japanese curry and I said, "Wow, you love your curry!" She replied, "I love RICE!"  We're following the concept that toddlers know their eating needs better than adults (interesting, right?) and if she asks to be done she can be--usually--with the understanding that there is no more food or snacks until the next scheduled time.  She is always ok with this so it seems to work!  She still loves her sweets---loves 'chocolate drink' (Ovaltine) from the noodle shop, coffee from Starbucks (vanilla steamed milk), and ice cream/chocolate/M&M's. 

Big toddler girl!

Favorite Activities: Atley has started to love building with Duplos.  She takes lead from our ideas and repeats them often--she builds dinner tables for her princesses, airplanes, and large castles!  Recently, she got 2 new sets--an ice cream builder (of course!) and a bus with passengers.  Hours of entertainment!  She always requests to go, "Outside to walk?" when we get home from work and loves to play our version of Simon Says.  Basically, we tell her to do something and she does! Great fun!  This is how we learned she knew her alphabet, could count to 10 and was able to balance on one leg.  She likes to make science experiments with her dinner food--liquids get mixed and somehow, before we can stop her, food is scooped in to her drink.  Fortunately, she doesn't seem to mind still drinking it that way! She continues to love running the hallway with her cape and has begun to sing her favorite songs with a new 'rocker' mentality.  We have several videos of her mouthing as though she is yelling and pumping her fists--hilarious! She loves to jump on the bed and couch--she's wild!

Sweet princess waiting for her party to start!

Favorite Things: Atley absolutely loves all her 'characters' from shows, movies, and books.  She always likes to know where they all are.  For example, she owns a Barney stuffed animal but always wants to know where Bj and Baby Bop are?  She is very aware of groups and connections and is always concerned!  She likes playing with her water table and spends time washing dishes or pouring and scooping water into different objects.  She likes her Little People still and has named them all and again, seeks all of them out if 1 is missing.  She still sleeps with Bunny and 'Atley's blanket' but has lately been asking to snuggle with 'Baby Linus' blanket' (her cape).  She must listen to the beach while falling asleep.  She loves her new tennis shoes!

Rocking the Manning jersey with a tutu!

Least Favorite Things:  Atley is still not fond of getting her hair rinsed in the shower and melts into any wall she can find as though she is getting away from it.  She does not like to run the hallway with a diaper and hates having to wait to get one on.  She would still rather not have anything done to her hair although for Halloween and her birthday, she let me copy the princess hairstyles willingly! Atley would still rather not ride in the stroller or be carried by Dad--oh, how things will soon change!

On her actual birthday she got to have dinner and ice cream at McD's!

Random Unforgettables:
Atley saw Mom's belly one morning and said, "Whoooa, Lively!"
One night at dinner, Atley pulled her shirt down off her shoulders and said she was a mermaid and began swimming in her chair!
Atley has grabbed Mom by her cheeks and given her a big smooch on the lips!
Asks, "Who's that guy?!" about people sitting next to us on the train or bus!
Hides from Dad when he comes in the door and squeals with delight as he comes to chase/find her!
Painted her nails with chalk!

Classic Atley look--usually given when she is asking for something she wants--many times in a row!

Lovebird's Corner:
This month has been a busy one for the Williams' gang!  We both worked several weekends of October and have been battling multiple colds for all in our house.  We are looking so forward to cooler weather and hopefully clearer air to help with the allergies!  Taylor has been working on 2 grad school classes and will slow down to 1 in January--but is on a break until then. Yay!  He has been making some fun apps and really starting to apply what he's learning to ideas he could use in his classroom, too. It's fun watching him learn all of this new technology!  I have been sleeping great and feeling really good, too.  Lively is growing and is about 2.5 pounds now.  We're moving slower and taking naps on the weekends--but there's a simple pleasure to that!  Taylor and I love to dream about the future and love to reflect on the past--but we also remind ourselves of how great our current days are.  God has truly blessed our adventure!

And to wrap up the 2 year birthday post---some party pictures!

Baby Lively Week 26

Baby Lively Week 25

Baby Lively Week 24

Baby Lively Week 23

Baby Lively Week 22

Baby Lively Week 21

Baby Lively Week 20

Baby Lively Week 19

Baby Lively Week 18

Baby "Eagle" Week 16/17

Baby "Eagle" Week 15

"I've Got the Eye of a Tiger, Fighter, Dancing Through the Fire..."

23 Months

Headband--70's style

Today is one of the first days I can honestly say, it's starting to feel 'less hot.'  I would not venture to say it feels cool--but it feels pleasant!  September and October have been touch and go for us in the health department---allergies and colds have been cycling through our house and have not completely evacuated!  We look forward to the change of seasons being complete and maybe alleviating some of this sickness!  This month we began our essential oil journey.  So far, we are enjoying the benefits (and smells!) that come with them!  We hope to keep using them for the majority of over-the-counter needs.  We also had a fun visit from Taylor's mom and Timothy--Atley counted down the days until their visit! She could not wait! We moved around slowly with the heat but enjoyed the extra company.  

Loving on an MTR cat

Stats: 36 inches and 27 pounds.  Atley seems to be growing like a root.  Her newer shoes already look small! I am sure this is common for parents but we cannot believe she is already in 3-4 year old clothing.  We could probably squeeze her into smaller ones but with her pickyness in attire these days, we find she picks the bigger items.  Atley's outfits are usually adorned with a cape, cloak or 'dress' (a blanket wrapped like a tube dress).  She loves wearing our shoes.

Sweet girly stickering up after the doctor

Favorite Words and Other Milestones:  Lately, I love communicating with Atley.  She repeats just about everything we say--and then we hear it later in the week, again.  She has a system of telling us things and we know we're understanding her if she continues to say the same word. For example, the other day, she told Taylor when she woke up that she, "Was on a bus in the typhoon!"  When he repeated the same sentence to her she replied, "Yeah!"  If we have it wrong, she will let us know!  She has started asking, "What's this?  What happened?  Who's this?" for just about everything.  Her response is almost always, "Oh, I see, I see," if she understood us--too cute!  She has this game she likes to play with Taylor where he pretends he is sleeping and she will wake him with a kiss!  When she kisses his arm, he doesn't wake up--so she says, "Not working anymore!"  so she kisses his cheek and his eyes pop open.  She is such a gentle, sweet, cuddler.  She has also been super funny when she says something or asks for something but does not like our response.  One day, she asked to watch the movie Frozen (no surprise here) and I said, "No, not today."  She got wide eyed, got very close to my face and slowed down her question.  "Waaaaatch Froooooozen?"  as if I clearly, did not understand.  Hysterical! She also informs us when someone (including herself) is, "Speaking Chinese." I have done a few letter activities with Atley and she is starting to be able to match the letters in her name.  She still thinks everything is green! And, she is starting to notice when there are, "No seats on the bus!" Love this age!

Waiting for the bus, "All by myself!"

Favorite Foods:  No big changes in this area--although she has started eating her raw peppers in salads and some cucumbers for snack. She has been requesting milk like crazy and strawberries are now allowed! She still loves anything over rice and likes it spicy!  We went to the beach a couple times this month and she asked for noodles on the beach after seeing others eat them--only our child, on a hot, beach day would request this!  She even passed up a Subway sandwich!

Loved wearing NaiNai's glasses--looks a bit like her Mama in this one!

Favorite Activities:  Atley has been very interested in walking around outside lately--she loves the cooler weather! She likes to go watch the "sunset" and "sunrise" though we discuss the differences every day of those words (everything is a sunset)!  She can spot the moon easily and we've even seen a few stars from our rooftop.  She loves to 'fly' through the hallway wearing a cape of some sort and yell, "You can fly!" while watching the cape trail behind her.  She loves to point out every McDonalds we pass and always reminds us that they have ice cream there.  In the evenings she loves to go out for a walk in the village after dinner.  We collect rocks and toss them into the weeds and play Simon Says.  She has SO much fun following directions (totally my kid!!).  She has started to dialogue between her dolls, babies and figurines.  It's so sweet to watch her play alone.  When we come home from work lately, she insists we all wear capes and dance around to music.  It's such a 'magical' age.  Everything is so exciting to her--we love it!

Playing at the Ikea--a favorite store because of all the free-for-all toys

Favorite Things:  One day, Atley kept repeating the words to a song I wasn't familiar with. Turns out, she loves her some Katy Perry!  She likes her song, "Roar" and constantly belts the chorus.  Her dance moves that coincide with the song are perfect--including her hands over her mouth for a 'roar.'  She loves a crowd and uses a microphone sometimes!  Atley asked for her first pair of flip flops this month (a dream come true to us!! we wear them year round AND got married in them!) which ended up being too tight to fit her feet into.  We journeyed out for a 2nd attempt and she's pretty content with them.  As with all of her shoes, they come and go in stages and somedays they work and somedays they rub and get thrown off.  I'm thankful we can stop talking about getting some! With the addition of oils in our house this month, Atley has become fond of them, too.  She calls the diffuser her 'puff, puff' and reminds us to fill it each night.  She barely makes it through her books after we've rubbed lavender on her temples.  Atley is also in love with her first backpack--Princesses, of course.  She got to go to Toys R Us and pick it out with Taylor--a sweet date.  She wears it proudly and walks a lot more when strutting it.  We've started packing her diaper and snack in there--what are kids for, right?!

All smiles for her first backpack!

Least Favorite Things:  Atley is starting to begin the long, avoidance process before bed.  She avoids the shower, getting pajamas on, brushing her teeth and chooses the longest books lately (by the time she finally chooses!).  We're onto her, though!  She also tries to convince us that every morning is Saturday and as we tuck her into bed she says, "Saturday morning cartoons!"  So, needless to say, the girl does not like week days!  She does not always like to walk and would much prefer to be carried by mommy than daddy or the stroller.  We're juggling this and will hopefully get over this hurdle prior to Lively's arrival!

Loves to run and play ball!

Random Unforgettables:  

Atley was caught staring at Mom's belly and when asked if she saw Lively and if Lively was getting bigger she replied, "Lively's huge!"

Sweet kisses for her sister.

Asks for Taylor every night after I sing with her.

Insists on snacks and breakfasts at the small table--big meals in high chair.

Plops down on the ground for diaper change as soon as it feels heavy/wet.

Says, "I just tripped" after a fall and when asked if she's ok replies, "Yeah I am."

Lovebirds Corner:  Taylor and I have been resting, working, and resting!  With getting sick, we've been taking turns on having the energy in the house.  Hopefully, with the cool weather, we will begin to move around town more again.  We are both teaching cohorts this month for our online instructor positions and will have a busy season coming up with the holiday months--but that just means we're getting ever so closer to being a family of 4!  We still make time for a date breakfast/dinner/errand once a week and we really value our commutes to and from work together.  When I'm home with the girls next year I am hoping we can be creative and still prioritize our quality time. This month, for our 27th date (every 27th of the month we do something special!) we hiked to the top of Amah Rock.  It was a really pretty view of the city and a fun morning to get up and move around!  We are excited to start talking about summer plans in the States--it's around the corner! Much love to all!

  

Baby "Eagle" Week 14

Baby "Eagle" Week 13

Baby "Eagle" Week 12

"I See the Lord..."

22 Months

Wrapping up August and starting September brought about some easier mornings for us (Atley became used to us returning to work again), some hot, hot, hot days, and routines involving school activities.  We're enjoying our new house and learning how to move around from a new location.  There are definitely still days where I envy a car, a quick trip to Target and a grocery store that has everything (rather then needing to go to a couple) but HK is feeling more and more like what we're used to.  

Racing Dad at a breakfast spot we like..."Ready, set, go!"

Stats: 35 inches and 26 pounds.  Atley has started to eat a few more vegetables this month (loves carrots, cucumbers and doesn't know she eats onions, peppers and broccoli--sneaky!).  She has gone back to eating in her high chair as the freedom at dinner was too tempting.  She now sits through a whole meal and does a really nice job of 'socializing' with us.  Atley continues to be on the tall side and has outgrown most of her 2 year old clothes (or is still wearing them with her belly showing!).  Speaking of clothes, she is starting to prefer a diaper and t-shirt.  Anything more and we have a fit!  Sometimes, getting dressed first thing in the morning with the diaper change is our smartest option!

Homemade Playdoh--making ice cream cones and balls!  Loves pretend play!

Favorite Words and Other Milestones: Atley has really begun talking--and she's funny!  This month, at a couple different times, she's been asked a question and replies with all seriousness, "Nope, I'm good!"  The first time was when Taylor asked if she was ready to wash while in her bath...and of course, she didn't want to!  This child is quick!  She has also been saying, "One morning I looked out the window and saw..." and she fills in the blank each time with something new and cute!  This weekend, I was describing to Taylor a man that was at the park the last time Atley and I met friends there.  He had special needs but was quite loud and was screaming at us (in gibberish/Cantonese) to get off the playground--he scared me, and of course Atley a bit (although he was harmless).  Now, several times a day she says, "That guy was so scary!" (after I had said similar to Taylor).  Atley has continued to take an extreme interest to everyone's names and has even begun to ask about her friends parents.  Atley likes to tell the taxi driver our village name and even has some Cantonese phrases of her own (she tells him the 'right side' village--I don't even know the word). She has a knack for people and we look forward to where this will take her!  Every night for bedtime, we brush teeth, read 2 books and the Bible and then Atley rocks with me as we sing 2-3 songs (the same ones).  She has started to request the order of the songs and sings along.  I will always cherish the sound of her sweet voice singing as she drifts off to sleep. It's so precious!  (And she has pretty good pitch, too!)  Swimming became a BIG favorite this month.  We bought a pool for the rooftop and Atley started to love swimming in it daily. She has become very confident with it and sometimes is a bit more daring than we'd expect!  Lately, Atley has been referring to her dreams when she wakes up about 'snowmen.' She learned to jump of the couch this month (while I held my breath at the same time I supported this choice--yikes!) and skip (partially!). She's so fun!

Sitting in her 'leaf'---a baby chair that grows with them until toddler years. Hopefully she'll be ready to share!

Favorite Foods:  Atley has started to like hamburgers (which is good because with the addition of a grill on the rooftop and Mom craving them--we eat them once a week!) and even had a bowl of macaroni and cheese!  This sounds odd to be excited about but this baby is a rice and noodle girl all the way! I am not sure what we will get her to eat in the States!  She's been eating lots of oatmeal and egg sandwiches and now, raw veggies.  She has requested kabobs (gyros) and really likes ethnic food.  Hopefully, she will continue to eat new foods often.

I squeezed her and a toot came out--we were in hysterics!

Favorite Activities: Atley has allowed us to start reading more books to her--she loves fairy tales and things that have 'quotable' lines and noises ("Rattle, tattle!").  She continues to walk around all day with either of her blankets wrapped like a cloak or cape--Frozen inspired, of course!  The process of getting these in the right position is hysterical, takes several attempts and is redone ALL day long--and with no help allowed!  The blanket goes off, on, rotates, gets tangled, off, on, rotates...repeat!  The swimming is so popular it even occurs on the shower floor--loves to paddle on her tummy.

Found the perfect chairs in a store and refused to leave until Daddy met us.

Favorite Things:  Atley still loves Frozen and Snow White.  She is also requesting more baby dolls (though she has 4 that go everywhere around the house with her).  She loves going to ToysRUs and the Book Castle (enough to make an adult go insane).  She likes playing with her toy houses and imitating Mom and Dad with her babies.  She likes to walk around the village and look for big rocks and skip and run with Dad.

I continue to find pictures like this on my phone...

Least Favorite Things: Atley would love to be naked these days (nope, not potty trained, so not an option!).  At the very least, she'd like to only wear a shirt.  She is also very picky about her shoes lately.  She is wearing some that are way too small because she won't wear the ones that fit.  We settled on a pair that she wears socks with (in 95 degree heat!) and she seems ok.  She is starting to hate being told that she can't have something (her solution is to respond, "Maybe later...").

We told her we were going to the beach that morning--she was more than ready!

Random Unforgettables:  

Atley kisses my shoulder repetitively when I'm holding her.

She runs and grabs Taylor's legs and squeezes him.

She wraps our elbows and pins them to her when holding us and heading off to sleep.

She kisses Lively.

She locked herself in the bathroom this month (we had a key!)

Loves her sun and sand...and Daddy!

Loves baby Caleb--so much she was encouraging him to put his hands in her mouth. Silly girl!

Daddy's partner in crime!

Wearing Mom's shoes!

Stylin'

Out and about with Daddy--nice shades, T!

Sharing a bun at the mall with Mom.

Our favorite breakfast..noodles!

Swimming with friends, Ava and Josiah.

Our sweet little mermaid!

Dinner date with Dad...McDonalds!

On her first boat--Mom made her wear this ridiculous vest!

Off to the beach for the day!

Pretty sunset and an after dinner walk

An after school date with my Love for a very much craved Vietnamese sandwich (called a bahn mi!)

Lovebird's Corner:
This month has been a busy one!  It is hard to believe it is the middle of September, already!  It's still very hot in HK which has continued to keep us moving pretty slowly to avoid the heat.  We're looking forward to cooler days and pleasant evenings.  Taylor had a couple weeks of from grad school which was nice!  With the baby on the way, we've been making it through work, playtime with Atley, and dinner and heading to bed pretty early.  My lack of energy is rubbing off on him! We are getting excited for Taylor's parents to visit in a couple weeks.  We really just enjoy our simple days and spending time together on our way to and from work...it's an experience we know is rare for couples!  Also,  speaking of the baby on the way...we are so excited that we are expecting another sweet little girl.  We can't wait for Lively Marie to arrive in February!