Long Beard the Protector

So this is Long Beard. Adriana and I made him at Build a Bear right before Rob and I left for Mexico. The name on his birth certificate is Wrong Beard, which is what Ade originally named him. But over time, he became Long Beard.

I originally took her to have him so she would have something fun that we made together while we were gone. A comfort if you will. But slowly Long Beard has taken on a much more important role. He has become Adriana's protector from just about everything. From dragons to buffalo (yes buffalo, she is obsessed with buffalo getting her), he is there to make sure nothing gets her while she is sleeping at night.

He sits a top her dresser and keeps watch all night, every night.

Adriana has many comforts in her room that are a must at bedtime. Her lovey, her kitty and her bear bear must all sleep with her. But any and every time you ask her she will tell you that Long Beard the wolf will make sure that no one gets her. He is a tough wolf that scares anything away that even dares enter her room.

We are very thankful for Long Beard here. He makes her feel safe and comforted. Best $30 I ever spent.

Happy Halloween

DJ Lance and Foofa

Rob and I before our party. I was....DJ Lance's girlfriend I guess. :)

Playing the Pumpkin game at the Halloween party

Did a great job putting on the pumpkin face with a blindfold

She was not a fan of carving pumpkins. This is about as far as she got. Said it was gross

Halloween is always a group event at the Etchepare house. Rob loves to dress up with Adriana and this year might be the best one yet. For those that don't live in the land of trippy kid shows like we do, they are from the TV Show Yo Gabba Gabba. Adriana was Foofa and Rob was DJ Lance Rock.

Adriana has been really excited for Halloween this year. It is one of Rob and I's favorite holidays so it natural for her to love it. We go all out. We have been watching Halloween specials for weeks of all our favorite shows and practicing our trick or treating, all in preparation of this one night.

One show Adriana fell in love with was "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." This was a favorite of mine when I was a kid. We watched it several times this year. Our neighbors even had a Snoopy/pumpkin blow up in their yard. Just added to the excitement. The only downside to this show is this....Adriana was really convinced and sad yesterday that she was going to get rocks in her treat bag. It took a lot of convincing but I am not sure she is truly believed this wouldn't happen until we went trick or treating and she saw for herself...

And let me say, that one night did not disappoint! We started the evening off at a big neighborhood party at our neighbors. Ade has a blast playing with all the little kids. Then we came home and got Daddy all dressed and we headed out as a family to get some candy. She had a blast. She had lots of enthusiam when she knocked on the door and yelled "trick or treat" at the neighbors. She was also very gracious and said thank you about 5 times at each house. Then she would run down the street and yell at Rob (who was at the bottom of the sidewalk with Clyde) "Daddy Daddy I got a piece of candy". Success!

When we got home I think Adriana had just as much fun passing out candy to all the kids that came to our door.

We had a blast this year and loved every minute of Halloween! I know that each year it is just going to get better and better.

Today we are already suffering from Halloween is over letdown. She is sad that she doesn't get to go get candy every night and that all the pumpkins and decorations in the neighborhood will be going away. Thank goodness Christmas is just around the corner.

Potty Training and growing up way too fast!

So in the beginning of August we started to potty train Adriana. Truth be told, she had been asking to pee in the potty for a while but with all the summer trips we had, I chose to wait. I have been told by many a warrior moms that big changes and trips are often a potty training regression. So I decided to save myself the misery of all that. Adriana is such a smart kid and learns things so quickly, it will be a piece of cake. Right? Riiiiiight. So I started off one weekend with the "3 day potty training" guide. In 3 days, all my worries would be over.

Day 1 she wakes up, we take off her diaper and tell her she is going to wear underwear from now on. What a big girl she is. Great. She is so excited. We talked and played it up all week and it was finally here. Let me start by saying that I didn't expect day 1 to go off without a hitch. I have pretty unreasonable expectations but am not that delusional. But since for a couple months Adriana was in the habit of telling me when she started to go pee or poop in her diaper, I figured we had a shot. Well yea. Accident after accident after accident. I had made my Potty Time chart in the bathroom as a reward system and so I just wanted to get a pee in the potty so she could see how exciting it was. She could put a sticker on the chart and be rewarded for her good behavior. It took pretty much all day for that to happen. But I must say, after cleaning up messes on the floor, messy underwear and just general all around gross stuff, that first pee in the potty was the most exciting thing that ever happened in the Etch house.

Day 2 actually went well. Something clicked in the evening of the first day and she got it. We had 1 accident on day 2. She was awesome. So excited to potty especially after the treats rolled in. By day 3, I was ready to leave the house with her. But I waited. We needed one more successful day.

Day 4 I was about as stir crazy as you can be after spending 3 days at the house without leaving. Have I mentioned I am not good at sitting home for long periods of time? For Rob, it is great. He prefers it. I seriously almost lost my mind. So on Day 4, we had some errands to run so we set out with about 5 change of clothes, treats and bribes galore. Again, Adriana shined. She told us before we left a place that she had to go. We ran errands for hours and she did awesome! So by the end of the day, I declared her potty trained. (Did I mention we still do pull ups at night? My confidence in nighttime is still shaky)

Things went great for 2 weeks. She did so well. We even had multiple babysitters and she told them when she had to go. Rock star.

About 3 weeks in, she started school. I thought, no problem, she will do great. Well, she did do great at school but started regressing at home. aaaaahhhhhh. For a person with as little patience as I have, there are days I have to really try and stretch them out to deal with certain toddler issues. This was probably my biggest challenge thus far. The regression got worse and worse and worse. No more clean underwear. Accidents all around. I wondered if I did it to her. I mean, I put her in a pull up for school and when we went to visit family. It had to be my fault. Worst mother ever. I was told it was rite of passage once your child is potty trained. I failed miserably. But luckily, things starting getting back on track. I am not sure what made it happen. Possibly it was when I gave up and decided that she would wear diapers to college and let go of my expectations, things got better. (I may also have a tendency for drama.....)

I won't say things are perfect but we are back to forward moving progress. I no longer want to put her back in diapers. And can I say the occasional accident is so much better than diapers anyday. I do not miss them. The cost, the mess, the smell. Nothing.

So just another reason my little girl is growing up and doing it like a champ. She is getting so big and while I love to watch her grow and change, I kind of wish she would slow down. We are now in a big girl bed. She is in underwear. She talks like a teenager and acts like one at times too. The baby part of my baby is officially over. Luckily, she will always be my baby. Although when I call her that she tells me, "mommy, I am not a baby. I am a big kid. You need to stop calling me that." Did I mention teenage attitude tendencies?

1st Day of Preschool

So I am a little late in posting this but at the end of last month Adriana started preschool! She is in a class for older 2 year olds. She loved her little class she took at the rec center so much, not to mention her love of structure and crafts, so we decided it was time. It also felt like a good time to get her acclimated to the system and to try and head off some of our "only child" tendencies we seem to be creating.

She goes 2 times a week, on Monday and Friday, and she loves it. Her teacher is amazing and she loves all the kids in her class. And I can already see a difference in her at playtime with other kids. Each day when I pick her up she tells me "Mommy, school is super fun and everyone just so nice to me." Success!

She is growing up so fast!

Cousin Abby

So Adriana's cousins from Pennsylvania came to visit and spent a few nights with us. Adriana had a blast with Paul and Abby. They are such great kids and we really loved having them. We took them to a Rockies game, shopping, and then split off and Abby and I got pampered with manicures and pedicures and the boys went to a movie.

Thursday we took them back to the airport and we already miss them. Adriana waves at every plane she sees and says, "Hi Paul and Abby". She was very sad at the airport when she couldn't get on the plane with them. I was tempted to send her. :)

And sadly, this is the on picture I snapped with them. No Paul. :( Oh well. Next time!

You've Got a Friend in Me

Nathan and Adriana just being cute. See! Batman and Spiderman can get along!

Leaving on a jet plane!

Sam, Nathan and Adriana-3 monkeys on the couch

Reading maps at the zoo

Checking out the ducks on the river

Cupcake party!

Sleeping on the plane

Watching TV on the plane

So this month Adriana and I set out to go see my BFF Rachael and her boys in Kentucky. Adriana hasn't been on a plane since she was 9 months but her friend Will flies a lot and she has asked me repeatedly to go. So needless to say she was more than excited for our trip.

She loved the airport more than anyone really should. Moving walkways, big windows with planes outside...she had a blast. And when we finally got on the flight and it had TV on the back of the seat (thank you Frontier) I am not sure she could have been more happy. One of Ade's favorite things is to listen to songs on my iPod with my earphones. So using earphones to watch TV just made the experience that much more fun. She fell asleep pretty early into the flight and slept the entire way. She woke up when we were descending and looked out the window and saw the clouds as we were going through them. She got so excited and screamed "mommy we are flying in the clouds". She had a blast.

We had a great time in KY. Adriana got along famously with Rach's little boy Nathan. He is 4 and they played so well together. Nathan introduced her to the world of Spiderman (and now superheroes are a big part of our lives) and she loved to follow him around. Rachael also has an 18 month old named Sam, and while Adriana had nice moments with him, she did not display her best behavior (or even good behavior) with him. He is such a cute and sweet boy. She talked about him constantly when he wasn't around. Kids. I won't even pretend to understand how they work or think. It takes too much and is exhausting. :)

We had a really great time with them overall and spent some fun days at the water parks in KY and the zoo. It is so great to get to spend some time with Rachael's family and have our children get to know each other. And even though we had a blast, when it was time to come home, Adriana was more than ready to get home to Daddy and Clyde. All in all a great trip and lots of good memories. Adriana asks for Nathan daily and when she got a spiderman figurine in her happy meal the other day, he thought Nathan sent it to her. It was so cute I just let her think it. :)

Traditional 4th of July Steamboat Trip

Ready for fireworks, even though I look mad. :)

Happy 4th!

With Ally

With Daddy at Rodeo

Check out my hat

Hikin'

Falls with Daddy

At the falls with Ally and Brandt

So for the past 2 years we have gone to Steamboat with my family for the 4th. We love to go and have such a good time that I am hoping we continue each year. Adriana has a blast at the hot springs pool, the condo pool, the rodeo, the parade. Just about anywhere we go and her cousins Ally and Brandt are. :) We missed having Chad and Tara with us but they stayed behind in Denver this year.

This year we took her to the parade as well as her first rodeo. She loved it. She also got a nice new pink cowboy hat. She also was awake this year for the fireworks, which she loved. She loved all the colors. The loud sound of it didn't even bother her. It rained a lot that day and got very cold so instead of going down to the baseball field to watch them, we set up camp behind our car in the parking lot and bundled up. We also did Ade's first "real" hike up by Fish Falls in Steamboat. It was great and she was a trooper (and so was daddy for carrying her most of the day)

We had a great time and can't wait to go back next year!

You can be my friend...

Ready for my close up

Just some cute close ups of my beautiful girl.

America's Best Petting Farm

Baby cow

She loves goats! What is better than that? Baby goats!

She fed the rabbit. So happy!

Ready for my train ride

She is the 4th one back in the green sheep car

Holding a baby chick

Sheep!!

So I don't know if is truly America's best, but Adriana thought it was. The last day of our road trip we took Ade to the Petting Farm outside of Mt Rushmore. She is a huge fan of petting zoos and goats, sheep, cows, chickens, etc and so she had a blast. They had lots of babies so literally she was in heaven. They had a barrel train that she rode all by herself and was very happy to do so. We had a blast.

Road Trip

With Daddy and the Presidents

Flags at night

Ade with George, Teddy, Tom and Abe

Etch/Roaldson's on a boat

Chilaxin on the Boat

Ade, Rob, Maddie and Anna

Swimming with Daddy

Playing in the Discovery Center at the Zoo

It rained us on at the zoo, she didn't care, she had her Clifford Umbrella

Looking for otters at the Bismarck Zoo

Painting Aunt Janine's hand

Making Rob's Father's Day present at the pottery place

Awesome Eiffel Tower

Ready for my hike!

It has been a while since I last posted. A lot has happened, I just haven't gotten a moment to capture it down. Here is a summary of Adriana's first big road trip.

The beginning of June we took a road trip to North Dakota to see Rob's sister and her family. It is quite a drive so we decided to split up the drive into 2 days each way and do some site seeing along the way. Going up we stopped and stayed in Hulet, Wyoming (a town that made me appreciate the variety of restaurants and cell phone coverage living in a bigger city) outside of Devil's Tower. It was a cute little town where you could walk anywhere you wanted to go and actually our hotel was pretty nice. We decided to hike around Devils Tower, which is only 1.3 miles. Ade rode in style in a backpack on Daddy back and loved the "awesome Eiffel tower".

After that we headed back on the road and arrive in Bismarck, ND that afternoon at the Roaldson house. Adriana was very excited to see her cousins Madeline and Anna. They were so great with her and played with her constantly. She really had a blast. She stayed up late, slept in and napped at 5. Completely off schedule but she did great. While we were there they took us to the museum, the pool, the zoo and on a boat ride down the river for dinner one night. It was Adriana's first boat ride. It was a big boat and she loved it. We had a great time and their family was so nice and welcoming. Thanks Aunt Janine and Uncle Jon!

After we left Bismarck, we headed south to South Dakota to see Mt Rushmore. When we arrived it was dinner time and after dinner, Ade was in a great mood so we decided to go see Rushmore at night. We got there about 7:30 and ended up staying until after 10. Both Rob and I had been there but never at night. It was pretty cool and Ade had a blast running through the flags and all around. She was pretty interested in the presidents and informed us that George Washington was her favorite (I still believe that she had some coaxing from Daddy on that one). As we were leaving and she was tired, she informed us "Mommy, Teddy Roosevelt played in our backyard with Clyde". Grandma Carol has a little dog that Adriana loves named Teddy that comes over when Grandma babysits.

All in all we had a great and very successful trip. By the last day we were all ready to get home and Adriana was very ready to see Clyde. He will never know how much he was missed. :) We made one last stop at a petting farm outside Mt Rushmore. Adriana loves animals more than anything so petting zoos are the best! I will post those pics in my next post.