17 Months!

Hard to believe you are 17 months!  This month has been a month of changes for you, little girl.  And that's just how you seem... like a little girl!  You are talking like crazy, running around everywhere, and have even worn your first pigtails!  Time needs to slow down... you are my baby!

You just seem to want to be so big these days.  You think you can do whatever the big kids do, and you are pretty determined to make that happen.  You have wanted to ring this bike bell for the longest time.  You worked and worked, and you were so excited when you finally got it!

You love to read books... especially if you can sit in a rocking chair to do it!  You love pointing out animals and their sounds, but you favorite things to find in books are babies.  

You are pretty obsessed right now with babies!  You love baby dolls and real babies.  You want to hold them, feed them, pat them, rock them... It is super sweet!  One goes with you most places that you go!  

You pretend to count, you love to color, and you have even started playing with play-doh.  Big girl things!

You love to carry your purse around and really love having a bracelet.  I am particularly fond of this stylish one that you wear most days to match me!

You are talking so much these days!  You can repeat ANYTHING, but you say so many things independently.  Words I think you have added this month are cup, bite, all done, down, thank you, please, Elmo, Sweetie, outside!, paci, dog, flower, duck, book, fries... I can't even think of them all.  You know cows moo, frogs ribbet, birds tweet, lions roar, and bunnies hop hop hop!  You have even started putting together basic sentences like "I want _____."  Not everything is clear, and you still babble a lot.  It is fun hearing you say things clearly, but I am glad you still jabber away!

Last month you switched from crawling to walking.  This month I think you have switched from walking to running!  You love your new found independence (as long as momma is there to hold you the second you want...), and you have been into more and more these days!  Sometimes it's funny.  Sometimes it's helpful, but sometimes it gets you into trouble.

Who knew the word "No" could break a heart so terribly!

And while you might really not like being told no, you have fully embraced being the one to say no!  I really think it  might be your new favorite word.  Sometimes you say it appropriately, but sometimes I know you don't really mean it even though you say it confidently.  Ha.

With all the changes that have happened this month, one thing has definitely stayed the same.  You love your big brothers and sister!  You have gotten to be even bigger buds with Hayes since Cole and Jordan are back in the school routine again.  You guys melt my heart.  Holding hands in the stroller on walks, "sleeping" together, playing together.  You guys have a lot of fun!

 

You love whenever you get to be with Cole and Jordan too.  You think you are big stuff hanging with them, and they love to include you.

Your happy place... right in the middle of all of them!

In fact, you love them so much that you call for them as soon as we drop them off for school, and you pitch a major fit when I won't let you go wake up Hayes to play with you.

 As always, I have some randoms that I just have to share!  This was on the way back from Huntingdon... you were LOSING IT until we gave you sucker after sucker to keep you from screaming.  You loved the suckers and stopped screaming, but, judging by this picture, you were still feeling a little on edge!

But for all the crazy times, there are many more of these sweet moments!  I could just watch you sleep.  You are so beautiful!

As beautiful as you are on the outside, I can already see God working to make you beautiful on the inside!  You give random hugs and kisses that are so sweet.  You already share pretty well and seem to want to make others happy.  Plus you are a funny little toot that can put a smile on anyone's face.  Here's proof.  (You decide to pat your own bottom while you "Go Ni-Night.")

Goofy girl, we love you and are so thankful to be watching you grow and change!

16 Months

This picture is perfect!  You are so full of life and so fun!  You have so many expressions and are so fun to be around.  16 months looks good on you!  We obviously all love you to death.  You are just too sweet!

You are Daddy's girl!  You run to him when he comes home from work, and you really want to be with him all the time!

When Daddy's not available, you really have been attached to my hip!  I love the snuggles, but the screaming when I walk out of the room has been a little tough at times.  Haha.  

You adore Cole.  He is so sweet with you and loves to teach you new things!

I don't think that I even need to say anything about you and your Sissy.  Look at these pictures.  Is there any doubt about why?  

And you and Hayes are the biggest buds.  I love watching your relationship develop.  You are a blessed baby girl!

This shows how much you love him.  Here was the reaction when I asked for a drink of coke.  

And look what happened when he asked... True love!

You are a great source of entertainment and keep us all watching and usually laughing!

You have 4 molars, 4 teeth on bottom, and 3 on top.  The 4th top tooth is on its way!  You have lots of little curls at the bottom of your hair now that it is growing a little longer.  So sweet! 

You are starting to say a lot more and repeat so much.  Here is a cute video of you saying all our names...

 As you saw in the video earlier, you have started doing a lot more walking.  At the start of this month, you were still mostly crawling, but by 16 months, you are really walking great!  Here are a couple more of your early walking videos...

This one cracks me up because you just toddled into the room, heard a good dance song, and started to break it down!

Here are a few more cute pics from this past month...

Not loving your doctor's appointment.

I love so much about this picture.  For one, you look so little.  Plus I love how it shows the way you twist your paci... just like J always did.  And, you have become quite attached to this little bunny which is precious, and you just look so snuggly in your blanket.

 You love being like the big kids.  You have been watching Hayes start to use the potty, and you thought you should have a chance to do so also!  You were so happy and proud sitting there.  Haha.

 And I just love your messy little face!

You are so special Kyndall Lynn Butler!  We love you more and more everyday!

We have a 7 year old!!!

It really is almost unfathomable that we have a seven year old.  How can this little guy be so big now?!?!

It truly about breaks this momma's heart not to have that precious little thing anymore, but, man... Am I ever so proud of the kid he has become! I know everyone thinks that their kids are awesome, and I know I am totally biased.  That being said, Cole you are incredible.  You are sweet, funny, smart, athletic, hard-working, thoughtful, playful, nurturing, determined... the list could go on and on.  You are amazing, and we are SO glad you are ours!

This has been a big year for you.  You started kindergarten, played coach pitch (and batted way over 500!), lost a tooth, swam to the bottom of the deep end, learned to read, rode your first motorbike, figured out how to throw the peace sign up/give someone bunny ears in every picture, went hunting for your first time, and really became interested in playing sports.  

Your favorite sport right now is basketball.  You play it at recess every day with your buddies.  Sadly, your allegiance has switched from the Grizz to the Golden State Warriors- specifically, Steph Curry.  You have his jersey and the team cap- both of which you wear all the time!  Major fan!  You also played soccer and baseball this year, and your competitiveness definitely showed itself.  You were super aggressive in soccer, and your baseball team always came out on top... even though we didn't keep score.  ;)

You also have some amazing dance moves and are always in the mood for a dance party!  You especially love to dance to the Whip and Nae Nae and know all the moves- stanky leg, bop, superman.  You also have informed me that you know how to dab.  Just know that at seven, you are already causing me to google what all these things mean.  Your momma is getting old!  Thankfully, your daddy taught you most of them so at least one of us is still hip and cool.  Haha.

Your current favorite song is "Made to Love" by TobyMac.  You truthfully like just about any song by him, and you are awesome at remembering lyrics.  You are just like your daddy in that way.  You can sing along with so many songs, and you really have a great little voice.  I love to hear you sing.  

You are an incredible big brother and helper.  Your daddy and I talk all the time about how we were  never so loving, kind, or thoughtful as the oldest kids in the family.  Jordan, Hayes, and Kyndall have it SO good with you around.  You include them, make them feel special, teach them new things, and help them with things they can't quite do on their own yet.  You really look out for them in so many ways, and I do not know what I would do without you most of the time!  

(Teaching them all a bible lesson about Samson.)

You have grown a lot this past year.  You are a perfect square... 47.5 pounds and 47.5 inches tall (3 ft 11.5in).  That puts you between the 25th-50th% for both.  You eat a lot... at least of the things that you like.  I can't believe you haven't turned into a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!  You could eat that for every meal of every day and not get sick of it I think.  Your other current favorite things are popcorn, chocolate ice cream, and Dr. Pepper!

(The difference in the start of Sr. K and 1st grade.  You grew a ton!!!)

You have become quite the electronics maniac.  You belong to me in that sense because you are easily addicted to that kind of thing.  Sorry... You love to play on the iPad, one of our phones, or on your new Nintendo DS that you saved your own money to buy.  We really have to limit you because you seem to forget that you like to do anything else once you get started on those.  Haha.  Your favorite games to play are MarioKart and Pokemon.  Your favorite shows to watch are Ninjago, Sonic, and Super Mario Brothers.  

You really enjoy school.  You don't seem to mind the work part too much, and you definitely like the social aspect.  Your best buddies is Ethan, and you guys are pretty much inseparable.  He is a good friend, and we are really thankful that you have him at church and at school.  You get along with everyone, and you really enjoy making people laugh. 

I said that your best buddy is Ethan, and that is true.  But I do have to say that you adore your daddy!  You want to be with him doing what he is doing all the time.  You countdown until he is home from work, and you usually have called or texted him from my phone before that!  Your text conversations are so cute!  I love that you guys are such good friends.  You couldn't pick a much better guy to learn from or be like than your daddy!

 You have switched from wanting to be a doctor like him though.  You just told me in the car the other day that when you grow up you want to play in the NBA, but if that doesn't work out you want to be a professional gamer.  Hahahaha.  It will be interesting to see if that sticks in the future.  I wouldn't be surprised if it changes.

You are super smart and love to learn- especially about animals right now.  You know all kinds of facts, and you watch animals shows, check out animal books, read animal magazines to learn more.  You used to hesitate to hold or catch things in the wild, but this year you have really upped your game.  Frogs, worms, turtles, bugs, and even snakes (that Daddy has ok'd) are no big deal now!

There are so many wonderful things about you, but you aren't perfect... nobody is.  You definitely already think you know it all and can tend to talk back when you are sure your way is better.  You have a little drama in your bones, and you often act like your foot was cut off when you stub your toe.  You, of course, get in arguments with Jordan and Hayes, and you can be quite pouty when you don't get your way.  You are like your momma, and you definitely need your sleep.  You have a much harder time dealing with things when you are sleepy. Overall though, you bring so much joy to our family, and you constantly amaze us with the things you can do, stuff you know, and ways you act.  

It's hard to sum up everything about you in one quick yearly post, but I think one thing that stands out from the rest is your heart.  You have a kind, good heart.  It shows up in so many ways.  Here is one example I will share...  During this past Thanksgiving/Christmas season, I asked you for ways we could show others Jesus' love.  Your list (with no help from me at all): 

-Grow fruits and vegetables for people that don't have money to buy them.

-Train dogs for blind people.

-Let people who don't have homes live in our house until they can find a house for themselves.

-Give our toys to kids who don't have as many.

-Help people in jail know about God.

Cole, we do not know how we got so lucky, and we hope and pray we can continue to guide you on the path you are already taking.  We pray that you always have such a heart for God and others, that you know Him well and are in tune with His Spirit, and that your life is a reflection of His.  That's a lot to put on a seven year old's shoulders, but you are already doing those things so well for a little boy!  Just remember to have fun, don't grow up too fast, and know that your momma and daddy are always ready for one of your awesome hugs!  We love you, sweet Cole-y.  Happy 7th Birthday!