I've heard people talk about a switch when all of a sudden children really start talking. Rylie's switch is now on. It is really amazing how all of a sudden we have gone from normal words like more, down, water, ball, shoes, etc. to having a parrot in our house. While her pronunciation isn't completely understandable in everything she says, the number of words is multiplying daily, and we are now very careful with the words we say versus the words we spell. Despite all of her new words, Rylie's favorite is "No!" I will admit, this gets annoying rather quickly. Though sometimes, Adam and I do start laughing out loud when we ask Rylie a question (something that will prompt her to do one of her "tricks") and she very matter of factly looks at us and says "No," and proceeds to go about her business.
When I picked Rylie up at school one day last week, her teacher told me that all day Rylie went up to every other child in the class and while wagging her finger back and forth said "No! No! No!" Apparently, Rylie did this when children were eating their lunches, reading books, and doing other normal and appropriate things. The funny thing is that we don't say "No!" to Rylie all that much. Unless something is truly dangerous or very rude, we really let her explore pretty freely. Some people could look at this behavior and consider Rylie to be bossy, we just like to believe that she is a born leader :-)
One of Rylie's favorite words is "bra." This is highly embarrassing as we walk through Target and pass the lingerie section and there is my 17 month old- pointing and screaming "Mama, bra! Mama, bra!" I can't help but laugh. Adam, on the other hand, is completely mortified.
Last week, I had the RNC on in the background (we are still waiting for Rylie's "My Mama's NOT for Obama!" shirt to arrive) and Rylie and I were doing some puzzles on the floor. All of a sudden, Laura Bush came out to speak and Rylie shot up from the ground, ran up to the television, started clapping along with the audience and waving, repeatedly screaming "Hi Nana!" I had to laugh- I mean, the resemblance between my mother and Laura Bush is closer than that of Adam and Kobe Bryant, but still not so close.
As I've mentioned, Rylie is fearless. I often wonder the origins of this. Are children wired to be fearless or fearful, or somewhere along the spectrum? Do they all start fearless until adults instill fear in them by continuously telling them to be careful? One possibility I've eliminated (at least in Rylie's case) is that fearlessness is not ended after falling, scrapes, bruises and blood :-) In a nutshell, that is what our past 10 days have looked like. We are VERY thankful, no serious injuries, but man- this girl keeps us on our toes. It started with some scrapes in Sedona. Then Rylie collided with an older child at the splash fountain and ended up with a bloody, scraped up knee. A few days later, Rylie fell into a shelving unit at school and acquired a big bruise on her cheek. And the grand finale of the week- Rylie was running (she rarely walks these days) at the splash fountain on Friday, fell face first on the ground, and had her top two teeth go into her upper lip. It was not a pretty sight. Thankfully, once the tears were wiped and the blood was cleaned up, all we were left with a big gash on the inside of her upper lip and some swelling. All of her teeth are in place. But man, this girl is one tough cookie! She still hasn't stopped. I took her to the park yesterday and thought perhaps she would be a bit more cautious given these recent incidents, and there was still no fear. Maybe it is just how she is wired.
Rylie is big into dressing up these days. Unless I occupy her hands with her water cup and a cracker, she usually won't leave the house without her purse (please see black sequined hand bag from previous postings,) her sunglasses, and her beaded Mardi Gras necklaces. And she loves wearing Mommy's dress shoes.
Some pictures....
As previously mentioned, Rylie is all about accessories these days! 
Have I mentioned that she is growing up WAY too fast? This is such a fabulous age. We are completely enjoying life with Rylie as it seems each day brings some new discovery. Pause button, please? 
Until next time....
Love to everyone!
We spent the day in Sedona- a morning hike, a picnic for lunch, and an afternoon drive home that fell perfectly during naptime. Rylie amazed us with her hiking abilities. We knew she loves to walk, run, jump (getting better at this everyday), and especially loves to climb, but we had no idea she would love hiking this much! Needless to say, we're thrilled :-) We were really impressed by her balance. By the end of the hike, there were some scrapes on her knees and lots of red dirt on her legs, shorts, and hands, but our Rylie was all smiles. 
No more postcards, Safta! I ready for Mt. Whitney! 
The kitchen exhibit was another big hit.
Iron Chef 3 and under Competition :-)
"Uh oh!"
There was another exhibit where you could paint a house. Rylie preferred to paint her shoes :-)
The tunnels were a lot of fun to climb through. We went back to this section of the museum three times!
Rylie's Garden
Rylie was very involved in the planting process. Thankfully at school she has learned "Pat, Pat, Pat" from when they do art projects. This came in handy as we tried to explain to her that she needed to pat the soil down. She seemed to think it was more of a sandbox and preferred digging and moving soil from one place to another.
Visiting with Great Grandma & Great 
We also got to spend time with Saba and 
One of my favorite things about 
Enjoying the splash fountain and the carousel at Fashion Island. 
I don't know why, but I love this picture.
After a few days in the 
She especially enjoyed eating sand :-)
We also went to the Sesame Street play area for a while. 
We went on a really interesting tram ride called "Tour of Africa." The best part of this park is that the animals are roaming freely through a very large area designed much like their natural habitat (as much as you can make California feel like Africa!)
Unless you include climbing in and out of the stroller or pushing it, 
While the monkey used to be 
And of course, the carousel. 
