Always Busy

I have always wondered what it would be like to have one of those kids who would just sit on my lap and be content, because Netty is not that child. Life in the Phelps home is anything but dull with her around. Everyday tasks are either much more enjoyable or much more dreadful with her around, and sometimes it's a combination of the two. Here are some glimpses into the enjoyable moments....

"Always Involved"

While going through my recipe book to create menus, Netty started throwing the cheese from her tray and screaming at me. I couldn't figure out why she was so upset until I realized she was reaching for the recipe book. I said, "Okay, Netty, what should we have?" and gave her the book. She flipped through the pages over and over for the next several minutes until I completed the menus.

"Miss Independent"

At first I was annoyed when Netty could at last reach the books on the top shelf of her bookshelf. It meant that her room would no longer be the only room in the house to stay clean all the time. I have since realized that this is a good thing. Netty will go into her room, pull her books off of the shelf, and then sit and look at them on her own. Not only is she incredibly good with books (the only torn page incident happened because I was trying to take a book from her that she wasn't ready to give up), but she'll also keep herself entertained anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes.

"Real Food, Real Healthy"

Don't get me wrong. Netty goes crazy for french fries, pop, and ice cream. But lately this little girl loves vegetables. She wants the real thing, though, nothing mashed. She won't even eat mashed potatoes most of the time. Here she is eating sugar snap peas and loving them. By the end of the dinner she had eaten four of them, as well as almost half of my grilled chicken tender.

"Standing Tall"

While "helping" us pick up the living room, Netty found her pacifier on the coffee table and stuck it in her mouth, and then she just stood there. Before this she would stand for one to three seconds at a time on her own, but we were never able to catch it on the camera. This time she stood for a full minute (I know because I counted). We were clapping for her, and she thought it was pretty great.

"Dressing for Bed"

After Netty's bath the other night I couldn't find either of her brushes (she has a habit of finding them in or on the changing table and carrying them all over the apartment), but I could find a comb. So we spiked her hair. This is the first time that we've actually been able to see the hair when it sticks up. Netty then had to take the comb and "play the harmonica" with it.

"Reverently, Noisily"

For several weeks Netty was horrid during church. We could not get her to sit still for a minute, and she would scream and flail when she got tired and we tried to put her to sleep. We have 1:00 church, and even worse, Sacrament Meeting is last. Every Saturday night I was almost in tears thinking about church the next day. I don't know if Netty decided to be a bit more cooperative or we decided to be a little more thoughtful when packing the diaper bag, or maybe it was a combination of the two. The last three Sundays have been much better. At least she now sits on the floor and plays with toys some of the time. However, she's also started "talking" a lot more lately. Here she is looking at her I'm a Big Sister book, one of her favorites. She looks so sweet and calm. In reality, she was saying, "dooka dooka dooka dooka" and making all kinds of funny noises. So we got the "be still" part a little better, but we're still working on the "shhhh."