Taylor's vocabulary is growing everyday. Her words are not always discernable to other people but generally Mike and I know what she is saying! The two cutest words she says are, "trash truck" and "Hi-Five" (the show). We have no idea why she started to say trash truck but when she hears it outside she "talks" about it. As awesome as it is to see her really start to talk, it is almost cuter when she is saying some thing that we don't understand. There is just something about her little face and expression when she is trying to tell us some thing and we just don't get it. Sometimes she goes in to rants, yelling at Emma or her cousins. She knows what they are and are not allowed to do and if they break the rules she tells them about it! It is awesome to know that before too long we will be having full on coversations. 
Taylor is in LOVE with her cousin Nolan... and I think the feeling is mutual. Whenever they see each other they are ready for a full on embrace which usually leads to them falling to the floor. On Mondays and Tuesdays when I take Taylor to Grammy's as soon as we pull down her street she claps her hands and starts saying, "Nol Nol." It is so cute to see how excited she becomes just at the mention of his name and even more so when she sees his picture. Awww... too bad they are cousins!
Taylor loves her routines. Every morning she wakes up (earlier then we would like) and lays in bed and watches Sesame Street. After a few minutes she gets up and "helps" Mike get ready for work. She always brings him socks and shoes to put on... sometimes they match, sometimes they don't! Then they go downstairs, take Emma out, Taylor hands Mike his bag, says "bye bye," and shuts the door. It is not suprising that she knows this routine and does the same thing every morning, but what gets us is the little things that she picks up. For instance, this morning Mike started walking downstairs without his glass of water from the night before. Taylor started pointing to it and getting upset when she thought he wasn't going to bring it downstairs because she knows he usually does.
I know I should be encouraging her independance but it has been a tough road! Things that previously took us 1 minute could take us 10. Taylor has to put her own pants back on after the diaper change, she has to (try to) put her own shoes on, climb in to her highchair, put on her bib, feed herself, brush her teeth, and on and on. It seems like overnight she has decided that she just doesn't need us so much anymore. Sad. 
Taylor loved the boat, loved the beach, and loved spending time with her cousins. I learned a few things from the experience of spending a week with three kids under the age of four.
2) getting three kids to go to sleep at the same time and sleep past 5am is a challenge worth drinking too once accomplished
Taylor is continuing to express her independence and her opinions(is that a nice way of saying it?). She doesn't want to hold hands in the parking lot or up the steps at the play ground, she doesn't want you to feed her the yogurt, and forget trying to brush her teeth for her. We went to Target the other day and she kept wanting Mike and I to switch who pushed the cart. Here we were, two grown adults switching pushing the cart every 30 seconds all for the sake of preventing a screaming child. I have a feeling this is just the beginning of the challenges in this department but she has given Mike and I lots to think about when it comes to how we deal with these little tantrums! 
P.S. We are now working on a 2 hr and 45 min nap... so far!
No time for Pictures... come on dad!
Sunday we went to Kids Castle with Maddie, PopPop, and Great Grandmom. It was our first time there and I am sure we will be back. It is so nice and Taylor loved it. 
