This one was a card.  I was honestly hoping they would let me just take it as the collage picture but oh well.  This is her harvest season pictures.  My neighbor is a fool for decorating and I, being the not so festive mommy, have taken advantage of her penache, with her knowledge of course.

The beginning of December was a good month.  This girl has to have her cheerios in a cup.  Won't eat them unless they are in a cup.  She also thinks potatoes make good toys.  I wasn't about to take it from her.  She doesn't play with them because she has to but because she wants to and that's good enough for me.  In the bottom left picture she is eating dirt.  Why would a mom let her kid eat dirt?  You can tell them it's yucky 100,000 times or you can let them try it out for themselves and never eat it again.  Fortunately she agrees that it is yucky.  And that last sweet picture - she is not in time out.  She likes to touch tummies together, doesn't matter who or in this case - what.

These are the angels of SMART Childcare.  I wish I could tell the world how much these women mean to me.  I went to visit them yesterday and they helped me understand what the regulations are and what I should be expecting from my current day care.  I am so blessed to have this daycare in Xyla's background.  So much of what she knows and the smarty pants she is can be attributed to Ms. Dana and Ms. Meka.

On the left are Xyla's friends Casey and O-b-o-b-o-b (in case you missed that it's Bob)  They are pretty rough and tumble but more like brothers to her.  She still talks about them.  If you think I wasn't serious about the learning stuff though on the right that is Xyla matching shapes at 16 months.

These are Xyla's cousins.  Faith and Arlecia are her favorites but that is because Louis is just learning how to walk.  Watching her with these two girls reminds me of what the world needs more of - massive quantities of excessive hugging - unless of course the overexhuberance of the hug renders both huggers to the ground, then there is crying - but only until they can figure out how to get untangled and back up to standing.