Autumn 16 months

My little girl is a budding toddler and the most precious person in my world. She lights up my life every single day and brings more joy into my life than I have ever felt before. I love her more than anything in the entire world, and will always love her no matter what! I am amazed at the love and extreme peace I feel knowing she is mine forever. Just look at that face. So much potential, so peaceful. She radiates pureness and love. 

At 16 months she was running, hiding, sneaking around, eating more foods, sleeping a lot, dancing, and so happy. Her dad thought it would be so funny to put her in his shorts. It was hilarious. I must admit. He does things I would never think of doing. At first I'm skeptical, but within seconds I'm usually on board and laughing!

Autumn is getting to be a lot more mobile at church, much busier, and harder and harder to entertain. I kept counting down the days until nursery because it was getting so hard to have her there for all 3 hours. Especially since 1:00 is her nap time, so her naps were typically 30-45 minutes, if that. I rarely made it through Relief Society, and Sunday school was a joke!  I did enjoy having her there with me, even if I wasn't learning. Spencer and I would take turns going to class, but he teaches the young men so often times I spent the last hour outside or in the hallways.

One day we walked into Sunday school and sat down in the back row. She was pretty tired and did not have very good balance. She tripped and fell on the side of the chair and hit her nose pretty hard. Within seconds she was screaming and blood everywhere! I freaked out and ran into the bathroom, beckoning Spencer to follow but he didn't come because I went into the girl's bathroom. Blood was everywhere on the carpet, on my hands, on her dress, etc. I was worried her nose was broken. I couldn't calm her down and she was still bleeding. I grabbed some paper towels and we headed home. She was probably more scared than anything. After we got home the bleeding stopped and she was very calm. Within minutes she was licking the blood off of her face and we captured this funny smile! So gross but also kind of cute, right? What a sad, cute memory :) 

Later that afternoon we went on a little walk. She found a way to get her legs above her tray. Such a goober :)

I love how Autumn's hair can be put into little pig tails, more like little antennas. Her little smile melts my heart. She looks so much like her dad. 

We had a visit from the Bennions back in August. We loved seeing their cute baby, Clark, and Claire is getting to be such a big girl now!

Autumn behaves very well at restaurants. We can typically take her anywhere and she is content sitting in her chair. She likes to eat whatever we are eating and laughs and plays with us as we carry on our conversations. This particular day was on my birthday. I loved spending it with her and Spencer. They made me feel so special! 

Those big brown eyes are incredible!! Love that cute closed mouth smile. I could eat her cheeks :)

Autumn is a GREAT helper at this age. She is learning new words like garbage, toy box, and bathroom. She cleans up things around the house and loves to do it. She even helps unload the dishwasher! I'm impressed with how well she listens. One thing that is nice is when she takes her own diaper to the garbage. She knows it's yucky so she won't play with it.

Autumn also loves drawing, coloring, playing with wallets, sorting papers, opening jars, closing lids, holding several items in her hands at once and taking things in and out of drawers. I love how interested she is in little things like this. It's so cute to watch. One day I watched her put paper cups into the dishwasher pretending to load it. She picks up on things very quickly. The first time I noticed this is in the beginning of summer when she found some suntan lotion and pretended to put it all over her body. So precious and so observant! 

Autumn has 4 teeth this month! With a couple more coming in. 

Another day in church. Cute little antenna pigtails :) Outside during sacrament, a likely place to find us. Spencer is usually the one to take her out into the hallway when she is fussy. It's so nice having someone there to help at church. What would I do without him? 

A few weeks before I started teaching again, Dustin and his family came out to visit! They were trying to get away from all of the smoke caused by the Rim Fire in Yosemite. Plus they had a soft evacuation warning. I was so excited when they said they were coming! All the girls plus Laura and Oliver stayed at our house. It was nuts! So much fun. Autumn had a blast with her cousins. 

Playing the game Trouble! The girls helped Autumn push the middle button. Every time she pushed it she laughed and thought it was the funniest thing! We all laughed because of how adorable it was :) 

Lainey was the youngest cousin until Autumn was born. She was so sweet and kind with Autumn. Always wanting to pick her up and be the big girl. She really is getting so big! 

When Dustin comes out we get to go swimmin' at his hotel. Autumn LOVES the water! She is getting so good at jumping in from the side of the pool. She is very active and doesn't like to stay in one place. She likes to climb out of the pool and really wants to run around the pool, and has slipped before. So we have to keep a close eye on her! 

Nothing cuter than Autumn and daddy playing together in a pool. 

My blonde little buttercup. I heart this picture.

She has a blast at the park. Going down every slide, watching the older kids and learning what they do. I swear she is going to be a self learner, just like me. I can't wait to see what she grows up to be. Oh wait, I can! I can wait. I love this age. I know she will grow way too fast. I hope to savor every single moment with her. 

Autumn and Katsie! It is the cutest thing to watch them together.

All the cousins, minus Bryan and William. Love this photo so much!

On top of the stove. She likes to get up there and help us cook. What a goober.

At Sears trying on jackets

Eating out with the grandparents

At church eating fruit snacks, her favorite snack

Her hair is a little curly in the back :) She still is loving her whole milk. 

At the Scera Park Pool the last day it was open. I believe this was Labor Day. Silly cute faces.

We got outside a lot during August. Autumn LOVES playing in the dirt and getting messy. Like a true kid.

In September we went up to Richmond for a family baby shower. I love going to the Bagley grandparents house. There is such an amazing feeling of peace and serenity up there. Their house is full of memories and they have truly made their house a home. I hope to have a home this rich and full of love someday :)

We all got to help pick beans from their garden. Nothing better than fresh beans! Autumn helped too!

Playing with their older toys. So many kids have played with these toys. I wonder how clean they are? Haha. Autumn loved it. So I did too. 

Autumn and Hayden went for a ride on Richard's new bike trailer. They were having a blast! Laughing so hard and having the best time being pulled by their uncle. Hayden is about 5 and a half months older but Autumn is catching up to him in height!

Playing on the net at the park outside our house. She is anxious to start climbing things. Getting better at climbing up on chairs. 

She started to ride the big girl swing. I will put her on it, and randomly without a warning she just slips off. I have to really watch her and hold onto her, otherwise she'll fall right off! She can, however, sit on it by herself without any help. It's the getting off part that scares me!

When I started work again on August 20th I had the hardest time leaving her. She was so used to me, and I was so used to her. She cried the first week I dropped her off at Jessica's house, but after a while she got used to it. Now she doesn't want to leave when I pick her up! She must be having a great time. That makes me feel better knowing she is in a good place and being taken care of so well. When it is nice weather I will take her to the park by Mountain View High right after work and we'll usually play for about an hour. She is getting stronger and can really climb up those stairs and go down the big girl slides! It took a few times getting up the courage, but she learns quick and really has no fear! 

Happy girl! I have so much fun following her around. The playground is a big place for such a little girl!

What a silly face.

My little baby is no longer. It does make me sad to think I will never have her at that small age and small size again. I have been looking through pictures and videos of her when she was 2-3 months old. I can't believe how different she looks and how much she has grown up. It is crazy to think how fast time will continue to pass by. I am hoping this blog will help keep the memory of those little moments alive!

They really are so much alike.

Another Sunday stroll. She is just such a happy baby. And I will say baby for a few more months, while I can still pull it off :)

LOVES bath time too! Every time I tell her we're going to take a bath she gets so excited and runs into the bathroom and tries to get into the tub. She gets frustrated when I don't take her clothes and diaper off in time. If her diaper is off and the water is running for too long, she'll pee right then and there on the floor! Ew! It is a fast paced activity for sure getting her into the tub!

Well, that is Autumn at 16 months. Such a beautiful, fun-spirited, loving, happy, explorative child. I love you miss Autumn! Thanks for adding so much joy and love into our home. Your dad and I are beyond words to describe the happiness you have brought into our lives. We are excited to keep watching you as you learn and grow!