And so it begins ...

My sweet little baby is calling me VERNA! What is this about? Where did my cute "Mom mom mom" go?!?! Apparently kids go through this call the parents by first name thing - however I was not aware this happened at the age of 1! I think the kids I nanny for taught it to her, since they call me by name. It is so heartbreaking to her Raine call me Verna, she says it in such a cute way, but it is still sad. I only hope she decides to call me mom again some day.
I got my camera last night so poor Raine got a camera stuffed in her face as soon as she woke up this morning. She got so sick of me following her around with the camera that she wouldn't smile anymore, not even when I tickled her or made funny noises!

All about Raine

Jordan RAINE Hocker

Age: 16 1/2 months

Words I know: me-me-me, baby, car, mo dog, uh-oh, nana, mom, dad, bird, pee, ball, go, yeah, good girl, buckle, balloon, more and a handful more.

Signs I know: milk, mom, dad, monkey, bird, horse, please, thank you, eat/food, juice, drink, potty, friend, more, fish, no, friend, girl, boy, duck, all done, dog, bear, fish, shoe, car and many more.

Body parts I know: eyes, ears, nose, mouth, head, hair, hands, feet, arms, legs, knees, cheek, chin, toes, tongue, teeth, fingers, bum (I think she knows her whole body now!).
Favorite toys: babies, ride on cars, balls, bikes, bouncy rooms

Favorite games: give all of Mom's kisses to Dad, peek-a-boo, dancing, head butting, playing with Mo

Favorite foods: turkey dogs, mac and cheese, lasagna, Gerber Graduates Cheese puffs, hummus, salsa, toast, oatmeal, strawberries, bananas, and apparently now steak.
Favorite drinks: cranberry juice, carrot juice, chocolate milk, yogi tea (no caffeine, just spices)

Random favorite things: Shoes!!!

It's summer time alright!

Raine and I signed up for swim lessons at the end of the month. I think it will be a fun way to spend 2 hot Phoenix weeks and I'm sure we will learn a bunch. Raine really enjoys the water so I think she will enjoy it. I just hope she is cooperative. She loves to just do her own thing, so I'm not sure how she will like having to stay and learn first.

113 degrees today! ugh. Poor Raine starts wiping at her face when the heat from the car (or just outside) hits her. She loves spraying herself in the face with her spray bottle though. We keep a spray bottle in the car to help keep her cool and she will sit in her car seat and happily spray herself in the face. Luckily she hasn't tried to drink the water or spray me yet. ;)

Today Raine had her 16 month well check with her new pediatrician. I really like like the new doc. We have a woman, Dr. Kelly (both Dan and I had a Dr. Kelly, so I thought maybe it was a good choice). I thought maybe Raine would like a woman doctor better, but it appears she hates all people who poke and prod her, make her get naked and examine her. The office is quite nice, nice garden landscape with a fountain and everything, fun things to play with in the waiting room. Raine had a great time playing with all the stuff, walking around and exploring. They called us back and Raine happily held my hand and walked back with me, until ... (imagine horror movie music here) ... she heard screaming kids, saw scales, and the dreaded exam room. She stopped, let go of my hand and stood in the middle of the hall looking around and then she started back to where we came in screaming. I had to carry her screaming trying to climb over me into the exam room, where she continued to scream until the nurse left. We waited happily reading a story until the doctor came in. As soon as the doctor came in the room Raine started to try to climb over me and scream. Poor girl was not happy. Luckily the doctor was really nice about it, touched Raine as little as possible and stayed on the other side of the room when she was asking questions. Raine has put on a few pounds and is doing fine in her growth. She is still on the small side, but the doc said it was nothing to be worried about and to just try to get her to eat more solids before she gets milk.

Uber Happy Verna

I just ordered my new camera and it should be here by the end of the month! I am pretty excited about it. Dan has been making fun of me a bit. (Like when he saw me put a picture of it on the blog ...) I am just excited to be able to get good high quality shots of Raine, all of our family, and hopefully gain a mini career. We got a pretty good deal it came with the Canon Rebel SLR 12.2 megapixel camera, 2 lenses, case, 8 gb memory card, card reader, battery ... very nice.

If you need me, I will be camped out by the mailbox ...

Sad Verna

I am sad to say that I won't be able to post new pictures for a little while. Our digital camera died on us. The screen and all the pictures are just blurred shapes. I will try to do more video until I get my new camera. We are waiting for our stimulus check to get my dream camera. I am hoping to start up a little photography business once I get it. I am currently trying to re-learn photoshop so I can also do touch ups and that sort of thing. I am so excited about it I can hardly wait! We have been trying to set goals and save up for them.

We are all keeping pretty busy, Dan is back to crazy overtime. I am getting excited for my family to come to visit next month. And we are all excited for our trip to Colorado. We miss everyone sooooooo much! Dan and I are excited for Raine to experience the Sand Dunes, we think she will love it! The cooler weather will be nice too! 112 degrees here today! Yuck! Maybe that is why we get so homesick in the summer :)

Raine is keeping busy too. She amazes us all the time! She has discovered coloring lately. She loves to sit and color and draw. She draws with such purpose too, it is fun to watch her! I have been trying to get her to do all of her signs and body parts on video lately to share with you, but she likes to either be silly for the camera or shy and boring. :) Last night Raine and I taught yoga. Raine is becoming quite the little yogi. She sits with us at the start of class with her little hands at heart center in anjali mudra and she copies various poses throughout class. I can't wait until I can capture some of this on camera, it is the cutest thing.

What a character

Little Miss Raine gets more rambunctious by the day. She is so smart, sweet, caring and affectionate. She is also very particular, opinionated and mischievous. Her new favorite game is give Daddy all Mommy's kisses. I will ask her for a kiss and she will go over and kiss and hug Dan. She has been very into Mo lately. She loves hugging, kissing and petting Mo.




Last weekend we all went and got haircuts together. Raine did pretty well, she sat on my lap and enjoyed a sucker. Her hair was not quite what I asked for but it is cute all the same. My hair turned out to be exactly what I told her NOT to do, but it's not awful and it'll grow I guess. Dan's hair looks fine, not to easy to mess up I guess. Raine and Dan got to play at the mall play place while I was getting my haircut, which they seemed to enjoy.


This weekend Raine and I went to see Junie B। Jones. If you haven't read her stories they are adorably hilarious. The author is Barbra Park and she is touring promoting the books with the main character. So, we had show and tell with Junie B. Jones and then had our books signed. It was pretty cute.