Turner Family Chronicles: Recent weeks

April, May and June have been busy travel months for us. I have had to make several trips back and forth to Houston for work and personal, I went to Hong Kong in April and to Japan in May for work, Martin went to Las Vegas for work and we made a family trip to San Francisco to visit Martin's family. I'm exhausted just recalling all of it. And one final trip is approaching - a long awaited vacation to the Dominican Republic for just Martin and myself! We're calling it a honeymoon since we never had an official one, but the main purpose is for a dear friend's wedding. Still, it's a vacation none the less. And our darling daughter will be hangin' with my family in Houston while we enjoy 6 beautiful days on the beach. Then our traveling days will come to a welcome halt.

New things happen every day in the Turner household. Amelia has temper tantrums and ultimate meltdowns almost daily and sometimes multiple times a day. I don't know who coined the term "terrible two's" but that is seriously misleading. It actually starts somewhere around 18 months and doesn't stop until they're beyond three. She is very "spirited" which is a nice way of saying high maintenance. Along with the emotional swings she's having now, she is learning stuff at an incredible pace. Everyday she tells us something we never heard her say before or begins to comprehend things that were foreign only a few weeks ago. And the kid loves to sing. She sings songs she knows and songs that she makes up as she goes along. And she is terribly demanding. Sometimes we start singing a song and she immediately stops us "No, No! No rowin' da boat!" or "No twinkle star, Mommy!" At night when we read books she is very particular about the selection. She loves Skippyjon Jones and Dr. Seuss books are hit or miss. Sometimes we hear "No Sam I am! No Cat in da Hat!" She's even demanding with the dogs. Today she told Bug "No Buggy! Walk away!!!" There is no shortage of laughs or frustrations in our house right now but the laughter still reigns.