17 Month Update

Well, it has been a month since I have written anything...kinda sad. I hate that I did not write more, but oh well. We have been enjoying life. Lyla is GREAT and I am more in love with her than ever. I L.O.V.E being her mommy and I love watching her grow into a little lady.

She is learning new things everyday and is so perceptive. I know every parent says their child is smart and Lyla is no different. She is SO smart.

Favorite Activities: Puzzles - she can complete all the puzzles we have on her own, guess we need to get more. Reading Books - she will pick them out and then come sit in my lap for me to read, or her most recent way to read them is to climb up in her rocking chair and read them by herself. Loves "Brown Bear Brown Bear" and Dr Seuss. GOING OUTSIDE!! - this is still her FAVORITE, the first thing she says in the morning after "hi!" is "go" and she points to her window to outside. We were given a wagon by a good friend and she is obsessed. She will play with it inside, climbing in and out through the door, and she loves to be pulled around outside in it. Organizing - whether it is lining toys up, putting toys in a basket, jar, or bag and taking them out, she could do that for hours. She is not a tv watcher, and for that I am glad, but there are little moments where it would be nice if it would keep her entertained, like when I take a shower. Over the last few weeks I have noticed that if I turn on Blue's Clues it is the one show that will keep her attention. Maybe it is the puppy?!

Favorite Food: JUICE and fruit. Yes, she will eat other things if she must, but if she had to choose, she would eat fruit and only fruit, with maybe some cheerios, gummy fruits, and peanut butter and jelly.

Sleep: Naps after lunch usually for about 1.5 hours sometimes more if she is really tired. Goes to bed between 7 and 8 and sleeps until around 8am. She still sleeps with her monkey blankie, her musical seahorse, and teddy bear she got at Christmas from her Uncle David. She CANNOT sleep without her blanket. Her blanket has little ribbon taggies around the edges and she slips her finger (usually her pointer or middle finger) through the light pink taggie. That is the only color she does it with.

New Words: She can say "hi", "yigh" (bye) which sounds like hi, she can tell me what a dog, cow, lion, and cat says when asked, she can blow kisses (puts her hand up to her mouth), she blows on hot food. She is really not a talker. She is vocal, but does not really talk much yet. She is definitely much more of a thinker at this point.

Personality: She is not shy at all and people comment on this all the time. I love this about her. I am the opposite, so she does not get this from me. She will go up to people all the time, and while she does not say anything, she wants them to notice her and talk to her. She will say "hi" and wave to them. She has no fear at this point. She will walk away from us and be ok doing her own thing.

Sweet Things: Anytime she wants me to go somewhere with her or I ask her to do something/go somewhere, she reaches up and wants to hold our hand. Although, she does not want to hold our hand in the parking lot....go figure. I guess when she has to, she does not want to. She will give us a kiss on the lips. She notices boo-boo's and wants us to kiss them. She LOVES when we chase her. She will run (she is just learning to "run" and it is too cute for words) and looks behind her to make sure we are following her and squeals with delight. I love it when she squeals with delight. Sometimes she just does it for the fun of it and it just melts my heart.

Loving the park. She especially loves the slide and swing. 

Snack time.

Love those pig tails.

So pretty.

Happy Girl.

16 Months, Tomorrow

Even though February is supposed to be a short month, I felt like it dragged on forever over here. We have been super busy and I feel like we have been running from one thing to the next. While that is not always bad, I am ready for some down-time. Unfortunately, our Spring calendar is already PACKED!

Lyla is 16 months??!! So crazy. She is such a joy and so fun to be around. She has such a personality, not one specific personality type, just a little bit of everything. She is my quiet-thinker (she is not a girl full of words), but she can also be wild, crazy, and LOUD! She loves being outside even more, which I did not believe was even possible. If I let her live outside, she would. She is always asking to "go" out the "door". She hates her stroller and hates shopping. Yes, my shopping buddy has disappeared. Why does she hate it? Because she does not want to be restrained for any amount of time, when she could be outside running around doing her own thing. Oh well. So most of our days, after her naps, are spent at the park. Which I am so THANKFUL to have a wonderful park so close. She loves listening to the birds and looking for them as they fly.

We are working on saying "please" and "thank you" because the whining thing is not working for this mama. And she is also working on sharing. Being around kids her age more often, I want her to be a good sharer from an early age.  

This month, since our condo is back on the market, we have been busy doing a lot of cleaning. Lyla has a love-hate relationship with the vacuum cleaner. But, since we have been using it so much, it has become her friend and she even likes to push it around herself now. She has also found a love of the mop, or the broom, or anything that she can push around and pretend to clean the floors with. I can ask her to clean the floor and hand her a paper towel and she will wipe up the floor. It is too cute. Probably won't last for long once she realizes chores are no fun! But I love having her as my little buddy. This is such a precious age. Yes, I STILL cannot get enough!!

She loves to play picnic and tea party. She will make sure I eat and drink all that she fixes for me to eat. She loves to stir the tea in her cup and set everything up on the plates and carry them somewhere else for us to eat. She has gotten really good at doing her puzzles and gets really frustrated when she cannot get the piece in just right.

When she is done with her meal, instead of saying all done, because yes it's true she does not talk much (and by talk I mean use words, this girl is loud and vocal though) she hands me all the food off her tray if she does not have a plate, and if she does have a plate or bowl, she will put all her food on the plate/in the bowl, and then hand it to me.

She is independent and loves to do things by herself, but if she finds she cannot do it, she will ask for help. It always melts my heart when she comes to me asking for help when she needs it. Even though she is SO independent, she still loves to be held and makes sure she does not miss out on anything. She is loving my new iphone (yes I just got one) and loves that she can FaceTime her Aunt Sarah anytime she wants to.

Last weekend Lyla and I went to my parents' condo in Hilton Head with Courtney and her daughter Eva. Adam had to go to a conference in Washington DC, so we jumped on the opportunity to go to the beach and not just sit at home. It was so great to get away and enjoy the beach. Man, I wish we lived at the beach! I am so grateful that my parents are always so excited for others to share their condo with them! The girls had such a great time together and were always so excited when they woke up in the mornings to find their friend was still there! I love having friends with kids the same age as Lyla. Not only do I love it for Lyla, but having someone in the same place in life as me, that can truly understand the whole stay-at-home mom sort of thing is so nice.

Loves the swing and insisted on wearing her bear backpack/leash.

Lots of wagon rides! We will have to get one of these. Lyla loved it!!

Friends riding on the beach.

The slide, which she has learned to do by herself.

Waiting patiently for lunch at Salty Dog.

Pretty Eva.

Team work.

The moments I will never forget.

Love this girl.

Bath together every night. I think these girls could live in the bath.

She went in the freezing water and fell, so her pants were wet. Made for cute pictures.

I love seeing life through this girl's eye. I am so in love with her. So blessed to have been chosen to be her mommy and have these special moments with her.

Love at First Sight

Well, it has finally happened. After waiting patiently for nine long months, watching her Aunt Kara's belly grow, kissing her baby Dalton from the outside and patting Aunt Kara's tummy to let her little cousin know she was eagerly waiting his arrival.....the two finally meet!! Yes she saw video and pictures of him leading up to today and constantly wanted to look at her baby Dalton's picture and watch his video over and over and over again....but today was THE day!! And boy is she in love. She was so enamored with him. I am sure as she is sound asleep in her crib, she is dreaming about all the fun they will have together and all the things she will teach him. I cannot wait to watch these two get to know each other and grow up with each other!!

First looks....Dalton is not impressed yet....

He has a monkey on his shirt Aunt Kara.

He has soft hair. 

What do you think about him Aunt Kara?

This is how you give baby Dalton kisses, Lyla.

Oh Aunt Kara, you are so sweet to him and give him kisses just like you give me!!

Getting to hold him for the first time. Melted my heart.

I think I like him!

Can I keep him?

Look, there is his mouth!

I love touching his soft head.

I LOVE Jonathan's face here. Think he is in love with that little man and is excited to have everyone home?

Dalton showing off his bottle taking skills. I think he just took more out of his bottle here than Lyla did in her whole lifetime. 

Sweet boy!

Kisses bye-bye. See you soon cousin.

So, Lyla is in love, but so is her mommy! I love this sweet little baby so much and it felt so great to snuggle with such a tiny newborn! It is so easy to forget how little they start off and QUICKLY grow up. I am so excited to get to know him and watch Kara and Jonathan come into their own of being great parents! They are doing such a wonderful job and Dalton is one lucky baby. We love you baby Dalton and are so excited you are home safe and sound sleeping in your own bed....

Thank Goodness for Good Friends

Like I said in my last post, we have been taking advantage of these beautiful, non-wintery, days. They continue to continue and we have not let them go to waste! Today we went to the park with Lyla's best friend Eva and her mom Courtney. Lyla and Eva are three months apart in age and light up when they see each other. I am so thankful for this friendship and the fact that Courtney and I get along so well. It is so nice so have someone else in the same stage of life trying to figure out the whole parenting/being a stay-at-home mom thing too! I love her and her sweet baby girl! Eva and Lyla are pretty much as opposite as they can get, but love to be together. I am so thankful to be on this journey with the Colcords!

Soaking up the sun.

Eva the model.

Let's swing, mom.

Look over there!

Here Eva, let me show you....

Slide time.

Going down the slide all by herself.

Courtney and Eva take a turn.

Climbing the stairs

Eating an apple and taking the car keys.

Making new friends. She is so social. She actually wants to try that razor scooter.

Still working on the apple.

We have finally found someone who loves to eat as much as Lyla. And they each would rather eat each other's lunch. Good thing they are such good sharers. 

Come walk with me, mom.

Time for some juice.

15 Months

What a little lady Lyla is becoming. She fills my heart with joy every moment and I CANNOT get enough of her. I mean seriously....no on could have ever prepared me for how this girl would steal my heart. I love her more than words can say and I am so thankful God chose me to be her mommy. What a special privilege it has been thus far. I am so thankful for each and every day with her and she has really made me stop and not take one single moment for granted.

She is really no longer a baby. Makes me sad....for just a second....and then I look at her a realize how much I LOVE the toddler stage. She keeps me moving and laughing all day long. I can not imagine doing anything else.

Seriously, this girl never stops. She is busy from the time she wakes up until the time she lays her head down to go to sleep.
She still sleeps 12-13hrs at night and takes one 2-3hr nap during the day. Depending on our plans it is either before lunch or after lunch.
She loves to organize, taking her treasures from one spot to another. She loves to talk on the phone and skype. She especially loves to give kisses while skyping. She actually just loves to give kisses in general. She will, for the most part give a kiss to anyone.
She talks all the time. Adding on to her vocabulary, her new words are: fish (ish), door, go, car (gar), dog (gog), please (cees). I think she says a lot more, I just cannot understand her yet.
When it is just the two of us, for the most part, she will try to say anything I ask her to. She loves to sing. Especially when we are in the car or she is still in her crib, she will make up songs and sing. I love it! Mostly she sings about dada.
Just yesterday, I asked her where her tummy was. She lifted up her shirt and pointed to it. So I figured I would ask her where other body parts are and she was able to show me where her feet, toes, belly-button, and head were. When I asked her where her eyes where, she opened them really wide and shut them, very dramatically, when I asked her where her mouth was she opened it, when I asked her where her nose was she pointed to my nose.
She loves to wear her hair in pigtails.
She loves to run. And she still loves to be outside. This has been the biggest obsession these last few weeks, and luckily for us the weather has been B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L and we have been able to enjoy every second of it. We have lived at the park next to our house and she loves just running around and people watching. She does not like the baby playground. Instead she loves climbing up the stairs to the big slide and slide down with mommy and swing on the big swing with mommy.
So thankful for these beautiful days to enjoying playing outside with my sweet girl!
She can climb up and down stairs (of course still being watched), but she can slide down on her tummy now.
She has 9 teeth now, her two top molars just cut through last week and the bottom two are not far behind.
At her 15mo appointment this week, she checked out perfectly, and we are so thankful for a healthy, growing girl. She weighs 22lbs 5oz and was 31.5inches tall. She is 25-50% for weight and 75-90% for height.
She is learning to share.
I can tell her to go somewhere, ie her room, my room, outside, to the bath, and she goes right where I tell her! It is so amazing to watch how much she understands!

Lyla also wants me to update on Dalton, her new cousin. He was born on Jan 30th, which makes them almost exactly 15mo apart. You can check an in-depth update on him on his mommy's blog at devotionstodalton. He just had his surgery this morning to fix his coarctation and he did beautifully. He is such a blessing and we are loving these answered prayers. Kara and Jonathan are loving getting to know their new son and cannot wait to have him home. This will hopefully happen sooner than later! Please continue to pray for them as a family, for sweet Dalton, that God would heal his body and that he would have no complications from surgery and that he would tolerate his feedings that will start in a few days. That the doctors would continue to see nothing wrong with his brain and that it would be attributed to the great healing power of Christ. Also, pray for Kara that she would remember, though its hard, to take care of herself as well and allow her body to heal. Thank you for all your prayers thus far! Lyla loves her baby Dalton already. Even though she has not met him yet, she loves looking at his picture and pointing to him. He really is a cutie!!