Feeding Goats

Lila and the goats were so cute, they get a whole 'nother post. There was a whole lot of cuteness at the zoo today!

Zoo!

Today Lila and I took a trip to the zoo with my high school friend Julie and her baby Autumn. Lila's Grandma and Auntie EM came along as well.

Here's Lila telling baby Autmn all about the birds. She's quite the bird expert. Bet you didn't know that, did you? :)

Visiting the penguins!


Lila enjoyed playing in the eggs, Mork-style.

Lila and Grandma.

Lila, Mama, and Auntie EM.

Lila fed the goats! This was by far her favorite part of the zoo experience. She could have spent the whole day feeding the goats.

Wishing you a happy weekend!

Summer

Lila and I are visiting her grandparents this weekend.

This morning, Lila and Grandma spent some time outside blowing bubbles.

This afternoon Lila met her new baby cousins, Lukas and Penelope. Tomorrow we're headed to the zoo with her new friend, Autumn.

These are the summer weekends that I dream about when there's 4 feet of snow on the ground.

Happy weekend!

Happy Easter!

Last Easter, Lila was 10 weeks old. It is so hard to believe how much she has changed in the last year. On her first Easter, she did a lot of sleeping. There were Easter baskets and she was mildly interested, but mostly she slept. This Easter, she was ALL ABOUT the Easter baskets and the Easter egg hunts!

The weekend started off with a relaxing day on Saturday. Here's Lila chilling with Daddy on the couch. She's chomping on a pancake. I made a big batch and tossed them in the fridge for snacks for the week. She loves them, and I just might have eaten a few as well...yum!


Lila's fascination with putting things inside of things, pulling them out, and then putting them back continues. Now that she's more mobile, she is wandering from room to room and has taken a particular liking to the kitchen. She likes to organize the cabinets for me while I cook. I've designated this the Lila cabinet and loaded it with stuff that's easy for her to slide around and/or pull out and put back in. I'm just hoping that her fascination with organizing lasts well into her teen years.


On Easter Sunday we woke up bright and early and had an Easter egg hunt with our neighbor and friend, Matthew. We weren't sure what Lila would think of hunting eggs, but she was really excited. Once Lila and Matthew filled their baskets we took out the eggs and tossed them back onto the lawn for rounds 2, 3, and 4. They "hunted" eggs for almost an hour!




In the afternoon, Lila's buddies Hudson and Grayson came over for dinner and another Easter egg hunt. Turns out that each of the moms made Easter baskets for each of the three kids. Holy Easter baskets, Batman!



We had nine people at our table for Easter dinner. Lila loved playing hostess and enjoyed the tasty meal.


After hunting eggs with her buddies, we took the push toys outside and the kiddos cruised up and down the sidewalk. Three toddlers toddling up and down the street was quite an adorable sight!


It was a wonderful weekend!

Spring is here!

Lila and I were both under the weather for the better part of the week, but we started feeling better today...just in time for sunny spring weather!

Lila got a Radio Flyer wagon for her birthday, so we loaded her up and took a walk to the park.

We have one very happy little girl!




Lila loved the slide, but wanted Mama to go down with her.

Giant tic tac toe!

SWINGING!

Lila loves the swings. Her laughing in this video is adorable! The video gets a little shaky at the end, but it's still pretty cute. :)

Lila's favorite game is peek-a-boo. She thinks it's hilarious when Daddy suddenly appears and surprises her. I love them together.

Happy spring!

A girl after my own heart.

Lila is still soooo close to walking on her own. She took two independent steps earlier this week, and then decided that was it. She's walking while holding one of our hands now instead of two, and she's also cruising the furniture at a much faster pace every day.

Lila has always loved shoes. I'd like to say that she gets it from me, and the older she gets, the more and more clear it becomes that this shoe-addicted mama has a shoe-addicted daughter. Lila has always loved to carry her shoes around with her. She will wear shoes, no problem, but she really enjoys having at least one other shoe in her hands most of the time. A few months ago she started choosing her own shoes and showing us that she wanted them on her feet. Well, several months ago I found the most adorable red, patent leather Mary Janes, but they're still about 2 sizes to big for her feet. Nevertheless, Lila loves, loves, loves them and wants to carry them everywhere. She took them to school the other day and refused to put them in her cubby. The shoes sat next to her at the breakfast table. The next day, Lila insisted that we put the red shoes on over her Robeez. Well, they fit pretty well when she's already wearing her Robeez. That day she wore both her Robeez and her Mary Janes to school. Today, same gig. Robeez + Mary Janes. Why wear just two shoes when you could wear FOUR? And why just wear four shoes when you can carry around your tennies, too? This girl loves shoes. What can I say? A girl after my own heart.

Shoes + Shoes = AWESOME.

Lila's sweetest "trick" of late is blowing kisses. If you say, "bye!", she will blow you a kiss. If you ask her for a "beso", she will blow you a beso. Last Sunday the three of us went out to brunch for my birthday, and Lila leaned right over to me and kissed me on the cheek, completely as a surprise - without being asked. I melted! It was the best birthday present I could imagine.

So big!

It has been far too long since I've updated. In the month + since I last posted, Lila has grown and changed so much!

Even though spring is right around the corner, Lila has decided that a few of our Christmas ornaments (!) must stay out. She is particularly fond of these silver balls. We've decided to just let her have them. They make her so happy.


Lila is working on at least 4 new teeth, and when she gets new teeth, she gets horrible diaper rash. We brought her home one evening and her little tush hurt so badly that she couldn't sit in her high chair. It was so sad! So, we put a cushion on the floor and opted for a picnic. No picnic would be complete without a balloon, right? Lila's daycare celebrated the first anniversary of its opening and they handed out balloons to all of the kiddos as they left that day. Lila chose green balloon and kept it with her the rest of the evening.

As always, Rocco was nearby and enjoyed the floor picnic as well.

A few weeks ago Lila and I took a road trip together to visit my family. Daddy was swamped with work, so he wasn't able to join us, but we still had a good time. Lila got to see so many family members, including a tiny new baby cousin.

Here's Lila with her Auntie EM and her cousin Jeremiah. Jeremiah played so nicely with Lila. He shared his toys and was very patient with her.

See that puppy in the background? Lila followed that dog around all weekend and barked at him. It was the funniest thing ever. Next time you see her, ask her, "Lila, what does a puppy say?" and she'll tell you.

Here's Lila with Mama, Auntie EM, Grandpa, and her great Grandma and Grandpa. Four generations!

Lila with Mama, Auntie EM, and Great Grandma. I think she's wondering when we're going to dive into that cake...

Lila with her great uncle Kevin.

Lila with Auntie EM...

Lila with all of the girls. Well, not all of the girls...but everyone that was around that weekend, including 3 week old Abigail. How funny is it that we even got the new baby looking at the camera?


In addition to new teeth, Lila has several other new accomplishments to boast, including WALKING! She can walk while pushing a toy! She's not quite steady enough to walk unsupported - yet - but she is well on her way. Mama and Daddy are scrambling to Lila-proof the house!

Lila is talking up a storm these days. She has so many new sounds, and at times her babbles sound like she's telling a story, complete with inflection in her voice. She loves to take her toy phone - or a real phone - and put it up to her ear and chatter away. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, it seems! :) She brushes her own hair, tries to put on her own shoes and socks, and even grabbed one of my hair ties and tried to put it in her hair. It's amazing knowing that she has been watching and learning all of these months. It's a little scary, too!

Lila will try to feed herself with a fork or spoon, but she doesn't quite have it down yet. We still give her a utensil at every meal, but she usually winds up trying to feed us instead. :)


Here's Lila yesterday (Saturday) morning, chilling on Daddy and Mama's bed. Check out that bed head! I can't believe how grown up she looks in this picture. Our baby is a toddler!

Everyone told us that Lila would be more and more fun the older she gets, and it is so true. She blows kisses, giggles, pets her puppies, snuggles with her stuffed animals, plays peek-a-boo, and we look at each other every day and say, "I love her so much!" She's her own little person now, not just a baby anymore. (Sniff, but only a little...)

1 year check-up

Today Lila went in for her 12 month check - up (a few days shy 13 months).

Lila weighed in at 20 pounds, 10 ounces and is 27.5 inches long. She's growing so fast!

Here's Lila playing with Dr. K.


Lila in her gown, getting ready to get weighed. I love the tiny little gowns!


Lila is really enjoying daycare. There are so many friends and fun toys to play with. At the end of the day, Lila rarely wants to come home. One day she clung to her teacher and waved "bye-bye!" to me. Silly girl! I suppose I should be sad, but I'm not. I'm just glad that she is so happy there.


On Super Bowl Sunday Lila and I went to the (indoor) water park for an afternoon of fun. Lila is a little fish! She had so much fun splashing, swimming, and playing in the fountains. I can't wait to get her enrolled in swimming lessons this spring!


This weekend Lila's aunt and grandma are coming for a visit! Pictures coming next week!

Lila gets down with her bad self

Lila would like to perform a short concert for you.