On a sunny day in August

Lila and I went with our friends to the park. It was a perfect day... sunny and in the mid 70s and no humidity. We slid on the slide, swung (swang?) on the swings, dug in the sand, and then strolled over to the lake.

We visited the ducks.




















The kids ran wild on the outdoor concert stage, stopping to admire the gorgeous view of the sailboats on the lake.







































We came home and ate spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, and I just pulled two loaves of banana bread out of the oven.

It has been a very, very good day indeed!

Buddies

Lila's new favorite thing to do is walk her dog, Wally.
























Wally's pretty happy, too.

Harvest

Lila has started saying, "cheese!" when I point a camera at her.

Here she is with the tomatoes we picked from our garden last night. CHEESE!

Time Flies!

Lila is so busy these days! She is walking and running everywhere, and she is saying new words every day.

Her favorite words are agua (water), Wally, hi!, mine, apple, ball, book, car, bus, truck, outside, shoes, and Saul, Alma, and Harper...all buddies from daycare. :)

The weather has been hot and humid for the past month, so when there's a reprieve from the heat we head straight outside. Lila loves going to the park and splash pool near our house.


Digging is serious business!


If we're lucky, we wear her out. :)

On the MOVE! She walks with such determination and purpose. It's adorable.

Last weekend we went to the Children's Museum. Lila had a BLAST. There were so many things to touch and do, and she soaked it all up. I had to drag her away after 3 hours to eat lunch and head home for a nap.

BALLS! They're all MINE!

Jumping on a lilypad in the toddler "pond."

We have dinner with our neighbor friends at least once a week, and last week we had a picnic dinner at the park. This picture makes her look so grown up! Where has my baby gone?

Yesterday we went shopping and out to dinner, and on the way home Lila wanted to hold her shopping bag. We bought her a work bench with tools and she didn't want to let it out of her sight, even for the ride home!

Lila is more and more fun every day. She certainly has her sassy moments (18 months going on 18 years...) but overall she is my favorite age so far every month from about 12 months forward.

July

On Saturday Daddy took Lila for her first professional haircut. As you can see, Lila was less than thrilled. Poor baby girl.



Ed said that once the TVs (usually used to distract and entertain the kids) were turned off, Lila relaxed a bit.



Ooh, what's this? A Slinkey? For ME? Maybe this isn't so bad after all...

Dad and Lila after the haircut. Not so bad, but Ed decided that we can do just as good of a job at home, sans the $16 price tag (and most of the tears...)

This past weekend was warm and sunny and we had a great time celebrating the 4th with Lila's grandparents.

Lila spent the 4th lounging in her splash pool in the back yard.

She is quite the little fish!

Lila's buddy Matthew gave her these sweet sunglasses. One morning she wore them to daycare and kept them on through breakfast. Silly monkey. :)

Lila loves it when we blow bubbles for her, and always insists on helping. She can sort of blow on the bubble wand, but only rarely does she manage to eek out a bubble. Tonight we found out that what she really enjoys is watching her puppies chase the bubbles. Here she is laughing her heart out while Rocco chases the bubbles.

I love her laugh!

Lila is talking more and more every day. She loves to say "agua"(water), "all done!" and she has also started saying her friends' names. In particular she really likes Saul, Harper, and Alma. The other day at school someone bit her on the elbow. Of course the teachers won't tell us who bit her, only that her "friend" did it. Some friend! I asked her, "Lila, who bit you?" and she looked at me and said, "Alma." I thought that we were on to something until she said, "Harper! Harper!" Maybe not. Ha!

Lila loves to read and her favorite books are animal books. She loves the fuzzy animals - bunnies, puppies, kitties, guinea pigs. Animals in books all get kisses and she leans into the pages to give them hugs. It's SO cute!

Speaking of animals, she has turned into quite the little boss lady with her puppies. She will look at them, point down just like we do, and say, "sss!" ("sit!) When they bark or cry she will put her finger up to her mouth and say, "sshh, sshh!" Ooh, we are in trouble. ;)

On the Move!

Lila is on the move! Here she is taking a walk in our neighborhood before dinner on Monday.

See that necklace she's wearing?

That's my necklace, but she decided from the moment I bought it that it is hers. I hesitate to let her wear it, mostly because I don't want her putting things around her neck, especially when she can wander off now. But she is insistent. This is her necklace and she will wear it, darn it!


Walking with her buddy Wally. :)

Lila is chattering up a storm these days. Her favorite words are puppy, shoes, sit, Daddy, Mama, MINE, and NO!

Her grandparents will be here for the 4th and we can't wait!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my two favorite fathers...

Lots of love today to Lila's dad, my dad, and all fathers and fathers-to-be!

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!