Seventeen months!

Our Fabulous Fourth

We had a great but extremely HOT 4th of July! Despite the heat, we still were able to do some of those quintessential July 4th activities - watching a parade, wearing red white and blue, drinking beer, eating watermelon, hanging out with friends, watching the kids playing in the baby pool, and doing some relaxing inside in the A/C as well.

We were thankful that all of our families had power restored from the storm the weekend before. My parents were without power for 4 or 5 days! I'm just grateful overall to have a nice, pleasant happy and healthy holiday! It really hit me this weekend just how lucky I am for everything that I have - health, friends, family, an awesome little girl and husband and sweet sweet air conditioning. And yes, freedom. It's not free, you know. I learned that from Team America. I'm not super patriotic, but yes, I'm glad I live in the good ole USA. Even in these 100+ days, what a wonderful summer it is!

My shining star!

Cute Ft Thomas, KY parade... for some reason there was a ton of Corvettes

Daddies and babies

Something was clap-worthy

A little concerned about the fire trucks

Our cute toddler duo - Lila, 16 months & Emmett, 13 months

"Look, I got stickers!"

Playing in the pool

I'm excited for the cool down we are supposed to get next week... mid-80s ya'll! So excited. It's almost been too hot to go to the pool! My mom is coming tomorrow and Neil and I are getting a date night! July 1st was our 6 year anniversary! Can't believe it's been 6 years since we got married. Time really flies. I hope everyone else had a great 4th of July too!

My baby girl is 16 months old!

Lila keeps on growing and as I say every month, she is getting more fun and funny every day! She says and does the craziest things! Gotta love this little girl.

Love this little face

We finally got her 15 month checkup done last week. I'm finally not worried about her weight any more. She is fine. Just on the small side and extremely active. She eats a ton so I'm not worried. I was so happy to see she was over 21 lbs!

Weight: 21 lbs, 6.5 oz, 30th percentile

Height: 30.5 inches, 50th percentile

Head: 18 inches, I think? Not sure of percentile, but I think pretty average.

Great report at the doctor's appointment! She's doing so well with eating and diet, sleeping/naps, etc and seems ahead of the curve developmentally too... especially with her language. We are so happy and proud of her! I'm just amazed by how much she has grown up in the last few months. She got one shot and they want us to get the MMR shot at an allergist's office because of her egg allergy. I'm concerned about her having a reaction to the egg in some vaccines because of the severity of her allergy. We haven't scheduled it yet, but I'm happy to have a referral for a good local allergist for her! 

And just so I can remember, here is her bedtime routine at 16 months. We finally ditched the bedtime bottle (and all other bottles) this month. It was a very easy transition. After dinner and milk, we start around 7:30 with her bath, teeth brushing, try out the potty (no success yet), then play in her play room as a family, then one of us reads her 4-5 books and lays her down for bed with her lovies and her glow seahorse... and sometimes with a book. Sometimes she cries for a few minutes and then rolls around in bed for awhile, but other times goes right to sleep without much protest.

This post is going to be really scattered, but I just have no time to organize my thoughts but I just want to record what she is doing at this age so I don't forget!

She is obsessed with this cat stuffed animal that we bought her at FAO Schwartz on our trip to NYC in April. I don't like cats at all.. hate is a better word. But it's a super cute doll that teaches the child how to dress. It has zippers, snaps, buttons etc... so anyway, it's a cute toy, but it's still a cat. Ugh. Anyway, we've started calling it "Mao" which is how she says "meow". So it's a Chinese communist cat, I guess. She has to have Mao near her at all times, and if she can't see it she will look all around and yell "I want Mao!" So funny.

She did a perfect somersault this month! We try to encourage her to do flips and she actually did one perfectly and luckily Neil's parents were there to witness it. Sometimes she evens includes a "ta-da" for extra effect.

Loves hats

A few days ago she pinched me and it actually hurt so I was acting really sad to see what she'd do... she looked at me, patted me and said "Sorry!" It was so sweet!

She loves to spin around in circles!! She also loves to climb in and on everything. I just took her bumpers out of her crib because she has been trying to use them to climb out.

She is speaking in sentences now and almost all of them start with "I wanna" or "No wanna"... her favorite is "I wanna cookie!" which are sometimes the first words out of her mouth in the morning. That is far more endearing than when she is whining and yelling "I wanna cookie" over and over at 6pm while I'm making dinner! Cookies can be anything from teddy grahams, animal crackers, cheerios, shortbread cookies, etc.

Had to document the hair growth! It's out of control!

Her other favorite sentences: I wanna go, I wanna dance, I wanna cracker, I wanna baba, I wanna baby!!? , I want daddy.

Since she is now totally off of bottles and drinking milk from a cup, we've been trying to get her to stop calling her cups "baba". Sometimes we have to correct ourselves and we end up saying "baba cup". She is now calling her cups "babocks" or "bocks". Took awhile to figure that out.

She used to call Neil "daddy" all the time and would rarely call me "mommy" or "mama". Now she calls both of us daddy and almost everyone daddy including the 3 and 6 year old little boys at her daycare and random neighbors who are most definitely not daddy! 

Crazy face!! Not sure why the camera blurred her hair. Look at all that drool.

She's starting to like to dress up and do other imaginative play. She says, "I wanna hat" and I'll get her hats to try on. She also loves to put on bows, bibs and necklaces! She tries to feed her babies with a spoon and puts them in the high chair. So much fun!

When we play out back with her water table and baby pool, she keeps running away to other people's yards! I'm constantly chasing her which is both funny and annoying.

My mom wanted me to try to list all of Lila's words... let's try it out:

Daddy

Baba

Bye

Mommy (almost never says it)

Hi

Hey

Yay

No 

Dog

Teddy

Baby

Duck 

Moo

Uh oh

This

That

Oh

Car 

Truck

Balloon

Eye and I

Wanna

Bubble/bubbles

Ball

Look 

Book

Shoe/shoes

Hat “aat”

Cookie/cookies  “googie”

Cracker

Sorry

Meow “mao”

Hot

Go

All done

Outside

Park

Ta-da

Ouch

Ow

Yeah

Peas

I'm sure there are more, but that's all I've got right now!

Seems to understand everything we are saying.. which is awesome. for example, if she is getting in to something she shouldn’t.. I'll give her a task like “go take this to daddy” and she will do it!

My happy little Lila bean

She is loving the pool (we broke down and joined the Y again!), her play kitchen, baby dolls, Mao her cat, her Melissa and Doug farm puzzle (she's mastered it, I guess we should get her another one!)... but right now she is mostly loving being outside. We've been to the park, splash parks, King's Island and the pool a lot already this summer! She gets a lot of time outside at daycare too, which she loves! She is getting a bit of a tan too! Even with all that SPF 50.

That's all I have right now. I am hoping to do another post about all of the new egg-free recipes I've been making for my little love! We'll see if that happens...

A Photo Post

Playing with her water table in the backyard

Daddy, Lila and Mommy outside by the fire in Brown County, IN

She's always dancing

"Is this right?"... early experiments with potty training

Emmett and Lila, BFFs

Hiking with Daddy

Splash park

Upside down in the side table

Cooling off

Summertime and 15 months old

Well, hello there. I think I almost forgot I had this blog! I have to admit I've been more in living and enjoying life mode instead of living and recording life mode... but I don't want to neglect these updates too much. Poor Lila's baby book is pretty pathetic so I have to keep up with the posts on here or we will forget everything!

Lila is 15 months old now! She is in full toddler mode complete with mini-tantrums, teething and hilarity. She is just SO funny and full of personality. She is a handful but we just love her to death!


Lila's BFF/boyfriend Emmett turned 1 on May 19 and had the cutest little outdoor party. Lila is jealous of his spring/summer birthday... her February birthday pretty much guarantees snowy weather. Emmett seemed like he had a blast splashing in the baby pool, playing with his cousins and opening his presents. Lila was being prissy and didn't want to play in the water and just walked around in her swimsuit! I just can't believe baby Emmett is ONE. Our babies are growing up!

 Lila had another egg allergy incident a few hours before the party at my parent's house. I don't want to go totally into it because I'm still traumatized, but I'll say a few things: Morningstar Black Bean Burgers ARE NOT Vegan and contain EGGS, my parents are probably going to have to get new carpet in their den, and I vow to read every single food label twice before anything gets remotely close to my child. Her egg allergy is severe and extremely frightening. Poor Lila.

Lila's been loving the outdoors lately and has been playing in the sand, dirt and with her new water table. She is going to have such a blast this summer! We can't wait to take her to King's Island and the Cincinnati Zoo.

As far as updates for Lila, she is just getting smarter and more funny all the time. She has learned a few new words this month: cracker, cookie, hot (and asks if her food is hot before she eats it), outside, and can meow like a cat. She understands so much stuff and tries to mimic us a lot more. Tries to put on shoes, brush her own hair, etc. She can eat very well with a spoon now, I even let her feed herself oatmeal this morning and she does very well.

She is drinking out of the sport bottle type cups now which she really seems to like. She is still drinking milk from a bottle 3 times a day, morning, lunch and bedtime. I didn't think she'd still be drinking a bottle at 15 months but I'm not ready to let it go yet. After her 15 month appointment (which I haven't even scheduled yet) I may cut out the morning bottle for a cup and start working on the other ones after that.

Lila is a great eater! She loves yogurt, smoothies, oatmeal, peanut butter, bagels, crackers, meatballs, ground beef, chicken, mac and cheese, peas, broccoli, beans, carrots, teddy grahams and animal crackers. She does not like cottage cheese, melon, strawberries, or anything too sweet like cake (even egg-free cake).

She got her 7th tooth, bottom left lateral incisor. She is getting them in the textbook order that they are "supposed" to arrive. The molars are next, eek!

She is totally on one nap now (12:30-3:30 or around about there), unless she is super crabby and then she might take a little morning nap. At night she usually sleeps from 8-ish to 7-ish, but I've been much more lax with her sleep lately. I know she gets enough, so I need to stop obsessing about it!

So everything is going pretty well for Miss Lila bean! We are excited for a Memorial Day weekend at home and for our cabin vacation next weekend in Indiana! Life is good!

Lila at 14 months

This little girl is changing so much I don't even know where to start. She turned 14 months old on the 23rd. We've been having such a great time with her. She is practically running around everywhere and is so solid on her feet now. She can squat and get back up and walk, climbs much better (help me), and  is talking up a storm. She is still a sweetheart but the girl can throw a mean tantrum if she wants to.

Weight/Height/Sizes:

We don't know exactly, but I think she's 20.5 lbs from weighing her on the scale with me. She looks a lot taller so I am betting 30 inches. Still wearing 12 and 18 months clothes and size 3 and 4 shoes. We are letting the size 3 diapers run out and will be getting size 4s next.

Talking:

Her language and vocabulary skills are going crazy! I can't keep track of all the words she knows and understands. Here are the ones I remember off the top of my head:

Mama, dada, baba

Bye, hi

No (of course)

Dog (and will bark back at dogs)

Baby

Duck (and quack)

Uh oh

Oh

Car

Truck

Balloon

Eye (can identify)

Ear (can identify, but not every time)

Bubble

Ball

Look 

Book

Shoe

and more I can't think of at the moment..

Phrases: I want it, I got it, What's this, etc..

Developmental stuff:

Knows some body parts. Can point to head, hair, eye, ear, nose (sometimes), shoulders and belly.

Can identify some animals and sounds: Barks like a dog. Baa for sheep, Moo for cow, quack for duck, "sniffs" for bunny, monkey sound for monkey. 

Lots of outside play lately! She loves to play with chalk, bubbles, ride on toys and her play lawnmower. She also likes to eat chalk, dandelions, dirt and mulch. I try to discourage that!

Tries to put on hats/bows, socks and shoes herself. Loves to put things around her neck like a scarf.

Can throw her own diaper in the trash when I ask her to. But this has backfired on me with her piqued interest in the trash can. I've found her clothes, the remote, and sippy cups in there!

Follows directions like "Bring mommy the ball", "Take the doll to daddy" "Go to your room".

Can throw and kick a ball! Not very coordinated though.

Getting better at simple puzzles, stacking games, sorting things, can put lids on things

Loves to carry baskets and boxes around the house

Hugs, rocks and pats dolls and other toys. And says "aww".

Will sometimes give us kisses and hugs if we ask. She pats us on the back when we get hugs!

Still scared of some men. Like terrified. Still a little scared of the vacuum.

Dances all the time. She has so many crazy moves. Our favorites being "Deep and wide" arm movements, head banging and the butt shake.

Tries to sing the ABCs (of course she is way to young to know her ABCs.. she just tries to sing along) and the Bubble Guppies song.

She is a super happy, expressive, funny and social child. I love her personality! She's a lot like Neil and I... silly and laid back. She fits in really well. 

Motion:

Walking readily. She is so adorable!! She's almost running. Pivots around in a circle! Dances. Can squat and get up. Climbs up to standing on her kids size chairs. Tries to climb in and out of the tub. Still can only go up stairs and not down. We've taken her to the park and an indoor play place Jump n Jacks and she is loving her new freedom and skills!!

Sleeping:

Still mainly 2 naps a day. Short one in the morning, longer after lunch for around 2-3 hours total. 11-12 hours at night. 

Eating:
Still eating very well, especially at lunch! She is completely on cow's milk now (will only drink 2%, not whole), but its still from a bottle. Still 4oz 3-4 times a day. If she gains weight at her 15 month appointment I think I might ditch the bottles for the cup. She will only drink 1-2oz of milk from a cup each time and I still worry about her weight, so I'm okay with her taking a bottle until I know her weight is okay.

She loves yogurt, meat in any form, peas, broccoli, graham crackers, beans, bananas, peaches and applesauce. She is getting pretty good with a fork and spoon. And I'm starting to let her use a plate.

I wish I could find my camera bag so I could post some of the photos I took from the last month or so. All I have are these crappy phone pictures. I have some really cute ones from Easter. Oh well!

Well, I think she is doing well all in all! She's happy and healthy. Our next steps are getting rid of the bottle. Probably dropping the morning nap in the next month or two, and we'll be getting a potty soon just to start exposing her to it. This is a super fun age. We are just having a blast with her.

Our Walking Girl!

So I've been a bit MIA lately, but wanted to post that Lila has reached a big milestone! She is a walker! She took her first steps at 11 months and has been cruising and walking a few steps at a time since before Christmas. It took her until now, a few days from turning 14 months old, to put it all together! I'm so proud of her and she is clearly very proud of herself.





On top of walking, her language and level of understanding is just exploding! It's so fun to see. She can point to some body parts (she is particularly fond of "eye" and poking people in the eye), can identify some animals and their sounds, and says phrases like "I want it" or "what's this?" all the time. She is just hilarious. I missed out on doing a 13 month update post, so I hope to write up an update for 14 months. She is such a little toddler now!