These Days

The last couple weeks have been a little overwhelming with Valentine's day, work, L and I getting sick, blah, blah.  Sometimes when life gets that way, drinking a glass of wine while catching up on The Bachelor completely outweighs catching up on the blog. 

Soo, here's a quick recap:

1) We're at a very messy stage with Lyla.  She is no longer tolerant of being fed with any utensil, she has to at least have her own to "help".  She's also very mobile, but still not 100% stable, so there's a lot of falling.  A lot of those falls seem to happen while holding food, so let's just say our carpet is...well, we might not get our deposit back when we move out. 

Anyways, sometimes I have these ideas that I momentarily think are brilliant and fun.  Like a living room picnic.  And then she sits ON THE PLATE.  And I'm left wondering why I thought doing this indoors was a good idea, especially on a carpeted area.  Why? 

2) We had a lovely little trip to Rochester, MN and the Mayo Clinic to check up on Lyla's hips.  She was diagnosed with hip dysplasia at 6 weeks and put in a soft brace, which at the time was world-crushing to me.  Seeing my tiny baby in that contraption was so hard.  Right away she made huge improvements, and over the last year continues to have "normal" ultra sounds and x-rays, which is great news. 

Let me tell you, spend just an hour at the Mayo Clinic and you see how minor anything you're going through really is.

3) We had a great Valentine's Day!  I'd argue it was the best on record so far.  Lyla got the cutest little pair of espadrilles in the mail, and I got a very fancy new diaper bag.  We made a great dinner and just relaxed.  It was pretty perfect.

4) With all this walking Lyla's been doing I've been trying to be better about the whole shoe thing for her.  What is it about baby cankles that just do not keep shoes on?!  Luckily those little espadrilles and some pink sparkly Toms that she's had forever (and finally fit!) actually stay on pretty well.  They're darn cute, but something about seeing that girl in shoes automatically shifts her from baby to kid in my mind.  She just looks so dang old with those things on!  Come to think of it, maybe I'll just hold off on the shoe thing for a while.  Then she'll stay a baby forever.  Right?

- K

These Days

 This upcoming little birthday has had me a little emotional about our little girl growing up so fast, but I sure wouldn't trade the stage she's in now for anything.  She's got so much personality...here's a little taste:

1) She's popped 2 more teeth (8 total now)...and has taken to biting her own hand when throwing fits.  Which I guess is better than biting others...?

2) She's throwing fits already!  They really aren't bad...yet, but this little lady sure doesn't like not getting her way.  She totally understands "no", and listens most of the time, but she also tests limits constantly.  I have to force myself to be serious when disciplining, but inside I just die laughing.  She's nailed the fake cry, and those big brown eyes seem so innocent.  She's gonna be a tough cookie, but secretly I like having a little sassafrass.  Keeps things interesting. 

3) She took her first steps!  I'll post a video soon.  :)

4) She's started dancing!  It's this hilarious little arm wave, very rap-star-esque.  I love it.

5) You pretty much can't feed her anymore with a spoon.  She wants EVERYTHING I am eating, and has to have her own spoon to work with.  She's getting pretty good with it, but for the time being I've given up on wearing white.

 - K