Loving Summer!

19 Months!

Lila Jane, you are already 19 months old! I know I haven't been posting monthly updates anymore, but you are doing SO many new things lately that I thought I'd give a little update.

First, and foremost, you had a GIANT first today! You peed in your little potty for the very first time! I always have you sit on your potty for a minute before you get in the bathtub. You're quite notorious for peeing on the bathmat as soon as we get you naked and you hear the water run, so it made sense to me to have you sit on your potty then. You usually get your bath at night, but we got in late last night and skipped it, so we were getting ready for your bath this morning. As usual, I got you stripped, and got the water running, then sat you on your potty. You're quite busy, and don't like sitting for long, so you were popping up, then sitting, then trying to escape. I was getting your towel out of the closet and glanced over just as you were standing in front of the potty tinkling! I quickly pushed you down onto the seat of the potty, and you actually finished peeing there! You had a VERY confused look on your face, but I clapped and cheered, and did my very best potty dance for you! I don't know if you understood why I was going so crazy, but you sure enjoyed my little show! We even called Daddy at work to tell him your big news! I showed you your peepee in the potty, and you seemed very interested, but still not entirely certain what was going on. I know it will still be a good while before you're actually ready to potty train, but we went out and celebrated by getting you some big girl panties today. You are VERY interested in panties! You call all of the diaper covers that come with your dresses "panties", and you always want to put them on all by yourself. You were so excited about the big girl panties in Target, that you started trying to put them on while you were in the shopping cart! You managed to get both of your legs up over the push handle of the cart, and got one leg into them. I had to help with the other leg. You were so very proud. Mommy and Daddy are so very proud of you, too!!!

Your other big obsession is with SHOES!! You LOVE shoes! You always want to make sure everyone around you has shoes on. Not only that, it has to be the RIGHT shoes. I'm not sure how you decide which ones are the correct ones, but you are certainly opinionated. You will take our shoes off our feet, and go to our bedroom, get another pair, and bring them to us to put on. If there are shoes laying around the living room, you'll carry them around looking for a foot to put them on. The last two mornings, I've gone into your room to get you out of your crib, and you haven't even said, "Mama!" You just look and my feet and say, "SHOES!!! Where go?" Then you start trying to peek over the end of your crib into our bedroom to see if you can find my shoes in the floor in there! You crack us up with this funny is"shoe"! You've been taking your shoes off in your car seat for a long time, but lately, you'll take off your shoes and socks, then put your shoes back on all by yourself. There are constantly stray shoes floating around in the backseat where they get tossed aside. Today you managed to take your shoes off, find another pair, and put one of those on! You are so silly, Lila Jane!

Daddy worked this weekend, and you and I had some good girl time. We walked the neighborhood in your "cah" Saturday morning. You LOVE your blue push car, and you'll sit happily honking your horn for as long as we'll push you. Later in the morning, we met Uncle D (AndDy), Cooper, and Collin at the zoo. We had a fantastic time checking out the animals, eating lunch, and playing at the splash park! This was your first time to play in the water there, and you really weren't quite sure what to think of it. You stood back and watched a lot, until I finally gave you a push in the direction of the water. You didn't seem to mind getting wet, but you didn't really rush into it again, either. Finally, you started asking "Cahcah (Collin)... Where go?" I told you that Cooper and Collin were playing in the big kid water, so off you went to find them. The boys took turns holding your hand and walking you through the spraying water. You came out looking really confused and ready to cry each time, but you never did cry! You just kept going with them when they held your hand!!! Lila Jane, I'm so proud of you for trying new things even when they seem a little scary! I also LOVED seeing you interact with your big boy cousins. The bond you guys have is so cool, and as you get older, it is getting even stronger. You LOVE Cooper and Collin!!

You took a really long nap after the zoo, then we headed to a friend's Birthday celebration at Bearno's Pizza. The food and service were awful, but you were good as gold! Even though it took FOREVER to get our food, and it was WAY past your bedtime by the time we finally got our check, paid it, and got out of there, you were still just so very pleasant. You are very busy, and walked around the table, playing with the other kids there, but you never had a meltdown.

Today after your big potty experience, we did some shopping then came home. You fell asleep in the car on the way home, so when I woke you to bring you in, you still seemed so sleepy. I really thought you'd wake right up and play for a while longer, but I asked if you wanted to go to bed, and you said yes. I rocked you for a few minutes then laid you down and went to work on some chores. I heard you cough a couple times, and I thought I heard you talking a bit, but I convinced myself I was just hearing the upstairs neighbors. Thirty minutes later, you finally started calling for me! You had never even gone back to sleep! I went in to get you, and you said, "Poop!" Once we got you a new diaper, you were ready for lunch and play! You finally went down for a late nap, and when you woke up it was time to join more friends for dinner. We're really enjoying eating at places with outdoor patios these days. You are highly entertained walking around and checking out the "wahwah" (water) features, and we don't have to worry as much about you being noisy or messy.

Lila, I am having SO much fun playing with you and watching you learn and grow. It seems like every weekend you are a whole new child these days, saying so much more, and understanding so much more of the world around you. You are constantly amazing me with the words and sentences you are saying. This week at school, I dropped in to your room in the afternoon. You ran up to me and said, "mama! fsst." Sorry Lila, no idea what "fsst" might mean. You said it again. "fsst." Nope, still no idea. "Poop."
"Lila, did you poop?"
"Noooo.....fsst" You grabbed your diaper.
"Book? Are you saying you want a book?"
"Mama! Fsst!" Grab diaper again. You're getting pretty adamant at this point.
You said, "SIT!" You tell me to sit all the time. I laughed, and sat down.
Once again, "Fsst!", grabbing your diaper. Your teacher assured me that you could NOT have pooped, because she JUST changed your diaper. I decided to check your diaper anyway because it looked a little lumpy through your clothes like there just might be something there. I unsnapped the crotch of your outfit, and your grabbed your diaper.
"Fissit!!!" The diaper was completely unvelcroed on one side, and started falling off you!
I finally got it!
"YES, Lila!!! I will FIXIT!" I have been cracking up about that!! I'd never heard you say "fix it" before, and didn't have a clue what you were trying to tell me. Hopefully next time I'll catch on a bit more quickly!!

I love you, you little nut.

Girls in White Dresses

There really is something about girls in white dresses.
Even if you substitute the "blue satin sashes" for pink satin shoulder bows, this girl in this dress just makes me swoon a bit.
Grandmamma Crouch has been a VERY busy lady, keeping Lila stocked in these beautiful dresses!
And Lila has been a very busy girl, wearing them, playing in them, getting them stained with strawberries, and laundering them! (Ok, maybe Mommy did the laundering part!)

Thank you Grandmamma, for our beautiful dresses! I can't WAIT to show off the one you sent for 4th of July!!!!!!

18 months!

Lila Jane, you are 18 months old! Of course we celebrated your big 1 1/2 birthday with a big cookout, but we'll show pictures of that later. Mommy is worn out from trying to get a blog post together, so I'm going to just give up on pictures and talk about YOU!! I never ever want to forget all of the wonderful things you're doing and the wonderful little lady you're becoming at this age.

You are 32 inches tall, and about 24 pounds. Your teachers still call you Twiggy because you are so skinny! When we put you in disposable diapers, you wear a size 4, but you could still easily fit in a 3. Your summer clothes are all 24 months and 2T. I have no idea how you are so thin, because you still eat like a horse! It's pretty typical for toddlers to go through phases when they eat very little, or become very picky. I'm still waiting for that to happen!! You do have preferences, and will typically eat your meat, then fruit, then veggies if given the choice. You like sweets, but if we only offer then after meals, you almost always refuse them. You only eat until you're full, then you are completely done. You call any food a "nack", and wake up begging for Dada and nack! Your favorite treats are probably crackers, raisins, tubes of yogurt, and blueberries.

You are overall very healthy, but you do still struggle with allergies. You are on daily doses of Zyrtec, Singulair, and Nasonex, and you also get a nebulizer breathing "treat" with Pulmicort and Albuterol as needed. I hate having to give you so much medicine, but at least it's finally working! You have been mostly free of the dreaded stuffy nose, coughing, watery eyes, and other symptoms that were so rough on you before.

We laugh all the time because we have a house FULL of toys for you. There are toys in the living room, your bedroom, the basement, even a bag of toys in Mom and Dad's bedroom. However, you almost never play with any of them! When we are at home, you'd much rather read books, sing songs, or play with things you shouldn't! Your favorite "toys" are Daddy's remotes, our cell phones, pieces of stolen mail, and anything you can drag out of the pantry. You also LOVE to wash your "nans", or hands. We pull a stool up to the bathroom sink, and you'll stand there for ages playing in the water, making (and eating!) bubbles, and sloshing water all over the floor. Your favorite song is "Row Row", which you ask for constantly. You like to sit in front of us and hold hands, and we rock back and forth singing, "Row, row, row your boat..." We rarely make it all the way through the song, though, because you let go and start clapping! Instead of saying "YAY!", you say, "BAY!!" It's so very cute! I love the way you pronounce some of your words. One of your favorite books is about a bird called Maisy. Daddy and I read the book over and over just to hear you say "Mahshee" at the end.

At around 15 months old, we had kept a list of about 100 words you were saying. Now, only a few months later, there's no way we'd be able to keep up with them all!! I'd say you've easily said 400-500 words by now. I typically hear at least 4-5 new words every day. You are starting to really put words together more now, too. Your favorite phrase is, "NO Mama NOOOO!" You are really good at using that one when you don't want me to bother you. You're starting to put three words together occasionally as well! I'm constantly astounded by your vocabulary!!

A funny game you've been playing lately is at the end of your bath. I let the water out of the tub, and you tell it "bye bye!" Then as the water is almost gone, you lay down and try to drink the last little bit off the bottom of the tub. Then you just flop down and say, "nigh nigh!" with your little bum in the air. I take your towel and cover you up, and tell you "Night night, Lila!" You think this is the funniest thing, and you'll just giggle and pretend you're asleep! I'll get up and leave the bathroom, clean up, come back, and you'll pop your head up and look at me, then giggle and go back to "sleep". It cracks both of us up every time! Twice now, you've actually laid there and gotten so relaxed you peed in the tub! Of course, you were laying with your head by the drain, so the pee ran all the way up your body and through your hair to the drain!!! We had to get you up, run more water, rebathe you, and wash your hair all over again! I'm trying to scoop you out of the tub before we play this game now!

You're starting to show some early signs of readiness for potty training. You always tell me when you've pooped, and you even told me right before you pooped a few days ago! You're willing to sit on your potty for a few minutes at a time now, but you've still never actually used it. I've tossed out a crazy idea that we might officially start potty training over Labor Day weekend, but time will tell if you're actually ready by then. I'm probably jinxing the whole thing by even mentioning it here!!

Lila, every day with you is like magic. Watching you learn and grow is the most fascinating thing I've ever witnessed. Sometimes I REALLY don't want to read another book or sing another song, but I have to stop and remember that the day will quickly come when you don't need Mommy to read and sing with you. At night, I rock you and sing to you for a few minutes before I put you in the bed. This is one of my favorite parts of the day! You snuggle in to my shoulder, and your hair smells so good. Sometimes I'll think you're almost asleep and you'll pop your little head up and give me kisses. I try to be firm and make you lay your head back down, but I never can. I just eat those kisses right up! Lila, Mommy and Daddy might not always read every book you want, and we might not always get you to bed right on time. We will never be perfect parents, but we will always love you, and always promise to do our very best for you!

Three Amigos

Three of my favorite nuts! Collin (4), Lila (18 mos.), and Cooper (7)

Thank you, Nattums!!!

Our friend Natalie, over at My Blog Is Boring recently hit 100 followers to her blog. In celebration, she had a contest! All you had to do was sign up to receive FREE JUNK from her home!! You guys know me, and know I am a lover of junk. And FREE junk? That's totally speaking my love language. However, I have plenty of my own junk, so I signed on to get free junk for Lila Jane! Natalie posted some pictures of the junk she was giving away, and you could put in requests for the junk you wanted most.
When I saw a little jewelry box with one of the "girls in pretty dresses" (we don't "do" princesses, but that's a story for another day), I knew it was right up Lila's alley. There were also a pile of mardi gras/parade type beads that I knew LJ would totally dig. I got my contest entry in, and can you even believe that WE WON!!!!! I mean, Natalie was giving away only about ONE HUNDRED items, and out of her 100 followers, a nice handful entered the contest! But we were the ONLY ones digging the "pretties"!!
Dearest Natalie,
These pictures do not begin to convey the joy you have brought to my daughter's life. She is ATE UP with her new pretties!!! I've already wound that poor girl in the pretty dress up until she is positively dizzy with her "Bippity Boppity Boo" music. Lila has worn each necklace individually, all together, and in every combo imaginable. Girl has style.
Lila Jane is known 'round these parts for attention deficit, but these beads and their pretty little box can keep her captivated for upwards of 20 minutes. Ask me how I know. Ask me how much stuff I got done around the house in those 20 minutes!!!!
I asked Lila to tell Natalie "thank you" for the pretties. She's blowing you kisses, Nat!!!!

Cozy

Yup, she's definitely "SO BIG"!!
One of Lila's favorite spots to hang out right now is on her toy chest with a good book.
She climbs up, grabs her book, and will sit there very content looking at the pictures, and finding the dogs and frogs on each page of her Little People books.