By Popular Demand

All 2 of my readers have been begging for a new video, so here's a recent clip of Lila being silly before bedtime.

All Interpretations Welcome

Christmas 2012

This Christmas season was wonderfully busy. We traveled quite a bit, but Lila did so well. We kicked off the season by decorating the house. First, the tree....

....which was promptly accessorized with a wrap-around baby gate.....which she still managed to open, ha!

We squeezed in some time with Chase's family, including the hilarious task of taking family pictures for their Christmas Card...

 ...And a weekend trip to Nashville to shop at Opry Mills, see the lights at Opryland Hotel, and meet Santa Claus.

We made a second trip to Nashville the weekend before Christmas to celebrate with the Walker side of our family. 

Among other things, you opened a new Ms. Potts tea set that you are still obsessed with filling, emptying, and carrying around.

On Christmas Eve, we went to Chase's parents house and celebrated with his Grandmother. We started the evening by opening a few gifts (Lila opened everything with tissue paper, even if it wasn't for her).

After gifts, we moved to the dining room to enjoy a delicious meal prepared by my Mother-in-law and a very formally decorated dining room courtesy of my brother-in-law (complete with elegantly folded napkins and place cards!)

We soaked up our first Christmas morning as a family of three, just enjoying Lila's reaction to all of the new toys. 

Chase's family joined us for a delicious brunch (where I learned that my oven takes a looong time to cook things when it's chock full of dishes). We cleaned the kitchen, packed the car, and drove out to my parents house to celebrate with the Tucker side of our family. We were greeted by the cutest little pink kitchen, complete with a handmade apron!

We can't wait to celebrate again this year!

Month by Month: 11 & 12 Months

I'm combining these posts in the hopes of having them published before she turns 13 months, ha!

Look at those gums! Your first two teeth came in, and boy did we all earn those. You now proudly show everyone your bottom 2 teeth, and it looks like the top ones will be coming in soon too.

You're still in size 3 diapers, but you're chunking up quite a bit. Most of your 12 month clothes are fitting much better, but you wear a couple leggings in size 18 months. You have longs legs and an itty bitty waist.

You enjoyed your first Thanksgiving by kicking off the week visiting family and friends in Nashville. You decided after a trip to Pucketts that you were done with baby food, and only wanted table food. You love sweet potatoes, bananas, wheat crackers, any kind of pea or bean, and grilled chicken. Oh, and anything that is on my plate. You eat more of mine than I do.

You are into absolutely everything, and walking from couch to coffee table, etc. When you're in the mood, you also walk to me.

You started picking up small stuffed animals and placing them on your shoulder and patting them. I have no idea where you learned this, but it cracks us up.

Your mischievous nature has resulted in washing your hands several times a day, a chore you thoroughly enjoy. Now you rub your hands together to let us know you need to wash your hands, and you pretend to wash your hands when you are playing in your little kitchen.

You slipped in the bath tub once, and then refused to take a bath for a week. You absolutely would not sit down. I had to get in the tub with you twice before you decided it was okay again. Now you're back to swimming laps and drinking as much water as you can.

We needed to make a quick trip to Publix early one morning, and the race car shopping carts were aplenty (a rare occurrence). I strapped you in to see if you might like the new ride, and you loved it. You turned the wheel the whole way, and waved to every shopper like you were the grand marshal in the Christmas parade.

Speaking of Christmas, it was a whirlwind of activity. All good things, but we were all exhausted when it was over. I'll save Christmas festivities for another post. But I will include a picture of you doing a little last minute shopping with a mistletoe headband you found.

You have a fascination with toilets and trash cans - my worst nightmare. At least once you've turned the trash can over, and unrolled half a roll of toilet tissue.

Remember that post about how you like to help me with my housework? That used to be cute, but now you empty the dishwasher and the dryer as fast as I'm putting in dishes and clothes. You can be halfway across the house, but you know the sound of the dryer door or dishwasher opening.

You.are.a.mess. And I love you, oh so much.

Month by Month: 10 Months

We are so glad to see 10 months! The ninth month was a bit of a rough patch for you (with loads of sickness ).

This month you are ......

standing up and pushing things across the floor (mostly things that aren't meant to be pushed)

waving at everyone when we're shopping

enjoying sitting in the grocery cart, and trying to turn around and grab things out of the cart

You love to 'run' when you think we're coming to get you. You bury your head and squeal.

You also know when you're in something you shouldn't be.  As soon as you see us, you take off across the room.

Despite the way we've barricaded the fireplace, you move every obstacle to get to it. You like the sound the chain screen makes when you run your hands over it.

You ate cheerios for the first time this month. You also ate a whole jar of baby food at school one day.

We went to the Pediatrician 3 times - one scheduled well visit, and 2 sick visits. (ugh!)

We also went to the pediatric cardiologist, where we were told that you have a condition called ASD.

You still love books. Every day you take each and every book out of your book basket and 'read' it or chew on it. You crack us up when you turn each page and it sounds like you're reading out loud.

You really love to see pictures or videos of animals. If you've had enough of sitting in your high chair at a restaurant, a quick Google search for 'puppies' keeps you quiet while you look at image after image of adorable little doggies.

You're really enjoying school more. You reach for your teacher when we get there, and you keep playing when I come to pick you up.

You went to the pumpkin patch for the first time, and went trick or treating.

You attended your first Warrior dash 5K in Birmingham and met baby Reed.

Your Aunt Bri was enjoying her crayons and coloring book, and you decided you'd like to color too. You reached into the bag to grab a crayon, and then pushed it against the coloring book page. You did it over and over again. Sometimes I forget just how much you see and understand.