The Cutest Thing Ever

Everyone knows nothing is cuter than a baby, and one thing rivalling babies for cuteness are puppies. Well, what about a baby AND her puppy? Leila loves to give her doggie hugs, and I have caught her doing so several times. She is crazy about Shrek--loves him, loves him, loves him. How cute is this?

First Steps!

What a day! We started the morning by going to our church playgroup. Leila's twin friends Charlie and Hazel know how to sign. I have been working on her for months to learn how to sign. Well, the twins were signing all through our lunch. Then, when we got home, Leila started signing too! Just goes to show what peer pressure will do, ha.

I was really excited by the signing. But then the day got even better. This afternoon, not once but twice Leila took steps! Just one step at a time, but actual walking! The funny thing is I don't think she quite knows how great it is since she has been moving around for so long. Way to go Leilabug! (aka Goober, Wiggles, Munchkin, Little Bit, Fileila) I will post video as soon as I can catch her on film.

4th of July

Leila's first 4th of July was tons of fun. We went to our friend's Drew & Julie's river house and took their boat down the San Bernard to go to the beach. Leila loved the sand and the water. She ate at least 3 hand fulls of sand when we weren't looking...yuck! Thanks Drew & Julie for a great time!

She loves being a salt shaker and cracks up!

Shrek was too busy playing with all of the other dogs to pose for a family picture with us.

Leila liked the boat but HATED her life jacket... I don't blame her!

Clap, clap, clap... her new skill! Enjoying the beautiful water at the beach, lol.

Eleven Months Old

I can't believe it! Our little Leilabug will be 11 months old tomorrow. Such a big girl! Not so much a baby anymore (tear.) She is so much fun. Leila is a little ham; prone to kisses, "dadas," and sticking her tongue out. Where she learned that, I don't know, but I don't do much to discourage it seeing as how I always laugh when she does it.

She likes to throw things to see where they land and then let you pick them up for her, such as out of her crib, carseat, high chair, and stroller. Little does she know that sometimes they don't come back. Often we make a loop twice on our walks because once we are home I realize we are missing her pacifier, duckie, and hat; only to find them strewn along the sidewalk at random places along on our path. Sort of cute, sort of not so cute in 100 degree heat.

On Tuesday she learned how to clap; she is so proud of herself! Leila does great in the water now after swim lessons, and is learning to kick like a pro. She no longer cries when she goes under, though I can say with certainty she is not thrilled to be dunked. She now has 7 teeth, so digging stuff out of her mouth is asking for pain (ouch!) She can still wear 3-6 months clothes, but we are also in 6-9 months clothes. This is throwing my seasons off, but we are thankful she is healthy and growing! And that hair... if you met her now you would never believe it was almost black when she was born. The tips are still dark but I don't dare cut it!

Happy Birthday to Cousin Sara, Kylie, Cole, and Ryan, our June baby friends!!

So sassy!
Pitiful look... Leila wants to read her favorite book, Eight Silly Monkeys

Enjoying a beautiful summer day. So joyful!

Baths are the best! We love our duckie bath, thanks Sarah!

Hilarious clip... A girl after her grandpa Griffin's own heart. We call it "I love eggs."

Father's Day '09

Yes, this post is a day early. We celebrated Patrick's 1st Father's Day today. Leila got him some gifts: a bath time tugboat that beeps (hmm, wonder who that is really for?), a golf towel with her picture on it, and a shirt that says "Not right now, I'm watching the game" (haha.) She got a cute shirt that says "I love my dad." We spent the day at the LBC Family picnic then had dinner with the McKinney's, who are back from Paris for good! Tomorrow we are hanging out with my family after church.

This is Leila's reaction to a Baby Einstein video. She LOVES her Baby Einstein.

Leila and her Daddy in their new shirts.

Patrick turned Leila into a salt-shaker, one of her favorite games.

Just a bonus picture--this is her favorite toy, her walker.

I never wrote about my 1st Mother's Day since it was a whirlwind day immediately after we got home from Paris. We had Leila dedicated at our church then went out to eat with both my family and Patrick's family. This is a picture of the girls: Leila, me, Patrick's mom Mary, my mom Linda, and my sister Lisa.

Baby Steps

Today was a wonderful day with Leila. It seems every day there is something new but today there were many new achievements I witnessed. I think Sarah calls it a learning explosion.

We went to Gymboree play gym and 3 times Leila took one step and then fell. I am just so thrilled she took that one step by herself! She is beginning to let go of objects and can stand for long periods of time without realizing what she is doing. She can step between objects but this was her first attempt at just walking without reaching for anything. Those first "real" steps are coming soon!

The next amazing thing was at dinner time. I left her bowl and spoon on her highchair, thinking it was out of her reach, and went to get some more finger foods. When I turned around she had pulled them to her and was feeding herself with the spoon! Amazing! I give her spoons all of the time with the food on them, but I can't believe she realized that was how she was supposed to eat out of a bowl and didn't just dump the whole thing on herself.

Lastly, I am realizing every day just how much she understands of different things we say to her. Before bedtime we were playing with some plastic rings and I asked her to put them in my hand, and she did. Then I asked her to move them to my other hand, and she did. She's Super-Leila!

As I was writing in her baby book the other day, it came to mind that she (and Shrek!) know the Baby Bjorn means they are going on a walk. Every morning I pick her up and we hug and last month she started hugging me back. She can give "five" and wave "bye-bye." And wouldn't you know even though she says "mamama" and "bababa" that her first REAL word (used discriminately) is "dada." And I worked so hard!

Ten months old in our backyard.

Best buddies. Leila LOVES that dog. I caught her the other day playing with his curly tail. He is so good with her.

Someone left a note on the blog asking what happened to Shrek, my first baby. Here he is enjoying the sunshine. If ever I can't find him, I just look outside and there he is, sleeping in the grass. This photo made the front page of chron.com!

We love to hang out in our beautiful backyard. Leila must be supervised every second due to grass/flower/dirt eating. I figured out if I put a pacifier in her mouth it helps a lot, only it ruins all of my photos.

I love this photo of Gray and Leila on the swings. They are looking at each other and probably wondering what is going on.

These pajamas match her dolly her Nana gave her!

Here is Super-Leila, escaping after a bath.

I caught her standing all by herself! My friend Morgan figured out a plastic cup is a great toy for kiddos, ha.

She loves her new beach ball from Cole's 1st birthday!

I am carrying on the tradition started when my brother Josh was a baby and photographing drool.. it is soooo cute and babyish.

Ten months old

My how time flies. Tomorrow our little Leila will be 10 months old. She is still pretty small, but so active! She walks all the way around the coffee table holding on with one hand and pushes her walker across the room all by herself. She walks her walker into our dog Shrek almost every time and at first he would move when she hit him but now he just sits there like a roadblock. I guess he is over it.

Leila is very spirited and independent. She wants to feed herself, and tries to walk by herself, and plays well by herself. I bought a leapfrog activity table for Leila and that is the best money I have ever spent. She is extremely friendly, and smiles and waves at everyone. Each morning she waves at Shrek as he enters her room. She waved at the tv today.

Patrick and I love introducing her to new things together and seeing her reaction. She is extremely animated. We have taken her to the pool, the children's museum, a wedding, Gymboree classes, and of course the Paris trip. I have taken her up to my office at M. D. Anderson several times, and she lets everyone hold her. Also, she learned at maybe 5 or 6 months old to smile for the camera. Is that normal?

I am a little sad the baby stage is coming to an end. I have loved every moment of it, but watching her grow into this little girl with her own personality and opinions is pretty amazing. We both agree we are glad the infant stage is over, but we were watching videos of when she was first born and I got all teary-eyed. Yikes!

Dad makes a slam dunk at Gymboree.

Leila has a cabinet all to herself to make as much of a mess as she wants. Clearly, she wants a big mess.

You can't tell me she is not hamming it up for the camera.

Leila's first petting zoo (P.S. Grandmas, she wants a miniature horse.)

Who is that diva?

Leila's first cottage cheese experience. We think learning to eat should involve all of the senses. It is the only time in your life it is socially acceptable to be a mess, enjoy it!

Leila's favorite book is Eight Silly Monkeys.

She loves Gymboree and kisses from Gymbo! Ryan and Leila are all about Gymboree and are not shy one bit with other kids. I love watching them learn new skills.

Patrick and Leila had a blast at the Children's Museum.

Playing around at the Children's Museum. She loved it. We could have stayed for hours.