Natalie & Ryan: Growing Too Fast

Lilly has decided that now that she's 1, she's going to suddenly be able to do lots of fun, new things. She mimics words now. She knows what a monkey and a lamb are, and knows how to make their sounds. She LOVES saying "hi" and "bye," and yelled it at everyone we passed in the grocery store, getting responses and smiles from every single person. She can now climb up everything, especially things she's not supposed to (the crib is getting lowered, STAT). She is starting to feed herself, if I'm brave enough to let her have control of the fork. We don't give her formula anymore, just whole milk and real, people food. And, the best part about her growing up, is having to adjust sleeping routines. I'm trying to cut out the night time bottle because I don't want her to rely on it and I don't want her to ruin her teeth. Ideally, I'd like to push dinner a bit later and have her satisfied enough to fall asleep. She's been crying herself to sleep for the past few nights, and then waking up at about 5. It's been just as hard on me, too. We'll work it out, but until then, I'm tired.

Nothing too exciting has happened these past few days. It's been nice to be back home and enjoying our routine. Monday was packed full of errands, chores, dinner making, and the gym. I was working out when I saw the daycare worker wandering around, looking like she was searching for someone. I was tucked back in the corner where she couldn't see me. I just had this feeling that she was looking for me, so I stopped my workout and went to check on Lilly. My mommy senses were correct. Lilly likes to show her toys to people. She'll hold something out to show you, and when you go to grab it, she'll pull it back. Apparently she was showing another kid a toy, and he took it from her, sending her into mass hysteria. We couldn't calm her down, so Ryan and I just had to end our workouts short and head home. Poor Lilly is already gettin' bullied. Haha!

Today was pretty slow. Lilly got up at 4:45, so I was pretty dang tired. I attempted to nap when she napped, but leave it to me to pick a nap day on the one day that she decides that instead of taking her normal 2 hour nap, she's not going to take any. On top of that, she's got a severe diaper rash...AGAIN! Gonna call the doctor tomorrow, and then look into trying a different brand of diapers. Poor thing seems to always have the worst bum rashes. It was so bad, Ryan offered to stay home with her while I went to the gym. He gave her a bath and some nakie time while I was gone, but it was still just as painful. Here's hoping she'll get some good sleep.

RANDOM PICTURES FROM THE LAST FEW DAYS....

We got Lilly's birthday book from my dad last night. It's "Curious George and the Puppies". My dad said Grandma Griffin used to read it to him when he was little, and he's SUPER excited to get to read it to her when we go to visit in July.

Nakie time with her blankie.

She LOVES her chair and her book from Grandma Griffin. I found her reading by herself

Such a big girl!

I let Lilly wander around the house, and when I went into her room, I noticed that the drawer on her dresser was open. I didn't think anything of it, and just closed it. Realizing that I forgot to put something in the drawer, I quickly pulled it back open to find Junie, sleeping way in the back. Ha! Good thing I opened it again! Lilly took it upon herself to poke Junie until she got out of the drawer.

"Pretend I'm a shirt...go away..."

She sure does love her bears!

I made chili for dinner last night. So easy to throw in the crock pot and have ready after the gym. And, it's one of the few meals that I can eat everything in it. Lilly loved it so much, she would yell at me in-between bites. Oh, and it's also REALLY hard to feed a baby, when all she wants to do is try to steal the Elmo spoon with each bite.