My Monkey is One Year Old!!!

I can't believe my baby girl is a year old already. It seems like just yesterday when I was rushing into the mancave with the stick that had two pink lines across it to tell Pete the amazing news.  It really just goes by so fast.  She is changing and learning more every day.  She is mastering walking and loves it!  She also loves to impersonate things.  She can do the cat, dog, whale, sheep, monkey, and she just learned duck on her birthday when we went to the park to feed the ducks.  She is really good at that one.  Sounds exactly like them. 

She also just learned what we call her jazz music sound.  She basically sounds like a trumpet, very Miles Davis like.  =) She also impersonates sounds she hears in songs or when she hears sirens go by.  She loves her sounds, not so much on the words yet, though.  She has "dada" down like nobody's business, and she is great with "mama" when she decides she wants to say it for me, which definitely isn't as often as I would like.  I was hoping she would be a talker like I was, but so far, not so much. 

She definitely is a whiner though.  For such an adorable little munchkin, man can she make some awful sounds.  She is rather demanding, and since she can't yet use her words to voice her needs, it is comes out as an awful whine.  Sometimes her whole body shakes she is so frustrated.  I guess she can't be all perfect, as much as I might think she is.

We took some shots on her birthday for her 12 month.  We had some good times with the birthday balloons and ribbon. This will be the last of the regular monthly photos I will be taking, but definitely not the last of the photos!!!  She is too cute not to capture all the time. 

Love that face!!!

Layla's First Birthday Party!!!

Planning Layla's first birthday party was somewhat surreal.  I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that she was already a year old.  I still can't.  Everyone tells you that it goes by so fast, and it truly does.  Too fast really.  Her birthday kind of snuck up on me, and if it hadn't been for a catalog of 1st birthday things that came in the mail, I don't know if I would have had everything in time.  As it was, the invitations went out somewhat late.

The party turned out so great though.  Layla is a lucky girl to have so many people who care about her.  Something she will appreciate a lot as she gets older. It was a great turn out and she ended up with a ton of beautiful gifts.  A big thank you to everyone who was able to make it.  You all made her day that much more special. 

These are the amazing cupcakes that Stacy made for Layla!  So freaking adorable!

Plus they were red velvet!  Delicious!

Layla's first balloons. 

She loved them!

Having fun opening presents with Daddy. 

Checking out her Dr. Suess shirt from Uncle Danny!

Loves for her giraffe from Uncle John and Auntie Amy

Some of the guest anxiously awaiting her next gift.  =)

Checking out her new "Leaptop" from Uncle Hap, Aunt Laurie, and Natalia

Loves for her little froggy from Steven and Erin.

Her little friend Evan enjoying the wrapping paper.

Her musical instrument set from Auntie Megan and Uncle Michael.

Her first birthday cupcake!

I think she was ready for a nap.  =(

But the sugar won her over.

A second attempt later in the evening proved more successful.

Gotta get every last bit!

Yummmm!!!

Playing with all of her goods the next morning.

Somebody is Walking!!!

Layla has been so close to walking for the last month or so that we knew her first steps weren't far off.  So on New Year's Day, Pete brings her into the family room and says, "Show Mommy what you just did.", and she took three steps all by herself!  So exciting.  I was especially excited that she took her first steps for Pete, since he was so worried that she was going to take them while we were gone in Vancouver for Christmas.  Since that day she has been really cautious about taking more, usually wanting to hold our finger or onto something.  But the last couple days she has been standing up and taking a few steps constantly.  I am guessing that by her birthday, she will have it down pretty well.

Here is a video I took of her just yesterday. So cute.

As probably most babies do, Layla loves cell phones.  So Grandma and Grandpa got her one and she is so cute with it.  She will hold it to her ear and talk on it to her daddy.  So cute.

Layla's First Christmas!!!

I still can't believe that Layla's first Christmas has come and gone already.  Seems like only yesterday when I was opening presents with a giant belly.  She definitely enjoyed all of her Christmas'.  First we had Christmas at home the weekend before with just the three of us.  It was perfect.  Presents in the morning, breakfast, then since it wasn't actually Christmas, we went to the store to take back Pete's remote control helicopter that was faulty.  Then the rest of the day was spent relaxing. 

Layla got her very own laptop, so hopefully she will stop trying to use mine all the time. She also got a big, fluffy giraffe she can use as a pillow, and she absolutely loves him. He is so soft. And she got a little sea turtle that has buttons like a simon says toy but they play music and light up. It is such a great toy. I find Pete playing with it just as much as Layla does.  For one of Pete's gifts I took a picture of Layla, Audrey and me, and while I was setting up the space I caught this picture of Layla.  Too cute.

After our Christmas, Layla and I headed up to Vancouver to spend Christmas with the rest of the families. Layla was awesome on the plane flights again. I was a little worried since she is much more mobile than she was on the first flight. We had a great time up there, and even lucked out with the weather for the most part.

Watching the mountains out the window just before landing.

Helping Grammy pick out her new dishwasher at Lowes.

Her cousins decorated her head. =)

Loves for her giraffe!

Enjoying her oreo from Uncle Erik

Layla made out with tons of loot. So much that we had to ship home a box because we couldn't fit it all in. She is a spoiled little munchkin, but she so deserves it! =) It was fun to watch her play with all of her gifts. She didn't quite get the hang of tearing open the presents, but once we got them open enough she was very excited about what was inside. My brother took some adorable shots on Christmas Eve that I had to share.

So excited about her corn popper toy!!!

Not sure what to do with that giant bow!

Loves for her dolly.

Thanks Uncle Erik for the Oreos. =)

11 Months Old!!!

Only one more month until her first birthday!  That is really hard for me to wrap my head around.  It is going to fast.  I love every new step, but I do miss some of the old steps too. 

She is starting to get her fifth tooth now.  It is coming in on the upper left.  We have been pretty lucky so far with the teething thing.  She doesn't excessivly drool and doesn't seem to be overly fussy compared to other times.  She might have moments, but that could be from anything.  She is my daughter after all, and we all know I have my moments!  =) 

She took her first steps on New Years Day.  She is very cautious about walking though.  Feels much better when she is holding on to something.  I am totally okay with that.  The longer the better.  She is fast enough when she is crawling.  She discovered stairs for the first time at Grandma and Grandpa's and she mastered climbing them within seconds.  She was so giddy about it too.  It was adorable.  Grandpa had a lot of fun with that.  Now the hard part is teaching her how to come down them.  We would grab her hips and pull her down slowly.  She thought that was pretty funny.

So my struggle with Layla right now is with eating.  She is a great eater when the food is pureed and pretty smooth.  If she gets anything in her mouth that isn't that soft, she gives a look of horror, spits it out or gags it down.  I am talking anything.  Saltines, fruit bits, puffed cereal, pancakes, eggs, pasta...the list goes on.  I am starting to worry that this could become a problem.  I have done some research on it online and some people have said they had to take their child to a type of speech therapist that basically teaches them how to swallow solid foods.  I'm not ready to take it to that level yet, but I wish there was an easy solution.  I can't puree her food forever.  It will be one of my many questions for the pediatrician at her year check up.

Not really sure what the frightened look was all about, maybe she swallowed some solid food.

On a hike with Mommy and Daddy.  Such a beautiful day.

Mommy slathering me with sunscreen!

Bonding with Audrey

It took a little while for Audrey to warm to the idea of an infant hanging around and taking all the attention away from her. Having Jack was bad enough. But now that Layla is starting to give Audrey attention and she is getting such praise for being a good dog with her, she is really coming around. Before she would leave the room if Layla was crawling around. Now she lets Layla pet her and even gives her little kisses.

They even started playing together. Here is a video of Layla and Audrey playing with a straw. Good thing Jack was in the other room sleeping because that is his toy, and there could have been trouble. =)

My Silly Little Monkey

Layla is doing so many new and adorable things lately that I have been trying to capture them on video so she can see how silly she is someday. Here is a collection of some of her most recent craziness.

Here is Layla enjoying her Saltine cracker in the silly way that she does. I think it is too funny.

Clearly Layla likes her baths. She is quite the silly girl which is rather entertaining.

Apparently I didn't give Layla enough to drink that day because she kept drinking from the bath. Silly girl.

She was in such a happy mood after finishing her breakfast.

My crawling little monkey. Love how she scares the crap out of Jack in this one.

Layla saying meow to the cat, well it is more of a yeow than a meow, but so much cuter because of it.

Giggling (with the hiccups) at Mommy being silly.

There will be more to come as she is getting more and more of a personality, and cracking us up all the time!