Firsts

We've had a lot of firsts lately and in effort to catch up, I'm going to place them all right here in this post!

The first first is that Brian is now riding a two wheeler without training wheels!  We had been bugging him to try for a few weeks because he was so ready, but he wanted nothing to do with it.  Then out of no where, he came downstairs one morning and told me he wanted to take off his training wheels.  He said if he was going to learn to ride a motorcycle, he thought he'd better start riding his bike on just two wheels.  Um, wait a minute, a motorcycle?  No sir, buddy.  But, yeah, we'll try the bike!  He had it down in about 20 minutes.  He really had it down within a few days.  He's had some wipe outs of course...largely because he goes as fast as he possibly can and then slams on the brakes so he can make cool skid marks.  But overall he's done great.  Please recall that to teach Brian to pedal his bike we had to take the bike (with training wheels) to the OT.  So this is HUGE!

This was the first ride.  He's wayyy better now!  It's so fun to see the progress!

Then of course we have had our first day(s) of FIRST grade.  Brian started first grade with Mrs. Holtzapple and then a week and a half later we did it all over again with Mrs. Elkus.

The original first day of school.  Lilah had to be in a picture!

2nd First Day!  Still excited, albeit much more nervous.

With first grade has come the implementation of an FM System for Brian.  So that's a big first!  We've named the system Roger (part of it's brand name) and it's SO COOL!  Brian loves it!  We played with it like crazy the first night (since we probably won't have it home ever again.)  He was able to ride
his bike down the street and hear me with no trouble.  Awesome!  Many of the teachers at school have already commented on how awesome it is and how beneficial it seems to be for him.

Roger

Lilah also had her first day of three year old preschool!  I can't tell you had badly I feel that I am not at all upset about this, but really?  She's right down the hall from me two days a week in a classroom full of teachers that I hired.  It's a little hard to get upset about that.  Wait until Kindergarten.  Then I will be a hot mess!  Lilah LOVES preschool and is so thrilled to finally actually be a part of the program for REAL.  (She spent quite a bit of time in both the 3 and 4/5 year old classes last year, so this really nothing new to her, just official.)   I do have to say that I LOVE when she comes in at the end of her day all excited to show me her work and tell me about her day.  She's just so much more verbal than Brian was at this age and I love hearing her go on and on!  It's the best part of my work day for sure! 

I have seen parents take this shot of their little ones for years.  So happy to get to take it of my girl!

Not sure why there is a glare on Mary's face.  This is Lilah with Ms. Mary and Ms. Stephanie. 

To Brian's Teacher

Dear Ms. Anita,

I realize it's Mrs. Holtzapple now that Brian is a first grader, but you will always be Ms. Anita to us.  How blessed we are to have you as Brian's teacher once again!  Your calming patience and tremendous knowledge of childhood development eased our minds while Brian was in preschool for two years.  And now that he has had a year to grow and change under the care of someone else, he is being entrusted into your care once again.

This time is a bit different though.  This time, he will be with you each day more than he is with me.  Please take care of him.  I know that you will, but it's still hard for me to let him go.

You know that Brian can be reserved, that he is incredibly creative and that he is quite intelligent.  I'll never forget how proud you were of him in his second year old preschool when he got in trouble for talking!  He was so quiet back then.  Fair warning...he's not anymore!  He will play coy with you as he always has, but he has A LOT to say.  He asks questions constantly.  And he genuinely wants to know the answers.

He LOVES reading as he always has and is coming along as an independent reader.  He gets on crazy reading kicks where he will read every book he can find at his level.  He all still loves to be read to.  We have been reading chapter books and he begs me to read more chapters each time it's time to stop.

He can still be a bit timid with friends, even those he's known for a long time.  The other day it took him almost an hour to warm up to Bradley at the park.  And he's known Brad since he was 2.  He definitely is one of those kids who waits and watches, hoping to be invited in.  Please help him get invited in.  Please help him to learn to just jump right in.

Even with his reserved personality Brian is a pretty confident kid.  He is proud of who he is and his accomplishments.  He is not embarrassed by his disability and he doesn't feel different.  Please help him to keep this confidence while he is in your care.  Help him to continue to be who he is and not care what his peers think of that boy.  Because I love that boy.

I'm excited to see how Brian likes full day school.  He loves to learn and be with his friends.  He loved his specials classes last year.  I am hoping he will love school again this year.  I am counting on you to make this transition easy on the both of us.  It's crazy to think that I took this kind of thing for granted when I was in the classroom.  I never gave a thought to how much the parents must miss their kids when they were in my care.  Once again, another thing that Brian has taught me that will make me a better teacher when I re-enter the classroom!

I trust you Ms. Anita.  I know that you will make this a wonderful year for my baby!  But I'm still going to shed a bunch more tears as I say goodbye to summer.

Sincerely,
Maria

Caterpillar Days

I've spent a lot of timely lately thinking about how much I dread the fall and the start of first grade.  Probably too much time!  And as a teacher, I shouldn't feel this way, but I HATE the idea that Brian will spend more time at school than with me. 

I have decided that these days...the last few days of summer, are our caterpillar days.  The lazy days of doing whatever we want...or nothing at all, before he becomes a little butterfly and he must spread his wings and fly.  Without me.

I know he NEEDS to do this.  I know I need to let him.  But it's so, so sad.  And I will miss him so much.  So will Lilah.

Sometimes I just want to fold him into my mama bear cocoon and keep him safe and protected and with me.

He learned to pump on his own the other day.  See?  Flying away...

 

Stats

Brian's 6 year stats--
Height--4'0.5' (94th percentile)
Weight--52 lbs (87 percentile)

Lilah's 3 year stats--
Height--3'2.25'' (82nd percentile)
Weight--36 lbs 8 oz (92nd percentile)

Photographs courtesy of Cynthia Shoettker Photography.

My SIX Year Old

Dear Brian,

You are SIX!  What an exciting age!  You are READING and loosing teeth!  You are sooooo into Legos and art and it's so much fun to see what you create.  You talk...a lot.  We have worked hard on that, so I try to be thankful.  You ask a million questions all day long.  You want to learn EVERYTHING there is to learn.

This year you have chosen to have a Toy Story birthday party and you are so excited!  You made sure Lauren knew that your cake should NOT touch your sister's cake like in past years.  You had a great time picking out party supplies the other day!  Daddy tells you all the time that you are management material :)

This morning when you found your birthday decorations, you were so excited!  You haven't stopped checking your new Lego watch all day...trying to figure it out.  I love it!

You have had a big year.  You finished Kindergarten (and did a wonderful job by the way)!  Next year you'll be back at Ryland with your preschool teacher in 1st grade!  Time flies at lightning speed that's for sure.

You have been released by the developmental pediatrician!  She just shook her said and grinned when she saw you and heard about all of your progress.  YOU are already a success story at the age of SIX.  That's something to be super proud of!

This next year I wish many things for you.  I hope that you continue to make new friends and develop the great relationships you already have with your buddies.  I hope that you will continue to improve in speech.  You work so hard and have made great progress!  I hope you will continue to love school and learning and reading.  It's awesome how much pride you take in this area!  I hope you will continue to be proud of who you are because you are just amazing!  Finally, I hope you will continue to be THE BEST big brother there could ever be.  Your sister can be such a little snot sometimes and you just love, love, love her.   

When you were a baby and were first diagnosed with hearing loss, I always said I wished I had a crystal ball that would show me the future and would show me you'd be okay.  I still wish that I had, but I'm not sure that a crystal ball would have even done you justice.  You have exceeded expectations, broken through barriers and overcome.  We are so, so proud of you and we love you so, so much!

Happy 6th Birthday, Brian!
Love, Mommy

Photo courtesy of Cynthia Shoettker Photography :)

Front of the Line

I know I should be writing an Easter post.  BUT I had to bump this post ahead of Easter.  I know Jesus rose from the dead and all, BUT I wouldn't be posting about that anyway.  The Easter post will be beautiful pictures of my adorable kids collecting eggs on Easter.  And for now, this trumps Easter.

Brian lost ANOTHER TOOTH!  AND.....he didn't swallow it! 

Can you feel the excitement?!

Kind of gross, but he insisted I share this picture with you all :)

He just discovered that it was loose last night and he apparently has the wiggling down now because he lost it during dinner tonight.  He completely refused to eat anything crunchy all day.  Ha!  He was being very careful during dinner and about midway through, he retrieved it from his mouth and announced that it had come out!  He was BEAMING!  And I was so glad that mom, dad, Jon and Teri were all here for the occasion!

Andddd...he ate it.

The tooth.  It came out at lunch today.  Brian was so excited that he swallowed it.  We searched his cheese and crackers.  We searched his smoothie yogurt drink.  No tooth.  It's in his belly.

He started to get upset, and I quickly said, "it's okay buddy.  Happens all the time with the first tooth.   Lots of kids don't know what it feels like to have a tooth come out and they swallow it.  We will write a not to the tooth fairy and explain the whole thing."  He thought about it for a minute and then said, "MOM!  It will come out in my POOP!" 

Yep, then there's that. 

His note to the tooth fairy went something like this...

Dear Miss Tooth Fairy,

My tooth fell out while I was eating lunch.  It's in my belly.  Please leave me money.  I love you.

Love,
Brian

And I would post a whole face pic, but that nose was just full of boogers, so I cropped it out!  Ick! 

I'm Not Sure I'm Ready

Two MAJOR milestones have occurred in less than twenty-four hours.

1. Brian was bumped from Kindergarten to FIRST GRADE sight words at school.  He has mastered all FIFTY Kindergarten words, so they moved him right along.  Sigh.  But, seriously?  How awesome is that!?

2. BRIAN HAS A LOOSE TOOTH.

He's gone from this....

to this...

In.The.Blink.Of.An.EYE.

The Big Girl Room

After much insanity trying to get this room together for Lilah, she is finally sleeping in her own bed tonight.  Well, she has started off the night in her own bed.  No promises as to whether or not she will stay there!

Last weekend I mentioned that we had a mattress issue.  The issue was that we thought the extra mattress/box spring set at my parents' house was full sized.  It was queen.  Of course we did not know this until we hauled it out of their house, onto the top of their minivan, up our stairs and into Lilah's room.  We were so convinced that it was a full that we actually hauled both pieces up the stairs before we even attempted to put them on the bed.  Fail.

So we hauled them back.

Then last night we bought a full size mattress and box spring.  More issues...

It is not okay when your two year old can turn her ceiling fan on and off from a sitting position on her bed.  Fail.

Soooo, the box spring is going back.  It's under the bed right now.  We will deal with it as soon as possible, but for now, she has her own bed.

She's pretty excited!

And for now, she's out!

UPDATE!  She slept for 12 hours all by herself!!!  She was so proud!

Oh My They Are Growing Up!

This guy...

rode his bike all the way to the park the other day!  The park is only about four blocks away, but it means riding out on a (sidewalk) main road that is really busy.  It means really listening when Mom says, "stop at the red mailbox" and riding fast across the long crosswalk to beat the cars before they come.  He has been doing so well on his bike that when we decided to hit the park the other day and he asked to ride his bike, I said he could.  And he did so great!  I was so proud of him.  Pappy even saw him riding as he drove home!

A few days later he got in the car and announced, "Mommy!  Tomorrow is the LAST DAY OF THE SCHOOL YEAR!"  I was like, what?!  And then I remembered that the school newsletter said Friday would be the END OF SUMMER celebration.  Yeah, so I had to explain that to my five year old.  He was perplexed to say the least.  Why would ANYONE celebrate the END of SUMMER?  He got over it when I told him he was allowed to wear flip flops to school and dress like a pirate.  Doesn't he look cute?!

So, yeah, he's growing up :(

Then this weekend happened.  Miss Lilah constantly wants to check her outfits in the mirror and she started in on me yesterday about how she needs a mirror in her room.  (Yes, I know she's 2 going on 16!)  For some reason the other bedroom closets have mirror doors, but Lilah's room doesn't.  So I decided we would get her a door mirror and go ahead and convert her room into a big girl room.  It's not finished yet because we had a slight mattress issue, but it's coming.  For now, here is a picture of the last time one of my kids will have a crib in their room.  :(

Lilah's Two Year Check Up

We actually went to Lilah's 2 year appointment last week, but I haven't had a chance to post her stats.  She was 28 lbs (68th percentile) and 36 inches (94th percentile).  She was NOT HAPPY to have to lie down to be measured, but consented because Nurse Kim told her it was the last time she would have to do it.  She so wants to be a big kid! 

Lilah is talking like a three year old, which we already knew.  She has about a 200 to 300 word vocabulary (or more) and uses complex sentences.  After all we have been through with Brian's speech, I think we deserve it! 

I mentioned Lilah's night awakenings to Dr. Price and he confirmed what I already knew...she is having night terrors.  This isn't a big surprise since Shawn had them as a child (and still has them now) and Brian had them for a time when he was younger.  He suggested that we work on getting her to go to bed earlier, so I have been trying really hard to get her to nap earlier and/or for a shorter period of time so that she will fall asleep earlier at night.  I also consulted Dr. Google and found a couple of tricks.  One that has been working is to have her drink cold water when she has an episode.  This can be a big fight, but once I get her to take a sip or two she usually calms down within a minute. 

The terrors can be really scary for me and Shawn, but according to research they do not affect her.  She has no idea she is having them and isn't really waking up at all.  I have also been trying really hard to track when they are occurring because some studies show that if you can pin point it and wake the child up 15 minutes before an episode for a period of time, you can change the sleep cycle and eliminate them.  For the first few nights hers were within 1 to 1.5 hours of falling asleep, but since then, they have been more erratic.  Therefore we haven't tried waking her up yet.  Knock on wood-the last two nights we have been terror free, so maybe we are heading in the right direction! 

Lilah is TWO

My sweet girl,

Happy 2nd birthday!  You were so excited for this day to come that you had a hard time settling down to sleep last night.  You were greeted with the same treatment as your brother-steamers and balloons.  Pink and purple, of course.  You kicked the balloons around for a time this morning and said, "it's my birthday!"  You made me sing "Happy Birthday" to you multiple times today.

We had a morning of errand running and then spent our after-nap time at the pool.  You had a crowd for your birthday dinner at Buca and ate it up...the food and the attention!  We may have had to light your candles a second time so that once again you could hear the happy birthday song :)

When I think about you turning two, I'm sad, of course because I'm quite certain that you are my last baby.  However, it's really hard to picture what life was like before you, so in some ways it's hard to believe that it's only been two years since you entered our lives.

You are such a joy to us.  You are quite simply the most hysterically funny, impish and devilish, beautiful and unique baby girl that there ever was.  Sometimes I look at how gorgeous you are and marvel at the fact that you are mine.  And sometimes you say things like, "MOM LOOK MY NIPPLES," and I wonder how in the HELL you are mine!!

Your little attitude has always been a force to be reckoned with and most of the time this is quite entertaining.  Your strut can have me in tears from laughter.  And your tantrums send your Dad and I both into a fit of giggles.  (Of course we turn away...) The way you kick your little leg and swing your arms when you are mad is just about the funniest thing I have ever witnessed.  Sorry, but it is!

You are strong-willed just like your brother and you are a tough little cookie.  You have to be HURT to cry for long.  You always make a big deal out of an injury...making sure I kiss the exact body part ("No, my ELBOW!") and making me put band aids in the weirdest place (today it was your cheek), but you rarely cry over getting hurt.

You can be super sweet when you want to be and super sassy pretty much the rest of the time.  You still love to cuddle-especially when you are sleepy or just waking up.  I treasure the cuddle time.  You care a lot about the feelings of others and show a ton of concern when someone is upset or hurt.  You made friends super easily.  You really have a way of drawing people in and keeping their attention!

Your brother is your best friend in the world.  You love him unconditionally which is exactly what I hoped for for the two of you.  You certainly bicker and "troll" him as Daddy says, but mostly you play well together and I love it.

You are very, very verbal.  In fact, Nana recently said you may be more verbal than I was at your age, which according to legend is a pretty big deal!  Your receptive language is quite impressive.  You follow directions impressively well and get so much of what is said to you and in your presence.  Things come easily to you, but even so you work hard to keep pushing to achieve more.  I hope you will always be this way.

Lilah Vivian...or Lilah THOMAS depending on who you are talking to, we love you so, so much.  You will always be our baby, our sweet girl who completed our little family.  I am so excited to continue to watch you grow and change into a little girl.  Watch out world, this little girl is destined for greatness!

Happy Birthday, Miss Lilah.

Love,
Mama

fiVe

My sweet Brian boy,

Today you are FIVE!  You started your day with a question...pretty typical for you at this age.  "Hey, who put these on my door?!"  You were referring to the streamers I had hung.  Hehe!  Mama likes to surprise people, little man.  Get used to it.  You liked the many balloons that greeted you downstairs.  and you were excited to see your first present on the kitchen table too.  Nana got to make your morning with your Jake duplo toys!  We had a pretty mild day from there.  We played outside, we had lunch at home and went to the pool for awhile with Aunt Teri. You were so excited for dinner at Snappy's, your cookie cake and of course more presents!  I think this may be the first birthday for which you will have real memories.  I guess we will see!

It's impossible to believe that FIVE years have passed since you were born.  And that you will start KINDERGARTEN in (less than) two short months.  It's so fun to see you grow and learn.  I was amazed this year when you came home from school each week knowing a new letter of the alphabet...how to write it, it's sign (language) AND it's phonetic sound!  Your speech has come SOOOO far and even though you have more to overcome, it's amazing to be able to have full conversations with you all day long.  Sometimes when you are asking five-hundred-trillion questions, I have to remind myself how happy it makes me!

You are incredibly handsome.  I am absolutely overcome by how cute you are every single day.  I love taking your picture...you might have noticed.  You are so freaking photogenic, it's hard to stop!

You make friends much more easily that I would have expected with your speech issues.  You made some very strong friendships at school this year and even insisted on inviting a couple of them to your birthday party later this week!  Your teacher called you a LEADER many times this school year.  She's right, I noticed.  The kids definitely looked to you for direction.  However, you might be a tad bit bossy too.  I can't imagine where you got that.  We'll have to watch it!

You are quite sensitive and even though you don't always act like it, you totally GET IT when someone is sad or upset.  You are super sweet with Lilah when you want to be.  You really are a fantastic big brother and have already taught her so much-good and bad!  I love that you can take on the responsibility of "watching her" here and there...like when Mama needs to grab a quick shower!  You love to sit and "read" to her which is adorable!

Speaking of, you still love to read and be read to.  I absolutely CANNOT wait until you are truly able to read to yourself.  I know it's coming soon and I just know how excited you will be about it! You love to be outdoors and in the water...pool and ocean (and sprinkler, really)!  You love legos and any type of activity where you get to build things.  You love Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Octonauts, Team Umizoomi.  Many of your birthday gifts reflect this.  You also still love your cars.  Again, reflected in your gifts!  You are eating SO MUCH more than you used to.  You are working really hard at it and I am so pleased.  You are eating FRUIT LOOPS with MILK for breakfast now!  You eat pizza lunchables...even the peperoni.  You have no idea how excited mama is to be able to send you to school with a meal that doesn't consist of simply carbs!

We took you to see your first movie yesterday and you were so excited and so good!  Monsters University was definitely the perfect movie for you. You LOVED it!

Brian Thomas, your Daddy and I are so incredibly proud of you.  You are tough, resilient little man.  You are stubborn and sweet all at the same time.  You're smart and funny....soooooo funny!  We love you so much, so many people do.  You are very blessed to have so many people who love you so much.  And we are so very blessed to have you in our lives.

Happy 5th Birthday, Brian Thomas!
Love, Mama

My Bike!

The kids got new bikes and Lilah couldn't have been more excited.  "My bike,"  she shouted with glee!  Every-other week at Brian's OT appointments, Lilah sees a little boy named Luke riding on a bike much like her new one.  She has clearly wanted to try it out for awhile and was thrilled that she finally could.

Brian was somewhat underwhelmed by his new bike upon first glance, but likes it now that he's ridden it a few times.  He can make turns much better than last year and is proud of himself.  He was still working on stopping correctly.  (He wants to put his feet down instead of pushing the pedal back.)  He's also working on pedaling uphill...it's a lot of work!

My How They Have Grown

For Brian's first Christmas, we used a plant-able tree so that we could track it's growth with Brian's growth.  We did the same for Lilah for her first Christmas.  We decided that it was best to plant the trees at mom and dad's house since we didn't know where we would be after Brian's first Christmas.  Here are comparison shots thus far....

Brian 7 months.

Brian 4 1/2 years old.

Lilah 5 months.

Lilah 1 1/2 years old.

Blink

I blinked.

And today I am registering this guy for Kindergarten...

Lilah, 18 Months

Lilah turned 18 months old this month.  Her doctor's visit was standard.  She cried because they made her get on the baby scale.  It's the last time she will have to though.  She's a big girl now and can be weighed on the adult scale. 

Her stats are as follows:

Height:  33inches, 85th percentile
Weight: 25 lbs 13.5 oz, 85th percentile

She has almost all of her teeth.  Her pointy ones are on their way in...ouch!  And two year molars will be next.  I scheduled her first visit with the dentist for July.  I was making Brian's appointment, so I just scheduled them both.  She's getting so big!

She talks a lot.  She can repeat nearly everything.  She says several 2-3 word sentences.  She knows lots of animal sounds and body parts.

She is still a smiley, happy girl who demands attention and gets it from just about everyone she meets.  She is bossy and knows how to get what she wants.  She still gives those looks that could kill.  I imagine she always will.  She reeks of attitude!  She can be so, so sweet too when she wants to be.   Oh how I love that baby girl!

Lilah with her two new favorite "babies."  My old (much loved) dolls-Pinky and Phyllis!

Second

Shawn and I are new at this second child thing.  We were both first born.  We are constantly amazed by how quickly Lilah picks things up (being as she has an example that's close to her age).  She is determined to be a big girl.  It's kind of sad seeing her develop and change so quickly, but it's also fun to watch as well!

Playing play doh with Bubba and Dada.

Measuring up at the aquarium in her big girl shoes!

Walking with Mama.  This girl loves to walk holding hands!

Using a spoon all by herself.  Anything she can do to get food into her mouth faster and without help-as her Dad says!

"I'm big enough for a booster mom!"  (Not really, she just thinks so!)

Eating a popsicle all by herself.

Miss Independent

Oh that little Lilah girl.  She has a mind of her own, that's for sure.  It may be the red hair.  It might just be that she was born into stubbornness.  Perhaps in my quest to allow my children to "march to the beat of their own drums" she has developed a tad too much independence.  Maybe it's that she's the second child and she has someone to imitate.  And maybe it's just a combination of all of the above. 

In the past month I have caught Miss Lilah...

in the dryer
on top of the coffee table
on top of the kitchen table
in the refridgerator
and most recently...

attempting to climb INTO the toilet.

And you can ask anyone.  Miss Lilah has a temper.  She does NOT put up with toys being taken away from her.  It doesn't matter if it's a loving adult trying to keep her from choking to death on a toy that is made for a much older child, or if it's her sneaky four year old brother just being a poop head.  She gives you what for if you try to take something from her.  

She's a smart little poop, let me tell you.  She's not easily tricked by adults hiding objects from her.  She can find Aunt Teri's phone anywhere in a room and she's not likely to give it up once it's in her chubby little hands.  Feisty little bugger!

Yesterday was our second preschool play date.  Lilah could be found sitting at a preschool sized table, in a preschool sized chair, stirring a spoon in a cup.  Last week at Brian's speech session, she crawled up into Brian's chair and looked at Kathy the therapist as if to say, "my turn!"  And currently she is "cooking" in the play kitchen at Mom's house while I type this blog. 

Oh we are in trouble...

One Year

My sweet baby Lilah,

Today, you are one.  In reality one year is such a short time, but it’s hard to remember what life was like without you. 

Your sweet smile, blue eyes, larger than life dimples and fire cracker red hair (and temper) have completed our family.  Your little evil laugh cracks everyone up and your fearless attitude keeps us all on edge. 

Brian is a different boy than he was a year ago.  And that has a lot do with you.  He is such a great big brother to you.  He can be a little too rough at times, but he loves you deeply.  And boy do you love him too.  I remember being so afraid of what my love for you would do to my relationship with him.  A stranger told me that it would all work out.  She said, “you love your kids, and they love each other, that’s just how it works.”  She was so right.

You really are a sweet little girl.  You love to laugh and to make others laugh.  You are silly.  You love to cuddle.  You are incredibly independent.  And you certainly have a mind of your own.

You get around just fine even though you aren’t quite walking yet.  You eat well…everything we put in front of you.  You can say mama, dada, buba, (sign and say) more, (wave and say) bye bye, nana, and p-p-p for pappy…we’re working on that.  You are still nursing, but it’s getting to be less and less frequent.  You are a wonderful sleeper most of the time.  You sleep from 9 or 10 until 9 or 10 the next morning with a break around 6:30 or 7 for nursing most nights.  That’s pretty great compared to what your big brother used to do!

I love that you gave up baby food before your first birthday.  You just decided last week you were over it.  And that was that. And you sign more for food.  Constantly.  Especially at Kroger when you see food you recognize! You are such a little eater.

I also love that you love baby dolls.  You smile from ear to ear when you see one of your babies.  You are already a little mommy! 

I love that you splash like crazy and dive into the water like a fish.  You are quite the little swimmer and you are completely unafraid. 

I also love that you mimic the things that we do just to get a laugh.  Right now your favorite is, “go bananas.”  Lord it’s cute!    

You are our little Lu Lu baby.  It’s been so fun to watch you grow these past 12 months.  I can’t wait to see what’s to come!

Love,

Mama