Lilah, 12 Months

Wow, this took me awhile!  Here is Lilah's 12 Month chair picture and her stats.  Birthday party pictures are coming, I promise!!

Weight 21 lbs 15.4 oz  89th percentile
Height 30 1/2 inches  68th percentile
Head 18 1/2 inches

See, I always say she is my petite child!!

Now I just need her to take a loooong nap so I can catch up on uploading pictures and get this blog up to date!

A Shout Out From B

Dear Aunt T and Uncle Jon,

It was about this time last year that you made the decision to move up here to be closer to us.  Do you remember?  You and I spent a whole week together!  Mommy and Daddy had to go the hospital to have my baby sister and you took good care of me.  We worked on cutting and we made pictures for Lilah.  We went to the Zoo and we visited Lilah too.  I had so much fun with you! 

Then you made it your goal to get jobs up here, and it wasn’t very long before you did it! I was so glad!

I have loved getting to spend so much time with you both this year.  So has Lilah.  I especially like it when I get to come to your house and play with Itz.  The bubbles are fun too.  I also like playing golf with you and swimming and playing at my house and going to the zoo.  Uncle Jon even helps me pee in the potty and feeds Lilah bananas…I bet he never thought he’d do those things!  And I am so lucky to have a cool Aunt who can make cool dinosaurs for my room!

I love you Aunt T and Uncle Jon.  And Itz, I love him too.

Love,
Brian Thomas

(and Lilah too…she’s too little to tell you, but she keeps singing “more” so I think she means she wants more Aunt T and Uncle Jon too.  And Itz.)

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

Cars Party and Other Birthday Fun

Brian's 4th Birthday party was celebrated at the park a few weeks ago.  He wanted a Cars theme, so of course that is what we did.  He had been asking his Auntie La La for a Cars cake since maybe March!

Brian was soooo excited the day of the party.  This is the first Birthday where I feel like he really "got it" completely.  It was so much fun the plan with him and to see him enjoy the day!  Shawn kept telling him to quit micro-managing us.  He wanted to be sure every detail was just so!

Helping to set out the M & M bowls.

Someone was pretty excited about the balloons.

Party favors!

Taking it all it.

Pizza and Max.  Doesn't get much better.

The cake.  Oh the cake.  This was the original made by Auntie La La.  It wasn't meant to be this year but...

Brian made it all better.

Presents!

Love having these parties at the park!

The little sis!

Lots of kissing babies!

All the babes!

So, as you can see from the millions of pictures, the party was a hit! 

On Brian's actual Birthday, we went to the Reds game.  The kids had fun.  Sometimes the noise was a bit much for Brian, but Lilah managed to sleep through a large portion of the game!  Both kids were pretty much worn out.  Brian did get a visit from the Reds and received some cool presents!

Promotion

This is late, but totally worth posting.  Brian's Preschool Promotion Ceremony took place in late May.  I was nervous about how it would go because large crowds and Brian don't always work out.  I was even more nervous when he fell asleep on the way to school.  Waking up and Brian don't always work out.  As with most everything this past year, Brian far exceeded my expectations and made me prouder than I could have ever thought possible.  He is such a good, sweet boy.  I just love him to death.

He started off a little lukewarm.  We had to take Baby Kangaroo in just to get him in the door. 

He spent most of the first few songs just like this.  Arms crossed.  Slight smile.  Not gonna do it.

Then the fingers went in the mouth.

But you know what?  I didn't care.  He was standing.  In line.  Just like his peers.  He wasn't running around.  He wasn't crying.  He was doing what three year old boys do.  He was being shy.  I LOVED IT!

Then all of a sudden his foot started to tap.  I could see him fighting the urge to participate.

And then came the part when they had to take a partner and slow dance.  That smart teacher, Ms. Anita, God bless her, she put Brian with a pretty blonde.  He was sunk.  Participating was no longer an option.  He had a girl to impress.

So he jumped when he was supposed to jump.

And he counted when he was supposed to count...my smart boy, he knows to copy off the smart, older girl!!

And he itsy bitsy spidered.

And he went on a bear hunt.

Can't go around it...

That bear had BIG GREEN EYES!!! 

And he listened to the presentation and watched the slide show.

He clapped for his friends.

And yelled out when he saw them on the big screen.  "That's Brad!"  Haha!!

He marched to the stage to receive his diploma.

He happily looked through the adorable book the teachers created about their year.

And finally it was time to say goodbye to all his friends.

And pose for some pictures for mom.

And get a gift from Nana.

I couldn't be prouder.  Can you tell?

FOUR

Dear Brian Thomas,

Today you are four.  My sweet boy, this has certainly been a banner year. You began occupational therapy and switched speech therapists.  We welcomed your baby sister.  You started preschool.  We moved.  You changed preschools.  You got a new occupational therapist.  You decided it was okay to eat meat.  You (FINALLY) decided potty training was cool.  You played soccer.  You grew.  You changed.  You became a big boy.  Whew, that makes me tired just to type!

Last week we went to the developmental pediatrician.  Boy was she floored by the changes in you.  She asked if we ever wanted to come back and see her.  What a difference a year makes.

I say all the time you are a work in progress, but what a wonderful work you are.  We still have speech goals and OT goals to meet.  You do have your bad days.  But you are on your way, little boy!

Auntie La La commented the other day that you are at a fun age.  It's true.  You are so fun right now.  You participate in conversations.  You are hysterical and you know it.  You love to make people laugh.  You LOVE your baby sister.  Sometimes a little bit too much.  And boy does she love you.  You are sweet and caring.  You are charming and very, very handsome.  Someone the other day called you "delightful."  I wouldn't go that far every minute of every day, but you certainly can be quite delightful when you choose to be!

You love to play.  Especially with other kids.  You still love cars.  You LOVE your new swing set and being outside in general.  You love water and play doh.  You still love to read.  Even manuals.  If you get a new toy that has to be put together, you are always the first to consult the manual.  Daddy called you a micro-manager yesterday when we were getting ready for your party.  It's true.  You like things to be done a certain way and you don't hesitate to let us know if we aren't doing something to your standards!!

I am always sad to see you grow older because I so miss the things that were a part of your baby and toddler years.  But this year, I'm more okay with it.  I think it's because I have seen how much you have grown and developed this past year.  And I am so excited for what this next year will bring for you.

Little man, we love you so, so much.  You inspire so many people who love you.  You continue to overcome great obstacles with a huge grin on your face and a shining light in your eyes.  I hope you will always face everything life throws at you as you do now-head on and in your own way.  You may march to the beat of a different drum, but it's a beat we love and are very proud of.

Happy Birthday, Brian Thomas!

Love,
Mama

Pre Vacation Photo Dump

Right before we left on vacation, I dumped all of the photos on the camera into a file on my desktop.  I finally went through them last night.  They are a good depiction of what we did during our days prior to leaving for Pawleys.  Here are some of them...

We babysat for "baby Gavin" on a random Monday.  The kids had a ball playing together!

We went to the butterfly show one day.  Brian tried so hard to catch the little critters, but he moves too much!  Several landed on Lilah and one landed on my head!

We went to the zoo for a special "Wake Up on the Wild Side" event.  Lilah got to pet a penguin!  Brian was not having it, so he didn't get to.  He couldn't understand why we had to do the planned events.  When he's at the zoo, he's used to deciding what we see and when.

I love the guy in the background's reaction to Lilah petting the penguin!  And I look somewhat disgusted...not sure why!

Mama and Pappy worked with Brian on his baseball skills, which Nana thought was hi-larious.  (Not the Pappy part, the Mama part.)  Sometimes the best coaches were never the best players...just sayin'!

And just a few cute ones...

Look Mom, no hands!