I know, I know

I know it has been too long since the last post. We haven't been doing anything amazing as an excuse, but here's an update on us anyway:

Chris works, teaches most Saturdays, still putts on the fake, green putting foam in my family room (sigh), dotes on our daughter and keeps up on all things sports, cars and other manly things.

I get to play with Lila everyday, spend lots of time doing primary things, tutor every Tuesday, read good books, salivate over all the gorgeous clothes I want to buy for my daughter, try to think of fun things to do with a 1 year old and try to throw some cooking and cleaning in there.

Lila loves to play outside and throw balls in the street for me to chase, has finally learned what "stop!" means, putting an end to my near- heart attacks as she would dart into the street to chase said balls, she loves to snack and knows where the pantry is, has a sweet tooth like no other, is slightly destructive, has the cutest 4 -toothed smile I've ever seen, can't wait to dance to her favorite movie credit songs, jabbers incoherently to herself except for mom mom, dadda and her perfectly understandable and audible "no no no", has a screech that is close to ear-shattering, is desperately attached to her binkies and prefers to have at least 3 at a time to rotate, likes to walk around the house with random objects that change daily, loves to play "I'm gonna get you" (her running around the house as we chase her) and hugs her daddy like she hasn't seen him in weeks every night when he comes home. I could go on, but won't.

My friend, Jenn is getting into photography and offered to take our family's picture for free. Yes please! Here are my favorites:

Lila is a water baby. Always has been. We tried to take pictures by this beautiful fountain surrounded by flowers and iron gates but Lila had other plans. Notice her wet hair? We had to physically restrain her from climbing over the side to go swimming but she still managed to get soaked from being so close to the fountain spray and throwing her arms in. Now we know not to go near water if we want her to look at the camera.

A Little Mickey and Outside Time

Last weekend Chris was working in Orlando so Lila and I tagged along. We visited the "free" Disney World. Oh, you didn't know there was one? There isn't, but if you want the Disney ambiance without forking out a bunch of money, you can go to Downtown Disney. There are a bunch of shops, restaurants and all things Disney. We had a great time but re-confirmed that our daughter has no fear. All she wanted to do was run, dance and climb whether there were masses of people in her way or not. It was a little tiring! We went Friday night for a little bit and Sat. late afternoon and evening.

Mmm, Ghirardelli...

Brownie Sundae, chocolate filled croissant and hot chocolate. Yeah, we felt a little sick after, but it was worth it!

At night they had dance parties for kids. Lila was all about it and wowed us with some amazing dance moves. I posted a video at the bottom of the post, but she wasn't busting out her best moves by the time the camera came out and my video taking skills are pretty crummy.

Day to day Lila and I spend a lot of time outside. It is finally cooling down enough to actually enjoy being outside. Hooray!

(Loving the waves that are coming in her hair)

Howdy Partner

Lila was our sweet cowgirl for Halloween this year! She was so darn cute in her boots and pigtails. These pictures and video are from Chris's phone, so not so great but my in-laws got others I need to grab from them. Until then, at least you can see her cute costume!

Lila didn't want to walk, she wanted to run from door to door. She also wouldn't let us help carry her fun spider trick or treat bag. Even when it got so heavy she was practically dragging it. She's no fool!

No one was home but I like this video anyway!

Fabulous Days Please Stay!

I've been feeling pretty lucky with life lately and I'm hoping it stays for awhile! Here's what we've been up to:

Playing dress up, or at least from the shins down. Lila found these pink boots I was storing under her crib and has been bringing them to me ever since. She will throw them at me, sit down and hold her foot out. Then she goes stomping around the house. I didn't know it started so early...

Making funny faces. Lila's new "Ohhh" face. Pretty cute.

Taking Lila to the park. Here's the one shot of her liking the swing. She's not such a fan. Only kid I know that isn't. She mostly just likes to walk around and look at all the kids play.

Palest mexican ever. We got Lila this dress in Old Town while in San Diego. It's a section near downtown of very authentic mexican everything...food, shops, clothes, music, etc. I think she looks gorgeous in it!

Sporting some Halloween spirit.

Lila's hair fits in pig tails!!! Just barely :) I'm mostly just excited we have graduated from headbands to clips!

On Monday, Chris had half the day off for Columbus Day, so we took advantage of the fabulous weather and went to the beach at Anna Maria Island in Sarasota. It couldn't have been more perfect. We were wishing we had a beach house, really, really wishing.

What did she do with all this sand you ask?

Dumped it on Chris. Over and over again. It will take awhile to bury him at this pace, but she thought it was pretty funny.

Who doesn't want a gorgeous bird to add to the scenery?

End of a successful day.

Random Blog for a Random Week

I'm tired of seeing the word "chocolate" in my last post title for so long, so I figured instead of getting a craving for sugar all the time, I'd just post something new.

Lila and I have had some more free time lately since I haven't been tutoring with school having started for my students.

We've spent some time at the mall where Lila has discovered the play place. When we get near it she starts shrieking and squirming to get down. I try to look past the coughing, snot smearing kids and especially the little boy who had a nasty accident in his pants and was STILL playing with his mom right behind him. Ew. I also had to bite my tongue at the cliquish 4 year old girls who told Lila that no babies were allowed to play with them. I still haven't quite figured out why we are supposed to be "as a little child...." Anyway, Lila loves to follow the big kids around and climb on things she shouldn't be climbing on. Here she is as queen of the bridge.

We spend too much time at home since it is still horridly hot here and I can only think of so many indoor places to go to. She was pretty excited about the sewing machine I got for my birthday. Correction, she was pretty excited about the styrofoam that encased the sewing machine I got for my birthday.

Love this face!

We've been to the fountains I've posted about before a couple times this past week.

She loves them, so do I.

Right in the middle of it all!

With her friend, Luke, after getting changed. Well, friend is a loose term at this age. He runs away from her and she points at him a lot.

I tried to post a video at the fountains for my family who want to see her walking more, but it's not working, so I'll try later.

What a Girl Will do For Chocolate!

Lila is a walker! Well, becoming a walker! She started moving her feet a little yesterday, then took about 4 steps to me. When Chris got home from work, she walked to him. It made his day! She wouldn't do it for the camera, so just ignore the fact that I lured her with chocolate. Do take note, however, that she wouldn't let me help her eat it. What a girl! Now she stands all the time and tries to walk more. She still doesn't make it very far, but she's getting better.

(You don't need to watch the last 10 seconds or so... if you were going to watch it at all. :) I didn't edit it.)

Since this post is about a milestone, I'll throw a couple more in there for journal keeping sake. Lila had her one-year-old appt on Tuesday and here are her stats:

Height: 30.5 inches, 89%

Weight: 20 lbs, 32%

Head: 18 inches, 69% (no one cares about head, but there it is anyway!)

Lila has her two bottom teeth (finally!) She didn't cut her first tooth until 11 months. She likes to play with her teeth by catching them on her fingernail over and over. It didn't seem to bother her too bad to cut them, so I hope the rest will come in as uneventfully.

Lila thinks she can swim. I'm going to have to put her in swim lessons early so she doesn't drown. Whenever we are in water, she likes to be on her stomach, kicking her legs and flapping her arms. She has no fear so far and will crawl straight into the water!

Lila is a loud, loud baby. She babbles incoherently but constantly when she is happy. She does say her own version of momma and dada correctly (sounds more like memmom and dadada.)

She's pretty darn cute when she's not screaming to get her way. She is quite adept to making sure we know what she wants.

We are having so much fun watching all the funny things she does.