11 Months

What a crazy month it has been! Sorry that this letter is coming to you a few days late, but it feels like we have been going non-stop for the past few weeks. This month started with a visit from Nana and Grandpa! You were so excited to see them, and you were quick to show-off some of your newly discovered talents. This month you made two trips out to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo with Sheri and your other Grandpa (who we are still debating over what you are going to call); the first night I wore you around on my back until you passed out from sheer exhaustion. The second night, we watched the ranch rodeo, and you had a blast; you were still wide-eyed and talking away until 11:00 that night! This month you went to another Rocket's game, but this time we got tickets to the Devon suite where you had plenty of room to run around and play. Also, this month, you had your first pseudo-camping trip. We set up the tent in the backyard, grilled hotdogs in the fire pit, and made dutch oven apple cobbler in the fire pit as well. The weather was so perfect that we took the rain fly off of the tent and stared at the night sky. It took you forever to fall asleep because you kept getting up to see the moon hovering above us. This month you went on your first big fishing trip. Uncle Bubba took us down to San Luis Pass (on the west end of Galveston island), and we fished from the beach. It was a sunny and beautiful day, and you had a great time (except for the few minutes when you cried hysterically after seeing the giant fish that Mommy had caught.) With spring here, and the weather being so nice we made several trips to parks, took many long walks on the greenbelt, and spent some lovely afternoons at the farmer's market.
This month you have discovered the magic of the kitchen cabinets! You love removing the entire contents of the cabinets onto the kitchen floor! Once you get bored with that, you usually head over to the dog's water bowl to splash around for a few minutes. We always laugh at the way you fling items over your shoulder when you are done playing with them. This month something very exciting happened...you starting walking!! One evening you took your first steps, and you haven't looked back since. You can still only take a max of about 10-15 steps before you reach a piece of furniture to grab onto or you fall over and start crawling. Daddy calls you zombie-baby when you walk because you hold your arms out in front of you just like a zombie.
This month, you have finally decided that food is for eating! You will eat pretty much anything!! You like green eggs for breakfast (egg blended with a handful of spinach then scrambled). You still enjoy sharing my smoothies with me in the morning as well. You LOVE going to our local sushi restaurant; they always make such a fuss over you! The sushi chef always brings you a tiny little roll made with nori, rice, avocado, and toasted sesame seed. I haven't weighed you in a while, but I suspect you are around the 20 pound mark now. It seems like despite all the new food adventures that you are still nursing as much as ever. If you space out your daytime nursing sessions at all, it seems like you just make up for them at night.
Lilah, this month has me preparing for your first birthday party (one of the reasons this post was late). I can't believe you are almost a year old! Daddy and I are planning a date night for when Nana comes to town for your birthday. It seems so hard to believe that even at almost a year old, we still don't feel ready to leave you (even if for only an hour or two.) I think you are more ready than we are!
We love you my dear, and we are having more fun than ever watching you grow. My house has been messier this month than ever before because I am so busy watching you play and keeping you out of trouble. I wouldn't trade it for the cleanest house in the world if it meant not having you here. You bring a smile to my face every.single.day, and I love you for that! I look forward to finishing up your birthday party preparations and celebrating this fantastic year that has passed with our friends and family. We love you Beanie Bean!
Love,
Mom

And she's off...

It is official! As of last Saturday, we now have a walker on our hands!! For the past few weeks she would take a little shuffle step here and there, but would never stream those together into actual steps. We happened to be over at Chris' parents house Saturday night and were able to capture her first real steps on video. Here are Beanie's first steps:

In the last few days, she has really taken off. She will now walk from obstacle to obstacle without us there coaching her along. It is so fun (and exhausting) to watch her learn this new skill!