12 months = 1 year!!!

New things: The big news for the month is WALKING!  She loves walking everywhere but still needs to hold onto something/someone most of the time.  She can take a few steps all on her own.  She spends a lot of time cruising along the couches and pushing her mail cart.  She drags mom, dad, and anyone else she can grab with her teeny little hands all over the place.  She is getting really good at walking while holding on with only 1 hand so with the handful of steps she is taking we know it’s only a matter of time until she is wobbling all over the house while we chase her down. Speaking of steps ... she has also discovered how to climb the stairs.  She can slimb up all on her own by crawling up or if she has a set of hands to hold she will lift her feet real high and alternate right, left, right, left all the way to the top.

One of her favorite games in the house is Hide & Seek.  She likes to crawl around the corner and then start giggling.  When someone says “Where is Lillie?” she just laughs harder and louder.  Of course you can’t “find” her right away so the asking and the giggling continue until she is a complete giggle monster.  The game works just as well if someone hides behind something (a door, the couch, kitchen island) and starts asking Lillie where they went.  She’ll start giggling and then crawl around to find the person before she bursts into another fit of giggles and smiles!

She even plays hide & seek after church.

Another favorite indoor activity is reading.  Lillie likes to curl up and read a book before her naps or whenever.  Sometimes when she is just doing her own thing she’ll pull a book down off the coffee table and start flipping through the pages (she doesn’t care if the book is upside down).  She’ll point to the photo album and flip through with me sometimes.  She’s had a LOT of fun over the last 24 hours playing with her new blocks from Grandma P.  It is especially fun to watch the adults build towers that she proceeds to knock over as she collapses into a heap of giggles and laughter.

A big part of our days are spent outside.  She loves it and cries when it’s time to go in.  It doesn’t matter whether we’re laying on a blanket staring at the sky, swinging, playing in the dirt, or riding in the wagon while we stop to say hi to the chickens … she just wants to be outside.  When it’s not too buggy we try to have some of our meals outside on the porch too. We are just about ready to start swimming.  She keeps staring longingly at the pool in the yard but the weather has been too rainy and cool lately to get in. Hopefully we’ll be able to dive in soon! 

Talking: Lillie continues working on her words. She has a lot more of them that she uses now.  She very clearly uses “Dada” for George and “Mama” for me.  She knows “Bri-Bri” and “Delta”.  She uses them interchangeably for any dog she sees (not just Bri-Bri or Delta).  She says “yum, yum” and “num, num” when she is eating.  She also knows done which she pronounces as “done-d” with an extra d at the end.  She says it when she is done eating and whenever she is done with something (ie- tired of riding in the car, tired of reading her book, or tired of being carried.)

It isn’t quite talking but she is very adept at pointing to indicate when she wants something or pushing things away when she isn’t interested in them.

Teeth: 7!!! She has 4 on the top & 3 on the bottom. It looks like a 4^th tooth is just about ready to pop on the bottom.

Sleeping:  Still sleeping through the night most of the time. She’s been a little off lately as she’s been figuring out the walking thing but we’re sure she’ll be back to her normal self soon.  

Eating new foods: She is mostly feeding herself these days.  She has been practicing with the spoon and fork so even the slippery foods she can take care of herself.  She still needs us to “load” the silverware first but she’s doing a great job taking it from there.  We’re pretty lucky that there are very few foods that she won’t eat.  Some new favorites are: strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, watermelon (pretty much anything fruit related) and of course cake and ice cream.  Whenever we give her a taste of ice cream she literally starts licking her lips and then sticks out her tongue for more.    

Do you know where my cake went? It was around here somewhere.

Drinking: She started mixing formula with her milk this month.  Then at the end of the month we started the transition to whole milk.  We have a little bit of leftover formula to finish up and then she’s all milk all the time.  She holds her own bottle when she’s drinking her milk while being held herself or in her high chair with the seat tipped back.  She still doesn’t quite get that she needs to actually tip her head back to drink … we’ll get there.  She does love her straw cups though and carries them around with her all the time.