Happy half-birthday to you!

I know I've been posting a lot this week, but our lovely little Lilah turned 1/2 a year old yesterday!  I can't believe she is 6 months old!  She just gets cuter and cuter and more and more fun the older she gets.  I don't want her to grow up, but it's amazing to watch!

A couple of videos for proof:

(please ignore the baby talk... I don't think I can help it)

A few things about 6-month-old Lilah:

• she loves food.  I've been letting her try some different things at dinner time, mushed up.  Her favorites are sweet potatoes, broccoli, peas, apples, carrots, and pickles.  She is NOT a fan of egg yoke.
• she loves bath-time, especially with Ethie
• she rolls around a lot, scoots backwards and side-to-side and can almost sit up on her own, although she will fall over spontaneously

•  she is very happy when we're outside
• she is very happy most of the time.  She thinks we are all very funny, especially when we make silly noises or blow on her tummy or play peek-a-boo.  Ethie is especially good at making her smile and laugh when he says "potato" or "banana" or falls over.
• she weighs about 16 pounds and is roughly 27 inches long (we go to the doctor tomorrow so I may have to change that)
• she is almost too long for her 3-6 month clothes
• she likes her jump-up, tolerates the bumbo chair and exersaucer (sometimes), hates the stroller, plays on the floor pretty well, but mostly really likes to be held (yay for the wrap!)
• she goes to bed about 9 and sleeps til about 8 (and wakes up a few times in between)
• she has definite stranger anxiety, which I don't really mind.  She loves us!
• she puts everything in her mouth

Happy 6-months, baby girl!!!

 

The lovely outdoors

Ethie is out of school all week.  All week!

We needed to find things to do to keep us all busy and happy.  Thankfully, Scotty was able to come hang out with us, and he is just about Ethie's favorite person.  Seriously, Ethie counts down the hours til he gets here and then cries when he leaves.  He just thinks Scotty is so cool and Scotty is so nice to play with Ethan and keep him laughing.  It's great!

Also thankfully, the beautiful weather has continued and it just feels so good to be outside!  My friend had given us passes to the Chattahoochee Nature Center, which is only about 15 minutes away, and it was a perfect day to go!  There were plenty of birds, snakes, turtles, sticks, rocks, etc., to keep Ethie engaged.  And it was really beautiful and nice to just walk around and look at everything.  Lilah loves being outdoors so she was happy as pie in her wrap.  Plus, of course, Ethan and Scotty provided plenty of entertainment for us!   

 

 

 Oh, then they went to see Tron Legacy 3D.  Fun day! 

Now what to do the rest of the week...

:( + sunny day = :)

Yesterday was a beautiful day!!!  It was sunny and warm and perfect.

We woke up and knew we had to spend the day outside.  Fortunately, our friends Ashley and Brandon called and had the same thought.  We ended up playing at the park for 3 hours! 

Lilah-bug was so happy to be outside!  She was all smiles.  I just love that happy little thing!

  

Ethie's favorite thing is the merry-go-round.  I think he was on there for an hour!  It was crowded and he kept falling off, but he loves it!

After he finally got tired of that, Ethie spotted some guys playing soccer in a field.  These were not kids; they actually looked like serious soccer players.  But being Ethie (fearless), he walked right over and asked if he could join them.  Pretty soon they had him playing goalie and running after the ball and blocking and he was in heaven!  (James kept saying he was never that interested when he was on an actual team.)  But he was loving it and he got lots of good exercise!

I would have never done something like that (walk up to strangers and invite myself to play) when I was his age and it just amazes me sometimes that he is my child!  I am always so proud of him for being so bold and confident and courageous.  I know that he will be able to do wonderful things with that outgoing little personality of his!

Here he is, still smiling, after a battle wound. 

Go Ethan! 

Love!

It's so nice to have a whole day to celebrate loving my family. 

Actually, make that a whole weekend.  I love Valentine's Day!

Friday night, I took James out for our weekly date.  We trade off babysitting with 7 other couples and it's great!  This was the first time we left little Lilah and they said she did fine.  And we actually had a quiet, calm, lovely meal.  I got James a groupon for the Georgia Rib Company, which is supposed to have the best ribs around.  I think he enjoyed himself.  I enjoyed the red velvet cheesecake.  And wonderful conversation with my sweet honey! 

Saturday Ethie and I made Valentines for his class.  I decided to have fun with them this year and he thought they were awesome!  What do you think?

Sunday, Lilah girl got to wear her pretty Valentine's dress to church!  Poor Ethie was sick with a fever, so he stayed home with Dad.  She got so many compliments and I just love her happy, toothy smile!

 

 

Monday, we set out candy and a puzzle for Ethie-man's Valentines from us and he was very excited.  Then I made a bunch of heart sugar cookies, complete with chocolate frosting and sprinkles.  And then Lilah and I got to go take them to Ethie's class.  What a great excuse to join the party!  They decorated their boxes, passed out Valentines, read love books, ate cookies and strawberries, and loved on baby Lilah!  It was so fun and he was so cute!

And then last night, James came home with some beautiful purple tulips!!!  Oh, and strawberries and chocolate.  He knows what I like!

 

Yes, I do love excuses to show some love!  I love my sweet family!!!

A story

Yesterday Lilah was being particularly clingy.  As in if I put her down, she wailed and when I picked her up, she was all smiles.  I would be happy to just hold her all day (and I usually do), but I was trying to do laundry and it was getting ridiculous.  Plus Ethie had a bad day at school, which means no TV or computer, so he was bored too.  Finally, I suggested that Ethie read Lilah a book.  He's been very helpful with her lately and loves to make her smile or give her toys.  Sweetness!

So I got a few books out for Ethie and he layed down by Lilah on the bed and started reading to her.  He knows lots of sight words that we've practiced, so I always let him read those words when we read together.  He's gotten good at sounding out words too.  So I was listening to him read a book we hadn't read before and pretty soon, I realized that he was reading all the words!  My little boy can read!  It was a fairly simple book, but he was figuring out the words he didn't know, without my help.  

I was so proud of him and he got very excited and read five more books to Lilah.  It was so cute and they were both loving it!  Yay for reading!!!   

The big bowl and the snake

James told Ethie about the Super Bowl on Saturday and they went and bought some snacks and got psyched up to watch it together!  Ethie must have asked if it was time for the "big bowl" or the "huge bowl" at least a dozen times Sunday.  Although I could really care less about football, my guys' excitement was contagious :) 

We ended up going to Amber and Zach's to watch the game and had such a good time!  I just love that family and they have the cutest little girl, Meracohl.  Plus Amber made some amazing snacks (white chocolate fondue and virgin lime margaritas--can you say, Oh yum)!

Ethie ended up watching maybe 5 minutes of the super bowl, and we even missed the half time show because we were outside jumping on the tramp (in the cold and dark, but who cares?)!  The snake was definitely his favorite part of the night though.  He walked out with this huge snake wrapped around his neck (Zach had helped him, thank you) and a huge smile on his face.  No fear!

Ethie and Meracohl had fun playing together, I loved talking to my sweet Amber friend, Lilah loved laughing with Amber, and James had a great time watching the game with someone who cared about it. 

Yay for the Big Bowl (and a very nice excuse to see friends)!