17months

17 months old! (words to follow, but for now, here's the pictures)

To NJ!

Proud to sit in her own seat (and Mom & Dad thankful to have an elusive free seat in our row!)

Playing with Sam by Babci & Djiadji's pool.

Playtime with Friends

July 4th weekend fun

Licking the Bowl

First time getting to lick the bowl of brownie batter!

Lovely Little Things

Smiles

Cleaning (we love kid-safe BetterLife products!)

Collecting

Creating (colored sugars)

Covered in yogurt... oops.

PhotoShoot Flop

Just in case you forgot what Eric looks like. He's not glaring, he's testing the light for me. It's horrible light. We tried to make it work anyway.

Lily looking to Dad for guidence. She's probably thinking, "This session is so over, why are they trying to make this work?"

My one half-decent shot. And I hate feet shots. Hense my brother will later make me take 76 feet/shoes only shots for his wedding. More on that later. The wedding, not the feet.

This post is for those who mentioned how unfair it seems that I always get great shots of Lily on photo shoots. I don't. I just (usually) only share the best ones, and sometimes we have to try again another day!

Things We Love

Lily loves paying the bills..

And sorting shoes...

Standing on her head...

Cuddling her stuffed animals...

Playing with friends (Happy 2nd Birthday Phoenix!)

and wearing too-big shoes (that's a "that wall hit my eye... here!" face).

Adventures of Everyday Life

Walks with three... and a single stroller... interesting. Thankfully someone came along to take my picture so this could be documented. This is, however, not the first time I have done this!

Lily and B* think it's a jumper built for two!

Starfish baby takes over Momma's pillow. (How can such a small being take up so much space on the bed?)

Best play spot for the blocks is obviously the couch, sans cushions.

Thinking she was going to um... decorate... the floor, I reminded Lily where pee goes. She ran to get the keys and put them in the toilet. Well, it was close. And yes, she's wearing sunglasses.

Lily loves to brush her teeth. So much so that they will probably fall out from too much brushing instead of too many cavities.

Lily, 16m

16 months old...

You are full of smiles, even on frustrating and long-tiring-worn out days. You make us laugh all.the.time. When we tell you that we love you, you tell us you love us back. When we say "good night," you sign "night" right back, over and over until you are sure we have seen.

You love strawberries, and always let us know that you want them if you see them in the store, or hear someone talk about them, or even if you see a picture, or find a toy strawberry. You get very frustrated when you can't have that strawberry right then. You love watermelon too. We cut it from the rind but leave a bit of red so that you can carry the still-juicy rind around and eat it with two hands. You like squishing little pieces but you love eating off the rind. You sometimes hand it back when you are done, and other times you put it in secret places, like your toybox or under the seat of your ride-on toys.

You know your friends and family by name. Sometimes you ask for them, especially when we sit down for meals and you see the empty high chair next to you. You usually prefer R* be sitting there with you. You have started to discover little differences and remember things that surprise us. You remember things people said and what goes where and how to open things that aren't for you. We let you open them if we can, because it's so good to see your little brain working away, thinking, growing.

You and Engine are getting along well now, but you are a bit frustrated that you can't say "Meow." You have a pretty fine grasp of "Moooo" tho, so for now, most things say "Moooo." Sometimes you call Mommy "Jess" and Daddy "Hun" and that makes us laugh. But mostly, we are "Momma" or "Mom-meee," "Daa-daa" or "da-Dee," and Engine is "N, Cat."

Every single night, when you are just falling asleep, we tell you how much you are loved. How much God loves you, and how much we love you too.

"You can do it," Momma whispers. "I am proud of you, I love you."

"You are lovely," Daddy says, "You are so worth fighting for."