v.40

Today Lila is 40 weeks old. She also turned 9 months this week. "9 months in... 9 months out." this saying is science based, basically meaning that 9 months after a human is born it is on par with other mammals who are just born. Humans have a shorter gestational period because our heads are so big... Most mammals are born with the ability to walk, at 9 months Lila is getting there. Her balance gets better every day. As Andrew observed "shes really starting to put her feet flat now" She holds onto mommy or dada's hands and walks so fast. Lila has played peekaboo since she was very little. First with a see through scarf so she wouldn't be scared. Paired with a song "peekaboo, I see you, in your hiding place, peekaboo, I see you, and your smiling face... Peekaboo!!". Then it evolved into the where's Lila game, throwing a big blanket high and over her, quickly pulling it down. She giggled and laughed and loves it still. Now Lila plays her own peekaboo games. All the time... Behind a curtain, a couch (with Gigi), behind her clothes, a book, pretty much anywhere she can. Sometimes I can see her mouth but not her eyes. She gets so serious when "hiding" then soon before she peekaboos a big smile comes across her face. She is so proud.
We are really settling into the house. Lila explores but stays close to mommy. I never have to check on her, she checks on me. Since the house is all hardwoods I can hear her little hands slap slap as she crawls around.
Lila celebrated her first Christmas on Sunday. We woke up and Lila opened her stocking. She laughed when I showed her Santa had filled up her stocking. He brought her lots of little books about animals. After that we loaded up and headed to Wimberley. Lila was so excited to see we were t the unkies house. She loves those boys so much! Pappy cooked a pancake breakfast. It was yummy, Lila enjoyed the pancakes too. We opened presents, the unkies got Lila a stuffed horse which she rode on right away. It goes perfectly with her denim diaper cover from Addison. Pappy and Gigi gave Lila a awesome red wagon that she has already had lots of fun in. Avery handmade Lila the cutest little sock monkey. Lila giggles at its cute face. We had a nice time at the Sheltons but Lila didn't take one nap... WAY to much fun to nap!! So as it was time for us to start to leave she started to fall asleep nursing... Mommy had I stop this so Lila would instead sleep in the car on the way to the next Christmas. Lila was not happy with this and sadly protested until she was sleeping in the carseat. Daddy drove as Lila slept. We arrived at the Beer house and opened presents right away. Papa and Nana gave Lila a perfect little reading chair. It even has her name on it. We have the chair in we play area next to a couple of shelves with her books. Lila also was given a walker from the Beer family. She is still a little too young for the walking part of it (it slips out from under her) she loves all the buttons and noises. Lila was pretty pooped but had fun listening to Christmas music with Aunt Brandy. We had a yum-o christmas dinner prepared by Nana. We didn't make it until the apple pie, Lila was so tired we headed home. She fell asleep right away in the car and didn't even wake up when mommy put her to bed. The next day the beers and nana and papa came over to our house and dada fixed lunch. We went to the park and played on the swings. The rest of the week went by quickly, and Ikea trip, then daddy worked while Lila and mommy discovered Locomotion. Mommy worked, Gigi and Lila played. Friday morning dada worked then mommy in the afternoon. Afterwards Aunt Avery came over. We ate dinner, Lila had a bath and Avery read her a story. The hungry caterpillar. Lila has heard this story before but paid close attention to everything Avery was saying. Too cute. Lila has always enjoyed listening to the stories and looking at the pictures in books but in the past two weeks has discovered all the other things she loves bout books too. The pages! She has turned the pages in the past but now she wants to turn, flip, open shut... She can spend a lot of time trying to figure out everything they can do. She received a couple of peekaboo style books that she is absolutely crazy for. The pages open up and down too! Everyday she is discovering the amazing world around her. Today is the last day of 2011. We will spend most of the day playing with Avery until she meets up with friends for tonights celebrations. Dada is working but will be home in plenty of time for the ball to drop. We will ring in the new year at home, much like we did last year but now Lila wants to stay up until midnight too...

Locomotion

Today we went to a inflatable world.... They have an area for 2 and under. Lila had a blast. We will be back often.

In pictures....

Lila's first christmas in pictures....
Playing with all the gifts at Momals house on Christmas Eve.
Opening her stocking on Christmas morning.
Posing for a picture with the Unkies...
Christmas picture time!!!
Nap in-between houses.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Mommy is working part II

Yes mommy is working so the blog has been written ( I could never go back and remember week by week in such detail) but I was waiting to update until I had the pictures to upload too. This requires getting on the computer and I have not had ANY extra time. So I decided I will add the pictures soon, but publish the updates now.
Love
Ashley

v.39

Today Lila is 39 weeks old. Today is also Christmas Eve. The last week has been full of exploring. Lila loves the new house and is crawling around everywhere. She helps mommy unpack by sorting the clothes and pulling them out of boxes. It actually has been quite helpful. Lila and daddy got to spend some time together while mommy went to work. They love to listen to music and Lila loves to dance. Since it is Christmas we have been listing to lots of Christmas music and Lila really loved the from Charlie Brown Christmas music.
We discovered something so wonderful about our new house. We love a 5 minute wall away from Little Stacy park. They have bucket swings and a playground designed for 2-12. The park even has a wading pool that opens during the summer. We are going to be spending lots of time there for the next couple of years! Lila has loved being back to the park and swinging (now she just needs some baby friends). And at the park we have traded the ducks (that lived at Alice Keck in Santa Barbara) for all the squirrels that live in Little Stacy.

v.38

Today Lila is 38 weeks old. What has this week been full of? Lots of love and laughs and new things but between all of that was a lot of snot and whining and sneezing and not feeling too great. Lila got her first cold. Daddy and mommy shared in all the fun and both had a cold too. So the house is still a bit messy and things are still in boxes. Mommy still hasn't hung all her clothes in the closet. The weather matched our health this week, it rained almost every day.
Monday mommy and Lila went to the children's meuseum. Thy have a program designed for 0-3 years every Monday morning. The entire place is open to the babies and their moms ad dads. Lila was one of the youngest, most of the babies were actually toddlers. Lila had lots of fun during the music time. She loves to dance and shake along. They also had a great area with all sorts of things for Lila to discover and play with. Her favorite... The blocks and a golf ball, she held it for a good hour while she played with other things.
One of Lila's new things is to hold on to a toy for a long while. Mommy took her in the store and her held into a piece of pie from her play picnic set the entire time. Another one of her favorite things now is to take things in and out of boxes and bags.
She also made up a fun game with daddy, she folds out something to him (for example, her jacket) he tugs on it "give me that jacket" and she laughs and attempts to climb up the couch.

v.37

Today Lila is 37 weeks old. This week she became an Austinite. On Tuesday daddy waited for the movers while mommy and Lila spent the day napping and playing in Wimberley. We will miss the Shelton zoo. It was the perfect transition from Santa Barbara to Austin. The sunsets are amazing and unique there. It feels as though you can see the earth's curve and the sky hugging it. Lila will miss all the animals. She learned so much while we were there and grew up a lot. She got several teeth (the count is 8 with another top one popping through today), she started taking. First "hi" with a wave, then "dada", "hi dada", "dog", "cat", and in the last few days "quack" and "bye bye". She started waving, clapping, and mommy taught her to "tada" this week, which is both hands up and she throws her head back. Lila will miss the "unkies" who she can't get enough of. She watches everything Addison and Andrew do. She loves them so much. A special thank you to Gigi and pappy for having us in your home (and some of our stuff still in your home), we enjoyed it and really appreciate it.
The rest of the week was busy with mommy working, papa coming for a quick visit (Lila said bye bye for the first time as he was leaving), and running errands for the house. Of course there has been a lot of unpacking. Lila's new favorite thing is to unpack. Any box, bag, or object that holds other objects, she wants to remove everything inside. So everyone has been packing the house and starting to build our nest in Austin.

v.36

Today Lila is 36 weeks old. "Anything you can do, I can do too!". She might not be able to do it all, yet but she sure is trying. Lila is more able then ever to copy what people are doing around her. Mommy knocked on the window, Lila balled up her little hand and did the same. She calls to the dogs in wimberley and knocks for them. Mommy clicked her mouth and so did Lila. She loves click click clicking her mouth.
Lila also added a new word to her vocabulary. Da da da da. It is so cute. The first time Lila said dada Gigi was holding her hands and she was walking towards daddy. "da da da" she said. A few times. That night (or the next, I dont remember). Daddy had just fallen asleep and Lila and mommy were on there way to sleep too. Lila crawled toward daddy and stopped right at his face. "Hi dada". Mommy tried to wake daddy to tell him and Lila said it again "hi dada". Since then she has said "hi daugggk (dog)" and waved.
Lila loves being a little birdie and picking up prices of bread, fruit, veggie, or anything for that matter and putting it in her mouth. She also love Topocico, a yummy mineral water. Lila wants to do everything daddy and mommy do...

v.35

Today Lila is 35 weeks old. Today is also November 26, which makes Lila 8 months old.
Lila is making more noise then ever. She has a new word. I am not sure how to spell it maybe "chagg"?? Probably not. Mommy and daddy are not sure what it means. She says it a lot at the window to the dogs. First Abby, then Aggie and Hunter. But she says it when there is no dog around... Andrew also taught Lila to say "aaaa geee" and she does. Everyone loves Lila's sweet little voice.
Lila also learned to clap this week so she has been clap clap clapping away, even in her sleep.
Lila also started using her fingers to touch keys on the iPhone. She watches everything daddy and mommy do, and wants to do it to.
This week Lila celebrated her first thanksgiving. We went to momals house for lunch and had a big yummy meal. Of course everyone cared more about Lila then lunch, she had an audience. There was a cute puppy to play with too! And lots of cousins to sing and bounce with. Lila has been loving picking up bits of food to eat. Most winds up on the floor, or down her shirt but it seems like lots of fun. Lila got to sit at the adult table and enjoyed her bits of roll. She even had a green bean, and a taste of sweet potatoes. The tooth count is now 5. Three on bottom (I think bottom four is on its way) and two on top. We love her cute little smile.
A game she really loves is "I'm gonna get you". She tried to crawl away (or sometimes to you) so quickly. Or se laughs over mommys or daddy's shoulder while someone chases her. Lila also loves to get daddy in the mornings or anytime. She lights up and giggles all the way to get him. Lila mommy and daddy love you. happy 8 months.

v.34

Today Lila is 34 weeks old. The week last couple of weeks have been so busy and this week was no different. Pappy and Andrew celebrated their birthdays on Monday so the weekend was full of family and parties.

 Lila has a pretty early bedtime and unfortunately with so much excitement she has a hard time sleeping. She decided to stay up until midnight on Saturday. Andrew was having a sleepover and Laila wanted to stay up all night and play! Luckily for mommy she went to bed much earlier then the boys.
We all went to look for a house in the few hours of free time this week, Lila decided daddy can do the house hunting from now on.... It's no fun to sit in the carseat any more then she has to. Daddy and Lila got to spend Wednesday together while mommy went to work. Daddy hung a swing the front yard on Tuesday so Lila got to enjoy swinging again! Which she loves so so much.

 Thursday Lila and daddy went to work with mommy. Thursday was long... Waiting for mommy then driving to Longview to visit nana and papa. Lila fell asleep after the pit stop for dinner and candy. 


 But sadly she woke up very unhappy to be in her carseat again. "let me out!" she said. Poor baby couldn't fall back asleep in the contraption... So instead Lila and mommy played and sung songs and anything else to pass the time.... 


















We got to the Magown house at 10 and visited... Poor Lila, at 11:30 mommy put her to bed. Friday was very nice. Lila slept in and took a nice morning nap. She must have known she needed it because for the rest of the day we went antique (ing) in Gladewater. Mommy and daddy found lots of fun stuff and Lila got to wave at lots of people.
Lila had fun playing with Abby at nana and papas house. Abby wanted to lick all over her face, much to Abby (and possibly, Lila's) disappointment, mommy never let that happen.
Lila has been pulling up on anything she can, which is basically everything. Walls, couches, people, boxes... She wants to work on balancing... Because once she gets that down moving her feet is next. She can stand on her own for just a couple of seconds and either grabs back on or falls gracefully by just sitting down. There have been a few falls and a few cries but nothing a little cuddle can't fix.

Today we are going to visit daddy's grandmother and herb. The last time Lila saw them she was only 6 weeks old. Oh she has so much to show them today. Then we will be packing back up and making the drive back home. We had a nice time in Longview though it was a short trip. It is nice knowing we can visit more often and much easier now. We will be back soon.

Lila says "are we there yet?? Let's just stay put for a while please"

v.33

Today Lila is 33 weeks old. Last Saturday she decided to try standing on her own. She has been testing her balance by only holding on with one hand but that got boring quickly. She can stand on her own for a couple of seconds. She even turned around and then gracefully fell. She will either sit fall or catch her self and roll. Lila has also been bouncing and jumping all the time. She loves to dance to her new favorite song, "My Dog Rags" she laughs whenever the song starts. It is so cute! "I have a dog and his name is rags... He eats so much that his belly sags... His ears flip flop and his tail wig wags... When he walks he walks, zig zag.... "
Waving is one of Lila's favorite things to do. She waves and waves, sometimes the wave is paired with a little "hi!". The cutest little voice...

This week Lila has had so much fun watching the dogs and goat through the big glass door. She also loves all the room to crawl around in the Shelton house, not to mention all the extra love.
This week mommy started working again. Lila and mommy miss each other a lot during those days... Lila has lots of fun with daddy and with Gigi too! At the end of the day mommy runs to Lila as fast as she can. It's hard to be away from the person you have spent 24 hours a day with for 17 months....
On the road trip back to Texas Lila tried out a high chair at a restaurant for the first time and had the best time. Now she sits in one while mommy and daddy are eating. Out to eat she has fun playing with a straw or a spoon. Dinner time at home Lila sits in her seat and has been experimenting with food again. She is much more interested in playing then eating. That's okay because it's what babies should do, they eat for fun until at least a year old! It is nice to sit at the table and eat as a family. I love this little family.

Mommy is working....

A confession... The writer/photographer of the Lila Report has gone back to working at the salon... And visiting everyone and their cousin so... the next volume is still in the editing folder waiting for pictures...

v.32

Today Lila is 32 weeks old.  Lila went to many new places this week.  The grand canyon was nice, she took a nice long nap on mommy and had so much fun being carried by daddy so high.  Santa Fe was okay too but mostly because daddy and mommy were there.  The drive to Texas was long and Lila hates the carseat.  She is fine with the car.  It is fun, but the carseat, the straps the awful akward reclined position... Those things were not designed for comfort for sure.  Soon Lila will be ready for a new carseat anyway... One that sits up and that will last her the rest of the carseat days.  

When the family was almost to Wimberley they stopped in Fredricksburg and Lila had so much fun riding a mechanical horse.  Then after an hour in the car something even more exciting happened, the road trip was over.  

Lila recognized the Shelton house and was so happy to be somewhere familiar.  Then Gigi came home, and Pappy, then Addison and Andrew too!  She got to show off her crawling skills, and tell them her new sounds and words.  Friday Lila got to see Mommys work.  All the nice people and mirrors, pretty fun.  Also on Friday Lila added "Hi" to her wave.  First she did it at the salon and then later told Gigi "hi" with a wave.  Daddy witnessed it.  Mommy noticed Lila making the h i noise with her wave a few days before but it wasn't clear enough for everyone to see.  Little Lila is talking.  So cute.  Today Lila gets to see Nana and Poppa, Brandy, Jason, Gavin and Jack.  How fun to show them how much she can do. 

Lila had just made a routine for herself before leaving Santa Barbara, hopefully it wont be too difficult to settle into one again.  After 14 days of craziness (give or take a few ) and always waking up somewhere new, it will be nice to just relax and stay put for a while.... Then we will move into our house and settle  into our new life. 

Lila's routine varies slightly everyday depending on what is going on but generally it went like this; wake up 7:30 to use potty, back to sleep for 30-60 minutes.  Nap at 9 ish for another hour.  Noonish time for another nap sometimes a car nap sometimes a long one.  Then the afternoon is different maybe a nap around 2:30, sometimes not until 3:30 (or exhaustion at 4:30).  Depending on what the afternoon nap was like there could be a cat nap around 5 or just bedtime around 7... Lila still needs to eat all night long.  Mommy looses count because she doesn't really have to wake up (and neither does Lila)... Probably somewhere between 4-10 times.  Lila loves to cuddle all night long and has so much fun waking up between daddy and mommy.  Daddy and mommy love it too, these mornings will be happy memories to last forever.

Gallup to Wimberley

Grand Canyon Sunset 10.31.11

In Gallup we stayed at a famous hotel called El Rancho right off of Route 66.  Many old Hollywood stars have stayed there, and a famous Italian rock band was there while we were.   We ate breakfast and headed off for Santa Fe. 

 The drive was again pretty.  We pulled off a few times for Lila to use the potty but made good time and were to our destination around 1.  We stayed in a beautiful guest house of a Joanna's parents.

  It is about 15 minutes from the town, up on a hill, with views of every direction.  Susan gave us a wonderful dinner suggestion and directions into town.  After Lila took a nap we headed to town.  The Indian market was already closed so we went to dinner at a place called The Shed.  It was New Mexican style and petty dang good.  Lila sat in a highchair(for the first time at a restaurant).  She had fun banging on the table and playing with the spoon.  We watched another beautiful sunset on the drive back to the Miller's home.  

Daddy read Lila her bedtime books, then mommy put her to bed.  It was so nice to have a relaxing night in a beautiful comfortable place.  Lila woke mommy up just in time to see an amazing sunrise over the snow and cloud covered mountains.  Mommy and Lila danced and played and took a shower, then lila napped.  The house was so nice and comfortable we wanted to just relax and take our time before starting the 13 hours of driving in front of us.

  It was in the mid 30s and very windy.  We attempted to go to the Indian market because mommy wanted a price of jewelry by Lila had other plans.... We parked, twice, walked around in a circle until we realized the way to go, got to the market and Lila wasn't having it... So we walked back to the car and went to Trader Joes one last time.  

We will miss Trader Joes A LOT!! But the cashier said they plan to open one in Austin next year.  I sure hope so.  Lila loves TJ too!  The people watching is good there.  We gassed up and hit the road.      We sang songs and mommy made funny faces and daddy waved to Lila in the mirror.  We pulled over to use the potty a few times too.  We saw a beautiful sunset just after we drove across the Texas state line.  Lila had a bit of trouble falling asleep, who wants to be in a weird re lies position strapped down? Not Lila... With a pit stop to get out some energy and some help she eventually fell asleep and let daddy drive all the way to Coleman, TX aka the hunting Capitol of Texas.

  We stayed in a little motel that kind of smelled.  But the bed did its job just fine.  Lila woke everyone up at 7:40 so we were able to get on the road at a decent time.  The drive through the hill country was beautiful, cacti, fall leaves and hills full of green trees.  We decided to stop in Fredricksburg for some coffee, a diaper change and some stretching. 

 We were looking for an antique shop but didn't see one so looked in a few stores.  We walked by a horse ride so we popped in 50 cents and Lila has a blast riding the little pony.  

We were about an hour and a half from Wimberley and took a back back way.  It was neat to see the ranches and livestock on the farm to market roads.  We pulled into the Shelton zoo at 12:30 (daddy was right in with his prediction).   Gigi greeted  us soon after, Lilanwas happy to be in a familiar place, with a familiar face.  The trailer is unpacked and clean, the car is clean too... Now we live in Texas.  

v.31

Today Lila is 31 weeks old.  This week has been a big one.  The family packed and packed and said goodbye to Santa Barbara.  Lila has been playing with all the different ways she an use her fingers and hands.  Since mommy uses some sign language, Lila tries to talk with her hands too.  Her wave  has evolved from just her hand and arm up and down to now she goes side to side and holds it up.  During our trip this week Lila has gotten the chance to practice her wave to many people.  Some wave back and this makes her very very happy.  

On Wednesday night, after a day of driving, Lila was no longer consolable with any of mommy's games or faces or even milk... So mommy pulled out the comb and started brushing Lila's hair.  She loves it... But them mommy showed Lila how to brush her hair.  Lila grabbed the comb and had a blast brushing mommy's bangs.  

This week Lila learned all about camping.  She really enjoyed it.  She watched daddy build fires.   Got to play and sleep in a tent, and watch the leaves blow in the trees all day long.   Lila likes hiking too.  She got to hike and play in sand dunes.  She also took a hike to one of Sedona's vortexs.  She also just enjoyed strolls around the campground and sleeping in the ergo when she wanted to.  

One of Lilas new favorite things to do is hold daddy or mommy's hands and jump jump jump!  It is the standing version of her rocking before she started crawling.  She is closer then ever to her goal for the past 7 months... walking!