Changing fast....

My lovely friend Alli sent me an email asking simply what Lilla has been saying. It turned into this super long essay on Lilla, but I thought since I mainly post pictures with some details, many are missing the day to day stuff. For those who read about and love Lilla, this post will get you caught up on the day to day actions of our daughter.

Yes, she is saying things (multiple things) but it lasts for a day. She is way into mimicking people. Example: last night she learned how to wink, or at least tried, however she may not be able to do this today....without some pratice. She likes this game where she falls backwards on the couch and thinks it's soooooo funny, anywho, we always count to three before she does it, well last night she wasn't saying the numbers but that making sounds when we would count like she was trying to count with us.
Her favorite words are momma, daddy, Bailey, and uh-oh. She understands who Grace, Dakota, and Auntie Rebecca are and if you ask her to see what they are doing, she'll go find out. If I ask her to go get her blanket, or a duck, or her sippy cup, she'll go get it. She also understands the word "book" and will bring one on command. She'll say words, but will forget the next day. Her consistent word is ball, but she's said cheese, and other words in the past, but the next day she won't be able to again. She is running.....not walking, running constantly and loves to squeal with delight if you chase after her. She is eating all the food that we do, however, some go over better then others. Our standard fall back is toast, a piece of ham, and some cheese. I can't get her to eat a vegetable to save my life, but keep giving them to her with the hopes that some day it will happen. She LOVES her spoon and fork and is very interested in getting food into her mouth by these means, and DO NOT try to help her because she will pitch a hissy fit. She is VERY independent, which I can't help but love and hate at the same time. She is still signing milk when she wants some, and is now letting me know she is hungry by pointing to her high chair, grunting/whining, and trying to climb up and in....by the way, have I mentioned she's a dare devil. It's come to the point where she just has to learn.....if you jump off the couch for the one millionth time, we may not be able to catch you and it may hurt when you land.
She LOVES to point at things and grunt/whine and get frustrated when you don't know exactly what she wants, and it's amazing what she will catch out of the corner of her eye. She is quite content playing by herself, if we're in the room with her, however, if we leave, she is the first to follow to see what is happening next. Bailey is always of interest to the bean, and she keeps an eye out for her. If we leave Bailey in the backyard to chill, Lilla does not like that and either wants to be outside too, or in about 5 minuets, she'll remind me that Bailey is outside and it's time to come in by pointing at the door and grunting. I think she also thinks we are starving Bailey because half of the food we give her goes into Bailey's mouth. If you've ever met Bailey....you know she is by no means starving. I like to think of it as Lilla being sweet and practicing her sharing skills, however, Bailey is supposed to be on a diet (vet's orders) so it's a work in progress.
Back to the outdoors, Lilla is very aware of her coat and loves to put it on, along with her hat although she has never really managed to get it on her head, it's usually lying balanced on the top of her head, but hey, that's pretty darn close. When we put her in the car, she has to have her blanket and a pile of goldfish to keep her content. Our back seat has about 50 million little gold fish swimming around.....we'll get to that someday. She also likes to put her PJ's on, we lay them on the living room floor and let her run around in her diaper (which is her favorite thing to do....she's not a shy girl) and sooner or later, she'll come over and lie on top of her jammies. She can get her arms through the holes, but the feet are a little harder and let's not start with the zipper. She can identify her nose, eyes, ears (with help), teeth, tongue, hair, and belly button. She loves her bath, but hates washing and combing her hair. It usually ends in tears.....but you gotta do it. And last but not least, probably the best thing for John and I is that right now, every time we pick her up from daycare or come into a room she smiles and runs to us. I don't know about John (however she has him wrapped around her little finger) but that about melts my heart everyday.

So, yeah, the changes happen pretty rapidly. I remember quite vividly sitting at her 1st birthday party thinking, "man, I hope she learns to walk pretty soon"......and now 4 months later, she is doing much more and at a rapid pace.....it's hard to keep up some days, but we try. =)