Spoon Feeding

So this is a blog post that only a parent would get excited about: Lily feeding herself...with a SPOON! We've been practicing spoon-usage for a while now and the other night, she fed herself an entire container of yogurt all on her own. And she didn't even make a very big mess!

(And yes, this is a 3-minute video of Lily eating yogurt! :) )

A Walk in the Park

We took Lily to Huntley Meadows Park on Sunday. It's not your typical playground-type park. It's more of a woodsy with paved walking trails-type park. Lily walked her little legs off while checking trees and leaves with her daddy. Dixon had a good time too! More photos HERE.

18 Months!

Lily is 18 months old today...half-way to her second birthday! Crazy! She just gets more precocious, wonderful, smart, adventurous and adorable every single day. She is adding words to her vocabulary and she's starting to be able to string two words together like hi dada, hi mama, Dixon's bowl, mama's shoes, dada's toes, get down, no Dixon... We have also noticed that she is able to understand a lot of what we say (time to watch what we say in front of her!) and follow directions like, get your shoes, take this to Daddy, go get in your chair, etc.

She jumps, runs, climbs and talks a mile a minute while she's doing it. She has also learned a number of animal sounds, which she recites in the video below. The one I forgot to include was monkey. A recent development--when you ask her what the chicken says, she puts her hands up under her arms to make "wings" and flaps them up and down!

(Not the greatest quality video. I took it with my cell phone.)

Jump Like a Frog

Every week at Lily's daycare, they do a lesson that lasts all week. Last week, it was frogs. They did frog art projects and read frog stories. Somewhere along the way, she learned to jump like a frog, too. Lily spent all weekend showing off her jumping skills. She's still a little unsure of her footing, so she always holds on to something (or somebody) when she jumps.

And even more jumping...two whole minutes, if you're interested!

Testing 1-2-3

I have read that when they reach toddlerhood, kids start testing boundaries with their parents. Let's just say, Lily is definitely your average toddler!

We have noticed an uptick in the number of things she does lately that she just shouldn't do, for her own safety. Things like standing on chairs (she's a little clumsy, you see), reaching into the kitchen trash can, trying to run away from me in the daycare parking lot and using her hands to sweep all of her dinner off into the floor are a daily occurrence. The funniest part is while she's doing all of these things, she will look at you and say, "No, no, no." Oh yes, she KNOWS she's doing things she shouldn't! All a part of growing up, I guess!

Lily's Family

This week, Lily has started reciting the members of her immediate family. Over. And over. And over.

She says, in this exact order every time:

Dada....Mama...and Dixon...MEOW!

(Meow is Lily's name for our cat, Leo).

It's a Ghost!

This video does not do justice to the cuteness that is Lily hiding from us in our bedroom curtains. On this day, she would run and hide behind them then run out screaming when we got close to her. The video is so short because right at the very end, she fell down and screaming ensued. I edited that part out, for the sake of your ears.