Sunday, December 6, 2009

Our Sweet Lyla is 1

This last Saturday was Lyla's first birthday. I can't believe it has been 1 year already! As all parents have said about their own children, the first year flew by way too fast! Nate and I are so proud of our sweet girl. She has been through so much in such a short amount of time with all of her treatments for clubfoot and she truly has handled it like a champ. Lyla is such a smart, funny, creative, and happy baby. Words truly cannot express how much we love her.

Here are some of the things that Lyla has been up to:
  • Still crawling, but getting closer to walking.
  • Babbling non-stop. She says little words here and there but mostly says "da da".
  • She LOVES to read books. She loves turning the pages and touching the pictures.
  • She has been getting into imitating us. The funniest thing she "imitates" is when she tries to nod. It's like she nods with her whole body while chomping on air.
  • She loves taking things out of boxes, bags, and shelves and throwing them all around her. Basically, she loves making messes!
  • She loves dancing to music.
  • She gives the BEST kisses and hugs.
  • She loves to just sit near mom wherever she is in the house and just play with her toys.
  • She loves to crawl onto mom's lap, sit down, turn around, crawl off her lap, look at mom, and then crawl back to her to repeat the process.
  • She loves all the many games that daddy plays with her.
  • She loves to sit on mom and dad's lap and just play with whatever knick-knack, toy, or book she has at the time. We love it!!
  • She sleeps like a champ. She sleeps from 7:30ish-8:30am and takes about 3-4 hours worth of naps a day. And she sleeps in the exact same position as her mom.
  • She LOVES bath time and splashing and eating the bubbles.
  • She LOVES when daddy comes home from work and get's SO excited!
  • She loves playing with mommy and daddy in the morning before dad goes to work.
  • She loves singing, dancing, and listening to music.
  • She loves the songs her dad has made up for her and will stop crying every time he sings it to her.
Anyway, here are some pictures of the beginning and end of Lyla's first year.

Our first family photo. She was such a stranger to us then, yet we loved her SO much already!

The fist time I held Lyla. She looks very concerned and confused, haha!

Sleeping on dad our first night in the hospital.

Her first bath right when we got home. She was so TINY!!

So tiny! I think she was just under a week here.

Lyla's feet when she was born.


Lyla's first casting appointment. She did SO well and just sat there patiently while her mom was sobbing in the corner. She was so much stronger than me!

Sleeping with her feet elevated.

Lyla, right before she got her casts off for good...
... and moved into this brace. She wore it 24/7 for 3 months straight and now only wears it at night and will for about 2 more years.


Since Lyla was born in December, the hospital gave us an oversized stocking that we could put Lyla in for pictures and stuff. In this picture, she is bundled up in a bunch of blankets and snuggled up in the stocking, still not reaching the bottom.

And this is Lyla on her first birthday in that same stocking! Look at how much she has grown!


By this point, she was done taking pictures in the stocking.

Lyla opening one of her many presents sent from family. Thanks again everyone!! This one she is opening is from Mike and Jen.

They got her a book and as you can see, she LOVES it already!

And after presents and shopping, we had Lyla's birthday cupcake.

We had to switch chairs because she fit in the smaller one a little better. She made a HUGE mess! You'd think she would make a mess of herself, which she did, but the bigger mess was what she threw to the side. Silly girl.

About to smash her cupcake even more...

... then after she destroys her cupcake with complete brutality, she looks up at us with an angel-like face to let us know she is finished.

1 Year Stats...
Head: 18 1/4 (75%)
Weight: 20lbs. 9 oz. (50%)
Height: 31 in (above 95%!!!)

Happy Birthday Lyla! We love you more than you know!!!