Those precious first steps!!

Yep, we are first time parents, and we are SO, SO excited that Taylor has reached a new milestone - her first steps towards being a full time walker!! We decided that we would pull out the video camera to capture her taking her one or two little steps that she was managing, but Taylor had bigger things in mind!! The first time we hit "record" (the first part of the video clip), she all of a sudden took off and walked all the way from Ryan to me without falling!! We couldn't believe that we lucked out and had the camera out when she hit this first milestone! Yay!! This was literally 20 minutes ago, and Ryan and I are sitting here, grinning from ear to ear, and Taylor is now cashed out in bed, fast asleep. She wore herself out.

Don't mind our messy house, and overly excited voices... :-) Here it is.....

Play!

Couldn't help but to post some pictures of our play time together today. :o)

Giving the floor a "hug"

Reading books

So excited!

Crooked smile :)

How many times can one little girl spin these little blocks? Let me tell you...LOTS!!

"I want to climb in, mommy!"

Sometimes we have a little bit of drama, too...

Such sad little eyes!

Little sweetie

Channeling her inner "Jane Fonda" :-)

LOVE!

Weekends in B.C.

We have had quite a few weekend trips to B.C. lately to visit 'grandma-mem' and 'grandpa Randy' - birthdays to celebrate, special visitors in town (the great grandparents), and sometimes a road trip just because. :-)

Two weekends ago, we went down to celebrate my uncle Scotty's birthday, and had a fun dinner out.

Here is the birthday boy and his cake (you can't tell very well from the picture, but he had a moose and Gumby drawn on his cake - very much a "Scott" cake. :-))

The celebration included birthday hats, and all!

We didn't get very many smiley pictures from Taylor that evening - poor little thing was not feeling well and came down with a fever the next morning...

But she still enjoyed the balloons...

And found it rather interesting to feed Uncle Jeff some of her bread :-)

This past weekend we went to B.C., ... just because... :-). Visiting my parents house is like taking a mini vacation to a lovely place where there are good memories, stocked cupboards, homemade meals, high ceilings, big windows and comfy couches (side note: Ryan and I desperately need a new couch, and after our visit we were reminded even more that we will eventually need to get rid of the hand-me-down one that we have, and get one where you could actually feel comfortable!) Anyway, I digress. :o) It was such a nice day, with no plans other than spending time together!

We used a camera a total of TWO times while we were there, (crumb!), but here are two pics we managed to capture...

Showing Taylor my piano playing skills (what is left of them!)

Also, we FINALLY got to go on a walk while visiting. I LOVE my parents neighborhood, and it has a great mile and a half paved path around the perimeter. It had either been too cold, rainy, or snowy during our visits, and we just hadn't gotten the chance yet until yesterday! (Loving the spring-like weather, by the way!)

I am hoping that during our next visit over Spring Break (or sooner?! :-)), it will be even warmer outside so we can go out, again. Also, rumor has it that the great zoo near their house is re-opening in a month as well! It is going to be a fun spring!!

13 Months

I don't plan on writing an update about Taylor every month until she is 18 :-), but for now, she changes so much week by week, I love to document what she is up to!

Taylor, here is what is going on as you turn 13 months old...

* Wearing size 3 diapers, and size 12-18 month clothing (you DO have a GAP sweatshirt that is 2T, but it is roomy so you can wear it longer)

* You are still sleeping great at night - bedtime is somewhere between 6:30-7:15, and you sleep until about 7am. Your morning naps at home are good, but you are not taking regular morning naps at daycare - too many friends to play with! :-) Your afternoon naps are great and are at least an hour and a half long.

* You are starting to show your strong-willed side. When you don't get something that you want, or we try to redirect you, you will lay on the floor and cry out of frustration. You can be quite dramatic at times!

* A third tooth has made its appearance - this time on the top! We think that the 4th one is close behind...

* Your ball tent we got you for your birthday is now a favorite place to play. Pulling things off of shelves, opening drawers, unrolling the toilet paper, taking all your magnet letters off the refrigerator, unfolding folded laundry, and tearing up mail are also favorite pastimes. :o)

* Your eating habits constantly have me on my toes. One day you will eat something, and then the next you won't. You will shake your head if I try to give you something you don't want, or just throw it off your tray. You're getting a combination of pureed food and finger foods. It is like trying to hit a moving target when making your dinner - sometimes we hit the bullseye and you eat great, and sometimes it feels like all you eat is oatmeal and yogurt. You LOVE your oatmeal, and I joke with your daddy that I may have eaten too much oatmeal when I was pregnant. It might as well be a food group on its own I like oatmeal so much, and it is quite apparent that you do, too! We are still working on weaning you - both from nursing and the bottle...it's taking time!!

* You had a food allergy test, and your first blood draw (sniff, sniff), but everything came back normal, which we were very happy about!

* Da-da is something that you say constantly, with a few mama's thrown in there sometimes. You also hold your hand up to your ear like you are talking on the phone when we say "hello" to you. It is quite cute.

* You are SUCH a snuggly girl. I. LOVE. IT!!! You give hugs all the time, and also will lay your head on the floor, your blanket, a pillow, a stuffed animal, and then look at us as if to say "I'm being snuggly right now, aren't I cute?" :o)

* I love to read the book "Goodnight, Moon" to you before you to go to bed. You like the black and white pages the best. It is one of my favorite parts of the evening.

Pictures!!

At 12 months old...

And now! (These are the best I could get - we might be reaching the end of being able to get pictures on her blanket!)

Silly girl - covering up her face :-)
 

Little sweetie in her little snowsuit...hoping that we don't have to use this much more this season!! 

Taylor and I hanging out on the couch, sharing an apple together

Little sweetie...

The many faces of Taylor (don't mind the post-nap hair :o))

Peeking out of the bathtub

Brush those teeth!

Having fun making faces at herself in the mirror - a brush in each hand... :-)

Love, love, love you, Taylor!! :-D

Things that soothe...

Taylor has things lots of things that she loves. Two things in particular that she loves are her "paci" and her "blankie". If she makes her way to her room, these are the FIRST things that she goes for.

Video: Saying "hello" and just hanging out...

Taylor likes to mimic us. One thing she has learned is to pretend she is holding a phone up to her ear, just like she sees mommy and daddy do, when we say "hello" to her.

Another favorite pastime of Taylor's is to play, roll, and flop around on mommy and daddy's bed. She loves our down comforter!

Poor little lady... (yet we are so lucky)

Today, Taylor had her first "poke" as the nurses called it. Taylor cried. I cried.

To give you a little background, I have never been a fan of needles, (but who has, right??).  I am the person whose hands get all clammy, I have to close my eyes, and move as far away from the needle as I can get. I actually cried the first time I donated blood when I was in high schol - the tears just started flowing about 2 minutes into the process. The poor Red Cross worker didn't know what to think. :-) It has gotten better, but it is still not my favorite thing.

But I would face a needle - any day, anytime - if that meant that Taylor didn't have to go through it.

We had a doctor's appointment today to see if Taylor had (as I feared) a third ear infection. We JUST finished our last round of antibiotics when Taylor became miserable with another fever, so it was back to the doctor again! Sure enough, her the inside of her little ear was very red (I got to see it for myself!), and we discussed the next step. Part of what I LOVE about Taylor's doctor is that he will take the time to talk and answer questions, regardless of how busy his schedule is. We did some outside of the box thinking about Taylor's ears, and based on some other symptoms, we decided to do a food allergy test. That's where the "poke" came in. We left the appointment, and headed over to the hospital. From the moment her sleeve was pulled up and the tourniquet was put on, Taylor was beside herself - she has never screamed so hard. Poor little lady.

But not five minutes after it was done, she was snuggling and cooing in my arms (her hold may have been a little tighter, but I didn't mind. :o)).

And I couldn't help but think about how LUCKY we are that Taylor has been so healthy, and I was thinking about all of those other mommies and daddies that have to watch their child go through SO much more. A little blood draw would be nothing. 

Nobody prepares you for the worries of being a mommy!

But here she is, happy and playful (and a little tired, if you can't tell by her eyes), and she probably doesn't even remember what happened. My goodness, do I love this little girl.