I'm WALKING!!!

"Folding laundry is fun, mom!"
"Okay, I'm sorting into colors I like and those I don't."
"Mom, where does this one go?"
"Man, doing laundry is exhausting!"

Yes, you saw right! On Thursday, Kyla took her first two unassisted steps from mom to dad. We are all really excited and she is very proud of herself.

Holy Tomato!

"I am such a princess. . .at least mom & dad better treat me that way."
"Grandma, you don't mind if I give your tomato a lick to make sure it is good, do you?"
"Hands off the tomato, grandpa!"

Grandma Baxter grew a 2 1/2 lb tomato, and Kyla became very possessive of it. Very funny! All is well this week with no exciting news to report. We do think her favorite color is orange. We have all the typical colors, shapes, and numbers little baby books, and every day without fail and no matter where we hide it, she wants to read the "Orange" book. You'll notice that is the same book she is reading in last week's post.

Baby Wrestling and Bedtime Stories

"Mom insisted that every baby needs a spaghetti photo. At least it shows off my pretty blue eyes!"
"This is my flirty look for the boys at school. Daddy says this photo explains why he needs something called a shotgun."
"Umm. . .excuse me? Do you mind if we go to my room, so I can read you a bedtime story?"
"Just follow me. . ."
"Ah, here it is. I'll read you this one!"
"Let me just get comfy here."
"So, this is an orange carrot. . .just a riveting book!"

We have developed a new Olympic sport in our house. . .Baby Wrestling. Kyla has entered a phase of not really wanting to sleep at night, because playing sounds so much more fun. So, we now need to wrangle the little one until she falls to sleep. I'm sure this violates a 1000 good parenting rules, but if all three of us get sleep, it works for us!

The Anniversary Gift Ken Made Me. . .

Ken turned and then carved this bowl for our anniversary. It is 8" across and made of Tzalam Sabicu (some Central American wood I picked up on one of my trips to Los Angeles). Just can't seem to take a picture that truly does it justice.

Top view. It is about 3" deep. Bottom of the bowl. Turned and then carved. Did I mention this is all of a single chunk of wood. . .nothing cut and glued?

Ken made this bowl for me for our anniversary yesterday, and I'm just in absolute awe, so I had to share photos!

Trouble in the Making. . .

"No, I'm not up to anything. You can go back to what you were doing."
"Credit card? Me? Nope. . .haven't seen one."
"Ha. . .Ha. . .got it. Now off to the internet. Disney. . .here I come!!"
"After a hard day of shopping, a girl needs her beauty rest."

Kyla is now into EVERYTHING. It is sort of like playing that game Perfection. . .can you get everything back in place before she pulls it back out? So far, she is winning! She is chatting away and really liking to look through books now. She is also looking through cabinets, closets, my purse, and anything else that she can fit a hand in.

13 Months and I Still Hate Shots!

"Can I get you guys something to drink?"
" Let me just crawl on over here and get that for you."
"Hey dad, don't try to steal my spotlight!"
"This is better than any roller coaster!" (It is also mom & dad's favorite picture. . .I think it is going on dad's Facebook page!)
"I'm not coming out until you promise all the shots are done!"

Sorry this is late. Mom has been really sick, and I had to have my one-year check (Okay, it was done at 13-months). Anyway, I was minding my own business, having a happy cheery day as always when mom snatched me and took me to the Dr. My new stats are:

Weight: 19 lbs. 12 oz. (20%)

Height: 2'4" (sounds much more impressive than 28") (10%). . .obviously taking after mom.

Head: 46.8 cm (85%). . .yes, that is my big brain!

I also got shots for something called chickenpox, measles, mumps, and rubella, and Hepatitis A. Whatever the heck they are, the shots hurt. I did get some cool Band-Aids, and I looked pathetic enough that they gave me my own cockatoo beanie baby!