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Classy Collage Blue Baby Announcements

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First apple

Lydia concentrated very hard to be able to eat her first apple. Then she spit out most of the skin so I am not sure how much apple she actually ate!

Catching up

Lydia tries to keep up with all the latest news.

Busy, busy, busy

Lydia has discovered Rush Hour Safari and she likes playing with the animals when she is not busy with Elmo or her "babies" which need a lot of moving around from stroller to cradle to swing to cradle to swing to stroller to cradle to the kitchen to the car to have their teeth brushed etc. She has a particular attachment to my sister's Cabbage Patch Kid doll. As soon as she saw the Cabbage Patch Kids she said "Baby? Please?" and she has been dragging them everywhere since.

Bucket List

In July, my parents came to visit and we crossed an item off my bucket list which was to visit the Jello Gallery in LeRoy, NY. I love how Lydia looks awkward in this picture.

Cousins

Caitlyn and Lydia got to hang out for 2 weekends in July when Dawn and Nate came to visit. It was fun to see them interact more now that they are older.

Where have we been?

We spent 3 weekends this July at Delta- here Daru and Lydia sleep on the trip to Delta for the 4th of July weekend.

New hairdo

Amanda got Lydia to cooperate enough to put up her hair in a rubberband. She likes it!

Rainy day

It was so warm when it rained last week, we went out to play in the rain.

14 months

We have almost hit the 15 month mark but here is a picture from Lydia's 14 month birthday. We've stopped the weekly Elmo picture and are hoping to remember monthly ones. I think she looks so old here- and like she needs a haircut!

We are doing what?!?

We are going to put this in the water?!?

Bicycling

After some initial hesitation with wearing a helmet (including real tears), Lydia decided that riding a bike was not as bad as she had thought.

Happy Father's Day- belated!

Lydia thinks her daddy is #1. (Or she might see an airplane, but she does like him)

With the gators

We let Lydia hang out with some alligators in NC. One of the days we were there we went to the NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island since we got in free because of our zoo membership. She liked the fish and turtles, but we aren't sure if she could pick out any of the live alligators.

Out of order

I never posted any Easter pictures, but here is one of my favorite pictures of Lydia on her second Easter.

Lydia hits the beach

We went to NC for Doug's week off and headed first to the Outer Banks for a few days. Lydia loved the beach even though the water was too cold to swim in. She had a great time playing in the sand, chasing birds, walking and getting her feet wet.

Lydia, until a few weeks ago, would eat anything and in large quantities. She has started to get a little more picky and will shake her head "no!" if you try to give her something she doesn't want. Her main favorites of the last 2 weeks are bananas and hard boiled egg. No more cottage cheese loving!

The Real Birthday

For Lydia's actual birthday, we took her to Moe's since kids eat free on Mondays. I know this is a little hypocrtical since I wouldn't give her real cake, but I gave her fast food. She wolfed down an entire kid-sized quesadilla and loved the helium balloon. Then we came home and she ate another entire "cupcake" and some ice cream!

Cousins

Lydia loves to play with Matthew- he makes her laugh all the time!

Lydia turns 1

So my next few posts will probably be highlights from the celebration of Lydia's birthday numero uno. These come from her birthday party with family and friends the Sat. before the real day. Yes, I confess I turned into anti-sugar mom and made Lydia her own special strawberry banana muffins (further confession: I made them with applesauce and whole wheat flour) while all the other guests were allowed to have real chocolate cupcakes with frosting. We did put whipped cream and sugar on top of Lydia's to make it more authentic. She was not so sure about the whole experience partly I think because she had never been given such a large chunk of food to navigate on her own. So she took off all the whipped cream and just ate the muffin in large chunks- the whole thing! She did get to try ice cream too, but we think it was too cold for her the first time since she didn't love it. Doug was a little concerned.

Lydia feeds herself

Well, she can feed herself with a spoon...if she feels like it. If not, she will cry with the spoon an inch from her mouth because she doesn't want to put it in herself. Where does she get this stubbornness?

Winter break

I got to spend the week with Lydia a few weeks ago when I had the week off and we enjoyed looking out the window at the snow one afternoon.

Baby proofing

We still have some work to do on baby proofing. At least this drawer is not full of knives!

Lydia can pull herself up anywhere

However, she cannot brush her own hair yet.