Marco's Progression

I wanted so badly to keep track with Lily when she had major milestone accomplishments, but life with a newborn is hard, and I failed to record these "steps" with Lily. Therefore, I decided not to let the moment slip by with Marco, so I chose to "record" firsts by taking pictures. Eventually, I would compile all the photos together to show his progression.

August 12 - 6.5 months

Marco started eating finger foods by himself.

August 18 - 6.75 months
Marco is an expert roller and doing his best to get around from one side of the room to the other by merely rolling there.

August 18 - 6.75 months
After taking pictures of him rolling around, I decided to take his "7 Months pictures" (a couple days early) and he pulled himself up on the chair.

August 22 - 7 months
When I came into get Marco from his nap, he was sitting up and happily playing.

August 29 - 7.25 Months
This time when I came to get Marco from his nap he was standing up. He had pulled himself up and was so impressed with this new achievement.

September 2 - 7.25 Months

Marco gets really good at pulling himself up and crawling all over Mommy.

September 10 - 7.5 Months
Marco stood up by himself for the very first time!

September 14 - 7.75 Months
As Marco gets better and better at standing up by himself, he learns to squat, or crouch down, and then stand back up... He sure is working out those quads!

Between September 14 and October 1 - 8 Months
Marco learns to crawl.

October 27 - 9 Months
December 17 - 10.5 Months
Marco continues to pull himself up at home and use shelving to walk from one area to another.
Around Christmas time Grammy started walking around with him holding on to her.

January 14 & 24 - 12 Months (1 Year)
Marco takes his first step.
Marco takes his first and second step.

February 8 - 12.5 months
Marco walks alone with the aid of a walker.
And takes 3 steps between shelves and Grammy.

... And learns to crawl in and out of the boxes upstairs!

March 11 - 13.5 Months
Marco no longer crawls or uses the aid of others to walk. He now walks all on his own.

Based off of the way that Marco was standing on his own before he even learned to crawl, I was sure that he would be an early walker... but I was wrong. Like his big sister, he was very cautious and wanted to be sure of himself before falling down repeatedly.

Watching him progress has been fun and brings back such fond memories of how excited I was at each new achievement.!

Mommy's Birthday

Another year goes by and I feel like I should be kinder, more patient, or smarter. I feel like I should be able to check off numerous items from a to-do list, or a bucket list. I feel like I should have some great accomplishment to show. 

But I don't.

And I'm okay with that. Because I have two beautiful children who love me and think the world of me. I have a wonderful husband who helps me. And I have so many blessings to count and friends who are dear to me. 

And every year I'm able to reflect on all the love I've felt in the past year. And every year my heart is full of gratitude. And every birthday I am eager to see what this new year will bring.

But, this birthday was super low-key, and absolutely great. 

It started by opening gifts that the kids and my parents had wrapped for me.

And turned into the kids opening all the gifts.

I had a wonderful Thai food birthday lunch, went on a lovely birthday walk, spent some good quality birthday time with my family, and even made the kids birthday cake to eat for me!

Thanks for a great birthday!

Nursery/Preschool - Part 2

I don't know if there is a "Nursery/Preschool - Part 1", but I felt like I've written so much about how Lily just loves and adores the friends she makes at Preschool and at her Church Nursery.

I don't know what I did before Preschool. Lily adores her friends and the activities she gets to participate in at preschool. 

Ninety percent of the time when I asked her, "What did you do at preschool today?" She responds with, "Art." At first she was so hesitant to get her hands dirty when they painted, and only observed from a distance. That quickly changed when she tried it out and realized how much fun it is to get all messy! The first thing she does when I pick her up is run to me, give me a hug, and tells me, "Mommy I did art today!"

Picking her up is such a treat. I may have only been away from her for three hours, but when she sees me, so is so happy and eager to love me and share with me all about her day.

Of course, it's even better when Grammy comes to pick her up!

One of Lily's projects came home with us. She built a bird feeder and was anxious to hang it up and feed the birds. She wanted so badly for them to come to our house and eat her peanut butter covered donut with birdseed. She sat patiently outside our door for hours just waiting and waiting for the birds to arrive. They didn't. Not that day, or the next. It took about two weeks for the birds to come and partake of Lily's birdseed, and once they did - it was gone within a day or two. 

And while she only goes to Nursery once a week for two hours, she loves the friends that she makes there also!

It is secretly one of my favorite things to spy on Lily and see how she is doing. It's fun to watch her play without noticing me. She is so kind, considerate, and helpful to all the others in her class!

The last Sunday in February, our Ward (church congregation) was split into two separate congregations (pre decided by boundaries). Because of the split, we lost "Sister Fielding." Lily cherished this teacher because she often prayed for her during her nightly prayers. 

I don't think she grasped the concept that Sister Fielding wouldn't be her teacher anymore, but her parents sure did. She was great with Lily and really loved her. And that's all I could ask for... is teachers to watch my little girl and love her. 

I have really lucked out with how much love this little girl gets while she's not in my care. I feel blessed to have such wonderful people take care of her, teach her, and give her attention when I'm not around. I hope that this pattern continues throughout her lifetime as she gains new teachers and that they will continue to love Lily and help her to reach her full potential.