Laney at 13.5 months

Look at how long her hair is getting?! I cannot express to you how fun Laney is at 13.5 months! Let's see...what is she up to?

• She's RUNNING all over the house as fast as her little size 4 feet will take her, hiding our t.v. remotes from us in every room thus far, and turning off the computer right in the middle of a great blog post/email.

• She's taking trash out of our trash can in the kitchen, playing with sandwich baggies(see pic) from the kitchen drawer that we can't lock, and loves to carry the phone around and call places like China or England by hitting a thousand buttons.

• She cries like CRAZY when we come in from being outside, stands at the front door and cries when Hugh leaves for work/school, is saying "Daisy" pretty clearly now and loves to go pet her.

• She's understanding a lot of things in Spanish and in English. I will tell her "Abre tu boca" (Open your mouth) when I'm feeding her, "Toma tu leche" (drink your milk), and "Dame un beso" (gimmie a kiss). She gives us kisses when we ask in English and in Spanish, gives her baby doll kisses too. We're working on "Sientate and levantate(sit down and stand up) and "Uh-oh, se cayo!" (Oh no, it fell!). I like that one b/c it rhymes. I wish I had someone with which to talk to in Spanish so she can hear actual conversation. (Leah, come on back to Wake Forest!)

• She says "Yee-Haw" at times from a song played by one of her toys, runs around the house practicing her r's saying "rrrrraaaahhhh! rrrraaaahhh!! rrrraaahhhh!!", talks like crazy in her own little language, likes to get underneath chairs and desks only to find herself stuck and unable to find her way out(where she then starts to cry for help).
• She loves to open and close the cd player/alarm clock in her room and take the night-night cd out(and throw it around the room--she's doing it right now actually), loves to push the grocery cart in Target, and unrolls the toilet paper and eats it(do they have toilet paper locks? ha!).

• She stands up in every toy and is hopefully learning that she's not supposed to do that(although she still smiles and laughs when I say "No" and give her the one cocked eyebrow look)....oh, I could go on and on. I'm definitely getting my exercise running after her, but I keep reminding myself what a blessed time this is. I'll never get this time back, so I'm trying to enjoy every second, even if at times I can't get anything done because I'm chasing her. But that's why I'm at home. I want to enjoy every moment of her sweet, little life.

Today I want to call Mimi, Nana, Daddy at work, and oh, I can't forget Grandaddy in Iraq, Papa and Grandpa! Then after that, I have to call all the Great-Grands. Whew, I'm going to be here all day!

Laney thinks getting out our sandwich baggies is so much fun! :)

Laney loves her new Foogo sippy cup! It's stainless steel and keeps her drinks cold for up to 12 hours, which is really important when you want to keep milk at an acceptable temperature to keep bad bacteria from growing. I bought this when I realized that I had the sippy cup that wasn't BPA-free (Bisphenol-A, a substance used in the production of polycarbonate plastics that has estrogenic properties and has been shown in animal tests to cause a host of health problems, has brought the issue of potentially toxic plastics into the news over the last few years, and both parents and manufacturers are starting to catch onto the idea (plastics industry efforts notwithstanding) that safer plastics and even non-plastic materials can be used to make durable and attractive baby bottles and toddler cups. Check out Sippy Cup Showdown for ratings on the approved sippy cups.

Laney has finally show a slight interest in a blanket. She still doesn't ask for it or cuddle with it yet, but this is the first blanket she's held and carried around the house. That's a start!