A Week's Worth of Living

I can't believe it's actually been a week since my last blog!
Here's what's happened since then...

Leila's really been practicing her head control lately. Last Wednesday, she spent a bit of time hanging out in her bumbo with me and her Aunt Rebecca. She's getting stronger every day!

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On Thursday, Leila and I went to surprise her Deedee with a visit to her school. Being one of the few people I know that has never been a teacher, I forget that teachers aren't like other people and can have visitors come to see them while they are at work! After suddenly coming to this realization recently, we couldn't let the year end without Deedee's teacher friends meeting the baby they've heard so much about this year! Not only did Leila meet some of the teachers, but she got to see Deedee's school class, too. Luckily, Deedee kept the kids quiet so that they didn't scare Leila, and she kept them in their seats in order to keep any possible contaminating germs at bay.

How cool is it that Leila's Deedee even has a rocking chair at her work?!

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On Saturday morning, Ryan and I took Leila and Ella to the dog park. It's only the second time I've worn Leila facing out in the moby. She seems to prefer it that way. I don't, because I can't see her!

That night, we went to Deedee and Grandfather's house to have dinner for Ryan's birthday. Leila's Uncle Brent and Aunt Renae came, as well as Great-Grandma and Papa Watson, and Cousins Gail, Sammi, Charlie, Fiona, and Sully. Grandfather had just bought a brand new bright red scooter, and we all spent some time out riding it (Leila stayed inside with her Deedee). It was Ryan's birthday, so he got what he wanted. And, what he wanted was to get a really "sweet" picture of himself and Brent on that scooter.

Ryan and I took a ride together, too. And, I even took it out by myself! I didn't do too badly, except I'm rough on the turns since I'm a little too timid when it comes to leaning over!


Here's Leila chatting with Cousins Charlie and Sully.

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On Sunday, there was a baby parade at church for babies under 3 years old. We all had to gather together in the prayer room before it was our turn to go out on-stage. Here, we got to talk with Katelyn a little bit. Well, Katelyn actually did the talking, since Leila was still asleep. :) We even got to hear her say Leila's name! (Lalelele)

Here are all of the babies and their parents, waiting to go on parade.

We also got to see Ian and Preston. They seem really interested in the sleeping baby, but what they really like is the pretty little piggy! :)

Leila slept pretty much until we went out on stage, and her daddy took good care of her! He even let "Uncle" Oscar take a little nap with her on his chest! :)

After church, Leila hung out for a while with good friends, Diane and Connie, and "Aunt" Alyssa. Ryan came over and tried to show how he can make his baby girl laugh. She wasn't exactly in a laughing mood, but I think he did get a smile or two.

Sunday was Leila's 3-month birthday, too, so we had to take a picture. The top one is the best, but the other two are typical Leila. In the second one, I think she discovers her gold sandals and, in the third, she's already bored with them and moved on to other things.

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Sunday night, Leila fell asleep unexpectedly at 7:30, so she didn't get her bath or her vitamins or anything! (I think she must've been pretty wiped from the crazy weekend, and I think she may be going through a growth spurt, too.) So, on Monday, I was changing Leila's clothes, and she started hugging her giraffe again. She really does hug it, but my camera doesn't take pictures fast enough to catch it, since she moves so quickly! Here is what I did manage to catch, though.

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Yesterday morning (Monday), I came to understand the reason for the need to strap a baby into a bouncy seat. I put Leila in her seat and went to take a shower. When I came out, this is what I found...

It looks like her feet are touching the ground, but they weren't. She was still kicking and bouncing herself up and down!

That night, Leila took a late nap and woke up at an oddly late hour. When her Aunt Rebecca got home from work, Leila was very interested in her and kept looking at her from across the room in an oddly obsessive way. We thought it was hilarious!

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Tonight (Tuesday), we went to my parents house for Ryan's birthday dinner. Aunt Rebecca entertained Leila on the way there. She still loves that Olivia!

Leila doesn't know how to kiss yet - Aunt Rebecca says she was trying to eat her Olivia. But, she sure looks like she's giving it a kiss, doesn't it?

We made sure that Leila got her naps today, and Nan's house is always nice and cool, so we all did a pretty good job of setting the stage for a great evening with a happy Leila. [I'm not 100% positive yet, but it looks like a pattern is emerging, and that Leila is going to be like her mommy in that she gets very cranky when she gets hot. :(  ]
During her happy-awake time, Leila hung out with Poppy for a while...

...And Uncle Jesse held her for the first time! I think he feels better now that she doesn't seem quite so breakable. :)

We put down a colorful blanket that Nan has from when Aunt Rebecca was a baby, and Leila laid on it for a while while we ate dinner. Once she got bored, we pulled up a chair, brought in Nan's Bumbo, and let her sit like a big girl at the table. She played with her plastic keys that her Nan bought for her, she worked at getting her bracelet rattle into her mouth, and she looked around, taking everything in. We can hardly believe how much has changed in just 3 months!