Walk the line

It’s been roughly two weeks since I posted the video of Taylor taking three steps, and now I’m posting this:

.

Yes, this is our new life with a walking baby. And I can say WALKING baby now. Before, if asked, I would say, Oh, she’s taking a few steps here and there. Nothing consistent. And now I say, Excuse me? I didn’t hear you. I’m too busy chasing after my kid.

The sound of silence

I’m starting to learn that a quiet baby isn’t necessarily a good baby.

11 months old

Today is Taylor’s 11 month birthday. Eleven months old. You can’t see it, but right now I’m shaking my head in disbelief. One month from today, we’re gonna be wiping birthday cake and ice cream from her chubby cheeks.

And speaking of food, it’s hard for me to grasp that I’ll be able to feed her anything and everything in a month. Milk, peanut butter, berries. Yumminess. This past month we introduced pasta and crackers to her diet. Loved them both. Especially the Cheddar Bunnies crackers, which are just more-healthy, organic goldfish. Because I’m still a bit of a freak when it comes to her not eating junk. On our way home from the beach, we stopped at McDonald’s for lunch. Taylor’s first fast-food experience, and this mean Momma didn’t even let her eat any french fries or hamburger. Just banana puffs and her choice of peas or pears. And, just to spite me, she chose the pears.

The biggest milestone this past month was her walking. And while she still favors crawling over her wobbly walk, everyday she’s taking longer and longer strolls. Just in the past few days, she’s gotten stable enough to stand up from sitting without holding onto anything. Except her baby doll.

Speaking of that doll, it’s her new favoritest thing ever. Libba brought her this doll right after she was born, and because, at the time, it was about the same size as baby-T, I just stored it on the top of the bookshelf in the nursery. And last week while Taylor was pulling down all of her books, she grabbed her baby's foot, pulled it down and pretty much hasn’t let it go since.

And other than her baby and her books, she also loves playing with any of her toys that either shoot balls into the air or make lots of noise. Or, preferably, both.

And while her arms, legs and belly are growing, Taylor’s little personality is also starting to get bigger and bigger. She has always been a happy baby, but now she is just hilarious. She’s constantly laughing, squealing and dancing. Total cheeseball.

I feel like she does a little bit of growing up and changing everyday. This past month more than other months, I have felt truly blessed that I am able to stay home and be with her. And while it’s easy for me to get caught up with chores, cooking and errands, I have to stop and remind myself that I need to take advantage of every second with her. Because someday I’m not going to be able to take naps with her on my chest, dance with her to cartoons and spend hours giving her slubbers and kissing her cheeks. Yes, laundry and dirty floors will always be there, but for now I need to cherish every moment I can get.

Spring is back. For now.

In true Asheville fashion, we followed up last weekend’s snowstorm with 75-degree sunshine this weekend. And the heavenly weather was most likely a result of Princess Chele Whalen being born 26 years ago. Because God, like everyone else, loves her. So yesterday afternoon and early evening were spent soaking up the spring climate and celebrating my good friend’s birthday.

And while past birthdays of Chele have involved downtown scavenger hunts, rocking house parties and fancy dinners, this year’s baby-friendly fete had BBQ, baby food, beers and juice boxes.

Taylor had a blast at the party, mostly because her buddy Elliot was there. And I’m happy to say that there were only hugs, no bites, between them.

The final hurdle

It was no big surprise that Ruby was rather unhappy with us when we brought home her new sister almost 11 months ago. And in addition to the major knee surgery she endured during the first few months of sisterhood, the lack of attention and restricted couch time resulted in one peeved pup.

But after Ruby’s knee healed and Taylor became mobile, we saw some affection from our four-legged daughter to baby-T. First Taylor was scratching Ruby’s tummy, then she was throwing avocado over the side of her highchair. And now this –

BFF.

Snow daze

Something we’ve grown accustomed to during our past six years in Asheville is the always fluctuating weather. This past Thursday was 60-degrees and sunny, and Sunday night we got 3-4 inches of snow. And while most of my Midwest friends and family would just call that a dusting, it has been hailed as the most snow this region has seen since March of 1993. And it’s the most snow that Taylor has EVER seen. Which, of course, demanded me to wrestle her into her super-cold attire and throw her in the snow for some pictures.

Baby steps

So I had mentioned a few posts ago that Taylor had taken her first, wobbly step when Chris’s Mom was in town. And because Grandmas are Grandmas, Sue found the cutest, pinkest baby-walker in all of Asheville for the princess to practice with. And Taylor got the hang of it pretty fast.

Well, practice makes perfect.

Yes, those are four, FOUR, steps from baby-T. And if she can take four steps while holding the remote, dodging Ruby and tolerating my insanely annoying squeals of joy, I’d say she’ll be ready for the catwalk by her first birthday.