Leila walks very fast now, zooming around the house bouncing off of the furniture. She's picked up a chipped front tooth and the bruise on her chin is fading somewhat. She loves loves LOVES to walk though so we all just enjoy it. Leila walks to the local park every afternoon to play on the
swing set with Daddy. She reminds Daddy that it's time to get in the stroller the MINUTE he gets home every day. Everyone likes the walk and the swinging, and Mommy likes getting a few minutes to relax after a long hard day of wrangling a one year old.A few weeks ago the three of us visited Pritchetts (Becky & Papa, Paula & Jim) and Nunnallys (Aunt Amy, cousins Sarah and Rachel) in Thomaston, AL. Mommy even drove down to Mobile for cousin Roman's baptism.
Sunday evening Mommy & Daddy's good friend Mrs. Elizabeth came over and played with Leila for a few hours while Mommy & Daddy went to see the new Batman movie with their friends the McGregors. Daddy liked Batman very much and would probably go see it again if arranging entertainment for Leila was simpler.
Frida the dog enjoys being Leila's best friend, even though she gets her ears and tail pulled a bit more than she'd like. There's always spare baby food to be had at the base of Leila's high chair. Sometimes Leila and Frida conspire to force Daddy to walk the two of them at once. Leila says "Sit! Sit!" and points at Frida's leash. She does this because Mommy & Daddy both order Frida to sit! before we attach her leash to her collar. Once Leila gets going with the sit-sits Frida joins in and starts to jump around until Daddy gives in and we take off pulling back on the leash with one hand and pushing forward on the stroller with the other. It gets complicated when we have to navigate curbs but Leila and Frida enjoy it so much it's worth the bother.Mommy has finally gotten Leila to see the fun in coloring and so they color each and every day. Leila is very enthusiastic about it, carrying her crayons all around and coloring on any surface she can find: Refrigerator, floor, television, wall at the children's museum, Frida, Leila's clothes, but
mostly she just colors on paper. The picture at right shows Leila coloring a page stuck to the refrigerator. Perhaps she is reproducing the ultrasound of herself that is being used as a magnet.Mommy and Daddy are searching the area for a good in-home day care for Leila to enjoy once school starts up again. The state of Tennessee has good resources for identifying and rating the different options in our area. Hopefully Leila finds someone as much fun as Mrs. Elizabeth.
