Little George Washington

We have been having trouble with Tate getting out of his bed at night and coming into our room. So we created a chart for him to mark the days he stays in his own bed and when he does it five days in a row, he gets a new toy. 

So, the first night, he is very excited about this and asks if he can go ahead and put a check in the box since he knows he is going to make it all night. I agree. He puts a check in the box and goes to bed in his room. 

And around 3 a.m. guess who crawls over my head and into my bed? 

The next morning he wakes up and gets out of my bed and doesn't say a word. He comes back a minute later, sniffling. I ask what's wrong. 

"Go look at my chart." 

I go to his room. He has put an "X" over his checkmark. 

It's like George Washington and the cherry tree. "I cannot tell a lie."  

We're still trying to get to that new toy...

Lily Jane is 1 year old

Happy Birthday to Lily Jane!

At her one year appointment, her stats were: 

Weight: 24 pounds (90%)

Height: 30 inches (75%)

Head: 18.5 inches (90%)

And in terms of milestones, she started crawling at 8 months and walked for the first time on her birthday. 

But it's her personality that is most worth noting. Our baby is best described as feisty, fearless, and fabulous....  

FEISTY

We should have known early on that she was going to be a stubborn one with lots of, shall we say, "spunk." 

The colic of her first two months translated into a charming stubborn-ess and attitude later. She doesn't put up with much, and is not afraid to let her feelings be known and be known LOUDLY. She likes to chatter and we carry on full-length, animated conversations. She also will fight for what she wants, will not be tamed by a television, and does not like to sleep (she didn't start sleeping through the night until 11 months).  All of these are reasons we affectionately call her "The Honey Badger." (Honey Badger don't care)  

FEARLESS

The most noticeable difference between Tate and Lily Jane is in how fearless she is. Tate has always been very cautious and careful. Not LJ.  Where Tate feared Bill Murray, Lily Jane gave him a big smooch the first time they were introduced. Where Tate would scream during the car wash when he was an infant, Lily Jane laughs and squeals. Lily Jane likes to climb, and she loves to tackle Tate wherever he may be sitting. (And she can almost take him.) In this picture, she careens around the house with the walker like she's Dale Earnhardt Jr. Tate would toddle very, very slowly and carefully. 

 FABULOUS

And, of course, she's our little diva. She loves playing with shoes and clothes, and she is already trying to put her own shoes on and dress herself. She loves wearing hats and sunglasses and pretending to talk on the phone.  She has a few words: Da-da, Ta (for Tate) and Ba (for ball). 

She may be a feisty, fearless, fabulous toddler, but she'll always be our baby!