Pushing Laundry

So it has almost been 2 months since I've posted to this blog - so much for New Year's Resolutions! And since it has been so long, I've been trying to think of something incredibly cool or awe-inspiring to post so that people will forgive my blog absenteeism. However, that's not really going to happen. Instead, I'm going to post about the one thing I talk about to anybody who will listen - how cute and sweet and talented my daughter is.

I honestly can't believe how fast Lydia is growing up. She is doing something new almost every day. Steve and I stayed up one night just talking about all of the things Lydia can do now. Some of them are the "normal" things that parents brag about, and some of them are things that probably only we think are cute, but I decided to share a small list of the things she is doing right now that we think are really cute.

1. Lydia loves "helping" her Mommy. She always wants to be in the same room and often tries to copy everything I am doing. I am often in the kitchen, doing the dishes, and she comes and tries to help me load or unload the dishwasher, or put things in the garbage can -whether or not they go there. It's nice to have such a helpful daughter, but I have to keep a really close eye on her to make sure she doesn't throw anything valuable away!

2. Opposite of "helping" Mommy, Lydia also loves to take things out of boxes, bags - pretty much any container holding things should be empty, in Lydia's view. I often find her after she has just emptied her diaper bag or the cupboard under the bathroom sink. Her most recent discovery is relieving a toilet paper roll of all of its toilet paper.

3. Lydia has recently started to walk, and walks everywhere she can. She best accomplishes this by pushing objects - toys, furniture, you name it. She often pushes objects while looking straight down at the floor rather than where she is actually going. This causes her to run into a lot of walls, which is frustrating for her.

4. Lydia loves to vocalize. She babbles all day long. So far, the only actual words she can say are "Daddy," "Uh-Oh," "Hi," and "Eye," but she loves to say nonsense things all day long. One of the cutest things she does is that she stands at a window and points at things outside and yells at them. We're not quite sure what she's trying to say - we just know it's absolutely adorable. I just hope that she learns the word "Mama" pretty soon - I'm feeling a little left out.

5. Lydia loves to learn. She is learning the parts of her body right now, and loves to point out her eyes to anybody who will listen to her. She then will poke the unfortunate listener in the eye several times, all while saying "Eye, eye, eye, eye" over and over and over again. We're trying to teach her other things, but eyes are her favorite.

6. Lydia loves reading books. She loves when Daddy reads to her especially, because he always makes fun sounds and voices. If Daddy is not around, she tolerates Mommy reading to her, but she will also pick up a book on her own and turn the pages while "reading" to herself aloud. It's absolutely adorable.

7. Lydia is an absolutely independent eater, except for bottles. If she is eating table food, she refuses to let us help her eat. She HAS to feed herself. However, if she is drinking from a bottle, she wants to be "babied" and will only drink if we hold it for her. We're trying to wean her from this habit - and she does better with Daddy, but she thinks it's Mommy's job to baby her.

8. Lydia loves playing with other children. If there's another kid in the room, Lydia makes a beeline towards him/her and tries to play. We think she's going to be a little social butterfly.

9. Lydia definitely came to the right family - she LOVES music! She has a few musical instruments, which she loves to play, but whenever she hears music, she will try to lead it like a choir director, or claps her hands to show enjoyment.

10. Lydia loves to dance! She will dance to music or to silence, but she just moves her body back and forth, back and forth, and she loves it when we join with her in the dancing.

11. Lydia is a climber. We have no stairs in our house, fortunately, but she climbs up on furniture or anything else she can.

All in all, we are pretty fond of our sweet little girl, and can't wait to see the new things that she'll learn this year.