She ain't heavy, she's my baby...

Well, Lily just had her 18 month checkup, and the doctor confirmed what we thought we already knew-Miss Lily is quite the specimen of a long, lean, crayon-snatchin' machine.

"I love Cabela's as much as my daddy!"
Lily is 34 inches tall, that's 2 foot 10 if you don't feel like doing the math. Sound big? That's because the average 2 year old is 34 inches. Lily is in the top 3% in height for kids her age. Her weight is just above average; I've been a little worried about her weight, mainly because I have to put her in 24 month outfits so the legs will be long enough, but they always look loose. Also, I see other kids around her age with chubby dimpled everything, and I think "Yes, please!" According to Lily's wonderful pediatrician, her height and weight are following normal growth patterns, and she's just built to be tall and thin. As I was still somewhat convinced that feeding her the same things I eat (well, you know, except I give her whole fat dairy and more snacks) was somehow keeping her too thin, I joked that I nearly resorted to supplementing her meals with butter-frosted cookies and slim jims. He reassured me that providing her with whole healthful meals and plenty of snacks is the best way to go, and that if she is given fattier/processed foods, she'll actually end up eating less (since kids eat until they're satisfied and no more.) I love the way the pediatrician always ends our visits with a nice pat on the back and a reassurance that we're doing a good job with her.

"Gobble gob...brrr"
For the first time, we joined the Reyes side of our family for Thanksgiving tailgating at the Cowboys Stadium. With the enclosed tents, space heaters, and full turkey dinner, it was actually nice and cozy. But Lily decided she wanted to run around in the nearly freezing weather, so she and I didn't make it through the game.

Because my sister Jessica is expecting at the first of next year, she won't be able to travel to Dallas from Austin for Christmas. We decided to celebrate Christmas early over the Thanksgiving weekend. A few days beforehand, Lily, Julie and I helped Mom put the tree together and pull out Christmas decorations. We got into the Christmas spirit by placing Bandit's reindeer antler and bell set on the baby.

Also in the "isn't this why you had children" vein, we took turns with this snappy wig my mom had in the back of her closet. Here, Julie models the look complete with a Christmas bow.

Festive!
Glenn and I are approaching complete Grinch-ness this season. We are moving back to Dallas at the end of the month, so Glenn has said absolutely no tree. : ( And, because of our newfound financial responsibility (and, face it, because she won't remember anyhow) I'm considering buying Lily one little gift and putting the money in her savings account. I won't be able to get away with that in the future, so we should start stacking up now, right? In any case, I've definitely got my radio set to the Christmas station, and I'm ready for the holiday! (Grinch-ness and all...)

Qik - Highchair shenanigans by JoAnna Walton

Hirsute plumber and giant toadstool seek princess...

Well, we've just had our first *real* Halloween with Miss Lily. I was determined to do things a little differently this year, starting with what will be our traditional Halloween card. Most of all, I wanted to do a family portrait. Do most people just want to see pictures of the baby? Of course. But how often do you get to see entire families in costume? Besides, we have to take advantage of the fact that we can still dress Lily up as whatever we want. I came to the idea of Mario (me) Luigi (Glenn) and a toadstool (Lily), thinking I could thrift most of our costumes and slap together the rest. Unfortunately, I couldn't find denim overalls Glenn's size, and I had to come to terms with the fact that Lily would never keep a toadstool hat on her head. She won't even let me put a tiny clip in her hair, let alone a puffy hat. Changes were made.

Glenn didn't even bat an eyelash when he learned that he would be the toadstool. In fact, during our photo shoot at the River Legacy Nature Center in Arlington, he was totally into it.

Julie came along to take our pictures, while I tried to tell people what to do.


"where did Glenn go?"


I'm really pleased with how the photos turned out, and doubly pleased with my thriftiness-I spent less than $40 for all of our costumes, and I am so proud that I made them. (Okay, Lily's dress was a birthday gift, but I added the blue gem...) Wasn't she a sweet little Princess Toadstool?


We did our annual pumpkin carving at Julie and Steven's this year-what a blast! Lily got to decorate her first pumpkin using paint pens, while the adults carved out awesome designs. We finished up just in time to light them.




Lily got to pull out the costume again the night before Halloween, when we were invited to the Muhl's Halloween party. We had an awesome time eating cotton candy, taking a hayride, and Lily even picked out a mini pumpkin from the pumpkin patch (with some help from Pops).

I didn't have a costume, but lucky me, Glenn had left his costume in the trunk of my car. So, I got to be the toadstool! Here we are with Dr. Love, a Jabberwocky, and Ol' Metal Mandible.


When Halloween finally rolled around, we were a little Halloween-ed out, as you can imagine. Accompanied by my parents, we spent the afternoon at Boo at the Zoo, where Lily got to spend a little quality time with a sucker, and she fed the birds.


Immediately after this photo was taken, Lily swooped her left hand around and tried to snatch the poor little bird up, which flew off while squawking pitifully.
Here she is, just hanging out on a hay bale, out of the princess dress but with tulle aplenty.

We spent a quiet evening at home; I'm so thankful that she doesn't know what she was missing! Next year, I'm sure she'll be a candy-hoarding mad woman.

Dog days no more...

Our summer definitely went out with a bang! We've had a few busy months at the Walton household, and I've got lots of pics to prove it.

Per tradition, we celebrated our fourth of July at the Whaley lake house. Lily loved getting in the water almost as much as Bandit, pictured above after retrieving his duck dummy from the water. She continued the work she learned at the pool, but she wasn't quite as eager to spend as much time outside of her fish floatie.


She especially liked hanging out with Honey and Popola (who she just started calling Popeye), and caught on pretty quickly that the patio is the cool place to relax.


At the end of the month, Lily took her first plane trip, traveling to Florida to visit Pops and Judy. Judy was kind enough to welcome us to her beautiful beach home in Gulf Breeze, and did we have fun! There are way too many amazing pictures and memories, so I have to hit the highlights. Our first full day in Florida, we visited Pensacola and the NAS Pensacola, home of the Blue Angels. Seeing my Dad show Lily the aircraft, especially his beloved Corsair, was more special than I can say.

Here, Lily tries her hand at manning the cockpit, while Pops looks on proudly.

Later that evening, Lily took a dip in the sound. You can tell she felt right at home; I'm pretty sure this was just before she wandered back into the water on her own with Pops hot on her heels.

She also had her first ride in a boat later on, when Judy and I went parasailing. She loved it! As soon as the boat picked up speed, Lily closed her eyes and let the wind ruffle her hair. Then she started trying to roam from bow to stern, walking along the floor of the deep boat and holding onto the cushioned seats.

I wish I had taken pictures of Lily enjoying one of our many crab dinners, but when your fingers are covered in yummy crab juice, the last thing you want to do is grab your nice camera! We had an amazing time in Florida, and we were so fortunate to have been able to go. Big thanks to Dad and Judy for being such awesome hosts!

August saw the Marble Falls boat races. Lily's photo was taken for a local paper, but unfortunately it turned out to be just the back of her head! Here's a better pic, showing Aunt Jessie nom nomming on Lily's delectable fingers.


In one of our more adult decisions, Glenn and I decided to become members of the Fort Worth Zoo. We have made nearly weekly trips to the zoo since, and Lily is learning so much! Two weeks ago she learned to say turtle ("tuh-tul") while visiting with my dad. It seems she has a favorite animal, too--the Komodo dragon.


She likes the herpetarium more than I'd like her to (mainly because it gives me the creepy crawlies) but when she gets to the dragon, she bunkers down. She talks to it and squawks and gesticulates madly to passersby, as if to say "Check out this awesome thing over here!" Once, she even got on the ground and propped her elbow on the little step as someone went to take a picture of the thing, as if she were part of the display.

Lily continues to enjoy plenty of quality time with her Nana, too. Here, they're getting ready to tackle the zoo on a cool afternoon.


I can't believe I'm already getting costumes ready for Halloween. Unfortunately, I don't want to ruin the surprise of our holiday card, so no posts on that until after Halloween. I'll try to post some stats soon and a nice update of her vocabulary and motor skills. Until then, take care everyone!

Summer lovin'

Well, summer is definitely in full swing. Lily and I were recently invited for a girls' poolside afternoon with my good friend Jen. (pictured below, being sun smart, while I make my poor girl look into the sun, temporarily defeating the purpose of her shaded float.)



This summer has definitely proven to be more exciting than the last, when I was a bleary eyed zombie with spit up all over myself. I was super excited for the invitation to the pool, not only because girl time is priceless, but also because Lily had yet to take a dip! She did great. She kicked around in her float, making me, Jen, and Nickie fetch her a rubber duck that Jen had thoughtfully brought out for her. Miss Lily entertained us by blowing raspberries on the side of her float, and managed to get us all to drag her around a good deal. After a bit, I took her out of the float and let her float on her tummy. She was a natural! She kicked her legs straight out behind herself and kicked her feet a little. (My mom would have had heart failure.)


Did somebody say barbecue?

So far this summer, Lily has participated in several big summer activities. She has been to three blockbuster movies (the first movie she saw: Shrek 3) and did great through two; the third involved her running into an adjacent theater with her Pops hot on her trail. She attended a barbecue cook off, her first family reunion, and a play--we watched my friends Stanton and Kristen star in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." (Aslan/Father Christmas and Susan, respectively.) She did great at the play; I was surprised to see she was appropriately afraid of the White Witch and her minions.


"Are you sure we're related to all of these crazy people?"

Last week, we visited the Museum of Science and History in Fort Worth. I really needed to get out of the house, and Lily has been very energetic. We started with "Animalopolis," a short movie in the Omni Max theater. This is a giant, dome shaped screen with speakers behind it, so you feel totally immersed in the film. It was perfect; Lily was totally taken in by the animals, though she still thinks most mammals are dogs and says so, snaps, and barks when she sees one. The museum didn't have many exhibits she could interact with, but they did have a great age-appropriate play zone for her.


Can we go in yet??

Oh, and though not a real "activity" per se, I have to post this update: Lily's crazy hair can be coaxed into pigtails!! They don't stay in for long, but they are so darn cute!



This has been a great summer so far. My next post will cover our awesome Fourth of July. Until then, enjoy the lovely photo series captured by Jen (which gave me the idea for the title of the post.)

One is the loveliest number...

Well, folks, Liliana is one. Everyone says, "Oh gosh, can you believe it?" And you know what? I absolutely can. I'm not saying that the time hasn't flown by, or that I'm any less amazed by how much the girl learns every day, but in a way, I feel like she's just sort of always been here. Not that our lives before her were empty or anything, because I'm glad that Glenn and I had three years of marriage, and almost 6 years of couple-hood to enjoy each other.


But it's as if having a baby makes you appreciate each day, each month, all of the little landmarks a lot more. Yes, a lot can change in a month. You know what? Enjoy them. When I think of the weeks, months, even *ahem* years, that I've spent at jobs I didn't like, around people who brought me down, or just not doing more with myself, I am even more resolved to make the most of the opportunities that come my way.


We are so fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends in our lives, and many were there to celebrate Lily's first birthday. We had a little gathering on Lake Benbrook in far southwest Fort Worth. I had wanted to do a tea party. I even made up a little poem for the invitation:
The past twelve months have been such fun
now Liliana's turning one
please join us for scones and tea
as we celebrate Lily's first birthday party!
Well, I ended up making photo invitations instead, using one of the photos we took in the bluebonnets (posted below), and not having room for my little poem. And I realized that late May in Texas is not really the time for a tea party. So, we had finger sandwiches and iced hibiscus lemonade tea and watermelon strawberry agua fresca. Best of both worlds! Mom baked cupcakes, and we decorated them with these cool two toned marshmallows that I found by accident.

Lily got some awesome toys, sweet books, and adorable clothes. She is starting to rival Glenn and me combined with the sheer volume of clothing she's got!

She enjoyed the balloons at her party, and had a blast playing with everyone. Thanks again to everyone for coming out and helping make Lily's first birthday so special!

Church Giggles

Hello, everyone. After some friendly goading from friends and relatives, I'm finally getting back on the horse. Los Waltons have had some amazing times over the past few months that we have been away, and some pretty crummy ones, too. We are doing well and feel so thankful for our health and happiness. Most of the latter, of course, comes from the joy of raising our little one. (who recently turned one!!! That will be in the next post.)

At the last post, Lily was cruising. Now, she's a walking machine. On April 6th, while we were in Austin for Jessica's birthday and visiting Glenn's great-aunt Martha, Lily took her first step. I said "any day" in my last post--I guess there is something to be said for intuition, since it was within a week! While we were in Austin, we took Lily to Granite Shoals and got some amazing bluebonnet pictures.




Less than two weeks later, we were in Amarillo for the MS Walk. The team that I co-captained exceeded our goal of $2,000, and our fundraising concert was a success. Unfortunately, the walk was a total beating, as it was nearly freezing and drizzling, but it was amazing to see how many people came out to support such a worthy cause even in that weather! Lily stayed with her Nana and Coco and played with her cousin Blake while we were out doing our best to catch pneumonia.



On the complete opposite end of the weather spectrum, we have the annual Reyes-Barrera Family Reunion, which was held over Memorial Day weekend on the surface of the sun. All kidding aside, though, we had an amazing time. Because the Colonial Golf Tournament was taking place and the restaurant correctly anticipated a lot of business, Glenn couldn't be with us. But Lily had a great time getting to know all of our wonderful family and even took a dip in Lake Granbury (the actual location of the reunion.)



Lily has six teeth now, and she is doing much better with the teething. She is also saying a few words: hiyee, uh-oh, do(g). Instead of just barking at dogs, she also pants, which is actually, surprisingly, even cuter. She has moved beyond just shaking no and does yes now (looks like head-banging on most days), winks by squinting and focusing on whoever throws her the first wink, and "snaps" her fingers by flicking her index finger and thumb. She attempts to do "jazz hands" by doing a pageant wave with one hand, which is held high over her head, and wiggling the outspread fingers of the other hand, which is held out to the side. I've said it before--the girl is talented.

Lily is also discovering the joys of using the potty. I'm grossed out by the cutesy chamber pots for kids that never smell clean, so we bought her a cushioned seat that fits over the regular toilet seat. The first time on, Lily crossed her little ankles, leaned back, and went to town. I won't devote a lot of time to the subject, but we've gotten up to four successful trips to the potty in a single day, and that feels pretty good.



Now, there are many things about being a parent that are tough. Right now, I'm having trouble with my mouth. I rarely curse, really. But, because I'm hyper-aware of it, it's like it happens more! You know, like when you're in church and you get the urge to laugh, and because you're trying not to, it makes you laugh more? Now, imagine that with the four letter word of your choice.

Here's hoping that her next full word will be permissible on prime time television.