Videos of our Star!

Lydia is getting more and more fun and animated everyday! My parents found a fun walker for her and she was having the time of her life! She could move so much more quickly than normal! She definitely prefers 2 legs to all fours. I also like seeing how she reacts to my family. I want her to be familiar with them and not feel like she's seeing strangers everytime. Although, she still plays shy with our friends that we see a few times a week. Hmmm...we'll get through this. As long as she warms up quickly.



She's enjoys playing more games with us too! She likes Peek a boo, especially with Daddy because he gets really animated! I love how excited she gets in this video! Her legs are jumping up and down and she is ready for the next pop!

Updates!

So many things going on! It's hard to know where to start! So, I'll start with the more recent and work my way back.
Lydia went to the doctors yesterday for her 9 month well checkup! Wow! I'll write more of a letter when her 9 month birthday actually rolls around. But here are her stats. She is a very strong, healthy little girl! She weighs 20 lbs 3 oz, which is the 78th percentile for her age. And she is 29 inches long, which is the 97th percentile!!! Such a tall little girl! No wonder she towers over her friends! They aren't small! She's just big! And it's no wonder with how much she loves to eat! Lydia is meeting all of her age development goals. In fact, they didn't even have any questions on there about taking independent steps yet! She's passing them all up! She's just so full of energy and curiosity about everything around her! I love that little girl! I'll let you know more about some of her other developments in her letter next week. For now, just know that she is strong, healthy, and still only takes a few independent steps by herself (thank goodness!)
Lydia and I spent some good girl bonding time!

David has been taking tests like crazy this week! In fact, he is taking his last one right now. (Good luck David!) So, this has been a pretty tiring week for all of us! I have been trying to keep Lydia and I busy so that we don't kill eachother and so that David can study. This week has been very difficult and it's only a taste of what things are going to be like once David starts really studying for Step 1!

We were able to go see my sister, Brittany a couple of weekends ago for her to give her talk in Sacrament meeting, to celebrate her birthday, and to say goodbye before she leaves for her mission in Berlin, Germany. It was fun to spend a little bit of time with her. Right after we got in the door and sat down Brittany asked if we want to open our Christmas presents (we do sibling exchanges each year, and Brittany had our name). She was super excited and wanted to watch Lydia open her present. As expected, Lydia was super excited about the wrapping paper, but still liked the book too.
And David and I got the best present ever!!!
Okay, she didn't really give us Lydia, but it's an adorable picture anyways! We also really liked the Sequence game and the baby book!!! Thanks Aunt Brittany!
The next day we went to Six Flags Fright Fest with my mom and Neil. My dad was still at a work conference and Brittany had to work for her last day. David and I have already turned into duds! We didn't want to go on any rides and just wanted to watch the shows! It was fun and that's all my mom and Neil wanted to do too. We also enjoyed trying on hats in the gift shop!

On Sunday we enjoyed listening to Brittany's talk in Sacrament meeting. She did an excellent job talking about her preparation for her mission. She has done so many things in being an example of Jesus Christ and his gospel. We are so scared to share our testimonies with others sometimes, but we really shouldn't be. I still love how Brittany ended up taking an entire class period in her English class one time sharing the 1st lesson of Joseph's Smith's vision and the Book of Mormon because her teacher knew she was a member of the church and felt the rest of the class needed to understand what the church really believes. I wonder if I would have had the courage at that age to do that. She really will be a great missionary! We love you Brittany and know you will bless the lives of so many people in Germany!

The rest of our time has been spent doing fun little things around Galveston. We go to the aquarium, splash in the swimming pool, play in the sand at the beach, and enjoy time with friends.
I have also been working on Lydia's halloween costume. We're going to do a photo shoot of her later today after David's test. It is so incredibly cute and perfect for her!!! I'll share pictures of it soon!
OH, and so everyone knows. I'm so sorry I have been awful at updating pictures! I finally added Octobers in there. But there are also a ton more in the September folder. Enjoy! I'll try to be better about that!

Little Stinker!

Can it really be time for this already?!!! I don't think so! But she sure does! Here's a sampling of what the little lady thinks she's ready for. I'm already missing my little baby! She's getting so grown up!

Happy 8 Months to Lydia

I could have sworn I wrote Happy 7 Months just last week! Wow! I think that each month just keeps on getting shorter and shorter! We are having so much fun together and are able to do more together. Here's to hoping this next month slows down a bit! (Knock on wood!)

Dear Sweet Lydia,

There are so many words I could use to describe you. Curious, energetic, social, yet shy, sweet, kissable, occasionally huggable, focused, outdoorsy, water-baby, fearless. These are just a few that came to mind. As I talk more about your explorations this month, they will make more sense.
As I wrote about last week, you got your first tooth this month! However, Happy 8 Month Birthday to you! You got your 2nd tooth on Monday (your official 8 month birthday!) So, you now have your 2 bottom front teeth! I expect some more this month and soon enough you will get to explore all those foods you want to eat off of our plates!
Here are some more of the many things you have done this month:
*The most often commented on is your amazing energy in getting around! You are getting so close to walking! You constantly pull yourself up onto everything and explore your way around. You are so quick at walking along furniture. Another little (yet huge) progression this month is your standing! You have stood up for about 10 full seconds before squatting down to the ground. You don't like falling on your bum. You slowly squat down and then sit. You have such good control! Though I don't like to admit it, I think you will definitely be standing on your own for a whole lot longer this month. On occasion you make your own free step too when something is just out of your reach and you're already standing up. I was thinking about getting you a walker toy, but you're advanced enough on your own. I think that you will progress just great at your own timing without me pushing you along to walk sooner!
*You can pick up little foods and put them in your mouth now! This is so great! You love having little foods on your highchair tray and feeding yourself. And you know food when you see it! You move so fast to get to it!
*You can hold your own bottle. Though I love the opportunity to snuggle you close, so I still feed it to you most the time. It's great that you have the capability of being more independent.
*You are such a social, yet shy little girl! I love it! You love being around people and don't like being left out of the loop. Yet when we go out in public and people start talking to you and playing with you, you bury your head into my chest. You love watching people though. However, you make people you don't know work so insanely hard to get you to smile! I guess it's good that people need to earn your affections! It makes me feel a bit safer.
*You are your momma's girl! You love being outside enjoying the fresh air! It doesn't really matter where we go. You just love being outside. It can be at a park on a swing, curiously exploring the grass, crawling all over the sand on the beach and into the water, walking in a stroller on the seawall, or just sitting out on our balcony. In fact, probably your favorite place in out apartment is next to the balcony door! You spend a lot of time playing there with your toys.
*You will finally eat meats! You still make faces at us as we feed them to you, but you eat them.
*And best of all, you love playing with us! Whether it's peek a boo, this little piggy, pat a cake, or making train noises as we feed you. You smiles are contagious!
I love you sweet Lydia! I wish you could stay this young forever, but I know that each age will have many joys. You will always be my sweet angel. Keep using that curiosity and energy for good.
love,
Momma