Layli turns 1 Year Old!!

Look who turned 1 year old!!

On January 23rd Layli turned 1 year old. It's so hard to beleive it's been a year already. It seems like just a few days back we were bringing her home from the hospital in the middle of a snow storm and feeding her with a syringe. It's gone by so fast. But it has been amazing and we are so excited about watching her grow and change.

We decided to have a party for Layli and invited all her little friends. We sort of forgot that with her little friends would come all of their parents (of course, they were invited too!) and the party became pretty large pretty quickly. But it went great, and I think everyone had a good time. We did anyway.

Some of Layli's guests.....

Her cousin, Rumi

Her friend's Damien,

Rylan,

Zoe

Time for Birthday Cake!! We sung happy birthday and then the older kids helped to blow out the candles.

Layli enjoyed her cake but didn't make the mess we were hoping for. We wanted to get the famous 1st birthday cake all over the face shot. No such luck.

Now it's time to open presents. Yeah!! Layli was very interested in tearing the wrapping paper. She enjoyed all her gifts....Thanks everyone!!

Damien and Layli with their Dads!

Layli at 11 Months

Layli is Eleven Months!!

I can hardly believe she will be one year old in a week. Where has the time gone?? She's doing great. Growing quickly and doing/saying new things daily.

We found an awesome deal on a ball pit and are so excited for Layli to play in it. She loves balls!

She loves to sort/move things from one basket to another (or just out and onto the floor). She's so much help when folding laundry.

You can tell that she's concentrating when she's sticking her tongue out.

Layli at 10 Months

Wow, Ten Months Old!!

Layli is becoming more and more comfortable on her feet. She is becoming more confident and independent, not stuck to mom and dad quite as much as she was when she first learned to walk.

Layli loves spaghetti

My parents came to visit and brought their dog, Buddy. Our neice, Rumi, loved to go inside his kennel and play around.

Grandpa reading to Layli

Layli at 9 Months

Nine Months Old

Time is going by so quickly. Layli is growing like a weed and changing everyday. Her little personality is coming out more and more. In her ninth month Layli learned all kinds of new things including how to walk and how to clap her hands. She also got her third tooth!

This was before she started walking on her own. She was still crawling, pulling herself up to stand and walking holding on to things. She would let go and try to stand on her own as well.

I had to put this one in here because this is how she would often sit. She'd sit on one leg folded underneath her with the other one up. It was really cute.



She figured out that she could take a few small steps after letting go of whatever she was holding. She would also stand up in the middle of the room.

Right before she started walking unaided, she would grab our fingers and pull us around so she could practice.

Back and forth and back and forth!

We went to visit our friends, the Eady's, in Cedar Rapids. Bahia (below) and Layli took a little ride on a car merry-go-round. Layli didn't quite know what to think but Bahia really loved it.

Unfortunately, I don't have photos of her when she really started walking on her own, only video.