Few pics

Party dress

(Thanks, Tracie D.!)

Hey Vi, I'm one!
Check out my new wheels

(Thanks, Aunt D!)
Hey, who you callin' 'cheeks'?

Guess who...

...crawled across our front 'lawn' today? The booger above.

I plopped Vi down so she could dig in the dirt and pull up hand fulls of grass (her new favorite thing to do) and turned around to begin weeding. When I turned back to check on her she was on her knees smiling at me. After putting her head to the ground (her signal that she wants to play a round of 'Where's Viley?') she just took off and crawled about 5 ft to the right. I was stunned. Since I didn't believe my own eyes, I sat down next to her and waited for it to happen again. A few minutes later she was off in the opposite direction (slowly, but surely)!

I find this entire incident extremely baffling because afterward we proceeded to go inside and she was playing on the living room rug...got in the crawling position and then boom...down on her belly she 'slithered' to her ball popping machine.

Will she only crawl outside - on grass for that matter? Has she been able to crawl for months and just not found her preferred surface on which to demonstrate her talents? Are the hardwood floors just too hard for her delicate knees?!?!!? What is going on here?!?!

I'm happy she's found her 'legs'...but very confused. ;)

I'll let you know how things progress. Rich swears it's because she was looking for golf balls in the 'ruff'.

Spring flower

The magnolia trees are in full bloom at our favorite park. That means the lilacs are three weeks away. ;) This Saturday, Violet enjoyed picking the little purple flowers carpeting the ground (she's holding one in the first picture above). I think she would have happily sat on this hill for a considerable amount of time, but the bees seemed to think we were infringing on their territory. I guess we were.

Violet has really been enjoying the spring weather. Her love for the outdoors seems to have increased with each month of her life. If I walk past the front door while holding her, she reaches for the door and screams if we don't walk through it. My favorite part of dinner is when we are finishing up and I ask her if she wants to go outside. Her eyes get big and her chubby finger points toward the door.

Cutie Patootie

C

Violet's violet throne...

Vi, what does a lion say?

13 Months

As Vi approaches the end of her 13th month on planet earth, I thought it fitting to provide an update on her latest and greatest. ;)

• Violet (and Rich) survived this week sans mom. I was flat on my back for almost the entire week with the flu. Thank God, Rich was not in DC. And thank God, neither of them caught it! Although, I have to admit, I was sad when I would hear them laughing and playing together downstairs because I wanted to be with them. I guess I was also waiting for someone to say, "We need you!"... ;)
• No crawling or walking yet! At Vi's 12 month appointment (which went very well - excluding the shots) the doc didn't seem too concerned since she is still progressing in the right direction. I mentioned how she has always been very content to just sit and watch the world go by and the doc confirmed that babies on the slow end of the curve typically have that personality type. So we are enjoying the days of moderate mobility while they last! I'm sure within the next month or two she'll be crawling and walking will probably first occur when she needs to catch the bus to kindergarten.
• It is official. Violet gets her appetite from my part of the gene pool. She'll certainly say yes when Grandma G asks her if she wants thirds of Christmas dinner...she loves just about anything - depending on the day, time and weather. ;) Yogurt, beans, scrambled eggs, pastina w/veggies, oatmeal, carrots, kiwi, grapes, blueberries and bananas seem to rank highest on the list.
• Vi used to say kitty quite clearly, now it's a bit muddled and I wonder if she's attempting to 'meow' in the middle of pronunciation. Vi's list of words/sounds are as follows: Dada, momma, ki'meow'ty, dot, brock (block), that (which is accompanied by a pointed finger), moo, meow, woof, GRrrr (following the question: What does a lion say?)
• Violet has perfected 'bootie-dancing'. That is - moving almost every part of her body to the music, with darn good rhythm, while seated. Dancing is this girl's favorite pastime. Hope to post a video of it soon.
• She's getting pretty good (yet still inconsistent) with identifying a few body parts. Rich and I usually have a good laugh when we ask her where X is and she almost invariably touches her head. But ear, belly, head and toes seem to be the most understood.
• Violet still loves her stuffed animals! She loves to give them kisses and hold Molly (the dolly) by one strand of yarn hair when sitting in her umbrella stroller. Also, her attachment to her blankies (yes, there are multiple) seem to become stronger every day. Not sure if I mind much (this coming from a girl who had her blankie until she was X years old...).
• Shapes seem to be the newest concept Vi is grasping as she is now successfully pushing her blocks through the appropriate shaped cut-outs on a few of her toys.
• Her affinity for books only grows, however, if there are more than one in view - time is usually spent stacking them, pushing them aside, dropping them, restacking them and holding one in each hand. Interesting...
• Regardless of endless episodes of assault, Hannah the cat remains one of Violet's most loyal pals. I really think that cat is senile...much to Violet's glee!
• OK - that's all I can think of right now. Look for another 'Viley' update around her 16th month check up! ;)

A few recent pics:

Snack time:

Don't I look like my cousin Danielle in this shot?

I think there's a monster under my crib...

Violet's first photo - snapped after attempting to push the button at least 10 times. I think we have the next Ansel Adams on our hands:

Viley, where's your head?

Happy Easter!

OK - let the celebration begin. We've got a big bouquet of tulips & a basket full of age-appropriate goodies (furnished by Grandma): Bunny teeth and my cute Easter dress (also from Grandma):Wait a second...what's the big idea, Grandma?I'm outta hare.

These Irish eyes were smilin'...

We went to the annual St. Patrick's Day parade this year and Violet (perched upon an oversized mailbox on East Ave) seemed to have a great time watching the local Irish dance troops show off their steps. Do I see a curly wig and bedazzeled, step-dance dress in Vi's future? ;)

The hat says it all...

Celebrate Good Times

As my Grandpa Romero would say, "It was a good day."

Violet's 1st Birthday was filled with friends, family, food and a ton of snow. Luckily, many people were still able to make it to her party despite the weather. However, Vi's family to the west and friends and some family to the east were snowed in and unable to make it. Guess we'll have to party again!

Thanks to Uncle Scott, Vi's day was well documented. Violet seemed to have a wonderful time surrounded by friends and family (for cake highlights - see the post below):

Bye everyone--thanks for a great party!
Later, dude.

Let them eat cake!

Vi's 'smash' cake:

What is this stuff?
Mmm, not so bad.
Man, somebody give me a fork...
Charlie: Um, Mom, don't you think Vi needs a little help over here?
Vi: Anyone else?
Tori: Mom, can I?
Lauren: Mom, everyone else is doin' it.
I swear, I didn't eat this all by myself!
But, she certainly ate a LARGE portion of it. I really think she would have eaten the entire cake if we didn't distract her and throw the rest of it out! It has been cofirmed - one of Violet's 5 teeth is a sweet tooth.

Here are a few of the big kids enjoying their cake too. ;)

Aren't birthdays sweet?

Aren't Grandmas the Greatest?

Don't worry Grandpa and Pop-pop, we love you loads too. But there is just something about being a mom that sets you up for greatness in the role of Grandma.

Violet is wearing and holding two of her favorite Christmas presents in this pic. Guess who they are both from...

Grandma's intuition I guess. ;)