Learning New Things

I've been excited about the possibility of children since Rebecca and I got married, but when the thought of kids crossed my mind, I always envisioned them being between 1.5 and 6 years old. I've always looked forward to the endless questions, the learning new things, and the not pooping in their pants . . . I never thought that I would be able to see her learning so much this early.

As documented last week, she learned to walk. Every day, she walks a little further before plopping down to crawl a little.

She has learned to say Mommy, Daddy, Baby, Bye Bye, Hello, PawPaw (Robbie's dad), Gammy (Robbie's mom), Mama Bo (Becca's mom), Papa (Becca's dad), Rylee.

She knows where her foot, ear, nose, tongue, and hair are. She knows Patti-cake, the Itsy Bitsy Spider, and the Auburn fight song. She'll clap her hands when she is proud of herself.

She thinks that all dogs are named Beasley (Bobby and Kim's dog's name). On request, she will tell you what sound a dog, horsie, and cow make.

She also knows how to make a fishy face:

This age is much cooler than I thought it would be. I can't wait to see what you learn next Taylor!


Here's a couple of pictures I haven't shared on Facebook yet (which is the best place to go for pictures of Taylor since I update it more often).

Napping with Daddy!

Crazy hair:

Taylor's First Steps

For the last week or so, Taylor has gotten more brave in the world of walking. She would actually lunge. No steps were taken, but she got over the fear of falling enough to attempt it. Saturday was the culmination of that experience. She took her first steps. We were at Gammy and PawPaw's house (my mom and dad). She wanted mommy, but she was at the coffee table and mommy was pretty far away. She decided to go for it and here is the video:



After that, she was a pro. She demonstrated her skills again not five minutes later:

Bouncing a Ball

Taylor thought bouncing a ball with Gammy and Mommy was hilarious!

Halloween 2010

Taylor's first real Halloween (she was 6 days old and struggling to survive in the NICU at UAB on her first Halloween) was wonderful.  Is there anything cuter than a little kid dressed up in some animal's outfit? 

We originally fell in love with a lady bug costume, but were disappointed to find it was out of stock.  Rebecca found an adorable bunny rabbit costume for Taylor instead.  Carrot in one hand and milk duds??? in the other.

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First, we went to Gammy and PawPaw's house.  She loves Gammy and I think the feeling is reciprocated.

Next, we went to Faith Baptist Church's Truck or Treat to see Aunt Bethany and Uncle Steven.  From there, over to Mama Bo and Papa's house so she could hang out with her buddy, Tigger  . . . I mean, Rylee.  Don't ask me what toy lit up her face like she was on Star-trek.

Finally, we visited Uncle Chris at his house.  Look at the innocence on this little face . . . Doesn't that just make your heart melt?

Taylor Turns One!

I have been a serious slacker updating Taylor's blog as of late.  Today, I'll update on her birthday party and Halloween.  Rebecca actually posted on her birthday party so I will let her do the rest of the talking (note you can follow her blog here).

My daughter turned ONE!! My two pound ten ounce bag of bones that I have blogged about so many times before, is ONE YEAR OLD?! Someone please tell me where in the world the time has gone? I've been taking it a little harder than I thought I would. I've shed LOTS and LOTS of tears. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that she is growing up healthy and happy. I'm thankful that she started out so small with the odds stacked against her, yet she is and always has been healthy as a horse. I'm just sad that it seems to be happening at warp speed. I had such a horrible pregnancy and if you know me or follow Slide Rule then you can understand. I fear that I may never get another child and I'm trying my best to hold on to every second of baby Taylor has left. She loves me right now and I am her whole world. I'm certain the day is coming when she won't want to snuggle with me so much and I won't seem as cool to her. That breaks my heart. However, this weekend we celebrated Taylor's first birthday. We had a small party at our house with just family and one set of friends, who might as well be family! We had a blast. Taylor absolutely adores playing with other kids and so Sunday, she was in heaven! She wasn't exactly excited about playing in the cake...she's a girly girl and playing with our food is obviously for boys! Right?! She got lots and lots of sweet presents and the help opening them was endless. Thank you to everyone for coming and partying with us! Below are some pictures from the festivities!

One Year Pictures

Ok,  I know I haven't posted about her birthday party or Halloween yet, but I had to post some highlights from her one year pictures because they are awesome!  Our great friend and wonderful photographer friend, Rachel McPhillips (website here) took these wonderful photos.  She obviously does a great job and she is reasonably priced.  Check her out.

Taylor Races Daddy

Taylor challenged me to a race and who am I to say no to a challenge.  Alas, she won: