A naughty naughty girl

Ayla is really coming into her personality....she is a naughty girl. I say that with a smirk on my face because I have a feeling that I am looking at a 13 month old Mandy.   When Asher was learning and exploring, he did things to see what would happen. Ayla does things to see our reaction. She could care less about what she did, but wants to know if it was bad or if we care. Asher is learning to back off a little when playing with Ayla because she fights back by annoying him like crazy.  Ayla's favorite thing is to pull all the DVD's off the shelf (we don't buy them anymore thanks to the digital era). So we turned the shelf and put the train table against it so she can not get to them. No, Ayla crawls under the train table and still finds a way to pull them out.

Meal time includes Ayla eating and eating a lot! She is a very good eater. Here's how meals go: Ayla grunts and points to what she wants, you give it to her, she smiles takes a drink/bite then tries to hand it back to you. If you don't grab it right away, she throws it on the floor and moves on to the next thing. By the end of the meal, she is slouched down low in her high chair with a huge belly, happy as can be. She loves bananas, meats, cottage cheese, oatmeal, and cereals. We have noticed that if she gets full, she will still beg for food, but then hand it right off to Rex. Rex really likes this.

Bath time is great. She is a water baby. That transferred over to the pool when we visited friends a few weeks ago and stayed in a hotel. Ayla is our baby that has no fear. Asher is very wise and reserved, even shy. Not Ayla. And here I was, worried about Asher drowning when we go to the pool this summer. I think Ayla is the one I need to worry about.

Sleepy time is funny with Ayla. When she is tired, you better put her to bed or she will make your day miserable. She takes 1-2 naps a day. Usually a good 2-3 hour afternoon nap but sometimes a morning power nap as well. She isn't into cuddling with animals, but she will cuddle with her 4 pacifiers that are in the crib. She has on in her mouth and the other three in her hands snuggling. Bed time rolls around about 7:30 and she wakes around 7....with pacifiers in hand.  Now if you don't jump when she calls, she will throw her pacifiers across the room, then cry because she doesn't have them. See, Ayla is in charge.

We are on our way to walking! She has taken up to 8-9 steps at a time. Of course if I get my phone out to video she sits down and smiles at me. Little stinker. She will get it, and hopefully one day I will get it on camera.

Now on to our sweet boy Asher. He is so stinkin' smart! I give the credit to church preschool. That boy will sing songs, count to 20, tell me his letters, ask questions. He is just so smart (right Nanna?)! We have recently gone to standing up while going potty. That sparked a great conversation on why only boys can stand up to go peepee and Mommy can't.

When Ayla had her one year check-up, her stats were exactly the same as Asher's at that age: 18lbs. Crazy that it put her at the 13-18% and Asher was in the 3%. I notice that clothing is made differently for boys and girls. Ayla easily fills out 12m clothes, but Asher was swimming in them at this age. Asher is our little butt boy. For pants, he has to wear 2T for the length. But we have to cinch the waist all the way. For shorts, he fits well into 18m and 18-24m. Kind of funny if you ask me.

Here are some pics and videos from the past few weeks. Enjoy!

Our first Tulsa snow!!!

Our first double illness...just a virus

Fun hotel visit with Tiffany and Ollie

Visit to Gam Gam and Uncle Bry

And some of the daily life...

Ayla turned 1!

I can't believe it has been a year. What a year it has been!! Ayla is such a blessing in our lives and makes me smile and grit my teeth daily. :) These past few weeks, Ayla has found her voice. She doesn't make words, but has a lot to say. She is walking as long as she is holding at least one hand. Any day now she will take off on her own. Her best giggles come from Asher. She loves to take her socks off and play with her toes. When she hands you something (water bottle, phone, remote, toy, anything...) she is extremely proud of herself. The DVDs never stay on the shelf while Ayla is awake. She still loves her pacifiers. In fact at night I find her in child's pose (on her belly, butt up) with 3 pacifiers underneath her. Eating is her favorite past time. She will eat anything and a lot of it! She makes a weird grunt when she is being playful and just recently learned to blow kisses. One of my favorite parts of the day is waking Ayla up and then letting her wake Asher up. She jumps up and down in her crib when she sees me come in the door. Then when it is time to wake Asher up, she crawls so fast and giggles as she beats on his bed.

For her birthday, we were a happy family of four! We were able to Skype with Gam Gam, Aunt Missy and Harrison, Memaw, Papa, and Uncle Danimal during our birthday events throughout the day. We went to lunch at Baker Street Pub and Grill. Ayla and Asher both loved the bar games they had - especially the giant connect four! (yes, my children were playing on the floor of a pub). The weather was beautiful so we were able to spend some time at the park. Then HEART pizzas from Papa Murphys for dinner (a White tradition), and finished the night off with ice cream cake. Pretty darn good day if you ask me. See for yourself.

sneak peek of our photo shoot. She actually smiled!

resting up before the big day

New lunch box!!

Asher helped unwrap her gifts.

Her favorite toy! Asher did a great job picking this out.

Bar game fun!

Daddy where are you??

Cleaned up after all that cake!