8 months old

Sitting at the table

 Walking behind my dinosaur

We have been having so much fun around here with our sweet, baby girl.  She is growing up so fast and learning something new all the time.  We love to watch her discover new things and see her own little personality take shape. 

Our newest word is "MaMa".  I was so excited to hear her say that word.  It made my heart sing for joy.  She said it while sitting in her high chair at supper time.  Yay!!! We all screamed!!

So, I'm surprised to say that Leyton is not walking on her own yet.  She went from crawling to pulling up within a week all before turning six months, yet she has not taken a step.  She will stand up on her own, but doesn't want to move her feet.  The walk-along dinosaur has really helped her move her feet.  She walks behind him really well and will walk all over the house.  Don't get me wrong...we are not rushing our little one into taking those first steps.  We are just surprised that she hasn't made the step yet. 

Leyton has not been too interested in the Christmas tree thank goodness.  She really liked the lights when we first brought them out, but quickly lost interest.  She has been after the bows on the presents a few times, but we couldn't even get her to hold one while trying to take some pictures. 

We continue to introduce new foods to her.  She always wants what we are eating more than what we have for her.  So, we just let her try what we are eating provided that it's a safe choice.  She loves pasta and has been really good at picking up her food and eating it herself.  She does better with feeding herself than us feeding her.  She knows if its on a baby spoon it's hers and is reluctant to eat it.  All I have to do is switch spoons and she will eat it.  Smart little stinker.  She makes the funniest face when she doesn't want what we try and feed her.  It cracks us up. Leyton has to be the slowest eater on the planet.  Unlike her cousin, Jackson, who sits there with his mouth open...Leyton has to be coaxed into eating.  She is simply not interested most of the time.  It's like she would rather be doing other things.  Distraction techniques seem to work well, too.

To say that Leyton loves Mickey Mouse is an understatement.  She gets so excited, dances, and starts making all sorts of noises when Mickey Mouse Clubhouse comes on TV.  She only cares about the singing. Sometimes it sounds like she is trying to sing along. 

When bath times rolls around, I turn on the water and here she comes.  Straight to the bathroom and stands up on the edge of the tub ready to be put in.  Sitting still to put the pajamas on after is another story.  This is usually accompanied by lots of screaming and thrashing.  That's another job in itself. 

Our hearts overflow with love for this little one.  We truly never knew the love that God would bring by placing her in our arms.  We thank Him everyday for her...for sharing that love...and to see her share that love with others.  To take her out and have her smile her biggest to complete strangers...to see that it only makes people smile back...it's uplifting...it's God in her.  We are so blessed. 

Christmas is going to be so much fun.  Ryan and I are so joyful over starting our own Weaver Christmas traditions.  To celebrate the birth of our King.  To teach our sweet Leyton what Christmas is all about.  Merry Christmas everyone!!

Gobble Gobble

Leyton and Jackson's First Thanksgiving

Ryan deep frying a turkey for the first time

Beach Talk

We had our first family trip!  The whole family (mom, dad, Derek, Ann, and Jackson) went to Myrtle Beach for a week and we had a blast.  Leyton did really well during the drive considering she hates being confined to the carseat.  Thank goodness we had a little Mickey Mouse Club on the iPad for her viewing pleasure.  While in Myrtle, the girls did some shopping and the guys did some golfing.  Leyton was able to play in the sand and see some sea gulls.  She also had something to say.

Leyton said her first word while we were at the beach.  She was crawling around the condo and she saw Ryan, went crawling towards him saying "DaDa".  He nearly cried.  We were both so excited.  She proceeded to make it known that she could say dada by saying it very loudly at the mall.  She just kept saying it over and over at the loudest possilble level while we shopped. 

We had a wonderful time and look forward to the next family getaway!

Our First Halloween

 This is the best Halloween picture taken.  After a few hours of wearing a costume and it also being bedtime...Jackson and Leyton are done.  Hilarious. 

I'm a little piggy

Leyton had an pretty good Halloween.  She had a short and late nap that day so she was quite fussy for her first Halloween.  She dressed up like a little piggy and she was so cute.  We were a little worried about her not wanting to wear the pig hat, but she wore it for a good hour and for lots of pictures.  We went to our neighborhood Halloweenie Roast for a few minutes, gave out candy to Trick-or-treaters and then went to cousin Jackson's to visit him.  Leyton had a good time playing with Jackson.  No candy this year but definitely will next year!!!

3 years and 7 months

I love to stand

Leyton and Cy at Briley's

Checking out Mr. goat

Ryan and I celebrated our three year anniversary and Leyton turned 7 months on the same day.  We went out to dinner while mom kept Leyton and we were home by 8pm.  Very sad, but we were so tired. 

Leyton is trying so hard to walk.  She is constantly pulling herself up, standing, and then proceeds to let go.  She stands for a few seconds before falling on her rear end.  She thinks it is so funny.  I'm not sure what is worse, her constantly pulling up but unable to walk or walking.  We are constanly grabbing her so she doesn't smack her head on something.  She loves to pull up on our legs while we are in the kitchen and holds on to our pants with one hand.  Crazy girl. 

Leyton is soooooooooo happy.  She smiles all the time at everybody.  It is so sweet.  She melts our hearts with her sweetness.  You just want to squeeze her.  Peek-a-boo really cracks her up and so does Cooper.  She thinks he is so funny and goes after him every chance she gets.  We are constantly telling Cooper to run.  Poor fella.  She still loves her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  That is her morning TV time.  I think the only time she sits still is when we read to her.  She likes to help you turn the pages.

We haven't found a food that she doesn't like yet.  There are definitely some that she eats better than others, but she hasn't turned her nose up at anything yet.  She has recently tried dill pickle, grits, avocado, butter beans, broccoli soup, macaroni, baby cookies, baby yogurt, baby crunchies, and chicken mixed with sweet potatoes.  We try and give her a little taste of different foods that are safe for her to eat.  If she sees us eating it, she wants some. 

Sleep has been wonderful around here the past week.  I feel like a new person.  Leyton has been sleeping between 10-11 hours every night.  We are loving it and hoping this is a permanent habit.  There were a few nights of having to let her cry for a little while, but thankfully it wasn't for long and she settled back down and went to sleep. 

We are going on our first family vacation in a couple of weeks.  We will be Myrtle Beach bound! YAY!!!

6 month pictures and stats

Again, I can't say enough wonderful things about Tracy Callahan.  She is absolutely amazing and so is her work.  Although, this time I feel like we worked almost as hard trying to keep Leyton smiling and from crawling everywhere.  Leyton did really well posing for the camera.  Tracy has let us have a peek at a few and we can't wait to see the rest.

Leyton went for her 6 month well child today.  I'd rather take a beating than watch my little one get shots.  But, she was smiling about 5 minutes after all the crying.  She weighed in at 17 lbs and 11 ounces and 26 & 3/4 inches long.  75th percentile for both.  We are thankful for a healthy, happy, growing baby girl. 

"I always thank God for you" 1 Corinthians 1:4

6 months and crawling

Happy 6th Months!!!

Trying to pull up on everything

 getting some love from my great-grandmother Nella

Grandpa Donald pushing me on a scooter

I grin all the time

I'm crawling

Grinning again

My first tailgate with Jackson

Purple for Mommy

Red for Daddy

Leyton has been very busy learning new things the past month.  She has learned to sit herself up, crawl and pull up before her six month birthday.  She has kept Ryan and I on our toes. 

Leyton started off with a lot of rocking back and forth on all fours and then within a week she was moving her hands and knees and off she went.  She has crawling down pat and is moving faster and faster each day.  Just when we thought she would stay at this milestone for a little while, Ryan put her in her crib, turned around and she was standing on the side.  So, she slept in her pack-n-play that night and we lowered the crib mattress ASAP.  We have her on video laughing the entire time she is pulling up on the side of the crib.  She is so proud of what she can do.  All we can do is shake our heads.  She crawls over to us now, and tries to pull on our legs, laughing the whole time.  She crawls around then sits up and plays with her toys for a long time. 

She is such a high energy baby.  Her naps are short most days, but as long as she's not fussy we just keep on trucking.  She is so inquisitive about everything and very fast at grabbing at what she wants.  She is also making up for her colicky days by being such a happy baby.  Smiling all the time and laughs at everything.  We are so amazed at what a different baby she has become.

We have had a really rough month with her sleeping.  We're not sure if it was a growth spurt or what, but it nearly killed us.  She seemed to just want to know that we were there and then she would go right back to sleep.  Hopefully, we have settled back into better sleep habits. 

Wednesday mornings (when I am off) and Saturday mornings have become Mickey Mouse time.  She sits and watches Mickey for a good little while to get her morning started.  Then she gets some exercise in her Jumparoo.  She will also sit for a long time if you read to her.  She will look at the book and then look at you and just smile.  When we took her to church this past Sunday, I was late coming in because she was napping.  So, instead of taking her to the nursery, she sat in service with me.  Everytime the preacher would talk, she would look at him and smile real big like she does when we read to her.  It was hilarious. 

She has progressed to three meals a day and is a pretty good eater.  She still loves her sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, carrots, pears, apples, bananas, mixed veges, and squash.  We take her for her well child visit next week, so I will post her stats then.  She will have her 6 month pictures taken with Memories by TLC next week as well.  We can't wait! 

A tribute to our happy place

There are no words...

Only saddness...