Lydia // 4 Years

My goodness, this is what happens when I completely neglect to care about my blog anymore. Happy birthday to my baby, 3 weeks late! Let the record show that I am also not going to be uploading pictures on here anymore, and I will also probably stop doing birthday posts for kids when they turn 10 for the sake of privacy and such. (So, Nicole's most recent birthday post will be her last.)

Lydia counted down to her birthday for weeks. She was eager to be old enough to have TWO gummy vitamins at breakfast time like her older siblings and regularly informs random people that she's four now. She wanted nothing more for her birthday dinner than plain pasta with cheese on it. We actually celebrated her birthday a day early because we were visiting my family in California (Jenna's homecoming) and we drove home on Lydia's actual birthday.

Lydia at age 4:

- Sings loudly and somewhat offkey (it's endearing)

- Loves wearing dress-up clothes in a way none of her siblings did. We're talking daily dress-ups here. Her regular pick is Elsa, but she will often wear Aurora as well.

- Will immediately approach anyone who has a dog and ask to pet it (she's *very* good about asking first.)

- Really wants to attend elementary school with her siblings and recites all the time how she'll be able to go to kindergarten once she turns 5

- Already a pro at navigating the elementary school, honestly, because we're there quite often for the volunteer work I do. The front office ladies all know her by name.

- Enjoyed her first year of dance class quite thoroughly, is currently loving summer dance camp, and looks forward to starting her next dance class in August (and possibly adding Acro into the mix!)

- Every time I did her hair for her dance concert rehearsals/performances, she'd say it was her "Zuko hair" because the top ponytail reminded her of Zuko's hair from season 1 of Avatar (You can tell from how novel this experience is for her that I don't put her hair up often)

- In true youngest child fashion, she desperately wants to do what her siblings are doing and gets sad when she's left out of activities or outings because she's not old enough yet

- Loves books, hooray!

- Quite skilled at solo play, partially out of necessity since she was the only child at home during this past school year

- She attended preschool two mornings a week and loved it, so we'll be upping the frequency to 3 times a week this coming school year

- A bit sassy. Telling her more than once to wash her hands or pick up her toys will often illicit a response such as: "Uuuuuugh, I KNOW, stop SAYING that!"

- If she's upset, she'll inform you: "I don't like you anymore." Ultimate insult, you know.

- If she could get away with only eating cheese, yogurt, pasta, and bread products, that would be all she would ever eat

- We went to Disneyland back in November 2024, and Lydia was juuuuuuuuust barely tall enough to get away with going on rides with a 40" height requirement IF she stood up as straight as possible. We managed to get her onto Radiator Springs Racers with us but failed the final height check for Rise of the Resistance. That one probably would have scared her a bit anyway, so it's for the best.

- I need to record this quote before I forget it. We arrived for pictures at our dance studio. The studio director saw Lydia and told her she looked so pretty in her costume. Lydia shrugged and said, "I'm just a girl." I sat there choking on my saliva and wondering how my preschooler learned popular social media vernacular that none of my other kids use.

- Loves to sneak a few too many treats to our cat

- If she spills water on her clothes she must change immediately

- Has learned how to play a couple little tunes on the piano with coaching from her siblings

- Requests the "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" theme song at bedtime every night

- Just barely started using a nightlight in her room. While we were in Fresno, the room she slept in had a nightlight. Her own bedroom has always been pitch-black and has never bothered her... but once we came home, she had nightmares 3 nights in a row. A nightlight fixed that issue!

- Loves pink

- Loves treats

- Loves our cat Ava

- Can unbuckle and buckle her own car seat, hallelujah (and is responsible about keeping it buckled)

- Recently got into Nicole's nail polish and thought it was lip gloss, so she emerged from Nicole's room with bright blue lips 0_0

- Has a favorite cashier at Costco that she looks for every time we're there. If he's working and his lane isn't too busy, she'll insist on getting in line for him. She thinks he's hilarious.

I don't think I'll every quite get over how each of her birthdays marks an "end" for me. I'll never have a 3-year-old again. Very bittersweet.

Lydia, we all love you so much! Here's to starting your 5th year of life!

Lydia // 3 Years

 Somebody had a birthday about 2 weeks ago! Ummm, so this means we no longer have any babies or toddlers. This girl is a full-out preschooler who chatters the day away and has her first day of preschool in 5 1/2 weeks. We're all obsessed with her, and she was pumped for it to finally be her turn to blow out candles. She chose chicken taquitos as her birthday dinner and brownies with ice cream for her birthday dessert.

[pictures are forthcoming, as per usual]

Lydia at 3 years:

- Obsessed with the soundtrack for the Disney movie "Wish"

- Loves books

- When we ask her a "why" or "why not" question her response is often "Because yes."

- Became very efficient at riding a 3-wheel scooter earlier this year, and got a new scooter for her birthday

- So friendly. Often says "hi" to people we pass at the store or on walks.

- Runs to pet every dog she sees. I'm trying to get her to ask the owner first, but she just gets so excited when she sees a dog.

- Looks forward to church because she loves nursery. She's currently the only child in nursery because nobody else is nursery-aged (except for one other little girl who never comes because of separation anxiety). Lydia gets 100% of the attention from the nursery leaders and revels in it.

- Still takes a nap almost every day

- Finally got moved to a "big girl bed" at the beginning of the year and loves it.

- It's funny how similar she is to Austin, while Nicole and Autumn are more similar to each other. For example: when it comes to sleep and bedtime, Autumn and Nicole are night owls who gave up naps around 2 years of age, stall bedtime, and get out of bed multiple times for water or to sneak books to read; while Austin and Lydia don't fight bedtime, kept their naps past their 3rd birthdays, and never get out of their beds (for naptime OR bedtime).

- Has the best one-liners. I can never remember them though. I need to start keeping a list of the things she says because she really is hilarious.

- Still has a 6th sense for treats

- Enjoys building with Magna-Tiles

- Loves eggs, pasta, applesauce pouches, rotisserie chicken, and cereal

- REALLY wants to pet the cat all the time, but the cat doesn't want Lydia to mess with her because Lydia is kind of loud, high-pitched, and is a bit aggressive with her affection. It's a give-and-take, depending on how thin the cat's patience is running (and she's a very patient cat).

- Started potty training a bit over a week ago, and she's handling things pretty well so far. We aren't accident-free yet, of course, but she knows what to do and gets better and better at it with each passing day.

- It should be noted that she chose Bluey underwear at the store

- Loves to play with her siblings, especially imagination-based play

- Daniel Tiger is her TV show of choice

- Spent the past year helping her mom volunteer at the elementary school in the Home Reading program. We would go in every week to switch out books, and Lydia loved checking the room key out, carrying the book box from the kindergarten room, and playing with the toys while mom checked the books in and out.

- Loves being outside

- Getting more comfortable in pools, but still won't leave the steps or very shallow areas

- Enjoys video calling with my family members

- Steals Nicole's smart watch and hides it under her bed

- Loves wearing dresses

- Almost always puts her flip flops on the wrong feet

- Is finally old enough to participate in the summer camp that the kids do at the dance studio, which starts in just over a week. She is PUMPED.

- She's been dying to start dance classes, but the youngest class was already full by the time she was old enough for it this past year (you have to be 2.5 years old). She'll get to start in late August!

We love you, itty bitty Lyddi! Even though you're no longer a baby, you'll always be my baby. :D

Lydia // 2 Years

No more babies in this house... Lydia is a full-fledged toddler! Of course, she'll ALWAYS be my baby, but she's two now. TWO. I've never had a two-year-old without also having a newborn or being at least halfway or more through my next pregnancy. I'm really getting to savor her toddlerhood. She's the cutest little thing, and we love having her in our family. We celebrated by going to watch a parade, seeing cousins, and eating pasta for dinner because she's obsessed with pasta. Brownies for dessert, and she blew her candles out like a complete pro.

Let's talk about Lydia at age 2:

- Quite the chatter box and learning new words all the time

- Has a 6th sense for treats and will come charging through the house as fast as her fat toddler legs will carry her if she knows I'm opening a package of something sweet.

- Climbs to the top level of our backyard playset but can't get back down on her own

- Pronounces "water" as "rah-der" and I am already dreading the day she stops doing it because it's adorable

- Just as book-obsessed as her older sisters. If I sit down anywhere, she will immediately take advantage and bring over book after book after book, then climb up on my lap and demand, "Read book!"

- I'm still her very favorite person in the world, but she's not very clingy anymore

- Gives the best snuggles when she wakes up from her afternoon nap

- In addition to being pasta- and dessert-obsessed, she also loves cheese (like, a lot)

- She's in an oatmeal phase and has had oatmeal every single morning for breakfast for the past couple weeks

- Loves animals, especially dogs and cats. She attempts to pet any dog she sees.

- Quite finicky about fruit. One day she loves raspberries, the next she outright refuses them. Rinse and repeat with every single fruit.

- Thrives on routines and procedures

- Has the best smile, especially when she scrunches up her eyes and nose

- Very happy and boisterous little girl

- Loves to sing (one of her favorite songs is "Good Tonight" from the Netflix movie "The Bad Guys")

- Enjoys going for walks in the stroller

- Really enjoys going to nursery at church and will run straight there the moment it's time

- Starting to become a little defiant and says the word "no" with increasing frequency

- Walks down the stairs, but will still slide down on her belly if she's looking for speed

- Likes helping with laundry and putting dishes in the dishwasher

- Takes "selfies" with one of my old (non-functional) smartphones while saying "Cheeee!"

- Too observant and clever for her own good

- Problem-solver

- Gets into LI-TER-AL-LY EVERYTHING

- Chronic snacker and can often be found with her hand in a cereal or cracker box

- Currently going through her Peter Pan obsession phase, just as her oldest sister did at this age

- So friendly and says "Hi" to everyone we pass when we're on a walk

- Likes wearing necklaces and bracelets

- Graduated to a booster seat at the kitchen table, so now all 6 of our chairs are occupied!

- Some of my top nicknames for her are Lydi, Princess, Shoo/Shoom (based on a sound she used to frequently say about a year ago that sounded like "shoom") Shooby Snack, Honey Bun, and Bitty Lydi.

- Has been sized-up as a snack by a komodo dragon at a zoo (such a funny story, that enormous lizard was licking his lips)

- One would think that she would hate being in the car because of the sheer amount of time she has to spend in it because of taking her siblings to school and extracurriculars, not to mention going on errands with me, but it's quite the opposite. She's always excited to get in the car and go places.

I'm obsessed with her. She's the perfect little caboose to our family and brings us so much joy, while also keeping us on our toes. Love you so much, itty bitty Lydi!

Lydia // 18 Months

This cutie patootie is a full-blown toddler now! She keeps me on my toes and keeps all of us chuckling. She has changed a lot in the past half a year.

Lydia at 18 months:

- Thanks to the Christmas season, one of her favorite words lately has been "tree"

- She also loves to say "HI!" and has a slew of other words and sounds that she says, even though I'm the only one who can understand some of them (for example, pointing at the pantry and saying "Pea!" is her way of asking for a spoonful of peanut butter).

- Babbles all day long

- "Sings" to herself and it's SO cute

- Loves baths

- LOVES books and I spend a respectable chunk of time reading to her each day

- Among her top favorite books are Where Are You, Little Fox; Cookie's Week; Brown Bear Brown Bear; and a small selection books from the Highlights Hello Library series. She also steals the books her siblings bring home from the library.

- Wants to do everything her siblings do

- Shortly after her first birthday she started saying "shoo" and "shoom" a lot, so "Shoom" ended up becoming one of my nicknames for her. She still says "shoom" occasionally.

- She will RUN for her shoes if she gets even the slightest inkling that I'm going outside or out to the car

- However, she will not leave her shoes or socks on in the car

- Too clever and observant for her own good

- Wonderful sleeper!

- Gives the best hugs

- Has a love/hate relationship with bananas. Some days she loves them... and other days she takes two bites and then chucks the rest on the floor.

- I screech her name a lot because she gets into literally EVERYTHING, and it got to the point where she started screeching her own name when she's excited (it's quite hilarious)

- Loves cereal, mandarin oranges, crackers, yogurt, homemade Chex mix, and veggie straws. And all desserts.

- Enjoys grabbing my face and trying to plant her wide-open mouth right on mine

- Won't leave the Christmas ornaments alone

- Waves by opening and closing her hand or bending her whole hand up and down at the wrist

- Gets into cereal all day long

- My little shadow... and I rarely get much done when she's awake because she's always right there to thwart my attempts or complain because I'm not holding her or reading to her

- She can whistle! She just figured it out yesterday. She can only do one "note" right now and it's very quiet, but it's still extremely cute.

She hilarious and sweet and very crazy and a handful and we love her SOOOO MUCH! Happy half birthday Lydi baby!

Lydia // 12 Months

Our little caboose has finished her first year of life. Just like that. By the time she woke up this morning she was already officially a year old. She was oblivious to the fact that it's her birthday, of course, but her siblings were all very excited on her behalf. It was enjoyable to watch her demolish her smash cake this evening. She also stuffed herself at dinnertime because I served a favorite meal of hers: spaghetti, complete with meatballs, garlic bread, green beans, and cantaloupe. She went to bed with a very full tummy.

What a year it has been. It's been hard, honestly, but we love her SO. MUCH.

Lydia at 12 months:

- So close to walking. So very close. She can cruise along furniture while only holding on with one hand, walks when we hold her hands, and can even get into a standing position from the floor, if only very briefly.

- Takes two naps half the days, only one nap the other half

- Finally (finally!) sleeps through the night. When I say that, I mean she doesn't wake up at all or need me to go in and hold her. Her average bedtime is 7pm and average waketime is 7am.

- Eats a banana a day and loves all forms of pasta and breads. She also loves frozen peas. And treats.

- Since her highchair is by the kitchen window, she's always grabbing at the curtains with her messy hands. My poor white curtains...

- All bathroom doors have to be kept shut now because she enjoys unrolling the toilet paper

- Not big on being read to (there are only 2-3 books she'll sit for) BUT she really likes flipping through the pages of any book she can get her hands on herself

- Her dearest ambition is to get her hands on the Nintendo Switch, or one of our phones

- 8 teeth

- Recently discovered how fun it is to chase her siblings around furniture

- Too smart and observant for her own good. Has already figured out how to open various cupboards and drawers, even some that have some child-proofing measures on them.

- Can now slide her way downstairs feet-first on her tummy (although she needs help turning around and getting started)

- Still absolutely refuses to let anyone but me put her down for naps/bed (even Doug)

- Has imprinted on a blanket and snuggles with it in her crib. (Come to think of it, maybe that's why she finally sleeps through the night... she has a snuggle buddy!) It's white with pink/yellow/orange whole citrus fruits on it.

- Enjoys swinging at the park

- Won't leave bows on her head unless I distract her... but she always remembers in the end and rips it off

- Learned how to shake her head

And now, as per tradition, here are pictures of Lydia from birth until now!

^ Newborn ^

^ 1 Month ^

^ 2 Months ^

^ 3 Months ^

^ 4 Months ^

^ 5 Months ^

^ 6 Months ^

^ 7 Months ^

^ 8 Months ^

^ 9 Months ^

^ 10 Months ^

^ 11 Months ^

And 12 months!

What a cute little chunk of heaven right there. I'm so excited to see what little personality quirks she develops as a toddler. We love you so much, Lydia! We're so lucky to have you in our family!

Lydia // 11 Months

One month left. One month, and then my little caboose will be a whole year old. It feels like I'm reaching the end of an 8-year marathon that started when I was pregnant for the first time! Because man, that first year of life is such a whirlwind, and I've done it 4 times over now!

Our little Lydia Rose is absolutely blossoming. That personality takes strides daily.

Lydia at 11 months:

- Can shimmy her way up to a standing position using flat surfaces, but hasn't started cruising yet (edit: she started cruising the very next day. Haha!)

- Is willing to take steps if I'm holding onto both of her hands

- Attempts to stand without holding onto anything, although she only balances for half a second before flopping down on her bum

- Really hates having to settle down for naptime (there's so much to see and do!)

- Enjoys using the piano bench to stand up so she can reach the keys and "play" them

- Has developed a strange love/hate relationship with baths

- Wants to play with what her siblings play with

- Loves to rip paper apart (watch out, books!)

- Not a fan of cuddling. I'm really hoping that changes as she becomes more mobile and no longer feels the intense urge to "practice" her mobility skills.

- Sleeps in one of two positions: on her tummy with her bum in the air, or on her back with her hands behind her head.

-  Has (fortunately) adjusted well to the constant change in formula brand that I give her. Thanks to the current shortage, I just buy what I can find.

- Has the fluffiest baby hair

- Really likes frozen peas (as do the rest of my kids)

- Says "Yes" all the time, and it's extremely cute

- Loves to wave

- Smiles at everyone

- Gets knocked over, blocked, rough-housed, tripped on (etc) by her big brother DAILY, but she still LOVES to follow him around and interact with him despite all that

- Crawls exclusively on her hands and knees now, and is getting very fast

- Climbs right into the middle of piles of clean laundry that I've sorted and tosses the clothes everywhere

- I'm still her favorite jungle gym. If I lie on the ground, she's guaranteed to crawl over me.

- Likes clicking her tongue, playing peek-a-boo, and being tickled

- Loud and saucy, with hazel eyes and the cutest crooked-toothed cheeser

- Still a huge mama's girl and sobs if anyone other than me attempts to put her to bed

- I call her "Princess" a lot (oh boy), but also Baby Cakes, Chonky, Cutie Patootie, and Baby Sis. (And Lyddies, as always)

Between her obsessions with sweets and paper-ripping, I am confident that she'll thoroughly enjoy her birthday next month. Ripping open presents and devouring as much of her smash cake as she wants??!?! She's going to be in heaven. Love you, Princess.

Lydia // 10 Months

Oh, what a character this one is. Her personality is emerging more and more as the weeks pass by, and I'm once again reminded why this final quarter of a baby's first year of life is generally my favorite.

Lydia at 10 months:

- Crawls on hands and knees, but also still army-crawls quite a bit

- Figured out how to climb up the stairs, and that's all she wants to do half of the time now

- Has finally become far less picky with food. Loves refried beans, avocado, hummus, fruits, purees of all types, bread, ritz crackers, pizza, cold peas, yogurt, cheerios... most foods I give her, honestly.

- Still a big-time mama's girl. Exhausting, but cute. Someday Doug will be able to put her to bed without her screaming. Someday.

- Something clicked in the past week, and now she'll sit and fully pay attention to books. She loves opening the flaps on lift-the-flap books, turning pages, and pointing at things on the pages.

- Gives me slobbery, open-mouth kisses

- Night weaned. No more nighttime meals. Huzzah.

- She slept completely through the night with no wakeups for several nights in a row last week, but usually she still wakes up once or twice wanting to be snuggled. (The nights when she sleeps through the night, she wakes up SO happy in the morning because she's well-rested. Usually, the first thing I hear from her in the mornings is crying because she stayed awake too much during the night wanting to snuggle.)

- Has completely given up pacifiers of her own accord

- My only child who hasn't had some kind of finger-sucking habit

- Her brother can make her belly-laugh pretty hard, and she enjoys (gently) rough-housing with him

- Peek-a-boo is a great laugh-inducer, of course

- Gets so mad when I take her into her room for naptime, but calms down within 20-30 seconds once we sit in the rocking chair. After one or two short songs, she's calm and drowsy enough that I can just stick her in the crib. Two naps a day still. It should stay that way until mid-late summer, I think.

- 8 teeth, baby!

- Pulls herself up to a standing position on some furniture items, but hasn't figured out how to lower back down again yet

- Sometimes takes steps if I'm holding both of her hands, but she's not really interested in trying to walk yet. She's not cruising yet either.

- Makes a little "ya" sound when we ask her questions or hand her things that she wants

- I'm not sure of her exact weight right now, but she had already hit 20 lbs about a month ago. So heavy.

- Every now and then she'll "bunt" her forehead gently against my chin or mouth and just stay there while I give her forehead tons of kisses.

- Entirely resigned to the fact that many hours of her life each week are spent in the car

- Loves swinging

- If I sit or lie down on the floor, she makes a beeline for me and uses me as a jungle gym for a while. I can just lie on the floor and let her crawl over my back again and again as I read or put my head down, etc

- Doesn't sit still/calmly very often. Church is becoming a bit of a nightmare because she wants to crawl around, and she's loud about it. The time of her morning nap is also right in the middle of church, so by that point she starts getting even more restless and grouchy because that is how she acts when she's tired. She refuses to take a nap at church anymore, and sometimes won't even fall asleep for one when we get home, so she ends up with only one nap for the day and then wakes up all night because she's overtired. It's even worse if we have some kind of evening engagement where we can't get her to bed on time. I'm not a fan of Sundays at this point in her life. Just a few more months until she drops down to one midday nap!

When all is said and done, I love her so much. Mama-only preference, night wakings, and all. Only two months left until her birthday, how crazy!!!

Lydia // 9 Months

9 months in, 9 months out! She's super cute. Super loud. Super demanding. I'm super obsessed with her.

Lydia at 9 months:

- Rocking the chin/neck rash like all her siblings have from all the drool, face-washing, and dry air (plus eczema-prone skin)

- Army crawling like a pro, and her method is funny... she crawls using her left forearm and her right hand. We call it a "limp crawl" and it's hilarious. Not the most effective way to crawl, honestly, but she makes it work.

- Gets up on hands and knees all the time to rock, but won't actually crawl on hands and knees yet

- Getting better about solid foods, finally. She loves all fruits and bread products.

- Loves baths! A month ago she hated them. Now she's obsessed. She splashes and shrieks and gets right onto her tummy so she can kick around in the water (I keep it pretty shallow).

- Gives me pats on the arm/shoulder/back whenever I pick her up

- Averages one feeding per night now, as of the past week or so. Hoping to get rid of that last wakeup in the next month so that we're done with night feedings!

- Went to Disneyland for the first time a couple weeks ago. She handled it better than I thought, but was still very upset most of the times that I was away from her doing rider swap or whatevs.

- On the plus side, she returned from Disneyland with an increased tolerance toward letting people other than me hold her. Hallelujah. She's still a huge mama's girl, though, and only tolerates ME putting her down for naps or bed time... and basically wants to be around me always. So... not much is different.

- If I leave the room, she immediately follows me while loudly protesting my departure

- Has perfected her pincer grip, so I can't let her get near so much as a crumb or it will end up in her mouth.

- 2 naps per day

- When settling for naptime, she likes to be cradled in my arms with a pacifier in her mouth for no more than a minute or two to get herself "in the zone" and then she'll spit it out, and then she likes to stick her hand down my shirt and wedge it against my skin as I sing to her. Such a funny routine she's developed.

- Loves chewing on shoes, when she can get away with it

- Also loves chewing on/eating paper, when she can get away with it (which is often because Nicole gets home from school, empties the entire contents of her backpack, and leaves the papers all over the ground).

- Babbles in "baby talk" all the time

- Her 7th tooth is currently in the process of cutting through

- Has already had more illnesses during her first year of life than any of my other kids. I guess that's what happens when you have 3 older siblings who bring things home from school/preschool constantly.

- Can't go too long without her brother smothering her with love. He adores her and gets in her bubble constantly, and she usually doesn't mind. Her sisters are more hands-off, although Nicole has finally become brave enough to pick her up and carry her short distances.

- Just today, I was lying on the ground on my stomach, and she came up next to me and climbed on top of my back. Uh oh. It begins! I wonder how many days it will take for her to figure out she can do that to the stairs...

She's a handful and I love her. Basically.

Lydia // 8 Months

Look at this perfect little cherub in all of her chunky glory. My goodness, I love her.

Lydia at 8 months:

- Let it be known that her first word is "Mama"!!!!!! Finally! After 3 children who have all consistently said "Dada" first, we're ending with a "Mama" instead. And I personally think that she says it intentionally.

- Extremely obsessed with me. Perhaps that's why she knows how to say "Mama" already. She has to be in a great mood (well-fed, not tired, etc) to let anyone else hold her, and even then, it's only briefly. Doug can manage to hold her longer, but she refuses to let him put her to bed or down for naps.

- Still not a huge fan of most solids, although she LOVES pureed prunes, and munching on strawberries or cheerios.

- Figured out how to "inchworm" forward about a week ago! She still mostly rolls to get where she wants to go, though.

- Loves to "pat" my arm. As she does, I say, "Pat, pat, pat" and she has started saying "ba, ba, ba" in response. SO cute.

- Grabs my face and gives open-mouthed kisses. I've waited SO long to have a baby who will do this. None of my other babies were kissers.

- I sing "All Is Found" to her as her bedtime song (from Frozen 2). It really calmed her down one time, so now I sing it every night.

- Needs a pacifier when I rock her to sleep at naptime but refuses to take a pacifier at bedtime.

- Has 6 teeth now! No more "vampire baby".

- I think Austin may be her favorite sibling because he plays with her the most, and she lights up when she sees him walking toward her. He rolls around with her on the ground and tickles her and gets borderline crazy with her, but she endures it well.

- Over 19 lbs of chunky goodness

- Still wakes up 1-2x per night to eat

- If I want to hear people coo over how cute she is, all I have to do is put on her pink hat with two pom poms on top. I don't know what it is about that hat, but it magnifies her cuteness, and people literally cannot stop themselves from commenting on her.

- As long as she's either safe in my arms or with me right there by her, she's actually pretty smiley when other people look at her or talk to her. Just don't pick her up! Mom only!

- NOT a fan of baths. At all.

- Waved for the first time today! It was a full-arm flop a couple times to Doug as he was waving to her. So cute.

- Has been sick with a stomach bug in the past week and a half. Because getting covid, RSV, and the several other colds/coughs she's been sick with this winter wasn't enough, apparently.

2/3rds of a year down! She's getting so interactive. So vocal. I love it. Love you, Princess! Oh yeah, that's a new nickname I've started calling her in the past month. But I still call her Lyddies, chonky, Itty Bitty One, and baby cakes too. Obsessed with her.

Lydia // 7 Months

Oh, precious little Baby Cakes. She's getting fun. She's starting to get really fun. I love squeaky, tiny, new babies... but I love the second half of the first year of life even more. I've always said that babies just get better and better with age, and I stand by that still.

Lydia at 7 months:

- Stubborn about new food (she pulls the most amusing faces with the majority of new flavors), but I feel like we're finally starting to pick up momentum. She absolutely refuses to let me feed her, though. If the food/spoon is in my hand, her lips are sealed. "Baby-led weaning" it is, then!

- Cut two more teeth this month! They're the teeth on either side of her top front teeth (which still show no signs of cutting through yet) so she'll be looking like a little vampire until those front teeth show up.

- Her favorite book is 5 Little Monkeys. No contest. It makes her giggle, and it's the only book she won't try to eat as I'm reading it to her.

- Her eyes might end up being just like Autumn's. I like to call them "greyzel" (a grey-ish version of hazel).

- She hasn't figured out how to crawl just yet, but she's on the brink. She has almost managed to get up on her hands and knees a couple times, and she can baaaarely scoot forwards on her tummy (or accidently backwards, haha!) if she really tries.

- Meanwhile, rolling is her primary (and only) method of getting around. She rolls and rolls and rolls. She can also rotate herself around 360 degrees on her stomach using her arms. So strong. Crawling really is imminent.

- Still loves being in the baby wrap, on the rare occasion that I still use it.

- Has a hilarious hoarse, deep cackle that she does when she's being extra-goofy.

- Austin in particular can really get her cackle going.

- Still extremely bouncy.

- Had a rough month in terms of health. Had a couple illnesses, one of which was C0VID. Yep. The illness was quite rough on her, and she wound up with eye and ear infections at the same time. Poor baby. Thank goodness for modern medicine (antibiotics).

- Really got the hang of sitting this month. Something clicked, and suddenly she was so firm and stable while sitting. Now I can put her in the grocery cart seat! Shopping just got a lot easier!

- Mama's girl. Oh yes. Still a HUGE mama's girl. She'll let Doug hold her if she's in a good mood, but for the most part... she's reaching for me. She gives me lots of snuggles, and lots of pats with her chubby little hands. Also really likes to grab the neck of my shirt and puuuuuull.

- Because of how often she's been sick in the past 2-3 months, we've developed a habit of me needing to hold her until she completely falls asleep. I keep meaning to help her learn to fall asleep without me... but I also really love the snuggles, and she's my last baby, and I don't really have any evening commitments these days (and I'm rarely pressed for time when getting her down for a nap) so... she gets to snuggle and snuggle as she falls asleep. It's good, though. Nicole and Austin got to sleep in my arms all the time, and even Autumn got more nap-in-mom's-arms action than Lydia has. I can do this for her for a while.

- She ALWAYS starts crying when I take her into her room and start getting her ready for nap time, but she calms down the moment we get settled in the rocking chair. Dark room. White noise on. Pacifier in her mouth usually, but she's actually starting to reject the pacifier. I'm hoping she doesn't end up replacing the pacifier with tons of finger-sucking. As of now, she rarely sucks her fingers.

- Down to 2 naps a day (although, let's be honest, it's been that way for over a month already. Getting that third nap in was hard!)

- This year, church happens right when she needs to take her morning nap. I take her in the mother's room (the small one with only one chair in it), turn the light off, turn some white noise on from an app on my phone, and pop a pacifier in, and she'll doze off within minutes!

- Loves getting her hands on paper, which Nicole leaves plenty of on the ground when she gets home from school.

- Is pleasantly calm when we're outside. At least, for a while.

- Still quite fussy, some days more than others. Fingers crossed, but... I feel like she's become a bit more cheerful and pleasant in the past couple days. Maybe??? Hopefully???

- "Chonky" and "Baby Cakes" are probably my top two nicknames for her right now. And Lydies, I suppose.

Ohmygoodness, I love her. Cute little chonk.