Has it really been half a year?!

This is no April Fool's joke- Lyla, as of April 1st, is officially on the downward slope to her first birthday. How did this happen so fast? I have no idea.

Judging by the emerging personality traits we've witness and the things she's learning and loving, here are 10 professions she would excel at:

1. A scientist.

I can one-arm carry her. True story. She won't have it any other way. She loves LOVES to look around at everything. I think her brain is going a mile a minute. She's on her way to being a baby Einstein. This picture was taken after she got done chewing on the plastic that you put around Easter eggs. Baby Einstein indeed.

2. An athlete.

She has started to army crawl. I wish I had photographic evidence of this, but you're just going to have to take my word for it. Look out books and DVDs, Lyla's coming for you. In fact, yesterday she was going after Toby (who was very nice and let her catch him). We officially have one of those houses- you know, where everything is two feet above the ground and I will have said good-bye to all my decorating efforts.

 Those cords in the background have been been taken care of, and the outlet has been properly covered.

Blurry due to the army crawl movement.

3. A food critic.

She eats purees in her high chair. So far we've discovered that she loves squash, green beans, sweet potatoes and carrots. Pears and prunes are so-so. Peas are absolute garbage. As an avid lover of peas, I'm hoping I can convince her to change her mind sometime in the future. But for now, she's following after her dad and shuns them completely.

 

 Green beans

 

 Carrots

4. A professor.

She talks...a lot. The baby coo-ing is gone and weird, foreign Lyla language has taken its place. I think I must have taken a course or two sometime during my life because I can tell exactly what she's wanting or needing.

This video was taken about a month and a half ago, before the cooing was long gone. My mom has entitled this video "Lyla's vocalization...from both ends." You have to turn it up and listen closely. Ten years from now, Lyla is going to kill me for posting this.

5. An actress.

She whines. As all parents know, this high-pitched, drawn out, half-effort sound is far different from a cry and it's all show. This girl seems to be quite dramatic.

6. A bungee-jumper (is there such a thing as a professional one?)

She has a jumper-roo. Her chubby little legs just bounce her chubby little body up and down, up and down. It seems like she has a real baby toy and she's very interactive with it. It also doesn't hurt that she can spend a good 15-20 minutes playing in it happily, giving me enough time to take a shower (and maybe even shave my legs)!

7. A sleep technologist.

 She's sleeping from 8pm-4am, and then from 4:20-7:20ish. Which if you were here with newborn-3 months old Lyla, you'd know that we've finally FINALLY hit the jackpot. For a mostly breastfed baby, I think she's doing pretty great. And when she does have those nights where sleep is just not sticking, I convince myself it's because she's so smart and she can't stop analyzing all the new things she learned that day.

8. A professional gamer (I'd cry if this really happened)

She plays games with us. Lyla has taught herself peek-a-boo. She pulls clothes or blankets or burp rags over her face, flails her arms and legs and grunts and then pulls the offending fabric from her face and then looks at you and smiles. When I finally caught on to what she was doing, she smiled and laughed and then gave me a look that said, "It's about time you figured it out mom. I've been trying to show you this cool peek-a-boo game all day." Now it's more an equal participation game where we hide our faces from each other.

She also loves it when we count to three and then throw her up in the air on three.

9. A comedian.

She laughs. She really laughs. We are still trying to figure out her sense of humor. She laughs at the weirdest things and it's never the same thing twice.

10. A model.

She poses for the camera. She is such a ham with a myriad of facial expressions.

 Blue Steel. Zoolander anyone?

 

 Easter Sunday dress. It actually lasted through all of church- no untimely blow-outs!

 

 Coloring Easter eggs. I have a feeling next year will be more successful.

 

 First Easter basket. The Easter bunny really delivered this year.

 

 Daddy favorite onesie

 

Happy six months!

 During the last few months, her personality has really started to shine. She's funny. She's determined. She's kind. She's smart. She's loving. She's amazing.

Up next: her birth story. Six months later, I finally feel like I'm at a good mental state where I can write about, look at, and post pictures about the most intense experience of our lives thus far. I will have it up by this weekend. I promise.