Where do I Start?

I've neglected this blog for so long that memories, events and milestones have piled up. To be honest, I find being this behind more overwhelming than 15 loads of stinky laundry. Since the task of re-creating the last six months of memories would be a tremendous undertaking, I'm just going to start with where we're at right now.

Lily is now 20 months old. We visited the doctor earlier this week for a check-up. She's 24lbs, 32.5 inches tall and the definition of average in terms of height, weight and head circumference as she ranks in precisely at the 50th percentile in each of these categories.

Lily is doing and saying something new every day and John and I find ourselves more and more smitten with her charm. We are giggling, hiding, seeking, hugging, kissing and running here and there all the time. We are cherishing every moment, every new word and every funny thing she does. Lily is determined, independent, filled with wonder and wants to participate in the world around her. I've found that she likes it best when she's helping so we've been giving her tasks to complete when we can. I have her help me in the kitchen quite a bit. She's great at putting the already cut ingredients for her fruit/veggie salad into a bowl and at helping make oatmeal. Since one of her favorite foods, and mine, is oatmeal, we make it together for breakfast all the time. She'll get the pot out of the cupboard, bring it to you and say, "a-meal!" when she's ready for breakfast. Then, she sits on the counter with the pot between her legs and helps pour in the oats, water and raisins. She even reaches into the little salt bowl I have sitting out, grabs a pinch and sprinkles it lovingly over the oats. Years from now I want to remember these small and simple ways in which her individuality developed more than the places we've been or the things we did. I want to remember the cute way she sticks her tongue out when she says, "hello", "yellow" and "pillow" in an effort to make the words sound right. I want to remember how she runs to our bed after her bath, snuggles into the pillows and asks for her blanket and then her nook because she needs both to be truly cozy. I want to remember how she can't wait for either John or I to get out of the shower so she can rush over to offer a towel... A few days ago as I carried her up the stairs to bed and as she cuddled into my shoulder with her favorite blanket she said, "I uv ewe" without any prompting or me saying anything at all. It was the first time she made that statement and I cherish it more than her first step.