14 Months and walking!

Leila is officially 14 months old and has been "walking" for several weeks now. I put it in quotations because although she CAN walk, she still chooses to crawl about half the time because it is faster. I will say, though, that when she does walk it is pretty much the cutest thing I have ever seen. I will try to capture a video of her doing it. It is a crack-up. She doesn't just walk...
she sashays. Everything about this girl is slow and deliberate. However, with that being said, I would say that she is a lot more determined than Christian ever was. She will watch and then as soon as she knows she can do it, she takes off and never looks back!

This video is an example of her determination. She was watching Christian and his friends climb the play structure at Chick-Fil-A. I let her kind of climb around a little bit and all of a sudden she just took off. She climbed all the way to the top and went down the slide by herself. I was in shock! I was so nervous, but I held back and just let her do it (and yes, it almost killed me!). Luckily Christian is an attentive older brother and I knew he would stay with her. It was so exciting and I was so proud of her for doing it!

She constantly surprises me, and that has been fun. Her demeanor is so subdued and she tends to take a little time to warm up to new people and places that I think she will be "shy". I am learning more and more though, that she isn't shy at all. She just goes at her own pace!

I wish I could say that at 14 months she has finally figured out how fun eating can be, but alas, it is not so. I did have an epiphany Saturday though. We were having breakfast and all of a sudden she reached over and grabbed a piece of bacon off my plate. Very crunchy (my favorite!) bacon, I may add. I was kind of shocked, but didn't react. She ate the whole piece. All of it! It was like a light bulb went off in my mind. She has texture issues. She likes crunchy things. THAT is why she didn't want to eat mushy baby food. This is why she will really only eat crackers and dry cereal...unless it is SWEET. If it is sweet (like the ice cream she would eat without issues), she is fine with a softer texture. It all made sense. The complication, of course, is that she still is working on her swallowing therapy so she may want hard and crunchy foods, but she has a hard time eating them without choking. *Sigh*. Needless to say, we are still working through this, and I have a feeling we will continue to for a while.

Okay, now on to the fun stuff:

At 14 months Leila can walk, crawl and loves to climb. I will often find her climbing onto the ottoman so she can reach things she shouldn't. Her favorite toys are whatever Christian is playing with. However, she loves music and so she has a little toy "boombox" that she will constantly play and dance with. Her favorite food is probably still Cheerios, but rice and crackers aren't far behind. She has decided that she does LOVE bananas though, but only if she can hold it herself. And only if it is whole, if you slice it, she usually isn't interested. Her favorite drink is water. She loves to play peek-a-boo and will often cover her own eyes to play "Where's Leila". Her voice is still deep and husky, and she has learned what Jared and I affectionately call the "fat kid laugh". Think Fat Albert as a smoker. It is hilarious.

She still hates most foods, and getting her finger and toe nails clipped. She will scream and SCREECH if she wants to be picked up and you don't do it right away. She hates having bows in her hair and will rip them out immediately. Since she looks so homeless when her hair is in her face, this is a constant battle between us. She can't even see when her hair is down because it covers her eyes...think sheepdog!

All in all, she is a sweet, fun, exciting, loving girl and she makes everyday more special by being a part of it!