For the last few weeks Leah has been pushing anything that has wheels around the house; her walker, some toys, and chairs. This practice has made her better able to stand on her own for several seconds without holding on to anything. Will we soon have a walking baby? Quite possibly. 
As scary as he may look to the average person, Leah feels very differently about Uncle Joe! HA! Although Daddy is Leah's favorite male in her life, Uncle Joe is definitely next in line. She just adores him. She's tallest when he is holding her, so he lets her do things that the rest of us can't. For example, he lets her turn the ceiling fan, and grab things on top of cabinets...obviously where the favoritism comes from, understandable! This was a random moment of blanket cuddles, so sweet. 
Leah has loved books since I started reading them to her at four days old. She loves flipping and pointing to things on the pages. Of course, there's the random rip and chewing of a page here and there. But, for the most part she knows that they are meant to be gentle with and enjoy in a calm way. I love that she enjoys books so much and I hope that her joy for books, and eventually reading, is something that lasts forever. 
Leah's current favorite position is standing. She eats, looks at books, and plays with toys all while leaning against the couch, stairs, chairs, etc. You would think such a little body would enjoy just laying around...nope! 
Leah loves going grocery shopping with me. I'm guessing it's the loud, craziness of grocery stores. She will just watch people, grab things, hold things to me...it rather nice to have a partner during this miserable process. Her imitation of grocery shopping is so evident in her play. She prefers to play with real items too. What ever I have left out, she will put in the cart and start pushing it around. I can't wait to the day I can just send her to do the real thing, without me having to tag along! HA! 
I love low key weekends! We have NO plans at all, and that hasn't happened for several months now. So what are we to do? Play fashion show and hairdresser of course! I put several different outfits on Leah to see what still fits, and of course she was an angel through it all. Then I found the hair ties that she got for Christmas. Naturally, I felt the need to try those as well. This was the final style! Perfection! =) 
Now that Leah is super mobile, she has been using the walker a lot more during my busy times. She is in it when I cook, clean, do the dishes, use the bathroom, etc. Most of the time she just likes to be next to me, running over my toes and ankles. Today, I was preparing for dinner. I cleaned off my counters, had my pots and pans ready and opened the fridge to scope out some options. I dug around for a while and eventually found some items to start cooking. After about 2 minutes I realized I hadn't heard wheels for a while. I peeked around my island and this picture was captured. She had grabbed a champaigne bottle from the door of our refrigerator and wheeled off with it before I even got out of the refrigerator with my ingredients. Note to self: all alcohol must be placed elsewhere. I thought this was an adolescent issue! They sure do start young these days...ha!
Trevor and I made the decision to hire someone to come clean the house because we just don't have the time, or want to spend the time needed, to clean well. Today was our first visit from the cleaning service. They spent almost three hours in our home. The hard wood was swept, mopped, and steam cleaned to perfection. Literally twenty minutes after they left, Leah puked all over it. I usually wouldn't post a picture like this...but considering the story, time, and money spent...this picture was a necessity. I spent the next fifteen minutes on my hands and knees to wipe out every crevice of the hard wood.
The last few weeks we have noticed that Leah has entertained herself very well. It used to be that we HAD to be on the floor with her, or holding her as we did things around the house. Lately she has been great at just sitting on the floor and doing her own thing. Of course, she prefers that we be with her on the floor, but it is no longer required. I could be working on my laptop and she will just play on the floor in front of me for a good fifteen minutes. To some of you this seems like no time. To those of you who are parents, you know those minutes are extraordinary! HA!
I LOVE these pictures. Kayleigh and Leah have gotten pretty close at daycare since they are the "babies" of the group. Although similar in size, Kaleigh is about six months older than Leah. LaDona says that that play really well together, but when one steals the others' toy the baby babbling begins. HA! I am so glad she already has a bestie girlfriend!
