OH MY GOODNESS!!!!

So much to tell! Taylor is now eating baby food (stage 3) for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She loves it! Well, she still doesn't like green beans and she isn't a fan of broccoli. She is also snacking on Little Graduates finger foods...cheesy puffs, strawberry stars, mixed berry yogurt melts, and her favorite, cinnamon maple lil' crunchies. Don't let the names fool you, they all melt upon contact to her tongue. With 3 teeth, she can't do too much chewing, but she is pretty good at mushing. Taylor is reaching for our food constantly. So, Ray and I have given Taylor a few tastes...strawberry, pineapple, potato, steamed carrot, and a few others. And then we broke the rules....now, I assure you that we are good, responsible parents every day of the week. But even the best Mommy and Daddy slip up at times. Traditionally, Baby's first taste of sugar is on his or her first birthday. And I know there are many reasons for this, but none seemed to come to mind that Thursday evening in May. Ray and I were enjoying a yummy slice of cookie cake. I don't know if it were Taylor's begging little eyes or that we just temporarily lost our minds, but Ray took a small dab of icing on his fingertip and raised it to Taylor's lips. She slowly and cautiously touched the white dot with her tongue. Taylor slowly mashed it around in her mouth, the gears in her head turning and cranking. Suddenly, she lunged forward and sucked his finger clean. We have created a monster. Don't worry, we haven't given her anymore.

With the heat as it is right now, I have been worrying about Taylor getting hot and thirsty. For the paste few weeks, I have been working to get Taylor drinking fluids, something other than formula, which she only has 3-4 times a day. We have tried water. We've tried juice. We have tried water and juice mixed. Different flavors. From and bottle. Out of a sippy cup. NOTHING WORKED. Taylor wanted nothing to do with liquids. Then, yesterday, we met up with Gammie and Braylin at Target. Braylin was very thirsty. So, we picked up some cartons of peach/pear juice. Taylor was watching Braylin sipping on the box drink. You could see her mind working, then she started reaching across buggies for her cousin's juice box. So, I figured, its worth a shot.

Well, I'll be durn, she hasn't been drinking because she didn't want to drink from a sippy cup. She wanted a straw! So, we are now drinking from straw cups!

And, now, the most exciting news...this past Tuesday night...TAYLOR TOOK HER FIRST STEPS!!!! That's right, our little 8 1/2 month old took 2 steps. She wasn't really paying attention, it just happened. She has been walking, assisted, for a week or two. But this was totally unexpected! She took two more last night. Ray and I have to work on our remaining calm and quiet when Taylor is stepping, because, the first few times, we would both gasp and then she get all flustered and sit back down.

We better get ready! She is already into EVERYTHING! And she is a little speed demon while crawling!

DANCING QUEEN...

Anytime there is music, we start dancing...

These are the only 2 videos I have of it so far. Who knows, we may be dancing with Beyonce soon!

In other news...We now officially have an attachment to our blankie! Taylor reaches for it when she is sleepy, cuddles with it at night, and always tries to steal her cousin, Braylin's.

Also, Taylor is adjusting to a change in her Daddy. Ray got braces this past Monday! So, he looks a little different and sounds a little different, but he is still her Prince Charming.

PEEK-A-BOO....

This is one of Taylor's new favorites. She could go on for hours....

ALL SETTLED IN...

We've done it...unpacked all the boxes, hung most the pictures, cooked our first few dinners. We are officially living in Shreveport! Although our apartment is slightly less square feet than our previous 2 places, it feels like it has so much more room. And closet space, oh my word, so much closet space!!!

I have to tell you, Taylor LOVES it!! Our place has carpet throughout. So, she is a crawling speed-demon. What else does she love? THE POOL!!! One of the pools is right next to our building. As soon as I pull out on of her swimsuits, Taylor starts going crazy. She kicks and splashes. If you set her on the side of the pull, Taylor gets a jumpy and then reached and falls into your arms. We have so much fun!

Taylor is working on getting a few more teeth. And she now will stand, on her own, in the middle of the room. She will bend down, pick up and toy and stand back up! Sometimes, she will walk with assistance.

Oh, for those of you that are wondering, Ray and I had a fantastic trip to NYC. Lots of great food, several celebrities, the sights, the shows. It was fabulous. But, boy did we miss our baby girl. Of course, I am not so sure she missed us. Taylor had an absolute blast with Gramma and Big Daddy! And what did we bring our baby girl from the Big Apple? A custom designed Muppet!! That's right, we brought her a new friend named Franny.