My little chunkaroo is getting longer, leaner, and way too close to her very first birthday. 😭

Leighton is truly the BEST baby we could have ever asked for! I joke that it’s because Kens is currently in “high maintenance” mode and Elle knows she has to be this chill for mere survival purposes. My survival, that is. 😜

Elle was born with this special little sparkle in her eye and damn do I have a soft spot for it!

If you ever need a pick me up, come over and get Leighton out of her bed in the morning. She’s like a puppy when their human gets home from work. 😆 Full leg kicks and smiles and even some grunts and growls on an extra good morning. She doesn’t get that pre-coffee cheerfulness from her mama, I can tell you that much. 🤣 I will say it makes dragging myself out of bed in the morning way more worth it.

Elle loves to be tickled and she LOVES her big sister more than anything in this world. Kens loves to play with her in the car and Elle’s giggles are so contagious. K greets her with a baby voiced “hiiii my little cutie girl” every morning and every afternoon when we pick her up – and L goes straight into leg kicking happy mode and squeals with excitement.

Elle wants anything I’m eating – well, anything I’m HOLDING; it all goes in her mouth, shoes being her personal favorite. 🤦🏼‍♀️ We’re pretty sure she’s got an allergy to strawberries because they’ve resulted in 2 vomit sessions…so steering clear of those for a few months which she’s really not happy about.

Leighton is crushing her swim lessons and still doesn’t cry. She gets so excited and tries to climb into the pool the second I set her down. I have a feeling she’ll be my little bumps and bruises daredevil.

Her doctor said her vocabulary is comparable to an 18 month old…which is terrifying to think anyone could talk more than Kensie does. 😂 Elle’s got Mama, dada, hi with a wave, yay with a clap and uh oh down! She’s also been waving and saying bye bye…but she definitely doesn’t know what it means because she does it mid eating. 🧐

Uh oh is at the top of her list lately and most of her “uh ohs” is her new intentional game of “fetch” while she repeatedly throws her pacifier out of her car seat. 🙄

She’s still sitting and scooting her way around town – no crawling just yet! She’s pulled one knee under her and done some solid backwards crawling, but she’s pretty content with her current butt scooting method.

I really don’t get the whole “2nd babies are good to trick you into a 3rd” concept. My thought process is the opposite. I know there’s no way it can get any better so we should quit while we’re ahead. 🤷🏼‍♀️😂

We’re posting a day late because Leighton’s 9 month mark was also the 22nd year anniversary of her Grandpa’s (my dad’s) death.

I’ve taken Kensie with me to visit every year and this year, Leighton got to join us, too!

K is at an age now where I wasn’t really sure what all she’d ask and I was even more unsure of how I would answer the questions she’d have. It’s so important to me that they grow up just knowing this is part of their past and not something that I randomly introduce them to at 10+ years old when I think they’re “ready” to understand it.

I took them to the police station first to show Kensie a picture and tell her “that’s my dad!” She was shy in the moment but full of questions the second we walked out…most of those questions being “when can we go back home to get my princess dress”. 🙄

After she put the flowers in his headstone at the cemetery, she asked where Grandpa is and if Grandma was coming. 😆

She’s a smart one, gotta give her that! I told her it’s Grandpa’s special stone they made to remember him and since she’s got a strange rock obsession, the answer satisfied her and she didn’t ask again. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I know once they are old enough to truly comprehend the whole thing, they’ll be so proud of the hero their Grandpa was!