2013: A Year of Lili

2013 has been a big adventure for us, our first full year with L. Last New Year’s, she was just beginning to sit up on her own and was still very much an infant. Today, she is a strong-willed little girl with more personality than me and E combined.

It was a big year for L. She learned to crawl, then walk, then run and jump. She learned all the letters of the alphabet, numbers 1 through 10, and colors. She developed a vocabulary of over 300 words, and is now speaking in almost-sentences. She owns over 50 different Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars, and can identify each one. She learned how to operate an iPhone with ease, and figured out how to take selfies. She has memorized quite a few pages of various books. Overall, her learning continues to astonish us.

She got her first passport and traveled to the Azores to visit Auntie Carla, Jackson, and Max. She went to Asheville, North Carolina for a weekend. She went back to Michigan, her home state, four times, and had her first beach day in Grand Haven, on Lake Michigan, and her first off-roading experience at Silver Lake. She welcomed lots of visitors to Virginia, including Auntie Carla and the boys, Grammy and Grampy Harkema, and Grandma McNeil.

She fell in love with several boys, namely Elmo, Curious George, and Caillou. Her favorite “show,” though, is her cousin Rhyse’s YouTube channel. She expressed a healthy fear of Santa Claus when she encountered him in person. She loves teenagers, namely her Aunt Amanda and cousin Gabby. Auntie Jen remains her BFF.

Lili, we sure love you. 2013 was an amazing year because of you. We can’t wait to see what joys you bring in 2014.