Jia Li spent time looking at the scenery, much like when she crawled on this trail for the first time in the snow, but she managed to make it up an entire switchback before asking to be carried again.

We stopped for a quick snack before she jumped back in the pack so I could continue the hike. She loves Annie’s bunny gummies.

We stopped at the park to play at the end of the hike. Jia Li loves our neighborhood park. Today she found some chalk that somebody left behind.

Park hopping in the Chariot on the weekends has become one of our rituals. Jia Li has become fascinated with my bike helmet. I think it’s time to get her one of her own so she can play on her own bikes.

Life flies by so quickly. I woke up this week, got Jia Li dressed for the day, and Matt and I noticed that suddenly her clothes don’t fit. What the?!?! She had a growth spurt….like overnight!

She’s still got room to grow in order to reach this xylophone at one of our parks in town. There’s a smaller one that she can reach, barely. She is really getting into music these days. She hums, sings, and dances to her favorite tunes.

Our little girl loves the parks. Luckily, Durango has so many parks that we have yet to hit them all.

My favorite activity is toting Jia Li around town in the Chariot. This was one of our best purchases! Bike commuting was ho-hum until Jia Li came along.

Jia Li’s favorite things these days include playing on my iPad and undressing her doll (thanks Kathy for making such a cute doll with many different outfits).

She spends 2 half days a week at day care and has lots of fun there.

Life is good for this little girl who has the luxury of having both her parents working from home.

Jia Li has become quite active these days and keeps Matt and me on our toes. She’s turning into quite the little athlete, running, rock climbing, and being a all around dare devil. I think she gets that from her Dad.

Our little rock climber

Learning to stack rings

Walking to the mailbox to get the mail

Head first down the slide…

We’re almost 1/2 way to 16 months for Jia Li. Maybe I’ll get her next post out on time!

We went to see the Corona Arch which people were bungee jumping from for spectators.

The next day we headed towards Purgatory and I got in some skate skiing while Matt and Jia Li went cross country skiing. Matt has some cute photos on his Facebook page.

We finished off the day with a nice meal at Steamworks.

Her new sled works well for us. I can easily pull her over to the park in our neighborhood and she gets to kick back for the ride.

She also got new matching Stonz booties, mitts, and a fleece hat straight from Canada. These work wonders! I no longer bring home a baby with cold hands and feet. We played at the park and in the snow with no cold issues, and it was 19 degrees F outside.

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!!!

So we had Christmas presents to open that Jia Li and the cats really enjoyed.

We waited until Christmas evening to do this. So Jia Li was a tad tired, but she still enjoyed opening the gifts. It didn’t slow Merv down. He went crazy with the tissue paper.

The next day Jia Li had just as much fun playing with her new gifts, plus she had the smiles going. She received a lot of books, which was great. We have yet to make it through an entire book, but Jia Li loves flipping through the pages! Whoever suggested that adding book reading into your toddler’s bedtime routine was never around an active baby like Jia Li.

As most of you known, we don’t send out holiday greeting cards. Perhaps some day I will actually have time to do this. Maybe when Jia Li is 16. In the meantime, please know that all our friends and family are always in our thoughts, regardless of whether its the holiday season or not.

Our little girl is almost 1 year old. This time has flown by fast. I don’t want to jinx us, but honestly, this has been easier than I thought it would be!

This means lots of trips around town grocery shopping and having fun. Park hopping has been our most recent activity.

Jia Li has been very intrigued with the slides. She sees bigger kids on them and tries to mimic what they do.

She also loves crawling around in the grass and wood chips.

Rock climbing is still a favorite.

We stopped at Bread for a little treat on one of our adventures.

With the fun we’ve been having, I don’t want colder temperatures. I love this weather we’ve been having! 50s to 60s means we can travel light and have fun as we go.

On this visit Bill and Kathy brought a baby doll cradle, a baby doll with cute outfits, and two little kitties that represent Jangles and Merv.

She loves playing with this. The kitties have her attention most these days. Plus climbing in and out of her cradle is fun too.

Jia Li will be growing into these gifts for a long time.

Jia Li has made some new milestones again this month. Just a few days ago she started feeding herself with her baby spoon. She gets more on her face than her mouth, but she’s getting the hang of it! She’s also drinking by herself out of a sippy cup.

Jia Li has also started waving and she says “Hi” when she’s doing it. I guess that’s her first official word! Okay, she does say mama and dada but I can’t quite tell if she is addressing us or just practicing her language skills.

While Jia Li has been walking with assistance from us holding one or two of her hands, she has recently discovered a way to walk on her own with one of her toys.

As usual, exploring is the name of the game for this little one. She knows how to get into drawers and cabinets. All the low level storage areas are now hers. I overlooked the Q-Tip box the other day. I didn’t think she could get into it. I was wrong.

Jia Li has also been learning how to climb into things. Here she is waving hi again.

We had a cold weekend last week and I bundled up Jia Li for a hike. The down pram worked great! I just need a way to keep her face warm.

Luckily, things have warmed up again. We are enjoying our last days of Fall!

Thank goodness this hasn’t become a habit. It’s funny though, I need to learn that if there’s something in the house that the cats like to mess with, Jia Li is likely to mess with it sooner or later too!

Jia Li is up to 16 pounds. Still less than the 3rd percentile for other babies her age, but she’s growing at her own rate.

I had a book club meeting at my house at the end of October and Lila came to visit with her mom. This was the first time the girls played with each other rather than just parallel playing. It was really cute.

We are all taking advantage of the great Fall weather before cold hits and we lose all our sunlight at the end of the day. That means lots of trips to the parks around town! Jia Li isn’t complaining.

She always loves checking out my bike.

She’s also becoming quite the rock climber!

I’m getting better about always being prepared on our outings. I can’t forget the snacks!

If we can’t make it to the park, at least we can go for a quick neighborhood walk. This time Jia Li decided to grab keys and lip balm for the trip.

Winter will be here before we know it. I’m looking forward to taking Jia Li out in the snow.

She’s still not walking but getting awfully close.

She and Dad have been getting a lot of together time. She’s now got a Bama ball cap, so she and Dad were decked out and ready for game day this last weekend.

Jia Li and I have been doing our normal weekend hikes, which as usual are lots of fun. Jia Li has her game face on for this photo.

Here’s Jia Li with a post hike snack.

Nothing but cuteness exuding from this little one these days.

When I “brush” her teeth, she clamps down hard on my finger and giggles. All sorts of things are funny to Jia Li these days. She’s got a great sense of humor.

This past weekend Matt ran a 50K trail race in town, so Jia Li and I packed up the Chariot and met Matt on the trail. She wasn’t very happy about me putting a sun hat on her head.

After seeing Matt on course, we biked around town to the bike path and did some exploring. We stopped at a park along the way too, which was fun. We eventually arrived at Rivergate where the race finish line was and waited for Dad to come through.

Here’s Matt getting his medal…first in his age group and 4th overall! Not bad for a mountain biker.

We’ve been getting our weekend hikes in the high country before it starts to get too cold. I love Fall!

Other than that, things have been low key around here. Pretty much spending time with Jia Li and watching her try to put everything she sees in her mouth.

Speaking of which, Jia Li’s food list is expanding. She’s now eating mandarin oranges. She loves them, but you wouldn’t have thought so with the first bite she had. Maybe it had something to do with the peel.