11 Months

Welp, here we are at the 11 month mark.  Sigh.  It really does go by quickly!  I was hoping that was a myth. 

Lilly is so beautiful.  Her hair has been getting longer.  She is babbling more and more, making a sound that is a mix between “yes” and “this.”  She is eating so many new things.  Her favorites right now are tomatoes and tempeh.  The teething has slowed way down and we are holding steady at 5:  three up top and two on the bottom.  She crawls at top speeds, has made it all the way up the steps, loves to splash in the tub, and seems to know how my itouch works:  she rakes her little finger across the screen mimicing what I do.  So cute!

Stairs and Standing

We are on official count down to Lilly’s first birthday!  I am making mental plans for a party and I just hope I can get it together so that it will be special for everyone.

Lilly is just so smart and cute these days (different from when?  never!).  She’s been standing on her own but thinks it is so fun to fall into my arms instead of taking a step or two. 

Her and Sylus are getting along great and she has been playing tug with him and his toys.  When he runs around the house like crazy, she just sits crossed legged and laughs out loud.

With her little tushy up in the air, Lilly crawls at high speed.  I have to watch her carefully though because she heads right for the stairs!  She’s made it up to the 7th stair and came back down only two of them before being stuck. 

It is hard to believe how big she is getting.  She still hasn’t moved past “dada” or “mama” but she did say “bye bye” when I said it to my mom on the phone.  There’s been no repeat of that either but I enjoy her cute little sounds even if they only make since to her.

Here she is standing with no help.

Fish Family Fun

We knew the snow was coming in so we decided to get out while we could and the family headed to the Aquarium (thanks to Daddy George and Nana!)  We had perfect timing because all the school kids were leaving due to canceled school and we were just walking in.

Lilly seemed to like the bright colors of the tanks.  Her reactions didn’t really change much until we got to the penquins and they were so playful, she couldn’t help but notice.

Some other children came in where the penquins are and Lilly thought they were much more interesting then the penquins.  She ended up staring at them more then she did the animals. 

On our way home, it began to snow.  Lilly got to see it fall from the sky for the first time which made her grin so big. 

It was great spending the snow day as a family and when Lilly starts to walk, the aquarium will be even better!

Some Down Time

 

We have been trying to catch up since Christmas around here and now, a cold has caught up with Lilly.  She has been sick for atleast 4 days and we have been to the doctor.  I have a mean case of cabin fever.  I am sure she will improve soon and be her happy self and meanwhile, I have discovered chocolate Cheerios.

The ordination was so special. Lilly was perfect all weekend and smiled at everyone a lot.  There are so many photos from that day so I will stick to the Lilly-centric shots.

Kibbles and Bits

This week, Lilly has been growing by leaps and bounds.  Well, maybe more like tiny little steps but it seems like she is doing something new each day.

On Tuesday, at daycare, she let go of a chair, stood for a little while then took a step towards me (only to fall into my arms with laughter)!  I was so glad I didn’t miss her big first step moment.

Last night, Wil went to make her night time bottle and she crawled over to the banister, looked down below and went, “da.”  We might be reading into this some but she did it more then once and seemed to be looking for Wil.  We aren’t calling it her first word just yet but it seems pretty close to the real thing.

I was becoming worried that Lilly’s first word would be, “no” because she seems to target all the things she’s not supposed to touch.  One of her favorites is Sylus’s food.  She hasn’t managed to get a piece in her mouth yet but it sure is interesting stuff.

Caught in the act!!

I can almost hear her say, “What?  I was just petting Sylus!”

Going with the Flow

It has been an amazing past few days and such a whirlwind that I didn’t get many photos.  Wil’s ordination weekend was so joyful.  Family and friends filled our home and the ceremony was all warm and fuzzy.  Lilly was in great spirits for the festivities and ate many new things with all the food we had around. 

Having Mamaw here was very special. Her and Lilly would spend a few minutes just being together every now and then. 

It was a rainy day for the Ordination but who would have noticed with all the other things to think about.  And I must show you the flower arrangment from the reception that made its way to our living room:

I don’t think I have seen a prettier flower arrangement!

Lilly had a great time with everyone and she’s really started to get a sense of humor.  The element of surprise is her favortie and I was reading to her a book called Green Hat, Blue Hat: it goes, “Green Hat, Blue Hat, Red Hat, oops!”  and she will just crack up laughing at the oops part.  I think I could read it to her a million times.

I turn on the music upstairs and Lilly finds a way to pull up so she can get down! She’ll stand in place and bounce up and down with a huge grin….

10 Months

It seems like I had just posted the 9 month entry when here we are again…Lilly is 10 months old today.  It really puts my life into perspective.  As a kid, it seemed like time was so slow.  30 minutes was an eternity but as an adult, 30 minutes gives me just enough time to clean up the highchair and the mess in the kitchen made from cooking for Lilly.

At 10 months, Lilly is doing all the things she should and none of the things that are over or under her age group ability level.  She started on her fourth tooth two days ago and is doing well with squishy fruits, veggies and grains.  No meat yet but we do give her egg yolk and whole milk. 

She is still babbling and I think (could be just me but Wil agrees) that she sings sometimes.  The babbling is also starting to take direction.  Her favorite activities are mommy jungle gym, the Hide and Seek Snowman Book, and being chased down the hall- crawl vs. crawl.  The last one was discovered thanks to Daddy George.

Lilly is wonderful of course and these photos were taken right when she woke up from a super long nap. 

A New Year Begins

Whether you say “twenty ten” or “two thousand and ten”, we have begun a new decade and Lilly has already started the new year with a trip to see family in Western North Carolina.

Traveling is quite the operation.  With stuff strapped to the top of the car and only a place for Sylus and Lilly to sit in the back, we went around the rock slides to the Grandparents houses.  We saw many faces and recieved many hugs. (click on the picture to see it a bit larger)

It was great seeing everyone and having Lilly be with her great Grandparents.  It will probably be awhile before we head towards Asheville again so the long trip was good for the soul.

Lilly’s First Christmas

Different but good, Lilly has officially said goodnight to her first Christmas day.  We started Christmas Eve when her and I went to the 3:30pm service at Good Shepherd where Wil was helping run the show.   Then, Christmas morning, we woke Wil up, had some cinnamon rolls and coffee, and opened presents. 

Lilly got an Elmo Phone, a sippy cup water bottle and some hair bows that we have decided are too tight on her head. 

With not much else to do, the whole family headed to the 10:00am service and we all got to sit together which was oddly special.  We finished the day with dinner at the Childer’s and a drive around while Lilly slept to look at the Christmas lights.  Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

50%

Lilly went to see her favorite Doctor in order to get her 9 month check up.  She’s a bit late with this because she had a cold for a few weeks and we needed to wait until she was 100%. 

Doc Rawlings confirmed what we all know to be true:  Lilly is healthy and wonderful and perfect and beautiful and…well, maybe he only said the healthy part but I could read between the lines.  She is in the median for all growth on the charts.  The doc actaully said as of right now, she is growing like she will be 5′4″!  It is amazing that they can predict that but to see if he is right…..

We have a lot to work on in the next three months.  With the emergence of tooth number three, Lilly has to start getting her teeth “brushed.”  Not with paste but just bristled every night.  We have also started replacing one bottle a day with whole milk!  Wil and I are super excited about this one because it is a lot cheaper then formula.  Sleeping through the night has continued and it is such a wonderful present from Lilly. 

Lilly is done with jarred baby food even though we have some left in the cupboard.  She made this decision on her own and won’t let me put a spoon in her mouth so she’s been eationg lots of beans and pears and she loves couscous.  I sneak veggies into the couscous and she doesn’t even notice since she’s shoveling in so fast.  I gave her a candy cane the other day and she really liked that.

Lilly is still pulling up and crawling at top speed.  She has let go every once in awhile but she still falls right down with little time of standing.  I am not in a rush for her to be on two instead of four.  And, if we can master it beofre heading to WNC, she has started to wave!  Now, if we can only get her to wave on cue….