CLUCK, CLUCK-- HALLOWEEN 2009!

Lily practiced getting dressed for Halloween for about a couple of months before the big day. She would see her costume in the closet & say "Cluck, Cluck"... we would then need to try it on. Her Halloween celebration began at Buell's Orchard with other friends from camp, followed by a photo shoot in the front yard & ended at home with Daddy, Momma & Aunti "Goo" (Magoo) greeting trick-or-treaters. The most exciting of all visitors was a little girl dressed as Barney. Lily was in awe... staring, waving at a speed 10x her normal rate... "Baaa-ey! Hi, hi, hi, hi!"

" PUN-CANE!"

Lily & Momma went to the "Harvest Festival" at a local orchard today. Lots of fun... apple picking, pumpkin ("pun-cane") picking, live music & hayrides. We enjoyed being out on such a beautiful Fall day! 

We are really noticing the difference between baby & toddler. Lily is gaining so much independence, learning new words every day, requesting particular books to read, pointing out things in her environment. No more baby food, no more bottle-- big girl bites & drinking out of her straw cup (actually, for a couple of months now)! 

This is proving to be a challenging time in parenthood... our little girl who would eat ANYTHING (including sauteed spinach) is now refusing her vegetables-- even sweet potatoes! The veggies seem to be better off on the floor than in her mouth. Any tips from experienced parents would be greatly appreciated! Teething continues & we are also down to 1 nap vs. 2...

Misc. information:

Lily can identify the letters O, M, & P... and says "A-B-A-B" when referring to the alphabet. 

When you ask her to count, everything is "2." 

She can find her belly button, nose, eyes, ears, neck, chin, cheek, hair, hands/fingers, feet/toes. 

If we put on shoes & put in a hair bow, she says "BYE!"

She likes giving high fives, low fives & shaking hands...

Lily LOVES giving hugs & kisses to her toys & books... and having her toys kiss each other. All throughout the day, we hear "MMMMA!" I turn my head, to find Pooh kissing a lion. When she gives hugs, she says "Oh Bear... Oh Pooh... Oh Baby" and gives them a "pat, pat."

Some of our favorite words & phrases: "alli-gee" (alligator), "Oh boy," "Oh man," "Cool," "Hop on Pop," "Pun-cane" (pumpkin), "Haaamm" (Ham, in her best English accent). 

When Lily is eating & wants more of something, she gives the sign for more, and follows with "kay" (okay)... this is because I say "you want more ____ ? okay!"

No independent walking yet, but she walks around furniture & can pull up to everything... and balances well when she lets go of the furniture. 

She loves Pooh, any & all bears, her babies (handmade by Gramma Di), BOOKS, her alphabet magnets (specifically the letter O, which she carries around the house).

"Ba-eee" (Barney) is another obsession, which is ironic. After watching hours & hours of Barney with Mariah when she was little, I decided the big purple dinosaur would not be an honorary member of our family.... that Barney & his videos would be a treat she could enjoy at Nana Jo & PawPaw's house. However, I bought a couple of Barney books at a garage sale this Summer & somehow she is hooked. When Gramma Di was here, she counted 16 kisses (in a matter of 30 seconds) that Lily gave to Barney in her book.

Animal sounds: monkey, cow, cat, dog, snake, owl, horse, pig, sheep, wolf, lion, chicken, rooster (SO CUTE) & duck.

Daddy is still Lily's hero... she mimics his actions, facial expressions, words, his every move... so sweet.

 

Birthday Party, Gramma Di, Pops... then PawPaw!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, LILY!

What a special day! Lily celebrated her big day at home, with Daddy, Momma, Gramma Di & Oba-Chan (Hiroko). Presents... followed by birthday cake... a dip in the pool... and finally a bath to remove chocolate icing from her nostrils & folds. :) She had so much fun & LOVED the cake (we weren't surprised). After the festivities, our little birthday girl completely crashed... with a 3-hour afternoon nap! It is unreal how quickly time has passed-- what an incredible year. 

The best photos (especially of Lily devouring her cake) were taken by Gramma Di & Hiroko. We're experiencing some technical difficulties transferring their photos onto our computer... hope to get them posted in the next couple of days! 

SUMMERTIME ADVENTURES!

HOW BIG IS LILY? (updates from 4/13-5/13)

                                                 Piggy!

                                                    Crazy tongue!

                                         Notice the finger...

                                          Mother's Day

                                           Lily and "Grandpa" Dave

                                                     So Big!

It's time to catch up. Lily has some things she would like to share with you....

The weather (when not raining, of course) has been beautiful. Every chance we get, we are outside taking walks, going kayaking in the lake, and playing in the yard. 

As small as this sounds, the first time Lily clapped was probably the proudest moment I have experienced as a Mom (with the exception of her birth). :) It was the day we were heading back to CT after the cruise. I actually felt like Gramma Di when I had to stop to tell a complete stranger in the airport that Lily had just learned to clap. "The Ellen Show" was on TV a few weeks ago & the audience began to clap... Lily quickly looked up from her toys to join them. Cracked me up.

When Mariah was a baby, my favorite trick had to be what we called "piggy." The cutest thing ever. I am happy to report that Aunti Ri passed this talent down to her niece. She scrunches up her nose, opens her mouth & snorts like a little piggy. Lily loves it when Scotty & I join her in making the piggy noise.

How Big is Lily? Sooooo Big! We may have overused this one, because Lily is pretty selective about when she will raise her arms up in the air to show us "how big." However, if she is in front of a mirror, that is a different story. No hesitation whatsoever. Speaking of "so big"... Lily had her 9-month check up yesterday, 5/12. She was 20.9 lbs, and 28.25 inches. 

Other talents we would like to mention include: fake coughing, "crazy tongue" (see above), pointing and tilting her head from side to side (she especially loves it when we mimic her & tilt our heads too). 

Lily LOVES her books. We read before every nap & before bedtime. She is very active in turning the pages, and loves to point at her favorite pictures. 

Does anyone remember the part in "When Harry Met Sally" when they are playing Pictionary and Harry's friend yells out "BABY FISH MOUTH, BABY FISH MOUTH?" They made fun of him for this guess, but I want to say that it does exist. Lily makes the best baby fish mouth, though we do not have a photo to prove it.

Lily has a brand new obsession.... tags are pretty much a thing of the past. She loves holes. Her parents' nostrils and holes in her toys, for example. She has a little piano... now you might think that the piano keys would be her favorite feature... but I bet you never knew what fun could be had by turning that piano upside down. On the underside of the piano is where you can find multiple screw holes to stick your fingers into & then make a popping sound when you pull them out at an angle.

While Lily is not crawling yet, she is definitely showing some interest. She is extremely active & seems to find a way to get to whatever she needs. She lunges forward from sitting position, rolls everywhere, rotates around on her belly, and scoots backwards. We can no longer expect to find her in the same spot we left her. :)

Happy Mother's Day to me! Lily & Daddy woke up early to make me breakfast in bed. They also gave me beautiful flowers and a sweet frame that spells out "M O M." It was a very special first Mother's Day with my family. Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the Mommas! 

HAPPY EASTER!

THE CRUISE!

Under construction. :)

DADDY'S GIRL

Check out my new drum set!

2... 3... 4!

Lily & Earl E. Bird



Lily & her Great-Grandma & Great-Great Grandma

Lily & her Aunti Ri

Lily with her Nana Jo & PaPaw

Lily & Great-Aunt Jennifer, Great-Uncle Jack & Second-Cousin Jed

Lily & her Great-Aunt Donna

I am here to report that Lily & her Daddy are officially best friends. It is adorable to see her face light up when he enters a room. They have many special Daddy/Lily games that bring big smiles and sweet giggles. She stares at him with wide eyes and raised eyebrows, waiting with anticipation. What will he do next?? She can't even focus to drink her milk when he is around... she arches all the way back, scanning the room for him. With the exception of Daddy, NOTHING can stand between Lily & her food! Her new favorite thing to say is "Da-Da-Da-Da."

Lily & I flew to Missouri 3/5-3/8 for a visit with her Nana Jo, PaPaw, Aunti Ri and many other family members. Time went by so fast, we didn't even get to see everyone. However, we will make up for that when we return at the end of May for about 9 or 10 days. :) While our trip was short, it was filled with special moments and lots of fun (including Lily's first visit to the park)! Nana Jo took many more photos... I hope to get my hands on them soon, to post on the blog... maybe in the form of a slideshow (if I can figure out how to get fancy). Thank you, family, for a wonderful visit. See you again soon!

Lily has teeth! Two small "chicklets" have poked through her bottom gums. :)

Scotty & I can see that we may have some serious "friend screening" in our future. Lily & her good friend Earl E. Bird (see photo above) have been spending a lot of time together, and he is teaching her that she can "get the worm" by waking at 5:30 AM, rather than her usual 6:30 AM. Mommy & Daddy aren't too sure about this Earl E. Bird. Does anyone know his parents?

We leave Wednesday for a couple of fun-filled days in Jacksonville, followed by a 7-night cruise with Gramma Di & Gramps, Uncle Tim & Aunt Jenn, and the Sanford family!! 

OUR LITTLE MONKEY...

Henry & Lily

Em, Henry & Lily

Tim & Lily

Snuggle with Emily

Dana ("Bob") & Lily play Pat-a-cake

Scotty, Lily & I went to Indiana 2/18-2/21 to visit the Beckman family in Indiana. We had a wonderful time with Tim, Emily, Henry & Dana (a.k.a. Bob). Lily loved spending time with her friend Henry. He was so sweet with her. We are pretty confident the photos of Henry & Lily together will be in their prom and/or wedding slideshow. :) 

Lily LOVES her hands and feet. She carefully inspects her hands, slowly turning them back to front. We have been calling her a little monkey lately, because she loves to grab onto things with her feet & swing them up to her hands. 

She really enjoys her reading time too. She is so attentive, loves touching/slapping the pages and sometimes helps turn the page. 

For a while now, we have been working on sitting up. Success! Lily was able to sit up by herself today for about 5-7 minutes at a time.

She is doing great with food...  cereal, sweet peas, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, prunes & applesauce. Loves it all! Pears are next....

Lily is now starting to reach for us, which melts our hearts. And if Daddy is in the room, she has a little trouble focusing while eating. She stops multiple times to arch back & look around for him... so cute. 

Our daughter has an obsession with tags. Any tag. She thinks colorful ones on her toys are great, but she actually prefers the manufacturer's tag. She talks to them & will sometimes focus on flipping one tag with her fingertip for 5+ minutes. This is definitely not a trait from her Gramma Di, who has the opposite obsession... getting rid of all tags. :)

Lily went for her 6 month check-up on Tuesday. Immunizations are never fun, but thankfully she recovered quickly this time. Her pediatrician said she's doing great. Her weight 17 lbs 5 oz, and height 27 3/4 in. 

In addition to "awa-wa-wa-wa," Lily is now trying out new syllables.... "ba", "da" and "ma." She tends to use "ma" when she is mad and/or hungry. Oh no....