11 months

April 30, 2010

* You no longer take a bottle at daycare, but are solely on the 'straw' sippy cups.  You were not a fan of the regular sippy cups, so we skipped straight to a straw and you figured it out like a champ.  Next we'll work on transitioning from bottle to cup at home.

* You are sooooo close to walking.  Often, you 'accidently' let go of whatever you are holding onto and stand on your own, but once you realize it, you get nervous and sit down immediately.

* We have full on separation anxiety and drop off at daycare is often NOT fun.  Which is why Mommy makes Daddy take you most days! 

* Dance, dance, dance.  Whenever you hear music, you get into the groove.  Poor girl even dances to my singing.  You either have really bad taste or are completely tone deaf.

* You have three teeth – two on bottom and one peaking out on top.  You wear size 3 diaper.  For clothes, you can still wear your 6 months tops and onesies, but are in 12-18 months pants for the most part.  Short waisted, long legged.  Just like your mother.  Get excited for jean shopping as a teenager – this body type makes it a lot of fun.  Or not. 

* You've added another word to your vocab.  Uh-oh.  Except is sounds more like OHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  You think it’s funny to drop your bottle or toy, look up at us, say “uh-oh” and then wait expectantly for it to be handed back to you. 

* One of your favorite games is 'feed Ellie' who sits under your highchair during all meals anxiously waiting for a quick nibble.  You love to reach out and share, giggling while she licks your hand and steals your goodies.  Once you are full, you systematically drop morsels of food one at a time onto the floor, then lean over as far as you can to watch as Ellie quickly devours.  We need to work on stopping this bad habit..............

* Every where we go (and we are on the go a lot!), people ask us if you are always so happy, smiley, giggly.  We are so fortunate to get to answer, truthfully, YES.  You continue to be such a joy each and every day.  You are the light of our lives, and we can't imagine our family without you.  We say every single day just how lucky we are. 

We love you more than words.  Happy Birthday Lily!

Toys!

Your current favorite toys are so inappropriate. 

The dog water bowl is your number one favorite ‘toy’.  You race, literally, as fast as you can the moment you spot it.  If we aren’t right behind you, your tiny hands are deep into the water splashing around.  Ugh.

A close second to your favorite toy is toilet paper.  You think it is flipping hilarious to pull the paper, see it unravel, tear it off, and take a huge bite.  Yea, you eat paper.  You’re the weird kid.

Next would be the toilet flusher.  You have figured out how to pull down the handle and that it makes a silly noise when you do.  So you try to do it over and over and over again.  Not good. 

* As a disclaimer, please don’t think we’re bad parents but you do hang out in the bathroom quite a bit.   You are normally awake while we are getting ready for work so we let you crawl and roam around our feet.  And our master bath is approximately 3 by 5 feet and is constantly full of two adults, one little munchkin and a 50 lb dog.  Mommy needs a bigger bathroom….

You love laundry baskets, open dresser drawers, and the open clothes dryer.  You love to reach in and pull out each item one at a time.  Such a big helper you are! I especially appreciate your help empting drawers just moments after I put all the clothes away.

You are obsessed with all things electronic.  The remote control, our cell phones, the ‘buzzer’ at the restaurant.

When we are loading or unloading the dishwasher, you race over, pull yourself up and immediately go for the easiest thing to grab….the utensils.  Numerous times you’ve been moments away from pulling out a knife or fork.  Scary!

Your ‘toys’ keep us on our toes each and every day.  And we  wouldn’t have it any other way!

Play Date

 

Emma, 9 months; Ben, 6 months, and Lily, 10 months. 

Myself and two girlfriends had babies within just a few months of each other.  We’ve been trying to get our kiddos together for quite awhile and finally did this past weekend. 

I feel so lucky to have shared close pregnancies and subsequent births with these two gals – they have been great sounding boards when I need a little advice, great listeners when I needed to vent, and great happy hour partner’s in crime when we Mommy’s needed a little time to ourselves! 

New Mom-isms…round 3

It’s been awhile since I posted here and here about newly discovered mom-isms.  After almost one year of being a mother, I have a few additional thoughts to add…... 

* Who cares.  That's my new motto.  Finger prints on my windows, coffee table, stainless steal appliances.  Who cares.  Dog hair all over the floor.  Who cares. Puffs and milk spilled in my car.  Who cares. Sweet happy baby and loving fun husband.  That’s all that matters in my little world.  I'm not always good at incorporating this motto each day, but I'm really trying. 

* On that same note, take a step back from your busy life and enjoy the moment.  The laundry, the dishes, dinner, can all wait.  Too often, I've rushed around 'busy' after work getting everything done, only to realize it's Lily's bedtime and I've missed the entire evening of hanging out with her.

* Advice is helpful.  But sometimes you just have to figure it out on your own.  No matter what worked for your friend, your parents, your co-worker, it might not be right for you.  Just go with the flow, take it one day at a time, and you'll figure out what is best for your baby and your family.  Every one does it differently and most of us turned out all right (especially me, I'm perfect, just ask me).

* Trust your mom instincts.  A couple times this winter, I just knew something was off with Lily.  She wasn't fussy, she was sleeping and eating fine, but I just knew.  Both times I waited too long to take her to the doctor, and both times my gut feeling was right. 

* Trust your husband's instincts.  Mine might be louder than his, but sometimes a different perspective is exactly what the doctor ordered.

* I've said it before, but the hardest part of parenting is finding time as husband and wife.  Yet it's so important that we feel connected to each other in order to be good parents to Lily.  So we try hard to take time for each other, even if it's just sitting down to dinner together each night or a quick glass of wine on the deck before bedtime. 

I can’t wait to see what else I learn as Lily quickly approaches her first birthday.  This year has been such an amazing happy time, and we couldn’t love our little girl any more. 

Good morning!

If you woke up to this little goof-ball each morning, how could you ever have a bad day!

Belated Easter

What a fun weekend we had in Sabetha over Easter.  We spent Saturday night at Grandma and Grandpa O’s enjoying lots of quality time with cousins Anyslee and Liam. 

Lily loves watching and playing with the bigger kids play at daycare, and therefore couldn’t take her eyes off Aynslee!

 

Grandma and Grandpa had an Easter Egg Hunt after dinner – what a fun ‘new’ tradition that I hope continues throughout the years.

Lily was very proud of her Easter eggs.  

Sunday morning we went to church, getting one more wear out of Lily’s baptismal dress. 

This might be one of my very favorite photos! So sweet!

10 months

March 31, 2010.  

A few Lily observations:

* You are a pro at pulling yourself up and walking around and around and around the coffee table.  You are so proud of yourself and giggle the entire time.

* You have three words - Da (Daddy), Gah (dogs), and Ma-Ma.  You very consistently use Da and Gah appropriately and sometimes call me Ma-Ma. 

Happy Birthday Auntie M!

* Oh my, what a temper.  I could have written this blog post myself.  I think you are trying to test the limits, assert your independence, and see just how far you can push Mommy.  But flailing your arms in the air, throwing your head back, and letting out an ear piercing scream is not cute nor sweet nor entertaining.  So please stop acting like your mother when she doesn’t get her way.

*Kisses!  You have learned how to kiss.  And while it’s so stinking cute to see you coming in to plant a big one on my face, you might consider that open mouth, tongue sticking out is a little gross.  You can continue to kiss like this while a baby, but if you try it when you are 13, you will be grounded and sent to live in a convent. 

* You have developed quite an aversion to all males except for your daddy.  You duck your head against my chest whenever you see a stranger coming your way. 

* You are starting to become a little cuddler.  You will sit on my lap or lay your head against my shoulder for a few minutes at a time – this is a huge change from when you were a newborn.  Before this, you never sat in my lap or cuddled unless you were sick.  I LOVE IT!

* Your smile and laugh lights up our world.  You squint your eyes and wrinkle your nose when you think something is funny.  It melts our hearts every single time. 

We love you more than words.  Happy Birthday Lily!

It’s here!

Finally Spring has arrived. I love the beautiful weather.

My hair blows in the wind.

 

I can crawl away to freedom….

 

except for these silly bars keeping me in.

I play and share with Mommy…

 

then throw my blocks in the air (and off the deck).

 

And I can contemplate life’s biggest mysteries.

Oh how I love Spring.