Sick Day

Lily has been a very healthy baby, with only one ear infection and a couple of minor colds under her belt...until this weekend. Poor thing caught a nasty bug and was feverish, pukey and generally unhappy all weekend. I thought she was on the road to recovery on Saturday afternoon, but her fever spiked Saturday night. We spent the better part of the early morning hours rocking her and holding her. She was a sad, sad sight.

On Sunday, she stayed in her pajamas all day, was extra cuddly and just wanted to sit in mom or dad's lap and snooze. As you can see in the photo, she and Ethan also spent some quality time watching Sesame Street.

I am happy to report that she got a great night's sleep last night and woke up this morning with no fever. She is home with Ethan today so she can rest but I think she's on the mend, just in time for Thanksgiving.

What a Difference a Year Makes

Lily got together with a couple of her baby friends on Sunday and I am just amazed at how big and active they all are...especially compared to last year at this time...

This photo was taken December 8, 2008.

Number Nine

Last night, I spied tooth number NINE popping out of Lily's gum. That would explain the recent fussiness...and her new found love for frozen teething toys (see above). She scoots around the house with it hanging out of her mouth like a dog with a bone. Nine teeth down, only 11 more to go!

Happy Halloween!

Lily had a great time on Halloween dressed up as a cute little ladybug!

We headed down to Old Town on Saturday afternoon for trick or treating at the stores on King Street. Then, we went to our neighborhood Halloween party and parade. Lily and our neighbor, Will, shared a wagon ride to the parade. They were both too cute!

Lily somehow managed to get by on only one 30-minute nap AND stay up until 8 p.m. Halloween makes a girl too excited to sleep!

A Girl on the Go

Lily loves to walk using her walker. She has about three different ones to choose from, so there's no shortage of opportunities for her to practice! When we get home in the afternoons, we usually take a few minutes to walk on our sidewalk outside. She's really good at it and it's only a matter of time before she's walking all on her own!

No No No and 12 Month Doctor Visit

Lily definitely has an opinion on most things and is learning how to express it. Of course, the usual way is to arch her back and scream her head off when we try to get her to do something that she doesn't want to do. Lately, she has started to tell us in a more calm, civilized manner when she doesn't want something: with a vigorous headshake. It's really cute, if not dizzying (for her.)

We also took Lily today for her 12-month check-up. It was not the most fun trip she's had to the doctor--she got FOUR shots plus a finger stick to test her iron and lead levels (since we live in a 60-year-old house). The test results were both good _ normal and low, respectively. As for her growth, we were not surprised to find that she's a big, big girl (this explains why she wears 18-month clothes!):

Height: 30 1/2 inches (90th percentile)

Weight: 22 lbs, 8 oz (75th percentile)

To put things in perspective, one year ago, when she was born, she weighed 7 lbs, 7 oz and was 21 inches long.

ONE!

One year ago today, our wonderful Lily made her entrance into the world and life has not been the same since. Being parents has been the most challenging and rewarding experience of our lives and we would not trade a single moment of it with anyone.

Lily, we love you so very much and and so excited about all the things that you will learn and do in the NEXT 12 months of your life. We can't wait!

Beach Baby

We spent the last week at Topsail Beach, NC, with my family. October at the beach is a grab bag of weather. We had 80 degree days and 50 degree days, but overall, a fun time was had by all. Lily got to visit the beach for the first time on a cold, windy day but she still had fun investigating (that means EATING) the sand and picking up shells.

On warmer days, we got to get into the pool and spend some time on the swings.

Since her first birthday is coming up next week, my family threw Lily an early first birthday party complete with balloons, her own cake and lots of presents.

Lily (and her parents) had a great time with the whole family! Here are more pictures from the trip.

Love the Baby

Lily is full of hugs these days, which is the sweetest thing ever. One thing she really loves to hug is her doll, who doesn't really have a name so we just call her Dolly. She'll pick up Dolly and give her a big squeeze. I can hand her any of her other stuffed animals and say, "Love the monkey/bear/Tigger/bunny/baby," and she'll hug them too.

Of course, my favorite is when she hugs me. She is such a sweet girl. We are so lucky!

11 Months!

Yesterday, Lily celebrated her 11-month birthday with her Daddy, who was celebrating his birthday as well! We had a great time at Cox Farms, home to pumpkins, giant slides, hayrides, farm animals and every child in a 50-mile radius!

It’s been a very busy month for Miss Lily, as she is growing and changing at hyper-speed! Highlights from the last four weeks:

• Lily decided that she no longer wanted to eat from a spoon. No amount of coaxing could get her to open her mouth. The only way she’d eat is if we gave her finger foods. While it’s cute to watch her feed herself, we were not really prepared to have to start cooking her meals yet! Luckily, this trend only lasted a week or so and now she’s back to letting us feed her, as well as feeding herself.


• She’s walking (assisted by one of us) a lot now. She’s not too steady on her feet but she sure loves to try. If you get anywhere near her, she raises her arms up for you to walk with her. Last weekend, we headed to Stride Rite, got her measured (she wears a size 5 ½--that’s BIG) and bought her first pair of shoes.


• Lily has become a pro at scooting around on her behind. She just sits there, digs her heels into the ground and launches herself forward. I think she likes it better than being on her belly because she can reach more things (and get into more things she shouldn’t be in!).
  
• Lily has learned to pull up in her crib. While she’s not pulling up anywhere else in our house (and that’s probably a blessing in disguise), she has mastered pulling herself to a standing position in her crib. She likes it when we pull up the blinds in her room so she can look out the window from the crib.

She just continues to charm the pants off of us. She is such a sweet, funny (and sometimes mischievous) girl and we cannot believe she will be one next month!

Woof! Woof!

This morning, I was hurrying around the house trying to get Lily and I ready to head to daycare and work. I put her down in the dining room with her toys while I ran down to the basement for just a minute.

As I'm coming back up the stairs, I hear the familiar sound of Dixon's dog food rattling in his bowl. But it's not Dixon who's eating his food...

Lily had scooted herself into the kitchen and put a handful of dog food in her mouth! Luckily, I was able to fish all of the kibble out of her mouth before she swallowed any of it.

Guess it's time to think about those baby gates, huh?

Where's the Baby?

Whenever we go out, Lily loves to look at babies and I always say to her, "Lily, do you see the baby?" but typically there's no real response.

The other night, while I was changing Lily's clothes, she was holding the box of Pampers baby wipes and on the box is a picture of a baby. Just for the heck of it, I said, "Lily, where's the baby?" and she pointed at the picture of the baby! We had never practiced that before, so I was so impressed when she did it!

I, of course, had to recreate it the next day for the video camera. I wanted to be doubly sure, so I gave her two pictures of a baby to point to...she's a genius! :)

(Excuse my squealing every time she does it. I get so excited!)