Rocking Chair Fun

We had some pictures taken on Friday, so I brought Lilah's rocking chair down from her room to have as a prop. Turns out she loves rocking in it. I took several cute videos in a four part series (my camera will only take 30 seconds at a time). I thought these were cute because you can see her go from so happy to sad so quickly.
At the beginning of the first one, she clocks her head on the back of the chair while she's rocking.


Part II - She is trying to get down but afraid to do it on her own. Notice how she calls for her momma!



Part III - Rocking with her giraffe friend



Part IV - Still rocking and wants to get out. Does she figure it out?

Two Small Steps

Last Sunday afternoon, Lilah took her first steps. About a week before, she had just started standing on her own without holding on, but was only able to do it for a few seconds. I was pretty excited though, knowing this was getting us closer to walking. So last Sunday, she was standing at the sofa, let go, and took two steps before falling down. I was so excited but sorry that Jonas had missed it (he was working). Since then, she has gotten much more brave and has made it as far as across the room. I'll post a video that shows her having a pretty good stretch, but not her best.
As for other new things, walking is certainly the highlight. She is communicating more and becoming more frustrated when we don't get exactly what she wants. She likes to eat all the time and is now finished with bottles and on to whole milk in a sippy cup. It took a while to transition to the milk in the sippy cup - for the first three days she was drinking chocolate milk until she grew familiar with something other than water in her cup. Now she is such a big girl!
We are enjoying every day more and more. There is so much she can do and she surprises us all the time. She still loves the cats and will do just about anything to get ahold of one.

Sign Time

Lilah's communication and understanding has changed so much in just the last week or two. I can't remember (or read) what I've already mentioned about what she can sign, but she's added a few. Her favorite, of course, is "more," and now uses it anytime she wants something, including non-food things. Jonas was throwing the ball for Shelby (the cat) the other day and Shelby was jumping way up in the air. Lilah was enjoying the show, and was signing more after the jumps. She uses "all done", but usually only after I ask if she is done verbally, she makes the sign, but then signs for more. She's maybe a little confused on its meaning. She does the "eat" sign too, which is gaining popularity. She does a cute little "come here" wiggle of her fingers when she wants the cats to come to her. I called her into the den tonight (she was crawling away from me into the kitchen) and she turned around, and did "come here" back to me. Pretty funny.
She has perfected what I call the floppy fish. In protest, she throws her head back and kicks her legs to get away. Her arms are up in this pose if one is trying to pick her up, or down and thrashing if she's on the ground. I'll see if I can get it on camera.
She also loves to "blow" lights on and off. After my mom, sister, and Jonas worked on this a bit over the last few weeks, she now does it on her own all the time. My favorite is when we walk into a dark room, and I hear her blowing. Pretty cute and she gets a HUGE smile when the lights come on. She's so proud.




Lilah strolling her baby around


Lilah playing patty cake


Lilah blowing the lights and fussing at Shelby


Lilah signing "more" and waving goodbye

Happy Birthday, Lilah!!!

Happy Birthday Lilah!
We had a marvelous little party for Lilah last Saturday. We had her playgroup friends and some friends of mine and Jonas' over for the fun. Lilah had just a tiny piece of cake at this party (after having cake and celebrations with Mimi and Papa in Colorado, and Nana and Michelle here in Washington). After having no interest in eating the cake at the last two parties and just making a mess, this time she ate the cake very neatly and got hardly any of it on her hands and face.
We had a nurse visit at the doctor's office today to get her a few of her 12 mo immunizations. We weren't able to get in for her well-baby check until the end of November, and I want to keep her on schedule for shots and get an accurate weight and measurement for our baby book. She is holding steady at 22lbs 5.5oz, which has changed hardly at all in about three months. She has grown a bit though, and is measuring 31 1/4 inches. Sounds pretty tall to me, but we'll get it officially checked again next month too. She's not walking yet, and I think it may be a while. She let go of a toy she was standing next to today with both hands, and the look on her face was hilarious. She was totally panicked as she stood there and immediately grabbed a hold again. Her confidence needs a little boost before she'll be walking. We practice a lot, but I'm in no hurry.

I'm Telling

SO much has happened since the last time I wrote! I'm even going to have to reference the calendar to remember it all. Lilah started using the sign for "more" at the end of last month, and hasn't really stopped since. She even has added emphasis if she really means it, furrowing her brow and really slamming her hands together!
Also at the end of last month, we met Jonas' parents in Estes Park, Colorado for four days. It was Lilah's sixth plane trip! We had a great time seeing them and touring Rocky Mountain National Park. The weather was super chilly, so we spent a lot of time trying to keep a hat on Lilah. While we were there, Lilah started saying mama! I don't think she does it necessarily in reference to me, but she is catching on a bit. It is only semi-directed to me right now. Also while we were there, we saw a TON of huge elk. The sights were magnificent and there is now a rumor of an annual national park trip!
The day we came back from Colorado, my mom and older sister came to town! They spent the week with us and just went back today. It was really great to have them here without a wedding or a birth in the middle of the visit. We got to actually hang out and enjoy each other's company. We took a trip to the pumpkin patch and got a lot of really cute pictures. Lilah liked the pumpkins.
Just after Lilah has learned the sign for "more," on Tuesday she started saying it, too. When she says it and signs it, she really means business. We are calling it her official first word.
She also this week just started walking with a walker push toy. We've been working on this one for a while, and she just hasn't had any interest in pushing it along while standing. Her Nana bought her a new walker on Wednesday and within the first little bit of playing with it, walked a few steps with it on her own. Not too much later she was pushing it all over, and squealing with delight. Now whenever she sees it she crawls on over, pulls up, and pushes it along. So cute to see her walk!
One last story - We were sitting a the dinner table tonight - I was feeding Lilah and myself, Jonas was beside me, and our backs were to the island. Lilah sits at the head of the table, so she has a good view of the room. Multiple times during dinner, we had to get up and kick Shelby off the counter top (Shelby is our small mischievous cat). Halfway through, I looked to Lilah to give her a bite to eat, and she was pointing to the counter top behind me. When I turned around, I saw Shelby perched there watching us. From then on, Lilah let me know everytime Shelby was on the counter by pointing and making a goofy "you know that cat's on the counter again" look. Good job Lilah!

Stair Climber

We had a semi-surprise visit from Papa Pascal on Saturday morning! With a last minute change of plans, he ended up being in Seattle for the weekend for work and was able to get away to see us for a day! I was worried that Lilah might be a little shy or scared, but she didn't have any problem. I was away at work for a few hours Saturday morning, so I missed his arrival, but was able to be home again by lunch to join in the fun. Jonas and Papa worked outside a good bit, and Lilah loved peeking out the window at them. She is just tall enough now to rest her chin on the window ledge and see out pretty well. It was really cute and we LOVED having him for a visit. Next time it will have to be longer!

While the boys were outside, I let Lilah do some exploring around the house downstairs (we typically play in the room above the garage which is full of her toys). She hasn't had much interest in the stairs so far until about a week or two ago when Jonas let her explore a bit and she made it halfway up before calling it quits (he was right behind her). Yesterday I let her climb them. She made it to the top without help, and it took her about five minutes or so... less than ten at least. Today while I was working in the kitchen, Jonas watched her climb them again. It only took her about two and a half minutes! Her motivation is mainly our littlest cat Shelby. Lilah has become a huge fan of Shelby's favorite toy, a tiny wiffle ball with a bell inside. She loves to shake it for Shelby and watch her dance for it. Lilah just laughs. So she was chasing Shelby up the stairs, ball in hand. We are getting a gate next week.

In other news, Lilah has decided now in her eleventh month that she is too old for an evening nap. She is starting to take a longer lunchtime nap at least, which makes everyone more pleasant, especially Lilah. No new teeth since the last one, and not really any new words either. She does like to say, "yeah, yeah, yeah" and "whoa, whoa, whoa" but just to herself. I thought I heard her say, "yeah, boy!" the other day (can you hear that in your head? sounded like flavor flav...) - gives me ideas for what we should practice. It sounded pretty funny.

Birthday Season

We have started the birthday season in our playgroup. The first was one in late July, but we have had two this weekend, and then three in October. Hard to believe this huge milestone is almost here for little Lilah. It has been really neat to see these little babies change so much over the last year. Half of them are walking and it's crazy to see these short little people wobbling across the floor on semi-steady feet. After seeing some of the recent first birthday parties we have been to, I am realizing that I need to get busy planning! I was asking Jonas what sort of theme we should have for Lilah's party. He said, "How about a birthday theme, like balloons and cake". Looks like I will have to rely on the other moms for ideas.
Today's picture comes from this past Thursday when we watched Clemson's first football game that has aired out here this season. Lilah was around for a game or two last season but wasn't so interested in TV then. She still isn't much, but if you talk to her about what's going on she'll look for a few minutes. During Clemson's almost winning comeback, we were working on "TOUCHDOWN!". Very similar to "how big is Lilah" which we used for the picture. I like the latter anyway.

ps- This picture looks EXACTLY like Jonas did as a baby. It could very well be a picture of him.

One Smart Baby

Listen as Lilah says "stop, go!"

And we also had a day at the park yesterday. The kids had so much fun in the swings!

New Words

We have all finally recovered (mostly) from the stomach bug that ended up hitting all of us. Lilah seemed to have it pretty easy but is still working on getting her appetite back. She has been so funny lately, talking up a storm. She is always babbling to herself, but she has really started repeating a number of words lately. A few weeks ago she started with "uh-oh" and then once we got back from our trip she will sometimes repeat "meow" when talking about the cats. I told her to call daddy the other day though, and she said, "meow." We still have some stuff to work on. She says it in a really high pitch voice though, very different from her other words. On Sunday morning we were talking about toes; I was showing her mine and tickling hers and saying "toes." Like a little parrot she repeated it, "toes!" And then later that day (and several times since) when you ask her where her toes are, she grabs them! The next is a funny story from tonight. Jonas was making a strange noise very loudly, so I said, "STOP, STOP, STOP!" Lilah was right there in her highchair and joined right in! Her's sounded more like 'dop, dop' but I think we are going to have a talker.
One last one - She has been saying 'dadadada' for months now, but this morning I brought her to bed with us at 2am and she rolled over and saw Jonas and said "Dada!" This was a first time for the word 'dada' to be directed at him. Yay, Lilah!
She gets a kick out of doing things that we find exciting, and has started to clap for herself when we are pleased with the things she does. What a funny baby!
AND... Lilah has enough hair to hold a bow! No glue, no tape, no magic! Just a cute little bow (on a clip). I caught her finally with my phone/camera in a non-blurry picture. No John, she's not wearing make-up, just naturally rosy cheeks from playing all over the floor, and dry lips from always licking them when she's thinking. Jonas asked if we should cut her hair - just the part that is starting to come over her ears. YIKES! NO WAY! I told him that was boys not girls that don't usually have hair over their ears, but all bets are off under one year and possibly even two years old in my opinion.

Little Puker

We had an exciting day today. Lilah vomited for the first time. We had just dropped some shirts off at the dry cleaners and were headed to the park. Driving down the street, I heard Lilah coughing strangely, and when I turned to look, she was vomiting all over. What a big mess from a little baby! She was pretty scared, as was I. I was trying to think if I should get her out of the car seat, but I was in the middle of a busy road. Luckily, she didn't choke. We headed home from there to get a bath and a nap. This evening she seemed to feel better, even ate dinner, and now I have only heard a bit of fussing on the monitor. I hope we have a good night and a normal day tomorrow.
Momma bought her some overalls while we were home and they are so cute! I think we will put them to great use over the coming months, especially while she is crawling around and wearing out the knees.
With her recent increase in mobility, I've had a use "NO" a lot more than ever before. She certainly knows the word, and what it means. She does not like to hear it, but I think the tone is what makes her so sad. I try to reserve its use for more dangerous things, like outlets and climbing out of the highchair. The other day at lunch she was reaching for something on the coffee table from her highchair (and I was sitting right there) and was nearly able to topple out of it. So now she hears "No Lilah, you have to sit on your bottom." After about three times of physically turning her back around and reminding her to sit, she started busting out in the most FAKE cry I've ever heard. She sticks her lip out and does the most pathetic cry. I'll post a video but the face she makes is only in the very beginning. After that she gets distracted by a cat. But when she starts her fake cry, I start laughing (while I am trying to be stern) and then she quits fussing immediately and starts to smile too. Crazy child. Check it out, but it's only the very beginning where she's being goofy.

Back in Town

Lilah and I have returned safely to Washington. We were both thrilled to see Jonas again, although Lilah was a little shy at first. She still (three days later) gives him flirty sideways smiles, but I think she's just being silly and not shy. We had a really nice flight back - Lilah was able to have her own seat! That really made it a great trip. She is so squirmy in my arms now that trying to contain her to a small airplane seat that I am also occupying is ridiculous.
She is pulling up like crazy now, and is starting to cruise a good bit. She still sometimes likes to stand on her tip-toes, but manages to balance anyway. Anytime a toy plays music she bobs up and down in her own special dance, even if she is lying on the floor. She also got another tooth while we were away, bringing her total to seven. We have baby playgroup tomorrow, so she'll get to see all her friends she has missed over the last several weeks. So much changes with each child in that amount of time, it will be neat to see what they can do differently now.
Her favorite thing right now is when I act totally silly, making crazy faces and dancing around the room. She cracks up if I pretend I'm going to eat her arm or just click my teeth together and do funny things with my eyes. I'll post a video of her giggling. It doesn't happen often but it's so cute when she does!





This second video was taken at the beginning of July. We were in the car and Lilah was checking herself out in the mirror at her feet. Maybe she had just discovered the cute girl and the tricks she could do with her tongue?

All New Things

Lilah and I have been back east now for almost two weeks.  We spent the first weekend at Mimi and Papa's house in Atlanta and got to play with Jonas' sister and family.  Lilah loved seeing her young cousins!  They were so sweet playing together.  Since being home in NC, she has also taken a particular liking to my nephew Ben, who is seven.  He is usually the least affectionate of my sister's kids, but has also taken a particular liking to Lilah in return.   She especially loves kissing him, and he actually doesn't mind it.  Pretty cute!

She has learned an amazing number of things over the past two weeks - it's hard to keep track of them all with my baby's first year calendar so far away!  When were first got to NC, she started repeating a lot of sounds people made.  Saying ha ha ha, and uh-oh mostly.  I'll try to post a video.  She is starting to crawl more on her hands and knees now for short distances.  She still goes to her belly if she wants to go far or fast, but is able to stay up if she needs to.  She pulls up all the time and is becoming more stable on her feet.  She cruises around the edges of the playpen, but to change sides she will sometimes just dive for the middle, grab the top of it and pull herself up again.  Pretty strong baby.  Today she climbed her first step, and it was a big one.  My parents have a step leading out of the kitchen, and it has been a barrier in itself the past week to keep Lilah in the room, but today she follow Ben right into the hallway.  

We have been swimming a lot over the last week, and Lilah loves the water.  I think it's helping her sleep like a rock - I haven't gotten up once in the night since we've been here.  Diaper changes have become nearly impossible.  It has been increasingly difficult over the last several weeks but today it took me so long just to pin her down for ten seconds even.  It's especially bad with the dirty diapers.  What a mess!

It's been a lot of fun telling Jonas about each of the new things she does each day.  We miss him and it will be really neat to see him again.  I am curious to see how Lilah will respond.  I think she'll go nuts!

The second video features Lilah crawling like a normal child.  Hurray for cleaner shirts that don't have to mop the floor!

New Videos

Okay, so we've got one of Lilah sitting up on her own - I got it on the first try! She has really started to get around so much now.
The other video is one of her goofing around with me after lunch one day. Silly baby!

Learning New Things

Just a quick little update before I call it a night - Lilah has finally learned to sit up from a laying position, which means she is no longer dependent on me to help her out once she reaches her destination. It is really cute to watch, I will try to get it on video. She sort of presses her face into the ground to do it. She started giving kisses too, about two weeks ago. I can't remember if I mentioned that already. She usually kisses Jonas, but today she kissed me. Out of the blue, just because she is sweet. So very sweet.

Lilah's New Game

So it took us a few days for her to pick it up, but Lilah now gives us an answer (most of the time) to the great ol' question, "How big is Lilah?". Pretty cute and I have the video to prove it. I also have a couple of pictures of her mouthful of teeth, which took me a while to get. One is a cute picture and the other not so much. When Jonas saw the goofy picture he said, "I love you, Chunk" - can you name the movie? The quote is from the goofy looking guy named Sloth from Goonies. What a silly daddy.

Our cute baby with six teeth!

"I love you, Chunk!"

Super Sonic Lilah

Lilah has been moving so quickly with just an "Army" crawl it makes me laugh. I think she got in a lot of practice with Jonas this past weekend - she has really picked it up! Just today she has learned the fun of being chased while she is crawling away. Pretty cute. The days of leaving her on the floor alone for a moment and expecting her to stay there are long gone. The clothes help her with the sliding, but she got away from me tonight while I was changing her diaper and into her pajamas and she made it a good distance naked. So much for bare skin on the hardwood slowing her down...

How Big Is Lilah?

We had our 9 month well-baby check today, and I have Lilah's new stats. She is now 20 lbs 5.5 oz, which puts her at 75% for weight, and 29 inches long, which is 92%. She got her 6 month shots today too, and her poke for the anemia test. What a eventful day! She just went down for the night at crashed hard. Hopefully she will sleep through the night.
After we got home she was having some sort of energy burst and was working her way back and forth across the room at lightening speed trying to catch up with Shelby (the cat). Pretty funny.

One Little Monkey

Just as Lilah has finally healed fully from the sore throat and congestion she had all last week, she had her first big oops. More of a mom's first big oops really, but Lilah took a header off the bed last Monday. I heard the thump and my heart just sank. Her face was scratched up pretty nicely, but now it looks almost back to normal. It didn't seem to bother her too much - the picture is taken about thirty minutes after the fall. I was really glad we didn't have to make an ER visit, I don't know what I would have done if they had to suture her up. I am SO incredibly thankful for just the scrapes and have learned a tremendous amount about what I can and can't let her do.
Her increase in mobility is impressive. She still does an army crawl, but is pretty fast on the carpet and super quick on the hard wood. She even has little rug burns on her elbows and just keeps on going. What a tough girl!
Just as I post a note on Lilah's five teeth, she gets a sixth that actually makes her look normal. No more pirate or vampire baby. Hollywood, you had your chance.
And finally, we have finally made a move to have her take naps in her crib. For those of you that don't know, for the last nearly nine months we have been just snuggling with her on the sofa for those naps. Holding her in our arms like the sweet little baby she is. My reasoning is that I won't be able to do this with a second child, so I should do it while I can. I was expecting this transition though to be a really tough one, but it hasn't. It has been getting harder and harder over the last week to get her to sleep on the sofa (sometimes I curl the boppy pillow around her instead of holding her) or the boppy and I am ready to have more free time during the day. Lilah is typically a thirty minute napper too, left to her own, whereas she would sleep for an hour or more if I held her, making us both happier. She has made a change to sleep longer in the two naps she has taken on her own. She fusses a bit when she goes down, but is asleep within ten minutes - today she slept almost two hours!!
Our 9 month well-baby check is on Tuesday, and I am eager to see her numbers. She looks so ultra tall to me, so we'll have to see. I suppose I could just measure her myself, but it seems more official when they do it. I'll let you know!

And Teeth!

I forgot to add a bit about Lilah's new teeth. She's got two new ones, making a total of five. I'll try to demonstrate with a diagram, the letters being teeth.

__________
U UU Top
OO Bottom
-----------------

Okay, so the diagram stinks, and it makes her mouth look like a pirate's, but you get the idea. The two bottom teeth are supposed to be in the middle in the picture. They are all crooked and not in proper pairs, and I was really hoping that top middle tooth might not come in as quickly as it did so that we could have a little vampire baby, but it doesn't look like that's going to work. There is still hope though, as that upper middle tooth is still surrounded by swollen gum and you can't see it straight from the front just yet. The others though, are hard to miss. I'll try to get a picture - that will make more sense. Vampire baby or not, she is still so stinkin' cute!

Thermometers and Ibuprofen again

Lilah's got another illness. The fever started yesterday morning at five, at least that's when I noticed it first. I brought her to bed with us then, and she slept restlessly for a few more hours. I can keep it at bay with ibuprofen, but her fever spikes again as soon as it starts to wear off. She has been ultra fussy too, and not eating any solids. We went to see the doctor today and he says her throat is very red and her tonsils are swollen. Her ears look good, but her throat probably hurts quite a bit, which would explain her poor eating. She is still nursing though, so I try to do that every few hours. What a way to build back up my supply! (It had diminished quite a bit with the introduction of seasonal allergy medicines into my system).
She slept with us last night and no one slept well. Tonight at least she is in her own room so far for two and a half hours. She cries out every once in a while, but goes back to sleep. Poor baby. She will probably end up with us again before too long tonight. I like to have her close by when she feels crappy, and I am sure she enjoys too. We have a king size bed and I try to place her squarely between us as there is plenty of room, but she really is good at scooting right over against me. By morning I am usually going by the way of my pillow, over the edge of the bed.
Anyway, the doctor says she should be better by Friday, at least no more fever after then. We did make it to the grocery store today, my grumpy baby and I. I let her sit in the "big girl seat" in the cart and in the check out line the lady in front asks, "is your baby always so even tempered and smiley?". Haha. I told her that this was the grumpy version of my normal baby, which reminded me that hopefully soon she will become again that sweet baby that she was just a few days ago.

Adventures in Whatcom County

Lilah and I have been out walking most days this week. The weather has been amazing, and I am trying to boost my tan a bit, so we have been hitting the streets around our house. On Wednesday we were walking home and passing the cow field across the street when I noticed a cow acting funny. I could tell she was struggling with something, and then she laid down and looked like she was bearing down with belly contractions. Lilah and I hung out and watched for about twenty minutes, and we got to see a baby cow being born! It was really pretty amazing.
The next day, Thursday, we were walking down the street next to ours and there was a brahma bull next to the fence. I walked up to say hey and then another one joined in along the fence. In just a few minutes, the whole crowd of bulls ended up against the fence to say hello. I pet a couple on the nose, as they seemed friendly enough. Of course I had to take the opportunity to take a picture of Lilah with them. With as much excitement as we've seen the last two days, I need to start bringing my real camera with us on our walks!

Goofy Grin

Lilah has a new smile since yesterday. She still has her normal sweet smile, but she has added a goofy one, where she crinkles up her nose and squints her eyes. She looks so silly and I am glad I was able to catch it on camera.

On the move

Lilah did this herself!

Lilah loves yogurt!

We have had an exciting weekend! Jonas stayed with Lilah Saturday and Sunday while I worked, an he taught her some fun things. I got a message at work on Sunday around noon that said 'Guess who's crawling!?!' I couldn't believe it. Jonas said it was more of an army crawl and it was very slow, but she is getting around. She also pulled herself to standing on her own for the first time. She has done it many times with us as helpers, but this was a first. I can't believe it. I have attached some videos from today, and after Jonas saw them, he was impressed with her speed after just a day's time.
She is babbling all the time now too. She loves to say dadada the best. I try mamama but she just replies, 'dadada'. One day. Her hair is getting really long now, well, relatively long. Especially compared to how it was just a few months ago. It is even laying down on the top more, and you can almost hand swipe it to one side, sort of. Her tooth from last week that was bugging her broke through, and the fourth one is not far behind. She will look like a little vampire pretty soon, because her top middle teeth show no signs of appearing anytime soon. It could be pretty cute.
We shot off some fireworks at the neighbor's house last week and Lilah was not impressed. Scared actually, so this weekend should be interesting. I tried to point out the pretty lights in the sky but she was too afraid of the loud bangs that preceeded them. Maybe we'll get some baby ear plugs?

Peek a Boo

The other day Jonas and I were playing on the bed with Lilah before her evening bath. She kept picking up the sheets over the head, and then throw them back down and smile so big. We don't often play peek-a-boo so it looks like she discovered it almost on her own. We'd say 'Where's Lilah?, there she is!' each time. What a fun little girl. She can move around a bit on her bottom now, and this week has just started to get up on one knee with the other leg folded underneath. She's great at easing herself onto her belly from that position too to get to something out of reach. She is feeling better after her ear infection business, but we did return to the doctor for a recheck and she was still inflamed, so he prescribed another antibiotic. The visit was awful though, and he was so slow at checking out her ears (not our normal pediatrician). She screamed so hard and long that she busted the little capillaries in her face and scalp and ended up with little red dots all over her. Poor child. She was still doing the gasping sounds from crying hard twenty minutes after our appointment. Needless to say she got some extra extra momma love that day.
She has also become shy in the last week. When strangers say hello when she is in her car seat, she turns her face into the side of it to hide a bit. When I am holding her, she turns her face into my shoulder. It is really cute, but I didn't think it would happen this soon. It much more often happens with men than women. I think because we see women all the time in playgroup and walking and such, and she doesn't see many men other than her daddy.
She loves playing with her playgroup buddies, especially Nick, our neighbor. They get so excited when they see each other, it is really cute. We went to the water park the other day with Bernie and Nick for a field day with Bernie's daughter and her class. Nick and Lilah played in the water and we got some cute pictures. What fun babies!

Home Again

Turns out that Lilah was working on an ear infection. We got antibiotic and decongestant prescriptions from the doctor, and now Lilah is feeling a bit better. She is less stuffy but still has a nasty cough. We got back today from Arizona. The flight back was nice but Lilah was a bit fussy and still not back to her usual happy self. This afternoon she was really fussy and was not happy unless she was being held. We took a nice long walk, and she napped, which was nice. After we got back we were playing on the floor and she was so cranky! I took a good look in her mouth, and she has another tooth coming through! It is on the top, but not in the middle. It is one on the side and it is really pressing on the gum. You can see the point so white through her gums, poor baby. No wonder! From there I gave her a frozen washcloth to chew on, and then put some cold apples in her mesh feeder which seemed to help. What a funny progression of teeth! She is really having a hard time with this one, and to have a cold/ear infection too!

We had a great time in Arizona. The weather was great, which I wasn't expecting. I didn't pack any cool weather clothes for the baby, so I guess we lucked out that she had a fever for most of the trip. The scenery is absolutely amazing and it was so different than anything I've seen before. The landscaping and architecture is so different. We didn't any really cool animals, but I did almost step on a scorpion. Yuck! It was wonderful to visit with family and to meet ones I haven't met yet. Such sweet people all around. Too bad it will be another three years until we see most of them again!

Welcome from Arizona!

I am sitting at the kitchen table of our little cabin in Prescott, Arizona. It is super sunny but not hot yet, but I must say it's been very comfortably warm so far during the days and pretty cool at night.  What a great combination! It is 8am and Jonas and Lilah are snuggled in bed still. The landscape has been amazing to watch. It is SO different from home. We had a good flight in with the little one, although she was feeling warm to me even before we left the house. I checked her temp once we arrived and she had a fever, her first. She was still in good spirits though, my sweet little trooper. Last night her temperature was even higher after another day of traveling and she was a bit cranky. I don't blame her. The tylenol and ibuprofen help a bit but I know she still feels like crud.  We've had two rough nights of sleep so far, as Lilah is uncomfortable and is having trouble breathing through her stopped-up nose. I am going to take her to a walk-in clinic this morning once she wakes up.
The time here is going by so quickly! I've got to catch up with picture taking. I haven't gotten a single picture of Lilah and a cactus yet! Maybe she'll feel better today.  It's been great meeting more of Jonas's family.  I've heard their names and stories, so it's nice to be able to finally meet them.  We are really blessed with a huge loving family on both sides.  

Good Sleeper

Tonight is the sixth night that Lilah has slept un-swaddled. We started swaddling her around six weeks old, and since then she has slept very well. Most nights sleeping all night. The weather has taken a change up here, and it has been quite warm. The house has been getting pretty hot, and Lilah's room has been in the mid to upper seventies when she goes to bed. So, we decided to leave her unswaddled and see how she does. I am very leery of change, especially if what you have going works, but she has surprised me and slept very well. Sleeping later into the morning than usual too! She is pretty funny with the positions she now prefers, most often on her side. We are headed to Arizona this weekend, and with the rumors of 100+ degree heat there, I knew it was time to change things up. I am so glad it is working!!!
Since last I wrote we have added carrots and cantaloupe and mango. She has also just started to try good ol' Cheerios too. She likes them, and over the last week has gotten very good at picking them up and putting them in her mouth. I was pretty scared in the beginning and would break them into fourths, which makes for a pretty tiny object to pick up, but she's an expert. She is very delicate and pinches it perfectly. They also make a whipped yogurt snack that is freeze dried and looks like a small hershey's kiss. They melt quickly in your mouth and taste pretty good. She likes those a lot too. What a good eater! She is really cute when she chews, really gets those jowls moving and sticks out her lips. So goofy.
She is happy happy nearly all the time, and has even started to laugh more easily. She loves watching me dance goofily around the room and thinks it's hilarious when I blow my nose, which has really reminded her how much she loves to spit. I try to say "no spitting" with a stern face if she does it while I am trying to feed her, but she just shoots me this coy smile and I have to smile back. Already knows how to work her mother. Of course, I think she knew how to do that from the beginning....

Watermelon Baby

Lilah and I have had a fun week. The weather is finally nice on a regular basis, and we have been able to get out in the pool and out for walks this week. It's been SO nice!
In honor of Memorial day weekend, we grilled burgers for dinner and I let Lilah try watermelon in a little mesh baby feeder we have. She was a little surprised at first, I think it was because it was cold, but she really enjoyed it after a bit and I ended up refilling it four times! She was COVERED with watermelon juice afterwards, but it was bath night anyway. We also tried a few pieces of puffed rice cereal, which she didn't really like. She wasn't eating it, just picking it up and dropping it on the floor. I put a few pieces in her mouth but she wasn't impressed. Good practice on picking up small objects though, especially ones that are edible.
I am working the next three days, so I am sure I will have good stories come Monday night. We'll see what Lilah learns this weekend. I think they will have a lot of fun together. Tonight during her bath she kept arching her back to see Jonas standing behind her and she was just grinning ear to ear. So sweet.

Tiny Dancer

Well Lilah has really taken off with her dancing. She used to only do it when she was tired, but now she almost does it on request, whenever you start to shake your own head. She has added a little body twist too, so it looks like a strange dance, but dancing nonetheless. What a ham! The more you laugh and smile the more she does it. We do a lot of laughing in this house.
We added yogurt, zucchini and asparagus this week. She likes them all! We still have to have a prune mixture for breakfast each day to ensure regularity, but she doesn't mind them.
She has become much more active just over the last several days, and I'm afraid this is going to feed her frustration in immobility. It is only a matter of time now until she figures out there are ways to get around. We need to baby proof this place!! Baby group is becoming more interesting too, especially as the babies become more active, more mobile, and more aggressive with toy possession. It is going to be neat to see what happens over the coming weeks. Especially with Lilah the only girl in a group with five boys!
It is getting warmer here and we tried out our baby pool yesterday. I don't know what I was thinking really, because it was only about 67 degrees and windy, so she was pretty cold from the get-go. Every time a gust would come though, she would just hold her breath and smile, like I was doing it. So cute. We didn't stay out for more than a few minutes though, and had a nice warm bath inside instead.

A few more pictures

Pool time! Lilah loved splashing in the cool water, even in the rain!

Guillaume enjoyed himself, even though he doesn't appear to and kept trying to escape.

I don't know what Lilah's doing, but it looks pretty funny!

What a great family photo! My brother John with his wife Marie-France and son Guillaume.

Whoa!!!! Lilah on her first swing.

The babies with Papa in the yard at Mom and Dad's.

What a handsome young boy!

Love those dimples! Guillaume, you are SO cute!!

Mother's Day Fun

Yesterday was my first Mother's Day. Jonas took Lilah downstairs in the morning and let me sleep in, which was a great start to the day! After breakfast we took a walk with the neighbors through a local park - it was a beautiful day. We had a relaxing afternoon and Jonas cooked dinner. We had great steaks and corn on the grill with artichokes. So tasty! And of course I got a HUGE vase full of beautiful pink tulips. What a sweet husband!
Lilah has been so fun and sweet lately. She has been sleeping great and has really been a lot of fun to play with. She is crazy for toys and will do anything she can to get to those out of reach. Today she even made it to a teetering all-fours before diving after a toy. She made it safely to her belly and was pleased with toy in hand afterwards. Pretty amazing!
I caught a picture of her teeth. So cute, even though she is in the middle of a squeal.
I also have a video of her newest impression - Stevie Wonder - so funny! (sorry it's crooked, I can't figure out how to flip it)

And we're back...

We came back home last Sunday after a wonderful trip to North Carolina. It already seems like we have been home a month. Lilah and I have been busy catching up with the things we missed and filling Jonas in on all he missed as well. Lilah is changing so much so fast, you can still tell a difference after just a week. Her hair is really getting much thicker and growing now quite a bit. You can see it pretty easily even when you are not standing in the sun, although that really helps. She learned a thing or two from her cousin Guillaume, and has just started to scoot along on her bottom in order to get within reach of a cool toy. It was great to see the two of them together. He is pretty quick getting around a room, and Lilah would just watch him go. Their first encounter was pretty funny. They were sitting about four feet away from one another, facing each other, when Guillaume scooted right on up to Lilah and popped her on the head. She didn't mind it too much, but when he started shouting at her, she got a little upset. It was funny to see, but things got better from there.

We bought an inflatable pool while we were in NC too, and let G and Lilah play in semi-warm water. It wasn't the warmest day though, and it started to rain halfway through, but the babies didn't seem to mind at all. We just held umbrellas over them, and they kept on splashing. Guillaume is a natural in the water, and Lilah seemed to really enjoy it as well. We have bought one for ourselves since we've been back, if only it would warm up so we could try it out!

As for new foods, we have added apples, oatmeal, butternut squash, prunes, and peas to our list. She has learned to like the others she had previously not enjoyed, but we are still working on the peas. She does not like them one bit and starts to spit every time we try them. Her favorite is still avocado, but bananas are climbing the chart.

I go back to work tomorrow for the first time in several weeks. It will be nice for Lilah and Jonas to have another day together, although it is hard to be apart from her when we are together ALL of the time. I guess I must share though, and Lilah is truly smitten with her daddy. She will love playing with him all day.

Home again, home again

Lilah and I flew home to NC on Saturday. It was a pretty good trip and our first soon to be round trip without Jonas coming too. I was a little worried about flying semi-solo, but Lilah was great. She smiled at everyone all day, even though she didn't nap very well. What a sweet baby. Katie Madding Buckingham came to visit with her two little ones early Monday, and we had a great time playing with the little ones and catching up. It is amazing how fast they are growing. Lilah and Eve were able to interact a little more than last time, although I think Eve still thinks Lilah is pretty boring. She is a baby on the move and Lilah certainly is not more interesting than all the cool things she can now get into. Monday afternoon Jonas' mom joined us for a visit just before Katie returned home. We had a great time playing with Mimi and Lilah got caught up with some missed kisses over the last few months.  Marianne was able to stay the night, so we got to hang out for half of Tuesday too. It was a great visit and we are sad to see her go.

Lilah has started rocking her head side to side, sort of like she is dancing. Pretty funny to see, and I think she enjoys it too. Sometimes she involves her chest too, and she does this whole body wave, and then smiles. Too cute.

Tonight we are trying to rest up before the true chaos arrives tomorrow. My sister Katie is picking up my brother John and his family from the airport.  I am very excited, especially since Lilah can play with her cousin Guillaume again. They were two and five months at Christmas, and now they are coming back at six and nine months - should be a huge difference. It will be neat to see them together. I am very excited, but also very tired, so for tonight, it's time for bed!

Finally new pictures!

I have been having a very hard time uploading pictures to the Walmart website over the last several days. I don't know what was different tonight, but I was finally able to upload the pictures from the last week and a half. Some of them are pretty darn cute. Lilah has so many expressions, some are awfully cute and then the next will be the silliest face. She is crazy. We are getting ready as we end this week to head home on Saturday! I am very excited. We will see how we do without Jonas this trip. I think Lilah will be fine - if only she didn't have so much stuff! We will be home for just over a week and I am really excited for Lilah to see her cousin Guillaume again. I can't believe it has been so long already! Enjoy the pictures - I just emailed out a new set. See most of you soon!!

New foods, new faces

Hello again! So we have tried a few new things since last time. I had great hopes after Lilah loved the rice cereal, so we tried sweet potatoes on Wednesday. Lilah was not impressed! She made some of the most disgusted faces, and they even made her gag a few times. I had been giving them full strength, so the next few days I gave just a little sweet potato with mostly rice and breast milk. It still got a funny face occasionally, but much better than before.
I was hopeful with the bananas on Saturday as well. I figured they had a much more mild flavor and would be well received. Not so much. Again, she acted as though I were feeding her dirt. I taste everything I give her, and I thought they tasted pretty good. Freshly fork smashed with a big of water and then pureed... how can you beat that!? Almost smoothie-like. We have some pretty funny pictures to go with it, but I think diluted is the way to go for now. I guess good fruits and veggies are an acquired taste? We are going to try avocado this week, and maybe I am naive, but I am excited and still hopeful!
As far as activity goes, Lilah is over rolling over and just wants to sit up. She has taken a few spills lately from this upright position, and she is getting pretty good at a controlled descent to the ground. Especially falling backwards. I am feeling much more comfortable leaving her sitting while running into the kitchen, but I will put a pillow beside her if I am going to be gone more than for a few seconds. She is getting more daring too, diving after toys mostly. She loves blowing raspberries while playing. Just in the last day she has started sucking in with her mouth open, so that drool stays in her mouth and doesn't go down her chin. Pretty funny. She also has started gargling her spit in her mouth while she is lying down. I call it her Chewbacca impression.

A time for flowers

Yes, I still have to post Easter pictures, but I took some new ones today on a different camera that I had to talk about. We were supposed to meet up with the mom's group to go see the tulips about 40 minutes south of here this morning. Bernie and I rode together to the meeting place, and as it turns out, the trip was postponed to next Monday. We decided to go anyway, despite the looming dark clouds. It turned out to be fairly dry while we were out and about, but the tulips had not quite fully bloomed yet. I guess the freezing weather lasting further into the year had something to do with it... Well, there were a few little beds of tulips in bloom, and HUGE fields of beautiful daffodils. The babies were very cooperative (Bernie's son Nick is 9 days younger than Lilah) up until we decided to take pictures of them by the flowers. Lilah was fascinated by the gravel around her, and the only moment she looked up I was able to snap a hilarious picture. She really looks quite mean. Jonas calls her Bruiser. We had a very nice time and laughed for quite a while over the attempted photo shoot. Plus, we got to stop by the outlets on the way home! It turned out to be pretty nice that the rest of the moms didn't go with us.

We are on our third day of rice cereal now too. She seems to be enjoying it just as much as day one, and doing better with taking the spoonfuls. I think she really enjoys eating. Go figure. I think we are going to try bananas next, perhaps Friday or so. We are having the playgroup here tomorrow, so I might take a poll on how long to wait. I have heard anywhere from 3 to 7 days. I like the sound of four. The only changes I have noticed so far have been in her diaper. Not all that excited about what is to come in that regard! There is a pretty big variety in our particular playgroup on what to give and when. I am a little more traditional and paranoid whereas the moms that have older kids are a little more experimental and relaxed. I try to be relaxed but it doesn't usually work. We are doing okay so far though, so I may just stick with it.

A taste for cereal

Today we decided to try rice cereal with Lilah. My expectations weren't that high because I've heard many stories from friends about cereal firsts. We made a good bit just trying to get the consistency right, and gave it a shot. It was messy, but Lilah acted as though she had always been eating from a spoon! She was diving into each spoonful and making cute little grunting noises between each scoop. Success! She ate every bit of what we had prepared and probably would have eaten more. She's going to be a fun one to feed!

Breaking new ground

This has been a busy week! With Jonas back in town things are a bit back to normal. Lilah had a few nights of poor sleep early in the week, but has returned to her normal of ten to twelve hours. Surprising really, considering she is cutting her first teeth. I wasn't expecting them for another little bit so I hadn't been looking, but I checked her gums out on Tues and saw two little white spots just below the surface. Yesterday you could feel the sharp corner of the bottom left one, and today the whole top of it has broken through. She is doing pretty well with it, especially with a little Tylenol and an extra nap or two during the day. She is normally a very happy baby but this week she's been extra sad. I know she doesn't understand what's happening, but it's awfully cute.

She is a great sitter-upper now, and you can tell she is really trying to figure out how to get to those toys out of reach. She's a smart one! She's getting really good at throwing things too, which is a shame. Especially when it involves things that she chews on. Which is everything, actually. I'll try to snap a photo when we get more of a tooth in sight. They'll be pretty cute by the time we come home! Two weeks and counting!!

Oops, I did it again

Today Lilah was sitting in her high chair while I was working in the kitchen. She was playing with a chain of plastic rings that she was chewing on and slamming into the tray. After a few minutes she dropped them on the ground, and as a good mom would do, I picked them up and returned them to her. After another minute, she dropped them again. I again gave them back to her and this went on about five or six times when I looked at her and asked, 'are you doing this on purpose'? She just grinned. After that, every time she dropped them I would look over and she would be looking back and smiling. Already a little trouble maker, but she's so cute at it.

We are still doing well with Jonas out of town, but it will be so nice to have him back. He has been talking to Lilah on the phone each day. It's funny to see her react to his voice. She looks for him and smiles. She will be very happy to see him tomorrow night! (As will her momma). Thankfully she has been sleeping well this week. At least one of us is!

Roly Poly

Since Jonas taught Lilah to roll over, she has really taken to it. Anytime she's placed on her back she's only there for a moment. The tummy time has been good and now she is turning and squirming for toys. She is a very grabby baby now, something I took for granted a few months ago. It is mostly impossible to do anything with her in tow that I don't want her to get her fingers in.

I think we can say she can official sit on her own now. I still won't put her out of arms reach yet, but she does pretty well on her own. I timed it today and she lasted five minutes without a spill. We had a baby play group this morning, and she was sitting for quite a while. I am really excited for where she'll be when we go home at the end of April. Cousin Guillaume will be there and they can actually play together this time!

Jonas is out of town this week too, and we seem to be doing okay. Lilah was pretty fussy around midnight last night, and I was determined not to feed her (I knew she was not hungry). I brought her to bed with me instead and she slept until 8am without a peep. Twelve hours without eating.... now I know how long she can last at night! It is so easy just to nurse her in order to get her to go back to sleep, but I am trying not to develop bad habits. Maybe sleeping in momma's bed is a worse one?

For starters...

We are going to give this a try and see how well I can keep up. Lilah is coming up on 5 1/2 months already. Jonas spent last Saturday with her while I worked and 'taught' her how to roll over. She wasn't doing it on her own, but they practiced the motions. On Sunday she had figured it out fully and was doing it by herself. It amazes me how quickly she picks things up. I am afraid it won't be too long before she is fully roaming the house. We need to baby proof!! Today they are together again - we'll see what she learns this time!

She is getting much better at sitting up unassisted. We joined a baby playgroup a few weeks ago with a few other kids her age. She is best at sitting up when she is around the other babies. It is funny to see them grabbing at each other's faces and slobbering all over the same toys. On the same note, she has also gotten her first cold. She has been sleeping poorly with her stuffed nose, but is still in great spirits. Lilah is such a sweet and happy baby. Always smiling!