Six on Saturday

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately. We really don't have much going on, and it's too hot to do anything but go swimming or go on play dates.

1. Swim lessons ended this week and our instructor brought in a photographer to take under water pics of the babies. I can't wait to see them! We will definitely be putting her back in lessons in September.

2. We decided to put Lily back in daycare in the Fall. She should be walking by then, and I think she needs more stimulation. The nanny thing isn't as flexible as I would like, and it's ending up to be more expensive.

3. Speaking of walking, the Little Miss is apparently living by the philosophy of 'when in doubt, don't.' I thought for sure when I wrote her 11 month summary that I would be writing she is walking full time, but she rarely takes steps without us coaxing her.

4. We went grocery shopping today and our grocery store is carrying puffs and yogurt melts now!!! I really wanted to buy out their entire stock, but Jim wouldn't let me. Now we won't have to have Jim's parents bring any when we see them in August, and we can ask for other stuff instead :) I was saving our last can that we brought back from Texas for the plane to Italy. Those things are magic when traveling.

5. And speaking of Italy, Jim and I are starting our pre-cruise diet. I just want to fit into my bathing suits so I don't have to buy new stuff for the trip. We're trying the slow-carb diet that he did right before Lily was born, and looking back at pictures at that time I think he looks really good. The diet rules are to basically eat just meat, veggies and beans. I told him it's too hard for me to figure out new recipes every night that fit these new rules, so he suggested we make one big pot of veggie bean soup and have it all week. I guess we'll do a new recipe each week. We'll see how long it takes until we get bored, but I like the idea of only cooking once a week!

6. We're taking Lily out to eat with Jim's co-worker tonight. I hope she does ok. My next blog post might be titled "We're never going out to dinner with a baby ever again!"

I promise I'll do another blog post soon with pictures....

Life, According to My iPhone

Here are some pictures I've taken recently on my iphone. Nothing special, just life lately.

{First time in the new, hot pink, big girl car seat}

{Trying to see how many puffs she can stuff in her mouth at one time}

{Another mess courtesy of Lily Monster}

{This is how daddy gives bottles}

{Walking to mama}

{Reading in the car}

Our Latest Obsession

The munchkin has discovered her closet, and can entertain herself for a good 20 mins pulling out every item within her reach.

I've rearranged these shelves to hold all her blankets, towels, wash cloths, bibs and pajamas, so she can have at it. She pulls everything out, then sits down and inspects it one by one. I could complain, but she seriously did this for a solid 20 mins, and it only takes 30 seconds to throw it all back in the baskets and drawers.

And, we've only had one finger smashed in the drawers so far.

Also, we finally have power back to the outlets in Lily's room so we can hook up the video monitor. I've been watching her the last two days during her independent playtime and she will sit there for almost the whole 20 mins just looking at her books! I couldn't believe it! I wonder who she gets that from??? If you've never heard the stories, Jim always managed to sneak away from his mom when they went to the grocery store when he was little, and every time she found him in the books/magazine section reading. This girl is a Mini Jim more and more every day :)

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the best dad our kids could ever dream of having! Thank you for taking care of us and bringing us to exotic places like Dubai to live (where, more importantly, we can finally afford a maid).

And Happy Father's Day to our dads, and the best grandpas a kid could ask for!

{Lily and her Babo}

{Lily and her Grandpa}

{Lily and her Papa Dave and Grandma Susan}

(and you too, Boompah!)

Walking on Camera

Yesterday I tried many times to get Lily to walk on camera, and I didn't get it until Jim came home that evening to help. I still thought this was a funny failed attempt so I wanted to share. She seems so put out that I stood her up too far away from the blocks. 

And, if you didn't see this video on Facebook, here it is again.

Still Laying Low

Lily and I are almost back to normal, but those runny noses last forever! I borrowed a humidifier from a friend to see if that helps her not get sick so often. I did some research and dry air can make you more susceptible to colds because it dries and cracks out the nasal passages, and bacteria can get in there more easily. Who knows. I'm willing to try anything right now.

I took this picture yesterday morning and it cracks me up. "Oh hey dad, don't mind me."

Jim made eggs and toast for breakfast and Lily made sure he knew she wanted some too. 

We played with blocks a lot today, and I was trying to impress her with huge towers, but she could care less.

Our newest challenge: Little Miss can now reach and pull down items left close to the edge of the table. It's always hard to keep this table cleared off because it's the catch-all for dropping stuff when we come inside. I guess it's time to grow up and be responsible :)

That's about as exciting as we got this week! Hopefully we'll all feel better soon and get out of the house again.

Quarantined

Both Lily and I are suffering from ANOTHER cold. I'm so over being sick. I feel like our house is covered in snot. So far this one isn't as bad as the last one...no fevers...but we were only well for about 2 days before it hit again! We went to swim lessons this morning because I just needed to get out of the house, but we skipped out on the playdate we usually go to afterwards. We didn't do anything this weekend except go to Ace Hardware to get light bulbs (exciting) because I just wanted to take it easy and get over this stupid cold. So, I really don't even have pictures to post because we've been under house arrest for the last week. I decided instead I would post some older pictures and reminisce.

The infamous Toe Sucking picture from the 3D ultrasound.

It hurts my heart to look at this picture and know she only wore that sparkly UT outfit once. She literally out grew it over night. I sure do love that goofy smile though!

This was the first Friday she was home, and it was the first day she didn't have to be under the jaundice lights and we could put clothes on her. I love that silvery hair!

This was one of the first smiles we caught on camera.

About to leave and take the munchkin home finally. I remember being so ready to get home.

Let's take it even further back...

This is me and Jim at Versailles, and one of my favorite pictures of us. I thought I was pregnant here, but turns out I wasn't. But, a month later I would be!

Jim and I at Stonehenge, a pretty creepy place. Nobody ever talks about the fact that there are mounds all over the rolling countryside that were burial sites for ancient civilizations.

Ok, I'm going to stop there because looking at these old pictures just reminds me I still have 10 lbs to lose. I really need to lose that weight in the next 2 months so that my bathing suits fit when we go on our cruise!!

Six on Saturday

1. Lily slept until 6 am today! For some reason the extra 30 mins makes a huge difference. I think it might be because she didn't have a poopy diaper first thing in the morning, which she normally does. Now I need to go research how to train your kid to not poop between 6pm and 6am....kidding.

2. My homework assignments are assigned on Fridays and due on Mondays. That's just mean, in my opinion. Now you know what I'll be doing for the next 9 weekends.

3. Cruise is booked for August! We will leave out of Rome and visit the western Mediterranean. We were also able to use points and get business class seats on the airplane. So excited!

4. The nanny comes tomorrow! We get her all day, so I'll be able to get a lot of studying done, and hopefully a trip to the mall.

5. I made zucchini bread, and it turned out pretty good! I think I baked it about 5-10 mins too long so it was a little dry, but next time I'll know better. Lily loved it!

6. Lily has a runny nose. AGAIN. No fever this time, and I'm hoping and praying it doesn't develop into something more serious. I am so tired of dealing with snot.

Lily James is 10 Months Old!

We're into double digits now!! Here is what Miss Lily has been up to this month:

- Walking!! She can take a few steps before she falls, but she won't do it unless we ask (beg) her to do it. It's hard to get on camera because any kind of distraction ends any chance of getting her to walk for us.

- She can stand for a long time and balance really well. She can even go from a squat to standing, and it freaks me out every time I'm not paying attention to her and I look over and she's standing straight up in the middle of the living room. She loves practicing this trick much more than walking.

- She started taking swim lessons this month and can go under water without crying. She loves the water now and loves to jump in my arms off the steps.

- She understands a few commands. She understands "where's mama's nose", "where's Lily's tongue", "dance", "kick", "walk to daddy." She still does "So Big" but won't do "patty cake" any more, but she'll clap her hands sometimes when she stands up. Just tonight she started giving her baby dolls a hug when I say "hug your baby." It is super cute and I need to get it on video!

- She's starting to like books, and will just keep opening and closing them to new pages over and over. Her attention span is getting better and she'll sometimes sit in our laps and make it through half of a book before she has to grab it and open and close it herself.

- She is becoming aware of strangers. She cried during the last swim lesson when the teacher held her, which she's never done before, and she screamed when I left her alone with the nanny the last time.

- She's eating tons of food. She will often eat half a banana and half a mango, plus a puree packet for just lunch. I feel like I can't keep up some days and she is eating as fast as I'm cutting it up. One night she ate 10 small strawberries plus 1/3 a banana and a puree packet for dinner.

- She's discovered she can take half-eaten food out of her mouth, then sometimes put it back in her mouth and continue eating, or other times throw it on the floor. Fun times.

- Her meals are now a typical breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. However, since she wakes up at 5:30 am, lunch is usually pretty early, at 10 am. She has finger foods at each meal except breakfast, and has a puree still at every meal except her snack.

- She wears size 12 month clothes, a few 9 month pieces still fit, and 18 month pajamas. The legs in her PJs are too long, but the other night I could barely zip them up over her butt and thighs. Sadly, I think the days of footie pj's are numbered. She's also in a size 4 diaper and wears size 3 shoes.

- She fell off the bed for the first time on my watch. I was going to leave this out, but Jim is making me add it to the list.

- She's still not saying any words, but we know she understands! Sometimes I think she mouths words, but doesn't say them. I always say "Up, up" when she crawls over to where I'm sitting and reaches up to sit in my lap, and she'll form her mouth like she's about to make a 'P' sound.

- She's giving wet sloppy kisses!! She even understands us when we ask for a kiss and she'll lean down and put her mouth on ours.

- She's up to 18 mins twice a day for independent playtime and doing great! I love when I go get her and she's sitting there with a book open in her lap.

- She weighs 21.5 lbs (75th %tile) and is 30 inches tall (91st %tile). Thank goodness her weight is finally plateauing out.

Happy 10 months Lily Monster!!

Lily Swimming

I remembered to bring my video camera to swim lessons yesterday, and the instructor was really nice about taking the videos. I thought we would just record the first swim, but she offered every time after that. Then for the last time the other mother in the class offered to record it while Dawn (the instructor) dunked Lily under water and I caught her.

The last video down below is when Jim and I took Lily swimming last weekend. She does this non stop when I take her now: she holds on to the edge then turns around and dives at me. The swim lessons have made her so confident in the water. I've even seen her spitting out water instead of drinking it lately. I love this instructor, and she this is what she does full time. I think she teaches kids up to age 5 and then they go on to club swim teams.

Lily's Newest Trick

Lily discovered how to stand up from a squatting position in the last day or so (and watch Masterchef Australia at the same time...multi-tasker). I had to record her from behind otherwise she would stop everything and attack the camera.

She does this all the time now, and she is always so proud of herself. If she's close enough to me she'll grab my hands and clap them together as I say "Yaaaaay Liiiily!!"

It seems to me like usually kids start taking more steps first, and this is the limiting factor that keeps them from being full-time walkers (because they have to crawl to a surface and pull themselves back up when they fall). I guess our munchkin decided to do it opposite, which means as soon as she gets the confidence to start taking more steps, she'll quickly be a full-time walker!

Six on Saturday

1. I discovered we have a farmer's market across the street from us when my mom was visiting and I've been wanting to check it out ever since. It's only on Fridays, so we finally walked over yesterday, but of course it has ended until winter because of the weather!! So, we went to Starbucks and the playground instead. I love the second picture of Jim and Lily on the slide.

2. Lily is much braver with her walking in the last few days. She's taken a good 3-4 steps on her own, and she knows what to do when we say "walk to mama" or "walk to daddy." She puffs out her chest and works up the courage then lets go of whatever she's holding on to and takes a few steps. Then, she squeals with delight and is SO happy with herself. We're trying to get it on video but our timing has been really bad so far.

3. Jim and I are finally caught up with Mad Men. I love this show, and I'm so glad Don didn't turn out to be a murderer! I was going to be really disappointed if the show started going in that direction.

4. My summer school has had a really slow start. Classes started on May 21st, and we just now got our first HW assignment. Usually I get the first within the first week. I also managed to sign up for a class that has no midterms and no final exam, which is a HUGE relief!

5. I finally went to the doctor this week and I have a sinus infection. I'm pretty sure it's my first, because I don't ever remember having a cold and congestion this long before, but I'm finally feeling much better. I still can't hear very well out of my left ear, but it's getting better.  

6. I found a recipe for Zucchini bread I want to try. It doesn't have sugar in it so I want to try giving it to Lily for a snack, but Jim is very hesitant to give her stuff like that to eat. We're both such poor eaters we want to make sure Lily likes fruit and vegetables. I finally convinced him if we end up with a toddler that will eat sugar free Zucchini bread we will be winning. I'll share the recipe if it turns out yummy.