Lily getting in her daily workout

From a few weeks back...

Being a Parent

I've been thinking a lot about how it's easy to get sucked into comparing your kid to others now that we are being invited to play dates pretty regularly. We've played with some kids that are older than Lily and still not crawling and not sleeping through the night. I guess I've had it pretty easy because Lily has never been delayed for any milestone. Even so, I still try to remember that these are not the most important things. We all thought Lily would be walking by now, but it honestly doesn't bother me that she isn't. She's only 11 months old! There's plenty of time for walking, and I can't take her out in this heat to run around anyways so she would just go stir crazy. And I'm sure some kids are saying 5 words by the time they're a year too, but it really doesn't bother me that Lily hasn't said one. It'll happen in time. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I hope I can remember as she gets older and academics become more prevalent, that those things are not the most important. I'd much rather send a kid to kindergarten that is kind, patient, and obedient than one who can already read. I'd rather see her walk in on the first day of kindergarten and walk up to the first little kid she sees and say "hi, my name is Lily" than see her walk in, sit down, and write her name. I just think social skills and setting a good foundation are so much more important at this age. What's the point in being a braniac if you don't have the skills to sit and concentrate on a topic? And I DO NOT want my child to be the one who doesn't listen to the teachers and has no friends.

One thing I do struggle with is when we go to these play dates and the moms always ask what we did over the weekend. Um, we went grocery shopping? Maybe to the pool? What the heck do you do with a 1 yr old? These kids are so involved with activities already it makes me wonder if I'm doing enough. I don't know how to just say, "we're homebodies!" I don't want to be on the go all the time. I want our family to enjoy spending time with each other, and not always looking for external activities for entertainment.

Anyways, just putting it out there that's it's ok if Lily isn't writing her name at 5 or reading 65 words at 1 yr (yes, this has been claimed by someone) or doesn't know the alphabet by the time she is 3. So someday when I start freaking out about something you can hold me to these words :)

P.S. yes, I added completely random, old pics (5-6 months old) because I don't have an new ones lately. See above about being homebodies :)

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Enjoy!

Swimming. Always Swimming.

There's pretty much nothing else to do in this heat but swim, so that's what we did today. A certain chubalub decided she is ready to start walking more finally.

Check out those chubby legs! Love 'em!

I think this is a better video of her walking in the water. She loves walking around the baby pool and is getting better each time we go.

Here's another one where I tried to get those chubby little legs in action under the water.

I hope you're not getting bored of all the swimming pics/videos because we have so much more summer left!!

Like the new blog design? I girly'd it up a bit (sorry Jim)!

For those having trouble commenting, be sure and click on the drop down menu for "comment as" and select an option. You can choose to select 'anonymous' but be sure and tell me who you are in your comment! Then click "publish." Hope that helps.

I Forgot One

Here's one more video. I knew I was forgetting one!

She's much better at giving kisses since this video was taken.

On another note, tonight is the beginning of our first experience with Ramadan. Everyone keeps asking if I'm ready for it, but I don't really know what to prepare for. I didn't think it would affect us since we don't celebrate it, but Jim just told me last night that the grocery stores close down during the day, so Lily and I made an emergency run this afternoon to stock up on food for her. It made me wonder what muslims do for their kids? Surely the kids don't fast during the day?? Supposedly the big fancy hotels here do extravagant buffets in the evening every night during Ramadan, and it's one of those 'must experience at least once' kind of things. Maybe if we didn't have Lily we might try it, but the chaos and crowds of starving people does not sound appealing.

We leave in a little over 3 weeks for Italy!! Jim and I have both lost weight on our pre-cruise diet, but I'm ready for a change! I think I need a week off, then we can start back up again. Is that allowed? :)

New Videos

This is just a quick post. I have a couple cute videos I need to share.

This first one is of Lily doing her latest trick.

This one she is trying to get around in her new sparkly shoes.

This last one is what Lily does in the pool now. She can touch the bottom of the baby pool so she walks all over the place then dives into our arms and is not phased one bit.

Photo Book

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What I've Been Doing, Instead of Doing the Things I Should Have Been Doing

I'm not sure what's gotten in to me, but I've been using every spare minute creating this:

It's a book with our wedding pictures! I remember our photographer wanted to charge us $800 to do this. We were clueless at the time, but knew it sounded a bit much, and since we didn't need it right away we decided to wait. I'm glad we did because this one is less that $100. I'm sure the one the photographer could make would be much more artistic, but this is plenty good enough.

I'm addicted now and I'm tempted to make one of Lily's first year.

My house isn't clean and my homework isn't done, but at least I have something pretty cool to show for it!

Lily growling during her breakfast

Can you hear it?

Decorationally Challenged

I'm pretty sure I just made that word up, but you know what I mean. 


Our master bedroom needs some serious help! I scored the deal of the month at Pottey Barn this week with a duvet cover 75% off. I love it, but now my pictures above the bed don't match. 

I need your help to decide what to replace them with. (they're just wooden frames wrapped in fabric so they're easy to switch out). I would really like to use something I already have, and I want to keep the picture above the nightstand (it's from the Grandpa Dalager collection). So, here are my options:

Option #1

Option #2

Option #3

As soon as I took these pictures I realized maybe I should keep it simple and only use one fabric for all three frames. If I did that, it would probably be either the stripe or the orange with white flowers. So, Option #4 is to keep it simple with one fabric.


I need your opinions! Click on "comments" at the end of this post, then in the big white box where it says "enter your comment" enter your vote! Then click publish! 

Life

I read lots of blogs. I kind of got addicted when we lived in Taiwan and I had nothing to do. My favorite blogs are the ones that are realistic. There are a few that I read that have gotten to the point that I know the author is purposely trying to make everyone think they have the most perfect life and perfect kids because it's just so over the top. I don't want to be that person, so I thought I'd write about the rough couple of days we've had.

{Love this outfit}

Lily and I have had a rough week; something has just been off. She has a little bit of a runny nose, but I don't think that's it. Her third tooth broke through, so I don't think that should be bothering her either. But, she cries when I put her down for a nap, she whines during independent play, and she doesn't want to eat; all things that I thought we had already conquered and moved beyond. I'll be honest, yesterday, I just didn't feel like being a mom. I wanted a day off. I was tired of saying "No, don't touch the cable box/PS3/Xbox/electrical wires/toilet/trash can."  I really just wanted to take a day off and let her do/touch whatever she wanted and just sit and watch. I guess that's what makes being a parent hard is that you can't take 5 minutes off, let alone a whole day. As soon as I allow her to touch something she's not supposed to, I know she will stop listening to me. I'm also determined to not remove those things from her reach because I want her to learn boundaries and self control. I want to be able to take her out in public and to other people's houses and know that she's not going to destroy everything in her path.

{Recognize this bow, Aunt CC?}

I know she's getting bored being cooped up inside during this heat (I've decided we won't be spending another July and August in this country!!) and she's getting bored with her toys. I feel like she's in an in-between stage with toys: baby toys are boring, but she hasn't figured out the toddler toys. Every time I go the mall I go to the toy store, but I have no idea what to get her, and toys are insanely expensive here. Every time I buy her a new toy she plays with it for 5 minutes then could care less. $40-$50 down the drain.

{Naked baby on the loose before bath time}

I don't know what's going on with her eating. Our doctor in Houston mentioned that her appetite will drastically decrease around age 1, so maybe that's it. However, it seems like she's getting picky and lazy. She's especially picky about dinner and will stop eating if her food has cooled down too much. Sometimes she'll just stop eating and then I'll test to see if she's really full and pull out a packet of puree and she'll down it in 5 seconds. But then what do I do? Give her more puree? She's always loved feeding herself! Even if I heat her food back up sometimes she just doesn't care for it. Is it common for babies to get tired of feeding themselves? Even her favorite fruits she's apathetic about, but if I pick up some fruit and put it up to her mouth she'll eat it.

Unfortunately, Lily's 'off' days are usually my fault. I know she feeds off of me, so my tiredness and lack of enthusiasm affect her big time. I woke up this morning with a purpose to make sure I hug and kiss her even more and play with her for as long as she wants - the dishes and laundry can wait. (note: no matter how blah I feel I kiss those chubby cheeks all day. who can resist??)

{Not wanting to leave mom's lap}

So far today we've had a better day. We got out and went to the aquarium at the mall with some friends, and she did really good. She even stayed in her stroller the whole time. Eating was still a challenge, but her naps were better. Sometimes we just have off weeks, but we come out of it better. My friend said she thinks babies have off weeks when they have intellectual break-throughs and are overwhelmed with learning to process the new input. I think that's so true sometimes. 

Story Time

I heard that Pottery Barn Kids at our mall had story time, so Lily and I braved the heat to walk over and try it out. Well, we probably won't be back any time soon.

{On the way to the mall in our new travel stroller}

First of all, it bugs me when activities for kids don't start on time. It was supposed to start at 4, so I made sure to be there right at 4 because I know she has a short attention span and I was hoping she would stay in the stroller and listen to the stories. Well, by the time it started at 4:20 she was bored and had had enough of the stroller. I took her out and let her sit on my lap, but she lasted for half the book and then wanted to crawl around the store. 

{not-so-patiently waiting}

Second of all, it's just not a good set up. All the kids were seated around a table, and we were at a weird angle trying to stay out of the way of shoppers and couldn't see the book very well. 

{I want to color too!}

Lastly, they only read 1 book! It was probably for the better since Lily was just crawling everywhere, but the point of going is for her to practice sitting and listening to someone else. 

{Trying to escape from mom}

I guess maybe it's about time I got my driver's license and found a library.

Swimming

Our professional under water pictures have been delayed due to problems with the purchasing part of the website, so Jim and I took some of our own with our under water camera. 

I think it's so crazy that she keeps her eyes open.

Don't worry, I only let go of her for barely a second.

 Looking right at the camera!

I'm not as good a photographer as Jim, and this was the best I got of the two of them.

I can't wait to see the professional pics. His camera had a flash on it so the lighting should be much better.

Lily James is 11 Months Old!

This is the first month I've thought "I can't believe she is xx months old!" She's so close to not being a baby anymore. Here is what Miss Lily has been up to this month:

- I thought for sure the major milestone this month would be walking, but I'm proud to say the biggest turning point has been with sign language. She is really picking it up and can use signs for Hi, Bye, Milk, Nap/Ni-night/Sleep and All Done. She mostly just uses the signs when she hears us say those words, but a few times she has requested milk and a nap. We're working on Please now when she wants something, but that is a harder concept and will take some time.

 - Her walking is improving, and more and more often I see her take steps unprovoked. I noticed she walks more in her bedroom vs the living room, so I think the mat we have on the floor for her is throwing her off, but she'll get it soon enough.


- She will clap her hands when you ask or say "yay Lily!"

 - She eats a typical 3 meals plus snack every day. She still gets oatmeal with fruit puree mixed in for breakfast. I started adding more protein to both her lunch and dinner (either meat or beans) and she's been sleeping better at night. I've even had to wake her up a few times in the morning. She's also eating less pureed food because she can pretty much eat everything as long as I cut it into small pieces. She also gets a 4 oz bottle before and after her afternoon nap.


- She still loves to swim, and will easily dunk her head under water. She also loves to walk along the steps at the pool then dive into my arms.

 - Diaper changes can still be a struggle, but she's getting better. She seems to understand better when I tell her "No" and "Not done" when she starts to get squirmy and flip herself over. I use diaper cream at every diaper change now because the slightest rash makes changing her diaper impossible.


- She's babbling a lot lately and says "dada" quite a bit now, but still doesn't say it with a purpose.

 - She has three teeth now!! One of her top teeth finally broke through.


- We've pushed her bedtime back to about 7:15, and she sleeps till 6:15 pretty consistently. She also takes 2 naps, at about 8:30 am and 1 pm, for about 1.5-2 hrs

 - We have a nanny that comes on Sundays from 7a-5p, and Mondays from 6:30a to 11:30a and stays with her while get schoolwork done.


- Some of her new favorite foods are blueberries, apricots, black beans and turkey lunch meat.

 - She is wearing size 12-18 month clothes, 18 month pjs, 18 month bathing suits, size 5 diaper and size 3 shoes.


- She weighs around 22 lbs (50-75th %tile) and is probably around 31" tall (>90th %tile)

Happy 11 months Lily Bug!

Genius Baby!

Recently, Lily has done a few things that have made Jim and I look at each other with that "OMG she's a genius!" look.

1. She started signing for milk about 10 days ago, then a few days after that around the time when I usually give her a bottle - about noon - she started whining, then stopped, looked at me and signed milk. I was thrilled and jumped right up and got her a bottle! So this weekend when Jim was home, it was getting close to noon and I said to him, "let's wait a few minutes and see if she signs M-I-L-K," and the little stinker held up her hand and signed for milk! Genius!

2. The other day I was reading her Bambi, and when we got to the page that has a picture of 4 opossums hanging upside down, she grabbed the book and turned it upside down. When I turned the page, she grabbed it back and flipped it back over. I must have read that Bambi book ten times in a row and every time she flipped the book over when we got to the opossums! So I started just handing her various books upside down, and right side up, and she always turned the upside down ones, but left the other ones alone. Genius! 

3. Since Lily has been doing so good signing for milk and bye-bye, we decided to add "ni-night" the other day, and seriously its been two days since and she already signs it anytime we say 'nap' or 'ni-night.' Genius!

Ok, I'll stop the bragging before I get too annoying. And don't try to call us and tell us any of these things were a coincidence or "every baby does that" because we won't believe you!

Happy 4th of July

We don't have much going on today other than a play date this afternoon. It's usually the same 5-7  moms with their kids, and no one else is American, so I don't think anyone will even notice I dressed Lily up patriotic.

One of Jim's mom's friends gave her this dress before she was born. It's a size 6/9 months, and I remember opening it, looking at the size and thinking it would be perfect for 4th of July. Then our 10 lb chubbalub was born and was already wearing size 6 months back in October, so I figured it would never last.

But, lo and behold, it fits! The little diaper cover that goes with it is too tight around her thighs, so I just put white shorts with it.

I stood her up in the middle of the floor hoping to just take one quick picture, and to my shock she stayed there and then walked to me! Normally, when I have something in me hand that she really wants (especially phones and cameras), she immediately drops down and crawls over to me. She knows she can crawl and get what she wants a lot faster than walking. I was so proud of her!

She started walking a bunch! We might be remembering July 4th as the day when she finally got some confidence in her walking! You can also hear some of her babbling in the videos. She's been babbling a lot lately.

Lily's DNA..

Not that there was any question before, but more proof today of the English genes in Lily...

She proceeded to crawl on top if my face tonight just before bedtime...and proceeded to FART IN MY FACE! :-D