Eleven Months and Lovin' It

Lily's 11 months old today!  One more month of babyville, and then she's a big girl.  :-(  We celebrated with a trip yesterday to Mt. Trashmore.  Lily's first ever real trip to a park.  She had a blast!  She ate dirt, ate grass, tried to eat pea-gravel, and scared an incessant flock of seagulls.  She even got some bird poo on her too.  I had to check myself the first time she put a fist full of dirt in her mouth.  I ran to her, and pulled her hand out.  Then I grabbed a graham cracker.  Giving it to her I had to remind myself babies eat dirt.  I can't be that parent.  Luckily she didn't try it again so I didn't have to test my "laid back" approach.  I probably would have failed. 

We stayed for a couple hours with some other mommies.  Lily got to play and enjoy the sunshine, and I got to enjoy grown-up conversation.  Oh, and enjoyed or not, the unsolicited advice of some random dad telling me I need to start making her walk, Lily's using the wrong nipple on her bottle for spit-up control (I can count on one hand how many times she has spit up.), and I need to transition her to a sippy cup.  Wow, that was a lot for one man to insult the parenting of someone he's never met.  I did get a compliment from my friend that I was very nice for not telling him what's what.  Eh, I figured he's probably pretty lonely and may not get validated on his parenting at home, and was trying assert himself.  Whatever, I'll probably never see him again.  He doesn't need to know we are working with Lily walking, she doesn't have spit up issues, and I'm actually trying to skip the sippy all together and she's learning to drink from a straw.  But, whatever.  The experience did not detract from the fun we had.  Clearly someone enjoys the out of doors.

That's bird poo on her right leg... eww.

Can we go back tomorrow?

 We worked on her 11 month portrait this morning.  Before that though, let me show you her 9 month.  There's a big difference between 9 and 11. 




We really struggled with the picture this morning.  Lily was having just too much fun, and refused to sit still.  Her buddy was not helping the situation at all.  No matter how many times I shooed Choco away she found herself right back with Lily.  See her sneaking into the frame?

I'm totally done sitting here.  "Hey there puppy."

"Hey, I'm talking to you."

"Mom, what's her deal?"

 Okay, new tactic.  Maybe I can control the situation better if we try standing for the picture.

"Hi!"

"OMG.  I'm still standing!"

"Hey, what's out that window behind you?"

"I'm sliding here!"

"Okay Lily we're done.  Let's go watch Top Chef with Elmo."  "YAY!!" 

 Now that we're counting down I really have to decide if I want to do a party or not.  That's a thought for later.  Now Lily and I have to get ready to head to BabyGarten at the library!  Yay for reading!

Buyer's Remorse

When we decided on this house it was with the understanding I would leave all the paint colors as is with the exception of Lily's room.  It's a deep blue.  Despite the room having two large windows it's a very dark room because of the paint.  We were given permission by the owner to paint however we wanted.  In my mind I was picturing a lilac shade.  I wanted something bright and airy.  We've been waiting for the weather to warm up a bit so the house could be opened up during the painting.  In the mean time Lily's been living in a mish-mash room.  Nothing is on the walls, and she's using left over curtains from our old house (mismatched) to block out the afternoon sun during nap time.  I did find a rug and a lamp for her room, and it was from there I was wanting to pull the color of her room. This past weekend we went to Home Depot and chose Lily's color. 

Her room is not going to be lilac.  I don't know what came over me. 


It's a Disney color called Enchanted Evening.  I spent the past two afternoons taping and painting the edges and corners.  There's a lot of edges in this room.  There's trim on the bedroom door, closet door, two windows, baseboard, and crown moulding.  When we picked the color I was a bit reluctant, but Cayce really liked it and said it would cover the blue better.  (We purchased the paint and primer in one.)  On the little card it wasn't so shocking, now on the walls, well.... it's shocking.  On the upside it still matches the rug and lamp.  As a matter of fact there is a shade of pink on the lamp that is exactly the same. 

The purpose of painting Lily's room is still accomplished.  I wanted to rid the boy theme in the room and clearly mark her room as a girls'.  I'm trying to get over my dislike of the color.  I've told myself once her pictures are on the wall, and I get some neutralizing curtains it won't look so bad.  We'll finish painting this weekend, and hopefully once it's all put together it will turn into the girl's room of my dreams. 

Love Personified

Lily's first Valentine's Day was the best Valentine's Day I've had in recent memory.  Cayce was on duty yesterday, so after spending an entire day and night on the ship away from the family he came home with gifts for all.

I was given a beautiful cross necklace and a bud vase with pink roses.  The roses found the perfect home on the mantle. 

Lily received an adorable swimsuit with ruffles and butterflies on the shoulders.  He also gave her a very cute Valentine outfit and bib.  We had made plans to dine out as a family, but we took pictures with Lily before we left, just in case she was not a smiley baby by the end of the evening.

We did not plan very well.  We didn't have a particular restaurant in mind.  As we drove around places either had lines out the door or the fare didn't sound appetizing.  We were about to give up and head home, both of us feeling a bit glum.  Right before we hit the highway back to our side of town we approached Tripps Restaurant.  In a last ditch effort to salvage Lily's first Valentine's we pulled in.  Neither of us had heard of the eatery.  The place appeared busy, but not overly crowded.  While cruising the parking lot I spied a baby in a high chair through the window.  Good, family friendly.  Man were we in for a surprise.

We were greeted with the enthusiasm most places only give to rock stars.  Lily was oohed and awwed over by the hostesses.  We were promptly seated.  Our waitress gave the appropriate oohs over Lily.  She even said she had the same bib for her baby.  We ordered quickly.  Cayce the fillet and I had the crab cakes.  The bread was super yummy.  Lily most definitely enjoyed it.  Our salads were to-die-for.  Our beverages stayed filled.  One manager came over to talk to us.  The service and food were not her concern.  It was our adorable Lily.  Lily put on a show smiling, giggling, and waving.  She's quite the ham.  Our entrees arrived and were prepared to perfection.  I didn't even need any sauce with my cakes.  This is quite an accomplishment.  Cayce, Mr. Picky About All Food said his steak was one of the best he had ever had.  I found my bite very tasty.  The second manager came to check on our evening.  We shared with him the great service and excellent food.  He then talked to Lily for a bit.  Calling her beautiful.  (She is.)
While we were waiting to ring out Cayce took Lily to play with one of the many mylar heart balloons.  Lily was fascinated.  After paying we asked our waitress to take our picture, and she kindly obliged.

 

As we headed to the door the first manager stopped us thanking us for visiting.  She told us to hold on a minute and grabbed one of the balloons for Lily.  We thanked her profusely, and she told us to bring her back often.  After a night of service like this, we certainly will! This place was a great surprise to have stumbled into.  Lily loved her balloon.  She played with it all the way home, and even when it was time to get ready for bath she would not part with it.

Yes, her room is blue.  It is getting painted this weekend!

So this holiday was full of extremely nice people, good food, lots of fun, and lots of love.  Here's to hoping next Valentine's will be just as sweet.

Party in the Snow

We finally had snow!  We had about 4 inches.  I know, nothing compared to what they've been getting in OK, but I'll happily take what we were given.  Not only was the snow beautiful.

But we also finally got a Cardinal!  

Yes, that is a snow covered plastic pink flamingo.  Call me redneck. 

We didn't let a little snow slow us down!  The day after this blanketing Lily had a Valentine's Day party to attend.  She got dressed up and handed out her special Valentine cards to all her little friends. 

With her first Valentine, Daddy.

On top of joining the Y, I've also joined a Meet-Up group.  This has allowed me some extra grown-up time, and Lily gets to hang out with other babies. Over the weekend we lunched. This week we're meeting at a coffee shop.  I'm excited to have "events" to look forward to.  Life gets droll and depressing being stuck in the house all day every day.  I was getting desperate, even thinking about finding a job.  Whew.  Thank goodness I found another outlet.  Who wants to be a responsible employed member of society?? I'll just stick to being Mommy for now.  ;-)  Speaking of which.  Now that Lily has successfully strewn the Sunday paper all over the living room I should probably get her fed her dinner before she starts eating the entertainment section!

Like a Trip Around the Sun

It feels like a year since I've been able to post! We're finally back in action!  We've finally settled in VA, and life is resembling something akin to routine again.  So much has happened in our extended hiatus.  Most importantly Lily Bell has 4 teeth!  All of her front teeth are in and making eating all kinds of goodies (and everything in sight) extra fun! 


We reached a HUGE milestone Sunday night.  While Mommy and Daddy were engrossed in the great football game Lily made her self comfy cozy next to Choco on the floor.  This isn't new.  Choco's very tolerant of Lily.  So patient in fact one night while we were hanging pictures in the dining room Choco started whimpering.  She's a whiny dog so we initially ignored it. Cayce finally looked down at Choco tucked into the corner, and discovered why she was crying.  Lily was using Choco's ear as a teething toy for all four of her teeth.  Bad Lily!  Good Choco for not snapping at Lily!  We've been working with Lily and the dogs.  "Soft Puppy" we say and softly rub the dogs' fur with Lily's hand.  "Gentle" we say.  Surely she'll figure it out eventually.  Now, back to Sunday night.  We were sitting there, and Lily was playing nicely and giggling with Choco's tail.  Next thing we know she pulled up on Choco!  Lily has not pulled herself up on ANYTHING to this point.  Not her crib, the couches, her toys, nothing.  Choco apparently was the missing link for her.  We were soooo excited!  Unfortunately no camera was around to immortalize the moment.  Since then she's been the pull up queen, but she only does it when she thinks no one is looking.  Yesterday she wandered off into her playroom.  There is a clear view of it straight through the house, and I was watching her while in the living room.  She was pulling up on all kinds of things in there.  She even toppled over and didn't make a peep.  It wasn't until she wedged herself between two large toys that she complained. 

Today while getting ready to out for a walk I was busy getting the dogs settled and what not.  I came into the living room to get Lily and change her clothes.   I found her hiding.

What's up here?

 I suppose this means we'll need to use the baby gate for more than just keeping the dogs from going upstairs when we're gone!

Cayce's been very concerned about Lily's development lately.  We've started going to the Y, and at the daycare there is another 10 month old, Lena, who is walking and super busy.  So he's been "working out" with Lily to hopefully move her along.  I guess it's working because it's only been a little over a week, and we've seen some amazing progress!  She has a toy given to her from Grampa Mautino that acts as a walker.  Cayce holds onto it so it doesn't fly away on the wood floors, and the two do laps downstairs. 

Training with Daddy

She's also finally mastered her walker.  Nothing is safe in this house.  Cayce calls Lily, Baby Godzilla, because of her knack for destroying everything.  When she's in her walker the zone of destruction is exponentially larger.  Luckily nothing has broken so far, and we keep the knives and artillery safely out of reach.  She's just too cute in it.  She's getting very good at moving with speed. 

Well now that we're back I'll catch up on all the fun we had over Christmas and our exciting move.  Lily seems very happy here, and she loves her new room and the play room.  I love the area, our house, and Cayce isn't miserable at work.  So things seem to be looking up!