September Update

Where or where does the time go? It's been almost a month since my last post. Since then, Lily has started daycare and seems to really enjoy it. The first week was hard for all of us, as Lily would cry most of the day. She still gets sad when we drop her off in the morning, but it doesn't take long for her to start playing. All the activity has led to great naps at daycare, and at home too.

I'm enjoying my time back at work. I have a great group of sixth graders and am glad to be back on a schedule. It took some time getting in the morning routine with Lily, but we pretty much have it perfected!


Lily is growing up more and more each day. She has started a shoe fetish, which I have no problem with. She brings Levi and I our shoes and tries to put them on our feet. I'm so impressed that she always brings us the correct shoes. In the morning she picks out her own shoes, and has started to try and get them on herself. She loves to play outside on the deck with her car and still enjoys swinging at the park.

Lily balancing on her drum.




My mom taught Lily how to put money in her piggybank the last time she was visiting. Everyday she points to the pig and we have take him off the shelf and put money in. She really loves the pig and gives him lots of kisses.

The countdown to daycare in on...

This is officially the last week day I'm spending as a stay at home mom. I started teacher workshop on Monday and finished up yesterday. My mom came and watched Lily as her daycare teachers also had teacher workshop. Lily will start her first full day of daycare on Tuesday. Last week I brought her in two mornings for three hours each. She seemed to do ok. I know that once Lily gets to know her teachers, she will feel more comfortable and will really enjoy it!

Lily's new favorite thing to do is to take my purses or bags and carry them around the house. On this particular day, the bag was quite large and heavy so she had to drag it on the floor.



We have a radio in the living room that at minimum 3 times a day Lily points at and wants the music turned on so she can dance. When we were watching the VMA's and a musical performance came on, she was in heaven.

Daddy is always finding fun things to do with Lily that make her giggle.

zzzzzzzz.....

Lily has made HUGE progress with her sleep. Three weeks ago, I stopped nursing her as she continued to wake multiple times as night. With me going back to work next week, the time had come to really focus on Lily getting a good night sleep. It took a couple of rough nights to transition, but she has finally figured it out. She goes into her crib at night with a bottle of warm milk around 7:30 and wakes up happy around 7:00 a.m.




We are still working on naps in her crib. Lily would rather nap on the floor, which I have no problem with as the kids nap on small cots at daycare. Today however, she was overly tired and wouldn't sleep on the floor.


We have a camera mounted on Lily's crib so we can watch her. Today, I put her in there to take a nap and was watching her play. All of a sudden she put her face right up to the camera as if she was saying, "I don't want to take a nap, Mom!"



A few minutes later when I heard her get quiet, I checked on the camera and saw this.

Video and Picture Catch Up

It's time to catch up on some videos and pictures of Lily. She is mastering milestones like crazy. She is doing great at walking, and when she takes our cell phone or t.v. remote, she attempts to "run" away with it.

The Ball is one of Lily's new favorite toys. She likes to kick the ball and play soccer. She is getting pretty coordinated and has started to walk up the ball by herself and kick the ball at the same time.


We discovered last weekend at my parent's house that Lily knows where her dirty diaper goes. She takes the diaper to the garbage and throws it in the trash.


It's amazing how much Lily is understanding. We can ask her to bring us the ball or book, and she will go and get it for us.

One of our local television news channels does a feature each night called "on the spot." The weather man will predict the weather on the day of your event. I sent in Lily's Birthday Party that we had at my parent's house and she was featured. Below is the video from the news.


Lily enjoying her car out on the deck.




Lily loves mowing the lawn with grandma. On this particular day, she fell asleep, and grandma didn't want to wake her so she started mowing all the neighboring lawns to keep her asleep.


Watch out "So You Think You Can Dance!" When the music is on, Lily likes to dance.


Lily

Happy Birthday Lily :)

July 28th our sweet baby girl turned 1 !! We can't believe how fast the time has gone. This also means I will be going back to work and Lily will be starting daycare in a month. On her birthday, we had a party at the park near our house. Lily had her own smash cake that she LOVED to eat.


Playing with Tallula and Emmett.

Lily is getting really good at walking.


After Lily's party, we drove up my parent's house for the weekend. I had my 10 year class reunion on Saturday night and we got some great family time at the lake. Sunday, Lily had another birthday party. Lily and Daddy got a nap in before the fun began.

July Update

We are having so much fun at the lake!!! We have Lily's swimming pool on the pontoon so that she can play and cool off while we are cruising on the lake.

Lily enjoys sharing the captain duties. (side note - Lily does wear her life jacket on the boat, but in this video we had just gotten going and hadn't put it on yet.)



"I'm all done eating!" Out for dinner at Ernie's on Gull Lake. Lily eats so well when we are out and about.


Lily playing in her personalized rocking chair. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa.


We LOVE when Daddy comes to visit us on the weekends!

Happy 4th Of July

We spent the 4th up north at my parent's house. Lily and I are staying at the lake all month!! We are having a blast, and looking forward to many more days on the boat and swimming in the lake. We had to say goodbye to daddy today, but he will be back on the weekends to visit. Lily went to her first parade in Nisswa. She enjoyed waving to everyone and everything, but was scared of the horns on the fire trucks. Her favorite things were the horses, she is such an animal lover. The boat is where Lily loves to take her naps; it's glorious !!! She sleeps for hours at a time as the breeze and humming of the boat are soothing for her. Lily is getting closer and closer to walking. She likes to push her car and we have seen her let go of the couch and take a few steps before falling down.


I had to share these pictures of Lily because I think they are so cute. They were taken at Lily's friend, Emmett's, birthday party.

Is It Summer Yet?

Lily is starting to think about walking. She lets go of the couch and falls after a few seconds and has managed to stand up for about 5 seconds. She likes to push her car around and walk around with us holding onto her hands. I'm guessing that before her first birthday she will be walking all over, oh boy...


Levi loves to push Lily on her car. Of course, they do lots of wheelies :)


We were at Levi's softball game on Friday and he was teaching Lily about a tree. It was so cute, and she was very facinated by it !




Lily being silly ;)


Lily has started to Say, MOM !!! Yeah Lily :)


This is as close to Dancing as she gets!


Lily is back to clapping with Violet.

At the park with daddy !

Lily and Daddy spent some time at the park last week. Lily was introduced to the slide, and the digger.





We spent Father's Day at the Twins Game and had a great time. Aunt Courtney was in town and spent the weekend with us.


Lily has been busy with story time at the Library on Monday's and ECFE Class on Wednesdays. She has so much fun playing with the other kids. She is getting better at interacting with other adults, but keeps a Very close eye on Mom !!

Our Little Water Bug !

Lily is obsessed with playing in the water. We knew from swimming lessons that she enjoyed it, but now she can sit in her own pool outside and play. Her love for water doesn't stop there... she is always checking out the bath tub to see if there's any water for her to splash in. For her baths at night, she kicks water all over the floor and if you're the lucky one who is giving the bath, you better have your suit on !!






My little helper has discovered the dishwasher and climbs all over it.


At times, Lily gets a little lazy and will use her face instead of her hands. When she is eating, instead of picking up something from her tray, sometimes she will put her face down and pick it up with her mouth. In this video, she used her head to play some tunes!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a wonderful 5 day weekend up north. Lily turned 10 months old on the 28th. Our little girl is getting so big. She is waving "bye, bye" and loves to eat cheese!
Her happy personality shows through in this picture.
10 months old


While vacationing up north, the weather wasn't the greatest, but we did manage to get out for a Boat ride on the new pontoon! Lily seems to enjoy the boat.


I brought my camera up to practice taking pictures and had a great day on Sunday for picture taking outside with Lily. It was a little Windy Outside, but Lily loved being in Grandma's Perennial Garden.


Lily Laughing at Bella, she does this everytime she sees her.


Up in the Apple Blossoms.


Playing in the fountain was almost as much fun as playing in the bathtub.



Bella is enjoying living at the lake. She hangs out in the day with my dad and brother while they work in the shop. When she gets warm, she heads to the lake for a quick swim.



Playing in Grandma's Garden.

Update

Last weekend, we went to my parents house while Levi was in the Boundary Waters with some friends. Lily had a great time helping grandma plant her flowers.


Planting flowers is hard work...

Lily has started to say "Hi" and "Da, Da" although she hasn't quite made the connection to what they actually mean. She is working on waving bye, bye and is starting to share with us. She tries to feed us her food, and put her toys in our mouth too ! Lily continues to pull herself up on everything and walk along furniture while holding on. Her two bottom teeth are really coming in and we think more are on the way.