The new year!

Today is December 31st. Tonight, at midnight we begin 2012.  I can't believe that on Monday, Lily will be 10 months old!
We had such a good Christmas.  We all went to Mom and Dad's Christmas Eve to open presents.  Lily did very well. Aunt Debbie bought her a Fisher Price Amusement Park.  She was busy playing with the little people that came with the park.  Lily even learned how to rip open a present or two.

While Lily Belle doesn't yet understand the meaning of Christmas, she was still a delight!

Christmas morning, it was just me, Matt and Lily. (as Calvin was in Arkansas with his Mom)
We got a Fisher Price Talking People Zoo for Lily. The night before, Matt and I assembled the Zoo and had it sitting by the tree.  She spotted it right away and crawled up to it. We even got pictures of her heading for her Zoo.  She likes to use it to stand and she loves "Zookeeper Zach".  We all like to sit down with her and play Zoo.  She seems to undy the ida of playing with the various nooks, and noise makers on the zoo. I LOVED my Fisher Price toys as a kid and I hope she will like hers too.

Matt got a bunch of cooking tools. Lily loved Daddy's gifts-especially the whisk and spatula.  She was only too happy to hold onto them for Daddy!

Some new skills-Lily has CURLS!  There is one adorable curl over her left ear.  Sometimes it separates into two curls.  She has a soft layer of hair over her whole head. I'm obsessed with the fine downiness and can't stop looking at, kissing, and adoring her sweet little head.

On Friday, Dec. 30th, Mom and Dad, Debbie and Zach came over for dinner.  Mom was holding her in her lap and Lily was looking at Grandpa.  He would bend his head to the left and then the right. Lily copied him. It was the SWEETEST thing. She's learning now to mimic you and copy facial expressions and movements. It's an adorable new development.  Also, on this day she wore her first blue jeans!  I can't get over how big she's getting! 

While I'm sad she's not a true baby anymore-I love every new skill. Every new development.  Each day her smile is bigger and brighter and warms my heart even more.

Time Flies

There have been so many fun events in Lily's life! 
Today is December 8th and she is now 9 months old.
My Lily has HAIR!  Still no teeth-but a light, fine dusting of sweet blond hair. 
She can CRAWL!  Hands and knees, honest to goodness crawling.  My favorite part is that she SLAPS each hand down as she goes along.  SLAP, knee, SLAP, knee.  It's quite cute.

She's also standing on everything possible.  We have a few things she could use as walkers but because we have hardwood floors, they all move too fast.  Lily has a lot of luck using her laudnry basket turned over and pushing it along. 

One of my favorite little moments with Lily is after she eats.  Sometimes, she will look up at me and vocalize what sounds like "ahhhhhh."  I like to think that if she could, she would say, "Great meal, Mom! High Five!" After her "ahhhh" she will have these quiet little babbles including her favorite- "a-dah, a-dah."  It's such a special moment and I cherish it so much.

On Monday, December 5th, Alex and I took Lily to Easton. We dressed her in her "Elf" costume to meet Santa.  She did a GREAT job and we got an adorable picture of her on Santa's lap.  I'm excited for Christmas!  I bought her a Fisher Price Little People Zoo and 2 Baby Signs DVDs.