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.

Lily in her Johnny Jump Up!

The many names of Lily

I love nicknames!  You can bet if I think you are a great person-you have a nickname.  My friend Lauren, is "Cutie Lauren" to me, and when Matt and I were dating I called him Mailman Matt.  =)

Lily has soooo many nicknames from me and other people, I wanted a chance to list them.

When I first brought her home from the hospital, I called her Liliput. Shortly after, I changed to Lily Belle.  Though it sounded more like "Lila Bewllll"  Next came Lily Dily.  (this is a nickname that my Dad came up with). Lately, I call her "Lovey" or "Lovealoo." 

These names all evolved and changed naturally over her short 7 months. Who knows how many more nicknames she'll go through in her lifetime (many, many, I'm sure....)

Some of her other nicknames have been given to her by family and friends.
Aunt Debbie calls her "LilyPad."  She has a lot invested in this name. I don't see her changing it!  =)
Aunt Debbie is steadfast in her LilyPad.

Alex calls her LilyPop,  My Dad calls her "Lily Dilly" and Ralph suggested that if she was wearing a lacy dress, one could call her "Frilly Lily"  lol

Marnie Brannon calls her "Lily Bonkin".  Daddy just calls her Lily.  Sweet and simple. 
Whatever nickname we call her-it's said with great love and tenderness. 

Standing!

On Friday, I took Lily to Old Navy. She had been a total sweetheart sitting in her car seat at the vet's office, in the drive over to ON, and for about a half an hour around the store.  While I was trying on pants, she got antsy so I got her out of her carseat.  She was wearing her new "Ugg" boots that have a really good sole and they gave her the sturdiness to stand up!

Matt says he has her standing all the time-but I don't. In fact, I've never really seen her do it-but this day I placed her in front of the mirror. She was SO excited!  Lily saw herself in the mirror and SMILED to herself.  She patted on the glass and had a grand old time. It was a big moment for me that I later repeated when we stopped in to work to drop off milk. 

Lily was a BIG hit at work.  CAM, AZ and more held her and cooed and had a grand time seeing Lily Belle!



Matt turned 40 on OCtober 8th, 2011. We celebrated with a dinner outat Bucca de Bepp with family and friends.



GodMother, Aunt Debbie and Uncle Todd met us at Bucca. We had a great time!



Cousin Alex (Aya) and her best friend Colleen

We had a very busy weekend! On Saturday, October 8th, Matt turned 40 years old.  "Aunt" TJ came over to babysit and we went out to celebrate Daddy's birthday. Alex brought Colleen, Aunt Debbie and Uncle Todd came too. Matt's good friends Matt and Katara Zachman came as well as Katara's sister Alethia.  John Harrison and Cutie Lauren Stir finished out our fun group.  We ate their yummy spaghetti with meat sauce (our family's favorite) and a great antipasta salad.  The waiters sang a Bucca de Beppo birthday song and we all ate a yummy cake from Ichiban Bakery.

On Sunday, October 9th, 2011, we found Pawpaw Jim sitting and doing some people watching at the Enon Apple Butter Festival



Papaw Jim was looking good!

     On Sunday, October 9th, 2011, we went to Enon's annual Apple Butter Festival.  I grew up going to this festival every single year ever since I was a kid and the Enon Historical Society had too many apples from the Adena burial mound. This year marks Lily's very first ABF!  Calvin loves going every year mostly because of the food. He and I both love "Walking Tacos."  The Boy Scouts sell them. To make a Walking Taco, you take a bag of Fritos corn chips and cut open one side.  Then, you spoon in chili, cheese, onions (if you want) and sour cream. Then, just add a fork and your portable taco treat is ready for walking!

     This year is the first time my Mom didn't have her booth showcasing watercolor paintings. She was on her way back from Italy!  She went with an artist group and toured churches, The Vatican and more on a two week trip abroad.  Dad sat in his folding chair next to the Historical Society Booth.  He looks more and more heatlhy every time I see him! 

All in all, it was a very full and fun weekend.  Lily charmed high school friends and Knob Prairie churchgoers.  Virginia Apple snatched her up and Debbie Mauer took a turn practicing being a Grandma.  We look forward to seeing them again on Oct. 20th when Lily will be baptised.

SWING!

Today is Oct. 10, 2011. 

We took a bag full of tomatoes, a pepper and squash to Paul and Vera Herman.  They live over on Delhi and are always excited when I bring them fresh veggies. After we had a short little visit, I pushed Lily's stroller along the bike path back home.  I decided to stop at the small playground just past Como Park and see if Lily likes to swing.

Well!  Right away I could tell that LIly LOVED it!  Her little arms and legs dangled over the swing and she felt free of weight and ground.  Her little face lit up with each arc.  Unfortunately, I knew this would be wonderful for her, but not so good for me. I'm really senstive and get motion sick very easily. I can't swing or even watch someone swing.  My poor stomach was rolling for over an hour after this.

However, it made sweet Lily so happy and I love seeing her happy!  I may just have to suck it up and deal with the nausea now and again just to see her sweet face smile this big!!