Talking Up a Storm!

Lily is now 19 months old. I look back at her baby pictures even just last Spring and I barely recognize her. She still looks like Lily, but she seems so little and young. I can barely remember that time. Her "baby" time went so fast. TOO fast.

Though I miss that baby time, I love the age that she is now. As each month passes, I think "THIS is my favorite age. No THIS is my favorite. No THIS time is the best. I guess I love each and every stage and all that those stages and developments bring.

Just today, we were playing with her Tupperware "Shape-O" toy. I was saying the name of each shape. "Pentagon", "Hexagon"  Lily was listening to me and said, "ah-gone" 
I also LOVE how she says, "Hi Honey."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bNioUEILQk&feature=plcp

Here is a video of her saying "Hi Honey" and playing with her Shape-O
She can also say "Morning" and "hockey".
She calls Alex "Aiya" and Calvin is "Cubby" or "Calvy"
When Lily sees me she says, "Hi Mommy!" or "Hi Momma"

She also likes repetition. Sometimes I hear her say, "Oh No.....Oh No!  Oh No.... Oh No." or "I know!  I know! I know!"   She is also learning to count. Last week she said TWO TWO TWO. All counting numbers were two. Now, it's One, Two! One, Two!

I can believe how sweet and smart and wonderful she is. I love her more than anything in the entire world.
Her favorite things are her "Bankie" and "Paci" (though sometimes paci sounds like patsy- but are cute).
These two items are the only things she loves. She doesn't have any particular attachment to any doll or stuffed animal or toy. Though she LOVES books. Books by far are her favorite toy. 

As for TV, she loves Baby Signing Times.  She has One through Four and they are just about her most favorite things. She also loves Doc McStuffins. She used to call that show "oh oh oh" on account of the theme song. It goes, "...oh, oh, oh, it's the place to go when you feel a little under the weather..." 
Now, when it comes on she says, "DOC!" and smiles like it's Christmas. She also loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and and just now say "Mickey!"

It's so fun playing with her. She loves to take things in and out of a big plastic pumpkin I bought for Trick or Treat. We take ducks in and out and also puzzle pieces out one at a time. 

Oh I forgot! Lily LOOOOOOOVES chalk! and crayons! She would color every surface inside and out if I would let her! She will walk along with two sticks of chalk and take a few steps, and then mark a tree or the sidewalk or a step and then walk a little more. walk, mark, walk, mark and on and on.

I just love this little girl!!!

1st Birthday

We had BIG plans for Lily's 1st birthday. The party invitation was a fabulous compliation of all of her "month" pictures. Family and friends were all coming today to celebrate from 3 to 5pm.
Unfortunately, Calvin, Lily and I all got the Noro virus. It was AWFUL! Lily had explosive diarrhea for days. Calvin and I threw up a lot. In light of the germs, we had to postpone the party. There was no way in good conscience we could expose our loved ones to this nasty sickness.

However, there was still a little bit of fun for us. I went ahead and made a small, simple "smush" cake. Lily had a BLAST!!

Here are a few shots of the messy, chocolate-y fun!

Lily's "smash" cake

The candle was too big for her teeny cake!  

Cake!  Weeeeee!

awwwwww

Lily didn't get to wear her entire 1st bday outfit, but she tried on her tutu

LIly's First Birthday Party invite via Shutterfly!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Four Steps

Today, Angie and Emelia came over. We were in the kitchen chatting and the girls were getting reaquainted with one another.  At one point, Lily was looking at Emelia and without realizing she took FOUR steps with no assitance whatsoever!  Then, right after that she took three more! I was BEYOND proud and happy.

Matt, Alex and Calvin have reported steps but I haven't seen honest to God walking myself. That could be because she likes me to hold her and clings to me more than others.  In addition, today I decided to skip the gym.  Our daily routine is usually: 1. wake up. 2. snuggle in Mommy's bed. 3. Lily sits in her highchair while I make coffee, clean up the kitchen and eat breakfast.  Lily eats cereal or Cheerios.  4.  Go to the gym.  5. come home and eat and Lily naps. 6. Play for a little bit before Mommy goes to work.

I decided that today I wanted to NOT do that schedule and just spend the whole day doing number 6.
It was a LOVELY day! When I left for work, the house was a mess, not all the dishes were done, and I hadn't exercised-but I was HAPPY.  =)

Toofers!!

Jan. 18, 2012.
About 2 weeks ago, a tooth broke through on the bottom left. Then, a few days ago, a second one on the right started working it's way out.  So far, teething hasn't been too bad. Lily may be fussy or a little grumpy for a day, and then she's fine the next.
The hardest part with teething is when she's bored she wants to BITE me!  I scream!  It really hurts!!!  Now, she can clap her hands. It's really cute! It's especially cute when she does it spontaeously herself and at the perfect moment.
She still lvoes Sesame Street and we love to snuggle in front of YouTube to watch Sesame Street songs. Our favorites are "1,2,3,4" by Fiest, Adam Sandler's song "This is a song about Elmo", Bruno Mars "Don't Give Up" and the ABC song with India Arie and Elmo.   
Now that Lily is 10 1/2 years old, she is standing on her own for a few seconds. Mostly she does this when she doesn't notice. As soon as she notices that she's not holding on to something, she plops down. Yesterday, my sister came over and was holding just Lily's shirt and she took a few tenative steps.  It was soo sweet! 

Other developments-Lily is allowed to sleep with a blanket. She really loves it. Putting her down for a nap or for bedtime is easier. If you give her a pacifier, a doll baby to hold and then put her quilt over her, she snuggles right up and is happy.  =) I love being able to give her that comfort!

She's also allowed to eat table food.  She likes bread and Cherrios broken in half. Today, I gave her steamed carrots, peas, corn and cauliflower. She eats about 1/2 of it. The other half ends up in her lap which then falls out as I take her out of her highchair and Coco is only TOO happy to clean up for her.

Also, I joined Urban Active. They have a play room.  Lily seems to enjoy it a LOT. She plays with all of the toys and goes up to the other kids. They say she's really good and Mommy's favorite part is she's so tired after that she sleeps a solid 2 hours instead of 1!

Overall, Lily is a joy. a joy! joy! joy!  I can't imagine her being sweeter, smarter or more wonderful.
=)
Happy times!