Hanger Ninja

The other day I was ironing (which hardly ever happens) so Lily was surprised to see hangers in the living room. As you can see below, it entertained her for a while. I was impressed with her coordination - she stood on her own (with the help of the couch) and moved a hanger in each hand. When Matt first saw these on the camera he said "what are these ninja pictures?" I guess you could put the caption "hi-ya!" in a few of these.

Daddy's Birthday (part 2)

The Sunday after Matt's Birthday we went to his parent's house to celebrate and watch the Bears. (This was a few weeks ago and thankfully not today's awful game.)

Grandpa's kitty lets me pet (grab) her!

Helping Daddy open presents

Being silly with Nana

4 deer came through the back yard while we were eating dinner!

Made several attempts to get a family photo for the Christmas card. This was one of the better ones.

"Can I touch it?"

"Oooohhhh..."

Santa!!!

On Friday we took Lily to the library open house to see Santa for the first time. Of course she was "serious Lily" and didn't crack a smile the whole time. But at least she didn't cry!

Same picture zoomed in

We had to wait in line for about 20 minutes. The time flew by for Lily because there was so much for her to look at.

Looking at the kids next to us, clinging to Daddy's sweater for dear life.

I had to get a full shot of her pretty Christmas dress

"Daddy's happy, but I'm not so sure about this"

"Maybe I'll do some reading while I wait"

Christmas card photo rejects

I tried all sorts of poses and props, but couldn't the photo I wanted of Lily for the Christmas card. But at least I got a lot of funny rejects.

In the battle of Lily vs. the Santa hat.... the Santa hat lost.

"Mom, I'm NOT wearing this hat"

"The hat is gone and I've got the cell phone... I'm happy now!"

So cute in my Christmas frog pj's
Next I tried a mini Santa hat on a head band and she pulled that off even quicker.
"You wear it"

Laughing with Christmas Piglet

Daddy's Birthday

Daddy's 29th Birthday was December 1st. Lily helped me make it a very special day for him. She wore her "My Daddy Rocks" t-shirt.

She took long naps so I could make dinner and Star Wars sugar cookies for dessert.

She helped me pick out balloons.

Thanksgiving weekend

Once again, I'm very behind on my postings and it's time to catch up. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend in Indiana with my family. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera. :( Can you believe it? So I only have a few cell phone pictures to share... and none are of Thanksgiving day. :( You'll just have to trust me that Lily wore 3 very cute Thanksgiving outfits (yes 3). The memories will not be forgotten because my brother took lots of photos on his camera.

Playing in a laundry basket during the Purdue/IU game. (She was smiling because Purdue was winning then.)

In her Bears pj's ready for Sunday's game. Notice she is sitting like a cheerleader (she did that on her own) and holding her favorite thing (the cell phone).

This picture wasn't taken Thanksgiving weekend, but it was close after and another cell phone pic that I really like.

Lily "walking"

I just took this video on my cell phone (sorry it's so grainy). I don't think her table is supposed to work like this, but it's working for us. Good thing we asked Santa for some real push-toys!!

10 Months Old!

(There are pictures and a video below - after you get through my rambling.)

I probably post this every month, but I can't believe how big Lily is!! To celebrate her 10 month birthday she had her first jar of #3 food. It was pea soup with chunks of chicken and carrot - which she didn't mind. She still does very well feeding herself cheerios and banana. Now we are trying more table food. She's had cheese, pasta, and oranges and rejected all of it. :( I'll keep trying and hopefully add a few more finger foods to her diet.

Lily is still very mobile and "cruising" along the couch. She likes standing on her on her tip-toes. I didn't think much of it because she's constantly trying to get something that is out of reach, but today I noticed she also does it when she's just standing still. Maybe she'll be a ballerina.

Lily is almost 19 pounds and I have no idea how tall. She has started wearing 12 month size clothes for the extra length. None of her shoes fit anymore, so we need to do some shopping. It's always a battle to keep them on, so I haven't been putting them on her. But now that it's cold (and since she'll be walking soon) I guess it's unacceptable to just go out in socks.

This past month we tried a class at gymboree, we've been going to baby storytime more often, and started a little playgroup with some other stay at home Mom's & kids. I know that I probably get more out of it than she does, but she behaves well and seems to enjoy socializing with other babies. She especially loves watching the older ones.

That's all I can think of for the monthly update. Now time for pictures! Since Thanksgiving is right around the corner, Lily is in her turkey outfit.

"Are you trying to look at my butt?"

"OK, here's my turkey butt"

It's getting really hard to keep Lily still and smile for her monthly photo. Here's a look the trick I used this month.

Corey's Visit

In early November, my friend Corey came up from TN for a weekend visit. It was her first time meeting Lily and unfortunately I didn't get any pictures with the two of them. :( At least I got one of the two of us. I took her downtown for some Chicago-style pizza and to see the Christmas decorations at Marshall Fields (Macy's). The storefront windows weren't as cool I remembered, but the tree in the Walnut Room (shown below) was very pretty!

Happy Halloween! (part 2)

Sorry for the delay in finishing the Halloween pictures. We had a great time with Lily's first Halloween. She had lots of cute pumpkin clothes and was a very cute caterpillar. On Friday, we went to Halloween storytime where all the babies dressed up in their costumes. On Saturday, my parents came up and we took Lily "trick-or-treating" at a nearby shopping center. Lily was a little intimidated so we didn't ask for too much candy. It was more fun to see all the other kids (and some dogs) dressed up. Finally, Sunday was Halloween, and we carved our pumpkins and went actual trick-or-treating to a few houses in our neighborhood.

Mommy's little pumpkin

"Lily-pillar"

Baby storytime

Bubbles!!

Papa & Grandma

Happy Halloween! (part 1)

Today we carved pumpkins and took Lily on her first trick-or-treat! We did several other Halloween activities this week that I'll put in another post.

Daddy's showing Lily all of our pumpkins.

"Lily-pillar" and Mommy.
It got a little chilly tonight so it was good that Lily had a cozy costume.

Our pumpkins didn't light up very well, but you can get the idea. Matt made the jack-o-lantern and I made the kitty.

9 month check-up

Miss Lily went to the doctor today for her 9 month check-up. She is just about 29" long (90th percentile) and 18 pounds (25th percentile). Tall and skinny... she didn't get that from me! She grew about 2 inches and 2 pounds since her 6 month check-up. She is constantly moving and exploring so it makes sense that she isn't gaining that much weight. Lily got 1 vaccine and the first round of her flu shot. We go back next month for her 2nd flu shot. After that, we don't go back until she turns 1. I can't believe it's just around the corner!!! All-in-all Lily is doing great and the doctor is very pleased with all of Lily's growth and development!

LeAnn's Baby Shower

This weekend I had the pleasure of hosting a baby shower for my good friend LeAnn. She's expecting Lily's future boyfriend in late November. I am so excited for LeAnn (& her husband David) and can't wait to meet the little guy in a few months!!The shower was held at LeAnn's Mom's house in the Indianapolis area. She helped me execute all the fun baby-themed ideas pictured below.

The cake - topped with blue baby booties

Baby carriage fruit salad

Rattle cheese ball

Rubber ducky punch

Diaper-pillar

Diaper cake & rattle favors

PS - To spare Lily from another long car ride, I went to Indiana on my own. Matt had Lily the WHOLE weekend back at home. I missed them terribly but I also enjoyed a little freedom & sleeping in! Matt had a great time bonding with Lily, but he was excited for Mommy to return. He said he couldn't get anything done because Lily wanted constant attention. I told him, "welcome to my world!". :)