Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Lilly's First Halloween!

I was heading out the door this morning before it was time to wake Lilly up.  On my way out I asked Dan if he would please dress her in her Halloween outfit today.  

Dan: You want her to wear it all day?
Sarah: Not her Halloween costume, her Halloween outfit.
Dan: What's the difference?
Sarah: (Rolls eyes)

Of course Dan doesn't understand, but I wanted her to wear the outfit since she won't be able to wear it anymore after today!

Lilly was in an exceptional mood this evening.  Dan picked her up and got started feeding her a little earlier than normal so that we could take her trick-or-treating prior to her normal 7:30 - 8:00 bed time.  We only went to four houses - just a few neighbors - but she had a great time!  Before we did, though, Meagan was nice enough to come take some pictures of us on the porch (sans Layla, who had to be put inside at this point because she and Fender were barking at the trick-or-treaters who were starting to come out):

Thanks for taking our pictures, Meagan!  Next year, your little one will be walking around with us.  :-)

After we snagged a million few photos, we were off!

Our first stop was to visit Lilly's friend Callie.  Lilly and Callie stay with the nanny together every day.  They are so cute together - Callie kept trying to give Lilly candy and didn't understand why she couldn't have any.

After we visited with Callie, we had to hurry through a few more houses because L was getting antsy.

All of the trick or treating wore baby girl out!  She was so tired that she went straight to bed without playing in her crib for a while first, which is rare.  

In case you weren't already on cute overload, I'll leave you with a few pics that Steph took over the weekend when we got the girls together for a little Halloween photo shoot.  Are they the cutest zebra and owl you've ever seen, or what?  The following photos are courtesy of Stephanie Aldridge Photography:

Happy Halloween, y'all!


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

9 Months Old!

I cannot believe it's already time for another update.  The days are literally flying by - way too quickly, if you ask me!  Lillian Grace celebrated her 9-month birthday by being in an exceptionally good mood today.  She was her usual happy self but multiplied by 10 - she laughed, talked, giggled and just generally hammed it up all. day. long. even though her afternoon nap was shorter than usual.  Anyway, due to the long-windedness of every post I ever write update posts, I'll get to the point!
Weight/Length:  Last week when we went to the doctor to have Lilly's first boo boo checked out, she weighed right around 21 lbs.  Chunky monkey!  I clearly don't know her length, but will report back after her doctor appointment on Friday.

Sleep:  No real changes here - we still (luckily) have a champion sleeper!  Lilly went through a phase last week when she was sick and teething at the same time where she woke up once a night to eat because she was either in pain or starving or both, but luckily it was only a phase and we are now back to normal.  She goes to bed between 7:30 - 8:00 and on most week days we have to wake her up at 8:00 am (We've found that a pretty consistent routine is important on the week days when Lilly stays with Carney.  We wake her up at 8 so that she goes back down for her morning nap by 10 or 10:30, because she has to be up no later than 12:30p so that they can go pick Callie up from daycare.  If we let her sleep later than 8, she doesn't go down to nap until later, and then doesn't get as good of a nap in.  It's never caused a super huge issue where she was unbearable to deal with as a result, but she is normally happier when she can get both full naps in.).  We are still getting 2 good naps each day - typically 1.5 - 2 hours (and sometimes 2.5) each in length.

Feeding:  Still eating like a champ (did you see her weight above?!).  Lilly is still nursing (for now, since the teeth haven't been a problem yet...knock on wood!).  She nurses or has a bottle of breast milk usually four times/day - when she wakes up, at lunch time, at dinner time and before bed.  We just increased bottle size to 6oz - she typically won't take more than that.  She eats solids three times per day, after every nursing session (except the one just before bed).  Lilly has decided in the past week that she no longer likes purees, because she is stubborn and prefers to feed herself.  Miss independent!  Eating these days therefore takes a lot longer than it used to!  L pretty much eats whatever we eat, but here are some of our go-tos for meals (not all in one sitting, of course):

Breakfast:  eggs (with or without cheese), yogurt, oatmeal, fruit, waffles, pancakes, toast
Lunch: turkey, ham, cheese, veggies, applesauce
Dinner: veggies, pasta (includes mac & cheese), chicken, beef

Sneaking in rice cereal/oatmeal is becoming more difficult since she isn't eating as many purees, so that's something I need to ask the doctor about - how to make sure she's getting the extra iron.  For veggies, Steph gave me the idea of buying frozen veggies and heating a little at a time for Lilly to eat, and she LOVES those and does really well with them.  Peas and carrots are her favorite, and two purees that she almost never turns down are butternut squash and sweet potato.

We introduced too many new foods this month to name, because as I said before Lilly is pretty much now eating what we eat.  Some items she REALLY loves are: cheeseburgers, pancakes and waffles (no syrup just yet), anything with cheese, pasta, mac & cheese, peas, carrots, banana, kiwi, blueberries and pineapple.

Firsts This Month:  OY, so many, I'm sure.  First boo boo and resulting trip to the doctor.  First teeth!  I'm sure there are so many more that I can't remmeber, but I feel like this category always runs together with "developments."

Developments:  Again, so many here.  In three words, she is on. the. move.  And in a SERIOUS way.  You cannot turn your back on this child for one minute, because she is all over the place and into everything.  I mentioned last month that Lilly started army crawling.  That lasted for about a week until she perfected a "real" crawl, and boy is she fast.  Additionally, at my last "update" post, Lilly had pushed herself up to a sitting position from laying down once, and had also just started to pull herself up.  She has now perfected the "pushing up to a sitting position," and she also pulls up on anything she can get her hands on: my pants, cabinets, doors, the fireplace, curtains...if it is within her reach, she is trying to pull up.  She is just starting to try to "cruise" (walk while holding onto furniture), but has not perfected that yet (thank God - I'm not ready for walking!).  Lilly continues to get better at mimicking what we do, from making faces to noises, etc.  We're working on waving, high fiving, clapping, etc.  She is very vocal and I just love watching her personality develop.  I was telling Meagan tonight, I know it's so nerdy, but babies really are like little sponges and it's incredible to watch them soak everything up and learn.

Likes: Being outside.  Eating.  Layla.  Bath time.  Snuggling (but only on her terms - normally when she's tired or feeling icky/teething).  Giggling.  Talking/cooing.  Reading books.  Nap time/sleeping in general.  Sucking her thumb (especially when sleepy).  Music - she LOVES to sing songs, the sillier the better (Daddy's specialty).  Laughing.  Crawling (especially towards things she shouldn't be getting into).  Being naked.  Squealing.  Babbling.  Being silly with Daddy.  Jumperoo and door jumper.  Grocery shopping. Blocks. Walks/stroller rides.  Bike rides.  Sampling anything and everything Mommy and Daddy are eating.  Pulling and standing up.  Being in public (she is a big hit at our Saturday morning Big Ed's outings!).

Dislikes:  Sitting in the high chair but not eating.  Getting lotioned up before bed.  Additionally, putting on PJs or changing clothes.  Mommy trying to feel for new teeth.  Purees (for the most part). 

What I'm Thankful For:  The fact that Steph and I have babies who are close in age!  It's so nice to be able to bounce ideas off of each other, and hear what she does with Hadley.  The frozen vegetable idea was seriously genius - Lilly LOVES them.  Just this week Steph has given me tons of meal ideas for when we don't cook (which is probably 2-3 times/week because if Dan isn't home I typically don't cook) and we also discussed baby shoes.  :-)
What I'm Looking Forward To:  Mom, Dad and Syd are coming for a visit this weekend, which should be a lot of fun.  Also, Steph and I are going to put the girls in their Halloween costumes for a little photo op, which may be the cutest thing ever.  Finally, we have some out of town weddings coming up that I'm looking forward to.

Next Pediatrician Appointment: Friday!

How Mommy's Doing:  Better now that work is starting to slow down!  I touched on it in my last post, but I have been feeling like I'm stretched so thin lately.  It's hard to feel like there are enough hours in a day, and every day I feel like I failed at either being a good mother, being a good wife, or being a good employee - often times it's some combination of the three.  I'm sure it's normal, and I know that everyone just does the best they can, but it is a hard pill to swallow since by nature I am a perfectionist.  I'll get better at this juggling act some day - probably when Lilly is headed off to college!  :-)

Anddddddd because I know this is the only part of these posts that anyone else truly cares about, here are L's 9-month photos - about a million of them.  I just couldn't narrow it down because they are so hilarious!  It was a LOT easier to photograph this child when she was just a blob who laid around.  Between trying to stand up in the chair and pulling 
off, crumpling up and eating her sticker, it was a big challenge to get a good photo!

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