Big Girl

I have been very busy lately. I can't believe its been over a month since I posted!  But today we had a big day: Lily took her first steps.  They are wobbly, but they are unassisted!

 
We knew she could do it all along, but she didn't have the desire to. Then today, during PT, she started trying and she walked to me.  We took her outside and she walked all around using Walking Wings, this apparatus that helps keep her up without killing your back.  She mostly needs it for balance because she tries to hit the deck when she is uncomfortable.  Jason got to see her in action after she woke up from her nap and we took this video.  We are so proud of her!

Apple Picking

We went apple picking at Niven's Farm again this year.  Last year we went and it was just our family.  This year, we went up with the Acey's, Gilpin's, Nielson, and Michelle, Rod, and Nina came over from Greenville.  It was a beautiful day and so much fun!

 Here is our sweet Nina.  She was so helpful and enjoyed playing with all the people. 

Here she is before we were leaving.  She loves to have her picture taken.

Jason was smart enough to bring a sweater.  It was probably about 65 degrees but it was so windy that almost everyone needed a coat or sweater.  In the orchard, it was nice.  They have a petting zoo, corn maze, hay ride, jumping tires, and pumpkin patch here.  So much to do! We decided not to do the corn maze though.  It was $8 a person and a normal size adult could see over the corn.  Not much of a challenge for $8.

Jason, Matt, Robin, and Melba trying to figure out the apple picker.  I'm so glad Jason got that.  We wouldn't have gotten any apples without it.  Most people didn't grab one.  Don't know how they got anything!

Trying to figure out how to extend this. Finally figured it out!

Lily enjoying a little apple.  She can actually bit these with her four front teeth.

 Last year we took a picture of Lily in the Bjorn.  This year she is so much bigger!

 Is she going to be a farmer?  Maybe!

You can see her front teeth here.  This is my favorite picture of the day.  What a good looking family.

Speaking of good looking, where are the pictures of me you ask?  Well, let me tell you.  I decided to climb a tree.  In a loose sweater.  With a necklace on.  To give you an idea of how my mind works, I see myself as two ways: the first, weighing about another 50 lbs, bulgy, pimply, and ugly.  The other way: about 50 lbs less that I do, stealth, and I have mad ninja skills.  Do you know what happens when the ninja idea collides with the real world?

Oh yeah, it hurts something fierce. Dang my ninja imagination!!

Before and After

Lily's eyes look great.  I found some pictures of what she looked like before and after.  She still needs to wear her glasses, but its amazing what they have done for her with the surgery!

Her eyes are straight but she is far sighted, which is why she still needs glasses.  We go back at the end of this month to get her new prescriptions.  So worth it!

Spoons

First of all, we do change Lily's clothes.  She is wearing the same thing in this video as the last one.  Jason took this video after she had been in the cabinet, dumped out our plastic cutlery, and helped herself to some spoons.

He didn't know what was happening when he heard click, click, slurp.  She had a spoon in her hand, and another in her mouth, filling with drool.  He tried to get it on video, but again, the mugging happened.  Still is a cute video of her.

Mug

For her birthday, Nana got Lily a little Leapfrog plaything (aka noisemaker) that has a piano, little drum button, and a microphone.  Well, someone (Jason) taught her how to "sing" into the microphone.  So now she sticks her mouth on the microphone, goes "AWWWWW!", then pulls it away, and smiles as if she just sang the Star Spangled Banner before a football game.  She was doing this and I decided I'd try to get it on video.

At some point during our darling daughter's short, but eventful life, she's learned what a camera is.  Or a video camera.  And she loves it.  Ever heard of "mugging for the camera"?  Yep.  This is video is her mugging for the camera.  I'm still going to try to get a video of her singing, but this is what she gave me.

Still is pretty cute, especially with her little teeth.  Our performer.

I'm officially a MOM - Gross story alert

I'm going to post a cute picture here.  And then I'm going to write a gross, true story.  If you clicked and are weak stomached, go check your facebook/email.  Otherwise, enjoy the pic of our beautiful daughter in her Minnie Mouse Birthday dress and read on.

As a quick reminder, Lily wears cloth diapers.  So when she goes #2, we dump them in the toilet, rinse it with our diaper sprayer Jay made, and wash the diapers. 

I had just gotten off the phone with my dad, and Lily woke from her nap.  I walked in her room and almost passed out from the stink from her diaper.  I should have known it would be stinky after beef and broccoli night.  Of course, she is all smiles and happy to see someone. 

So I changed her diaper, got her all cleaned up, and went to "process" the diaper.  I dumped it, rinsed it, and was throwing something away before I flushed, and I saw something stranger than the poop in the toilet.  It looked like a worm. 

I didn't know what to do.  I'm thinking it must be a tapeworm because she weighs all of 18 lbs and eats like a grown up.  It would all add up!  And this thing was separate from the rest of the poop.  It was longer than my finger, and flat.

Now, when we feed Lily, I cut up some food, like steak because she can't tear into it with her gums and 2 teeth.  Chicken she mows through.  Since we had beef and broccoli, I cut up the food.  So I'm thinking about this, wondering what could it be and what should I do. Jason is out of town, and I (a hypochondriac) have to make the decision if Lily has a parasite or what. 

And I did it.  I fished some weird poop out of the toilet.  And it stunk.  But what do you do with it?  I mean, its POOP!  Its not like I have some special container for gross stuff that comes out of my child's pooper.  And she's pooped out weird stuff, like whole raisins and a gum wrapper with gum in it.  I decided to lay it on the bowl, shut the bathroom door so the cat doesn't get it, and figure out what to do with it while I bleach my hands. 

Meanwhile, Dad calls back and I tell him I think Lily pooped out a worm.  He tells me to keep it and to keep it wet.  So I grabbed a baby food container, filled it with water, and flung it in there.  And bleached the area.  I didn't tell Jason about it right away.  I wanted him to hurry home but having some butt specimen floating in water in a jar for him to investigate would put a hitch in his getty-up. I waited for him to come home.

I showed my parents on Skype, and when Jason came home a day later, he told me what it was: an onion.  She didn't chew it but swallowed it whole.  I fished out a poopy onion.  But I did it for my baby.  To save her life from the parasite that COULD have been growing inside her.

I am truly a mom.  And it does require bleach.

Been a while

Lily's first birthday has come and gone.  We had just a great time in Texas seeing family.  I can't find the video right now; I'll find out from Jay where it is with her smash cake and such.  But here is a video of her eating breakfast.  She really loves her food, and then when she realizes she has an audience, she hams it up.

I imagine her saying "Well hello, I didn't see you there. How are you?  Would you like to join me for some eggs?  They are quite delicious.  Its the real butter that makes a difference."

An update on the rest of her progress.  She is currently cutting her 4 top teeth.  Hopefully they will be out soon.  She is crawling around like a scurrying rat, and is cruising on the furniture really well.  She is really into playing with air vents and singing into a microphone. 

Her eye surgery has been postponed until September since she got her very first ear infection a few days before her surgery.  Can't complain too much since she has been so healthy.  I attribute it to my letting her eat stuff off the floor.  She's just too quick sometimes so I just let it happen.  She ate bark the other day at the park.  I did try to stop that one but she sees me coming for her mouth and swallows.  Not bad for a kid with 2 teeth.  But I'm a good mom and wife; I warn Jason when something unusual may come out the business end.

Table Foods

I decided to make Lily a almond butter sandwich for lunch.  I figured if she handled it well, she could move to table foods exclusively, rather than me making baby food.  So I did, and she went to town!  I had made the sandwich, and tore most of it into bite sized pieces.  But when I went to get her bottle ready, she grabbed the rest of the sandwich and started mowing it down.  She's doing pretty good with it.

Since she handled the sandwich, we decided to let her eat what we were eating for dinner.  Potatoes (hers were unseasoned), pole beans, and steak.  She loved it.  Which makes me happy since I've been slack on making her baby food.  I love listening to her eat.  "Eumm, eummm!"  She liked the potatoes best, and then the steak, and finally the beans.  Such a big girl!

Curly Q Hair

Lily had a bath before bed and I didn't brush her hair.  She woke up with a crazy little curl on the top of her head.  We taped her eating, and acting like the ham she is.

Keep an eye on the crazy foot.  She is constantly playing with her feet!  On a Saturday morning when I was meeting some ladies for breakfast, Lily was strapped in her high chair, but somehow had "Houdinied" herself around so she had one leg out the back of the chair, and was straddling it away from me.  She then proceeded to wave like a manic at these two women she was trying to see.  They were waving and oohing back at her.  She was loving it.  Quite a flexible girl.

Beginning Crawling

Lily just finished PT today, and has really advanced her crawling.  Its still kind of a scoot, but she is so much better! I took some advice and prompted her with Puffs, her favorite treat.  She did GREAT!!

Been a long month...

Well, it has been a long month here in South Carolina.  Lily is now 11 months old and jabbering more and more every day.  The biggest news is two teeth FINALLY came up.  She's got her 2 bottom teeth, and may be cutting a third one.  They popped up about 2 weeks ago and are still growing into position.  I'm not going to lie, I was getting a little worried.

Lily isn't quite ready for crawling, but she really enjoys standing and walking with her toy and some assistance.  I can't say she stays put anymore, because between rolling, scooting, and pushing, she moves all around our floors.  I have been cleaning the floors more often, and have even toyed with the idea of making her a dustcloth suit.  Still may happen while I have time.

Teething was overall, not too remarkable.  She was a little fussy, and she had diaper rash.  We got some diaper rash cream and it cleared up quite quickly.  However, I learned a valuable lesson that I am still paying for: do NOT use diaper cream with cloth diapers.  Here's how I figured it out.

Lily had her rash, but we got the ointment and it cleared up in a day or two.  Then one day, Lily was standing up against the couch, playing on the seat, when her foot started getting a wet spot around it.  I looked, and her pants were completely dry!  Turns out, she was peeing and the diaper just funneled it around and down her leg.  I still didn't think of the diaper being messed up until... Lily stank.  She smelled like fish.  Grody.  Now, we do bathe the child almost every day, so there is no reason for her to stink.  So to trusty Google I go, and realize its the diaper cream.  It has cod liver oil in it, and its in our diapers now.  They can be cleaned, but its hard.  I am currently trying to strip them again, which basically means scrubbing them very thoroughly with Dawn.  It took me about an hour to scrub, and then two cycles in the wash, and they smell  MUCH better, but not quite clean yet.  About to do another round later.

But here is a video of Lily playing with her toy and watching Yo Gabba Gabba.  A friend recommended this.  Lily liked it enough, but she is all about dancing.  We are working with her on sitting in other positions, like on her knees here.  Plus, she waves!  How cute is that??

Survivor 2011

Well, we are starting again.  Planting season.  Who will survive?  Who will become mulch first? 

Our contestants:

My herb garden.  We have chives, basil, dill, lavender, lemon balm, and spearmint.  In my defense, the really sad looking ones were given to me free and they looked that way when I got them.

My orange tree.  Hopefully we'll get some fruit on it this year.  Also, there's Riley's nose!

Two tomato plants.  The topsy turvey worked really well last year.  But when we opened the one on the very right up,there was a nest in there.  Apparently a bird has a sweet house.  We left it alone and planted the tomato in the garden.  We'll see how it goes.

I have beans and peas and squash and peppers and the tomato plant.  They are starting to really thrive.  Unfortunately, I can't remember which is which.  I'll find out when they produce though!

My apple trees.  There are two here.  The one on the right is looking pretty rough.  I think it may be the first one to go. 


The one thing that is surely thriving:

See her little hands on her legs?  She just loves her dad!

Her newest skill

Lily's newest skill is sitting in the shopping cart without her carseat.  We went to Target (of course) and she just thought she was hot stuff in her seat.

I decided to get a Diet Pepsi from the cafe so it had a straw.  Lily was just chilling, looking around, and enjoying her new sights.  Then she saw my Diet Pepsi with the straw.  She scooted over, grabbed the straw, and started trying to drink it.  I let her chew on it, but she was getting angry because she couldn't get anything up from it.  Now that she's learned to drink from a straw she thinks all straws are fair game.  I'm getting a teensy tiny glimpse into the future, and it is scary.  She is going to be a handful.

Sitting up

Here's a video of Lily sitting and playing.  Its a minute long, but I love watching her facial expressions.  She crinkles up her face when she smiles sometimes. 

Our little cutie pie!

Random Church pictures

We had a busy month at church, with an outdoor service and a Mother's day fashion show. 

The outdoor service was great.  Friends of ours from Chicago area were visiting his parents and came to church with us.  Lily took a little snooze while cuddling with Paul Ramsey, one of our church elders:

Lily decided to feed herself some puffs.  They got a little sticky on her:

Jason, Lily, and I modeled for a church Mother's Day luncheon.  Lily stole the show.  Here is what her and Jason looked like:

Then I snuck in there:

Our little cutie pie is loved by many.  And that's an awesome thing.

Trip to Minnesota

We had a great time in Minnesota. Jason, Lily, and I drove to Atlanta Wednesday so we could get to the airport on time for our 11 am Thursday flight.  Lily decided to wake up in the middle of the night at the hotel.  One of just a few times she hasn't slept through the night (as far as we know).  So after about an hour, Jason wakes up and tells me to turn off the bathroom light and she'd go to sleep.  I grumpily agreed, knowing that I know my baby girl and that was not going to help one bit, but I humored him.  So 1 minute later, she was snoring again.  I hate it when I'm wrong.

Jason wore Lily in our Baby Bjorn carrier through the airport and we got a TON of oohs and aahs about her.  She's darn cute, that's why.  Security was a breeze and then we got on the plane.  She started drifting off to sleep as we were taxiing for takeoff but then popper her peepers open for the rest of the trip.  Jason and I were exhausted passing her back and forth for 2 hr 45 min.  She wasn't bad, but wasn't quiet either.

We made it to Sandy and Jesse's (and passed so many McDonald's that I lost count) and got to relax.  Sheena, Nevaeh, Kahylen, and Barrett were staying there, and Grandma Nancy (GG) was there too.  It was just great!  We spent time out on the patio, enjoying the 70 degree weather with low humidity.  Jenean came by after work to see us.  Sheena and Sandy made enchiladas and beans. So delicious!  We ate so well, and so much, this weekend.

Friday we went to Como Zoo, the free zoo in MN.  It was a really nice zoo, and Lily did great.  When we got home, we had Lily practice scooting in the grass.  Sandy and Jesse have gorgeous grass.  Here's a video of Lily, with Kahylen and Zach the dog running through.

Jason, Nevaeh, and GG were playing baseball.  I played it too, but I am really bad.  It was so wonderful to sit out back and watch the kids play.  I loved it!  Friday night we had pork chops, cheesy potatoes, and salad, again made by Sheena and Sandy.  Yummy!

Saturday we went to Jenean's house after spending a relaxing day at Sandy's.  She made this amazing stuffed meatloaf, with potatoes, green beans, broccoli, and gravy.  Can you tell I focus a lot of my life around food?? It was very yummy.  Lily was getting a little cranky by then.  She held up for as long as she could, but we were pretty lax on keeping her on schedule.  She didn't want to sleep and wanted to be held.  So we did.  Jenean and Mark have a gorgeous property; I'd love to live there.  They have gardens galore, a pond, and a chicken coop with about 6 chickens.  Jenean also has a couple of ducks she's raising.  Self sustaining is the way to go!

Sunday was church and Mother's Day.  Again, good eats, including French Silk Pie, my favorite.  I ate about a third of that thing.  Jesse rocks since he made it.  Before everyone left, we took some pictures.

 

Lily here with GG (Great Grandma Nancy)

Mark, Jenean, Jason, Grandma and me.  Lily was getting a diaper change.

Same people, but adding Sandy and Jesse and Lily.

Nick and his girlfriend, Jeanette.  She is quite a good singer!  And Nick really is great with kids; Lily was in a mood.

Lily and Nevaeh.  The "god sisters" as Nevaeh says.  Nevaeh is a very talented singer and rapper too!

Sheena, Lily, Leah (Mike's sister) and Nevaeh.  Leah is a great dancer. And Sheena is one of the best mom's I've ever seen in action. So kind, loving, but firm.  A perfect balance.

 Sheena and Lily again.

We had such a great time.  It makes me miss being around family but it sure makes it special when you get to see them.  Now people, remember to come down to South Carolina.  We got a lot of air conditioning here!!

Jason's first 5K run

Let me start with the beginnings of this idea.  A few months ago, Jason played flag football with some guys from church.  About half of them were in campus, and the other half were, we'll just say, older than campus.  He really enjoyed himself and decided that when they do a flag football season in the fall, he'd like to consider being on the team.  But being the awesome husband he is, a devoted dad, and the primary breadwinner that drives all around the southeast, he doesn't have loads of time for working out.  Well, no longer buddy.  He signed himself up for a 5K, ran for it, and made it!  Lily and I didn't make it for the beginning, and we just made it for the end. (It started at 715 and we are not morning people, which is why Lily wakes up at 8).

Here he is, glowing with pride and sweat.

Here with Rick, a friend from church.

And some other friends, Stacy and Lee.

Jason did just great for his first run.  He finished at 33:59 and was in the top half.  I couldn't be prouder.

Learning to sit

Lily hasn't quite learned to sit up on her own.  She loves, and I mean loves, to fall backwards.  When talking to her physical therapist, we decided she loves to do that because someone is there to catch her.  Jason and I talked to the PT and decided to let her fall.  Man, that is scary.  So since I'm a wuss, I took her outside so she could fall on a pile of leaves, or the on the softer ground.  Here are some picture of her in our front yard one fine morning:

As you can tell, she looked none too happy.  Fast forward 2 weeks to last Friday, April 22nd.  Jason was sitting with her, working with her on the mat.  He said, we got to let her fall.  I agreed.  After he chickened out about 3 times, we let her fall.  Her poor little head bounced.  She recovered pretty quick - I really think it was the shock of falling.  And you know what, she sat up that night all on her own, balancing and playing with her toys.  She's not stable enough that we can leave her sitting up by herself, but well on her way.

Score one for gravity!!

Sleeping on belly

Now that our Ms. Lily can roll, she's been rolling over on her tummy at night.  At first, it was a little hard because she'd wake up on her belly, not knowing how she got there, and then let us know with a huge wail that she wasn't happy.  But now she is fine.  A tough transition though.

We still love getting her up in the morning.  The best way to describe her actions is "prairie dog."  Here's a video that shows sort of what we are talking about.  Not the full effect, but Lily rarely does what we want her to when video is rolling.  Camera shy maybe.

Egg Yolks

Today I decided to try Lily on egg yolks again.  The first time we tried it, she got the stomach bug and we weren't sure if it was an allergy or not, so we stopped.  Well, it was the bug so I decided to give it a whirl again.

We had a pediatric ophthalmologist appointment so I gave Lily a bath, got her all cuted up and we went down to eat.  Side note- her 6 month pants are capris.  Her 9 month pants are just barely long enough.  Her 12 month pants are too big around the waist.  Fun times raising a string bean.

Anyway, I got her ready to eat.  She is doing well with eating puff as finger food, and a friend said her daughter likes hard boiled egg yolk as finger food, so we tried that.  Epic fail.  She'll eat it, but she isn't too happy.  This is what my nice, freshly cleaned little girl looked like after 1/2 an egg yolk:

 

It was EVERYWHERE, in her hair, in her eye, on her pants, everywhere.  She obviously looks happy.

So you are probably thinking, "Why no glasses?" and "What's the deal with that left, I mean right, eye?"  Well, she's been taking her glasses off and eating them lately so I spared them from the smudging onslaught of the yolk.  See, I'm learning!  The eye, however, is still quite crossed, which brings us to the pedi ophthalmologist visit.

Lily's eyes are doing well with the glasses (when she keeps them on the booger).  But even with the glasses on, her right eye is still crossing.  So the plan is to schedule surgery around her first birthday.  That seems to be the optimal time for kiddos to have this surgery.  Meanwhile, we have to patch her left eye for an hour every day to strengthen the right one.  Should be a quick, outpatient surgery.  We put the patch on today and she was okay.  I'm hoping it doesn't provoke the Beast to come out.  I can't blame her too much.  Its really strange looking.  I think I'm going to put stickers on the patches or something to give it a little pizazz.  We'll post pictures of the good looking ones.

We are glad that Lily has good doctors to take care of these things early so she can grow up and not remember them.  Prayerfully, that's what will happen!  By the way, thanks to Riley for eating up all the egg yolk.  Good dog!!

The past few weeks..

We have had a busy couple of weeks.  First, our little love got sick for the very first time.  It was March 18th-19th.  We picked up a stomach bug from playgroup.  Lily was throwing up Saturday night, but was fine on Sunday. I was pooped because I was sleeping on her floor all night because she doesn't turn her head when she needs to get sick.   A few days later, I got it and then Jason got it.  Strangest thing though - we only were sick for one absolutely horrible night, and no more after that.  I totally believe it when people call kids disease carriers.
This has nothing to do with Lily but on April 1st, we hosted Bible talk at our house.  In honor of April Fool's Day, I made "grilled cheese sandwiches" as an appetizer.  I think they looked pretty good!

They are really pound cake that I toasted under the broiler with vanilla frosting dyed orange.  April Fools!!

Here are just some random pictures of Lily from the past few weeks.

She doesn't always look so surprised though.  Here are two where she was on her way up for a nap just today:

She looks so tired!  Her eyes cross more when she's sleepy.

We got a walker from a friend of mine in our playgroup.  Here's little Lily in it.  I know they are "dangerous" but I figure we had them when we were little and we survived.  Living on the edge.