Lilly Rae - Week 50

Sunday, May 26

Lilly did something very funny today that might be TMI, but hopefully is just funny.  Darren was holding her and I walked up to her and asked if she wanted "nursies".  Lilly leaned in to me and instead of reaching around my neck like she normally does she leaned down, opened her mouth and put her face right into my chest!  It was hilarious!  Apparently she was hungry ;o)

Part of our Sunday ritual is reading the Sunday paper and I clip coupons.  Apparently Lilly decided she wanted to help today!

 Hahaha...

 It was a little chilly today so we figured we'd get one more wear out of Lilly's jeggings.  So cute!

Lilly had a ball going through and looking at all of the new books that Aunt Carissa and Uncle Jared brought for her on Saturday.  I know I say this a lot, but I LOVE how much Lilly loves books!

I just love how cute Lilly looks drinking out of her cup.  She doesn't take a bottle anymore; she only uses her straw cups to drink milk or water.  She looks like a little girl and not a baby here!

It is sinking in that my little baby is almost a year old.  We are into the 50s for her weekly pictures.  I don't know if I am ready for this, but I am also so incredibly excited!

Monday, May 27

It was so nice to have another day to spend with Lilly.  Long weekends are almost as nice as track out...almost ;o)  Lilly is so funny because she literally takes laps around the coffee table right now.  She goes around and around and stops sometimes to grab a toy, move a coaster or try to pet Maggie.  I should get her a baby pedometer and see how far she walks in a day.  She will move from one piece of furniture to another and also grab onto my hands, but she hasn't taken any steps on her own yet.  I am in no hurry.  She is fast enough already!

I love this picture because she seems like she's sneaking up on the bear...

...and then she gets it!

Lilly still loves her ball pit!

But that's nothing compared to walking around the coffee table!

 Lilly was looking through a recipe magazine.  Apparently now that she is eating table food she is going to start making requests!

Tuesday, May 28

We have known for a while that Lilly is standing up in her crib because, well...there are teeth marks on her crib.  I am not happy about that because I don't love that she is chewing on furniture and also ruining the crib that is later supposed to be her bed, but I had never been able to catch her doing it...until this morning!  I walked in to get her this morning and she was standing up and giving me a huge grin.  She wasn't chewing on the crib when I found her, but it's clear that she can reach it!  I am just glad I got a picture of it.  Even Maggie was surprised to see Lilly standing in her crib ;o)

I love the face that Lilly is making here.  She seems annoyed that I am taking her picture...again ;o)

Look at those cheeks!  I just love to kiss them!

Wednesday, May 29

Lilly did something very funny today (though I think Darren didn't appreciate it).  When we walked into Kristi's house to pick her up, Darren walked in first and was standing slightly in front of me.  Lilly was crawling on the floor, so Darren called to her and put his arms out while he leaned down.  She started crawling toward him, but then veered around him to get to me!  She grabbed on to my leg and pulled up so I would pick her up.  Kristi and her daughters thought this was pretty funny...and so did I ;o)  Then Darren put his hands out to Lilly to go to him and she buried her face in my shoulder.  I know I shouldn't laugh at this, but it was really funny.  Lilly loves her Daddy so much and it was just a fluke thing that she did, but I admit it put a big smile on my face and gave me some ammo to pick on Darren for once!

Later that evening we met Tricia, Adam, Riley and Cailyn at South Park.  Tricia will be watching Lilly starting in July and we wanted a chance to get together so our kids could play together and we could all just get to know each other a little better.  I really feel very comfortable with Tricia (and her whole family) and I think we have made a great decision.  We will really miss Kristi and I am so thankful for the amazing job she has done with Lilly, but it will be nice for Lilly to have other kids to play with and learn from.

 I messed with some editing techniques on the next two pictures.  I think they came out pretty nice.

 Lilly spent most of the playdate in the swing with Riley and Cailyn swinging next to her.  Then we went down the slide and Lilly really liked watching Cailyn go down the slide.  Tricia held her for a while and Lilly was completely at ease with her and content to watch the girls play and help push Riley on the swing.

Thursday, May 30

Lilly woke up early this morning, so I went in to nurse her and soothe her back to sleep.  I certainly don't relish getting up at 4:45, but since it only happens once in a while (knock on wood) I have started to try to cherish the time as special Mommy/Lilly time when nothing else will work to soothe Lilly but me.  It is an amazing feeling as a parent to know how special you are to your child.  I know how special Lilly is to me (there are truly no words to express it),  but to get these quiet moments when she is so perfectly content to snuggle in my arms and fall asleep against me make me actually ache with the love I feel for my beautiful baby girl.

Kristi had to leave for Philly today so I got to have some extra time with Lilly.  I picked her up around 1:30 and when I walked in the door, her entire face lit up and she started reaching for me while she was in Kristi's arms.  I know she loves me, but those moments really make me know that she loves me.

Friday, May 31

Lilly is fascinated by everything that is NOT in the living room, but mostly by the kitchen.  She wants to follow me in there every time I go in to try to cook or Darren goes in to do dishes or get something to eat.  It's really funny.  We don't have locks on the cabinets yet, so I decided to just let her go into the only cabinet that was completely safe: the tupperware cabinet.  She had a blast taking out all of the pieces, chewing on them, kicking them around...etc.  It was adorable.

I don't have a picture of it but Lilly and I read a new book tonight before bed.  It's a touch and feel book called "Little Feet Like".  It's has things that "little feet" like to touch like sand, crunchy leaves and a soft towel.  I showed her how to touch it with her feet and she absolutely loved it.  She would turn the page and immediately put her foot on the page to feel what was there.  I think we have found a new favorite book!

Saturday, June 1

Lilly is all over the place now.  We can't turn out back for a second because she is off to the races and trying to find anything and everything she can put in her mouth, crawl over or pull apart.  She is very interested in the stairs right now, as you can tell.

This picture doesn't really do it justice, but Lilly was so cute playing with her activity table today.  We had it on music mode and and every time the music would play, she would "dance" by bouncing  up and down and bobbing her head.  We had a ball watching her dance.

 Speaking of ball...Lilly still loves her ball pit!  She loves to bang the balls together, try to eat them and she also loves to lean back and hang her head out of the ball pit.

 Lilly had a full day of playing.  My teammates all came over and Amber brought Gracen and Jace with her.  Gracen and Lilly played for a little after Lilly woke up from her nap.  Lilly also was very interested in Jace.  She LOVES babies, but she always wants to grab their faces.  I stopped her before she could because now I know she tries this, but she was very excited that there were other kids to play with.  This is another reason that I feel good about our new daycare situation because I think Lilly is definitely ready to have other kids to play with.

We bought Lilly a new hat today at the Celebrate Fuquay Festival.  I was surprised that she kept it on since it doesn't have a strap, but apparently she likes it!