Happy 11 Months of Lilli! (a week late)

Happy 11 months of Lilli!

Your Birthday - January 24, 2009

7 lbs, 6.5 ounces 19 inches

One Month - February (first smiles!)

9 lbs, 1 ounce (45th %) 21.5 inches (55%), head: 70%

Two Months - March

10 lbs, 12 ounces (50%) 22 5/8 inches (55%), head: 65%

Three Months - April

(No official weight/measure)

Four Months - May

13 lbs 1 ounce (35%), 23 7/8 inches long (30%), head: 85%

Five Months - June!! And starting to sit on your own with a little help from Boppy!

Unofficial - Measurement of 25 inches and weight measurements - 14.2 pounds

6 Months - July Official Stats (which is actually 6months, 1 wk) - 25 3/4 inches long (50th percentile!), Weight: 15 lbs, 8 ounces (40th percentile), Head: 75th percentile


7 Months - Unofficial Statistics: 16.2 lbs, 25 3/4 inches long (probably not right, because measuring her is "like trying to catch a butterfly") 8 Months - Unofficial stats: Weight - 16.5 lbs, Length 26.25-26.5 inches, you are a rapidly moving target.

9 Months - Official stats (9 months + 3 days) : Weight- 17 lbs 4 ounces (25th percentile), Height - 28.25 inches (75th percentile), Head: 65th percentile

10 Months - Unofficial Stats: Weight: 18 pounds, Height 27 inches. Obviously the nurse did measure you wrong at your 9 month appt as I don't think you've shrunk 1.25 inches over the last month, and this seems much more accurate.
11 Months (+ 6 days) - Unofficial Stats: 18.2 lbs Weight, somewhere between 27.5-28 inches tall. Very happy with the weight since she got down to 16 lbs 15 ounces when she was so sick this month!
11 Months!! It's hard to believe that in just a few weeks time you will be ONE years old! Where has the time gone?? This past month has definitely been one of the toughest so far, and we have certainly earned our insurance payments this month. Between a $1,200 visit to the emergency room to get your head glued on Thanksgiving night, 3 visits to your pediatrician for a severe cold/cough that ultimately turned into a bad ear infection, plus a flu shot visit - we've spent some time in doctor's offices. Thankfully you're back to sweet, funny, silly Lilli - just in time for FOUR, count 'em FOUR, teeth to be exploding in your mouth right now. You poor thing, I'm pretty sure we may never all sleep through the night again! In other news, you are a full fledged, big girl walking crazy child right now. I don't even remember the last time I saw you crawl - and you are EVERYWHERE - in the fridge, under furniture, hands in toilets, dog bowls, opening cabinets, drawers, and basically rearranging our house as you transport random objects everywhere. You are still quite the social butterfly and make yourself quite at home everywhere we take you, and are often the "life" of any dinner out or dinner party with friends. Your core vocabulary remains at Momma, Dadda, Dog, and HoHoHo, but you can also say cookie, duck, moo, thank you, Yeah, and mimic a ton of other noises and words at will. This month we celebrated your first Thanksgiving, visited a host of relatives, took your first trip to the ER, got your first Christmas tree, went to holiday parties and dinner parties, met Santa twice, helped make Christmas cookies and mostly just tried to all get well during this awful cold and flu season. You also got promoted to the "big kids" Sunday school class at church, where you fit right in with the older ones and make yourself at home at the buffet of Cheerios - as we can tell by the quantity still in your hair when we pick you up. You're eating more and more table foods - like bananas, green beans, strawberries, apples and oranges and love anything crunchy. Your favorite toys are still your blocks, balls, cars and books - you LOVE your books and spend tons of time throwing them out of your basket and just pouring over them. Any toy with animal noises or pictures is also a huge hit. I can't wait to see what this last month of your first year has in store for us!

And the Winner Is....

It's been busy, busy, busy since the holidays around here. Funny how that 12-31-odd years CPE requirement sneaks up on me every-other-odd numbered year and I end up with copious amounts of studying and cramming to do right before the new year! I had 60 hours to do this week (for the year), and finished up my exams a little while ago. Every free second this week (not that I really have such a thing) has been spent reading about exciting things like accounting rules and pronouncements so I can keep my CPA license active for two more years. As always, I'll log on tomorrow morning and finish up my certification with just a couple spare hours before the deadline.

The big winner (from other people) this year has been the little rocking horse Brent's grandparents gave Lilli. A new toy achieves such high status when it's the first thing she goes for when breaking free and escaping whilst in dress clothes. Luckily this particular toy was not buried behind, underneath or on top of anything else.
The refrigerator also retains such high status, on an ongoing, never-ending basis. I dare you to open the fridge in this house and manage to close it before a toddler and a dog climb in. Not only is our electric bill astronomical the heat bill isn't something to sneeze at either. And for some reason produce seems to go bad a little more quickly. Alternate horsey shot:
Other Christmas gifts she enjoyed carrying around:

Snowbird dishes. Anything with a handle makes for fine carrying. Odds are good this was dropped on Pippin's head while he was enjoying a rawhide from his grandparents.
And for some reason, cashews. I'm not sure if it was the size challenge or the sound of the nuts clanging together, but cashews also make Lilli's list of favorite holiday items for playtime. Maybe next year someone should get her a belt. .

Christmas Morning- Santa's Gifts

She may not understand Santa, or Christmas, or "the reason for the season", but she knows a great toy when she sees it!

Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve dawned bright and early with me coming down with a stomach virus around 2 am. I'm pretty sure anywhere from 1-all 3 of us have been sick on all major holidays this year, so why not Christmas?? I felt awful and was sick quite a bit until about 2 pm, and have slowly been feeling a little better since then. It totally stank having to listen to Brent and Lilli having fun playing while I was in quarantine. But, now that she's older she can't see you without wanting to cuddle and climb on you and I REALLY don't want her to get sick! (or for Brent to get sick!) Brent was a trooper and took care of all of us, got our turkey brining, and even took Lilli to Kroger for the last few things we needed. What a day!!!

Regardless, we still had cookies to leave for Santa. I got Lilli these Ho-Ho-Ho PJs from babygap.com, they are perfect for her since that is one of her words that she says a lot! And so stinking adorable! We've been giving her little bits of Christmas cookie this week, and when a whole plate of them went out for Santa she went crazy!


I'm pretty sure she doesn't get the concept of leaving them for Santa!

After the cookies were "left", we read The Night Before Christmas (a tradition we started many years before Lilli) and let her check Norad and see where Santa was before she went to bed. Luckily he was still in Brazil because she's had a slightly tough time with all the massive winds tonight making it sound like her room is going to blow away!

Hopefully he comes down the chimney in the living room and not the one in either her room or our room, we need some sleep! Even if he doesn't, I have a feeling a couple of elves have put together some toys tonight that she is going to L-O-V-E!

Here's hoping for a stomach virus free Christmas for all of us!

Mission Impossible

I remember the good old days when I'd tell Brent to set up his camera, pull out a backdrop (aka easily Photoshop-able sheet/blanket) & we'd have a photoshoot and get all kinds of frame worthy baby goodness. Sometimes so many it was even HARD TO PICK which ones we liked best.

Yup, the good old days. AKA - Pre-mobility. I think the pumpkin patch in late October was the last successful photo shoot we've had since after that time frame she's just been MOBILE. And now that she's been walking for about 5 weeks she's just GONE.

Sunday she got to wear what I declare her Christmas dress was for this year. I don't believe in putting her in strange Santa outfits, I leave that for the Big Guy himself, so I went with more of a Christmas looking plaid that can easily be worn all winter (and of course a steal at a consignment sale anyway). All I wanted was a good pic of us from the day! To start with she was feeling great and was in the mood to ENTERTAIN at church. I guess missing time with her ear infection just messed her up, because as we walked in she got really excited and as we made it into our usual pew, our usual 5 minutes late, she started waving profusely to the ladies who sit behind us. If she could put together sentences I guarantee she was saying "Hey guys!! Missed you! I was feeling awful but I am B-A-C-K." And she was. She kept them entertained with snacks, peek-a-boo, waving and pointing to them, and just generally being Lilli for the whole service. Afterwards they apologized if they get her too wound up but they said they just think she's hilarious. And extremely "active" for her age. I think that's code for "wow your baby is already crazy" because we hear "active" and "alert" quite often.

So, being "full of herself" translates to not a lot of good pictures. I mean, I do like this one:And then it just goes downhill. Here she has a coaster in her mouth, as I hold her down.


Clapping.
Spitting.
Pippin was more than happy to pose. Lilli felt the need to just leave with her coaster.
The lovely family picture in front of the TV. Made even more quaint with Lilli on the move and Pippin trying to get her coaster.
Mean face.
Finally she just left...
And made her way to the kitchen to see if we left any of the cabinets unlocked.Major Fail.

But, I do think I get major brownie points for having a smile in all the pics, because you just never know when a good one might get thrown in the mix!

Shake n Bake

Today has been a great day - but incredibly busy and I am up way past my bedtime! 4:55 am is going to come WAY to early!! My little assistant helped me bake Christmas cookies today as part of her teacher's gifts that we'll deliver tomorrow. My other assistant (Brent) helped me finish everything up after her bedtime tonight. Here's a sneak peak because I am BEAT!

In our matching Mom & Me aprons from work. Alison gave me one of the sample sets and I've got to find the pic of Lilli in it from when she gave it to me last summer! It was really long on her today, but did sort of fit!
Helping with the sprinkles - her area of expertise! Check out the tongue action - that's concentration!

Shop til we Drop - or Nap!

Christmas is how many days away???? Aaaagh!! Have I been naughty or nice?!?!?
Guess we'd better bundle up, brave the cold, and do some shopping!!!!

Take me anywhere you want - just don't forget my SNACKS!
If you lose me, just look for the trail of Puffs
Shopping is SO fun!

Returning To Normal....

Last night Lilli slept through the night with no ear infection/cold/cough waking! Woo hoo!!! After a solid week of being up anywhere from 30 minutes to FIVE HOURS with her it was WONDERFUL. I wouldn't say we're all caught up on sleep now, but it was definitely a nice start. She's always been SUCH a great sleeper, and although we've never taken it for granted we are even more thankful for it now.

She's also getting back to her cheery self!
This one of Lilli and Pippin cracks me up - she saw the camera and got all excited where-as he knew to pose for the picture. Every once in a while I'm reminded how trained he is for **certain** things.
She's also quite interested in the big present under the tree to me. She's gotten the bow off and some of the paper, unfortunately Brent thought ahead and wrapped it several times deep in thick paper (the paper they use to print books at Ingram). I promise I tell her to stop when she's trying to unwrap it but you know how these kids just don't listen!We did some Christmas shopping tonight and it was so funny seeing her toddle around the stores! Just this little short person walking around the aisles like she knows what she's doing. We ate out at Cracker Barrel and with her being so sick lately it felt like ages since we'd eaten out, but she did great (as she does in 95% of restaurant situations) and got lots of attention while we shopped. Hopefully tomorrow we can hit Target and be done with all our shopping and start wrapping everything. And hopefully she and I can get to baking - I've had a TON of requests for my stuffed Snickers cookies!

Discoveries

It's already Thursday! And in Lilli-land that means it's probably time for her to come down with something just in time for the weekend! She's doing better with the ear infection, although last night was another bad night. We were up pretty much from 2:30-4 with her. She woke up upset and we had to trade off a few times rocking her before we were able to put her down successfully. Going back to bed at 4 isn't that awesome when the alarm goes off at 5. Ugh. She was in a GREAT mood at dinner tonight and afterwards, and so far so good on her sleeping tonight. So hopefully tonight will be back to normal and we can have a nice germ-free weekend!

Brent's made a ton of fun of me because we've literally had shipments from Amazon.com every day this week. And every day we get MORE than 1 box from them - but I'm telling you if it weren't for online shopping I would have no shopping done so far this year! Everything I've done has been online, from a catalog or from Lifeway (it's pretty convenient!! and a smart decision for me!) Hopefully this weekend we can hit the stores for a few small, last minute things.


One day last weekend she discovered toilet paper on a roll. It was good times....
I was nice enough to tell her she had something on her shoe before she left the bathroom.
We also put a little fake tree in her room last week. She really doesn't pay much attention to it, the real one is much shinier and more exciting! We just put one string of lights and a few felt ornaments she can pull off. Tonight she was pulling them off and then trying to put them back on. That day she was actually wearing one of her Christmas onesies - it says "Naughty or Nice - Decisions, Decisions"
She likes to play with her sunglasses and as all things related to Lilli randomly get transported from one room to another as she totters around the house, they ended up with her at the dining room table. She was cracking herself up while eating dinner that night! It looks like it was peas - her favorite!

Before & After: Car Seat Edition

Ear Infection Update: Last night was a MUCH better night!!! Thank goodness for antibiotics! She went to sleep at her normal 8:00-ish, but we are still having to rock her but she's going doing pretty well. She woke up at 9:30 and just needed a little comforting. From then we didn't hear her until around 3:15 when she started coughing to the point where she was gagging some, so we went in there, rocked her for a few minutes and offered her a bottle and she went right back to sleep! Thank goodness! She's not been wanting to eat much, just a couple of ounces here and there so we've been pretty loose and just feeding her on demand. We decided to let her sleep in this morning (she normally has to be up at 6 am), so I let her sleep until 7:15 because otherwise I think she would've slept until 8:30 or 9 - this kid does like to sleep in! I just went into work late and we called during the day to check on her and they said she was doing great! She was fine tonight, and went to bed as usual, she's still a little fussy on drinking her bottles but we are glad to have a much better tempered Lilli back in business! She's still not back to 100%, and you can tell that, but her fussies are fewer, further between, and thankful a lot less Armageddon-ish. She got so excited when we were walking into school today to see one of her teachers from her "baby" class buzzing people in. It's nice to see how much she likes it there, and how excited she gets to see her teachers and classmates.

Over the last few weeks as we've hit coat season her original baby buggy carrier has gotten to be an annoyingly tight feet. For Christmas Lilli asked her Grandma Carden to get her a bigger carseat! We already had one that several of Brent's coworkers went in together on last year as a baby gift for us, but we have to have two since we both transport her throughout the day, and even if we didn't each have separate responsibilities these things are way too big to bother with changing back and forth!

Here's a look back to her first day in her original carseat!

How stinking adorable!!!! So, so tiny!! Just a few days old and getting ready to go home for the first time. I hardly remember that little bitty person! I was actually packing up some things the other day and came across that hat - it was so enormous then, but won't even begin to stretch across any part of her noggin now.

Here's what she looked like recently in the same carseat. I snapped it one afternoon when she fell asleep with her upturned sippy cup. She was definitely filling it up a lot more!

Another recent view - she was hanging out in it at a restaurant having a snack.
I will def miss the convenience of just toting her in a basket, esp when she has fallen asleep in it. But wedging her in with her coat and winter garb on lately has been sheer torture. Here she is in the one Brent's friends bought us:

A lot more room!

The next day she was comfy enough in it that she fell right to sleep and looks pretty cozy. Brent installed his about two weeks ago and it's been working great. We found a great deal on a slightly larger one on Amazon (a closeout that made it the same price as the smaller one!) so we went ahead and ordered it. It came in last week and Brent installed it over the weekend. Here she is checking it over the weekend (when she was super sick, so not an especially cute pic). The pattern looks really wild but it real life it's much more subdued. Maybe the flash made it look crazy?? Today was the first time she got to ride in it and she had loads of room, even with her coat on! I'll have to get a good pic of her in the car with it.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Carden for my new carseat! We'll stick a bow on it on Christmas Day!!!