9 Months!!!!

Lily turned nine months old on Christmas. Today we went in for her nine month check up. Here are her stats:
Weight: 20 pounds, 15 ounces
Height: 26 1/2 inches
Head: 17 cm (I think that is how it is measured...17 inches seems a bit big, even for my kids melon!)

She actually gained less than two pounds since her last visit, putting her now in the 86th percentile. Her height is only 1/2 inch different, and her head is exactly the same. They actually had to re-measure her head and height because at first it looked as if she shrunk and her head got smaller. They determined the measurements must have been a little off last time. She is doing great and reaching her milestones and is just a generally happy baby. While sitting there in her diaper today waiting for the doctor to come in, she discovered she can pull at the velcro tabs on her diaper and undo it. Great! She still isn't crawling, but the doctor said they don't even ask about crawling as a milestone because it varies so greatly with babies. And despite what some people think, her legs and hips are just fine; they aren't out of line because of the cloth diapers and her cloth diapers aren't impeding her from crawling!
Lily is so strong and can almost pull herself up to standing. And while she doesn't crawl yet, she does push up onto her hands and knees to sit up. She also pushes up onto her knees to get things out of her toy box. I am impressed with how quickly she has learned to empty the toy box.
The doctor did tell me that when we are ready, we really need to get her to sleep through the night and the longer we wait, the harder it will be. She said that there are two methods, the cry it out method and the gradual method. I think we might try the cry it out method, but we'll see.
Other than that, things are going really well and we are really blessed to have such a sweet little baby!

Zoo Lights

Yesterday we headed to the zoo. We decided that since the weather was so nice, and since we have a membership, and since Matt is off this week, a trip to the zoo seemed like the perfect way to spend the afternoon. Matt's sister, dad, aunt and brother all went along. We were pleased that a lot of the animals were actually out, enjoying the sun. Who knew that 40 degrees was African Lion weather?
Matt was a little nervous. He didn't think the moat around the enclosure would deter an determined lion.
Of course, I expected to see the polar bears. This weather is like their summer.
I was excited to see the polar bear actually moving about his habitat, instead of just pacing the back wall, like every other time I have been there. He was also actually white, which was nice. Last time, I kid you not, he was green. I think his improved attitude may have to do with his friend.
I have only ever seen one polar bear there in the past. Companionship definitely can increase your outlook!
Notice the bears color and activity last time I was saw him. I think things have improved. Actually, I read somewhere that the green color was due to some seasonal algae in their ponds.

We had only intended to stay for a short time, but as typical, time got away from us. Which was fine with me. We actually got to see all the zoo lights. I think they put up about a hundred million gillion zillion lights. It is very pretty. We were able to get a couple cute pictures.

Christmas...The Finale

Our Christmas celebration ended this year at my in-laws house. We headed over a little after noon and spent the next two hours opening gifts and munching on cookies. Lily was once again spoiled, as were Matt and I. We received so many wonderful gifts, including a lot of "donations" to our new kitchen sink fund. We have now bought the sink, we just need to install it. Lily got lots of toys and books and clothes. She had a great time opening all her presents and really seemed to have the hang of it by the time the day was over. After the gift opening marathon, we all relaxed and watched Ben Hur (all 4 hours of it!) Lily got in a nice nap, first on Aunt Anna, then on Grandma, then on Mommy. Mommy took a little snooze as well, and I think a few other people may have dozed also. We had a nice dinner, followed by more cookies for dessert. It was a really nice day and I think Lily had a wonderful first Christmas, all four parts of it! She certainly has enough toys and clothes to last her quite a while!

Christmas...Part 3

This Christmas morning was the best one of my life so far because it was the first one with my own child. Christmas is really so exciting as kids, and then you get older, and it isn't quite as exciting. But then when you have your own kids, it is even more exciting than when you were a kid. It was really the perfect morning. We woke up all together in bed, because of course Lily will never sleep the entire night in her crib. We headed out into the living room to behold all that Santa had brought. Actually, we headed into the play room because Santa had set up Lily's present in there. A toybox! I can finally have my laundry basket back!
Santa had lots of little elves working to get this present, and thankfully it was to be this year! Thanks Elf Steph! Then after playing in the toybox for a little, we headed to the tree to open some more gifts. We weren't really going to get much for Lily this year, besides Santa bringing the toy box, but at the last minute, I FINALLY started to get some Christmas spirit, and then started to feel like a scrooge for not having anything for Lily. So I went out and got her a couple practical gifts - a fancy sippy cup that I could only justify buying as a Christmas gift, some clothes (that happened to be on super clearance) and a basket for the bath tub to hold all her bath toys. I had these gifts all nicely wrapped with tags that said from Mommy and Daddy. But then Matt went out and bought some gifts and wrapped them and the tags only said from Daddy. I then had to get her a couple more things that were only from Mommy. I couldn't have my sweet, sweet girl thinking Daddy loves her more! (I don't really think gifts = love!!!) After opening presents, Matt made us - well, me - a wonderful breakfast. Matt truly has a gift for making breakfast! Matt and Lily then headed in for a nap. It was really the most precious thing. I would have taken a picture, but I didn't want the flash of the camera to wake either of them up. I had a nice, leisurely shower. I was actually able to get completely ready before they woke up. I got everything ready to head over to my in-laws and then woke up the two sleepyheads so Matt could shower and I could get Lily ready. Here are some pictures from our lovely Christmas morning!







The last two pictures are of the dogs enjoying their Christmas bones. There are no pictures of Matt and I opening presents because we decided to splurge and finally get a Wii. Of course they were sold out, so we just got it tonight (Dec. 30th!!).

Christmas...Part 2

On Christmas Eve we went over to my parents house for the second of our Christmases. We had an awesome feast and then watched Lily open her first Christmas presents. We weren't supposed to buy gifts for anyone but Lily, but of course my parents were very good to us. And Lily was just plain spoiled. She got a baby doll from my parents, which she loves. She actually throws a little tantrum if you take her away. She also got a ton of clothes from my sisters. Again, most of the evening was spent playing with Lily and just enjoying being together as a family. My parents got a new TV, so as usual whenever they get some new electronic toy, Matt had to give my dad a few pointers in how to work it.

Opening her baby

Her baby doll

I think this look is because someone tried to take her baby!

She was distracted by another present!

Quality time with Aunt J

When we got home Matt and I got to play Santa getting the house all set up for Christmas morning. It was actually more like we played maid, because the house was a disaster area, but we did get everything cleaned up and the remaining presents wrapped. I have been waiting my whole life to play Santa and I am so blessed that I was finally able to!

Christmas...Part 1

Christmas was a multiple day event this year, as I am sure it is for a lot of people with a lot of family. We always manage to work it out rather nicely though. Our first "Christmas" was with my immediate family and my aunt and uncle. We went over to my aunt and uncle's house on the 21st. We are big foodies, so we decided to have an Epicurean Feast. We always have a theme and this year it was Cajun/Creole. Yes, I know there is a big difference, as explained to me in the December issue of Cooking Light, but I am not really sure which it was. Probably more Cajun. We had a turduckin - turkey stuffed with duck stuffed with chicken stuffed with...stuffing! Pure genius! Matt and I brought red beans and rice. There was etouffee, all sorts of sides, 15 POUNDS!! of crawdads, and bread pudding for dessert. We were all stuffed! The day was super low key, just like us. I, the total comfy clothes/pj lover, proposed the idea of wearing Christmas jammies and everyone agreed. Although, honestly only Lily and I were in Christmas garb. Everyone else was just in flannel pants, but it was the thought that counted! We mostly just sat around and watched football and gushed over Lily. We decided not to exchange gifts this year. Instead we drew names and made $25 donations to that persons charity of choice. It was a great day!
Since we didn't do gifts, there are no pictures of Lily opening any. So here are a few of her in her Christmas jammies. And she did receive a very generous gift from my aunt and uncle. She got a Target gift card, which is perfect because now we can buy her what she needs when she needs it!



This is a really cute picture of Lily and my mom. For some reason blogger is being retarded and flipped my picture and I can't fix it. You will just have to turn your head to appreciate the cuteness!

Lily Montage

Matt was going through the videos on our Flip video camera and decided to make this little ditty.

Splish Splash

Publish Post

Perspective

I was going to write a post lamenting about how Chicago weather sucks and how I have to let my dogs out the front of my house because the sliding door into our fenced in yard is frozen shut, even after being blasted by the space heater for the past four plus hours. Or how my normally happy, content baby is suffering from her first cold (I think) and is alternately her happy, normal self and then very unhappy and clingy. I was going to post something funny (in my opinion) about what the heck were the people who settled in Chicago thinking, after spending their first winter here. But then I got an email from my dad. I won't copy the email here, because A) it is pretty long and B) I am not sure about copyright type things and since it was obviously written by someone else (not my dad) I don't want to get sued or something.
My dad works in emergency management. He is always prepared for a disaster. He had us stocking up on canned food in case bird flu happened. And he is well informed. The email he forwarded me was a list of the natural disasters, famines, really bad crap that happened around the world this past weekend. It included brief synopsises of disasters such as a cholera outbreak in Africa, an earthquake in Greece and record snowfalls across Europe. While the email was more informative to facilitate dialogue amongst emergency management personnel across the globe, my dad forwarded it to me with the general tone of think about how lucky you are. It wasn't sent in a condescending tone, more of a gentle reminder that while things may seem bad, there is always someone who has it worse.
This email got me thinking about how lucky I really am. I have a wonderful husband, beautiful daughter, loving and close family, and really great friends. I have a roof over my head, power coming into my house. It is freezing outside, but I am toasty, even if I do actually take my dogs outside for them to do their business. While my daughter has a little cold and is not quite her usual self, I don't have to worry too much because I have access to top notch medical care and insurance that means I don't have to question taking my child to a doctor if absolutely necessary, because I know the bills will be taken care of. But even if I didn't have insurance, I still have access to hospitals and doctors and everything that goes along with modern medicine. And I have a car to take her to the doctor, if necessary. And while I didn't get the best nights sleep last night, my arms weren't aching to hold a child that was so ill she had never been home from the hospital, like a girl I went to high school with. I have a stocked pantry and freezer. I have enough clothes to bundle up and not have to do laundry for a long time. I am lucky enough that, while not rich by any means, I am able to stay home with my daughter all day instead of having to juggle multiple jobs just to have a place to live.
My thoughts are a little scattered here, but my point is pretty clear. When we think about how much we have and how much others in the world, even in our communities, don't, we can gain a little perspective. And by virtue of the fact that you are sitting in front of a computer reading this, I think you realize the little things we take for granted.

I haven't updated in a week, so I thought maybe I should. Nothing really exciting has been going on. We put up our tree last week, but have yet to take that obligatory picture of the baby in front of the tree. So far Lily has done a pretty good job of leaving it alone. She will roll over to it, but hasn't tried to grab it yet, which I am sure she will do now that I say she hasn't. Let's see...she has a new favorite toy - the wooden spoons and a pan. She likes to play the drums. Lily now takes baths in the regular bath tub which means I get an aching back, but she enjoys them a lot more.
I still haven't done any Christmas shopping, nor have I done my cards. I'm definitely thinking about maybe starting to get ready for Christmas, so that's a start, right? I am just so not on the ball this year. But I think maybe a lot of people are having a hard time getting all Christmased up this year (like how I make up words?) I guess we can blame the economy. Or maybe I am just lazy. Or maybe - and this is probably it - this year I don't work with a bunch of women where all we do is talk about Christmas stuff and run errands during lunch. Nothing like peer pressure to get your butt moving. Well, I don't have much to say, so here are some cute pictures of the best present I got this year!

If I Can Just Brag for a Minute....

And I can, because it is my blog - I have the best kiddo! I just picked her up from Moppets, the babysitting for MOPS, and all the volunteers once again told me how she is the best baby and doesn't cry and is so good and so content. They tell me this everytime. And I frequently have people ask if she ever cries. I invite those people over between about 6 pm and 7 am. They can see - err, hear - for themselves. She never cried once at Grandma's wake, and we were there for almost six hours. She was good during the funeral, only growling - yes, she growls - a couple times which just added some comic relief.
I know I am probably jinxing myself, but oh well. I am just so thankful for Lily and am so blessed to be her mama! And on that note, I am going to dance around with my little munchkin to some Christmas tunes. This is part of my kicking my own butt into Christmas gear. I will get there yet!

Moving On...

I need to move on even if it some how doesn't feel right. I am jealous of all my family members who got to go back to work yesterday, because I just sat at home playing with Lily and reflecting on the past week. I love playing with Lily all day, but it leaves a lot of time for the mind to wander. I thought I would welcome a day of just vegging after the past week, but it was too drastic a change. I was literally surrounded by family for the past week and then...just me and the Chickie. I know the days will get easier. I don't remember the aftermath being quite so hard after my grandpa died. Maybe it was because it was so much more drawn out and we had more time to prepare. Maybe it was because I was all cried out by the funeral. Maybe it was because in the days after we were still over at my grandma's helping her write out thank you cards and making sure she was going to be okay. Maybe because this time, there is no one left. A big part of my life and family is missing now. But I will move on and hold on to my memories because that is what my grandma would want us to do. I don't feel much like Christmas, and maybe if I didn't have a child, I would be selfish and ignore Christmas this year because I don't feel like it. But I have Lily now, and we need to have good stories to tell her about her first Christmas. And Grandma would be upset if we ignored Christmas. She already had gifts for Lily. So I will fake it till I make it and get some Christmas Cheer even if it means sitting on Santa's lap myself.
On another note...Lily is this (picture me holding my thumb and pointer about a half inch apart) close to crawling - I think. She is pushing up onto her knees and rocking, if only for about four seconds. She is also getting really good at supporting herself on her legs. She stands really well if we hold her. She also has this little ride on car that I just realized also converts into a push walker thing (yet another lovely hand me down). She can stand behind that for a couple seconds as long as we make sure the wheels don't move. But rolling is still her preferred mode of transportation. And dang if she isn't the fastest little roller. I really need to keep my eyes on her now. She loves cords. We need to do some serious baby proofing, and ASAP!