10 months!

Didn't I just post a 9 month update? I guess that's what happens when I post over a week late. Time is flying by now. Work is busy, I have a lot of projects going on outside of work, and I'm feeling my productivity slipping out of my grasp. Par for the course in the life of a working mom? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Luckily there are a few things that are going better lately...I have been cooking pretty much all of our meals at home. I've always cooked a lot but I slacked on the meal planning and on nights when I was feeling tired Scott would pick up Poquito Mas on at least a weekly basis. But we've only had it once in the last month. And we really haven't gone out to eat much at all besides that. I'm actually surprised how well we've done...or how well I've done, everyone else is just eating I'm the only one doing additional work. I know you're wondering what in the world this has to do with Lily, or her being 10 months old? Not much I guess...

Back to Lily-land. She's wonderful, happy and full of opinions and ideas about how things should be. Stuffed puppies, kitties and teddy bears are made for kissing, but never mommies and daddies. Food is much more fun when squeezed in between our fingers and sippy cups are better to drink out of upside-down (the sippy cup not the baby). It's also incredibly entertaining to throw yourself back on your back even when you're sitting on the edge of a bed, in a shopping cart or on Daddy's shoulders. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? must absolutely be read at least 15 times a day, sometimes backwards and sometimes upside-down. Peekaboo must also be played only at lightning speed. This is what's important to a 10-month old, or this 10-month old anyway.

Diaper-changes are also probably the worst thing invented. It's much more fun to lift our legs up as high as possible in the air and then slam them onto the changing pad. If they hit mommy on the way down--bonus points!

Cheerios are great any time of day. But Gerber puffs are better. Hard-boiled egg yolks are always last. Black beans are good. Cheese is good. Blueberries with yogurt and mango is delicious, even when Daddy gets it in my neck cracks and eyebrows.

Lily is moving around all over the place. She's very good at walking along things and while holding onto hands, but still a little unsure about walking holding onto one hand and balancing the other. I think walking might still be a little ways off. She's stood a few times on her own without support. Stragely she usually tries to do this in bed with us in the mornings, maybe she's trying to scare us into thinking she might fall off the bed so we wake up and pay more attention to her? Although she did recently stand up without support so she could clap. Clapping is still a big part of her day.

She has to read books every day. She doesn't necessarily need to be read to, she enjoys going through the books on her own, touching the words on the page, and then turning to the next page. She's always been drawn to words in print, she loves when I wear shirts with words on them. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? is her current favorite book. She is especially fond of the last page which shows all of the animals that have been "seen" (a brown bear, a red bird, a green frog, a yellow duck...). Usually when we get home from work and daycare her first activity when I set her down so I can take off my jacket and shoes is to grab that book and read it.

But it's a toss-up whether she's more fond of books or music. She loves to dance. If any music is on she'll dance. This usually means swaying from side to side or just bopping her head. In the play area she often presses a button on one of her toys to get music to start and then continues playing with other toys. She just likes to have the music on in the background. Sometimes we find her dancing when there isn't music playing and wonder what the soundtrack in her head is. We're pretty sure it's Raffi. Raffi is a genius. I don't want to know what life without Raffi is like. Raffi is in the CD player in our car all the time. If Lily is upset in the car and nothing will get her to stop crying, Raffi will. EVERY time. Track 01 starts playing "This old man, he played one, he played one on his old drum..." silence. Immediately the crying stops. Before the words even start. She loves Raffi. And for kids music, it's not that bad. I like Raffi. I find myself singing it quite often actually.

Lily officially knows her first sign! She's so smart. She knows how to say "milk". The sign is squeezing your hand together like you're milking a cow. And now she asks for milk a lot. But now you can ask her, "Lily, do you want some milk?" (while signing milk) and she'll do it back. And in the mornings when I pick her up from her crib she'll sign milk like crazy, both hands lifted up screaming MILK! We think it might just mean "mommy" to her sometimes but milk and mommy usually go together and Lily's not one to turn down food.

Also new this month, Lily is pretty much sleeping through the night. She goes to bed around 7 PM and usually sleeps until 6 or 6:30 AM. Every once in a while she'll still wake up in the middle of the night and cry for a little while. We're trying really hard not to go to her though. Usually she doesn't wake up at all. She moves a lot in her sleep though. She's always moving. She usually sleeps on her stomach now, usually with her knees tucked up underneath her and her butt straight up in the air. But she scoots around her crib during the night. She still sleeps with her little blanket too and a little stuffed bear. That blanket is like Valium. Lily's pecking order goes, blanket, Raffi, mommy...daddy?

Milestones
Learned her first sign! "milk"
Stood without holding onto something 2/3/09
Slept through the night for the first time 2/11/09
Put a Cheerio in her mouth on her own 2/10/09
In a size 4 diaper.
Wearing size 12-18 months.
Lots of babbling and talking.
Lots of pointing.
Waves when you wave at her.
Plays peek-a-book with her blanket & will sometimes try and play peek-a-boo when she doesn't have her blanket by putting her hands up on her head.
First sleepover at Uncle Gary & Aunt Cat's house (2/28/09)
Increased interest in books now. Likes to re-read books over and over again.


It is cold here every once in a while. But not too cold to swing.

Dinner out for Bauby's birthday, Grandpa Jim was on dinner duty.

Daddy on dinner duty, the blueberries won.

An outtake. Books are popular these days.