It's her party and she'll cry if she wants to...

Lily was a very agreeable baby. She'd let anyone hold her as most babies do. In the past two months or so she's started to resist this a bit. She's very aware of strangers and cautious. If someone comes up to her while we're out, she'll stare with her big beautiful eyes but she won't crack a smile at all. She's loves to be out watching other people (especially young, rambunctious kids) but she likes to do this slyly. So what does this have to do with her birthday? She was a bit overwhelmed. Usually when she sees someone she doesn't see every day (even people she knows like her grandparents) she takes a few minutes to get warmed up. But in under 5 minutes, she's your new best friend and will bring you book to read her and puppets to play with. On her birthday there were over 40 people that she doesn't see that often. Plus she didn't get a morning nap before the party. So she was a little unsure about what was going on. For the first hour or so she just wanted to be held by mommy or daddy. And she completely refused to show off her new walking skills! Thankfully lunch warmed her up a little, and opening presents brought out her regular self (she's a spoiled little girl already).

It was a wonderful party. Despite running a little late, we managed to get everything set up and the food out pretty much on schedule. Thanks to my mom for keeping an eye on Lily while she was "resting" and getting her dressed in her birthday attire and to my dad for carrying supplies up and down the stairs, manning two grills for a while and washing every last dish from the party after I crashed on the couch. Thank goodness my parents and Anna arrived a couple days before the party because I would not have been able to do it all on my own. Simple things like running to Costco to pick up the last of the perishable items is so much more difficult after getting home at 5 and having to get a little girl fed, bathed and in bed by 7:30 PM. Thankfully my dad picked up the slack on that one and got the last of the food for the party too.

It was a great day though. So busy that I didn't have time to feel nostalgic about how big she's gotten so quickly. We were so glad to be able to share our joy over the past year with all of our friends and a lot of our family. This is the only birthday Lily will celebrate before we leave so we were glad that so many people were able to come, hang out, and eat. It was wonderful seeing so many of the friends we've made here in one place.

The death grip on Daddy.

Papa Jerry manning the grill.

Strawberry cake. Really yummy.

Lily's cake.

A little concerned about all the singing.

Eating the her cake.

A year of Lily.

Lily's loot.

Part of the crowd.

Opening gifts.

The favorite gift of the day? A giant gift bag!

1 Year Old!

Happy Birthday Lily!

Has it really been a year already? I can hardly believe its been a year already but on the other hand I can't remember what it was like before she joined our family. Reflecting back on what I was doing at this time last year is very emotional for me. We were so anxious to meet her! And one year ago tonight at 10:06 PM is when we were first introduced. If anyone other than me is interested in re-living that day and night, my detailed account is here.

So what has Lily been up to? She's started walking! We are so proud. But she may be even more proud. She definitely has pride in her accomplishments and she's not afraid to start clapping (which means we should say "Good job!").

The end of a long day.

Weight - 21 lbs 11 oz
Height - 31"

Milestones
-Wearing 12-18 month clothing in most things, but 24 months or 2T in most shirts unless they are a long style.
-Wearing a size 4 diaper, but moving up to a size 5 soon.
-Size 4 shoes are getting tight now.
-Walking! Can easily take 10 or so steps. But prefers to hold onto things if she has the opportunity.
-Loves to dance. Likes to have music on to dance too.
-Very interested in reading books. Likes to read the same books over and over again. A new favorite is a "My Little Word Book". She likes to flip quickly to the pages that are full of animals and then she grunts at the animals.
-Loves animals! Grunts when she sees animals. She makes the same noise when daddy comes home.
-We made it breastfeeding for a whole year which was my goal to start out with. She started drinking formula in addition to breastmilk a while back and I stopped pumping milk at work about 2 months ago but she continues to breastfeed several times a day and even more on the weekends.
-Scared of jack-in-the-box and some things that talk loudly (Elmo Live doll). When she's tired she's scared of loud noises in general (Grandpa sneezing!)
-She likes to try eating by herself with utensils. Sometimes she'll refuse to eat when her daddy or I are feeding her but she'll continue to eat if she's feeding herself.
-She's becoming a pickier eater. She used to eat everything but now she has tastes and sometimes she'll flat out refuse to eat things (she hates beets! which is a bummer because our CSA has a lot of them).
-She has a few words that we're fairly certain she knows the meaning of. She says "mama" (and "mom mom"), "dada" and "hi". We first knew she was saying "hi" because she picked up a toy phone put it to her ear and said "Hi!" That was her first official word in our opinion.
-She's also become a better imitator with sounds and facial expressions. We'll say a sound an animal makes and she'll try and repeat it.
-Very loving. She's very good at giving kisses and hugs. She gives them to us and also to her stuffed animals, especially her animals. She loves them so much. She sleeps with a stuffed dog every night that she loves very much.

She was entranced by the candle.

Her birthday party attendants kind of missed out on the cake smashing but on her actual birthday she did a great job!

Trying out the tricycle. She figured out the bell right away.

Practicing eating with utensils. She's pretty good!

Helping Daddy put the seatbelt on the new tricycle.

She just wanted to put away all the sticks instead of building with them.

Eric Carle (of the Very Hungry Caterpillar, and the illustrator of Lily's favorite book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see? drawing his favorite animal at the LA Times Festival of Books).

Clifford the big red dog. Lily loved him and he gave her a book too.

Lily was very interested in Mickey.

She didn't really know she was standing next to Minnie until we walked away.

On a ride at Disney's California Adventure. Do you see a cell phone anywhere? I lost it on this ride.

Picking up eggs in Uncle Gary and Aunt Cat's backyard.

Opening up her Easter basket.

Lily LOVES "cousin" Sammie!

Uncle Gary is so fun.

May 5, 2008

One year ago today was the day I became a mother. I can't believe it's been a whole year already. It's gone by so fast. It really has been the best year of my life. Even though it's trying sometimes this is the best thing I've ever done. Raising her is my proudest accomplishment. Birthing her naturally was my biggest triumph. Every day I learn new things about her and about myself and Scott. Scott and I had a loving and strong relationship before Lily but since she's joined our lives that bond has only strengthened. Raising her together is the most important thing we'll each ever do and she is always our number one priority. Every choice I make is a reflection of that.

I knew I would love her. I thought about holding her for the first time. I imagined rocking her to sleep. But I never imagined how my heart and my whole body would ache to see her when she was away (even just sleeping in the next room) or the joy that I would feel when she laughed. It's completely overwhelming and wonderful. I know all mothers think their children are perfect but we truly got the perfect little girl. She's smart and funny. She teases and jokes. She's acrobatic and brave. She loves the wind. She adores animals--even the ones most people ignore like pigeons. Her face lights up when her daddy walks in the door at the end of the day. She's a mommy's girl when she's sad or tired but when it's time to play no one is better than daddy. She's a voracious reader and a wonderful dancer.

She's everything that I thought she would be and a million times more. I know she will continue to amaze me in the years and decades to come. Happy Birthday Lily. We love you so much.

Coming home for the first time.

Only a few days old.

She seems closer to a teenager than a baby sometimes.