So much cuteness in one day

These pictures are from yesterday and I have just one thing to say - it is SO adorable that you cover your ears when daddy's loudly drilling to put up your baby gate. Where did you learn that???

The happiest baby on the block

That's you! Holy cow, has your personality ever blossomed this week. You are suddenly funny, find your dad and me hilarious, giggle at nothing, and love being tickled. The most joyous squeals vibrate from your little body, as well as many new sounds. Sometimes we think you're just going to blurt out complete sentences.

You have also been climbing - EVERYTHING. The bookshelf, my legs, the end table, onto the couch and bed, up the dining room chair (down the chair to eat the food you've flung to the floor), and even up walls. You just never seem to stop - or even slow down. Walking alone is more favourable than crawling now in little Frankenbaby movements. Sometimes you surprise me because all of a sudden you be RIGHT THERE when just a second earlier you were across the room. Your new found confidence is so apparent.

You are also a little show-off. You crouch down to then jump up and show everyone how big you are, all with a huge, proud smile looking for praise. You and your dad came downtown for lunch yesterday. When daddy was paying, we went out into the mall where you were in your glory. There were people everywhere and you flashed your big, fake, gorgeous smile to almost everyone whose eye you could catch. Gone are the days when someone's glance could bring you to tears in less than two seconds!

My favourite is how happy you are when I come home from work. I am so excited when I see you sitting or standing in the window, waiting. The giant smile on your face just melts my heart. And oh, the hugs. You give the best hugs. You are the reason I hurry home everyday.

Tough transition

Hey kiddo. It's been a different week to say the least. I went back to work on Tuesday and you did well. You didn't cry when I left and you were VERY good for your dad, even though Skye prevented you from having an afternoon nap. And oh, the hugs and smiles and love you gave me when I came home at lunch and after work. Day 2 was a little harder with more tears, but you again were good and napped well. Day 3 you caught on to what was going on and were quite upset everytime I tried to separate myself from you to get ready. I could even hear you howling as I drove away. Still, you napped for an hour and a half in the morning and almost three hours in the afternoon. But when I came home that day, you were stuck on my like you couldn't bear to be apart any longer. Fortunately I am home today - and the next two days. (But I hurt from you clinging to me all night...) Despite the tough transition, you have really excelled at becoming a toddler. You can play pat-a-cake with all the actions (even though you could do itsy-bitsy spider before), you say 'ahhhhh' after taking a drink, you can fill up containers in the tub and pour them on yourself, you can put on your hat (and identify your hair and hat), you can understand almost everything we say, and you call Skye by patting the bed/couch and panting like a puppy.

Right now you are sleeping. I went to bed with you last night and then you even let me sleep in until 8 when you got up at 6:45 with your dad. This working thing sure takes a lot out of both of us. On a really good note, though, your daddy really appreciates spending this time with you (without mommy around to cling to). Thanks for being such a good girl.

Happy 1st Birthday, Lily girl!

Lily, you turned a year old yesterday. Oh my, I find it both hard to believe and easy. Only a year ago your dad and I lead very leisurely lives - sleeping in, accomplishing tasks uninterrupted, eating meals that were never on the floor at one point. But those things are overrated and we're so happy now that you are in our lives. You make us smile with your defiant nature (like blantantly ignoring my 'no's' or even thinking it's comical) or at the funny things we can get you to mimic from us (like saying 'ahhhh' after taking a drink). I love watching you wake up in the morning, with such vigour to start the day. Or how much you love the toothpaste tube and throw a tantrum when I try to take it away. And how you hug me so tight around the neck and pat my back. How you reach for me from everyone else's arms... You are the most amazing person I've ever met. My first day back at work is less than ten hours away. I will really miss you every minute I am away from you. You have been attached to me (and I to you) for 366 days now and it won't be easy to be apart.

We had a birthday party for you; Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, Uncle Nigel and Jessica came to help us celebrate. You had lots of fun opening presents, lots of supper (sitting on Uncle Nigel's lap and eating from his plate) and you smushed the lovely chocolate and pink icing cupcakes I so lovingly made for you. You wore a lovely blue and pink dress that made you look even more precious and darling than you are all ready - and that's no easy task!

You are now a big girl, shedding more of your baby traits every day. Please keep some of them...for at least a little while longer.

So very proud

Well, wee one. You are a walker. A walker who can turn around while walking and walk NOT towards me or dad. Very impressive. We have been practising quite a bit, though. Especially to show off at your very first Hood family reunion where you were very popular, by the way. You also became a telephone talker last week. You pick up the phone, the remote, pens and other such household items and put them to your ear to talk. Most of the time, you'd rather I spoke, but you will chat if in a very good mood. I got a terrific video of you answering the phone after it rang the other day. Unfortunately, you really want me to answer the phone everytime it rings and most of the time, it's a telemarketer and we try to stay far from the phone in those instances, but it's adorable that you really get it. Oh, something else you've been doing that is SO sweet is holding both your hands palms-up and saying 'enh?' That's how you ask questions - until you get the ability to speak in sentences. You are learning constantly so it could be any day now... Actually, you can identify A LOT of things with your pointing finger. Like Mom, Dad, Nana, puppy (Skye), radio, fan, owl, Scuffy, your shoes and hat, but especially every light in every room everywhere we go. We sometimes can't believe your a little human being that will grow to know so much more soon.

In other news, we've been to your first feeding therapy session. It went well. Better than maybe it should have... You ate (tried) everything we brought for you including a quesadilla, peas, corn, cookies, yogurt and a pork/apple/veggie casserole. Of course, I was told to bring you hungry so you hadn't eaten anything since before you got out of bed that morning and you didn't eat enough quantity to constitute a meal, but it was a start. You've been a lot more open to food, even opening your mouth for bites! You ate pretty good at the reunion, too - macaroni salad, noodle salad, taco salad, hot dog, watermelon and of course, lots of ice cream. So good job. Hopefully you'll enjoy your birthday cake on Sunday - I promise to add a side of ice cream with it!

Lightweight champion of our family

When asked to describe you, I usually throw in 'pleasantly petite' into the mix. While you've been growing taller - and cuter and smarter and more wonderful - you haven't exactly been gaining weight. Of course, this is likely due to the fact that you don't eat food. Most of the time I'm not too concerned because you're happy and hydrated and hitting all your milestones on target or before. But sometimes, I worry. When I took you to our doctor yesterday for your check-up, she referred us to a pediatrician so that we could get an expert opinion on your lack of eating. So we went and got you weighed and measured. You weigh 17 lbs, 8.5 oz and are 30" tall (that's two and a half feet!). Unfortunately you also weighed within two or three ounces of this for the last 3 or 4 months. The doctor thinks this may just be a pattern in our family history or possibly a milk allergy. We're going back in two weeks for a follow up where he will likely recommend a nutritionist and a whole team of professionals to observe how you eat (or don't eat) and thus, recommend a solution. We'll see how it goes. I'm sure it's just a phase but it's interesting to get other people's opinions, too. The picture above is you after a good meal of spaghetti which you loved last weekend, but only that once. The next time I served them up, the noodles were firmly rejected. I took lots of pictures and even video of you slurping up the noodles - just in case we didn't see that again for a while!

Crushed

Oh sweetie. I don't know what it is today, but I am growing so fearful of leaving you to return to work. I am all teary at the prospect of not being there for you, when you nap, when you play, when we watch Big Comfy Couch and you laugh when she has to pick up her toys. It crushes me to think that you will look all over the house for me like you do when I leave you with Daddy or like last weekend when Uncle Nigel and Jessica watched you. Ahhhh, I wish there was some way around it. I left Daddy to put you to sleep for you nap this afternoon, but I could just hear you crying and crying. After ten minutes, I couldn't stand it anymore and went to pick you up. You calmed immediately so I rocked you for a few minutes while you caught your breath. Then we crawled into bed and you quickly wrapped your arms around my neck with a tight grip on my hair and you fell asleep with your forehead against mine. Three weeks until your birthday and until I have to go to work. I will treasure all this time when it's just you and me or you hanging off my leg or you reaching out your arm towards me because you want me to pick you up. I love ya, lil squirtems.

At lightning speed

Kiddo - you are growing up so fast. I can barely keep all the new things you do in my head so that I can write about them here. Let's see. You are an avid pointer and can pick a 'light' out of any room. Your memory is also insanely good. We can tell you once what the 'radio' is and you've got it after that. You surprised us the other night when I asked 'where's the owl' in your Scuffy the Tugboat book and you precisely pointed him out. It's all sinking in, huh?

Even though you feel out of bed at the cabin on the weekend (on your head), you are very good at turning around to climb out of bed. We've been working on that one for a couple weeks, but it's looking all good now. We bought you a little push toy on Saturday that is wonderful. You can push in on your own - without mommy's help. You also like pushing around the dining room chairs, recycle bins and whatever else that won't get away on you too quickly. It's nice to have a little independence - for me, I'm talking about!

Hmmm. Well, you ate good on the weekend at the cabin, but that ended pretty quickly after we got home. We went to Taste of Regina tonight with Mike, Jamie and Creeson. You like to eat right from our plates or bite right off our sandwiches. So, we got bison burgers to start and you ate four or five bites of the bun and cheese, but the burger was a little tough. Oh well, we just ended up filling you full of ice cream 'cause some food is better than no food. We go to your one year check-up next Wednesday because our doctor will be away in India for all of August. I'm not really looking forward to getting you weighed. I know you're happy and somewhat healthy because you are so smart, your brain must be growing. I just wish you liked to eat. Something besides milk. Ah, at least you don't grow out of your clothes too fast!

Anyway, I'll try and think of more of the awesome ways you impress us. Until next time...

Pointing and dancing, with some sleep thrown in

Oh, you adorable kid. We have recently taken up singing and dancing to popular music again. You dance on command, but mostly want me to pick you up and dance with me, your head on my shoulder and you singing with me softly. And when your dad reads you your bedtime stories, you've taken to pointing at everything in the books - like Elmo, cow, fish...making the books a little long, but SO sweet. You also pointed at a bird in the backyard today. I wasn't sure if you saw it, even though I kept pointing in its direction. We've had lots a birds over the last few days since we planted our new apricot and apple trees, put out birdseed and dumped all the Cheerios from your stroller onto the patio. Little birds love Cheerios! And finally, you've been sleeping so good. We've been working on getting you to sleep in your crib so Nana doesn't have to worry about you crawling out of bed when I go back to work and today you put yourself back to sleep three times (during one nap). This is a HUGE improvement, kiddo. We didn't want to put you in your crib, away from us, until absolutely necessary. We love having you in our giant bed at night so we can get in more cuddle time...so when you wake up at 11:30 p.m. on the nose EVERYNIGHT, we bring you to bed and we all go to sleep. We actually had some really nice playtime in bed before you had your nap this afternoon. I played with your little piggies as you lounged back on me, then crawled up to my face to give me your wide open mouth kiss with tonnes of slobber. You were blowing on my neck which makes me laugh hysterically - which is why you keep doing it. And I'd tickle you and you laughed heartily like you hadn't in a long time. I really enjoy just hanging out with you, little munchkin. One more month of pure mommy and baby time...

It's a scorcher

It was so hot outside today and it's still 30 degrees at 7:30 p.m. Luckily, your dad went out and bought you a sandbox and pool the other night. Wow, do you ever love them. You and I went in the sandbox in the morning and it was even better than dirt. You still scrunched it in your hand and then threw it down before immediately going for the next handfuls, but this time with butt bounces and your odd breathy, little fake-sounding laugh. Later that afternoon (after your first naps in your crib) we went to Dollarama to get pool toys. And then your dad came home early from work so we filled up the pool and all three of us lounged in the water and played until supper time. You thought it was pretty terrific and it sure took the edge off of that heat.

One of the cuter, if not aggravating, things you do these days is fake gag when we try and feed you solid food. How in the world does a little-big baby know how to do that? Tonight I made you cauliflower and pork kabobs which you tasted, but didn't really like eating them while in your high chair. So after supper I let you take two handfuls of the cauliflower from the pot that you proceeded to squish and throw on the floor (and some in my shirt). I set you down and you were perfectly happy to nibble the veggie from there. Silly kid.

Have I written about your love of dogs? Lately, they are the most fascinating creatures. You love dogs in books and when we're outside, you look longingly in the direction of any barking. You hang your head out of your stroller to continue staring at the dogs we pass on the street. You 'huff' in delight when we make puppy sound and talk of them. Best of all, when Nana gets back from Ireland at the end of the month, she'll be bringing home 5 year old Sky, a female bichon. We can't wait to meet our newest furry family member!

You also love playing peek-a-boo - either by yourself or with us. Doesn't matter to you. With a towel or blanket or a diaper or pair of pants. Something fun we've been doing is going under a blanket with you which delights you to no end. I thought, if that's fun, let's make a fort. I hide in the fort and you have to crawl across the room and come under the blanket to get me. Sometimes you try to go through the blanket and since it's kinda stretchy, you look like something from a horror movie, trying to escape. Or like on the Glad commercial where the elephant tries to plough through the garbage bag, but can't.

Anyway, we're glad you like swimming and crushing sandcastles 'cause we like watching you be so jubilantly happy!

In awe

Oh my. Lily, you have been amazing lately. Besides learning how to throw tantrums, you have taken on a whole new understanding of everything. You learned to wave a couple weeks ago. Now, at lunchtime as soon as I say "Dad has to go back to work" you start waving at him. You also have an intense interest in dogs and make this huffing sound when I ask what a puppy says. Everytime we see one on our walks, you bounce up and down in your stroller with intense excitement. Your walking is pretty sturdy these days, too. And you'll walk NOT in the direction of mommy which makes me kind of nervous. You still prefer walking holding onto our hands so we still have a bit of control about where we'll end up. We have conversations that consist mostly of me begging you to say mama or mom, but your response is ALWAYS da da dad. You had your first real boo-boo the other day. You were standing at the bed and the next thing I knew you were face down on the hardwood floor. Ouch! Your mouth filled with blood and I started panicking so you stopped crying to focus on my terror. Anyway, it all turned out well as I think that it broke those two adorable top teeth through your gums!
We were at the cabin last weekend to see Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Jared. Lucky you, they bought you a paddling pool (which you loved) and a life jacket so that we could all go on a boat ride. You were very unsure at first, with exactly the same 'please don't drown me' look on your face that you had for the first four months of your life everytime we would bath you. But you were pretty used to it at the end - when we were going really slow. You still don't like the long car rides to get places, you'd rather be free and constantly trucking around. Another adorable thing you do right now is bonk heads with us while shaking your 'no' head. For some reason, it also helps you get to sleep. And at least you sleep 'cause you don't eat anything besides milk and yogurt right now. I think it's a phase...I hope it's a phase. I did get you to eat some chicken pizza that I made the other night, but you really haven't been consuming anything at all. Or sitting in your high chair for long. You'd rather walk around the table bumping your head as you go! That's about all I can think of right now. I gotta keep a list of all the sweet stuff you do...like chew MY fingernails!

Where did the baby go?

Oh, Lily. You've grown so much lately that you seem like such a little girl and not so much a baby these days. When we walk around, you stop and let go of my hand to open the bedroom door. You endlessly babble "hi dad" or "hi da da" or "hi dad dee", then yesterday you started saying na na na na and today you popped out a few moms and a mom ma. You also just got the hang of waving bye bye yesterday and really nailed it today and it's adorable. Unfortunately, you also caught Creeson's cold when we were at the movies on Tuesday. So, you're kinda miserable but mostly incredibly joyous. The best thing about when you wake up in the morning is how happy you are as soon as you open your eyes. Then you start slapping me on the face and standing up with your bum bouncing up and down. Then we have to wake up dad and you're always so excited to see him, like you didn't know he was with us all night. (He's the guy who snores sometimes.)

We were away in Minot for the weekend so you are now an international traveller. And you were pretty good, too. You don't typically stand for sitting in your carseat too long, but we bought you a DVD player and some DVDs with baby Elmo on them that soothed out some of the rough patches. You also learned how wonderful pizza is and guacamole from the Mexican restaurant that we had to eat at.

Your dad took the afternoon off today and I can hear you chattering away with him upstairs as I type this. He's so good with you, even though he kisses you too much for your liking sometimes. It's Father's Day this Sunday so we'll have a barbeque and shower him with love. Then it's off to the cabin next weekend to see Grandma and Grandpa; we haven't seen them since Easter. Lots going on and you're absorbing every minute of it. And I'm trying to enjoy every minute of it, even when I'm tired and don't think I can walk around the house holding your hands one more time. I do and I don't ever regret it.

Die caterpillars, die!

We were outside yesterday morning swatting big blue caterpillars off of Oakey with a little gardening shovel because they have been totally devouring all his leaves. When one would fall to the ground, I would beat it with the shovel until it was no longer a threat. Lily then took the shovel from me, swatted Oakey's branches ever so lightly then hit the ground to teach them a lesson. Yup, just like her mama.

She walks!

Okay, so not quite walking but THREE STEPS - ON HER OWN. Lily makes wonderful progress on that living room chaise where she also first crawled. If I'm not careful and keep encouraging her, I might have a little walking baby on my hands. And how much of a handful would that be???

Mama's little gardener

How does Elmo's garden grow? First he tills the soil just so... Well, Elmo is ahead of us getting his hands dirty, but we're not far behind. We planted the front flower bed a couple weekends ago and bought all the vegetable plants and misc. other ones for the back bed, but it's been rainy and chilly for about a week so we haven't gotten them in yet. Lily loves being outside. When we walk around the house, we inevitably end up at either the front or back door. She reaches up for the door knob - smart baby - and we at least peek outside. We caught about a half hour of partly sunny skies yesterday so that Lily could inspect the dirt. She had tried to play in the back flower bed, but isn't tall enough to get her hands in there. Unlike the front one where she can pluck the blossoms from the flowering impatiens and begonias...

Lily also is very fascinated with Oakey the little oak tree - who was our baby before Lily came along - but she's still learning to 'be nice' and not pluck his gorgeous leaves off.

It's so nice to see her enjoying mucking in the dirt so much. Maybe she'll take after her mama.

So sweet...

This kid gets sweeter and more wonderful everyday. She's becoming more affectionate with her sloppy kisses and 'so-tight' hugs. If you could package up and sell this stuff...

Lily's also been sleeping pretty good, six and a half hours in a row last night - which is excellent for her! And her fear of strangers has greatly diminished. Unfortunately, she was so unsure of who I was the other morning in my gardening attire, including a hat, that she had no idea who I was - and clung to her nana. Wow. It was sad that she couldn't recognize me, but good that she knows that nana is safe. Baby steps. Lily and I have probably only been apart for about 8 to 10 hours in her entire life, so we're pretty attached. (I went xmas shopping, for drinks once and to Wal-Mart a few times.)

Even though it's nice when Lily's daddy is home to hand her off to once in a while - even though she tends to lunge or otherwise travel in my direction - I love every minute I spend with her.

She crawls!

Yayyy for baby Lily!!! This morning I sat Lily on the couch to take a few pictures in her new summer outfit ('cause it got up to 27 today) and she just started crawling towards me and the Cheerios. She hadn't been having much luck with crawling and always ended up frustated because she scooted backwards and away from any objects of desire. It's kind of funny because just yesterday I was (again) demonstrating the motions we have to make to crawl - maybe she was studying extra hard that time. Anyway, I am so proud of our little munchmallow. And fearful of all the upcoming floor cleaning.

Good night

Last night, Lily's daddy went to check on her after an 11 p.m. wakening. After about ten minutes of her sporatic crying, I decided to pack it in and go to bed to soothe the little munchkin. Sometimes she only wants her mama - which is nice because there's nothing better than a warm baby wrapping her arms around your head and nuzzling her forehead against yours as she falls back asleep. She's a cuddler, making her a perfect match for her parents. We've recently put our double bed on the floor and paired it with a twin bed so we all have a little more room to stretch out and it's amazing. Makes those weekend family naps sprawled out in the sun so, so good... Can't wait to crawl into bed tonight.

This is a test. It is only a test.

I find it amazing that I can so easily publish posts, that I'm simply just sending an e-mail to publish this. If there's any
consolation to going back to work in August, it is that I can
(hopefully) kill my spare time, and there always is some, writing
about my daughter instead of agonizing that the clock doesn't move
fast enough to 5:00.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is my first Mother's Day. For the last week I've been pestering Lily to say ma ma ma - but she only wants to spit out ga goo bob boob ba ba ba. Lily's nana came over and we had a good supper tonight of steak, garlic baby potatoes, corn on the cob and strawberry mango pie with a nice Shiraz. Lily liked chewing on the corn on the cob, really the only thing that kept her from whining. This afternoon's nap apparently wasn't long enough... She's asleep now and has been for the past three hours. Sleep has been a challenge, as has eating. We're trying to cut out the nighttime feedings so she eats more during the day and even after only two days, it's making a big difference. Today we made some barley and celery cooked in chicken broth, then mixed it with a couple 'cubes' of carrots I had previously made. And she liked it. Not enough to eat a lot of it, but she had just finished a snack of mangoes. I'm so proud when she eats good. She's such my sucky; I love being her mama so much.

Brand spanking new

I've started this blog for my daughter, Lily, who turned nine months old today. She is an amazing little girl who gets better everyday, especially over the last few weeks when her sense of humour caught up with her wonderfully funny parents. Oh, she's been much easier to make and keep happy! Since her baby book cannot possibly hold all the wonderful little stories about her, I'm going to try and make this our little diary. Let's see if I can keep it up...

And I'll be burying masthead files here, too.