9 Months (and a couple of days, but who’s counting?)

I know what you’re all thinking: more excuses for not posting for a whole month. And yes, I have some good excuses (busy business, woohoo, busy with friends/family), but I’ll spare you the details. We’re just busy.

But! I have pictures! And we all know that’s really why you stop by. That’s why I stop by.

First though, Lila update. She is AWESOME. She’s crawling everywhere, getting into everything. Her favorite “no-nos” are the cords under my desk and the stairs. She’s pulling to standing, and loves the coffee table for this. Or her crib. There’s nothing cuter than walking into her room after a nap (which…yeah. still a catnapper), and seeing her standing in her crib waiting to be rescued.

We got a Christmas tree on Sunday, some of you may have seen this on Facebook. So far, she could care less that there’s a big old tree in her living room. We think this may change tonight…something about shiny glass ornaments and lights may be slightly more enticing than a boring plain tree. Good thing we’ve had a few years practice in putting all the non-breakable ornaments on the bottom of the tree with Roxie.

Lila as of yesterday weighs 17lbs, 12.5oz (30%), and is 27.75″ long (57%). We’re halving her reflux meds, because she’s been so much better about spitting up all the live long day. Hopefully she’s just outgrowing the reflux.

Lila will blow kisses if we ask her to–she doesn’t use her hand, she just makes the noise with her mouth. It is SO CUTE. She also says “da-da-da-da”, and everything is “a-DA!”. She recognizes herself in photos, and loves the mirror.

She is slowly trying solid foods, which is sometimes fun, sometimes nerve-wracking. She has a straaange palate. Her favorite foods right now are pickles (we cut them up and give to her in a mesh bag–they’re still too hard for her to eat on her own), extra sharp cheddar cheese (not mild cheese, no thanks), hummus, and Cheerios, of course. She will eat almost anything once, but still really doesn’t like fruit. She liked a piece of pineapple I gave her last week, so we’re going to try that again this week. She doesn’t like bananas or avocado. She also loves pasta (with or without red sauce) and meatballs (turkey and beef)–she IS part Italian, after all! She’s drinking out of a sippy cup, but we still do bottles for her milk. She is fresh about taking a bottle or sippy cup from anyone during the day (read: she just flat out won’t, 90% of the time), but she will take a bottle before bed.

I can’t believe it’s been 9 months already. This year is just a blur of craziness. It’s time for breakfast over here, but I’ll leave you with some pics I took of Lila this past month. After all, the pics are the most important part!

(loving the coffee table!)

(this was Tree Day…I love her hat! And yes, it’s a “boy hat”)

Life is good.

 

Happy Halloween!

You know I couldn’t let today go by without posting. Lila’s First Halloween!

I’m only posting one photo here, and sending you off to my business blog for the rest–those are sized much bigger, so you get the full effect of the cuteness.

(Click on photo to get to the biz page, or go to: http://meganjanephotography.com/blog/)

 

Stripes

I know! Another post, so soon!

I was going to upload another series of photos I have of Lila, but took these today, and wanted to do these instead. Miss Thing is a busy girl lately, with trying to figure out how to crawl, and cutting her two top eye teeth–painful!

She’s also going through some stranger anxiety, so really is not a fan of anyone other than mom or dad (and sometimes even only mom will do). Hopefully that will be a short-lived stage!

Here are a couple of shots of the little one, she wasn’t all that amused at first.

The next two are a clue about her Halloween costume. Those of you who know, please don’t tell!! Not that it’s a big secret, but I thought it would be fun if people guessed what she was going to be.

(And no, she’s not going to be a French mime!)

We have a busy few weeks coming up, as usual. But I will hopefully have some news about crawling–she’s SO close!!

 

September | Part One

Ok, so we’re up to September now. I’m getting there!! Hopefully I’ll be caught up before Halloween–Lila has the cutest costume.

First up, some fun shots of Lila & her cousin over Labor Day weekend. We went to a friend’s house for a barbecue. I love these!

(Disclaimer–wow, the colors in these look horrible. I’m not sure why!! Just pretend they look better than this.)

(Such a ham for the camera!)

(We thought we’d have the girls share a swing–you can tell Lila is THRILLED with this idea, haha.)

(She eventually gave in though, and had a good time. )

Next up, the wagon:

(Once again, not amused…and Gracie’s like “come on, let’s go!)

(My little drama queen…)

Meanwhile, Gracie is loving it:

Lila is doing awesome these days. Yes, she’s still inconsistently napping, but we’re working with it. She now has four teeth–FOUR! The front four (top and bottom). She grinds them together sometimes, omg, worst sound ever. Her pedi says to just keep an eye on it for now, she’s just getting used to them.

Lila is also eating 3 meals of solids a day (in addtion to milk). I was surprised to find out that she is NOT a big fan of fruit! Who doesn’t like fruit?? She’d rather eat peas, green beans, and carrots over applesauce or pears. She is a crazy girl. Although, I’m not surprised, considering she’s more interested in what I’m eating or drinking than in her own food. She LOVES pickles, bbq chips, and molasses cookies. And no, before you get worried, I’m not feeding her these things! They’ve all been teeny tiny licks of stuff, or CRUMBS, swear. She also loves to chew on straws. Next month we will start introducing “real” foods (read: mushy cut up bananas & avocados), I’m a little nervous about that. We’ll be fine though!

Early Intervention is coming once a month now. Last appointment, her OT said that she was doing great. Her 6 month evaluation will be next week.

Lila is sitting up on her own (still a little unstable, so someone either has to sit behind her to catch her, or we prop her up with the boppy), and is able to catch herself if she starts to fall forward or to the side. She’s up on all fours and rocking back and forth–she is SO close to crawling. She pivots like a champ, and will throw herself towards something if she REALLY wants it.

She’s back to sleeping through the night most nights, from about 6:30pm-6am. She is a HUGE fan of her duck and giraffe, and wants them both to sleep. She pulls one over her shoulder/side of her face, and clutches the other in her other hand near her face. It’s too cute, I’ll have to sneak a photo sometime when it’s bright enough.

I think that’s about it for now! I have Part Two of September coming soon, as well as Halloween. So stay tuned.

 

Catching Up

I know, I know! I’ve been a horrible blogger. We have been SO busy the past couple of months.

To appease you, here are a lot of photos!! I will do a full Lila update this week, promise.

First up, photos from our trip to my parents, back in JULY. Yes, I know, I am that bad.

(My brother-in-law was SO not impressed with this waterfall. It’s kind of hard to be, after seeing the insane waterfalls in Kauai.)

Then, on to the petting zoo, where Lila may or may not have been nibbled by this llama…

And finally, some recent photos of Lila, just hanging out at home with mom.

More later this week, promise! I’m editing photos from Labor Day now, so will be posting them soon.

 

The Swings

I know, once again, it’s been too long since my last post! We are crazy busy this week (and last), so I only have time to pop in for this quick teaser photo. I will be back over the weekend with more, promise!

She LOVES the swings. Loves her people-watching, and loves doing things that she’s not supposed to be doing (meaning, she is definitely too small for this swing–I am literally inches from her the entire time she is “swinging”, meaning, moving back and forth like 12 inches total). I have a feeling this is only the beginning of her testing us.

 

Family Fun…Gracie Turns One!

Yeah, yeah, groan away. I can rhyme if I want to, it’s my blog!

So this past weekend we went to Gracie’s grandparents’ house to celebrate her first birthday! I can’t believe it’s been a whole year already. I wish the weather had been nicer for us, but we had a blast playing in Gigi and Pappa’s new sun room. Gracie is SUCH a ham.

Without further ado…pics!

(The Birthday Girl herself, crawling through Gigi’s coffee table.)

(Lila with her Nana & Gumpa–my now fave shot of them.)

(Gracie watching the slideshow with mom.)

(Lila and her friend, C.)

(Cupcake Magic. Gracie’s face is hilarious here.)

(Not bad, Gracie! I’ve seen much worse.)

(Lila getting some love from her Aunt Caitlin.)

(PRESENTS!!)

(Aaand, now it’s time for a nap.)

Happy First Birthday, Gracie, we love you!

 

Six. OMG, SIX.

Lila, you are six months old today. I can hardly believe it.

People always said that time would fly by, and I have to admit, during those periods of not napping, colic, and refusing to take a bottle, I was skeptical. But as I sit here on the couch, and see you staring me down from your exersaucer, I see that they were right. Hold on, baby girl, I’ll come play with you in a minute.

(I have decided to leave this post draft open all day, so I can add to it when I think of something else I want to say. There are just too many things I know I will forget if I attempt this in one sitting. So if it gets ramble-y, you know why.)

(Chillin’ in your stroller on our walk today.)

It’s astonishing to me how much you’ve changed, and how much you are still the exact same as you were on Day 1. You are still opinionated and strong, and you still get the hiccups all. the. time. But now you’re laughing, rolling over, sitting up, and being LOUD. Whether happy squeals while playing, or exhausted, angry cries, you certainly were blessed with a healthy set of lungs. I will happily take this loudness over the deafening silence we heard when you were first born.

(If you look *very* carefully, you can see two little teeth there on the bottom.)

(Caught, mid-raspberry. You do this all. day. long.)

You can also be SO serious. This is mostly when we’re out in public, or at friends’ houses, or somewhere new. It takes a little bit for you to crack a smile, and you’re content to sit with your dad or I, engaged in your favorite activity: people-watching.

(This is you towards the end of every day. Quiet, serious, and only wanting to sit with me. You love to cuddle, and it’s the cutest.)

You are certainly a demanding little girl. You know exactly what you want, and there is no telling you to “hold on a second”, or try to move whatever it is out of your sight. You are relentless when it comes to getting your way. We’ll have to have a talk about that in a year or so.

It amuses me to see what kind of mom I’m turning out to be. The things I always thought I’d never do, I’m doing. And the things I was definitely going to do, well…yeah. They aren’t all happening. I’m more laid back than I thought I would be. Except when it comes to sharing you. I’m still working on that one. I’m less judgmental than I used to be (yay, me!). I’m more patient. I play more, and dust less. I learn from you–I now see and hear things I have long let go by, because they aren’t new to me. Watching you take all of these things in, gives me a new appreciation for them.

I think the biggest thing I’ve noticed, is that I just had no idea how much I would love you. I mean, I knew I’d love you. I knew I would do anything for you. But I didn’t know that it would actually come across physically at times. I ache for you when you’re upset. And I feel weightless when I make you laugh, or you give me a giant grin just for looking in your direction.

Lila, you’re my little buddy. We’re together all day, every day, and I honestly can’t imagine it being any other way. I thank God every single day that I am able to spend this time with you. I know there will be no other time in either of our lives like it. I wish you could remember these days. And because you can’t, I have taken close to 4,000 pictures since you were born. You will be able to see what you were like, what we were like, back when it was just the three of us. (NO, I’m NOT pregnant! I’m just saying.)

I took the pictures above throughout yesterday, so you can see what our days are like. Of course, not all days are this way–there are days of more screaming, and days of less. There are play dates, shopping, and road trips. Long naps, short naps, no naps. Swings, people-watching, toy-flinging. And I couldn’t be happier. WE couldn’t be happier.

We love you more than words could ever say, Lila. Happy 6 months.

(You didn’t think you were going to get away with no food-face shots, did you? From dinner last night. Before you woke up TWICE, something you haven’t done since you were about 6 weeks old. Growth spurt? Teeth? Whatever it is, I say let’s make that a one-time thing.)

 

Road Trippin’

We took Lila on her first big road trip last week. We drove to Virginia, to visit her grandparents, and so she could meet her great-grandma. (She is Lila’s last great-grandparent, and we definitely want them to get in some quality time! I wish the rest of our grandparents could have met her.)

Lila did ok in the car. The way down was a bit…well…screamier, than the way home. Lila has never been a fan of being in her car seat for long periods of time, and we hit traffic pretty much the whole way down. I ended up sitting in the back with her for much of the ride down, and attempted to distract her as much as I could. We drove home late afternoon/evening, and she ended up sleeping for most of it, since it was bedtime.

Lila once again was fantastic away from home. She napped, slept at night, and in general, just proved to everyone that Jon and I must totally be making up all our stories about her fits and fussiness.

Virginia was beautiful–green, rolling hills, lots of horse farms, and the cutest downtown area. We were very close to DC, and got to see the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial from the highway on our way home. We can’t wait to take Lila there someday!

Surprisingly, I didn’t take too many photos while we were away. But we did manage to get a couple of definite keepers.

(Lila trying to chew on dad’s head. She loves sitting up there on his shoulders.)

(Lila with her great-grandma.)

(4 generations!)

And my fave shot:

(Joe, I didn’t get any pics with you or I in them! Next time, promise!)

Friday we stopped by a friend’s house on the way out of town, and I took these next photos with one of her lenses–which I am now in love with. (Jon, if you’re reading, take note!)

Tomorrow Lila will be 6 months old. I can NOT believe it. I am working on a different post for that, stay tuned. And maybe bring tissues.

 

Break My Heart

Lila’s not always so sunny and cheerful…

(This was tooth #2 day…poor bug. Don’t worry, as soon as I took this shot, I scooped her up and she was all better. That pout guts me.)

Thankfully, she can snap out of it fairly easily. A favorite toy, eating, any kind of people-watching, and she’ll be ok for a little bit.

She’s also a ham for the camera, I love it.

I think we’ll keep her.