May 2013

Lily Update:

Lily having fun swinging in my Dad's Tire Swing!

Lily has started holding up her pointer finger when we ask her how old she is! Then she is so proud of herself that she claps and laughs hysterically. It is dang cute!

She has some other interesting tricks too. We will tell her to get the duck like a doggie and she will hold her stuffed ducks beak in her mouth and shake her head back and forth! Michael taught her that one! She also gives high 5's and Stones. We are trying to teach her to give us skin and pebbles too.

Another skill Lily has learned to our dismay is to climb on the furniture. She can now get onto the couch. We forecast that there will be some more falls in the future :/

Lily is also getting so much better at going DOWN the stairs. She has been an expert at going UP for a few months but has finally started to get the hang of turning around and going down the stairs on her belly.

We had a little scare this month. In the middle of the night Lily was crying so I went in to feed her a bottle. She wanted to get down from my arms and go get her stuffed animal so I let her. On her way back to me she tripped and face planted into her dresser :(. I was really freaked out that she might have a concussion or something so we took her into the Emergency Room. She was fine! They gave her a teddy bear for being so good :) But then, the next day she threw up! That combined with the fact that she wouldn't eat anything but goldfish crackers for the past week had me going to the doctor again. Once again, she was fine.

Then a couple days after that she woke up from her nap and didn't want to move her arm and was crying inconsolably. When I went in to get her from her nap she was lying on her stomach and was acting like she couldn't get up. Usually when I go in there she is jumping up and down! I took her to the doctor or the 3rd time that week! The doctor said she had nursemaid's elbow where the elbow kind of slips out of place. He massaged it and got everything back where it should be and she was perfectly happy and fine after that!

Not much of an appetite anymore. We feel it is a victory every time she eats a goldfish cracker or a piece of cereal or a bite of food. But she is somehow still magically gaining weight! We think she really is a flower and is growing through photosynthesis. 

Against all odds, her fish Lord Voldemort is still alive! He must have made some horcruxes when he killed Ron the fish and Hermione the fish. We don't know how it survives because we forget to feed it and clean its tank. Fish Protective Services needs to come and rescue it. That probably goes for our cat too.

This is what Lily's hair looks like after she has a ponytail

Lily and I are enjoying the pretty flowers.

She sees the swings and wants to get in them instantly!

She is obsessed with the swings.

Our little Billy Goat

We are so lucky to have so many fun parks by us in Cedar Hills!

Mother's Day!
I was spoiled on Mother's Day. First I got to sleep in while Michael got up with Lily. Then, at church all the ladies got the 3rd hour off to eat cookies and milk together in the cultural hall while the men served us  wearing pink aprons with pink frosting and flour smeared on their faces. It was pretty fun.

Michael gave me a really neat and super cute and colorful knife set and some cool little measuring beakers for cooking and a sweet card. He even cleaned the house a little!

Then we went to my mom's house and had delicious soups and salads! It was fun to spend time with my amazing mom and sisters. They are all wonderful mothers and great examples to me. I am so lucky to be surrounded by so many wonderful examples of motherhood on both sides of the family and by my friends.

Jana, Me, Mom, Judy, Nicole, Anna

Then we went to the Maloufs where Renee, Michael's mom, always spoils us moms on Mother's day. It's like Oprah's Favorite Things except it is Renee's Favorite Things. She gives us one of everything she loves. She gave me a card from Lily with her handprint in it! So cute. Then we got some yummy treats, satin hands, The Six  Sisters Stuff Cookbook, an insulated picnic basket, cupcake measuring scoops, a cutting board, cute little note cards, post it notes, and I'm sure even more stuff that I'm forgetting right now! Too many gifts! We had some tasty oreo ice cream cake there.I like how the Maloufs do Mother's Day: the men do all the cooking, all the cleaning, and dessert! My family needs to catch on to this tradition :)

My Dad's ICU Stay:
My Dad had a horrible accident at the Sand Dunes :(. He was on his 4 wheeler and he didn't have the paddle tires on. He was going up a hill and the tires dug in and so the 4 wheeler flipped up. My dad jumped off and tried to get out of the way but his hook was clamped around the handle bars so he ended up pulling the 600 lb. 4 wheeler onto his back cracking his ribs. He ended up breaking 5 ribs and shattering one. A couple of the ribs also punctured his lung so he had to be in the ICU for a couple days for them to drain the blood from his lungs and keep them dry. It was pretty scary and my dad is in a lot of pain. There isn't anything they can do for his ribs or lungs, they have to heal on their own. They just monitor them and let them knit back together. I asked my Dad if he was just going to stick to the Sand Rail from now on. He said nope, he is going to sell the 4 wheeler that he crashed because it is too heavy and not enough power and then he will buy a new lighter, more powerful one and wear a chest protector and helmet from now on and maybe not ride on Sundays as much :).

Memorial Day:

Michael, Lily, and I did a 5K with a bunch of people in my family! We did the Run of Remembrance in American Fork. Michael pushed Lily in a jogging stoller we borrowed from Mckelle (thanks!) and I got to run by myself. We did a couch to 5K program and I actually got up to running 30 minutes straight! That was something I didn't think I would ever be able to do. My goal was to run the whole time and I did it! Even if it was a slow run :). Michael did it in about 34 minutes and I did it in  about 40. We all wore our reunion t-shirts that we make every year! Michael and I went home after but got a celebratory egg mcmuffin breakfast on the way and I showered and headed to visit my Dad before heading to Heritage Park in Cedar Hills to celebrate Memorial Day with my family while Michael hung out at the house while Lily slept. My brother-in-law Grant made delicious smoked pulled pork sandwiches for us. Tasty!

The 5K Runners: Cece's friend, Cece, Kaden, Michael, Lily, Me, Zoe, Shanee, Tina, and Margaret

First Family 5K. Lily looks pretty sweet.

Michael pushed Lily the whole 5K!

This year's family reunion shirt!

 Later we went to the Malouf's house for a yummy dinner of ribs and chicken wings to celebrate Craig's 66th birthday and Brittany's 26th birthday! It was very yummy. We had a lot of fun hanging out with Michael's family and his Aunt Kathy and Uncle David and Brittany's brothers. It was such nice weather the men pretty much played basketball for hours and I chased Lily outside on the grass with the little girl cousins. Lily LOVES playing outside. I also had to use the day as an opportunity to put Lily in a super cute dress.

Lily and Jack playing in Grandpa's new wheelbarrow. Lily didn't want to get out!


Here is a video of Lily running with her  cousins. Towards the end the girls did cartwheels and Lily tried to do one too!

1 and a quarter!

Upside Down!

Daddy was spinning her around and around so she got super dizzy and crazy eyed!

Her cousin Kaden throwing her up in the air!

Lily is 15 months old! This month was much better than March. Lily wasn't sick! So everything was so much better, sleeping, eating, etc. She was ornery a few days because of teething, but that was a lot easier to deal with than ear infections and colds.

Eating: Lily decided this month that she is ready to be independent! This makes me sad! I want her to stay a baby forever! But I guess it is good she is on track developmentally. She tries to use a spoon, and sometimes succeeds at getting the food into her mouth. We tried lots of new food this month because we needed more high calorie food that she could feed herself!  It has been a messy adventure so far. I make these really high calorie drinks for her that are part whole milk, part cream, part carnation mix to help pack on the pounds. She loves crackers of all kinds: animal crackers, goldfish, graham crackers, soda, Ritz, Nips, you name it!

Sleeping: Lily slept awesome through the night, 11-12 hours every night! She always took one really great long nap for about 3+ hours and then the other nap would only be like a half hour or so or none. I guess she is transitioning to just one nap a day. We got a wonderful new sleep monitor that has zero static! And it is small and easy to carry in your pocket.

Playing: Lily is so smart and imaginative already! She likes to feed her babies and stuffed animals and give them drinks, as well as Michael and I. She is starting to get better at the shape sorter thing. She loves to "read" books to herself. She also loves to play with us and cuddle on our laps while we read a book. She giggles so hard with her daddy and is very ticklish. She loves when he tickles her armpits with his whiskers. She loves to go to the park and swing! She squeals with delight and likes to say hi to me when she swings toward me and bye when she swings back.

Blanket Time: I read about this in Babywise where you have your baby sit on a blanket with a few toys for a certain amount of time (build up to 30 minutes) and they aren't allowed to get off the blanket until the timer stops. Its supposed to teach them about boundaries and self-control and comes in handy if you are at a place where you need them to stay in one spot. I started about halfway through the month. The first day I set the timer for one minute and she was great. She tried to get off the blanket once but I just said, "stay on the blanket, Lily" and she sat back down. When the timer went off she still wanted to keep playing, but I put it away for the next day. Then we went up to 2 minutes, and so on. I forgot on most days. I will have to keep working on it. We only got up to 6 minutes ha ha. Has anyone ever done this and found it helpful? I guess I'm not a strong believer in it yet. They say to choose your battles and I don't know if getting her to stay on a blanket while we are at home is one I want to fight. But then again, if it helps later than maybe its worth it? Any thoughts?

Teething: Lily is getting another tooth on top! You can feel it but not see it. So when it comes in she will have 3. Update: the doctor said at her check up that the top teeth weren't even close to coming in! He said the gums could have swelled up around the teeth again. So only 2 teeth still.

First Night Away: Michael and I got to spend a night in Park City with our pals! It was free to boot! Lily stayed with Michael's sister Kim and her family! She had a lot of fun there with her cousins, Ryan and Emmy and her aunt and uncle and it was nice for Michael and I to have some time off of being responsible parents even though we did miss her. We stayed at Westgate. It was pretty neat! Our room had a double jet tub and a steam shower. It was more like an apartment with all the appliances! We ate at The Edge Steakhouse for dinner. I found an ant on my plate! So they gave us free dessert, took off a side dish, and gave us 10% off. We went swimming and sat in the sauna and the hot tub. Earlier in the day we went to the outlets and main street. It was a nice little getaway.

Sign Language/Talking: Lily still signs all the signs I said before. Some new ones she does now are clouds, cry, laugh, sleep, apple, pear, happy, feel, carrot, nice, cracker. She combines signs a lot now. She does all done thank you down please when done eating (or just screams and becomes a food hurricane) one or the other :). she will say more please a lot and sometimes put what she wants in there. Like more cracker please or more milk please or more outside please. Its adorable.

She says: dadda, mama, Jesus, mamamam is grandma, outside, please, ball, banana, baby, dog, kitty, fish, all done, milk, hi, bye.

Going up the stairs! Lily likes to walk up stairs now. She will either hold on to the wall or our hands. She almost always uses her left leg to step up and then she will level out and step up again with her left foot. She must be left legged like her mommy!

Nicholas and Lily. Cousins are fun!

Well Check Up: Lily now weighs 20 lbs. 2 oz. (10%) and is 31 inches long (75%) and her head was 45.2 cm around. She is doing great! She didn't even cry when they gave her a shot. She is one tough cookie! She is doing great developmentally.