After Lily's 1st birthday, Ian and I noticed a big difference in her. It was like a new Lily emerged the day she turned one. She no longer was she the easy, laid back baby we were used to. she was now a strong willed little person who became easily frustrated when she didn't get what she wanted. She became very clingy to me and had to be in my arms or within arms reach of me at all times.  Thankfully, this only lasted a couple of weeks and now it seems, our baby is much more independent and back to her smiley self. Lily started walking about 2 weeks after her birthday and now wants to walk everywhere. She thinks walking up and down the stairs is so cool. She's talking a lot and can says daddy, mama, ball, book, done, down, banana (or nana). She loves playing with Grizzly and cracks up when she thinks he's trying to get her, when all he's doing is walking around her. 

Turns out that I started writing her 13 month update last month but forgot to post it. So here is her 14 month update to go with it. Lil is now walking like crazy and does not want to sit still which means no high chair or stroller for more than 5 minutes. She has also become quite the talker, or whiner when we can't figure out what she wants. She's added dog, cat, bird, bear, snack, bubbles and Elmo to her vocabulary and has switched from calling me mama to just mom. Grizzly has become more like a little brother to her and they fight over the same toys one minute and are sharing Lil's snacks together the next minute. She continues to crack us up and amaze us everyday - from walking in circles to make herself dizzy to being able to put away her shoes by herself or running away and playing hide and seek and laughing so hard she can barely keep standing, nothing in the world can compare, she truly is the best. 

I can't believe our baby is already 1! I am so very grateful for this past year and all the love and happiness Lilian has brought to our lives. It was been pure joy to watch her develop and grow, with each stage having it's own set of challenges and rewards. From her first smile and laugh, to rolling over and sitting up on her own, to her crawling and now on the verge of walking. She is AMAZING! She has been a wonderful baby who transitions well and adjusts easily to new people, places and things. She does well on her own or with a big group and smiles and flirts with  anyone and everyone that walks by. For the most part, she's pretty laid back but when she wants something, she'll definitely let you know it! Her new obsession is with stuffed animals and all she wants to do is hug them. She's got a total of 8 teeth now, 4 on top and 4 on bottom. She says "done" when she's done eating but if you don't listen to her the first time, watch out because that hot little temper of hers will come out. She thinks it's funny to scream really loudly and especially likes screaming at the most inappropriate times. She can stand on her own without holding on to something but needs a little more practice balancing before taking that first step. With just one look, she'll make you smile.  Her laugh is so sweet you'll do anything to hear it over and over and over again. Ian and I are in so much trouble because she's already got us wrapped around her little finger. Happy birthday baby girl - We love you!

1 year stats: 19 1/2 lbs (25 percentile), 29 inches long (50 percentile), 18 inches head (75 percentile).

What is going on with time these days! I swear I can't keep up. So here I am, late again, with the monthly updates. Lily's 10th month went by like the blink of an eye. I think the biggest thing that happened was that she got 3 new teeth. Two more on top that came in at the same time and another one on the bottom that just popped out last week. She did pretty well except she wouldn't eat anything for two weeks. It was driving me crazy! I would try 5 different things for dinner and she would just spit everything out. If I did find something she liked she only ate a little bit but then the next day she wouldn't eat it. It was a battle everyday. Luckily, she's back to normal now and eating well. Lily is not walking yet but, but is getting pretty close. She very good at using her walker toys that she pushes all over the house. Last week she started standing all on her own for a few seconds. She's also becoming quite the climber, climbing up on our bed and trying her hardest to climb up our headboard. Yesterday, she had her first big fall when she tried to get on top of the headboard and was a little too close to the edge. She fell backwards and rolled off the bed and would have hit the floor really hard if it wasn't for landing on the dog bed. Lily is now able to sign three words - milk, ball and dog. Ian says he saw her sign water and I saw her sign more, but she's can't do them on command yet. It is just amazing to see her learning new things everyday!   

I am so terrible at doing these updates on time! Lil is already 9 1/2 months old and I haven't done her 8 month or 9 month updates. So this will be a combo of both months, as best as I can remember. Part of the reason why I do these updates is so I will remember her milestones when she gets older but it won't help me much if i forget to do these on time!  this picture was taken the day she turned 8 months. At the time she had 1 tooth that was fully out and one more coming in. Now she has 4 teeth total, 2 on top and 2 on bottom. Lil started crawling when she was 8 months, 10 days old and is now fully mobile - crawling everywhere, pulling herself up and standing and using things like our little kitchen stool as a walker. Her new favorite thing to do is to hold on to something as she stands up, sits down and over and over again. She also likes walking on her tippy toes. She's still doing great with eating, although she now only likes to eat finger foods so she can feed herself. She's totally over anything pureed and will not eat any baby food anymore. She pretty much eats what we eat, which is nice. Her sleeping is still the same - 7 ish pm to 6:30 am and we've got our nighttime routine down. At 9 1/2 months, she can say mama and dada, roar like a lion (something she learned from her cousin, ike, who is 9 days older than her) and blow rasberries, all on demand. Her grammy taught her how to play peek a boo using her hand or blanket on our road trip from Montana to Spokane and she points (Bill Clinton style) at everything wanting to know what everything is. She definitely knows what she wants and will already put up a fit if she can't have it (kinda like her mama) and she always knows how to put on the charm when she's in front of a crowd (kinda like her dada). She is just so wonderful and we are so lucky to have her!

9 month stats: 18.3 lbs, (25th percentile), 28 inches long (50th percentile)

Quick post with a couple of pictures from Lily's first 4th of July. We were lucky enough to be invited to our friends work party on the rooftop of one of the buildings downtown, where we had a great view of the Washington Monument. The fireworks didn't start until 9 pm (which is way past Lil's bedtime) so she was super antsy while we waited.  But as soon as the fireworks started she was mesmerized...until the grand finale when she decided she had had enough and just wanted to lay down. Thanks to Sabrina and Pat for the awesome invite!

No, I'm not talking about Lily. I'm talking about me. Here is the video Ian made me for our anniversary. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband. I am thankful for him and our lovely daughter and the beautiful life we have together. I love you, babe.

This summer has been super busy and I can't believe it's almost the 4th of July! I realized that there have been so many fun things we've done so far that I haven't posted. So, here I go... We kicked off summer with Memorial Day and spending time with our good friends, Jenny and Chris, who came down from New York. Lily got to meet their newest addition and future suitor of hers, Nicholas. Then came Grizzly's 3rd birthday. We didn't actually celebrate it until last week but we made up for it by getting him a dog cake and inviting his friend, Lola to join the festivities. And of course, I can't forget the weekend of all weekends, our 5th Anniversary and Father's Day. We started the weekend off with a scrumptious dinner on Friday night at a new restaurant called Cuba LIbre. Lily was little miss chatterbox throughout dinner and "talked" very loudly (some might even call it screaming) and we experienced for the first time people being sat next to us and immediately getting up to move to another table because she was so loud. Saturday, we had a family celebration with our good friends, Sarah and Scott and their baby boy, Tabor. Sarah and Scott got married on the same day as Ian and I and we've been celebrating our anniversaries together for the past few years. Sarah and I were also pregnant at the same time and Tabor was born 3 weeks before Lily. We had a great time hanging out at the pool and soaking up the rays. Lastly, Father's Day was on Sunday and we spent the afternoon hanging out with friends at a neighborhood joint. Lily was right at home sitting with the fella's at the bar. It was a fun filled weekend and more good times are sure to be had this summer.

Lil and I have been meeting up with this same group of babies since she was 3 months old. We only meet once a month and we take turns hosting each playdate. This month the babies had a pool party at baby Jack's house. It was great time for all!

We just started taking group pictures of the babies at the May playdate which was at our house so we could see how much they change in just a month. Poor Lily was miserable at the May playdate because it was right before we left for Williamsburg for the weekend when she got her first ear infection. 

May Playdate: Lily, 6 months, Jack, 5 months, Lil 6 months, Frank 7 months.
June Playdate: Cameron, 9 months, Lil, 7 months, Lily, 7 months, Frank, 8 months, Jack 6 months.