Standing up for Nothing

Well, a big advancement today. I'm able to stand on my own. I don't really care for doing it and I don't last too long, but I can make it up there. I kinda waver a bit and then tend to fall forward but I did show off for Dad tonight when he came down to see me downtown after work. I'm also doing quite well crawling, thought I have a bit of an unorthodox style, video to come later.

Well, we've entered dad's busy season. I'm having to get used to not seeing him at night. I'm usually waking up now a little before Dad heads down for breakfast, so we actually have been eating breakfast about the same time. Him with his oatmeal, me with my cereal that looks like oatmeal. So, we get about 30 minutes together in the morning. This week, Dad was able to get off early on Monday and come and get me from downtown so I got to see him and play some with him then. He was working late, until nearly 10, on Tuesday and Wednesday, so it was just morning with him then. I was over early at Grammy's house both days, so that Mom could go to the gym. On Tuesday night, I put on quite a show as Mom and Grammy had to go to Weight Watchers. I just cried and cried all the way home. Mom came by on Wednesday night to have dinner over there at Grammy's and then I came straight home and went to bed. Yesterday, Mom left me for Dallas. I've been a bit upset this week because I am starting to have more teeth coming in, so Mom didn't feel it was good to take me up there. Not as easy to transport me around and let me sleep in public now, as when I was up at Market at two months old. So, Grammy stayed behind. I spent most of Thursday with her, then it was on to downtown for a nice evening at Tobin Hill. I'm starting to feel quite comfortable sleeping overnight and for my naps away from home. Today, I spent the day down there and then Dad brought me home and put me in my own bed for a night. I'm going to Grammy's house all day tomorrow and Sunday, as Dad has a big weekend of work.

Last week was the first full week of the year, and it was hard to go back to my normal schedule, especially considering that Mom and Dad had been home so much the previous two weeks. I got a quick update as to what Dad's schedule was like as he was back to working past my bedtime every night except Monday; he was even out the door at 8 am on Saturday for work. Got to take care of me and Mom so we can go shopping.

My first Christmas was amazing. On Christmas Eve, we got ready in the morning and started our day with Mrs. Sandy (works with Dad). She gave me a nice stuffed puppy and I showed off for her. Then, it was on to downtown and we went to Fiesta Fellowship for Christmas Eve service. I had quite the receiving line, with Grandpa Bo showing me off afterwards. Then, it was on to their house and we played some dominoes (great-great Uncle Joe was there also), and then Grandaddy and Aunt Shanna came in. Shortly later, my second-cousins, Stacey and Shelley came in from Austin (I had not met them before), and we had dinner. I showed off for everyone, as always, and enjoyed our time there. Then, it was on to Grammy and Pepar's house for an overnight sleepover. Mom got her Christmas tradition with some new pajamas. I went to bed, with visions of sugarplums dancing in my head.

Well, Mom and Dad were in Aunt Rachel's old room, and the twin bed was in my room, and I woke up in the middle of the night, not used to having others around. And boy, did I let everyone know that I did not like it. It was about 3 in the morning, and we had to do an outfit change, and then I was ready to go back down. Aunt Rachel went out to the couch. I even created a Christmas miracle, and Dad got out of bed to check on me--although it was 10 seconds of him being in my room and when he saw I was fine, he was back to bed (I get my good sleeping from him).

Christmas morning, I was awake, and Santa had come to see me; boy, was he good to me. I could not belive all the fine clothes and toys he gave me. I enjoyed opening the other gifts that Mom and Dad and the family had given me as well. I even got my first doll (see the backpack picture). Enjoy the smattering of gift photos below.

It was hard to have to break in the morning and go eat and take a nap (due to my early morning awakening, I slept for over 3 hours on Christmas morning). I really did not want to miss any of the action.














After an afternoon nap and having Christmas lunch (Aunt Rachel's friend, Chris) came over for lunch, we headed downtown to see the rest of the family. I enjoyed hanging out and it was a bit of a madhouse down there, but I enjoyed seeing my family there that loves me. I got to hang out with my third cousins, Sean and Maddie. But, by the end of the day I was tired. I fell asleep on the way home, with my toy puppy that started my Christmas celebrations. It was a fun fun time.

Enjoy some other Christmas photos below:

Eight Months Old

Well, I think we can all tell that with the time that has passed between posts, Lily's mom and dad have gotten extremely busy, so we are now having to report Lily's goings-ons in summary. How to describe what has happened in the past month?

Well, developmentally, Lily has started to become much more active. She is constantly curious, wants to see everything going on around her. She has started to show some interest and sense of recognition in certain things around us and on TV (when we put on the 'Backyardigans', she immediately recognizes the theme song and you will notice her start to smile and laugh when she sees those characters. Along with this, Lily grabs for any and every thing. We've begun to sit her at a normal high chair when we are at the grocery store and at restaurants. We have to move everything so it is not within her reach. If she can touch it, it is gone. Eating out is not as easy as it was when she didn't move too much. Of all the things she likes to get her hands on, she seems to like the most remote controls (maybe, it is because she sees us operating those things constantly). But, along with this grabbing for things, we have had to say no to her a bit more, and she definitely knows what that word means---and she does NOT like it one bit. She'll let out a bit of a moan when we do that. Physically, Lily continues to thrive. She still doesn't like being on her tummy--we're trying to be more diligent at putting her there so that she can get on to crawling. But, she has never really rolled over on a regular basis. She likes standing when we hold her up or when she is holding onto furniture, but she doesn't seem like she wants to learn how to crawl. We'll stick with it and see what comes out of it. Eating, Lily has been on solid foods now for about two months. She'll now finish about 2 small cartons of veggies/fruits at the two middle meals of her deal. Still having cereal in the morning, and a bottle of formula after each of those three meals (and just formula before bed). She will eat veggies but definitely likes the fruits better (applesauce, pears, peaches); but you definitely take your life in your own hands if you dare to give her any green veggies (green beans & peas are not high on her list) as she will just clench her jaw and refuse to open up. Because of these solid foods, there has also been a change in the diapers, but no need to elaborate on the details.

Let's see what Lily has been up to this past month:

- Sun, Nov 16: Mom and Dad ran the San Antonio rock & roll half-marathon. Lily stayed with Grandma Patty and Grandpa Bo and cheered them on in the race

- Week of Nov 17: Mom was in Austin most of the week for Junior League show. She came home one night but Dad got a bit of a feeling of what it would be like to be a single dad. (Answer = hard enough and I even had a lot of help from the grandparents)

- Week of Nov 24: I was home the whole week and got to spend some real valuable time with Lily. It reminded me a lot of the time I had off after Lily was first born, but now it is even better since she is so much more interactive. Lily had her first Thanksgiving as well. It was a hard day for her. She did not get a good nap in the morning and the whole day suffered after that. She still was good for the company, but she put on a nice fit for Mom & Dad. But, it still was a fun and memorable day. Lily did get to enjoy the Aggies game (though it wasn't much of a game). She was all dressed up for it, and then they stunk it up.

- Week of Dec 1 & 8: Nothing too terribly exciting as Mom and Dad were both hard at work. Mom & Dad had a date night on December 12 and Lily spent the night with Grammy. We also spent a couple of days during this time getting pictures made for Christmas.

- December 13: Dad left Mom & Lily for a week in Europe. Left on Saturday, arrived in London on Sunday, stayed there until Wednesday morning. Then, onto Paris and stayed there until coming back home on Saturday

- December 20: Dad's 32nd birthday. Lily got to watch us fall off the wagon big-time with our Shipley Donuts explosion. Then, the grandparents, Uncle Roy, and Aunt Rachel were over for dinner that evening.

- Yesterday: Lily was too social and missed her nap before/during church, so she stayed with Mom during the service. She took a good nap thereafter and then got to go out with Mom & Dad for Christmas shopping at the Forum. Then, Mom and Dad stayed up to watch Prince Caspian (new Narnia movie).

- Today: Lily was back to her somewhat regular schedule, spent the day with Grammy as Mom & Dad worked to finish off their pre-Christmas work schedule. Mom had Courtney, Shelley, and Aunt Rachel over tonight, so Lily got to hang out with Dad in the evening.

Princess Leia

Well, it was a long time in the making, but Lily was dressed up as Princess Leia for Halloween. Thanks entirely to Buck's friend at work, Amber, in early January (more than 3 months before Lily was born), we found a Princess Leia outfit for babies. Of course, it came in multiple sizes, but the size that Amber sent me a link to was a 6-month. So, with Lily due towards the end of April and Halloween being right at 6 months from then, we felt it was a sign that this is what she should be. So, this outfit was as much for Dad as it was for Lily (one of the best quotes when Katy told one of her friends about Lily being Princess Leia for Halloween: "Did you lose a bet?"). Lily was not alone in her Star Wars attire. In our neighborhood, we saw a Stormtrooper, Darth Vader, a girl dressed as Obi-Wan, and even Padre Amidaala (the episode II Padme). Lily certainly looked good, especially with the pink bling added to her Darth Vader candy carrier and the pink bows added to her wig.

Here are some pics of Lily with her dressed-up family members:

The other events of the past two weeks included Lily getting to meet baby Nathan Player and see the rest of Katy's prayer group girls last Friday the 7th. The following day, Lily stayed with Grammy while Mom and Dad headed over to College Station to see the Aggies game (at a final score of OU 66, A&M 28, it is debatable as to whether you could actually call it a game). Last Sunday, Lily was a bit off her sleep schedule in the morning so she stayed with us during the service and I took her out during the sermon to let Katy have a morning off from that. Later last Sunday, Lily got to have dinner with her great-grandparents (Mema & Papa). I was especially lucky to have gotten to see my granddad on my dad's side on Saturday and then my grandparents on my mom's side on Sunday. Lily is blessed that she has now been able to see all of her great-grandparents and that they were so excited to see her. She had to warm up to them a bit but after they had been around for a few minutes, Lily just interacted with them the same way she has with everyone else. As fun as the evening was on Sunday, it was even better during the week, as she got to spend most of Monday and Wednesday with them. She doubled her downtown time this week to make life a bit easier for Katy on Wednesday, as she had somewhere to be after work. Lily had her first helping of carrots this week (she has been on vegetables now for about 2-3 weeks), and it is so fun to watch her eat because when she really likes a food, almost before you can even move the spoon from her mouth back to the food container, she has opened her mouth again to take in the next bite. Very Very fun. This past Thursday, Lily spent most of the day with her mom. They went over in the morning to walk with Robi and Rix. Later, they ran some errands and basically just played around the house. Katy was working on a jewelled Eiffel Tower to take up with them to their Austin show for Bless Your Heart. On Friday, Lily spent part of the day at Grammy's house. Katy admitted that she took Lily up to the Forum for awhile for some shopping. Lily seemed to really enjoy being in the stroller, but Katy realized it was the time to go when they were in TJ Maxx and she looked down at Lily who had a price tag in her mouth, that she had ripped off another piece of clothing earlier; then, it was time to go home. We had an evening together last night and Lily went to bed around 8 pm (her bedtime has gotten a bit earlier over the course of the past month of so; now, she is down between 7:30-8:00 each night).

Sweet Potato

I was back in today at Dr. Rodriguez' office for a check-up and more shots (boo!). The last of my shots until I am one year old. Mom told me today that before I have to get more shots, I get a princess birthday party. So, I'll take that deal. I checked in today on the scales at 17 pounds, 7 ounces and 26 1/4 inches. Dr. Rodriguez says I am right on track, at the 75th percentile for both height & weight. Way to go, me! It is sad, but as you can see below, Mom even dressed me up for the doctor's office. Dad had to work late tonight, but Mom gave me some naked time after my bath tonight. I love having that diaper off me for a few minutes each day!

After the check-up today, I spent the rest of the day at Grammy's house. Mom came over for dinner. This past weekend was fun. Dad did an early morning run on Saturday and then he came home and Mom had to go to her Bless Your Heart event (Shop Ole'). I went up mid-afternoon and got to see Mom & Dad's friends from the old church group at Oak Hills (Reba & Celeste). Dad helped to pack up the place so I stayed at home with Grandma Patty and Granddad Bo (they came to my house this time). Sunday was a lazy day around the house. I was especially cute in my church outfit (red & black Scottie attire) so Mom let me stay out with her. I wouldn't fall asleep so we went to the cry room. I took a good nap when we got home and then hung out with Dad for a bit in the afternoon (he hastened to put me down for a nap because he too was tired). After Mom got home, we played outside and I got to sit on a blanket in the back yard (it is nice to have the weather cooler and not be so hot and unbearable).

Yesterday, I spent the day, as usual downtown. It has not been a good year for the Aggies, but with their victory this weekend, I was dressed up in my Aggie dress for the trip downtown. I had gotten an extra day downtown as well on Friday as Mom had to work most of the day.

My big development for the weekend was that I graduated on my eating to having sweet potatoes. I didn't do too well with the rice cereal, but Mom says I am doing great with the sweet potato. I am starting to get it down, how to eat with a spoon. It is a lot messier now to feed me (and the after-feeding change), but I am extremely happy to have some variety in my meals.

Also, a big deal.....I rolled over for the first time. It wasn't deliberate, but I was laying on the bed, while Dad was folding laundry. He had me on my belly, and then he turned around after a minute or so and I was on my back. Mom and Dad had been worried that my development was stunted somehow because I didn't want to roll over but I am fine just chilling on my belly or back (wherever they want to put me). I am sitting up really well on my own, so what's the fuss all about?

(This picture below also lets you see my pierced ears.)

Another big thing this week was that I showed more of an ability to be able to play by myself. Mom and Dad have taken to giving me "play pen time" and letting me in the Pack-N-Play with toys. I am able to show a rare ability to be social with others, while also enjoying my time alone with myself. The socialness may changes in the next 3 months but I am glad to have a bit of dad in me (in being able to play on my own) and then also of mom (of being social and talking to others).