Monday, September 28, 2009




I know I'm really behind this month, we've been very busy. I'll keep a better blog going forward. Lily is doing great! She now says mamamama, dadadada, can wave a little, and Grammy Janzen has taught her "patty cake", at least the clap her hands together part. :) She reaches and scoots backwards! She bit Michael a few weeks ago and actually drew blood! I don't let her put my fingers in her mouth.

Independence Grove



Michael and I took a little time out of our busy summer schedule to just relax at Independence Grove. It reminded me of how much I love that place. Here are some pictures from our outing.

7 months!







September 6, 2009, Lily is 7 months old today!
Stats: Weight: She's close to 20 pounds at this point, but of course no exact measurements without the doctor's visit. She's still comfortably in size 3 diapers. I think that the Carters onsies are in vanity sizing my little girl doesn't fit in 6-9 month and 9 month are SNUG. She's not THAT chunky. She's in some 6-9 month clothes (dresses), but mostly 9-12 months.

She got her first tooth at 6.5 months and her second tooth 2 days later.

Eating/Sleeping: She's loving solids. We're still trying foods, but so far Lily still likes her sweet potatoes the best. Cheerios and puffs are a close second. We'll start to introduce more finger foods this month. She took to the sippy right away. I wasn't going to give it to her this early, but she was really fascinated watching us drink. She's still STTN with 2 naps, we're still working on her naps.

She's rarely crabby, even though some days she will only take 2 short naps. (30-40 minutes). She does fairly well at night now sleeping 11 or so hours. She still has to be cuddles and rocked to sleep. Which I enjoy doing since it gives me more time at night with her.

Development: She's pretty much mastered sitting. She can sit on her own when I set her that way but she can't sit up on her own. We usually put a pillow behind her "just in case". She still doesn't quite get you need to put your hands out to catch yourself when she is sitting. Her dexterity is improving all the time. She's mastered the "whole hand" claw grip, and she's getting better & better with the pincher grip. She has really good hand coordination. She'll grab the spoon and stick it right in her mouth (sometimes flinging food around first!). She also is doing well at moving objects from one hand to another.

She is really into her toys & other small objects now. Anything that she can pick up, throw, bang, shove in her mouth, and shake is entertaining. She's happy playing by herself on the floor for long periods of time - her attention span has improved greatly.

She is happy, friendly, babbles a lot, and giggles, etc. She babbles mamamama, dadadada, bababba, papapapa (in a whisper).

Happy 40th Anniversary!

September 6, 2009, Today Dick and Linda celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary! We spent the day with them. Breakfast at Chris & Gwen's (burnt bagels and all), dinner at our place. The Janzen's truly are an inspiration.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

I realized when I was creating this post that we didn't get any pictures of them together. We got pictures of them with their grandchildren, but not the two of them. :(

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

So close!

She's thisclose to saying Dada!

Duck, Duck, Nomar?

Lily isn't the only Red Sox fan that wants to bite off Nomar's head for leaving!

Peek-a-Boo!

Lily likes to play peek-a-boo now!

Tutu!!!


Grammy got Lily and outfit with a "tutu" attached! I can't decide which is cuter...the hat, the cheeks, the belly or the tutu!

Many faces of Lily


This is Lily's latest face she likes to make.

Birthday and Block parties


August 29, today was a busy day for Lily, she attended Gavin's 1st Birthday party and our Block Party. Gavin's party was a lot of fun and she was such a good girl. She slept on the way there and back, she really does love the car. Gavin had a good time cruising around the house, opening presents and playing in his cake. Lily got to wear her first "party dress". We came home and had a dinner and then attended our block party. The nice thing about our block party was it was in our cul-de-sac, we didn't have to go far. It was nice to meet a lot of our neighbors, everyone is so nice. We missed the party last year because we moved in a week later.

Last day of "school"


Friday, August 28th, today was Lily's last day at the Montessori School. I'm very excited that she'll have full time care from Grammy and Papa Janzen, but I was still sad to see her leaving the school. I was pretty surprised how sad I was about Lily's last day. I've become friends with her teachers since I visit her at lunch. It's also a little time for me to be social. I will no longer get to see her in the middle of the day 3 times a week. It really did make my days go quickly. Grammy and Papa are going to have their hands full. :) Here's a picture of Lily with her teacher, Ms. Teresa.

Lily and her "sisters"


Bean and Winnie love Lily more and more everyday, and her with them.

Peas...um, not so much!


We tried peas and Lily isn't really a fan. If we gave her a diet of oatmeal, Cheerios, Sweet Potatoes and squash, she'd be a happy girl. She's not a fan of her other fruits and veggies.

St. Charles & Geneva


Michael and I took the day off and went to St. Charles for some shopping and lunch and then headed to Geneva for more shopping. In St. Charles we went to a few antique places but didn't find anything we really wanted. We stopped at The Sage Bistro for lunch (Gwen's dad's place) it was delicious! We sat outside on the patio that overlooked the river. It was great, until it started to rain on us. I'm not know as the rain queen for nothing. ;) The food was great and the restaurant was very nice. We walked a few doors down to see Mike's wine shop as well, very impressive.

We headed to Geneva and did some shopping. We found the cutest hat for Lily and of course had to get some popcorn and ice cream while we were there. I think we'll be making more trips to Geneva than Long Grove in the future.