Happy Birthday Lillie!

It's Lillie's 1st birthday today!  This year has gone so fast and Lillie has changed so much.   The little 5 lb 8 oz baby that we met a year ago is now an energetic, smiling, fiercely curious 1 year old.  Lillie brings joy where ever we go.  It has been a year since Eric and I have been able to go out somewhere and not be stopped by someone commenting on what a lovely baby we have or having a stranger's face brighten up because Lillie is giving them a big toothy grin.  It has been such a wonderful year.  When Lillie gets older and starts to wonder about what she was like as a baby, I will have no horror stories of sleepless nights or an inconsolable baby.  I will be able to look at her and say that she was an absolutely perfect baby.  She's amazed me every day with how well she deals with every inconvenience that she comes across in a way that I am sure neither me or Eric did when we were babies.   Happy Birthday Lillie!

Sever's corn maze

I convinced Eric to leave work early on Friday so we could enjoy a fall family outing. We decided to go to Sever's corn maze. When we got there, it was not too busy, so Lillie had room to try out her walking outside. Needless to say it was a lot of fun and something that we plan on making a yearly tradition.

Drinking Cup

I learned during Tiny Tots that babies can move right from a bottle to a drinking cup. The sippy cup phase is more for parents due to the mess/time involved in giving a toddler an open cup. So I decided this would be a great challenge for both Lillie and me. Also I figured since she is only drinking water from a cup right now, her spilling could actually help the whole clean up process, of which Lillie is not fan. It took a little bit, but for the last week or so, Lillie has been drinking from a cup. After the cup is emptied, she proceeds to put it upside down on her head, which just makes the victory better! She has also been working on eating with a spoon. Now that is a lot messier...

Lillie's first walking shoes

Lillie started getting really good at walking. This meant we needed to get her some shoes she could wear during her Tiny Tots class. I planned on going the day before her next class. I asked Eric if he wanted us to wait until after work to go. He said it would probably be easier if Lillie and I made the trip without him. He may have made a terrible mistake. As luck would have it, Stride Rite was having a buy one get one 40% off sale. That meant I could get Lillie shoes that would fit her now and boots a half size bigger to fit her for winter. I couldn't pass that up. I mean I was saving us money we would have spent later. I think Eric might go with us next time.

As far as Lillie and her shoes, she really did not like them to start. Tantrum throwing dislike. It's hard to buy shoes for your toddler when everytime you try to get her to walk in them, she curls her legs up and cries. I bought what look like the lightest weight ones thinking that she might adjust to them the quickest. She spent a lot of time sitting on the floor and hitting her feet in anger. Eventually she gets restless/distracted and runs around just fine in them. Every so often the shoes trip her up, she goes back to crawling and the process starts again. Oh and if you are wondering if she can take them off after barely three days, she can. We went to Target last night and when I opened to door to get Lillie she extended her arm to me with shoe in hand. She actually figured how to undo the velcro and not just pull the shoe off. If there's a way to escape something, she will find it.

Bouncing is what Lillies do best

We went to the playground today and Lillie was able to try out a bunch of the playground equipment.  The one she liked the best was the toddler sized teeter totter.  She likes to bounce, so she was able to get the teeter totter going by herself.  We also took her down some slides, which was not only fun for her, but fun for her parents as well.

Eric had a shorter distance to travel than Lillie to get to the bottom of the slide

Baby Habitrail

Lillie has recently shown a fondness for climbing under things. She's been going under tables, our legs and she tries to go under the dogs before I grab her to avoid disaster. To encourage this curiosity in a safe way, we set out looking for a tent she could play in. That of course spiraled into getting her a tent with a tube entrance and balls to make the tent a ball pit.  Lillie is really enjoying her new fort. She likes to sit and kick her legs in the ball pit. We may be having some fun with this new toy as well...