The Grays

Today we took a day trip around Goodyear.  We started out with lunch at Ajo Al’s, saw the Biltmore Hotel, and went to the F.O.E. for drinks and a few friendly rounds of butt quarters (don’t ask unless you really want to know).  Good times!

Lilly’s first Christmas was a huge success.  We started things off with Christmas Eve dinner at Grandma Judy and Grandpa Bill’s house.  Great-Grandpa Bill, Grandma Peggy, Uncle Mick, Uncle Jack, and cousins Jessica and Gordon joined us for dinner and a gift exchange.  Lilly was a natural at opening her packages – she went right for the bows and tried putting all of the wrapping paper in her mouth!

Christmas morning was spent at our house with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Martha.  The grandparents continued their tradition of spoiling our little one 🙂 and Aunt Martha had fun playing with Lilly while Bill and I finished packing for Arizona.

Our flight to Arizona left at 5:45 on Christmas Day.  Thankfully the airport was dead and the plane ride was mostly uneventful.  Lilly slept for the first 20 minutes and then was up for the rest of the 4 hour flight – grabbing on to the poor guy next to us and ‘talking’ to the people who passed by.

Lilly quickly adjusted to the time change with no problems at all.  Christmas morning in AZ (26th) we opened stockings, had a lovely brunch, and opened packages.  We were thankful to spend the time with Uncles Mark and Todd, Aunt Pinata, and cousins Leela, Jason and Billy.  The past few days we have spent relaxing, going for walks, and playing pickle ball.  We even went out to a movie for the first time since Lilly was born – Avatar.

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Today Lilly sat unassisted for over one minute on several occasions.  She is getting better every day.  We still have to place her correctly, but I’m sure we will turn around and watch her roll herself into a sitting position some day soon!

Bill and I woke up at 6:25 this morning to Lilly crying out for us and quickly realized this was the first time she woke up!  Normally she wakes up once between 2 and 4 and then is up for the day around 7am.  This meant that I got 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep for the first time in 5 months!  It was absolutely divine.  She has definitely been sleeping better in general – still has the occasional night where she wakes up and wants to be soothed several times (once or twice a week), but she is always easy to put back down.

I thank Heidi Gee for the fact that Lilly slept through the night.  Just before putting her to sleep Jerry, Karen, and Heidi were over (Ethiopian carry-out…yum!)  and Lilly was absolutely enamored with Heidi.  She became really quiet and didn’t want to take her eyes off of her.  I think watching a toddler run around really wore her out!

The past few days I have been trying to push her schedule back by about an hour so that the transition to Mountain Time is easier on all of us.  She now goes to sleep around 8:45 and has been waking up at 8am.  The plane ride will likely mess up all the advanced work we are doing, but hopefully she will adjust to life in Arizona quickly!

Okay, so maybe my description of introducing solid foods as ‘fun’ was a bit optimistic.  Lilly has been slowly introduced to fruits and veggies, which are a LOT messier than rice cereal!  Whoever designed those tiny baby bibs obviously never had a baby – Lilly would do much better with a smock!  In fact, I drape damp paper towels over her shoulders to keep as much food off of her as possible.

She likes to hold the spoon with her left hand.  With a little guidance from me she usually does a great job, but there are certainly feedings where she gets pureed fruits/veggies everywhere (the wall, carpet, cat, and myself included!).  Lilly enjoys the ‘orange stuff’ best:  sweet potatoes and carrots especially.  This morning she got VERY excited about the carrots – kicking, bouncing, and babbling her way through the entire feeding.  Her clothes are in the wash now.  🙂

Lilly at 5 Months

It was NOT easy to get this photo because Lilly is moving around all the time.  I think for her 6 month photo she’ll be sitting up on her own!

This past week Lilly has mastered a new skill – rolling over!  For a week or so she would push herself onto her tummy but had a hard time getting back.  We worked on it for a few days and suddenly she has started rolling across the room!  She is no longer confined to her tummy time mat – last week I started putting her down in the middle of the floor and she flip flopped from her belly to her back until she hit the wall (about 15 feet – don’t worry, I was supervising the whole thing)!  Hopefully Santa will bring her some playroom floor tiles for Christmas!  🙂

Congratulations to Barry and Laura!  Arbor Victoria was born today at 11:08pm, weighing 5 pounds, 5 ounces.  We can’t wait to meet her!!!

Update:  I visited them in the hospital on Wednesday.  She is a true beauty…and a very lucky to have such great parents!

Sarah, my best friend from college, came in from Charleston to spend the entire week with Lilly and I.  Alexis drove her up from Ohio and was able to spend all day Monday with us as well.  It was so nice to catch up and spend time together.  We are already planning a Miami University reunion for April.  We miss you Sarah!!!