Mommy’s Little Helper

Lilly has been at the stage where she likes to ‘help’ for quite awhile now, but lately she actually has been…well, kind of helpful!  She loves being in the kitchen (the learning tower is a life saver), where she washes small items in the sink and helps with cooking and baking.  Lilly is especially good at making kale chips.  I wash the kale and hand it to Lilly, who shakes it dry, tears it in to small pieces, and places them in a bowl.  She loves sprinkling the kale with salt and squeezing lemon over it, and she actually eats the finished product (I doubt she would if she weren’t involved in making them)!  It’s fun to have her help with baking as well.  Lately we’ve made cookies and banana bread – I try to bake once a day with her because it keeps her busy and happy.  We might have a little chef on our hands!

Mornings with Dada

Here’s a video of a typical Friday morning with Lilly and Dada.

Christmas Anticipation

This video was shot on our way to Nana and Bapa’s for Christmas morning.

The Monster Mash

Get a glimpse of what Bill and Lilly were up to when Mom was out of town! This must-see pretty much explains itself.

Toddler-y Cute

May the record indicate that on 8/25 Lilly became a true walker (she walks more than she crawls). Here is a video of her toddling around at Nana Judy and Boppa Bill’s house Friday night. She has become a much more stable walker since then!

Water Bottle Fun

Just like any toddler, Lilly’s favorite toy isn’t a toy at all – it’s a regular household object. She especially loves water bottles and today spent a good 20 minutes practicing how to drink out of one and put the cap back on. Things got a little wet (mostly her diaper because she drank at least 10 oz.)!

Walking Unassisted

Lilly has been walking while holding a hand or taking several steps on her own for awhile, but when indoors always stuck to mostly crawling. This week she decided to give the walking thing a fair shot and is toddling around indoors and out. Here is a video of some of the progress she has made!

Dancing on Cue

Lilly recently started dancing on cue. Here is a super-cute video of her dancing with Nana Judy.

Talking and Following Directions

It’s amazing how Lilly picks up something new every day. She says several words now (mama, dada, hi, up, ball) and points to objects (cat, ball, mama, book, bear) when said out loud. She will also follow simple directions and will hug her pooh bear, touch her head, beep the horn of her toy car, or touch mama’s nose when you ask her to. She loves to mimic sounds as well as motions that we make.

Yesterday when I returned home from running errands while Katherine watched Lilly, she was very excited to see me and said ‘up up up up mama up up up’ to tell me that she wanted me to pick her up. So cute!

Here is a super cute video of Lilly at breakfast today.

Lilly’s 1st Birthday Party and Bill’s 30th!

 Yesterday was a very special day for us because we celebrated Lilly’s 1st Birthday on Bill’s 30th Birthday!  We had an under-the-sea-themed party for family and a few friends at our house.  It was a beautiful day and we were delighted with how everything turned out.  We were a bit uncertain with how Lilly would react with the number of guests and she could not have been any happier.  She wasn’t too excited about her vegan birthday cake, though.  She enjoyed playing with it but only ate a bite or two.  You can check it out in the video below.  We keep re-living the party over and over in our heads – what a wonderful celebration for our daughter and her #1 daddy!

For more photos, click here.