One chapter closes...

Another one opens. After much consideration, I felt it was best to leave Lily's blog with a happy post: Her 1st Birthday.

If you would like to continue following our family's journey, please do so at www.TheShapiroFamily.blogspot.com

Thank you to everyone, for showing so much interest and love for our little Lillian Grace. She has already grown into such an amazing little girl!

xoxo
~Angela

Happy Birthday, Baby!

All I can say is, "Where has the year gone?" Happy 1st Birthday Lillian Grace!

Best advice received and best advice I will ever give in regards to having children: The days are long, but the years are short.

There's no other way to put it. With that being said, I love being a mom and am so thankful for this little miracle we call Lillian Grace. She continues to amaze me with all that she has accomplished this past year, and how much she has grown. If this journey will be at all like that of her big brother, the next 13 years will fly by as well!!

Lillian's first birthday bash spanned two days, and had the Super Bowl not landed on her actual birthday, we may have pushed it to three full days! Friday night we had an Italian dinner & birthday celebration at Lily's Papa and Grandma's home with some family friends. Saturday afternoon we had a birthday cake celebration with all of Lily's family at our home. She did surprisingly well both days considering all of the unfamiliar faces and "demanding" schedules. There were only a few minor meltdowns (disliking her birthday hat and some "big men" in the same room as her), other than that she seemed to enjoy the food...

...visitors, and presents!

Lillian told us she wanted a Wonder Pets birthday party. Okay, so maybe she didn't actually tell us, but she can't seem to go anywhere without those little critters, and she crawls around the house with Ming-ming hanging out of her mouth all day. Just a good guess, I suppose. Her special day was full of primary colors and Wonder Pets cupcakes, baby cake, and decorations! Lillian's friend party was quite the opposite....100% girl. Complete with pink and purple cake and confetti pieces!

The Cakes:

The Presents:

The Guests:

Lillian's First Year

How old is Lily?

** Before clicking play below, make sure you press pause on the music player at the bottom of the page. **

Lillian's 12th Month in Photos

As Lillian's first year comes to a close, I find myself busier than ever chasing after her. She has become a very active little girl - always on the go. My previous "financial advice" of investing in Charmin toilet paper during my pregnancy has changed; buy stock in Starbucks! I find myself clutching that little white cup more often than not these days, trying to keep up with little Lily's demanding schedule. Whether it be a trip to her MyGym class, playdates with her new friends, doctor visits, walks around Lake Lily, Sea World, library story time, or the park...one thing is for certain, we are always on the go. In between all of the outings (and mom's daily errands that take us away from the house) plenty of time is spent feeding our little bottomless pit! Bottles of toddler formula will soon be replaced with almond milk from sippy cups, meals will increase to six small grazings each day, and our grocery list will get longer!

Lily's visit to see doctor Cannizzaro for her 1 year checkup was this week. He was pleased with her overall health and will see her again at 15 months. Lily, on the other hand, was NOT pleased to see Dr. C. She is currently going through a "if I don't look at you, maybe you'll go away" phase with men. Any man that she does not see on a regular basis, she avoids eye contact, clams up, clenches fists, and in extreme cases...she cries. It only took her a few minutes to get "reacquainted" with Dr. Cannizzaro before she was back to her smiley self. Lillian weighed in at a whopping 21lb 12oz, and 29" long! That pushes her up out of the 10-20th% and into the 50-65th%....I told you she likes to eat!!

Seeing as a whole month has passed since my last post, I have decided to go through all of the pictures from this past month and share the "quality" moments with you. Enjoy...I know we have!

It has taken a year, but clearly our child has figured out how to get comfortable in her highchair.

I was bringing groceries in from outside, and as I opened the sliding glass door (which she heard), I saw this little head pop out from behind the pantry door. Yes, she has figured out how to open the door...and it won't be long before she learns how to help herself to a snack as well.

Lillian has made quite a few friends at our local Publix. They all know how much she likes getting balloons and always have one ready for her when we check out (or arrive, in this case).

...after one year of keeping Lily's little heiney dry with Pampers, and saving up the Gifts to Grow points, we finally received the toy that we had been saving up for....the Radio Flyer inchworm! Too bad she has to wait a year before she can play with it!

Hopefully her fascination with the dishwasher will continue on into her teenage years...

Did you know I gave birth to a little beaver? Apparently that one, tiny tooth she has is working overtime. And her crib must taste exceptionally tasty!

Chillin' in her "toy pool".

Yes, she was watching some Wonder Pets while eating her waffles and wearing her hat that her Nannie made her.

One of Lillian's favorite past times - gazing out onto the courtyard.

Up, up, and away at MyGym!

Lillian does have a little potty. She likes to sit on it, and when we first brought it home, she tried pushing it around the house like a walker.

I figured that we would "practice" wearing her My First Birthday hat leading up to the big day. Practice runs went flawless....big day, not so good.

"Watch out Linny, you're next!" Poor Ming-Ming, constantly the victim of Lily's baby gums.

I turned my back for a minute, and when I looked back....well, this is what I saw. I can only IMAGINE what happened, and Riley has the look on his face that seems to say, "I didn't do it."

This is exactly how I found her after her morning nap. Our silly little monkey.

"Hey, let me out there!"

Lillian walks all over the house with her little walker...recently we have ventured outside onto the sidewalk. She really enjoys the fresh air.

Dad and Lily...bonding time at Starbucks on Park Ave.

Uncle Matt sent Lily a message and a picture of himself. Lovingly, Lily took the phone from my hand, blabbered a sweet little something to him, and the proceeded to place him in the house with her Wonder Pets - true love.

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.

Lillian's favorite reading spot: between the two couches.

This is THE face, the one she uses to tell you "no" in the most comical way possible. It's usually followed up with a huge smile.

Uh-oh....looks like someone discovered the toilet paper roll!

Mighty Meals

I am pretty sure that one of the things I have waited for my entire life, is to cut sandwiches into little triangle sized pieces as well as cookie cutter shapes for my child. That time has finally arrived. Lillian Grace has moved up to cream cheese and fruit spread sandwiches. You may think this sounds weird, but I am in the process of finding things I can feed to my toothless (except for the little tiny one that is poking its head through the bottom gum) child that works well on bread and is not peanut butter.

She loves cream cheese and will eat it on just about anything. I have been able to spread different flavors of fruit onto the sandwiches as well...anything from mango butter, to blackberry jam. And although she has to gum the little triangular sandwiches, she does a fantastic job at devouring them!

Another favorite? The antioxidant rich blueberry! I am sure it won't be long until our daughter takes on the characteristics of Violet from Willy Wonka...

...based on Lily's daily consumption of this fantastic berry. Did you know that they are also an excellent source of fiber and vitamin C?

A weekend breakfast consisting of her daddy's homemade waffles, blueberries and strawberries.

A mid afternoon snack of fruit salad: raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, and pineapples.

...and the ever popular cream cheese and fruit spread sandwich, with strawberries. Lillian gets most of her veggies mixed with some sort of rice or pasta and mixed with a pureed carrot to sweeten it up. She LOVES cold carrots (after they have been steamed) and chicken & veggie quesadillas!

An Evening of Entertainment with Lillian

As usual, our little entertainer decided to give the entire family a show this evening...the first video we call "SeeFood", and the second one "No Hands"...enjoy our little ham.

And remember, press PAUSE on the music player at the bottom of the blog before pressing play on the videos.

One More Month Until Our Baby Turns One!

At 11 months, Lillian Grace has really started to show her little (yet strong) personality. I believe I had my first "temper tantrum" the other day when I wouldn't pick her up. She sat on the floor, crossed her legs (because crossing her arms at this point is not a skill she has mastered), threw her arms down to her side, popped that bottom lip out at me and began to cry. Seriously? Not even one and I have a stubborn child...and so the payback that I have been hearing about begins. Wasn't her conception and pregnancy enough?? Was I really that bad??

I will take Lily to Dr. Cannizzaro's office this coming week to get weighed, but for now I have settled for the scale in our bathroom. I couldn't believe my eyes: 20.5 lbs. However, this was a digital scale, and Lily had all of her clothes on, so we will see what doc has to say.

I am confident that I am going to have a toothless child on her first birthday...yes, that's right, still no teeth! Teeth are overrated...who wants to brush those little buggers anyhow? Obviously at 20+ pounds, she's not having any problems eating. And who doesn't love that little gummy baby smile? All joking aside, I do wish she would pop a tooth (or two, or three, or four...) out already! I swear this child has been teething for MONTHS now!

Lily has discovered the stairs and can crawl up them, but certainly not down yet. She is learning how to scoot off the couch backwards, and she has been super active with her walkers. Most recently I am sure I caught Lily and her partner in crime (Riley the dog) playing Frogger in the living room. He would casually walk back and forth as to say, "Ha, ha slowpoke, you can't get me!" In turn, Lily would muster up all of her baby energy and push her little Princess toy across the floor as fast as she could trying her best to run him over. So far I believe the score is: Riley - 3, Lily - o. She is also a very active crawler and continues to show her love for her brother. Just the other day Lily crawled out of her room and into his and asked, "Bra-bra?" Nope, sorry baby girl, bra-bra is not home.

And yet another first that I am not so proud of...the old, "Dump the bowl of food on your head" trick. Fortunately at almost one year, this is the first episode at meal time that required a follow up bath. Scot's question to me when he saw this picture was, "Did you put the bowl on her head?" No silly! Do you really think I like to make MORE work for myself? However, after the first dump on her head, you'd better believe I ran for that camera to catch the second attempt!

Lily is fast asleep in her bed this morning, and while I could continue to brag about our little princess...I should get a few things done. Like planning Lily's first birthday party!!

Sea World

Lillian had her first official trip to Sea World on New Years Day! It was a beautiful day out with plenty of sunshine and a cool breeze. It seems like just yesterday we were taking Canyon to Sea World on the weekends when he was a toddler, at 13 years old now, he would rather be out with his buddies.

I suppose I should dig out, and dust off, the old photos of Canyon. Every visit to Sea World required a picture in front of the manatees...how cute it would be to compare the two.

Two proud parents.

We weren't quite sure how Lily would react to the sights and sounds (and smells) of Sea World...but in true typical Shapiro fashion, she thoughtfully took it all in. While we were in the underwater viewing area for the dolphins, she perked up and it was then that we realized that she was able to notice and keep up with the fast swimming creatures. She loved them, and giggled with delight. She even did her trademark: outstretched arm-palm up...as if to say, "Yes, I see you dolphins, do some more tricks!" And I have to feel as though she ought to like the dolphins as it was my love of them that inspired the tattoo on my belly, which Lillian grew under for 9 months!

Bom-Bom-Bootsy...Aunt Harriet has started a new game in the family!

Big ornament, little girl!

Laughing till their bellies ached! And so was mom, once dad stood up and revealed the water mark on his rear end from the wet grass....

This was Lillian's first apparent "I want" moment....we were a ways away when she spotted the giant octopus. With arms stretched out and her little high pitched voice going, "Huh!"...she was trying to tell us that she wanted that. As my child's advocate, I encouraged her daddy to play the game and win that sucker for her!! And while we believe that most of the time, you lose at carnival-like games, this would be the time he actually won. Where on earth would that thing live? In her crib?? Not to mention we would have to haul it around for the day. Did you know that for a "small fee" Sea World will ship your winnings to your house?

Mommy and Lily in the sea of trees!

Buddies.