Happy 13th Birthday Canyon!

The big brother in Lillian's life finally reached one of his milestones too! Canyon is officially a teenager. Happy 13th Birthday Canyon! Lily slept through most of the festivities like a champ on the other side of the room in her swing. Waking up just in time for cake! Nope, that didn't get tossed in the blender and spoon fed to her. Not until HER first birthday!

It was give and take with the two of them. Either Lily was smiling, or Canyon was in all of the pictures. Both are just as rare to catch on camera these days. Lily's smiles are quick and come and go frequently, while Canyon has the more perfected, "I'm 13 now, it's too cool to smile" smile. But I got him here...and his dimples too! Canyon and Lily definitely have that in common. They tend to look more and more alike each day. I think a post comparing the two will follow shortly!

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY FAVORITE BOY...WISHING ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE! I LOVE YOU!!

Chow Hound

(After Lily's first introduction to carrots, she looked a little like an Oopma Loompa from Willy Wonka for a few days. Nobosy told me how much carrots stained!)

Lily's passion to eat more than makes up for all of the trying months of colic! If there is one thing that I am most thankful for, it is that we have a good little eater on our hands (so far). That is, until someone says, "Eeeeew, you like that?", and she decides that she no longer wants to eat those scrumptious brussel sprouts we've been feeding her all those years.

To date, Lily has devoured sugar snap peas, green beans, avocados, carrots, and squash. The next veggie she will get is sweet potato and then on to the fruits! In the meantime, I have been busy steaming and pureeing mass quantities of the veggies that she so loves, and I have started mixing them together on an as needed basis. I keep them frozen in cubes, and I pull out the flavors and heat them up for each feeding. Hmmm, today I think she will have green beans and carrots! Scot laughed at me yesterday because I fer her carrots and avocado...but I didn't mix it together for fear of making an ugly brown color! I piled a scoop of carrots and a scoop of avocado next to each other, on the spoon. I do believe that keeping it aesthetically pleasing boosts the appetizing qualities! haha.

Another first for Lily: drinking out of a sippy cup. Her first attempt at drinking momma's milk out of a sippy cup came quite natural to her. I literally handed her the cup, she put it up to her mouth and started drinking. I should also add that Lily has become very aware of what we put into our mouths now as well. In fact, she has been known to cry when she sees us eating and we don't share our food with her. Sorry little one, you have a little time before you can eat those kettle cooked potato chips!

Happy Father's Day!

Lillian's first Father's Day turned out to be a real party...pizza party that is! Our home was once again host to a family get together with all of Canyon & Lillian's grandparents and great-grandparents that live here in Florida. And while Lillian has become quite an efficient veggie eater, and she might think she is ready to devour a piece of pureed pizza, we had to hold her off with green beans!

We made four pizzas: ham & pineapple (mine and Canyon's favorite, and I am sure this will be Lily's favorite non-traditional pizza flavor too), half cheese-half mushroom, sausage, and a veggie pizza with portobellos & onions. I think this just might be our new Father's Day tradition!!

Scot's kids gave him this plate that Canyon painted with his and his sister's hand prints on it, as well as a watch that has their picture and an engraving that reads: HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! LOVE, CANYON & LILLIAN ~ 2010

Brotherly Duties

Canyon helped out this afternoon...he gave Lillian his first bottle. And what a good big brother he is, he hopped right up from the computer and jumped right in there, and not to mention he made sure she got every last drop! I think Canyon is officially hired (now I just have to work on getting him signed up for bath time...and do you think diaper duty is pushing it??)

The girl likes guacamole

Well, not quite...but she sure does like avocados! Lillian is on day two of this green goodness and I'm pretty sure she likes them more than the sugar snap peas she tried first. Did you know that avocados are considered to be one of nature's perfect foods? Lillian is getting valuable vitamins and minerals from just this one small serving that are good for her brain and physical development. Next on her list of green veggies are green beans. I couldn't resist this one...just be sure and turn the music off at the bottom of the page before pressing play on the video below.

Little Miss Chatterbox

Lillian has been particularly chatty these past few days. This was recorded while I was sitting in the kitchen peeling an orange for myself. I'm pretty sure Lillian was trying to convince me to give her some of my delicious fruit seeing as she has been enjoying her veggies so much.

TURN THE VOLUME OFF ON THE MUSIC PLAYER AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE BEFORE PRESSING THE PLAY BUTTON ON THE VIDEO.

The Princess and the Pea

More like "Lillian and the sugar snap peas"...Today was a big day for our little princess. She was introduced to the delicious taste of fresh, organic sugar snap peas. And although I'm not at all surprised that she enjoyed them, I am surprised that she was so quickly inclined to grab my hand for "more"! Having already had a few hours to reflect on this experience, I have noticed one enormous flaw in my plan to feed Lillian the green veggies first...I chose a relatively sweet one. I'm guessing her encounter with regular peas, spinach, or green beans may not be so pleasant.

And while I was ecstatic about the Beaba Babycooker in my previous posts, I am now not 100% sure how I feel about it. Lillian's grandmom graciously purchased this for us to use on our baby food making journey per my excitement about this wonderful gadget. However, upon purchasing it, I have been reading reviews that are not as promising. So until I can make my mind up to dive in and use it, or to continue searching for the perfect baby steamer/blender in one...I decided to bust out the old faithful: Oster Steamer and VitaMix. Effective? Yes! Convenient? No!!

Grown right here in Sarasota, washed, and "de-stringed"

Steamed

I thought this was an appetizing shot

Blended in the VitaMix

And here is the not-so-appetizing shot.

Voila, the finished product! I did add a little breast milk to thin it out.

Lillian waited patiently throughout the entire process, I'm pretty sure she knew the end result was for her.

My first attempt was with a spoon, which she showed no fear upon this new introduction to her mouth.

More, more, more...while she liked the peas, she was not too fond of the hard spoon...

...so I resorted to my finger which was far more successful.

I could hardly feed her fast enough without fear of her choking.

What you lookin' at? I'm saving some for later.

Mmmm, all done!

4 Month Update

Lillian saw Dr. Cannizzaro two days ago...and much to my surprise, she has only gained 10 ounces! She now weighs 12lb 12oz, and she is 24 inches long - two feet! Dr. C gave Lillian the go ahead with veggies. One new veggie every three days after she has been nursed, and we should start out with the greens and then switch to yellows and oranges.

Lillian's next visit is not until she is 6 months. That will be HALF way to her first birthday, they say time flies when you're having fun...I guess that's a good sign!

"Thumb-ting Special"

Four Months Old

Lillian is four months and I can hardly believe it! My baby is growing up so fast...she's already 1/3 of the way to her first birthday. Many exciting mile stones have been reached this month, and I can honestly say that this past month has been fantastic. With the exception of a few bad days and nights, Lillian is typically all smiles, laughs, and she has proven to be quite the conversationalist. Are you surprised with parents like us?? This has been one of my favorite stages so far (the "just arrived home from the hospital-sleeps all day-newborn stage" being the other)!

Lillian has been very active during tummy time these days. She is beginning to enjoy it more and more. The other day she creeped her way across her blanket on her tummy by pushing off of my leg with her feet...all she needs is a camouflage onesie and she's ready to audition for her role in GI Jane! She has rolled over completely from her back to her stomach twice now, and is rocking back and forth like a pro. Lillian continues to roll over from her tummy to her back with ease. Her most recent achievement is standing. While she needs our support 100%, there seems to be nothing she loves more than being upright- on anything: the kitchen counter, my lap, Riley's back, her daddy's belly, Mason's shoulders...pretty much anywhere! Gone are the days of carrying our little baby around nestled in our arms all snug on her back.

(Lillian sat up on her own for this shot...propped next to her bunny)

And while Lillian is mastering the "Art of Bumbo Sitting" (look back at previous posts for pictures of this), she is actually beginning to sit up on her own. This great feat definitely depends on what time of the day it is, and how much energy she has. I believe she is well on her way to sitting by the end of this month! Lillian has also found her feet and occasionally grabs them (when her daddy is not actually sticking them in her hands or on her nose). She is also using her "mouthing" techniques quite well. Mouthing helps babies learn about their surroundings and explore their new world. Everything ends up in her mouth...one of her favorites? Her brother's fingers!! In addition to mouthing the unknown, Lillian has finally found her own thumb. I think we just might have a thumb sucker in the family, and quite honestly, I am thrilled about it. No more running around to stick her suckie back in. She simply pops her thumb up, opens mouth, and inserts...instant soothing! A few days ago Lillian also discovered that she can blow raspberries. I find this to be one of the cutest things she does right now. Watching her gather the spit on her lips and blow tiny little bubbles out of it just cracks me up. I am finding great joy in all of these little moments.

(Look, I can hold my foot!)

Lillian's four month check up with Dr. Cannizzaro comes this Thursday, until then I can only assume that she continues to grow in both height and weight!

(I had to include this one...Lillian is going through such an inquisitive stage right now as well. She studies new faces and objects. Here she is inspecting her bunny for the first time...I guess the bunny passed the test, because she went right back to posing when she was finished.)

Swimming!

After many "not so successful" attempts at the swimming pool in our community, Lily and I finally made it down to my parents to try their pool out. I predict we will have a little swimmer on our hands!

Lillian got to go swimming with her cousin for the very first time.

A little "down time" with grandma.

Mommy's little girl.

Ride the White Pony...

as her daddy calls it. We all know, and even Riley in some strange sort of way, that it's just a matter of months until Lillian is following him around, lovingly yanking on his ears and tail!