Swing on by...

A cool breeze, bright blue skies, beams of sunshine peeking through the tree covered park...the delightful squeals of children playing. And for the first time, my daughter contributed to the laughter on the playground this very day. This was Lillian's first time on a swing at the park - she had a blast, laughing and smiling the entire time (while her mommy stood there trying to calm her nerves about all of the potentially harmful germs lingering around on the swing). If only she could speak, I can imagine that she was saying, "Higher mommy, higher!" I love you Lillian Grace.

Splish Splash Lily's Readin' in the Bath

Who would have thought that our daughter would have developed SUCH a love of reading this early on in life that she now enjoys reading in the bathtub too!? Forget the bubbles and rubber duckies, she has bathtub books! Lily definitely takes after her brother in this area (umm, not the reading IN the bath part, just the reading)...while our entire family really enjoys reading, I think Canyon just might be the most avid of all in the Shapiro household.

Our "big girl" will be out of her little whale tub in no time...I can hardly believe it, feels like just the other day I was fumbling with my newborn baby, a sponge, and Johnson's & Johnson's Baby Shampoo....

Here it is....finally a picture of Lillian in the infamous bathrobe that her daddy picked out when we registered at Babies R Us during my 20th week of pregnancy. I should note that getting her to actually wear the robe was a bit of a crying struggle, and all Scot could say was, "Great, she hates the one thing I picked out." Oh no Scot, just wait until you try to pick her outfits out when she is three years old!!

And I HAD to include this one, while our little pint sized peanut was trying to escape the lights of her mini paparazzi, you know who was on the other side of the pillows straining to see what all the commotion was about!

Baking 101

Move Over Julia Child, Lily's taking over the kitchen. Nearly a month ago, on September 4th to be exact, Lillian received her first introduction to baking with mom! While rummaging through the pantry, I stumbled across that cake mix that was intended to be used as the pink or blue cake for the "gender party" with our family once we found out that we were having a girl. Seeing as the timing never quite worked out for our family...we spread the "girly news" via word of mouth. Hence, the leftover cake mix. So, I decided that it was time my daughter was introduced to baking. Sure, she has had her fair share of distant observation while I cooked many meals, but it was actually time she got her own two hands dirty (really, it was the counter she got dirty when she spit up all over it)!


Lillian was quite the little helper...if ever you would like to spend twice as long at baking something, just invite Julia Child Jr! She will surely have you placing cupcake papers into the pan every time you turn around.

And while she probably enjoyed watching her mommy measure and scoop the ingredients into the mixer....she definitely enjoyed crinkling up the cupcake papers and listening to the noise it made.

And what is it that we can all agree on when it comes to baking? The best part is licking the beaters! But, who needs to eat the leftover batter when the perfectly good cupcake papers will do?

Canyon has apparently had many years of practice at this one...here he is teaching his little sister that the beater is definitely better than the paper (I'm pretty sure Riley was listening in on this little tip as well)!

I must have been too excited by the finished product (or at least too busy eating it) that I didn't think to take a picture of our swirly pink cupcakes with white frosting and sprinkles.

And to answer your question, no, Lily did not get to have a tiny taste. She will have to wait another four months until her first birthday before she is introduced to the wonderful world of baked goods!!

~Bon Appetit~

8 Months

As with any juggling act, sometimes you just drop the ball. And in my act of juggling the kids, house, dog, hubby, our nine year anniversary, and all other extracurricular activities....the ball that was dropped this time was the baby blog! Boo, hiss! Today I have pledged to let the clothes go un-laundered and the counters un-wiped...today, I update everyone on Lillian's 8 month milestones as of 10-6-10!

Lily has withstood the test of time and continues to be an outstanding eater. Sometimes she is just a little too passionate about her food, bringing herself to tears when the good eats run out, or we are not quick enough to serve! I believe that she just might take over her daddy's title of the "human garbage disposal". Lily will eat anything and everything that is placed in front of her, although you wouldn't believe it based on her size. She does not have a well baby visit with Dr. Cannizzaro until next month, however I did take her in to see her chiropractor, Dr. Robert, and they weighed her in at 16lb, 2oz and a whopping 26.5in long!

Lily has finally figured out the "army crawl" which she uses quite efficiently to steel Riley's toys, and then proceeds to place them in her mouth (and yes, we have also been found guilty for using his toys to entice our little inchworm to crawl).

As you all probably have heard, it's baseball season again for Canyon! This year, he has finally joined the ranks of the "biggest boys" in the league - he's playing with the juniors! Two other people have also joined the ranks this year...and that's Canyon's little sisters. Lily and Ava spent their first time playing together at one of his ball games this season. It won't be long before the two of them are off sharing stories about their "big brother"...watch out Canyon, this is double trouble! This picture always makes me smile, because I imagine Lily thinking a little something like this: "Look at me, I'm a big girl, I can sit and read all by myself..." (Ummm, Lily, you may be 2.5 months older, but your book is upside down, honey.)

An exciting event that also took place on Lillian's 8 month mile marker was her parents' 9 year wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe that it has been that long, and we so look forward to celebrating the big 1-0 next year with what will be our 14 year old son and 1 1/2 year old daughter running around!! On this day nine years ago, Canyon's brother (only a few years older than she is now) was the perfect little gentleman! Not only did he have one of the most important parts in the wedding (carrying the rings down the path at Bok Tower Garden), but he also managed to rack up quite a hefty bill at the hotel while ordering video games on the computer in the "pre-party" suite we had at the Grand Bohemian downtown. Good thing he's so darn cute!