9 months!

On December 19th, Lilly turned 9 months in the snow! Yes it is still snowing here in Seattle. We were able to sneak her out for a photo shoot. Oh and how cute she was in her Christmas cloths. Note that the dress is actually the same one that Emma and Lucy wore. We love those hand me downs.

We had our 9 month wellness check-in with Dr. Kumasaka. We walked up in the snow (it is only 4 blocks!). Yes, Lilly is still quite big, but she dropped a percentage point to (98%). Still quite tall in the 70% percentile. The doctor thinks that once she starts moving things will thin out. Still on all 4's rocking and moving the knees, but she cannot figure out how to move the arms. We (us and the Doctor) are convinced that it is her personality. Very laid back- she gets that from her dad.

Other things- she has 2 more teeth (one on top and one on bottom) poking out making a total of 4 teeth. She rattles on- mama, dada, nanna, papa, uh oh, bye, etc. Every morning she calls us by name, we love it.

Skiing In Seattle?

The snow continues to fall here in Seattle- we have enjoyed hunkering down and playing (and even skiing!) in the neighborhood!

Playing in the Snow

The last few days have been crazy with snow. Lilly loves getting all bundled up- thankgoodness for the Patagonia snow suit from an old friend Anna Davis! She is even wearing Pategonia long underware from Mrs. O'Neil. We went sledding, walking to the neighbor's house, and even dropped by the local pub. Great time to get out and talk with the neighbors.

You can see on Thursday we got 6 inches- the West Seattle Bridge was closed, so we had to work from home. What a way to welcome in Christmas Spirit.

Emma Reading

We love how we can hang out with our cousins. It is amazing to watch Emma read to Lilly. We can remember when Emma was Lilly's age. How time flies.

The Broccoli Experiment

So tonight we introduced Lilly to broccoli. This was of interest to us, as her Dad absolutely hates broccoli (anything that smells that bad cooking couldn't possibly taste good, right?) and her Mom loves it. We were curious what side of the fence Lilly would fall on. Watch the video to find out!

St. Nick

We were able to go to Emmanuel Church on MI - to visit St. Nicholas like I did when I was a child. This was a treat because even St. Nick was the same family friend- Mr. Lewis!

Thanksgiving and Dad's Birthday

This year ChrisO's birthday fell on Turkey Day- we had a week long festivities. Lilly loved them all. Family dinner, wine tasting with Shaun and Megan, visiting Nana and Papa O'Claire, hanging with our cousins, and much much more.

Lilly loved trying everything- she ate turkey, potatoes, ginger carrots, peas, and even pumpkin pie. Some how she loves all the "warm spices" that her mom cannot get near.

Baby babble

So it has officially changed. Lilly is no longer just babbling, she is now saying "mama" and "dada" to us! She also loves to click with her tongue. She is trying all the sounds she can. The other big milestone is that she gives "high fives", no clapping yet, but we are still working on it.

November Birthdays

This weekend we had a chance to celebrate all the November Birthdays- Emma, Grandpa Al, and of course Daddy (ChrisO). We also had a chance to remember Grandma Ruth- (also a November Birthday). She would have been 90 this year.

We loved seeing our Einstein Cousins- Aunt Judy and Uncle Dave hosted a big party to celebrate - the Katri's and the Einstein's all together. Our group is now 24 people - wow! And how much older we are all getting.

Emma just loves carrying Lilly around - of couse that is 22 lbs. And Lilly is in Love with with Emma's new doll- Lilly thinks it is another baby.

Who is helping with laundry. . .

Trying out the doll bed

This weekend Cousin Emma got a new bed for her American Girl doll. Lilly tried it out. Oh how big we are getting.

Has everyone seen my two teeth?

Learning to crawl?

I am up and going look at me . . . (if only I could find a way to move my arms!) Focusing real hard trying to figure out how to move forward. . . .(I can only move backwards). Oh wait there is my thumb. . . (my favorite thing - possibly even more than mommy or daddy!). Yes, let me take a quick rest. . . (that was hard work!)

Blueberry Bonanza

We decided to have family breakfast this morning and introduced blueberry pancakes to Lilly. She loved them! The proof is in the video- enjoy!

A time for a new Era!

Lilly is jumping for joy. We do not think she understands the magnitude of this election! And how wonderful it was to watch the election results with family and friends celebrating with us.

Who knows Lilly may be the first woman president. She may not be ready for 2012, or 2016. . . but give her a few years!

Whooooohhhhh!

Visiting Lopez

We had a wonderful weekend away. . .on Lopez. Lilly had a chance to check out the San Juan Islands for the first time- one of her family favorites. Here we are with Cousin Lucy and Cousin Emma. The cousins loved feeding Lilly and bathing her. Lilly is babbling more than ever - "Dada, Mama, Nana, Baba". We think she may have connected Dada for the first time with her Dad! We are so impressed.
Grandpa Al's new name for her is the BIG SQUEEZE!

We even had a chance to go for a quick hike. Lilly loves the backpack Aunt Kadie and Uncle Dave.

Visiting T town

One of our favorite things is to go down and visit T town and to spend the night at Devon and Dan's house. We have had a chance to do this a few times, but not enough. This past weekend visited with our friends Sarah and Jeremy- as they were visiting from LA. What fun!

Pre-Halloween Weekend

This weekend was a busy "pre" Halloween Weekend. Lilly was on the move at parties. Very fun. Lilly is a rainbow colored catipilliar you can see her below with her friend Skylee(just 10 days younger than Lilly.

We then were able to see many of our friends that were born in August- Kian, Elliott, Ella and Nate. In that order. . . we feel so lucky to have so many friends our age!

The other big news is that she is starting to understand "mama" and "dada". We get very excited at the thought that she really does know who we are! Also, she is officially "scooting" around the room. She gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth- and then she "scoots backwards".

7 month videos!

Lilly is growing so fast- here are some recent escapades in learning to crawl and her most favorite activity- eating!

7 months old!

Lilly turned 7 months old today! Yes it is a big day. We thought we should document some of her milestones. . .

1.Eats solids- and likes it all. She gets angry if we feed her too slow. This gal loves her food!

2. Two teeth- they started popping out at around 6 months.

3. All 4s- She can now push up on all 4s and rock back and forth, crawling will come soon.

4. Sits up

5. Chats constantly- and is starting to mimic what we are saying.

6. Loves other kids- she starts waving her arms, panting and smiling around other kids.

7. Plays the moroca- it must be from her music lessons! (hehehe!)

Nate & Ella

This weekend we had a chance to visit our new friends Nate and Ella Herman! The twins! (Oh yes we had a chance to visit with "super" mom Karin. We discovered that Lilly- while she is 5 months older is three times the weight of Ella! Whew! Oh it was so fun trying to take pictures of these little guys.

Lilly just loved checking out all the other little babies. Especially cute boyfriends!

Little Pumpkin

Lilly had her first pumpkin patch experience this weekend, and loved the farm & everything that went with it. Thanks Corey & Heidi for organizing and the delicious soup after!

Summer's Last Hike

As summer was giving it's last hurrah, Lilly was clamoring to get one last day on the trail! We headed to Snoqualmie Pass this past Sunday and hiked to Snow Lake in beautiful, sunny warm weather. We tried the backpack for the first time, and it was a success! What a wonderful summer season we had with Lilly; we do feel we got her introduced her to the great outdoors!

Chunks O'Love

We had our 6 month doctor appointment this week and Lilly is in excellent health! Our special gal is still off the charts at 99% weight (20 lbs 12 ozs) and doing just fine with her height at 76% (26.5 in). We love those rolls! Chunks O'Love indeed!

Feeding Frenzy

A-ha! We have started on solids and we're off & running. Lilly ended up eating an entire bowl of rice ceral on her first go! Enjoy the highlights!

Go Hawks!

Lilly experienced her first Seahawks victory this past Sunday, and was so overcome with relief & joy that she stood up and started to walk, while simultaneously saying her first words, "Super Bowl & Seahawks". OK, so a slight exaggeration, but she was happy (probably because her Daddy was pretty happy).

Happy Birthday!!!

We celebrated two birthdays this weekend (well, sort of). In addition to Mom's on Sunday, Lilly reached 6 months on Friday! It is so hard to believe that our little peanut (not so little anymore) is half a year old! Lilly had a great time being with her Mom the whole weekend, as well as seeing all her friends and cosuins Lucy & Emma.