Valentines for a chefs wife..

Means no hubby all day long. It gets a little lonely, but it gives me the entire day to plan and make things.
Another plus? We celebrate the day after. Hello 50% off EVERYTHING.

Here are some photos from today.
The Dove & I had quite the busy day making things for daddy.
Xoxo.

The 11 month bird and "the sickness."

Hello.
It's been a long, good while since i've written in here.
We've successfully moved into our new house, and still need to clean out little junk out of our apartment, which i'm not looking forward to. Our move went fast and great, and Lillian slept all night long in her new room all by herself, perfectly almost the first entire week.



On her 11 month birthday, (Feb. 9th) she got sick. High fever, sore throat, and she's getting 3 teeth in at the same time. AWESOME.
She didn't sleep, she didn't eat, she didn't do anything except whimper in our arms as we rocked and walked around with her. Day and night. Her fever was stubborn and never went down even though I tried  home remedies and the good switching of advil & tyenol.
She's finally feeling herself today and is eating/drinking a bit more.
(Thank God, that was the scariest part to me.)




Anyway, here's the rundown on the bird at 11 months:

Your'e still in the 20lb mark, haven't gained or lost really anything. It's probably because you're constantly moving, and it's ok. I still love your chub. I don't want it to go away.

Teeth:
You've got two bottoms and two tops officially. You're starting to get both eye teeth and a third lefty on the bottom (talk about uneven, and painful.) Your grin is freaking adorable.


Food:

You cannot consume bananas or applesauce unless I plan on shoving prunes down your throat in order to keep the balance of your tummy and poos.
You eat anything and everything, still. Mostly big people food, and rarely you'll eat oatmeal and baby food. Only if you feel up to it, and i have to let you do it yourself of we get into a big fight.
These little pouches come in handy like, a lot.


Sleep:
You weren't good at sleeping when we lived in the apartment, mainly because your crib was in our room and I think the tossing and turning of daddy and I kept you up.
Since living in the new house in your own room (same crib and besides being sick) you sleep undisturbed a good 10-12 hours. It's a miracle. It's beautiful. It's SLEEP. *high five*




Things you're doing:

You crawl faster than I've ever seen, especially since we have a long hallway, you're gone.
You bear crawl and push yourself up to standing and then take a few steps. Amazing and way too fast baby girl.
You TALK.
You repeat almost anything we say, and do it almost perfectly.
You can "tickle" people, blow kisses, talk on pretend phones and say "hello."
You say bird, pretty (all the time) "WAZ TAT" (whats that!?) and point when doing so.
A sentence you say, mainly when were shopping somewhere and you're in the cart with your little finger going, "WAZ TAT? PETTY. WAZ TAT? PEEEETTTY!!"
Everything is pretty to you.
I've taught you to successfully "Meow" which i find great pride in. And you've also discovered how to go up and down steps. (Not a staircase mind you- just one or two little steps.)

You, my dear are perfect and I love you very much.
I can't believe in less than a month i'll have a toddler. A 1 year old.
I'm dying.
And i'm also trying to work on a video for you. (Here come the tears..)

Xoxoxo,
Mama.

Sometimes you have to slow down..

Life is going too fast these days. Lilly is moving around like a toddler, almost walking and having 'spills' all around the house.
Either she's going to need a helmet or a bubble- because all I see are sharp edges and deathly things she can brake her arm off on.
Anyway, I'm so busy chasing after this little girl that everything in my house is half done. Some dishes, some laundry, some dinner. It's ok though, because I do believe this is my favorite stage of baby. She's so fun, so smart and just amazing.
She is repeating words such as, 'babe', 'pretty', 'bath'... She's in other words amazing.
And that's a quick update on my phone while I rock this Dove for her nap. Xoxo,

The new cuddle monster-

I am so happy lately that Lillian wants to cuddle now! She used to only cuddle when it was time for bed.
Now, it's during the day, early mornings and just when she watches tv she wants to be held and rocked. I adore this phase so much. I know part of it is her teeth coming in- but who cares. She snuggles me and that's what's important and adorable.
My heart swells holding her close.

10 month post (a little late! and a photo freaking overload!)

Oh little girl. You're not so little at all. You're an easy 20 lbs. and a good 29 inches long. (STILL HUGE)
You have learned oh so much within this small month span, it's been our busiest and biggest yet.
Christmas day was a biggy. Toys out the wazoo, family time to the max and oh how you loved the wrapping paper and flinging ornaments off the tree the most.

TEETH:



Oh my, you just popped your big right front tooth through this week, and lefty is following right behind. No need to say how adorable your smile is getting with all of these teeth. And not too mention the crooked bottom chompers make that grin a zillion times more adorable.

FOOD:


You love food. You still drink bottles a couple of times a day, but mostly early morning and bedtime.
You're more about people food. We gave up baby food last month and I've just all together stopped with that and anything that involves a spoon. You eat what we eat. I cut it up and put it on your tray and you go to town. I still give you your utensils just so you know they are there but you mostly chew on them or throw it for the cats to lick. -_-
Your current favorites are peas, sliced turkey, French cut green beans, spinach, oranges and Cheetos. Yum. You're also in love with any rice or pasta. It's amazing that you can feed yourself and are such a big girl now.

SLEEP:


This just recently got better. You were doing awful, waking up here and there but it was mostly that nasty ear infection we couldn't get rid of. We were on 3 different antibiotics and got a rocefen (sp?) shot that finally got rid of that horrid thing. Now you go to bed between 9-10 pm (if you go any earlier, you wake up at the butt crack of dawn, and I just can't do that.) and you usually wake up to eat around 6 am, and then fall back asleep until 9-10 am. All in all, I love that schedule. And you seem happier and less cranky during the day.
Naps are a thing with you. Somedays you'll sleep for a good 1-2 hours during your nap but other days its 45 minutes top. It's just what you're feeling I guess, either way. I'm fine with it all if you're happy throughout the day.

THINGS YOU'RE DOING:


CRAWLING. You real crawl now my Dove! You were doing the bear crawl for a while, and the scoot. And now you just take off like you've done it all along. You've discovered you can go outside of the living room, and there is a whole world to explore. You find the cats water dishes and splash in them. You pull all of my records off the shelves. You find the littlest piece of crumb on the floor and cram it in your mouth. (even though I vacuum seriously like twice a day.) I've also become your personal jungle gym. You climb over me and on me constantly all day. ALL DAY. Whether I'm sitting or standing, you find me or one of my limbs and begin to climb. You've become a monkey...
You can pretty much walk. I can hold onto one hand and you just walk with me. You walk around the house hanging onto things (couch, walls, chairs) and you do it so well. You can take steps without us pretty far, but still get a bit scared when you realize you're alone. I find it oddly strange that you learned to pretty much walk and crawl within the same month. Strange, strange child.
You talk constantly. You can sing "ROW ROW" (you're boat), "Babe", call the kitties with your special noise *video included at the bottom* and will repeat anything pretty much (or try to.) You say baba still for bottle, mama, dada, and uh-oh. Your new thing that is so freaking adorable which no one knows where you go it from is "WOW." Anything new you see, or interesting, you say, "WOW" in a whispering voice that is to die for. You really are surprised when you say it and use it in the right context. You're a freaking genius. You also have a thing with pointing at what you want or where you want to go, and you wave. You wave hello and goodbye. So adorable, and makes strangers wanna squeeze you i'm sure, cause I do every time you do it. You do something new everyday that surprises us, and it's amazing that in 2 months you'll be a year old. I'm almost 100% sure you'll be walking before then, and probably talking even more. I can't imagine my life without you. You're my best friend Dovie, and I love you.
And now here comes super photo overload! ^_^






I love you so much baby girl!
XOXO,
Mama.