We are all alive!

Gosh... I have been really "rotten" about updating lately. Our oldest daughter who will be 17 in June had been challenging us with "HER" independence a lot lately. She was involved in a auto accident as a passenger that she should not have lived through and walked away with fairly minor injuries. We are very Blessed! This occurred one week after Easter and the day after Lily started walking! See.... a lot has happened and I have failed to record it the way that I wanted to, :( This saddens me because those thoughts and moments will be lost forever. :/

We had a lovely Easter, the weather was unseasonably warm. We were able to put Lily in a onsie on the deck while she colored her own eggs. She loved it! (I will post photos later)

Early Intervention came out twice for Lillians annual review. The first time they came out, she was not yet walking. So, her gross and fine motor skills were marked at 12 months. The second visit a speech therapist came out and got her to walk!!! She has not stopped since! LOL While she was here she placed at 20 months for her communication skills! She was using 3 word patterns! She was very impressed with her "skills!" We are estatic!!!

Here is a video clip of Lily chasing her "dada."



Between both girls, we have been extremely busy! I will return SOON with many pictures and etc. Oh... and Lily goes for her next CT scan and follow up with her Neurosurgeon the end of this month.

Can we go outside today?

The last couple of days it has been raining. Lily LOVES to be outside. She loves to gather pine cones, pine straw, sticks, rocks and especially gumballs! Her apparent love for the outdoors is heartwarming!

Even though she refuses to walk she is not opposed to climbing! Here is a snapshot of her this morning, checking out the current weather conditions...... more rain. :/

Walking and Curls

We are diligently working with Lily to get her walking. I failed to mention that the therapists suggested weighing down her stroller/walker. That way it helps the strengthen her core and help her with her balance. We added 2 lbs to it and she flings that thing around with ease again. It may be time to add more weight. :D

Here are a couple of photos of her after her bath tonight... notice the curls!??? They come from me! LOL Personally, I think that she mostly looks like her daddy.. she has my eyes (the shape) but now the curls are forming too. I really hope that Dr. D doesn't shave them all off when she has to have her surgery this summer. :/

Early Intervention Evaluation

Early intervention came out to evaluate Lillian this morning. They were very pleased with her progress since their last visit however, She is a little behind in a couple of areas. :/ Lets start with the good.. (not that the other is bad) Emotionally and socially she is at a 16 month old level. So, she is "advanced there." She is at the 12 month mark for gross motor skills and the 12 month mark for fine motor skills. The specialist said that when gross motor skills are delayed the fine motor skilled are as well b/c she is not capable of doing the "big" stuff yet. Like walking. She is not considered 25% delayed so they can not offer services BUT, did give me several exercises to do with her and they will re-evaluate when she is 18 months to ensure she has caught up. We are to work with her on strengthening her core muscles with a stability ball and this will also help with her balance.

We were asked if she is able to climb stairs. I know that she likes to try and walk up them when we are holding her hands but we live in a brick ranch and they only stairs available to her are the brick ones in front of our home. They suggested that I pull the cushions off the couch and let her climb up the couch that way. (Great idea.. why don't I think of things like that!!!!???) So, I fed Lily lunch right after they left and promptly pulled the cushions off the couch and arranged them like they suggested and before I could even finish putting them in place, she had already climbed them and was standing there jumping up and down.... holding on of course. So... that is one thing she mastered in mere minutes of them leaving. :D We have to work with her on stacking her blocks. She just isn't really interested in this... she wants to knock them down. LOL

I am so grateful that we have this service, that we can focus on the areas that she needs to keep her progressing.

15 months old

Amazing.... time has gone by so fast! I can hardly believe that Lillian is 15 months old today! :) This past weekend we had a little taste of Spring, the weather was just beautiful! We took advantage of "daddy" having the day off and went to the park for a little while. we had a really nice time.

Early intervention is coming out to do Lily's yearly evaluation. A Physical Therapist is coming out as well to make sure that Lily is just taking her time walking. I will be back tomorrow to post what they have to say.

Here are a couple of photos of Lily at the park. :)

Perfection....

Lillian is perfecting her "walk." Personally, I think that she is fully capable of walking now but secretly perfecting her run! :)

I'm a naughty momma....

Why am I a naughty momma??? Because, I have not been by to post updates. :/ I have been busy "working." Taking care of our home, creating a couple of websites, and working as a real estate assistant. (all from home of course) God is good, he has been aligning things perfectly. Lily is doing great. She is not yet walking on her own but cruises the furniture and pushes her high chair around the kitchen, and uses her baby walker. (looks like a baby stroller) We just bought her a couple new pairs of shoes and they came in the mail today. They looked so big but fit as they should. I guess she is just getting "big." When I look at her I see a toddler.

Yesterday, I had to take her older sister to multiple Dr. appointments so Lily stayed with her daddy all day. :D They had a blast. The weather was beautiful yesterday, mid 70's. Here are a couple photos.

New milestone....

Lily is still practicing "walking." I have been noticing that her balance isn't real good...and her legs seem a bit stiff. :/ I am going to continue to watch her.. Early Intervention should be coming out again soon to evaluate and if she sees her Dr. before then I'm going to mention it. It could be nothing... Like I said before, I do not want to miss anything! She will be 14 months old on Monday! Wow... she is a "big girl."

Onto her newest milestones and the funny things she is doing... She is real good at taking objects out of containers and today for the very first time, she put her "cookie" in the milk jug! Yeah!!! She did it over and over... it was very sweet. When she wakes in the morning or from a nap she will have her binkie in her mouth. I pick her up and ask her, "Do you need that binkie?" She then pulls the binkie out of her mouth and throws it in the crib! This morning I could have sworn she said "big girl" after she did this.

So.... now onto the funny and kind of bizarre. LOL

She has done this several times now. She will lift my shirt and start to poke my belly button.. then she puts the same finger into her mouth.. she will do it over and over again... (I'm grateful that I keep it clean..lol) so yesterday, she shared my belly button with me... she kept putting her finger in my belly button then put her finger in my mouth. ???? I wonder what she thinks a belly button is???? LOL She had me laughing so hard! She is such a joy!

Here is a photo of sisterly love..

Popping........in

Well, last week was indeed eventful. I am thankful for the snow that we had b/c it put daddy behind in work and in turn I was unable to go to work at night. (That is not what I am thankful for) Ms. Lily has had a terrible cold! Fever, runny nose, sneezing, and a bad.. bad.. cough! Poor Lil-Lil! You see, the snow enabled me to be able to be home with her in the evenings. Daddy and I agreed that it may have been to much for only one of us to handle. Ever since, she has started waking about 10 pm to 10:30 pm... each night.. screaming crying... when I go into her, she is standing. I pick her up and rock her for just a few minutes and she is back asleep... ???? I am hopeful that this doesn't turn into a new "normal." I'm wondering if she is experiencing some separation anxiety? I suppose time will tell.

On top of her cold, I think that I see her 5th tooth coming... and she is going through another developmental change. She is playing with her toys differently again and.... has just started to be REALLY interested in walking. (She had not walked with her baby walker since I posted that video..lol) She has been pushing it all over the house, going through the kitchen cabinets and etc... Oh boy.... I LOVE her.. she is SO curious! Praise God... however, I do look forward to nap time some days. :)

PhotoShoot!

One of my best friends daughters (I don't feel old enough to have a best friend that has a daughter that is 22! hehe..) came out with her family yesterday and took some AMAZING photos of Lillian. She was able to grab one photo of both girls. Victoria was on her way out the door and paused long enough to take ONE photo with her sister. I was pleased to see that it turned out nicely! :D

Here is a link to the set that she has posted on her blog: