SERENDIPITOUS WANDERINGS

best friends!

we had a play date today with lilyanna's friend brenna and her mommy. we see them about 3 or 4 times a week (but not usually over the weekends). today we walked to the grocery store and then had a little coffee break before walking back home. these photos are of lily and brenna enjoying a snack break at starbucks.

"hey! long time no see!"

"yeah, i know. we should get together everyday. wanna have some of my banana cookies?"

"sure! thanks. so what have you been up to the past couple of days, anyway?"

"oh, you know, drinkin' milk and moving around more all by myself."

"yeah. moving around is great, huh? thanks for sharing your snack with me."

we're gonna miss brenna and her family when we leave. we love getting together with her and her mommy for walks and play time.

a "stand-up" girl!

lilyanna is most happy when she is standing up. it has been this way for quite some time. the only difference is that she can do it all by herself now! (and she can get to sitting as well!) see the photo:

that was the first time she got up smoothly without help. she just reached up, put her feet under herself and pushed up! now, it's all she wants to do. she finds the nearest thing that's taller than her sitting position and grabs it and ta-da! standing! even if it means crawling to it.

this is one of her favorite places to stand.....on the back of the couch. she jumps/bounces continuously, so that's why the photos are blurry.

and another of her new things.....pointing. she points at everything!

more bouncing and pointing.....

"hey! are you taking pictures, AGAIN??! i'm trying to bounce here!"

all of this mobility means she is spending a bit more time in her exersaucer when we can be right there to keep her from falling or pulling something down on herself. it'll be so nice to have more space for her to explore.

"take me out to the ball game....."

we figured it was time to introduce lilyanna to the good ol' game of baseball. a bunch of friends were going in celebration of a birthday, so we joined in on the fun.

here we are at the start of the game. lilyanna is being silly!

she spent a little bit of time chewing on her ladybug...

then she tried to get into the cheering.....

and when the crowd got louder, lilyanna got scared. burrying into mommy's chest was a nice and safe place to be though.

after warming up to the cheering and doing some more of it herself, lilyanna took a time out.

today was actually not lilyanna's first game. we went to some games last season and this is a photo from the game we were at on the day bafore lilyanna started to make her entrance into the world. i figure she wanted to come out and see what all that excitement was all about, so today she saw with her own eyes! i look pretty tired there in the background. nothing says "the day before going into labour" quite like this photo of me! (it's a much better photo of our friends lucy and kevin!)

but this is actually closer to how i felt! this was taken on the subway ride either to the game or on the way home. i was feeling pretty good that day.

today was fun. lilyanna was a trooper. once she got used to the noise she seemed to really enjoy clapping and cheering. i thought lilyanna and i would have to leave early, but she did very well. everyone was impressed. what a good girl we have!

lovin' it!

this series of photos shows just how much lilyanna loves watching the videos i have taken of her. watching her watch a video is almost better than the video itself!

"hey now! don't interrupt me! now could you play that again?"

"yeah! this is great!"

"that video didn't just end, did it?"

"yes! there i am again!"

what a great smile! i have been so tired this week, feeling a bit run down. i guess that's why i forgot to update new photos. hopefully i'll get time throughout the packing process to post a photo or video more often than this week. we'll see how it goes.

those sideways looks......

.....are so funny! lilyanna loves the side glances and being looked at from eyes rolled up. here's a video showing just how much she loves it (and then daddy called to check in on his girl!):

and these giggles are after her first fever and vomiting last night. scary for mommy and daddy, but all was good in the morning. she's playing like herself, eating normally and her temperature is almost back to normal. just a little bug that lilyanna had no trouble fighting off. whew!

love.....

8 months old today.....

and lilyanna is crusin' and crawlin'!

you are getting more adventurous and fun everyday! we love you so much lilyanna!

snack time!

when we were in taiwan we picked up some gerber banana cookies for on the plane ride back here. it turns out lilyanna loves them. they melt in her mouth and she is always ready to enjoy some. at first she had a hard time getting them in her mouth.....but she figured it out pretty quick!

here she is getting one (or is it some??) in her mouth: