Waving bye bye
Liliana has mastered waving! Who needs words when you can say hello and goodbye with your hands and just laugh in between?

Talk to me baby!

We had our 9 month check up today and were surprised and relieved to learn that there were no vaccinations. She has gained 3 pounds and grown an inch since her last check up. I guessed her weight right but I really thought she was 1 or even 2 inches longer.
Once again she is falling behind in some key milestones. She should be crawling, pulling herself to standing and, the one that concerns me the most, babbling. I know she will be crawling any day now and she actually almost pulled herself to standing tonight in her crib so I am not concerned at all about those 2. However, she never babbles or says the mamama bababa. In fact, other than her high pitched squeals and laughter she is amazingly quiet. So now I am stressing myself out that something is wrong with her. Don't get me wrong, she is amazingly healthy and happy- I guess I am going to stop speculating right now and just wait and see where we go over the next week.

Liliana has just fed herself Cheerios for the first time

(this note came from a text message). I just learned I can update the blog by texting from my phone. This means that there will be short, real time entries to document cool things as they happen!

Life as we know it

Tomorrow marks Liliana's 9 month birthday. Chris and I were talking this morning and we both said we are trying so hard to live in the moment. Not only with Liliana but with each other and ourselves. We are both very nostalgic people and I can only speak for myself but few things make me emotional like thinking of the past. I am easily affected by movies and shows that speed through the characters lives and recap the storyline through flashbacks or memories. The final episode of Six Feet Under had me holding back tears as hard as a could because I felt ridiculous crying about a television show. Still, my lips were quivering uncontrollably and I had a huge lump in my throat as I learned the fate of all the characters I had become so close to through years of faithful viewing. Then last night I had the same reaction to the movie Marley and Me (I never read the book). Not sure if it hit so close to home because we had just put Zeppo down and we are starting our own family, but I cried. This time I didn't hold it back- I don't care any longer if it is ridiculous or not- I wanted to cry so I did. I think it is one of those lessons you learn as you get older. The movie isn't deep or terribly philosophical but something about it resonates with me. In the end the oldest boy is watching video of himself as a baby with Marley. I recognized at that moment that I have my own family and together we are making memories for Liliana. I also realized we need a better video camera to start documenting her life more actively than we have been.
Okay, so on to new Liliana activities:
Her clapping is waning- I think the novelty wore off. She now likes to watch her hand open and close- very intently. She has taken raspberry noises to a new level. Two nights ago after I put her to bed, she was making raspberries loud and strong for close to 5 minutes. I almost wet my pants I was laughing so hard. It could be due to the intense teething going on. Also when she is alone in bed she laughs at Wally Kowalski (her stuffed Koala). She holds him and laughs- it is really wonderful to hear. She still is not crawling but it giving it a great effort. New prediction- 2 weeks from today she will be crawling. She is standing with support- very strong legs. She loves to stand on her changing table and look at the 2 cat pictures on her wall- that is her latest fascination- she LOVES those pictures!!
Watching her learn new stuff will never get old for me. For example, there is an elephant head on her Jumperoo. The face is turned away from her and is on a resistant spring. I turned it around for her one day and it snapped back. She tried to turn it around herself after that but was just pulling on the head so it didn't turn. The next time I put her in the jumperoo a couple of days later she turned it around with no problem- the kid is a genius. This morning I gave her a tube of blistex and a tub of lip ointment to play with (I was in bed and that is what was on my nightstand). She held one in each hand and examined both very intently. Then she started gently hitting them together. I relayed this to Chris (b/c in my mind it is something pretty cool) and he said "great! she now has a brain of a Neanderthal- making progress!" It was funny.
Finally, we spent the last couple of days with Chris' family who is in town visiting. Yesterday was cousin Maximillian's 2nd birthday. She really enjoyed being around Max. He would give her kisses. She is learning how to kiss back. She puts her lips on my face when I ask for a kiss- I love it so much!
So my long weekend with Liliana is coming to an end. She is about to wake from her morning nap. We have a Memorial Day BBQ down the street later today (weather permitting). I love being with her so much and have major nanny anxiety lately. I will save that for the next post-

Esther Williams Eat Your Heart Out!

My well traveled baby, Chris and I have just returned from a long weekend in Florida visiting Chris' parents. We left during what was looking like Spring in Chicago. We were prepared with infant sunscreen, sweet sun hats, swim diapers, cute floaty toy for the pool and tiny sunglasses. I remembered to pack a swimsuit for myself and enough underwear to get me through the weekend- boy have my priorities changed!
While in Florida Liliana showed us that she is REALLY close to crawling but failed to achieve that milestone on vacation like I had hoped. I just have a feeling I am going to miss this one- I imagine it will happen one day while I am at work- hmmph.
She loved the pool and felt at home in her new floaty toy. She seemed to really enjoy the incredible heat in Florida. She ate great, slept great and was just so much fun to be around all weekend. She claps constantly and just loves life from what I can tell.
She has mastered the art of squealing incredibly loud. This is cute but caused a little shock on the airplane. My initial reaction was to put my hand over her mouth but I quickly realized that was not going to work- she wouldn't understand what that means.

Alright, I need to start taking notes for the blog. I have so many thoughts and ideas to write about but when it comes time to update, all I can think of to say is- ah, she is great, cute, fun blah blah blah. I swear I have an inner writer in me but she hasn't been unleashed. Maybe I shouldn't be blogging while trying to watch the Real Housewives Reunion show.

Next time, detailed notes will hopefully result in a more detailed, insightful entry.