Happy 1st Birthday!

Happy 1st Birthday Lilli!! Congratulations. You made it through the year. Today, Lilli you are going to experience another first. We are going on a ferry. It's a very small ferry and the trip will only take 10 minutes. On the other side of the water is a small and beautiful island called Lummi Island. We are going to stay for the weekend in a lovely big house with our friends Eric and Gail. We will visit the beach and look for shells, watch for glimpses of the snowy mountains, play with all your new toys and enjoy the bubbles in a hot tub. What a way to welcome in your 2nd year.

Weight: 20 lbs 11.5oz (50th %ile)

Height: 30" (75th %ile)

Head Circumference: 18" (50th %ile)

In Love with Lilli

Lilli has the biggest, widest most beautiful smile which is accentuated by dimples and shining happy eyes.

Lilli has a wonderful mischievous look - what is she thinking!!

Playing tickle and chase and sizzle games on the bed and listening to Lilli laugh and giggle and pant from all the fun.

Warm cuddles and snuggles with a sleepy, red cheeked Lilli after naps.

"Bumping heads" and seeing Lilli's gorgeous blue eyes looking up at me.

Holding Lilli's relaxed body, feeling Lilli's warm deep breath on my neck and her soft head pressed into my shoulder when she snuggles into me before bed while I'm singing her lullaby.

Watching Lilli marching around the living room, straight legged, with her walking cart.

Oh so touchable, soft skin.

Massaging Lilli's little sturdy and chunky legs, especially as she's insistently climbing the couch or waving them in the air while nursing.

Lilli's quick foot stamping and body swaying dance to the musical soothing plastic aquarium.

What's Up with Lilli

Lilli is growing up quickly!! She changes from week to week.

Body Parts

Walking and Cruising

Cereal Thief

Fake laughter

Book fun

Shadow games with Daddy

Impatience

Pointing

Lilli's Birthday Party

We celebrated Lilli's 1st Birthday with an early party on Saturday evening. Uncle Dave, Auntie Lynn, Auntie Laurie, Uncle Greg and cousins Gemma, Max and Emily joined us for dinner. Lilli had so much fun playing with her cousins. She thinks her birthday presents are awesome. Thank you Smith Family! They were wrapped up so beautifully and the ribbon was bright and scrunchy and curly. Inside the colourful paper Lilli discovered a spotty pink ball, rubber building blocks of all sorts of colours, a cell phone which looks just like Mummy's and Daddy's and a very cute summer outfit. Uncle Dave let Lilli eat lots of crackers which is one of Lilli's favourite foods. She is very good at stealing the bigger cracker pieces from Uncle Dave's hands when he is distracted!! Lilli was a little tired at dinner and did not enjoy Daddy's pulled pork. Everyone else thought it was delicious. Birthday cupcake was yucky too, but the candle was entrancing. Uncle Dave and Uncle Greg also had candles in their cupcakes. Lilli unfortunately was too tired to enjoy all of dinner and went to bed before everyone left. Lilli turns 1 on Friday 28th May. She's looking forward to opening some more presents.

Shoe Shopping

Lilli and Mummy went shoe shopping today. We bought Lilli her first pair of proper shoes. Lilli picked them out. They are pink and pretty. Lilli loves them, although she curls her toes under when she is wearing them. They help her stand. They anchor Lilli to the floor. When Lilli walks in them she lifts her feet high and sometimes does a little dance.

Happy Birthday Granny!

Lilli would like to say, if she could, Happy Birthday Granny! We miss you! It's been just over a week since Granny flew home on the big airplane. We watch lots of airplanes crossing the sky above our heads in the garden. Since the weather has been so beautiful since Granny left we've been spending plenty of time in the garden. Lilli loves picking daisies. Sadly the garden at home has no daisies. Just some intriguing tomato plants which can not be touched by little curious fingers. Walking on the grass in bare feet is fun. The grass tickles Lilli's toes. She holds on tightly to Mummy's hands and stomps and sways around the lawn. Lilli wears a big floppy hat which sometimes falls over her eyes. Lilli doesn't like the hat that much, but Mummy thinks she looks adorable.

Today, besides being Granny's birthday, is swimming day. We haven't been swimming for a long time because Lilli has been sick with two colds! After swimming we are going to have a picnic in the park and then enjoy the swings and watch the ducks. Yesterday we went to Ravenna Park and walked through a cool ravine with a pretty stream. Lilli paddled in the stream and squished her feet into the cool sandy stream bed. Lilli rode in the backpack which was very fun. She enjoys pulling Mummy's hair and kicking her to make her walk faster.

Tonight we're going to see Uncle Mike who is visiting Seattle. Lilli is excited to see her cousins and Auntie Laurie's dog. She may even get to stay up later than usual. She'll hear all about Uncle Mike's upcoming tandem bicycle odyssey across America with Auntie Steph.

Lilli would like to say that she thinks May is the best month for a birthday. Nana also has a May birthday (Lilli says "Happy Belated Birthday Nana") and Lilli's 1st birthday is in two weeks. Mother's Day was kind of like a birthday for Mummy. Daddy took Mummy and Lilli out for breakfast at Mummy's favourite cafe. Lots of people surprised Mummy when they wished her a "Happy Mother's Day." She didn't even know some of them. Daddy and Lilli also gave Mummy a lovely card and some pretty flowers. In fact Mummy says Mother's Day was better than her birthday. This year Mummy, Daddy and Lilli will be in Montana for Mummy's birthday. Mummy wants to go horse riding, but Daddy is not so sure! Lilli is too little to ride on a big horse. If she's lucky then she might get to play with her favourite uncle, Uncle Pete.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

We had a wonderful couple of weeks with Granny. Mummy enjoyed seeing her Mummy so much. They talked a lot. Lilli loved playing with Granny. She had some fun games to teach Lilli. In particular Lilli loved the game where finger puppet turtle swims across the rug to nibble on her toes. Turtle then spots a perfect dark corner to hide and swims up Lilli's trouser leg!

Granny's visit was also memorable due to a series of unfortunate events. The day after Granny arrived Lilli succumbed to a cold. Daddy came down with the cold next and finally Granny and Mummy gave in and suffered mildly. The cold epidemic forced us to cancel our weekend trip to Lummi Island with Eric and Gail. Everyone was very upset. Mummy, Granny and Lilli did visit the zoo, but the sun gave way to hail which turned into persistent rain. We all got very wet and didn't see many animals since they were tucked away into nooks and crannies to stay warm and dry. We did watch the baby gorilla playing with his Mummy. Granny and Mummy were fascinated by the gorilla's wonderful faces and expressions. Then of course, the ultimate unfortunate event was Lilli's tumble from the couch and our trip to urgent care.

However, Granny's stay brought some wonderful moments. Mummy and Daddy enjoyed a delicious meal at a local restaurant, Granny and Mummy went to the cinema. One afternoon, Lilli, Granny and Mummy met Daddy for lunch at Microsoft. And Lilli, Granny and Mummy shared lots of fun on the living room floor.