On the move

That's right, folks.  We have a crawler!

Three weeks ago, Lilly started doing this backwards, shimmy, scooting movement.  If she was on her tummy, she would slowly but surely move backwards.  She wasn't moving anywhere fast, and I'm not even sure it was intentional, but it happened. However, she hadn't quite figured out that a forward motion would be necessary.

Nobody puts baby in the corner!

Anyways, a few days ago (with a little influence from her cousins, I'm sure), in the presence of her Grandma and Grandpa Bruno and thanks to an empty water bottle, Lilly started crawling.  Forward.  That evening when I got home from work, I did whatever I could to get her to show off her tricks.  Necklaces.  She loves, necklaces.  And just like that, she was showing off her psuedo crawl with a peg leg of sorts.  It was a very proud mama moment.  If she's not having the toy or her current location, she just crawls on over to the new toy/location of her choosing.  I'd be lying if I said it wasn't fun.

Well, the baby-proofing we'll be spending our weekend doing won't be too fun.  But, oh well!

8 months!

Hold on. Where did our baby go?!?!  If I look real hard, I can still see bits of that sweet, teeny-tiny, snugly newborn who could barely keep her eyes open long enough to finish a feeding.

Now she's a big girl who resembles a toddler more than a newborn.

She's so intrigued by the world around her, learning new things everyday, and on the verge of crawling and, quite frankly, walking. I think back to before our wedding when people would say, "enjoy every second, the day goes by way too fast."  Boy, were they right! Fast forward to when we were parents for a few hours and people said, "enjoy every second, they grow up so fast."  Let's just say we are surrounded by friends and family that tell it like it is. These past eight months have gone by in the blink of an eye.  Thank God for cameras and blogs so that we can look back and recall just how much has changed since June 20th.

While we don't have a check-up until next month, we can still say with confidence that she's in the 90+ percentile for height, weight and head size.  She's in 18 mo clothes and a 12-24 mo size sun hat that my mom got her is too small... She has 7 teeth and it seems more are trying to break through.

Likes: Hearing the sound of my own voice (ma-ma-ma-ma and ba-ba-ba-ba are common sounds in our household these days), when mommy and/or daddy get home, crawling backwards (haven't quite figured out the forward motion), eating puffs, sitting on my daddy's shoulders, playing peek-a-boo, playing in the water/pool, going on walks

Dislikes: Being tired, being sick, teething

Our Lil' Valentine

For our first Valentine's Day as a family of three, we planned on a nice little evening at home with our loves.  A little playtime after work, feed Lilly and put her down for the night before cooking dinner, and enjoying some vino, chocolate and a new puzzle.  Spending quality time together.

Little did we know, we would be spending a lot more QT with each other than expected.  Unfortunately, Lill came down with her first sickness this week and last night was our first really rough night of sleep with her. She had a good run...8 months of healthy sleep-filled nights!  We're not complaining!

The poor girl was too congested to get comfortable and settle into a good sleep.

Instead, the night was filled with sniffles, tears, and coughs....whistling, snuggling, steam-filled bathrooms and a few cat-naps. It was also filled with so much love and tenderness. It broke our hearts to see our sweet girl so uncomfortable, frustrated and overtired but we all made it through.  Together.    

Our little fish

Corey and I were both fortunate enough to grow up with swimming pools in our backyards.  We are hoping that Lill is fortunate enough as well as we are looking into the options of having a pool installed this spring.  Whether in our own pool, or at the pools of friends, family or the neighborhood, we're hoping that Lill has the same love of the water (especially given the heat of STL summers).  Most importantlly, we want her to feel comfortable in the water and learn water safety ASAP.  Therefore, we decided to start her in swim lessons at about 7 months old.  She's had two lessons so far and I think it's safe to say we have a little fish on our hands!  This wasn't really a big surprise as she's a big fan of bath time as well.

Happy 7 months!

Lilly is 7 months old today!  She is growing so fast and her personality is showing a little more each day. She has another tooth on the top left of her mouth and a few others on top that are starting to break through! She's not quite on the move and doesn't seem like we'll be there soon.  She's content sitting wherever we put her and leaning/reaching for toys that are around her.  While she's starting to get into a crawling position, it's only a matter of a few seconds before she's flat on her tummy.

(We won't have updated height/weight information until 9 months but can tell you that she's proportionate to prior months...the 95th plus percentile across the board)

Likes:  Sweet potatoes, yogurt, and we haven't come across a fruit yet that she doesn't devour, bathtime, chewing on her fingers, sucking her thumb and getting her hands on everything and anything she's not supposed to (remote, cell phone, necklace, etc. vs. the hundreds of toys we have around here)

Dislikes:  Peas, carrots, being tired and Uncle Kyle's sneeze (today she spent the day with her cousins, Aunt Meredith and Uncle Ky and was apparently scared to tears by 2 of his loud sneezes :-))

Swingin' in the sun!

This past weekend we made our first trip to the park with Lill!  Technically she's been to the park, but not when she was able to use any of the equipment.  Last Monday during the Polar Vortex/Snowpocalypse, I couldn't help but look at the 10 day forecast to see if there was any end in sight.  Much to my surprise, it said that just a few short days after the negative degree temps it was going to be in the high 50's and sunny.  Even though we figured it'd be a muddy mess, we put our park date on the calendar.  Sunday came around and it was beautiful.  We headed out the door with the 'big camera' in tow (had to be sure to capture her first time on the swings!).  Clearly I had forgotten that anytime we put Lill in a cute outfit and/or plan to take pictures, she is guaranteed to have a big diaper blow-out.  That's right folks, just as we pulled into the park, CB and I heard the dreaded noise that we knew would result in stripping Lill down.  Luckily we had all the tools and were able to lay her out in the back of the Enclave to do so and still make it to the swings for some fun.  As we expected, Lill was a fan!  We didn't stay long as the chilly wind picked up but we will definitely be back once the weather starts to warm up.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Mommy - daughter matching Sperry's

GO GREEN...GO WHITE!!

I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me one proud mama that the "Go green....go white!" chant is almost guaranteed to bring a big smile to our little Lill's face.  It's no surprise, I guess, given that in her lifetime she's only seen one MSU Basketball loss and one MSU football loss.  All she knows is MSU bball ranked in the top 5 in the country.  She's seen MSU become the B1G champs and go on to win the Rose Bowl and she's seen them finish the season #3 in the country.  The Bruno household is loving the powerhouse that the Spartans have become...not only in basketball but in football, too!

I have been lucky to experience the awesomeness that is Spartan football in person this year.  Not once, not twice, but THREE times!  That's right, I have been away from my daughter overnight three times; all in the name of Spartan football.  The first was a quick 24 hour trip back to Michigan for the MSU vs U of M game and my best friend, Carly's, 30th birthday tailgate!  The second was a quick ~36 hour trip to Indy to meet my Dad for the B1G championship game.  The last.  Saved the best for last.  The last was a 48 hour trip (notice that each time was a little longer than the last) to Pasadena, California!  I met my family out there for a whirlwind, rose and Spartan-filled, two days.  Experiencing the Tournament of Roses parade and a Spartan WIN at the legendary 100th Rose Bowl, all while enjoying the perfect 75 and sunny Cali weather, with my Dad, Mom and brother was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I'll NEVER forget.  I also got to spend some quality time with our dear friend, Justin Dantonio (who now lives in NYC with his girlfriend ,Carly), and his family.

I will welcome anyone who wants to argue that I don't have THE. BEST. hubby in the world (for a lot of reasons but especially for supporting my crazy Spartan fandom).  He's a pretty amazing Dad, too.  Lucky, lucky me :-)

Daddeo and I before the B1G championship in Indy

My fellow Spartan sports obsessed friend, Jaclyn, from college

My friend, Niki's, husband and Dad joined Stevo and I (we missed Niki!)

Flights BOOKED!

My new Sparty flair!