Autumn Leaves

Here are more pictures from the park near our building.
Lily loves the leaves; she calls them flowers.

The Playground

Most of the apartment buildings in our neighborhood surround a large field with a playground at the center. Lily loves going there to play. If we are walking somewhere else and she can see the playground from the stroller, she points and squeals, asking "Go-go? Go-go?"

Here are some pictures from when we "went-went" this week.
Going down the slide all by herself.
This smile was for a little boy who came to play, too.
She played non-stop for almost two hours - one of those hours being part of her nap-time. She would have stayed all day if I let her, but I needed a nap, too. I don't know if you can tell how big this field is from the first picture, but Lily ran all over the place... so I chased her.

Pop Knots

For about a week now, Daddy has been (pretend) threatening to put a "pop knot" on Lily's head. Of course, she doesn't feel at all threatened. She just smiles and laughs. One time, she even put a hand on top of her head, as if to protect it. (She's starting to learn body parts, so she might have been just confirming that she knew where her head was.)

Anyway, Sunday afternoon, Lily gave herself a doozy of a "pop knot." She had just gotten up from a nap and was meandering somewhat aimlessly and quite drowsy through the house. I was in the kitchen and I thought I heard her talking to Daddy through the bathroom door. Then I heard a loud THONK, and she began to cry. I thought she had knocked on the door trying to get him to come out and was upset that she couldn't get in. When I realized it was an "I'm hurt" cry and not the "I'm mad" cry, I ran to see what happened. Lily had bonked her head on a narrow piece of wall between the two bedroom doors.

She cried a good while, and when she finally pulled away from my shoulder so I could she her face, a big ugly goose-egg was developing on her forehead. I could actually see it getting bigger as I stared at it. Poor Lily! I'd sob, too! I did count my blessings, however, that Lily's pediatrician is also a friend from church, who was coming over to visit in a matter of minutes. He marveled at the size of the bump, but assured me that she would be fine. The swelling had gone down considerably by the time he left.

You will forgive me if I do not post pictures of her "pop knot." That's just not cool. It's bad enough that I alluded to thinking head injuries are humorous.

Growing Up Too Fast

I baby-sat my friend's 6-week-old baby a couple weeks ago, and had brought out Lily's old lounging seat for him to lie in. After he was gone, Lily was very excited to be in it, too. I took a picture of her and began reminiscing about when she was much smaller. As I watched Lily playing with the toys, I wondered if she was reminiscing, too.

Babies grow up too fast. Look at the pictures and see for yourself.

Lily - 1 month (top), Lily - 1 year (bottom)

Mommy's Birthday

Mommy turned 28 this year. Presents included fun new games for the Nintendo Wii, flowers, and Daddy making Mexican Cornbread for dinner. Mommy made her own cake, but it turned out wonderfully delicious. As you can see, Lily devoured her mini-slice with more gusto than she had for her own birthday dessert.
There's always room for Jell-O cake!

Lily on the Phone

Lily is fascinated with telephones. She loves pressing the buttons to hear the different beeps or change the ringer style. She will also hold it up to her ear (or the general vicinity) and say "Oh!" for "Hello." (Although sometimes it sounds more like "doh" or "loh.")

If the real telephone happens to ring, she gets very excited, and answers whatever is at hand, which is actually quite often her own hand. Lily has also been seen talking on the TV remote. We like to pretend the phone is ringing just to see how creative she can be. Our favorite was when she answered one of her stuffed dogs by saying, "Loh, dog-dog!"

Mommy's Little Helper

For those who don't believe a 1-year-old is capable of helping with chores, I have evidence.



Lily is a great helper. She loves emptying the dishwasher - handing me plates, bowls, and silverware. She can reach the drawer that holds the big plastic serving spoons, so she can put those away if I open the drawer for her. Lily does need to learn the difference between dirty dishes that Mommy is putting IN the dishwasher and the clean ones that are ready to come out. And she needs to know that the silverware holder-thing stays inside the dishwasher.



Lily likes to help with the laundry, too. She puts wet items Mommy gives her into the dryer and adding the dryer sheet at the end (in the picture, she's clapping after putting it in), but the best part is pushing the "start" button on the dryer. Not everything that Lily puts in the dryer is supposed to go there, however. After spending 10 minutes looking for my shoes one day, I found one on the laundry room floor, the other in the dryer. And, like all kids, Lily eventually put herself in the dryer, too.

Happy Halloween!

Although this wasn't Lily's first Halloween, it was the first time she got to wear a costume and get candy! Lily was Snow White and looked absolutely lovely. We were all 7 dwarfs. Dad was Grumpy, and I was everyone else. (Check the T-shirts.) On Thursday the 30th, Dad and I took her to the Church's Trunk-or-Treat party, where costumed kids collect candy from the decorated trunks of cars. There were some carnival games, too, but Lily didn't seem that interested. She was very excited to see all of the kids (and grown-ups) in costumes. After scoring lots of yummy stuff, we brought our sleepy Snow White home. On Friday night, we dressed Lily up again, but stayed at home to hand out candy and watch a marathon of The Simpsons Halloween episodes. We had shockingly few trick-or-treaters to our building. Those that did come thought that Lily was cute, especially when she tried to follow them. Each group was wished well by an excited little girl, waving enthusiastically, and shouting "Buh-bye! Buh-bye!"
The Japanese don't celebrate Halloween, but are thrilled at the idea of dressing up and getting free (American) candy, when they are invited to participate. One of the groups to our door consisted of two Japanese moms with their preteen daughters and an American girl the same age. When Lily toddled out the door as I handed out the goodies, they all squealed. The young girls got down and hugged her, the moms came from down the hall to take Lily's picture with their cell phones. One of the older women recognized her as Snow White. Then the 3 girls grouped around Lily for more pictures. Lots of "Kawaii!" (Japanese for cute) and more "Buh-bye!" and plenty of waving.