The latest with Lillian is that she has started laughing, babbling more, reaching for objects and putting them in her mouth, and reaching to pet DB. She is becoming more coordinated in her movements, and she is so alert. If she hears something behind her, she will stretch her neck around to see what's happening. It literally feels like we are watching her grow right before our eyes. We love life with her. She is such a delight. She is right on the brink of crawling...well, I say that, but I've never been a parent, so perhaps she's still months away from this. It just appears that she is so close to crawling when she tucks her knees up under herself during tummy time and kicks her feet like she really wants to go somewhere. I can't wait to see her crawl, and I realize I've been so excited about that...but I want to slow down and not forget to just enjoy her where she is now, in these moments...because she won't be this small and exactly this way (and this stationary, no?) again. :)

Oh yes, I one more thing to report. While sleeping on her back at night, she has taken to lifting her feet/legs up simultaneously, and then slamming them down strongly onto her mattress. She does this both while awake and asleep, and it makes a loud thud that can be heard all thoughout the house. For the longest time, we couldn't figure out what that sound was. We thought it was coming from outside the house, or that somebody or something was in the house. But alas, the glories of video monitors have enabled us to discover that it's our dear little LillyBug...perhaps strengthening those abs so that she can continue to pull her knees up under her belly to start crawling...yea!!! Oh wait, let me slow down and enjoy the here and now. :)

Also, another realization we've had is that once Lillian has been doing something for awhile, we aren't quite as amazed by whatever it is. We used to want to film her when she reached her hand for something, but now we don't since she does that a lot. This is only natural, I suppose. But, it has made us realize that by the time the second child comes along and does these things, we will naturally be somewhat less amazed. But we still want to be intentional to show interest in the new discoveries and continued accomplishments of each child. Not that #2 is on the way...just thoughts.

So what does a day in Lillian's life usually look like? Well, it changes all the time, but for the past month it's been as follows:

7:30 wakeup and eat, then playtime

9-11:30 nap

11:30 wakeup and eat, then playtime

1:15-2:15 nap then playtime

3:00 eat, then playtime

5-6 nap, then wakeup and eat, then playtime until bed

7:30 bedtime

She wakes up happy and smiley. She's fussy in the evenings. If we want to eat out for dinner, we try to go at 4:30! Recently, she loves her two books that make noises (given to her by Granna and Granna's friend Evalyn). I've started talking about colors and the alphabet and shapes, and trying to do a little sign language. Just to get in the habit, mainly for myself so that I get used to doing these things, so that by the time she can understand, I'm already in the practice of doing them. Like reading Scripture to her, same thing. Plus I think the Word already has a powerful effect when read aloud. I'm trying to start praying out Scripture for her.

What else?...oh yes, she loves to suck her thumb these days. This was predicted by family and friends at Thanksgiving and has proven true. We're not fighting it. Oh yes, another thing... Lately she practically lives in the onesie sleeper outfits that have the little footies connected. Often there is some cute animal or design on the feet, and Lillian has started noticing these. This week for the first time, she wanted to touch the animal. She didn't seem interested in the fact that it was her foot (I hear this will come), but she grabbed her outfit up higher to try to pull it close. She didn't succeed, but it's fun to see her "brain stuff" developing. :)

She had a wonderful first trip out of town for Thanksgiving. We went to Kelby's parents' house in Columbia, SC. Granna and Pop had fun with her. The grandparents also take care of her on the days that I work (about 2 per month). Grammy and Granddaddy (my parents) were here last week.

Ok, enough writing for now-- enjoy some pictures!