11 Months of Lil: Teething and Talking

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Our sweet LilliAnn is 11 months old! In just two short weeks she'll be a big 1 year old! This is so cliche, but I really can't believe how quickly the time has passed. She weighs 19 pounds and 8 ounces and has finally gained her weight back from when she was sick a few weeks ago. About two weeks ago LilliAnn got really sick and I was very worried about her. She had been running a low grade temperature for about a week, but since she's right in the middle of cutting two more teeth and had a little bit of a runny nose I didn't think much of the fever. We were at the lake that weekend when her fever spiked to 103. She vomited a few times, had diarrhea and a terrible runny nose, and wasn't eating. When her fever reached 104 and she woke up with a nosebleed, I really started to get worried. I had listened to her chest and knew that her lungs were clear, but didn't have my otoscope to look in her ears. The nurse practitioner I work with is a family friend and lives close to our lake house, so that evening I took her over there so she could look in her ears. We discovered that Lil's tonsils were red and huge and that she probably had tonsillitis/sinusitis. The next day I took her to the clinic and got LilliAnn a rocephin shot...her very first antibiotic and very first shot. LilliAnn hasn't had any immunizations yet, so I wanted to be sure and treat the infection. Rocephin is a miracle drug! She slept 2 1/2 hours and then woke up a completely different child! She was smiling, had her appetite back, and was running around the house again! Antibiotics are a great thing...when not overused!

She lost a little bit of weight when she got sick and so I have been trying to get her weight back up. I've gotten her to eat baby food again, which I love because I feel like it's easier to get her nutrients in that way. I started giving her baby cereal again in the mornings to get her iron level up and introduced meats, such as chicken and turkey. She's still breastfeeding several times a day and about one or two times at night. I'm not going to wean LilliAnn at a year like I did Reid. I nursed Reid until almost 13 months, but have decided to let LilliAnn wean herself. She's sleeping in her crib now for half of the night, then when she wakes up wanting to nurse I'll put her in bed with us. She still doesn't have much hair, but it's definitely going to be blond like her daddy's. Her eyes, however, have changed from dark blue/gray to a green/gray and I think they are going to end up being hazel/green like her mama's! She walks bow-legged, but chases Reid around with no problems! She has four teeth and is currently cutting two more on the bottom. 

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This past month, one of LilliAnn's biggest accomplishments has been talking. She's such a talker! She understands everything that you say to her and she is very good at communicating what she wants. LilliAnn just seems to do everything early! The other day I walked into the living room and she was trying to put her jacket and her shoes on herself...and she knew what she was doing! She's such a little smarty pants! Her big cheesy grin is contagious and her adorable personality lights up the room! As a friend of mine said about her daughter on Toddlers and Tiara's, "I couldn't have pre-ordered a better baby girl." We've started planning her "Button Birthday," and although it's bittersweet, I'm so excited to celebrate her big day!

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A Few of LilliAnn's Favorite Things:

-smiling

-throwing clothes into the bathtub

-chasing Reid around the house

-making animal sounds (especially a puppy dog sound and a pig sound)

-playing on the iPhone

-dancing 

-reading books, especially "Where is Baby's Belly Button?"

-doing flips

-throwing balls

-taking baths

-kissing her baby dolls

-playing the kazoo or blowing Reid's whistle

-crawling underneath the chairs to the kitchen table

-carrying around a sippy cup

-pulling Reid's hair to wake him up in the mornings

-putting things on her head

-M & Ms from Papa Kelbo

-suckers (that she takes from Reid)

-cheese

-popsicles

my baby

Sitting here unable to sleep (probably related to the excessive caffeine I drank tonight in order to get some late night grocery shopping and house cleaning done) approving LilliAnn's first birthday invitation for printing (a little late, I know. her bday party is in 2 weeks! Maybe I'm trying to delay her turning one!) and I start to get a horrible tummy ache. Yep...it's related to the anxiety of my baby girl turning one year old in just two short weeks! Really?!? Has it really been a year?

I start to think back on the last year and how quickly it passed. Did I enjoy it enough? Am I going to remember every little thing about her first year of life...like how soft her newborn hair felt when I would rub her little head or the way she looked all snuggled up in pink satin on our way home from the hospital that late, stormy night. I feel like I've already forgotten so
much about Reid's first year! Did I spend too much time taking pictures trying to capture every moment so I'd always remember and then miss out on all the "moments?"

One year. Such a short amount of time in a person's life...but so much happens in that first year.

Will I ever have anymore babies? Is this the last child I'll ever nurse? Will I never buy Pamper's swaddlers or jars of baby food again? Will I never wear another child in a baby bjorn on my chest or lay another baby down on an infant playmat? Probably not. And this...makes my tummy hurt. I have been blessed with two beautiful, healthy babies...one boy, one girl. They are my everything. They are my life. So for that I'm thankful...and I'm content. But I know... I'll sometimes long for that baby smell, for that warm little body to snuggle up against me as she nurses to sleep, and for that precious two-teeth smile.

And then I'll remember that I am not the only one who has babies that grow up. I am not the only mama who cries when they plan a first birthday. Those mommies that are pregnant, or feeding their baby for the first time, or watching in amazement as their little one learns to roll over...those babies have first birthdays too. I'm not alone in longing to re-live the precious moment when I held her for the first time. My mommy had a baby who grew up too...

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Be Mine

I know. It is a little late for the Valentine's Day post, but better late than never! I really wanted to have the kids picture taken together for Valentine's Day, but as you can tell from the above picture, Reid was NOT having it! Maybe because he is a guy, so he just wasn't all that into the "lovey-dovey" holiday. He was exhausted and not in a good mood, therefore we only got a few pictures of the two of them...and none of Reid smiling. You win some. You lose some....especially with two children two and under! I decided that these would be LilliAnn's 10 month pictures and I think they turned out great! I love the little hat with the rose on it!

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I was bribing him with everything in the world if he would just say, "cheese!"

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"Come one bubba! It's fun!"

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Love this one!

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My little love bug!

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I just wanted him to kiss his sister one time...didn't happen. 

But how cute are they?

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This year Jeb and I had two wonderful dates to celebrate Valentine's Day. The Saturday night before Valentine's we went out to eat with our friends, Chase and Stacey, at Embers Steakhouse at Firelake Grand Casino. We had a wonderful, relaxing evening with great friends that have known us forever! Chase and I went to preschool together! They're expecting their first child, Layla Grace, in April 16th. The same due date as I had one year ago with LilliAnn! I think they may have even gotten pregnant the night the four of us ate dinner at Embers the last time! ;)

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Monday was Valentine's Day and right before lunch I received this beautiful arrangement of a dozen roses at work! That night Jeb took me to Ada to my favorite restaurant, Papa Gjorgio's, where we used to go for our "date night" when we lived in Ada. Chase and Stacey just moved to Ada, so they joined us again for another Valentine's Day dinner! As I was driving to Ada I said, "the only thing that would make this drive better is a little "Always Be My Baby" by Mariah Carey." The next thing I knew Jeb had downloaded it on his iPhone, plugged in the auxillary cord, and said, "This song goes out to by beautiful wife, Kelli Ann Rollins, on Valentine's Day. You'll always be my baby." Then "doo doo doot, dom...doo doo doo, doot doot doot dom," started playing over the radio. I love that man!

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They smelled SOOOO good! 

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Valentines for my Valentines

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Jeb and I got Reid and LilliAnn a Valentine's Day basket. They were so excited! Reid said, "thank you mama for getting this stuff tor (for) me!"

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Sissy's favorite thing was a Dora the Explorer microphone that played Dora songs!

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Reid's favorite thing was bubbles!

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She tried to unwrap every piece of candy in her basket, lol!

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kisses for sis

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This was the first time Reid had ever worn a pink shirt and when Jeb put it on him he said, "this is sissy's shirt, dada!"

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Hope you enjoyed this quick little V-Day picture post! 

Reid's Words

"I need donuts. Nana got some for me yesterday. No! I don't want to wear those jeans. I want spiderman jeans! Jett has spiderman jeans!"

Me: "Look at the back of these jeans. They kind of look like spiderman."

"No they don't. They're not red! I don't want to go to Walmart and buy them. I want to buy them at the mall. (Looking out the window). I need them acause (because) it's kinda dark outside daday (today)."

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Melt My Heart

Lying in my bed with Reid and LilliAnn for nap time...nestled between two beautiful children...half-way asleep as I nurse LilliAnn...Reid's watching Curious George and starts to snuggle up against my back...I hear the sweetest voice in my ear...

"I wuv you mommy. You are the best."

I turn over and a little blonde-haired boy is fast asleep on the edge of my pillow.
#meltmyheart

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Dinosaur Bones

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History in Norman. Reid is really  into dinosaurs right now and couldn't wait to see real "dinosaur bones!" We had a nice little time at the museum, although Reid is still too young to understand a lot of the exhibits. He did, however, enjoy looking at the dinosaur bones and seeing the big mammoth at the center of the museum. He carried the map around and led the way stopping at each exhibit to say, "Wook at that!" "Hey guys, come here! Wook at that big dinosaur!" 

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 Sissy was very interested in the dinosaur bones too!

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 "What's that dinosaur's name, mama?" "Is it t-rex? Or little foot?"

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 "hmmmm...I think we should go...THIS WAY!"

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This was supposed to be his "prize" after taking Valentine's pictures this day, but we had a meltdown at the studio and he was NOT having a photo shoot. I was disappointed that he wouldn't get in even one picture with his sister, but understanding that it was his nap time and that he's only two, we still went to see the dinosaur bones!  

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 Reid said, "Take a picture of that, mama! Wook at all those teeth!"

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 He found one of my cameras in LilliAnn's diaper bag and wanted to take pictures too!

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 Reid - The Photographer!

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One of Reid's pictures...look how good he did!

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He's still needs a little more practice :)

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 Cheese!

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 Sissy did not want to be held! She was all over the place!

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He thought this mammoth was pretty cool!

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More of Reid's pictures...

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I helped him with this one.

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I loved seeing what all he took pictures of, lol!

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A picture with my sweet baby girl

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Kisses for mommy!

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Love this!

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This is the only "Valentine" picture I got of the two of them! When you have a 10 month-old and a 2 year-old, sometimes you've got to take what you can get!! We had a fun, little family day and Reid can't wait to go back and see more "dinosaur bones!"