April 22 was Earth Day and Bring Your Child to Work Day, so the Green Team at my office (which is essentially just me and a few of my work friends) planned an event that would combine the two occasions.
First off, there was an Earth Day poster contest for all kids (children, grandchildren, friends, etc. of employees). JJ was pretty keyed up to submit a poster. Here's a picture of the posters submitted for JJ's age group. His is number 9. (I'm sorry to report he didn't win the contest.)
The night before the event, JJ stayed at our house. Thursday morning he went with me to drop Lily off at daycare and go to work. He helped me set up the event in the morning, then we went back to daycare to get Lily in time for the facility tour and pizza party. Here's a shot of me in the break room, walking Lily over to see her buddy Connor as we waited for the tour to start.
JJ had a good time on the tour. In this one he's in one of our labs, watching men work inside a clean room.
After the tour was over, we went back to the break room for some pizza and activities. Here's JJ planting a corn seed to take home with him.
The kids also all got presented with stainless steel Boeing water bottles and zip-up black leather Boeing folios. JJ was pretty pleased with his loot, but even more pleased at the number of engineers who came up to me to comment on what a smart kid he was and what great questions he had asked during the tour. Perhaps he's a budding engineer himself?
The end of Lily's birthday weekend is coming to a close. It was pretty action-packed. On Friday I got off work early to do some last-minute birthday party preparations. I picked JJ up from school and we both picked Lily up from daycare. When I walked into her room she was so happy to see me . . . until she saw JJ. She was grinning and shouting for him, calling out, "Hi, JJ!" while she scrambled to get over to him. I think having her brother pick her up from daycare was a pretty good treat for Lil.
We came home and saw that Lily had gotten some birthday cards in the mail. I let her open them, which she enjoyed.
She immediately stashed one of them away in her ice cream truck, which is where she puts all of her "treasures."
After that we had a make-your-own-pizza night for dinner with Jason before he left for work. Then JJ, Lily, and I rounded out her evening with some Nerf basketball. With JJ's help, she actually made a few shots.
She went to bed early Friday night, and got a good night of sleep. Saturday morning she got up and was raring to go. After polishing off her breakfast, she headed into the front room, where she got into the dog bed and clapped her hands, saying, "Dawg! Dawg!"
After that, Lily helped me put up the decorations for her birthday party, which was luau-themed. A couple of items immediately made their way into the (now overflowing) ice cream truck.
When JJ got up for the day, he got to be witness to something pretty exciting: Lily's first unassisted steps. We were in the family room and Lily was walking around the coffee table holding on. I was on the couch, and she let go of the coffee table long enough to take two quick steps to me before grabbing onto the couch. Very thrilling!
At about one o'clock, Jason's mom, brother, and sister-in-law got into town. By then Lily was pretty wiped out and was down for a nap. We all ate lunch and I got all the food ready for the party just in time for guests to arrive. Everyone was in the luau spirit, even the babies.
After a bit of chatting and snacking, it was time to have cake. I got a special "smash cake" from the bakery just for Lily. I got it set up and Jason carried Lily in from the patio. She was a little surprised to see everyone gathered around staring at her!
We put her in the high chair with her smash cake in front of her and sang "Happy Birthday to You." Then it was time to let her dig into the cake. She was a little tentative at first, but then she got into it.
Once Lily destroyed her cake . . .
The adults cut into our cake.
Then I gave Lily a quick wardrobe change (into an "Aloha" shirt and shorts set from Auntie Jenny).
Once Lily had her more casual duds on, she was ready to dance. I had my iPod in my docking station playing a mix of luau songs, so I cued up Elvis singing "Rock-A-Hula Baby," which is Lily's very favorite song and the inspiration for having a luau-themed party. Lily had never heard it playing off the docking station before, so she had to study it pretty carefully before she was willing to show us her hula moves.
After that many of the guests headed out, so Jason, Thomas, JJ, and JJ's friend Antonio went outside to play basketball. Lily is always up to shoot some hoops, so she changed into her sportswear and went out with them. A little after that Jason's mom and sister-in-law came home from running Jason's brother to the airport, so everyone came inside and we opened presents.
Lily enjoyed the tissue paper . . .
As well as the presents.
Her final present of the day was the gift Jason and I bought for her: a ride-on fire truck with a horn and functioning fire hose. (There's a water tank on the back of the truck that you fill up and pump to dispense water.) Jason had already assembled it for her, so we just had to take her out into the garage and put her in it. I think her face says it all.
Lily is a year old today. It's hard to believe that this tiny little baby:
Is a big girl now.
This morning when Lily woke up I went into her room and sang a very enthusiastic rendition of "Happy Birthday to You." She stood up in her crib and danced for me while I sang. She was extra happy this morning, all dolled up in her "I'm the birthday girl!" t-shirt from Auntie Jenny. When we got to school, Miss Rosario (Lily's favorite toddler room teacher) was in the infant room with Miss Margaret, and they both made a big deal of Lily's birthday, singing and clapping and telling her happy birthday. She was grinning from ear to ear, clapping her hands, blowing kisses, and swaying from side to side.
Tonight some of my in-laws are coming to town to help us celebrate, and tomorrow is my big girl's first birthday party. It's luau-themed, in honor of Lily's very favorite song: Elvis's "Rock-a-Hula Baby" from the Blue Hawaii soundtrack.
I just can't believe I've been a mom for a year. It feels like the blink of an eye. I remember giving birth to her. I remember holding her for the first time before they whisked her off to the NICU. I remember realizing I had never loved anything even close to as much as the way I adored that tiny little baby on my chest. I remember riding in the backseat with her the day I brought her home. I remember all the times I just stared at her while she slept. I remember her new baby smell. I remember her first smile. I remember her first laugh. I remember the first time she said "Mama." I've got a full year of memories behind me, and many, many more to come. I can't wait to see who she's going to become.
When my parents came to town at Thanksgiving, they brought Lily's Christmas present with them: a little white rocker. She was really into rocking in the recliner at the time, and was pretty happy to get her own "Lily-sized" version. It was still a little big for her at the time, but we knew eventually the day would come when she'd be able to sit in it on her own.
Lily is currently in a phase where she wants to imitate everything I do. It's pretty cute. Have you ever thought about what it's like to see your actions as mirrored by a one-year-old? If I dance, she'll dance. If I put my cell phone down within her reach, she'll pick it up, hold it up to her ear, and start talking.
And last night after I got her bath going, she wanted to repeat the procedure.
First she leaned over the side to make sure her tub was in place.
Next it was time to check the temperature of the water to make sure it was just right.
The water wasn't quite to her satisfaction, so she had to make some adjustments.
Yesterday Lily had her one-year well baby checkup, and today she had her very first dental appointment.
The doctor's appointment was business as usual. Lily is still top of the charts for height, weight, and head size. (She's up to 25.2 pounds these days.) All her physical milestones are on track, and her verbal development is at the 15-18 month level. (Is it any shock that a child of mine would be chatty?)
Today's dental appointment was also a success. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends taking babies for a cursory exam at one year to make sure everything is developing correctly. Lily got the thumbs up from her dentist, who said everything looks great. She's got a normal number of teeth, they're sprouting in the right sequence, and they look clean and healthy. We'll see him again in a year.
I have a lot of family pictures hanging up in my cubicle at work. One that gets a lot of attention is a picture Jason took of me holding Lily, who is smiling and holding JJ's basketball. My coworker (and honorary Auntie to Lily) Patty noticed the picture and got the scoop on how much Lily loves basketball.
Yesterday morning I got to work and discovered a little present sitting in my chair. Auntie Patty left a Nerf basketball set for us. Tonight after dinner we got the set out and got it set up.
First Jason and JJ did the installation.
Jason led Lily in to show her the new toy.
JJ gave Lily some quick pointers on how to play.
Then Jason gave the assist so Lily could take her first shot.
Last night after we got back from Santa Fe, JJ invited his friend Antonio over to play video games. Lily hadn't quite gone to bed yet, so she headed over to watch. She plopped down next to JJ and was alternating between staring at him, looking at the TV, and babbling to herself as she chewed on one of her Little People dolls (thanks again for those, Auntie Jenny).
At one point she was babbling animatedly to JJ and he looked down to smile at her and say, "Hey, Lily!" He talks to her in a special voice that's a little higher-pitched than his regular voice -- I guess it's the nine-year-old boy's version of baby talk. Lily was thrilled that he was talking to her and gave him a big smile, but Antonio sort of snickered at the whole thing.
It felt like time froze as I waited to see what JJ was going to do. Would he ignore Lily because his new, older friend thought the way he talked to her was uncool? Fortunately, JJ is a great kid and a fantastic big brother. He looked at Antonio and said, "What? That's my little baby sister." I was so proud of him I nearly cried.
Today was one of the rare days when we have both kids all day, so we took advantage of that and the great weather by taking a trip up to Santa Fe for the day.
We got into town a little after noon, so we started our Santa Fe adventure with lunch at the The Burrito Co, where Lily ate some of her beloved refried beans.
Our next step was the Loretto Chapel (home of the miraculous staircase), which is my favorite Santa Fe attraction, and one I try to visit any time I'm in Santa Fe with someone who's never been there.
After we left the chapel we walked around the plaza a little, checking out what some of the vendors were selling and posing for pictures with various statues.
After that we headed over to the museum side of the plaza and checked out the New Mexico Museum of Art and the New Mexico History Museum. We were just about done at the history museum when downtown Santa Fe suffered a power failure, so we had to leave the museum a little earlier than planned. (Unfortunately, elevators don't work in a power failure and it happened when we were on the lowest level with Lily in her stroller, which meant we had to carry her and the stroller up two flights of stairs to get out.)
After leaving the museum we dawdled in the center of the plaza for a while, watching some performers sing and play music.
It was a pretty crazy Friday night here at Casa Jackson-Perry.
First Lily worked on her crawling a little.
Then it was time to do some light reading.
After that we took it up a notch by tossing around the ball a little.
Aware that the camera was out, Lily took a minute to work on her poses. The theme of tonight's photo shoot was apparently "JC Penney catalog model circa 1968."
With all that grueling posing, she really worked up a thirst.
She struck the mother lode when momma finally (finally!) let her eat a little bit of a cookie.
It appears as though the cookie might have been the highlight.
Easter is a little tricky when you're a blended family and one of the adults has an unusual work schedule. We had Lily all morning, but didn't pick JJ up until the afternoon, when Lily was over at her father's house. As such, we had Easter festivities throughout the day.
Saturday afternoon I hid forty plastic eggs around the house for JJ (holding a combined total of $3 and 37 peanut butter and chocolate eggs) and got the kids' baskets ready.
In the early morning on Sunday (before Jason got home from work), I got up with Lily and got out the bunny ears. (And in case you're wondering, those incredibly cute pajamas say "I will make a difference" under the sun.)
When Jason got home, we went out to an Easter breakfast, then came home and gave Lily her basket. She was pretty pleased.
She got a little stuffed dog (she adores anything related to dogs), two bunny-themed board books, and some magnetic letters and numbers.
However, like most kids, she had just as much fun with the basket as she did with what was in it.
When JJ came over in the afternoon, he spent some time finding his eggs (there's still one that is not accounted for), then tested out some of the loot from his basket. He got some water guns, a paddle ball, a bubble wand, and a special card game.
In the evening we all (including Lily) went outside and played basketball. We got Lily her own pink four-square ball that she takes out there when we go out. She mostly just holds her ball and smiles, but lately has tried her hand at what can loosely be defined as "passing" the ball.
After Lily went to bed, we decorated eggs. The boys took their work very seriously:
