Birthday night pics

Getting into unwrapping her presents

I will conquer the present!

My very first baby doll

I love you baby!

Happy 1st Birthday!!

Happy birthday to my bright, beautiful girl. Lily celebrated her first birthday with mommy, daddy, Aunt Ingrid, Terra, and Irie. Tomorrow we will celebrate with our friends, and the final celebration will take place over Thanksgiving weekend with the Meyer side of the family. It's really more like a birthday month, the way all birthdays should be!

The innocent troublemaker

Lily has been trying more and more table foods lately and seems to enjoy a wide variety of foods. Tonight she had edamame, strips of sweet red bell peppers, and whole wheat crackers with hummus. Although, she mainly used the crackers as a vehicle to shovel in the hummus. Man, does she love the hummus!

Her latest favorite thing is to do is anything that she is not supposed to. She still loves to play in Terra's water dish but has now added repeating "no, no, no" while splashing away. This morning she decided that it was high time that we redecorated the bathroom with a little toilet paper. It seems that anything we say no to becomes an instant favorite. Electrical cords are especially sought after despite strong, unwavering protestations from her parents. Lily has certainly become a handful and then some, but what else would we expect from a toddler?

Victory in Maryland!

You're looking at our newly elected governor, Martin O'Malley, with the future in his hands. We had a very good run in Maryland and are very pleased with the results. We hope that this is a good sign for things to come. We are also very happy with the new Speaker of the House who spoke at a demonstration against the war in Iraq that we attended in D.C.

Sleigh bells ring

Lily climbed right inside this little basket tonight. I guess she figured that she'd get ready for sleigh riding a little early this year.

She's even spied the perfect candidate for a stand-in reindeer.

No longer a baby

Is it just me or does Lily look so old in this picture? I guess there's no denying that she is almost a year old.

In related news, Lily has taken to walking again. She is confident in taking several steps at a time on her own. I think that she will soon be toddling around, and I'll have to admit that the baby days are over and the toddler times are upon us.

Daddy and me

Getting some pointers on walking from daddy

Terra is waiting in the wings in case of any falls so that she can smother Lily with kisses after

Sharing a book between friends

Unfortunately, this picture did not come out very well, but it is still so sweet. Lily was reading a book while Terra was resting on the pillow, just listening and watching her, when Lily reached out and touched Terra's paw. (Maybe it was a scary part in the story, and Lily needed to reassure Terra that everything was alright.) Truly, it was a picture-perfect moment - if only I were a better photographer!