birthday proper

crawling in a ball gown is next to impossible

On Lil's actual birthday, we had a little playdate at her friend Zoe's house. Zoe and her family live on the top floor, and have skylights, so we had plenty of beautiful natural light for photos. Lil wore a beautiful polka-dot and velvet dress with a red satin sash that she received for Christmas, minus the matching hooded cape. But being the smart mama that I am, I put her play clothes underneath. Once she slipped the dress off, Lil was free to crawl and climb and roam around and make havoc with all her little friends.

perfecting the princess wave

the truth that lies beneath...

piling up with twins Oscar and Lionel

Sounds like a perfect way to spend your first birthday.

Happy birthday to the most amazing, the most spectacular, the delightful Lil!!!!

rain delay

Today we went to volunteer for the Bushwick CSA. Our volunteer duties entailed checking off names on a list, and making sure no hipsters ran off with loads of eggplant, but we mostly just stood there in the rain. This was Lil's first real outing in the rain, but since she's not a walker yet, there were no cute galoshes, no tiny umbrella, and no adorable raincoat.  (Mama was equally ill-suited for the weather, a pair of black moccasins and a baseball cap were the only things keeping her dry.) Lil's Maclaren stroller came with a fitted rain cover which kept Lil nice and dry, though it may have distorted her view of all the new faces she greeted.  A chill in the air meant an extra polka-dotted layer, but the chocolate pants and teal hoodie looked pretty fresh. Unfortunately Lil peeled off her matching Trumpette socks when Mama wasn't looking, and one of them was later recovered from a mud puddle. It's a miracle she didn't end up with a Lil chill.

home again, home again jiggity jig...

The Bushwick Food Co-Op was set up inside, so we ducked our wet heads in to munch on dried fruits. Lil enjoyed the dried figs so much, we purchased a small bag. With only a few more CSA pick-ups remaining, the Co-Op might be our only source for local produce, meat and dairy. As Lil's world gets bigger, her pallet seems to get more refined.

to co-op, to co-op to buy some dried figs

dot matrix

the never-ending ellipses

I envisioned spending sunny summer days in the park, photographing Lil's adorable outfits on a hand woven, organic picnic blanket surrounded by soft green grass.  But here we are, mid-July, and it's nearly too hot to venture out of doors at all.  So hand woven picnic blanket will be replaced by frayed old quilt, and soft green grass will be replaced by tattered gray carpet.  I can't tell if Lil minds much.  These days, as long as she can scoot around she's happy, which is why Babylegs have become a necessity even on hot days.  This morning I noticed a rug burn on her left elbow, so all her crawling limbs are now protected.  I am glad I hung onto some of those newborn styles.  They fit her little arms perfectly.

squirmy powers activated!

giddy-yap? nah, I don't think so.

harlequin romance

baby won-ton

Since yesterday was all about color, I thought today should feature a monotone style.  This dress is also in Lil's closet in red with pink polka dots, and it's so cute I'd be happy if we had it in any other color.  The black and white reminds me of mimes, and Lil did her best impression.  Her movements still lack precision, but a little wiggle improves her poses, I think.

frozen

grabbing her bows toes

Lil is also working on her contortionist skills.  It's pretty embarrassing to go to mommy and me classes with an infant who is better at yoga than her mama.  Even with all these new skills, Lil still remembers to give face.  I can only imagine what will happen when she can actually sit up.

lil gives baby face a new meaning

lil theme

I've noticed a lot of baby clothes with Lil' this or Lil' that printed on them.  It's definitely a bonus when your baby is named Lil.  It's like everything is already monogrammed.  Today we have Lil Crawler, and while she is no where near crawling (thank you), she's definitely a wiggle bottom.  It was hard getting any good pictures today with the poor lighting due to a lingering storm, and her inability to keep still.  No matter, she still looked precious in today's pre-fabbed 4-piece ensamble. Normally I would separate the separates, but I thought just this once I'd put them all together for the polka-dotted fun of it. 

ruffle buns

but where's the 4th piece?

note: there were matching socks, but they were soon lost.

and away we go!

Where else would you own a car seat without owning a car?  Whenever Lil or myself has an appointment in Manhattan, we have to take a car service.  Since this car seat wasn't going to be stuck in the same car all the time, I wanted something good-looking (I also wanted that bunting to match her carseat), and we had concerns about portability in addition to everything else.  When I saw this Graco Snug-Ride in black and white houndstooth, I fell madly in love with safety.  I could keep Lil strapped in there all day, just because it's so cute, but I don't think she'd appreciate that.

Today I had an appointment in Union Square, so I bundled Lil up and strapped her in and we were ready to go.  Her Bundle Me keeps her really warm, but she still needs an outfit underneath.  Since I was running behind, I quickly dressed her in what I like to call her "ladies who lunch" outfit: polka-dot pants with a matching swing jacket.  The magenta top with satin bow detail looks perfect when the outfit is finished off with a pair of her bow socks in the same shade.

 

 That's Big Beak, the chimey tag-a-long. He often antagonizes Lil by staying just out of reach.

doctor, my baby's covered in spots...

Big day for Lil, as we got all dressed up for her 2-month well check. And fret not, she is indeed quite well. She grew 1 1/2 inches in 5 weeks, and packed on another pound. She's now measuring 24 inches from head to toe, and weighing in at a slim but solid 11 pounds, 6 ounces.  The doctor gave her a little slap on the behind because he was so impressed with her infant physique!  Must be all the time she spent around doctors in her early days prepared her for all sorts of bedside manners. 

Behold her physical prowess!

For her pre-outing outfit, I pulled out this super adorable polka-dot top with a fuchsia rosette detail, a matching pocket diaper from FuzziBunz, and these awesome cowprint Baby Legs. You may be noticing a theme here- cute top, cloth diaper, baby legwarmers.  We've found what works, and we're going to work it till the end... or at least until Lil outgrows it.

This baby knows how to accessorize.  Our awesome neighbor (not the techno-blasters that live downstairs) gave us a beautiful gift basket of handmade goodies from Borealis Babies.  And wouldn't you know it,  Lil just happens to look good spitting up on that burp cloth!  

If you can't carry a handbag, why not match your music cube?