He ain't heavy, he's my cousin

The latest member of the Angleson/Austrum/French clan.

This is Lillian's new cousin, Shlomo. Just kidding. That's what we've been calling him until Matt and Kristin ended the suspense and announced his real name, which is Leo. Actually, it's short for a nice long Greek name I am not about to try to spell at this hour, but it's a killer name none the less!

Leo is, as you can see, one heckuva love bug. Lilly can't wait to sneak beer with him, steal the car, and manipulate Gramma and Grandpa!

I am sure they will have many years of fun and we are so happy Matt and Kristin (along with Trooper's help) are now parents. They will excel in this task, simply because they are awesome, and incredibly patient people.

So what do we do now that we both have babies? Go to Disney World, I guess. Oh, I can't wait!

Now we're off on vacation! Actually we leave the house at 4am.. but who's counting. Look for pictures of Lilly on the beach. Hilton Head, here we come! We'll see you all in a week.

"Life itself is the proper binge."

The above quote is my favorite line from Julia Child. And what a more perfect way to get Lilly to eat more than by exposing her to culinary legends. I have also started talking to her in the voice of the Swedish Chef from the Muppets, but we are touch and go on that.


Jon and I invested in a high class high chair, and so far, so good. She loves it and seems to enjoy her peas, carrots, sweet potatoes and green beans more when sitting in the proper chair. What a polite baby.






We are getting ready for a family trip to Hilton Head, S.C. Then, we fly to California for cousin Caroline's wedding. Lilly absolutely loves to fly. Now she'll be bi-coastal.


Check in after about a week or so for vacation pics. Until then, we leave you with these pictures. The Harley Davidson do-rag is all Jon's fault. I take no responsibility for the hours he is in charge of her wardrobe.







Like Eloise, we plan to travel incognito!
Bon Voyage!
(we did two posts today, so be sure to scroll down for more fun)

Me and my shadow.

It amazes me how unprepared infants are for life when they are born. I figured Lilly would get here and she would at least know how to eat and sleep.... two very BASIC functions. I was wrong. And upon consulting dozens of "Baby Books", I found it is quite common for infants to need a lot of guidance learning how to eat. The also need help learning how to fall asleep when they are tired. These two seemingly simple tasks are quite bewildering for a little one.

So imagine my surprise when, at the age of six months, Lilly self taught the art of SHADOW PUPPETRY! Yes. Forget eating (which, according to her latest Dr. appointment, she has, indeed, forgotten) or sleeping (still waking up ... LOTS). Lillian introduced her hand to a beam of sunshine and the rest was history. I managed to capture a fraction of this Eureka moment on video. Enjoy.

And, as you know from previous posts, Lilly was born on Groundhog Day, so she has a special kinship with her shadow.



Now, back to that whole forgetting to eat comment. Lilly has never been a good eater. She eats, in small bursts. Our Pediatrician calls her a grazer. At Lillian's 6-month well baby checkup, she looked to be doing very well. The picture of health. Except for the growth charts. Those darn charts, which I am convinced serve no purpose other than to freak out parents of perfectly healthy babies. On this chart, at 25 inches, Lillian is at the 25th percentile for height. Petite. On the head size, about average. However for weight, at a whopping 13.3 pounds, Lillian is at the 7th percentile. THIN! Not something that runs in my genes. To be honest, thin people freak me out! I have always been able to self medicate with food, so a child who will not eagerly drop everything to eat... well, we'll have to work on this. I had a sit down and explained she comes from two families who celebrate everything with a meal...Arbor day...let's have pie! So she promised she'll work on it. She likes her veggies, so hopefully that will put a little meat on her tiny bones. But, not to worry, the doctor says she might just be small, and as we know, good things come in small packages.

Da Fair, Da Fair!

Ok, the title was either supposed to sound like Tattoo from Fantasy Island, or a Bears fan. You choose.

Anyway, we took Lillian to her first Iowa State Fair. We left early in the morning, got a great parking spot, bought our tickets, and she fell asleep!!!!

She slept through the horses, the farmer's breakfast, even.... this....


THE HUGE BULL!!!!!! She missed it all.

But when she woke up, she was in a splendid mood, dressed in Hannah Andersson, and ready to play. So we snapped a picture of her, with Daddy, in front of the pavilion. This is a very familiar sight to my family, because we spent many a freezing spring day in that very arena while I was showing my horses. Brings back great memories, and I can't wait for her to jockey around the ring some day!

So that was our trip to the fair. Short and sweet, just like Lilly.

Here's a picture of us packing up ... there's just something so ... cliche, perhaps ... about a baby sitting in her car seat on the tailgate of a truck at the Iowa State Fair.


Then we came home, and Lilly lost her shirt.



Actually she just wanted to show off her baby "six-pack" abs. Who comes home from the fair with a flat tummy? Only our little Lillian.

And as a member of the BIASED MEDIA, I must say, she's one cute baby. The scientific community is in agreement! We eventually found her shirt and she spent the rest of the day fully clothed.

Oh Mother, where art thou?

Hello all!

I apologize that it has been a while since our last post. A lot of great stuff is going on in the Angleson/French families. But Lilly is well. Mom's a slacker.

Last weekend Lillian turned 6 months old. She's made it half way around the sun. To celebrate, we all spent the night at the Farm (not the Ranch for those of you who know the Reed side of my family .. the Farm is in Jon's family.) But before that, Jon took me on a grownup weekend to Omaha. We left Friday night, dropped Lilly off at the Farm for full spoiling with Mimi and Grandpa, and had a lovely dinner in O-town. The following morning, we had a massage and headed back to our sweet pea.

Every month, we take a Lilly picture in something leopard for a special frame that has a year's worth of pictures. It's amazing to see, not only how much she grows every thirty days or so, but just how creative we can get with animal prints.

This picture also shows a new milestone. Recently, she discovered her feet. She waves them, kicks things, picks up toys and now chews them.

The other milestone...

ROLLING!!!!!

We roll after a bath...


We roll mid diaper change...

And with rolling comes sitting. Lilly is now able to sit by herself and play, which she thinks is fantastic, because I generally hold her back.

Now she can get away and read a book, alone, in peace.

Molly, however, views this as a potential security threat. Could get dangerous.

So that's what we've been doing. Rolling, sitting, working on a very high frequency scream that makes Molly run an hide. The basic 6-month-old to do list.

For the first time, I took Lilly on a long run in her jogging stroller. She screamed the whole time. She kind of reminded me of Burgess Meredith in Rocky. You know, the little, surly coach? Turns out she hates running just as much as I do.

We had a big weekend and I can't wait to show you what we did. But I must.. because it is past our bed time, and I should be getting the first of many wake-up calls from Miss Lil any moment now.

Love to all!

Raspberry kisses from Lillian Ray!

Breaking News!

I just have to update you all that, for the first time, Lilly only woke up once last night!

That's right. I brought her to the newsroom yesterday afternoon to work on a project. She was very productive at the office. She typed an e-mail, screamed at the reporters, chewed her pacifier and threw some papers around. By the time we were finished taping our story she was slumped over in her stroller sleeping.

After a catnap, she had a couple of hours to play, eat (peas and carrots!), take a bubbly bath, and settle in. I put her in her bed at 6:45 and didn't hear from her until 2. And she was only awake for a few minutes!

It turns out, she was just monumentally bored with us, and needs a job. Preferably one with benefits! And a 401K!

Gypsies, tramps and thieves

This is what happens when mom is at work. Jon dressed Lillian up as our favorite Cher song this morning. Obviously, we like to put ridiculous things on her head and then take humiliating pictures of her. She doesn't really seem to mind.

It's been an uneventful week, which I think is a pretty nice thing. Lilly's still struggling with her tooth pain and she's been a little grumpy. But she still can find the good humor to share a few laughs with dad...




pay homage to Johnny Cash...




and smooch Molly...




And for dogs everywhere who were once their parent's "babies" and then were replaced by real babies ... I would like to thank you for your patience. That includes Molly, who is incredibly patient with all of us.



Now, she'd like her chair back.