Wordless Wednesday

Food Friends

With the recent schedule change in our home, things aren’t quite as…controlled…as they once were. Now, when we walk in the house at the end of the day, we are greeted by a cat trying to run outside to begin a wild life on the streets, a dog running in circles and flinging drool everywhere as he waits to eat, and a bird making tons of noise due to all of the excitement. It is quite the homecoming!

I will usually fling off our coats and find some empty, dry surface to unload our bags on. I give Lillian some sort of snack to hold her over until dinner, and then feed the still drooling dog.

Now that everyone is held-over, I can go about the tasks of unloading lunch containers, reviewing daily daycare reports, shoving cookies down my throat, and making dinner. I lose myself in these wild activities until I’m brought back to Earth by Lillian squealing in delight. I find her poking at the dog and his food while he chows down. Now, with many dogs, this is a parents worst nightmare – dogs can be so so so mean when guarding their food! For instance my Mom’s dog, Clyde (may he rest in peace…oh, wait…not yet) will growl and try to bite your arm off if you mess with him during meal time. Just another reason why I love love love my big pup, and how good he is with Lillian! No growling. No biting. No territorial behavior of any kind! Thank you, Andy, for adding a moment of peace to an otherwise hectic evening routine!

Toddler Plays with Dog

I know that I have been blogging quite frequently about how much I love to watch Lillian growing up with our pets. If you really need to pass the hours waiting for the Friday clock to reach 5pm, you can read this and this…and this. Lately, Lillian’s personality has been blossoming and she is getting a kick out of so many things. There hasn’t been a video in awhile, and this one of her and Andy is full of a lot of cuteness! Yes, sometimes when asked to have a kiss, she goes in with a giant open mouth! Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Furry Siblings

Occasionally I like to give a shout out to Lillian’s furry and feathered siblings. The three pets have been wonderful adjusting to a toddler overrunning their domain. Lillian gets the biggest kick out of petting Duke and Andy these days – so many giggles! We are still very careful to keep her away from Stanley’s cage.

Speaking of Stan, Lillian is actually a little afraid of him. Stan gets to come out of his cage a couple of times a month and he always stretches and flaps his wings – an action sending Duke’s instincts into a frenzy! Anyway, the flapping of the wings scares Lillian. She shakes her head ‘no’, whimpers, and comes running to me. Perhaps she instinctively knows the terror his beak can cause?

Duke tolerates Lillian pretty well, but when he’s trying to take a cat nap {giggle} he does not like to be messed with. Lillian has a lot of love to give and is always giving her toys to Duke, but they have had about three altercations thus far. A few swipes from Duke and a few tears from Lillian, then they are back to being buddies again!

Finally, I think the biggest winner in all of this is Andy. Due to a rather sensitive stomach, he had not received a single piece of table food before Lillian was around. Now, she hands him food left and right. She finds it quite hilarious, actually. Sometimes, with a mouth full of food, she will turn to him and open her mouth wide for him to share. Mind you, we don’t encourage that particular action, but Andy I feasting like a king these days!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

photo credit: Michelle Savage Photography

Crawling Baby Video

Yep, she is very very mobile. Keeping me on my toes 24/7. Her latest conquest is going after the cat who actually shows his distaste towards her by a pretend bite. I am quite impressed, really, because he will show his distaste for Brian and I by a hard bite accompanied by a paw grab where he digs in his nails. How does he know to be gentle with Lillian? I’m guessing there are some people right now judging me for even letting Duke pretend bite my baby. Get over it, I trust my pets 100%…except for that parrot…I do not trust him…not even 1%. Besides, poor Duke is really put out by all of the baby gates being put up everywhere – he has to work harder at life.

Baby Laughing at Dog

Lillian continues to be best buds with our dog, Andy. The other day, Andy started barking at something outside and Lillian thought that it was hilarious. Even more funny? Me imitating Andy’s dog bark.

Fresh Air

With the great weather that Cincinnati has been experiencing lately, we have been taking advantage of the Hamilton County Parks! It’s such a great deal – $5 for an annual pass and we have access to great paved trails, swings, great views, slides, miniature waterparks, and there are even plenty of ducks for Andy to stalk! We have logged quite a few miles on the trails already and will be exploring some new routes once I pick up the jogging stroller that was so generously donated to us!

Baby Laughing at Dog

Lillian continues to find lots of joy in our dog, Andy! She pets, pokes, and grabs at him everyday and Andy is such a great sport – he’s not phased by any of it! Lillian really enjoys it when Andy is chasing his toys. She laughs when he’s anxiously awaiting for me to throw a toy and continues to laugh when he retrieves it.

I think this video captured it really well. I apologize for the orientation of the video, I flipped the camera midway and it doesn’t make too much sense for viewing purposes, but it’s still pretty cute. The loud burping noise at the end is definitely some throw up – nice!