Monkey-ing around

First Day of School

Here is a pic from our first day of 'school,' when I started my PhD program at UGA and Lily started at Little Prodigies, an arts-based day care in Athens. It has been a big adjustment during the last 3 weeks, but we are both doing well and learning a lot. Lily is making lots of cute friends and she loves her teachers Miss Heather and Miss Trish, but she has definitely had her ups and downs. During the first two weeks we had a rash, diarrhea, an ear infection, and she is cutting her top teeth, but she has been a trooper and kept her smile on through all of it! I am so proud of my brave girl, especially when I get such glowing reviews about her. It has been super hard for me to leave her every day, but it is good to be teaching and taking classes again, and I know that it will all work out.

Ft Yargo State Park

There is a pretty cool state park a few minutes away from our house, and we decided to spend a family Saturday afternoon at the lake. Lily's life jacket is still waaay too big for her, but that didn't keep her from kick kick kicking her baby legs and trying to swim back and forth between Mommy and Daddy. We also had a pretty successful picnic - turkey and avocado sandwiches, Pirate's Booty, and only a little bit of sand! It was a great way to spend our final weekend together before Mommy and Lily started school on Monday.

Do you love our Lovely Lil' Lily? Let us know!!

Helloooo avid readers (if you are out there)! We would love to know who is keeping up with our blog, but Lily's Gram is the ONLY one who ever comments on our posts!! :{ So if you love reading about our girl and looking at her pictures and you want to see more, let us know! Please comment on this post so that we will know who you are and feel inspired to keep on churning out the cuteness! -Jake, Polly, and Lovely Lil' Lily (and Duke too!)

Southern Belle

While Lily and I were in Charleston, we spent a lovely afternoon together exploring downtown. The last time I spent any significant amount of time in downtown Charleston was in 2002, when Jake and I spent a weekend there to celebrate our 2-year dating 'anniversary,' and it was exciting to be back. Lily and I strolled along the battery and splashed in the fountains and looked at all of the pretty antebellum houses, and it was a great experience for both of us, because a part of me definitely fell back in love with the South that day. So often it's only the ugly parts of the South that are highlighted in the media, and you forget that there are places that are so charmingly and timelessly beautiful.

Beach Babe

We went to Charleston to visit Aunt BC last week, and Lily finally got to play in the ocean for the first time. She was a champ! She crawled all over the sand and right into the water; she even got smacked in the face by a couple of big salty waves and didn't cry. :)

Baby Bottom

Lily will probably get mad at me for this in a few years, but I couldn't resist. Don't you just want to pinch it??

New Buddy

The Thompson/Mangerson family spent Aunt Lizza's 22nd birthday weekend at Lake Oconee in GA, where Lily finally met her 'cousin' Audrey (18 months), the daughter of a family friend. They were very sweet together, sharing toys, feeding each other Cheerios, and exchanging lots of hugs and kisses.

On her own two feet

Lily has been pulling up to stand on everything possible, so we have definitely kicked our baby-proofing into high gear! I don't think she can get into much trouble on our elephant foot, but our beloved "elephant trunk" coffee table (the one with the really sharp metal corners) had to go bye-bye. :(