9 Months Old

Today we are 9 months old. We are 3/4 of the way done with our first year of life. We spent the day at daycare, and then we had to go to Costco with mom. On the way to Costco Lily threw up all over her car seat and the car for no good reason. She isn't sick or anything so you don't have to worry. In my opinion she probably just ate too fast again. Things settled down once we got home and had our baths so much so that we were able to take our 9 month pictures.

As for our 9th month, where do I even begin? This month I started crawling. Lily is crawling too, but only when she really wants something. Lily is also pulling herself up on things, clapping, pushing herself up to a sit when on her belly or back, and waving. Isn't she talented. She still needs to work on the waving thing though because she waves at herself instead of at someone else. My big news is that I got my first tooth on July 22nd and my second tooth this morning for my birthday so now Lily and I are tied 2-2. We are both still growing. I am wearing all 12 month clothes now, although like usual, mom is holding on to those few treasured 9 month outfits. Lily is also wearing a lot more of her 12 month clothes, but still fits into a few of her 9 month outfits. We are starting to venture into table foods. We've had a few fruits, some Gerber stars, and I got to try a french fry. Yum! We have also continued with our baby foods trying pineapple, beef, cherries, and apricots. From what I understand more table foods are in our future...I guess, twist my arm. This month we took our first plane ride back to Chicago for Titi Molly and Uncle Craig's wedding. We were the hit of the show at the airport with our Go-Go Babyz that made our car seats into strollers. You should try them sometime if you get a chance. We got to meet so many people on our trip including a lot of our family which was really cool. Welcome to our world everyone!

Daycare

Today was our first day at daycare. Mommy and daddy found two nice ladies to take care of us, one day at our house and the other two days at one of the lady's homes. Mommy said she was both excited and sad to go back to work, but she only has to work three days a week so we still get to hang out with her too. We were pretty excited to go this morning, and once we got home Lily was even more excited to tell mom and dad all about her day. I was too busy climbing under my exersaucer to hear what she was saying, but from the look on her face it must have been good. I can tell you that we both got good reports at daycare, although our schedules are still a bit off from our vacation. I'm sure we'll get back on track soon.

Home At Last

After a long, but fun vacation, we are finally home. The plane ride was fun, and lots of people complimented us for being so good. We received these cool new backpacks from Titi Molly and Uncle Craig, and all we had to do was look cute for their wedding. Mom and dad stuffed our backpacks full of all of the new toys people got us, and mom made us carry them ourselves. She didn't really, but we like to say she did. We enjoyed visiting everyone, and meeting many of you for the first time. Thanks for all of the neat stuff too. We definitely got hooked up! We miss all of you already, and can't wait to see you again soon!

Back in Milwaukee

On our drive back to Chicago we stopped in Mequon, Wisconsin to visit our friend, Jack, and his parents, Bill and Susan Goggins. Jack is exactly six weeks younger than us, and quite a tricky little guy. He borrowed me his hat to keep the sun out of my eyes, but little did I know it was a Milwaukee Brewers' hat. Everyone knows I am a Cubs fan, I mean come on, just look at my bib. After we decided to sit in the shade I was able to take the hat off, thank goodness. Even though Jack is a Brewers fan we had tons of fun hanging out in his backyard, and we can't wait to see him again!

Uncle Robb's Birthday

Uncle Robb turned 40 on Monday, but we waited until today to celebrate his birthday. Mom and dad enjoyed a Wisconsin fish fry and we enjoyed banana cream pie. At least we tried to when we were sitting on Uncle Robb's lap, but mom moved the pie right before we had a chance to dig in. Happy Birthday Uncle Robb!

Our Cousins

Let me introduce you to all of our cousins from the Williams family. That is Morgan on the left, she is 17 and going to be a senior this year. Next is Elizabeth, who is 4, and entering K-4 Kindergarten. Then there is AJ (Anthony) who is 6 and going into first grade, and finally Benjamin, who is 9, and entering fourth grade. Grandma is pretty proud of her six rugrats.

Ryan's Godparents

Here I am with my Uncle Steve and Aunt Claire, who also happen to be my Godparents. Aren't I a pretty handsome Godson???

Great-Grandpa Williams

Tonight we met our Great-Grandpa Williams. We, as the youngest members of the family, got to sit on the lap of the oldest member of the family. I wonder if we'll be as cool as Great-Grandpa 91 years from now???

Lily's New Talent

Lily here again! Look at my new talent, balancing a spoon on my nose. That is pretty good if I do say so myself. I can't wait to see what I can do next!

Hanging Out at Grandma's

The weather has been beautiful while we've been on vacation, like in the 70's and 80's, so we've been spending a lot of time outside. Here we are hanging out in Grandma Williams' front yard. You can't see it, but mommy and daddy let us try some of their whoppie pie, and boy was it good. We tried to eat some more of it, but mommy and daddy finished it before we could get to it.

The Milwaukee Gang

After Independence Grove, it was onto Milwaukee, or Oak Creek to be exact. Here we met up with Lacey and London Cleaver, and Brady McCravens. We had to take pictures in shifts because it wasn't easy getting all of us to sit still at once. Brady is 17 months old and he gave mommy and daddy a taste of things to come, only with us it will be times two. Yikes!

Visiting the Lard Family

This morning we stopped in Libertyville, Illinois, on our way up to Green Bay. We met the Lard family at Independence Grove which is this gigantic park with lakes and playgrounds. It was a perfect day so we all decided to have a picnic and catch up with each other. While all of the grown-ups talked, Kyra, Owen, Will, Lily, and I played with bubbles and lots of other toys our parents brought for us. Lily even took a direct hit to the face by a giant bubble, and I secretly think she liked it. It was definitely tons of fun, and we hope we can make it back there sometime soon!

Lily's Godparents

It's me again! Here is a great picture of me with my Godparents, Mark and Mollie Lard. After meeting them, I would have to say, good choice mom and dad!

The Windy City

Tonight we visited our friend, Logan, and his parents, Mike and Jamie Walker. They live in downtown Chicago so we got to see the Windy City for the first time. After dinner they took us up onto their rooftop deck and we took a great picture with the skyline in the background. Too bad Logan went to bed early so we didn't get to take a picture with him, but we sure did enjoy his toys. I learned how to slam dunk a basketball, and Lily got to ride a giant caterpillar.

Visiting Indiana

Hey everyone, Lily here! We met thousands of people at Titi Molly's wedding so needless to say we were still a bit tired the next morning. Great-Grandma Ruiz kept watch over me in my pillow hut, while Ryan slept in the hotel room next door. After breakfast, we headed to Indiana to meet our friend, Jack, and his parents, Jessica and Michael Massucci. We had fun playing with him and his cool Spiderman car. Jack even told his mom that it would be okay to keep us so he must have had fun too!

The Wedding

Titi Molly and Uncle Craig got married today. The day started out pretty rainy, but by the time the wedding started it was sunny and beautiful, just like Titi Molly. We were the miniature bride and groom in the wedding. Mommy was supposed to pull us down the aisle in a wagon, but plans changed when I got a little upset so instead mommy and daddy just walked us down the aisle. We only have a few pictures from the actual wedding since we kept mommy and daddy so busy, but we did get our pictures taken with Uncle Z and Great-Grandma Ruiz.

Our First Plane Ride

We took our first plane ride today and boy was it fun! Mommy bought us these cool things that attach to our car seats so we can ride in them through the airport. Lily and I were the hit of the show with people stopping us to ask where we got our wheels. Mommy and daddy said it was a bit of a circus, but not as bad as they expected. Everyone was so nice helping us get through the scary security checkpoint and then onto the plane too. The plane ride itself was fun, and we got to sit by the window so we could see everything. I slept through the take-off and landing, and everyone warned us about our ears hurting, but we're tough and they didn't bother us one bit. Even though we don't want to leave, we are definitely excited to fly again!

The Mermaid and The Crab

Today was clean up day after a fun filled Puerto Rican party. My "pretend I'm napping" plan didn't work and I had to go outside to help, but instead of making us work, mom and dad let us swim. Now that's my idea of work! We got to wear our cool mermaid and crab swimsuits and play with some new toys we hadn't seen before. Lily and I decided we should have parties more often just so that we can help clean up!

3rd Annual Puerto Rican Party

We had over 40 people at our house today to celebrate Puerto Rican Commonwealth Day which is actually on July 25, but since we'll be out of town we had to celebrate today. I guess daddy wanted a reason to throw a party so 2 years ago he and mommy started this party and it is now an annual tradition. We've been getting ready all week, but this morning we woke up early at 6:30 to start preparing food. Mommy and daddy made skirt steak sandwiches, pastillos (dough filled with meat), surullitos(sweet corn sticks), and limber de coco(coconut popsicles). Mom let us sample our first Puerto Rican foods and we must say the surullitos and limber de coco were pretty good. We didn't get to eat the pastillos, but you can't say it is for lack of trying. Oh well, maybe next year. We also decorated the backyard, but I got out of having to work by pretending I was napping. Lily helped out though and supervised from the metal bucket. The backyard looked nice so I'd say she did a pretty good job. We also had special outfits for the occasion and everyone said we looked nice. I'd have to agree. Everyone was wiped out after the party, and we heard daddy say that tomorrow we have to clean up. Looks like I may have to take a lot of naps tomorrow. See you next year everyone!!!

Fun in Our Room

Hey everyone, it's me, Lily. Mommy and daddy are trying to get ready for some big party tomorrow so we've been confined to our room. Good thing we have a ton of toys to keep us entertained. I did manage to crawl under my crib and get myself stuck, and I'll admit, I did it more than once, but who's counting. Ryan thinks mom is funny today and every time she comes in to check on us he starts laughing. Who knows??? I also got to wear the outfit I bought mommy for Mother's Day today. The monsoon brought us some much needed rain last night so it is a little cooler out today, and I thought pants would be okay. Don't you just love the outfit?!? Maybe that's what Ryan keeps laughing about.

Kids Club

Today we met our friend, Landen, at Kids Club at the San Tan Village Mall. This is the second time we've been to Kids Club, but mom forgot her camera last time...oops! We got to sing, clap our hands, wiggle our hips, and do all sorts of other crazy dance moves. I personally just like watching all of the people and the warthog that is there to entertain us. I think Lily likes the dancing part the best, after all she can really shake those hips.

Crawling

It is official, mom and dad's lives are over as they know them...we are mobile. We may not be experts quite yet, but we have started crawling. We have been rolling and pushing up to our hands and knees, and Lily's has been pushing herself backwards for awhile now, but yesterday, on Independence Day, we both did a form of crawling. There is video of me to prove it, but they weren't able to get Lily on tape. Don't worry, I'm sure they will soon. It is a whole new world now that we can move, and who knows what fun and exciting things we will discover.

Our First Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July everyone! Today was an exciting day since we got to go to Uncle Larry's house and celebrate his birthday. We had to leave daddy at home though because he is really sick and had to stay in bed. We also put on a fashion show with all of our different Fourth of July outfits thanks to mom and Grandma Williams. I especially liked my "Little Firecracker" shirt if you can't tell by my face. We have to give a huge thank you to our friend, Payton Deer, for helping watch us while we were at Uncle Larry's party. Her cartwheels sure did keep us entertained.