Lily's first Christmas

An overview of how we spent the past few days in pictures!

Tobi, Marcus, Lily, Eva and me in front of the Christmas tree at Brenart Cafe Gallery in Pasadena where we dined on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Eve we headed to Pasadena, a nice little town a bit east of where we live. The plan was to stroll around town but the heavy rain made us head straight to Brenart Cafe Gallery where we enjoyed a fancy and very yummy Christmas dinner. The food was delicious. We had clam chowder soup, a dungeness crab salad, filet mignon in puff pastry with mushrooms and green pepper sauce, and pumpkin creme brulee as dessert! Njammie!

At Brenart's

There weren't too many people (it was early) and Lily - again! - behaved wonderfully.

After dinner, we went home and unwrapped the presents that were under the Christmas tree. A nice evening, filled with coziness!

On the 25th, the day of Christmas, we decided to work off our dinner calories with a walk in Santa Monica. It was cold and rainy again, but nevertheless turned out to be a great afternoon. Santa Monica somehow looked really cool in the rain. Uncle Tobi shot some awesome pictures. Check it out:

Santa Monica pier

Santa Monica in sepia. It looks so fifties!

A tree along the way

Where we walked

Here we are!

Nativity stall

Lots of palm trees!

Oma Eva, Marcus, Ilse and Lily on Third Street Promenade

On Boxing Day (December 26) we stayed at home... took it easy...

Proud dad and his girl. Picture taken by Tobi, a true artist!

... made a short walk in our own neighborhood... Having Oma Eva and uncle Tobi around made us pay special attention to parts of town that we are so used to... We don't even notice the quirkiness anymore.

The shopping window of Iguana Vintage Clothing store

Over the weekend, it stopped raining (hooray California weather!) and the sun came back in all its glory! We drove to Corona Del Mar on Sunday and took Lily for a walk along the ocean.

Lily takes in the sun in Corona Del Mar

We met up with our friends, the Reyna family. Max and Jack (8 and 5) were crazy about Lily and kept on telling their parents how cute she was and if they could babysit her!!! So cute!

On Monday, December 30, it was time to say good-bye to Oma Eva :-(
Lily and Oma Eva really bonded over the past two weeks so it was sad to see her go. We accompanied Oma Eva to LAX airport and discovered something new: the ReLAX Lounge in the Tom Bradley International Terminal. A very cool place to hang out while waiting for your flight!

Lily liked the interior design of the ReLAX Lounge as well!

That's how we spent the last weeks of 2008. Until next year!

Things Lily does during the holidays

Enjoying the California sunshine...

Hanging in my crib with my toys and "Schnulli" (tuutje). I finally decided I like it at 6 weeks!

Taking a walk in the park with Oma Eva

Having a nap with Uncle Tobi

Spending some quality time with mommy

and burping away with daddy!

So much fun!

Christmas spirit

It's so cosy against mommy's chest in the Beco Baby Carrier. I love it... but only for an hour or so, then I want to get out!

We zijn hier al helemaal in de Christmas spirit! Het weer leidt er ook toe aan, want de voorbije dagen heeft het hier geregend, niet normaal! Toch komt het zonnetje er af en toe door, en dan profiteer ik ervan om Lily mee uit te nemen voor haar dagelijkse brok vitamine D, ofwel in de Beco Baby Carrier ofwel in de Bugaboo kinderwagen.

In my Bugaboo frog stroller. I love it because I can lay perfectly flat in the bassinet and sleep like a rose!

Ze vindt beiden (draagzak en kinderwagen) even fijn en slaapt er heerlijk in, maar helaas niet langer dan 1 uur! Dan heeft ze meestal opnieuw honger, en ben ik dus beter thuis, tenzij ik haar natuurlijk op verplaatsing eten ga geven (maar ik doe het toch het liefste thuis...)

Vorige week hebben we de kerstboom opgetuigd en Lily zat vol verwondering te staren naar al die lichtjes.

The magic of Christmas... If you look close you can see the reflection of the lights in my eyes!

Ze vond het ook super om haar kerstpakje al eens aan te doen...

I love Santa!

... en met mama te poseren voor de kerstboom.


Ja, zoals jullie zien, zit de kerstsfeer er hier al goed in! We zullen vieren met Oma Eva (die speciaal uit Duitsland komt overgevlogen!) en nonkel Tobi, dat wordt dus een waar Duits taalbad voor ons allemaal!

Prettige feesten gewenst alvast!

First monthly check-up

We zijn vandaag naar de kinderarts geweest waar Lily werd gemeten, gewogen en goedgekeurd!
Lengte: 54,61 cm (45e percentiel)
Gewicht: 4, 479 kg (55e percentiel)
Hoofdomtrek: 36,83 cm (25e percentiel)

Dit betekent dat Lily ongeveer 740 gram is bijgekomen sinds haar geboorte, oftewel ongeveer 24 gram per dag. Perfect, want dat komt precies overeen met de gemiddelde groei van een baby!

We went to Lily's pediatrician today. She was measured, weighed and found to be in excellent shape!
Length: 21.5 inches (45th percentile)
Weight: 9 pounds 14 oz. (55th percentile)
Head circumference: 14.5 inches (25th percentile)

Lily gained 26 ounces since birth, which means that on average, she is gaining a little less than 1 ounce per day.

Way to go, Lily!

First party

Because I am 4 weeks old today, my mommy and daddy figured I am old enough to go party! Parties can be tiring, so I got a good pre-party nap at home (on daddy's lap). By the way, do you like my outfit? (thanks, Els, for the supercute dress!) My mommy got me the Ugg boots. They were a real hit at the party!!!

Today, we took Lily out to her first party in the Hollywood Hills. Dominique and Buck celebrated their engagement this afternoon. We didn't really know how Lily would like the party-going business, but she loved it!

The happy couple Buck and Dominique

Lily was so mellow all afternoon, slept through most of the conversations and when she was awake, she was just her cute and adorable self. Everyone loved her! I think she liked the entertainment and we should go to parties more often!!!

Lily next to the table Christmas decoration!

Enjoying a good burp and a nice view (you can see downtown Los Angeles in the background - also mark the infinity pool!!! What a cool place this is! Now I know what kind of house I'd like to live in later - wink wink!)

This time of year, it gets dark really early in the evening. This is the view from outside the house at around 5:00 PM.

We left the party around 6:00 PM. Our girl was so good all afternoon, that it worries me a bit for tonight... We will see! Goodnight, everyone!

Another cute picture of me! I love my sheepie blanket! Bye!!!

Lily update

Lily (25 days today) starts noticing things around her, like the monkey on her mobile

Days fly by and I don't get anything done!!! Except for feeding Lily. Man, she can drink!!! It's unbelievable, she seems to be craving my milk on a constant basis during the day. It can be very exhausting sometimes, but I am not complaining too much... At night, she sleeps fairly well, often 4 hours on end. We've only experienced 2 sleepless nights so far (knocking on wood)!

I'm still learning on how to figure out why my little girl is crying: is she hungry? does she need to burp? does she have cramps? It's not always easy, even though I think I now know the "hunger cue". Indeed, when she's hungry, there's no mistake possible: she cries, screams and shrieks like she's about to die from starvation if she doesn't get food IMMEDIATELY! Now, you would think that could happen 2 or 3 hours after the last feeding, but no... half an hour after her last meal... she'll open her mouth so wide while lifting and wildly shaking her head like she hasn't gotten food in days... It's quite a sight! (and very embarrassing when you're out in public). My my my, she definitely rules the household here.

Of course, the funny faces, smiles and smirks we get in return are priceless. She is such a cutie, our little princess!