Quick Pictures

We have been very busy since Christmas. We got 6 or 7 inches of snow day after Christmas and lost our power. It was off from 5AM to about 7:30PM. Lucky for us we have a key to Theresa's house and she let us hang out there while she was in Florida. A big branch from our pear tree fell, narrowly missing Brian's car and managing not to hurt our fence. That was a stroke of good luck. We still haven't moved it or cut it up though. Then beginning Monday I  started consults. I have been working 10-12 hour days and trying to get home in time to feed and put Lily to sleep. She is sick again. She has had a cough for a week but started having fever again today. Lets hope this passes quickly. She's a bit fussy but overall seems fine.

She wanted to thank everyone for her Christmas presents. She is a very lucky little girl to have so many people who love her.

I  thought you might enjoy some new photos.

First Rice Cereal

At 4 months babies get rice cereal twice a day in addition to formula. Well we're a week early but we let Lily try rice cereal today. I can't tell if she liked it or not. The video is below, you decide.   :)

Kick Piano

We got a Christmas gift for Lily in the mail yesterday. I was bad and gave it to her early. She wanted to play with it...

Play Center Fun

Theresa gave us  Flip for our birthdays/Christmas gift. It's this handy little video camera that plugs directly into the computer- a USB plug pops out of the side of the camera. The idea was that its so portable and easy to use that I can just throw it in the diaper bag. Hopefully it will make videos easier and therefore more frequent. Here's my first try at it.

Snow Baby

1st Ear Infection and Happier News

The week before Thanksgiving Lily caught a little cold from daycare. She had a stuffy nose for a few days but was okay. On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving I went to pick her up from daycare and she was screaming. The "teacher" said she had just woken up from her nap crying. I consoled her and even tried to feed her but she was still very fussy. That night she started running fevers. We called the pediatrician and took her in the next day. She had an ear infection. She has now finished her antibiotics and is doing well. Unfortunately it's winter and she's in daycare so we are just waiting on the next cold. Hopefully it won't come complete with ear infection. Brian and I both caught that initial cold too. I got rid of it in less than a week. Brian, however, is still coughing.
I put up our Christmas tree on Saturday. I did not decorate it yet but it's up. Luckily it's pre-lit so it's already pretty without the ornaments. There are already gifts under the tree thanks to some early shoppers. I am happy to report that the majority of my shopping is done. None of it is mailed but that's another story. I have more than half of our Christmas cards addressed but I need to buy more- I ran out of the photo ones.  All things for the weekend.
During the week our days are pretty packed. I get up 30-45 minutes before Lily and get ready. I get dressed and get her stuff together. Then if she's not awake I wake her up. She gets changed and dressed. Then she eats breakfast- this has been cut short by sleep the last few days. Then I bundle her up and load her into her carseat. I drop her off at daycare between 7:15 and 7:30 and I go to work. My goal everyday is to get out in time to pick her up. If I don't get out before 5:30 Brian picks Lily up on his way home. After work Lily gets a bath and gets into her pajamas. Then it's dinner bottle time- that almost always puts her to sleep. I let her sleep in my arms or on my chest while Brian and I watch TV. Most nights I am not far behind Lily and fall asleep with her on the couch. Everyone always asks if she is sleeping through the night- nope. She still wakes up 1 or 2 times a night and wants to eat. She usually falls asleep again while eating or right after but we get up a couple times.

I know the blog hasn't been updated as often since I went back to work but with packed days and early nights it's not as easy to get on here and do it. Here are some pictures below and a video later tonight. Hope you enjoy and that you are all doing well.

Christmas Wish List

People have started asking what Lily wants for christmas. So stealing an idea from our friend I have made an amazon wish list. It's is just ideas of things that would be useful for Lily. You don't have to buy the things online but can if you want to. They don't have to be the exact items on the wishlist either- remember they are just ideas of things she would like.  Here is the link to the wish list. http://amzn.com/w/1OK8A6VGL72DM

Other things Lily would want or need would be hooded towels- but we would prefer the toddler sized ones so she can keep using them as she grows. Clothes are always nice- and fun to shop for! Please buy clothes that are 9 months or larger (and remember seasons- 18 month sized clothes need to be Fall or Winter wear :) and 12 month can be Fall or Summer). She would love a playmat that she can kick- one that makes noise or does something when she kicks it. And she would defintiely love a jumper- one that we can hang on the door frame or one that stands alone.

I wish that we could be home with you all for Christmas but that is not going to work. I can't imagine traveling with Lily anyway. We had holiday pictures taken this weekend and will get them on November 30th. Some of them turned out really well. Lily was a little angel as usual but it really wore her out.

Conversations with Lady Bug!

Back to Work

I have been back at work for 2 weeks now. Though this past week was the first one back on consults- back full time so to speak. Lily is settling into daycare. Her "teacher" seems to really like her. And she does not seem to mind going. She is doing okay waking up early and getting rushed out of the house. But she does not nap much there- too much going on I guess. So for most of the week when I got her home she was crabby and clingy. Thursday and Friday she seem to figure out how to nap there and she was a much happier baby at night. Happier baby made for a happier Mommy as well. I miss her so much during the day that I don't like to let go of her at night.
Work is going well. I am trying to get back into the swing of things. I remember now that I do enjoy my job. If I could only strap Lily to my chest in one of those carrier things and take her with me life would be perfect. :)  Too many germs around for that to be possible. Below are a few pictures from the last couple weeks. There aren't very many because I have been taking less. I need to fix that.

Well Child Check

Lily had her 2 month check up today. She charmed all the nurses and the doctor. She such a little cutie! She smiled and cooed at everyone. I can't believe how much weight she has gained. She weighs 12 pounds! She has almost doubled her birth weight at 2 months. She is now 90th percentile for her weight and 75-90th percentile for height (now 23.25 inches long). She had to get 3 shots and drink a solution. She was a champ. Don't get me wrong- she screamed with the shots but she calmed down quickly and was ok. I gave her some tylenol afterward and she was ok for a while. But then she got sleepy and slept basically all afternoon/evening. She was even opting for sleep over food. When she did wake up she ate some but she was an unhappy fuss-ball. She is sleeping now. We'll see how tonight goes...
As some of you may have heard we moved Lily to her crib in the nursery this week. I had gotten into this bad habit of letting her sleep on my chest. So she ended up in bed with us a lot and I ended up with a backache from sleeping semi-upright. She was not too happy the 1st couple nights we tried to move her. But last night went pretty well. Instead of using the pack'n play in our room we moved her to the nursery. She stayed in her crib all night. She was pretty restless and woke up a lot more than normal but it was light-years better than prior attempts. Hopefully tongiht will go okay- I have doubts because she is not feeling well. Cross your fingers for us!
The video below is from yesterday. Lily loves the mobile above her crib. It's too bad it only lasts a couple minutes- we might need to get a longer playing one.

8 weeks old

Lily turned 8 weeks old yesterday. She is getting bigger by the day. Over the last week she has started smiling a lot and it is SO cute. I have caught a couple on camera. She is also sleeping for longer stretches at night but not consistently. We still eat every night at 3 AM and then between 6:30 and 7:30. Sometimes there is a 11 pm or 1 am feeding too but that varies.
I find out about Lily's daycare spot on Monday. They are dragging their feet on this big time. I go back to work in a week and don't know for sure that she has a spot. It's really not good for Mommy's peace of mind to wait this long. I think we'll be fine- she'll have a spot. They were giving the last family ahead of us on the waiting list until 6:15 Friday evening to claim the spot. If they did not claim it the spot will be ours. So I will find out Monday morning. I will be very relieved once it's all set up.
Linda and Kenny are visiting. They came Thursday and leave tomorrow morning. Lily has stolen their hearts and she is enjoying all the attention. She is a lucky little girl to have so many people who love her.
Here are some pictures from this last week.

Weekly Pictures

Lily is getting bigger and more expressive. She is holding her head up more- though sometimes she fools you into thinking that she has good head control then flop. She is still eating like a champ and growing. She is chubby now with the most adorable cheeks. I would guess that she weighs a little over 10  pounds and she is now wearing 3 month size clothes. They are all mostly big on her but the newborn size is too small.
My return to work is looming. I am not looking forward to leaving Lily but I do miss my friends and colleague's at work. I am nervous about returning to work. Lily is going to end up in daycare- the nanny sharing idea is not going to work out. There is a daycare center across the street from the hospital. Several of my friends use it and like it. Lily should have a spot there by the time I go back. It will be convenient for drop off/pick up and also I can run over and see her if I have time during the day. It's a 5 minute walk from my office- it takes longer to get to parts of the hospital. I hope it will work out ok.
Not much else going on here. We were happy to have great grandma visit this week. I am pretty sure that Lily stole her heart. Everyone who meets her seems to fall in love with her. Lily is so lucky to have so many people who love her. Great-grandma has to go back to Florida today, Helayne is coming in for just a day tomorrow and then Grammy Linda and Kenny are coming Thursday.

Here are some pictures from this week.

Mommy's try at video

One is low quality but loads faster, the other is high quality. Please let me know which you prefer.




 

6 weeks old

There's not much going on up here. We are all doing well.  We have a few more visitors coming in the next few weeks. And I only have a few more weeks before I go back to work- scheduled to go back November 1st. The big project between now and then will be sleep. We have not really started working on our sleep schedule yet. I have been letting Lily dictate when sleepy time is so far. I know that we need to get her on a schedule that we can keep after I go back to work but we have not started that process yet. It's not going to be fun.
Lily continues to grow like a weed. She has a great appetite. Over the last week she has really found her voice. She is crying and protesting more. She has been more fussy this week than she had been cumulative in the 5 weeks prior. That said she is still a remarkably good baby. I really can not complain. She is such a snuggle baby. She likes to sleep squished up next to you or on your chest- very sweet.
Here are some pictures from this last week.

tummy time

tummy time

sleeping or deep in thought?

little bean

bundled up and ready to go

5 Weeks Old Already

Lily keeps getting bigger and better each day. She is eating like a champ and growing out of a lot of her newborn clothes. She is probably over 9lbs now. Brian thinks that she is about 10 lbs but we have not weighed her since her doctor's visit to know for sure. She is doing really well and trying to get her days and nights straight- she has a bad night every now and then but she's working on it. It's hard to believe that she is 5 weeks old already. The reality of going back to work and having to finalize child care plans is looming. I am trying to ignore it and enjoy my time with her for now.
My Dad has been visiting the last few days. Lily clearly has him wrapped around her little tiny finger. Everyone that meets her seems to fall in love with her. She is such a sweet baby- very snuggly and happy. She has discovered her voice a little more over the last week- she'll give one loud cry- or squawk as I call it- to protest something and now she'll actually cry when she's hungry. Before she would just fuss and wiggle when she wanted to eat.