Wow! Long Time No Blog!

Talk about a dry spell! I can't believe it's been so long since we've updated the blog. Hopefully you'll all take that as a sign that we are busy, busy, busy with our little girl, and not just bad, lazy parents!

Lily had her 18 month check up with Dr. Speiss last Friday (though, for anyone counting, as of tomorrow she's actually 20 months!) Lily is now up to the 50th percentile for weight, at 24.5 lbs. She's still on the long side at 33 inches, making clothes shopping a bit of a challenge. I'm actually shocked she's averaged out in weight, she seems so skinny and some days I feel like she's only eaten a handful of food! For anyone wondering about her petite head, you'll be happy to know she's now in the 75th percentile for head size also- proof that her brain is ginormous!

Lily is doing more than I can think to tell you: she's still a dancing machine, and has added singing to her repertoire. Jack's Big Music Show is still her beloved favorite, but she's added Elmo to that list- some times incessantly repeating his name until we cave and let her watch him! I actually picked up Elmo's Potty Time recently, as we're starting to introduce the idea in preparation for the big transition. It is quite hilarious to listen to a little red Muppet sing about pee-pee and poo-poo! And wouldn't you know, that episode was brought to us by the letter "P" and the "number 2"- Ha! Thank g-d for Sesame Street!

It also shouldn't surprise anyone that Lily is quite the talker. She'll pick up anything phone like, put it to her ear, say "Hewwo?" then go to town. She's also gotten to the point that she'll repeat pretty much anything under 4 syllables- my latest source of amusement is how she starts out suggestions with the phrase "How 'bout...." We've started to teach her numbers and letters, and though developmentally she's a little way from understanding those concepts, she is getting the idea- if you start counting with one (um, where else would you start?) she'll often follow with two and three. Four somehow gets lost, but when you prompt her by filling in four, she knows five follows.

In sadder news, our family just lost a very important member. Our 12 year old cat, Tom, died a couple of weeks ago. We learned just a month or so ago that he had a mass in his stomach, which turned out to be cancer. After consulting with a specialist and finding out that treatment (chemo and then surgery) would only prolong his life another 6 months or so, we made the decision to let him go naturally. With the help of medications, Tom was comfortable all but the last few days, and died at home with his family. For those of you that follow Brad or myself on Facebook, Myspace or Twitter, this is not news to you, but it is still fresh to us.

Lily is doing well with the loss, she hasn't really seemed to notice his absence, which I suppose is a good thing. Lily and Tom were buddies, you can see that in many pictures and videos of them together. I'm glad Lily had that time with Tom, and while it hurts to think that she won't remember him, at least we have the visual reminders of how special their time together was.

Aside from that, we're all doing well. I'll make sure to post some more recent pics shortly, and of course, our favorite holiday, Halloween, is right around the corner, so we're all excited for Lily's first Trick-or-Treat! We haven't decided on a costume yet, I suspect if we let her choose she'd point out something red and furry! Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be cute!

Sorry everybody, I know it's been months since we've posted an update, we've just been too busy watching our little girl grow! Today, Lilian Penelope is 11 months old- I can't believe I'm already planning her first birthday party! I'm sure I've said this before, but it's worth repeating- Lily is such a joy. She melts my heart and cracks me up on a daily basis.

An example of this, from just today: Lily loves to dance, and this is manifesting itself more and more in daily life. A few months ago, Lily started dancing to the music on her activity table, just bouncing when the music played. Lately she’s added some arm movements or clapping to go along with her signature bounce. Tonight Brad and I took Lily out to dinner with us, and at the end of the meal the song "Smooth" by Rob Thomas and Santana came on over the speakers in the restaurant. Lily seized the moment by bouncing in her chair and actually bobbing her head to the beat! Brad grabbed his phone and recorded it, so perhaps you'll get to share in our humor, but suffice it to say that Lily's got rhythm.

Other things Lily loves lately are her cats. Her first word outside of mama and dada was cat, which makes a lot of sense seeing that there are more cats in the house than mommies and daddies! Today she and Thomas had a very enjoyable game of peek-a-boo, though Thom was likely behind the curtain because he was hiding from her. Luckily, he's a very even-tempered animal, and puts up with Lily literally crawling all over him, sometimes without even waking up! Bean and Poe are a bit more cautious and tend to keep their space from her, but Lily still gets lots of exercise chasing them around.

Lily is an extremely active baby, and I spend most of my day chasing her around and keeping her out of trouble. One of her favorite daily activities is pulling all of the DVDs out of the shelves that she can reach, and just today she figured out how to reach the buttons on the stereo! At about 28 inches tall, her reach is ever increasing, and she doesn't hesitate to stand on her tippy-toes to get what she wants.

Brad and I are also having fun buying Lily presents for her first Hanukkah- with Lily right there of course! One advantage to this age is that we can take her to the toy store to test out the toys before we buy them. This year Lily is getting Elmo Live (which she loved at the store), a Cabbage Patch Kid, her first big Winnie the Pooh and 5 other presents- one for each night!

Lily is all but done nursing, which may be too much information for some of you, but it’s something I feel I have to touch on. Nursing Lily has been such a great experience and I’m sad that it’s almost over. These days, I know she gets most of her nutrition from bottles (I felt like my milk was decreasing, so I began supplementing months ago) and solid food, but we still have one nursing session in the morning when Lily first wakes up. It’s a gentle way for both of us to ease into being awake, and I also think it’s also nice for us to have that close moment before she crawls away to spend the day exploring.

Before I had Lily, I knew I wanted to nurse. I wondered if it would be weird or awkward. It was neither, and I honestly wish I could go on nursing her longer. I suspect it will be a while before we give up this last nursing session.
This is just one of the first reminders that she’s growing and becoming more independent. She’s a long way from being on her own, but this kind of thing just reminds you that it’s going to happen. I know one day I’ll remember laying side by side in bed feeding her and wish I could go back, while at the same time being proud at all that she has become. I already am.

Half Birthday

On July 15th, Lilian Penelope turned 6 months old! I can't believe how fast the last half of a year has gone, how big our little girl is getting, and how much she is learning.

With turning 6 months old comes another doctor's checkup, and for you all, that means more specs!

Lily is now 14 Lbs, 10 ounces and measures 26 inches long. That puts her in the 25th percentile in weight (I swear, she eats like a piglet!) but the 60th in height. For those of you out of practice with percentiles, that means Lily weighs more than 25% of other babies her age, and is longer than 60%. So apparently, she's growing up but not out...Dr. S says that she may be a peanut, but she's healthy, proportional and growing at a good pace, so no worries about her lower than average weight.

Perhaps some of the reason Lily is so skinny is the fact that she's a very active baby. She is now an expert at sitting unsupported, and is very close to getting there on her own. At the risk of being "mean" (as grandma said) we do little sit-ups with her, holding her feet for her and giving her just one hand to hold onto in order to help her learn to sit up on her own. Yesterday, as I was attempting to change her diaper, she sat up without any hands to hold on to, just me holding her feet down. She then promptly leaned over (against my body) and pushed up with her legs- almost standing with out any help. This made me wonder if one of those shots she got at Dr. Spiess's office had been exposed to Gamma rays, but her skin is still a nice creamy peach color, so I guess not.

Lily talks up a storm, cooing and singing (and drooling) to her heart's content. As exciting as it will be to be able to talk to my little girl, I know I'll miss these little noises once they've been replaced by something more coherent. Stay tuned for a post of a "conversation with Lily".

I know there are other things I've forgotten to put on here- life happens so fast now-a-days it's hard to capture it all. For now, I'm just trying to enjoy it, because as fast as the last 6 months have gone, I have a feeling the next 6 will fly by even faster.

baby ninja math.

OK, so somehow, our 22 week old baby is now 5 months old!!!

To catch everyone up, Lily had her 4th doctor's visit on May 20th, at 4 months, and is doing splendidly. She weighed in at 13 lbs, 4 ounces and is 25 inches long. Though she is a bit longer and not quite as heavy as her peers, Dr. Speiss says it's all close enough to average. She still has a bit of a petite head, but her hats fit well, so no complaints here. She also had yet another round of vaccinations, her heart breaking screams lasted only so long as the needles were in her thigh- as soon as Mommy picked her up, all was forgiven.

Our new venture this month is food. Already!!! So far, we've found out that she greatly prefers oatmeal to rice cereal, and that not even oxy-clean can save clothes from the dreaded carrot stain. She has also tried squash, a bit of apple-prune juice (poopie troubles strike again) and, this week, sweet potatoes. Give us half a second, and I'm sure you'll see some adorable "food all over everything" pictures.

In other exciting developments, our little ninja has learned how to roll over from her back to her belly- a skill that eluded mommy and daddy for a full day before I finally caught it on video, only by recording and then leaving the room.

For those that may not remember, no one witnessed Lily's first roll from her belly to her back, but I was able to coax her into roll #2 on film. Not so this time; Lily Ninja insisted upon rolling onto her belly almost EVERY TIME I left the room, but never in front of me. I even hid on the stairs and spied on her for a good 10 minutes one time! Finally, I did catch it on camera. Oddly, as soon as I caught it on video, she seemed to decide that she could now share her skill with us, and now we can barely keep her on her back.

The funny (and, to me, slightly worrisome) part is that she seems to have forgotten that she learned how to roll the other way (from her belly to her back) 2 months ago, and can get quite upset when she rolls on to her tummy and then finds herself stranded there.

Lily is also dangerously close to sitting up- she will pull herself into a sitting position by holding our fingers, and even stands up this way. She can sit up by herself for increasingly long periods of time, and does very adorable little "crunches", complete with her hands behind her head. I know it won't be long until I have a whole new set of worries!

In anycase, it really is amazing how time flies- it seems like she grows while we're watching. Next month we plan on taking her to Grandma Vickie's cottage for the 4th of July and swimming for the 1st time, so stay tuned!

Llama Llama Red Pajama

Lily has a new favorite book. It's a suspense thriller all about a baby llama and his maternal fixation. With a very Seussian control of alliteration, this Llama drama soothes our 4-month old angel to sleep.

Jess reads it to her just about every night these days, and Lily often falls asleep right when she reaches the final page. Cutest baby ever.

My 1st Mother's Day

WARNING!!! This post may not be suitable for diabetics.

I've always known my mom loved me. I never knew how much until I had my own daughter. I'm sure I'm not the first to say, but, anyone who doesn't believe in love at first sight has never had a child. The moment the doctor lay Lily on my chest- wet, warm, scared and screaming, I knew I loved her more than I'd ever be able to express. Of course, I loved her long before I ever saw her face to face.

Honestly, I feel that being celebrated myself on Mother's Day is unnecessary. Being a mom is a privilege; it is the gift. I feel like I should be giving thanks instead of vice versa, because I've been granted the honor of being a mother. So, despite the fact that I can now lay claim to the holiday, what Mother's Day is about to me remains what it has always been: my mom.

Thank you, Mom, for being strong enough to let me be my own person; to let make my own choices and mistakes. Thank you for always encouraging me to be myself, and for making sure that I always knew that if someone doesn't like me as I am, it's their loss; there are plenty of people out there who will. Thank you for loving me even when you didn't like me. Thank you, Mom, for loving me like I love Lily.