15 weeks

Lila is 15 weeks old today! There's no pink 'Z' in her photo today because we aren't at home today. This weekend we're in New York visiting Lila's grandparents! Here's Miss Lila on this snowy (yes, snowy!) Sunday.

Lila has had an enjoyable day today. She loves relaxing in front of the fire. She finds the flames fascinating and spent a long time just staring into the fireplace.

She loves reading with Grandpa.

And of course she had to try on the new pink pom pom hat (matching sweater not pictured). :)

Lila has also enjoyed some time relaxing in the swing. She especially enjoys looking up at the light show on the swing. Her swing at home doesn't have a light show!

This has been a wonderful weekend so far, starting out with Lila's first airplane trip. I was so worried about flying with Lila since she has had a cold, but she really started to feel better on Thursday, and was again noticably better by Friday. I was also worried since Lila and I flew alone. Ed is busy, busy, busy with finals this weekend and early next week, so Lila and I decided to take a little vacation and give him some time to study without interruptions. I'm happy to report that Lila was AMAZING on the flights. We had a 2 hour layover on our way to New York, which proved to be a very good thing. We got a chance to stand up, walk around, do a diaper change and feeding, and just generally regroup before getting on the plane again. On the first flight Lila slept most of the time. She slept through takeoff and landing, and only needed to eat once. I was able to feed her relatively discreetly with my nursing cover, and no one really seemed to notice. On the second flight we were delayed for a while on the runway and Lila slept through most of the delay. I kept hoping we'd just hurry up and take off already, thinking Lila would wake up during takeoff and then be grumpy. Thankfully she slept through takeoff and for another half an hour or so. For the rest of the flight she sad contentedly on my lap and didn't make a peep.

Yesterday must have really worn Lila out because she slept for 7 hours before waking for the first time in the middle of the night, and then she slept another 3 hours after that. Today she has napped for an hour here and there for the better part of the day. I hope that she's sleeping off the last of her cold!

We're in New York until Wednesday and we're looking forward to lots more time with the grandparents. Snuggles by the fire, homemade dinners, and maybe some walks outside if the weather warms up a bit.

Lila, Ed, and I celebrated Mother's Day together on Friday before we left, and today we celebrated Mother's Day with a tasty, homemade brunch. It has been a wonderful first Mother's Day weekend.

To all of our mama and mama-to-be friends, a very happy Mother's Day to you!

14 weeks

Lila is 14 weeks old!



Our girl is still feeling a bit under the weather. She seems to feel mostly okay during the day but nights have been really rough. We elevated the head of her crib and put a humidifier in her room and that seems to help, but she still wakes up quite unhappy more than a few times each night. I really, really hope that she miraculously feels 100% better tomorrow morning or it's going to be sad leaving her at daycare. They said that she can come to daycare as long as she just has a common cold and no fever. I know this, and I am running low on time off after maternity leave, but it still makes me sad to take a baby who doesn't feel good to daycare. If she's not 100% tomorrow I think I'll make it a short day. Thankfully when Lila's cold first set in she was able to stay at home with her grandma, and then we had 2 weekend days to help her recover. If nothing else this cold sure had good timing, if there is such a good thing as good timing for a cold.

And so we have all survived Lila's first (short) week of daycare. I can't say that I'm thrilled to be back at work, but it hasn't been quite as bad as I thought it would be. I know that Lila is being well cared for at daycare, and from what I hear from other parents she will be learning quite a lot as well. I love that they read and sing to her, and I love that she's already starting to learn Spanish and some sign language. When she gets older she'll have little daycare friends, too, I hope. I just have to keep those things in mind when I'm at work and I'm sad that I'm not with her.

Tonight while we were getting Lila ready for bed, I put a rattle in her open hand just to see what she'd do. She didn't really seem to know it was there at first, but once she brought her hand to her mouth and got a mouth full of rattle, she looked a bit surprised. She gummed it up just as she would her little hand. It was pretty cute. Not too long before she's picking up and gripping things all on her own.


Tonight Lila also discovered herself in the mirror. I was washing her hands in the bathroom sink and when I looked up I saw her watching herself in the mirror. I lifted her up and showed her her reflection and she smiled. It was so sweet! We'll have to start setting a mirror on the floor so that she can explore. She has a mirror on the mobile in her crib but she won't be able to look in that mirror until she can sit up.

While Lila is not really anywhere near being able to sit up, she is definitely trying. When we set her down and she doesn't want to be put down, she strains forward and tries so hard to sit herself upright. She's also very close to being able to roll herself from front to back. She flings her legs to the side and then she rolls to her side. It's won't be long before our baby will be roly poly-ing all over the place!

Well, I should head to bed and get some sleep while I can. Both Ed and I have sore throats and are hoping that we're not catching Lila's cold. Then again, it might just be the sheer exhaustion of the last few days hitting us.

Next weekend Lila and I head to New York to visit her grandparents for a few days. Here's hoping that everyone is healthy and well by then!

Peanut

Before Lila was born, she was invited to participate in a baby study at the University and we agreed. Lila has been to the U twice since her birth, once at 3 weeks of age, and again at 3 months of age. The study monitors babies' growth over the course of their early months to predict factors for childhood obesity. During the visits, Lila is weighed and measured and then she's placed into a machine called the Pea Pod. The Pea Pod uses air displacement to measure Lila's body composition. When Lila was 3 weeks old, she screamed the entire 2 minutes that she was in the Pea Pod. Thankfully the Pea Pod is essentially sound proof, so while I could see her little crying face, I couldn't hear her. (Here's a video of the Pea Pod in use. Neat!)

Yesterday we went back for Lila's second visit and what a difference a few months makes! Lila was happy as a clam the whole time she was in the Pea Pod. She chewed on her fist and watched me intently.

How cute is the baby skull cap they put on her? I love it!

With yesterday's study, we learned that Lila is not the chunky monkey we were told she was at her 2 month well baby visit. I really thought that there was no way Lila could have been 15 lbs 5 oz at her 2 month visit, especially since she had weighed in at 10 lbs just a few weeks earlier at her old pediatrician's office. But then again, a scale's a scale, so what do I know? Well, at yesterday's session Lila weighed in at 13 lbs, 8 oz. Now *that* seems right! The researcher weighed her twice and assured me that their scale had just been calibrated for the purpose of accurate study results. She still recommended that I call Lila's pediatrician to make them aware of the snafu and see if they wanted her in the office to re-weigh her. I called and scheduled her next well-baby visit a week earlier than previously scheduled, but the nurse seemed to think that their scale must have been off. I wonder if they noticed a sudden rash of ginormous babies that day! Sheesh.

In other news, Miss Lila seems to have acquired her first cold. It was a rough night last night. Lila was terribly congested, and nothing we did seemed to ease her breathing and alleviate her frustration. She vomited mucous a few times which was really scary. The Baby Line nurse seemed to think that Lila just has a cold and advised that we let her sleep in her car seat. After finally settling in at 1:45 am, Lila slept straight through until about 7 am, but I barely slept a wink. Her breathing was so loud and labored that I just couldn't relax.

Today she seems to be feeling a bit better. She's at home with Grandma right now and all reports are that she is in good spirits with decreasing congestion. I'm so relieved! It's so frustrating and sad to watch your baby suffer and to not be able to explain to her why you're torturing her with a snot sucker.

We knew that Lila would probably get sick once we sent her to daycare, but we didn't expect to have to deal with illness quite so soon. Maybe she got the snot from daycare, maybe not, but still...ugh. I'm glad we have the weekend to stay home and help our baby girl feel better before we all return to the big, bad world again on Monday.

Daycare day 1

I'm so thankful to say that day 1 of day care was a success. We dropped off Lila together today and there were tears from Mom and Dad, but no tears from Lila. When we picked her up this evening they informed us that she is an "agreeable, happy baby" and she barely cried. On top of that she napped and ate without any problems. She was sound asleep when we got there but woke as soon as she heard our voices.

We spent the evening cuddling and talking and reminding Lila how much we love her. I was sad when it was time for her to go to bed because it felt like we had just gotten home - and we had, just 2.5 hours earlier. I am already looking forward to having entire days together again when the weekend rolls around.

It took a bit longer than normal to get Lila to sleep tonight, which I've heard is normal with any major change in routine. She was up 5 times last night and at least that many times the night before, so I'm hoping that she's too worn out for much up and down action tonight. Fingers crossed! I could really use the sleep.

I'm off to bed, but first a picture.

Daddy catches Lila and Mama snuggling before leaving for work and daycare today...

It seems that no matter what, we're never both looking at the camera at the same time. In this picture Lila seems to be almost rolling her eyes at me and saying, "Mom, I'll be fine! Don't worry about me. Now let's get this show on the road!"

Sleep tight, dear girl.

13 weeks (3 months!)

Lila is 13 weeks old today, and was officially 3 months old yesterday.


Tomorrow morning I head back to work bright and early, and I've got everything ready to go for the big day. If you've talked to me at all over the past 3 weeks or so, you probably know that I'm pretty much a wreck. I never, ever thought it would be this hard to leave Lila.

Unfortunately, due a bout of the flu in the house, my mom won't be coming up to stay with Lila until the later part of this week. So...Lila goes to daycare tomorrow morning. She will be okay, and so will I. I know this, but it just doesn't make it any easier.

I don't have the energy to write a big post tonight, so instead I leave you with some pictures from the past week.

Singing with Daddy on the changing table, one of Lila's favorite activities.

Little bug all dressed and ready to go for a walk with Mama. Lila was so excited she could hardly sit still while I took this picture, which is why she's kind of blurry. But check out the little antennae on her hood! That's the cutest bug I've ever seen, no doubt about it.

Trying out a new chair - the Bumbo on loan from buddy Matthew. Not quite sure what to make of this thing. Grandpa says it looks like she's holding on for dear life.

And lastly, this is what I call Lila's "whut?" face. She makes the funniest faces sometimes.
Her eyes just keep getting darker and prettier every day.

I'll give an update on Lila's first few days at daycare when I have a chance. It likely won't be for a few days as we'll be spending every moment we can with our baby girl when we get home at the end of the day.

In the meantime, we wish you all a good week!

12 weeks!

Our beloved baby girl is 12 weeks old today. Twelve weeks ago, minus about 2 hours, little Lila was born. Oh, how she has changed our lives.


Lila is really starting to be more of a little girl and less and less of a tiny baby with each passing day. She is becoming so interactive and is really developing her own little personality. When I come in to her room in the middle of the night, she smiles at me and nuzzles in to me. When we talk to her, she talks back. She is holding up her head, she's noticing and chewing on her hands, and she's trying her darnedest to sit up.

I have heard parents say that while newborns are squishy and sweet and snuggly, they really enjoy their babies and children more and more as they get older. Before Lila was born, I never understood how anyone could enjoy anything more than a tiny newborn baby. Well, now I know. Don't get me wrong - we have loved Lila to the end of the earth from the moment she was born, but now we like her quite a bit more, and I sense that she's really starting to develop a fondness for us as well. For starters, we're really getting to know and really understand each other. When she cries, we can decipher the cries between hungry, tired, and pain, and we can respond accordingly. Lila is also sleeping more and has started to develop a schedule, which I think keeps us all quite a bit more sane. I no longer feel like I'm just trying to keep my head above water. I feel like life is starting to settle into a new "normal" and with that, we're really starting to feel like a family instead of two crazed, sleep-deprived parents responding to the crazy whims of a newborn. It's a really good feeling.

Earlier today I was upstairs and suddenly I heard Lila chatting away downstairs. When I came down to see what was going on, I saw that Daddy was singing to Lila, as he does every day, and she was singing along! I have never seen anything so sweet in all my life.



By the time I found the camera and started filming, Lila had been singing for quite some time so she was starting to get a bit tired, as you could probably hear. But still...wasn't that about the sweetest thing you have ever heard?

This is my last week of leave and my last week at home with Lila. I'm trying not to think about it too much, but it is HARD. The only thing I'm going to do this week is focus on our girl. Everything else can wait.

11 weeks

Our little girl is 11 weeks old today!


It was a beautiful weekend here and Lila spent plenty of time outside enjoying the sunshine. It has been really nice to be able to get together with friends for walks around the lakes, and to be able to take the puppies for walks in the evenings. Lila loves being in her stroller and is getting the hang of being in her Ergo carrier.

Since Lila's vaccinations it seems that she has discovered her super pissed off voice and she is now using it quite freely to tell us when she is unhappy with the world. It's quite upsetting, but usually we can figure out pretty quickly what's bugging her and get it resolved. Still, that screamed paired with the tears are heartbreaking.

I've been having my own rough time this past week mentally preparing for my return to work in 2 weeks. Every time Lila has a meltdown, I have a meltdown. Super productive, I know. Ed has many times found us both in her nursery crying. It's awful. I can hardly stand the idea of having her scream and not being able to be there to comfort her. What if she wonders where I am and why I left her? Ugh. I have been assured many times that she will be just fine and that I will be, too. Thankfully my mom will be coming to stay with Lila the first week that I go back to work. I asked her if she'd do this very early in my pregnancy, figuring that it would provide a good transition for both me and Lila. If I call my mom to check in 15 times in one day, she might think I'm crazy, but at least it's my mom...she's obligated to love me even if I'm a little crazy, right?

We stopped in and spent some time at her new day care center on Thursday. Lila was wary at first, but the women who work there were so good to her and I know that they will love her the best that they can, even if they can't love like her mom does.

All in all, things are good. Lila is wonderful and growing and changing by the day. She is sleeping quite well, up to 8 hours in a stretch this week. She's going back and forth on whether or not she likes to be swaddled, so we play it by ear from night to night. Some nights she sleeps like a rock in her swaddle and other nights she break free from the swaddle after just a few minutes in bed. I'll come in to find her little hands completely free...and her legs, too, depending on which swaddle sack we've used. When I pick her up to feed her she gives me a super adorable sly smile that says, "see! All I wanted was to be freeeee!" It melts my heart.

Since our girl is out like a light, I'm going to sign off and relax for a bit.

Happy spring!

Spring has sprung!

Today is a beautiful day and we have been taking full advantage. Lila and Daddy partnered together to let me sleep 9 hours last night! Lila took the first 7 hours and Daddy the other 2. I haven't felt this refreshed since long before Lila was born.

After a great night's sleep, we walked to a little neighborhood cafe for lunch. When we got home we spent some time working on our perennial garden, and now we're enjoying the sun on the front porch.

Lila has yet to wake up from the nap she started on the walk home. Here she is snoozing contentedly next to her Easter tulips.

Happy spring! We hope that the sun is shining on you, too.

Sleeping Beauty

If there's one thing that our girl does well, it's sleep. She may not always sleep when we sleep, or when we want to sleep, but sleep she does...and soundly.

Here she is sacked out after the Easter festivities.

And here's what my lap has looked like for the past two hours.

Couldn't you just eat those rosy little cheeks?

10 Week Easter Baby

Happy Easter! Lila is 10 weeks old today.


This has been a big weekend for our baby girl. Her aunt Erin came to visit, along with her mom's cousin, Megan.

We also celebrated my birthday.


This year, I have everything I could ever wish for.

We went to church today and then came home and had Easter dinner. While we were at church, the Easter bunny dropped off an Easter basket for Lila. (Her Grandma and Grandpa may have put a little bug in the Easter Bunny's ear, letting him know that there's a new baby at our house in need of an Easter basket. ..)

Lila enjoyed discovering what was in her Easter basket with a little help from Mom.

The excitement wore her out and our little Easter bunny is down for her second nap of the afternoon.

This week Lila went in for her 2 month well baby checkup. At just shy of 10 weeks old, Lila weighed in at 15 pounds, 5 ounces! She was 8 pounds, 1 ounce at birth, so she has definitely grown like a weed since then. Her pediatrician said that she is strong and healthy and will likely grow up to be tall just like her parents. Sometimes Lila has days where all she wants to do is eat and I was concerned that I might be overfeeding her. The pediatrician said that Lila is strong and getting all of the nutrition she needs from breastfeeding with nothing extra. She said that my body makes exactly the food that Lila needs exactly when she needs it. She even gets more water in the early part of her feedings to quench her thirst, and more substantial milk towards the end to satiate her hunger. Pretty cool system, huh?

Lila's two month checkup also meant vaccines. With the help of our wonderful pediatrician, we have chosen an alternative vaccination schedule for Lila. This schedule minimizes Lila's exposure to the heavy metals that are found in some childhood vaccines, and it also gives her little body more time to develop necessary antibodies without overloading her developing immune system. (This is where having a daddy who's working on a PhD in immunology and biology comes in handy. Daddy knew the questions to ask and our trusted pediatrician helped us decide on a plan in which we feel confident.) But just because we feel confident in the plan we have chosen for our daughter doesn't mean that vaccines or shots of any kind are fun.

I really thought that we would be pros at having Lila get shots since she got so many needle sticks when she was in the hospital the week that she was born. Little did we know, these shots would be nothing like the blood draws and needle pricks of her early days. I have never heard Lila scream the way she did when they administered her vaccines. A good friend of mine told me to request two nurses to administer the shots simultaneously so that Lila would have only one moment of pain versus two (she got two shots) and I am SO thankful for this advice. After hearing our baby scream and seeing the look of sheer pain and sadness on her face, I'm not sure that any of us could have endured another poke. It took a lot longer than normal for us to soothe her but Lila was her normal, happy self within about 20 minutes of getting her shots. However, the rest of the night was awful. She wouldn't let her dad hold her at all without screaming like someone was seriously hurting her. We wound up closing our windows for fear that the neighbors would think we were abusing her. It was that bad. Then when my sister and cousin showed up the next day she wanted nothing to do with them. Merely putting her in their arms would cause her to scream terribly and uncontrollably to the point where it would take me several minutes to soothe her.

Since there is a new directive to not give babies Tylenol before or after immunizations, we were at wits' end after 24 hours and called the pediatrician to see what we should do for our poor, sad baby girl. It turns out that Lila was probably feeling mostly better physically but may be distrusting of strangers for a while since the last strangers she encountered had caused her pain. The evening of her shots she was probably angry at Daddy since the nurses instructed him to hold her legs still while they gave her the shots. Awesome. I was in tears several times worrying about her first day at daycare in just over four weeks, and thinking of her crying hysterically all day was enough to make me nearly hysterical. We've seen some improvement in her trust of others and she is very happy with her dad now, but it was a LONG weekend.

Other than the pain and the crying, Lila really did have a very good week. She gave me the most wonderful birthday gift and slept eight straight hours Friday night and then slept a solid six hours last night. We have definitely turned over a new leaf in the sleeping department. I can hardly tell you how wonderful it is that she is sleeping for longer stretches. I no longer feel like I need to head straight to bed the moment that Lila goes down, and I'm no longer deliriously tired ALL the time. I've been staying up a few hours after she goes to sleep and it is SO nice to have some time alone with Ed, as well as some time to myself to do whatever I want- even if that is to just straighten the house, do some laundry, or write in Lila's baby book.

Our girl is awake and it's time for dinner. A very happy Easter to you all!