Mama in Training: Lilly Rae

Day 64 – August 12, 2012

My beautiful baby girl is 9 weeks old today! I love seeing the pictures of how she is growing week by week. She changes so much every day. I am so thankful that I have been able to document it with this blog. I hope I can stick with it (at least somewhat) once I go back to work…

We wore our “All American Girl” outfit today in honor of the Olympics. We were excited to watch the men’s basketball championship game, so we figured we’d get in the spirit and dress the part.

We also took some time today to try out a different baby carrier, the Baby Bjorn. Michelle and Chad loaned this to us and while we have a Beco Gemini carrier, we also like the Bjorn and it’s a little better for an infant. We went for a nice walk around the neighborhood before bath time and Lilly really liked it! After that we did some "tummy time" which we took video of. Check it out below!

"I am Baby Bjorn Man!"

Go Team USA!

Look how big she is getting!

Lilly looks like a little elf here! She has her mommy's ears ;o)

Day 65 – August 13, 2012

This might be a new record for a 9 week old: Lilly slept for 9 straight hours! I am so proud of our little girl! I am sure this will not be a nightly occurrence, but I am so glad that she is already sleeping for long stretches. That makes me hopeful for when I return to work (can you tell this topic is plaguing my mind right now??)

I am also proud of my baby girl for how well she is doing with her “tummy time” which was a struggle for a while! She does not like doing it on the floor, but I learned that she can do it SO much better on her changing table. Her head control is excellent (in my humble opinion) and I get so excited watching her.

We took a trip to HGMS today to bring Darren lunch and visit with him. We were able to see a few other people while there, but we didn’t spend much time there. I needed to get Lilly home to feed her, so unfortunately we didn’t get to see everyone. Sorry! It was great to get to see Darren in the middle of the day though. We really miss him when he is gone and I know he misses us.

This is what I get to see every morning and I treasure every minute of it

Tummy Time...getting up...

...a little higher...

...and THERE!

"Ok Ma, can I be done now??"

Lilly "found" herself in her mirror on her play mat. It's SO cute to watch her "talk" to herself

Day 66 – August 14, 2012

I think today was one of my favorite days with Lilly. She was such a cuddle bug today and so happy all the time, it made my entire day just filled with love and snuggles. I think I put Lilly down for a total of about 20 minutes today because she just wanted to be held and I was happy to oblige. We did get in some “tummy time” this morning and some play time on her play mat, but other than that, we snuggled.

We also played a new “game” today that I discovered walking up and down the downstairs hallway and looking at all the pictures. We have a large mirror in the foyer that I walked Lilly up to so she could see herself. I already knew she loved looking at herself in the mirror from her play mat, but this time she could see me too. She would look at herself and smile then turn her head. So I would spin around so she was once again facing the mirror. Then she’d smile again and turn her head the other way. We probably did this for a solid 15-20 minutes and I think she got tired of it before I did J

My new favorite picture of my baby

This was a rare moment when Lilly was out of my arms today

Day 67 – August 15, 2012

Lilly and I enjoyed a great day at home together. I am soaking up every minute of Lilly time that I can get because I know are time is limited. I am just thankful that we are on a year round schedule and that we get so much time off. I know teaching is a difficult profession and we don’t get paid nearly enough, but at least I get to be home while it’s still light out and I get 3 weeks off every 9 weeks to be with my baby girl. J

Michelle and Chad invited us over for dinner that night, so we were able to spend some time with them. Michelle and Chad were able to get some good cuddle time with Lilly, and Allie and Ryan are so sweet with her. Ryan calls her baby Wiwwy, and always says “she so coot!” when he sees her. Allie is so gentle with her and gets a big smile on her face whenever she looks at her. Lilly is lucky that she has so many people (of all ages) that love her so much.

My beautiful, happy girl!

Ryan loves "baby Wiwwy!"

Look at how sweet Allie is with Lilly!!!

Darren's arms are so comfortable, Lilly took a snooze

Day 68 – August 16, 2012

Lilly and I baked today! Well, Lilly did most of it, I just helped ;o) I have been wanting scones from Stick Boy a lot, but it’s not exactly economical to get them too often, so I decided to make my own blueberry scones. It was both harder and easier than I expected! Thank goodness for my Kitchenaid Mixer and for my Baby Bjorn carrier. I think the scones turned out pretty good, though they aren’t much to look at, I admit.

We have started taking a nightly walk and nightly bath, but I think this night we walked a little too soon after Lilly ate, because she and I both ended up covered in spit up. Not a very pleasant walk, but at least we hadn’t given her a bath yet because she definitely needed one after that…and so did I! Is it weird that I don’t even mind being spit up on? I am not saying I like it, but it really doesn’t gross me out. I usually end up feeling bad for Lilly!

Morning play time

She always gives me this face when I break out the camera. You'd think she'd be used to it by now!

"Mom, get this bib off of me!"

Day 69 – August 17, 2012

We went to the doctor today for Lilly’s two month checkup. I was so proud of my baby girl because we had to wait almost an hour because my favorite doctor is extremely thorough and always gets behind on his appointments (even as early as 10:30). He is worth the wait though. The nurse did all of Lilly’s measurements and she never made a peep the entire time. Lilly now weighs 11 lbs 1 oz (48^th percentile), is 23 ½ inches long (89^th percentile) and her head is 15 ¾ inches (73^rd percentile). The doctor showed me her growth on a chart and said everything was in the normal range and he predicts that Lilly will be around 5’5” like me, even though she is “tall” for her age right now. She definitely went through a growth spurt the past couple of weeks because she has grown 4 inches since birth.

I had mentally prepared myself for her to get shots at this appointment, but as all parents know, nothing really prepares you for that. The first immunization was a “drinkable” so that was not bad at all (p.s. have they really not figured out how to make ALL immunizations for children “drinkable” yet???) The nurse asked me to stand at Lilly’s head while she was at her feet and holding her legs. I stroked Lilly’s cheek and made funny faces at her while she sucked on her paci, but as soon as the first shot went in, her eyes doubled in size and her body jerked. Then she started crying harder than I have ever heard her. Luckily the nurse did the three shots incredibly quickly so I could scoop Lilly up within a matter of seconds. My heart literally ached for my poor baby! I am not bragging, but Lilly does not cry. She whines if she needs something, but I have never heard my baby girl cry like this. The nurse left the room and I immediately started nursing Lilly (while still standing up and rocking her in fact). She calmed down within a few minutes, but my heart was still racing.

When we got home, Lilly was fine and pretty sleepy, so I decided to go visit Holly Grove since the teachers had an early release and there wouldn’t be any students. I was able to see most of the 6^th grade teachers, which was really nice. I would not trade being home with Lilly for anything, but I am so thankful that I have an amazing job and amazing people to go back to; there is no way I could go back to work if I had any other job or any other coworkers.

Lilly is so great in the morning. She sits in her seat while I get ready

She even smiles!

This picture seems to foreshadow Lilly's experience...she already looks like she knows something bad is going to happen...poor baby!

My baby and her THREE Tweetie Bird band-aids after her shots.

Day 70 – August 18, 2012

After going to get some breakfast this morning, we ran into a few neighbors outside who all wanted to see Lilly. It’s funny to hear people’s comments at this point because half the people say “she is getting so big!” and the other half say, “she is so tiny!” A bit of a contradiction, but I know what they mean. She has grown so much since she was born, but she is still a little peanut.

I had found a woman who was selling an extra activity mat on Facebook, so we went to her house to pick that up. She gave us a bunch of toys and toy rings to go with it as well. Not bad for $5. I really want Lilly to have everything she has here while she is at her babysitter’s house so she is as comfortable as possible. The main thing she will be missing is me…but there is nothing I can do about that, unfortunately. (yes, I am still incredibly bitter and sad that I can’t stay home with her, but I will get over it)

We met up with friends at All Aboard Pizzeria that night for some pizza and a cornhole tournament. Carissa had to take Addie and Drew home because they were sick, but we were able to visit with Michelle and Chad and their family, so that was nice. Lilly just hung out for most of the time, and then of course right when the food arrived, she wanted to be held. Luckily there were plenty of arms to hold her J Lilly and I left after dinner and Darren stayed to play Cornhole with the guys. Darren and Chad won the whole tournament! They are truly incredible! It was a nice end to a great week.