It's Gourmet

My happy baby, Lilly, is even happier now. Why you ask? Because she found something gourmet. She found her thumb. I wasn't sure if she was ever going to find it. She's been sucking on her hands and fingers for months now. But last Wednesday, she found her thumb. Now she's in heaven. It's gourmet - she told me so.

Released

Lilly and I went to see Dr. Rosensweig, the Pediatric Gastroenterologist on Monday.  Lilly has been doing so well with me being on a dairy free diet, that I can't even remember the last time she threw up.  Dr. R was so pleased with her health that he said there was really no reason that we would need to come back to see him.  YA -and- HOO!  The plan as of now is to start a "Milk Challenge" with her at 6 months old.  So we will give her some regular formula with her rice cereal then and see how she does.  If she starts showing symptoms like before (throwing up, rash, uncomfortableness, etc.) then we will wait another two months and try again.  If she does well with the milk, then we keep going and give her milk again and wait to see what happens.  Dr. R said that she could grow out of this at any point between 6 months & 1 year.  I vote for the 6 month mark, but I realize that my vote doesn't count in this case.  For now, I'm thrilled that she is doing so well, and that nursing is going so well.  Its nice to be able to nurse on the go and not worry about what might come back up.  Its also nice to be able to enjoy nursing my baby girl without worrying about if what I'm feeding her is causing her pain. 

As of recently, she has taken after her sister when it comes to sleeping habits at a young age.  She is NOT sleeping well at a night at all, and this Mama is getting to be one crabby tired lady.  I'll be hitting my favorite book for sleep issues, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", later to see what I can do better to help this situation.

Just Like Riding A Bike

My MOPS group has a book club that is loosely associated with it. I haven't participated in the past because, honestly, reading is not really my thing. I used to enjoy reading before I had kids and had two 25 minute bus rides each day. But all that block of time, suddenly disappeared about two years ago. I've made it a new goal of mine to read more, and so I thought that by getting into the book club would be a perfect way to do that. So, a few weeks ago, I bought the book for this months club, "The Boy In the Stripped Pajamas", and I finished it on Saturday night. It was very good, by the way.

On Sunday, I was telling Jon that I might walk to the book club meeting because it was just about a mile from the house. He suggested that I could ride my bike. This small suggestion made my heart go pitter patter, in an excited nervous kind of way. I think the last time I rode my bike was the summer of 2008. Not joking. So, I did. I rode my bike. To a book club for a book I had completed.

Now, this might not sound too exciting, or all that newsworthy to some of you, but for me it is. This meant getting back some of the things that I used to do before kids. It meant that I was getting back a balance of "Beth in Mommy-hood" and "Beth as Beth". It was nice to get that sense of individuality back just by turning a page and peddling a bike. And these things came to me with such ease, just like riding a bike.

Blog Style Updated

For those of you that read me exclusively on Google Reader (I love Google Reader), just thought I would let you know that I recently updated the look of the blog for your eyes to enjoy.

Lillian Jeanne at 4 Months

I can't believe she is 4 months old already!  She has brought an unexplainable amount of joy and love to our family.  I can't imagine our lives without her!  Lilly is so sweet and easy going.  She is a happy baby (unless she's hungry), and will tolerate so much before getting mad.

At four months old, Lilly has several nicknames.  Cecilia calls her "Iwwy".  My go to nickname for her is "Muffin".  Jon tends to lean towards "Lil's".  She has also been affectionately called: Lillykins, Little, Little's, Lilly Pad, Lil, Hungry Monkey, Sister, Little Sister.  Her great grandpa, Pa, always calls her Lillian Jeanne, and it melts my heart every time :)

At four months old she talks ALL THE TIME!  She is constantly humming, squealing, practicing her raspberries, sighing, singing, giggling, and grunting.  

At four months old, Lilly smiles all the time, and loves to be interacted with.  Often times she will smile at you, and then turn her face away all bashful like.  Its adorable.

At four months old, she will roll from her tummy to back on occasion and has yet to roll from back to tummy.  She's pretty happy and content and not in a rush to go anywhere yet.

At four months old, she will explore your face with her hands if you let her.  Its the sweetest thing ever.

At four months old, she has 9 hairs on the top of her head.  I think its still less than when she was born.

At four months old, her eye color has solidified to big beautiful brown eyes.

At four months old, Lilly is drooling and gnawing on things all the time.  I think this might mean teeth, and soon.

At four months old, she is just about out grown her 0-3 month clothes.  She is wearing a size 2 diaper, and is ready for the medium size gDiapers (the same size Cecilia is wearing!).

At four months old, Lilly weighs 13.0 pounds (50th percentile), and is 24.5 inches long (50th percentile).

She has a firm hold on my heart.  And my hair, my face, and sometimes even my neck.  Yes, that girl loves to hang on to what ever she can, and hair is her favorite.  She loves to suck on her fingers, my fingers or knuckles, my chin, my cheek.  The other day, I let her get a little to close to my neck, while I was wiping Cecilia's face, and she gave me a hickey!  Little vampire.

Being 4 months old means getting new play spaces. 

 Being 4 months old means trying new food.  Rice cereal was a huge hit (the bib appetizer wasn't so bad either)!  I think more actually ended up in than out.

 

Being four months old means being loved very much!

Sisters

This might be my current all time favorite photo of my girls.

I'm lucky that this love shown to Lilly by Cecilia resulted in such a cute photo, because it just as easily could have resulted in tears.   You see that mat they are sitting in?  Lilly was laying on it, face up, when Cecilia decided she needed to hold her sister.  I was out of the room for no more than 10 seconds when I heard Cecilia grunting and hoisting.  I came back into the room to find this, luckily.

First Day of School

Cecilia started school on Tuesday. Ohmygosh, she was so cute! Jon went to work late so that he could take her to school with me.  Cecilia was so excited to go to "sool".  She has the cutest little backpack- and so did 4 other kids in her 6 kid class.  At least her preschool accessories are fashionable.  She walked right in to the classroom and started playing.  She barely even waved goodbye to us.  I was the one who got a little verklempt.  But it was only for half of a second. 

 

The FOUR hour break was perfect.  It was just long enough for me to get caught up on lots of stuff, and not so long that I missed her terribly.   I must admit though, it was a little strange to not know what my toddler was up to for four hours, and without anyone to document her experience in photos.  This is such a big thing- her going to school and all- and like everything else that is new, I usually take lots of pictures.  But this school thing is different.  

I got so much done this week.  I had two client meetings, I got caught up on some house work, I got Cecilia's wardrobe changed out, I wrapped up a bunch of MOPS stuff, and best of all, I had some quality one-on-one time with my sweet Lilly, without that big sister looming around.  Lilly is going to be 4 months old on Tuesday.  Can you believe it?!?!  I think the clock started moving three times as fast the moment she was born. 

Lilly-Roll

 She did it!  She rolled over this morning.  Jon was there to witness it too.  I think she scared herself though.  She went from tummy to back in one quick flip and then had a very puzzled look on her face.  I didn't catch it on camera, but it was priceless.  When I tried to coax her along to do it again, Cecilia wanted to play too, and Lilly got shy.

 You can see the attempt- she is pushed way up high, and then her butt is way up in the air too.  SO CUTE!

Pre-School Supplies

Cecilia starts preschool next week.  I can't wait!  Don't get me wrong, I love my child more than anything, but there are times, when I may not like her very much.  I feel like those moments have increased ten-fold since she turned 2.  I think two mornings a week away from each other will do the trick.  She wants to do, and go, and learn, so much right now, and I haven't been able to provide her with all the fun and time that she needs.  And school will be the perfect place for her to be Cecilia with out Mommy.

We have all of her school supplies ready to go.  Its a little insane how much she needs for preschool, I can't imagine what elementary school will be like.

Summer Park Fun

We have had so much fun visiting different parks in the area this summer. It has been so fun to watch Cecilia learn how to climb and maneuver up and through different playgrounds. She has become so brave and eager to try new and bigger ladders and slides.

Aunt Sarah visited earlier this summer and she got to play with C too. Several of the parks we have visited have had "spray-grounds". The first time C discovered the fountains of cool water springing from the ground, well I think she peed her pants. But we'll never know because she was drenched in the fountain within 2.42 seconds. I did not know that this park had water which resulted in a very wet ride home.
























Another park we learned about was awesome fun!  It was a great park with several different types of structures.  It too had water, but I came prepared this time.




































This park is just a short walk from our home.  I remember thinking before Lilly was born that this would be a great park for C next year.  HA!  She was such a pro climbing and sliding here.  This was just a few weeks ago.  It is a favorite now.


See those slides?  Yes, they are that tall, and yes, Cecilia went down them like a champ, and then did them again and again.

We also went to a park up near my parents house at Camp Como.  It was the biggest play ground I've ever seen!  I think it had every piece of playground equipment ever made.