Lilly got mocked

I know, I'm too sensitive. But Lilly got mocked by another kid in JCC babysitting this morning. He's probably around 2 years old. And he's a babysitting regular. Well today, I finished my 40 minutes on the Arc Trainer, come downstairs to get her, and find her, Cory, and two other kids, mocker included on the floor. Lilly's back is toward the door, and she's sitting in a faux-red Boppy pillow. She's just talking, screeching, just having a good old time. I come in, get my stuff, and Cory says, 'look who's here!' Lilly gets excited, a smile on her face, and then the little boy starts to screech, very similar to Lilly. So I say, 'Wow, _______, you sound a lot like Lilly' And Cory goes, 'He's mocking her' And I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I felt sad. I don't want anyone to make fun of Lilly, I know its going to happen, but I want to protect her from all of it. Especially now as she can't really understand its going on, or I think she can't. Cory wasn't concerned. It's probably natural for kids to do it, especially as young as he is. But it still didn't or doesn't feel good.

On another note, we're back from Dallas. Lilly slept on the plane ride home, after entertaining the lady behind us for about 5 minutes. We managed to get out bags, stroller and other baby stuff from the plane to the car! What a feat. And Lilly seemed happy to be home. I think she was happy to be back in her crib and her surroundings. She was a bit tentative the first morning of JCC babysitting, but she's gotten over her shyness. Same thing with Regina. But by the end of the day, she was laughing, dancing, and having a good time with her.

Lilly doings in April

Passover - She has tried and liked pieces of matzah. She's not getting a whole lot, don't want to actively make her constipated but she did enjoy the cracker-ness of her pieces (small ones for those wanting to visualize). We went to Rabbi Linden's house for the 1st night sedar. And we actually showed up 30 minutes early, instead of 30 minutes late! But those 30 minutes would come back to bite us. I bathed her before leaving our house and put her in her pjs. She also ate her dinner so all she needed before going to bed was her bottle. Once we got the rabbi's house, it was 7, around her bedtime, so we gave her the bottle, she took it, and then the other guests started showing up. So Lilly was all into them. As soon as the rabbi and his wife called for us to be seated Mark took Lilly upstairs to the Pack and Play, the rabbi had put out. But boy was she not HAPPY to be put down. She started crying. And continued for ten minutes until I went in to check on her. She stopped when I picked her up. I rocked her, walked around the room, even turned on the radio, though I wasn't supposed to as their house was already ready for Shabbat (oops). But when I put her back down, she started wailing again. So after ten minutes and several prayers later, Mark went back upstairs. He was there awhile, so I brought the diaper bag with me, and she had still be crying and didn't look like she was going to go to sleep anytime soon. So I took her home. She was fine again, once I got her into the car. Must have been the new people, new sleeping environment, and she dozed in the car, took us about 20 minutes to get home from Metairie. And she was fine when I put her in her crib at home. I got home around 9. The sedar lasted until 11:30PM, so it was probably a good call on our part to leave. Mark got a ride home and got back around midnight.

JCC - She's growing more comfortable at the JCC babysitting. She willingly goes to Cory in the mornings. She enjoys the sight of the other kids, the usual ones who come during our hour. I've started going five days a week, to build it into her routine. Now instead of three, T, W, and F, she now gets M and Th. She interacts well with Cory, she loves shaking her head at her. And Cory shakes back. And at times she even smiles for the front desk receptionists. The two always coo over her, but she has yet to publicly display affection back, except for some small smiles. It's all reserved for Cory and the other kids in babysitting!

Highchair - While she has a love/hate relationship with the home highchair, she has become much more comfortable sitting in highchairs at restaurants. She now usually willingly sits in the chair, provided we keep her occupied with either her dog blanket, plastic pink purse, plastic set of keys, Mum-Mums, or other baby food. We went to dinner with friends a couple Saturdays ago, and she was just captivated by Jacob, their six-year old. He's got two younger sisters, so he's great with babies. He kept entertaining her. Even offered her a french fry. Or part of his cupcake, we politely declined on both parts. But he made funny faces at her. He talked to her. And he even retrieved items for her, stuff she would throw to the ground, he got. And we took her our to eat with us, to Crepe Nanou, and while we sat outside, it was a good call, as she kept talking and screeching, she sat in the highchair the whole time! I fed her the soft parts of French bread, a definite like, and my sauteed carrots and green beans, another like. She's captivated by other kids, so Saturday night we went out to eat with my parents ( we were all in Dallas), and sat outside, and there were 5 girls, probably ranging from 1 1/2 to 13. And Lilly could not take her eyes off them. They were running around, singing, eating, and Lilly was just in people watching heaven. She gladly stayed in the highchair, was fed a Mum-mum, parts of a roll, and a carrot. She was happy. With this observation mode, she's also quite ok, for the most part, to sit in the grocery cart seat. At least sitting she's on the move and up high and able to observe the aisles and comings and goings of people.

Crawling - still going backwards. Can rock back and forth, and becomes quite frustrated that she's can't get that forward momentum.

Talking/Babbling - With agua and go, we've added mama, gaga, and a 'K' sound. Still keep practicing dada with her but so far no go.

Ear Infection, Again

Lilly's got another ear infection. She had been tugging at her ear, as I stated in the last post, so we went to visit Dr. G, and yup, sure enough, her ear was infected. Luckily the other one was clear. So Lilly couldn't take Ammoxicillin again, as she just finished it and wouldn't be as effective, so she is on something called Omnicef. It's a white, unrefrigerated liquid, and it smells like strawberry. The Ammoxicillin smelled like bubble gum, and Lilly hated it. So we had to mask it in her bottle. I thought, this one smells like strawberry and isn't as overpowering as the other. She's going to like it, as she's really into the taste of the cherry Tylenol. And plus, she's only taking 2mg so she should be good.

So I measured out the liquid and squirted it slowly into her mouth. She took it in, licked her lips and was fine. But this was Wednesday. Thursday - another story. She took just about.5mg and started to wiggle and fight me on it. So I put the rest of it in her bottle and it turned the formula pink. But she took it.

Friday, I tried to squirt it into her mouth again. But that was a bad idea. I laid her on the rug, put the plastic syringe towards her inner cheek, and squirted. And boy did that make her angry. She started to cry. But she was taking the medicine. So I made the executive decision to keep squirting the Omnicef. She started to wiggle. Fought me hard. Swallowed the medicine but I thought she might puke it up, as she fought real hard not to swallow it. I hated having to do that to her, but she needed the medicine. Hopefully she won't be scarred from the episode. Today we put her meds in her bottle and she sucked it right up.

Lilly

Lilly has progressed from go and agua to now variations of 'ma'. Sometimes it sounds like mom, mama, and sometimes, like yesterday when we were at Sam's Club and she saw me pull out a package of Baby Mum-Mum's, it sounded like mum-mum. She was riding in the cart and became so animated when she saw the package. She jumped right up in her seat and said 'mum-mum' or something to that effect. Another lady in the same aisle ( we were both shopping for toilet paper) laughed as she heard the excitement in Lilly's voice. It was pretty cute yesterday.

This morning I took her to the JCC, and for the first time, she went willingly to Cory. She didn't cry or wail or wine. She just went straight to her. It was awesome. Both Cory and I were touched. It's great that Lilly feels so comfortable in an environment outside of her own. When I came in to get her, after working out, the doodlebug was on the floor, on her back, playing with her dog blanket. Cory had been taking the small dog and touching it on her face, while Lilly laughed.

She hasn't been all smiles, like she is in the picture. She's been tugging at her ear, and has another cough, and getting over a cold. She's also getting her upper two front teeth. The left one has broken through, the other hasn't yet. So she's been in some pain. So we're not sure if her ear is teething or cold related. So I'm taking her in to see Dr. G this afternoon. Just want to check out her ears.

Sippy Cup

We're trying to get Lilly used to a sippy cup, as Dr. G said we should switch her to a cup by 12 months. Dr. G suggested us get her a cup and let her play with it. And then eventually fill it with liquid, and let her discover she can drink out of it.

So we're past the introduction phase. Now we're in the 'let Lilly drink water from the cup' stage. But it seems that she wants to put everything else in her mouth, except the sippy cup. Nope, she likes to swing it up and down, enjoying the swishing the water makes as it moves around in the cup. But put it in her mouth. Nope. We even took out the mechanism below the top of the cup, which stops the water from rapidly coming out. But all that did, was increase the amount of water to come out from the cup and thus all over me, as Lilly continued to shake the sippy cup up and down.

So hopefully we'll get there. She does enjoy the bottle. I hope she will enjoy the sippy cup too.

Agua or go

So Lilly said her first word.

Go.

She's said it several times and we don't think she actually knows what it means. She just says it over and over again. When Mark asked her if she wanted to stay home with him or come to Whole Foods, she kept repeating 'Go'. Though we don't think she knows an alternative response. So go it is going to be!

She's also said something that sounded like agua. She's said this first, for a few days now, but we're not sure how she would know agua. Neither of us speak Spanish to her nor does anyone else. And while she might hear the language every now and then, we don't think its enough for her to grab onto the word. Though you never know.

My pal Violet

Lilly has a new furry friend. Her name is Violet, and she is a purple stuffed dog manufactured by Leap Frog toys. It was given to us when Lilly was born, and because it said it was for use when 6 months and older, we put it up in her closet. When JJ was here, we went through her closet and pulled out the toys she can use now, and put away the clothes she can't fit into. And thus, that's how Lilly met Violet. And it was a great match.

Violet can be programmed, through a USB port, to say 'Lilly' and can also be personalized, as we set her favorite color ( green, it's mine), animal (dog, as she loves her bluish gray dog security blanket), and food (baby food), and Violet in a sing-songy way can recite all her favorites as well tell Lilly that she loves her! It's cute. Lilly has given her a hug, in the best way she can, and she has also tried to kiss or bite her nose, or probably both! But Lilly's face definitely lights up when she sees Violet. And I programmed some songs into Violet, like 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Jingle Bells" Though Mark thinks its not the appropriate time of year for Jingle Bells, but she can always use some Christmas music in March!

New Lilly Items!

So yesterday it seemed like it was a day of firsts for Lilly! She really mastered the art and balance of sitting up, so we plopped her on the ground, on her jungle gym mat, and she sat up, and reached for items, marveling at this whole new perspective. She also played with a set of Winnie the Pooh blocks, all while sitting up. She and Mark had a great time, though I don't know who was more excited about tumbling the blocks over, her or Mark. If I had to guess it would have been Mark. We spelled her name out with the blocks. And she only tried to put two blocks, out of many, in her mouth. What an accomplishment!

And last night we left her with a new babysitter - granted Lilly was already asleep, and didn't awake during any of Liz's stay at the house - while Mark and I grabbed dinner with two of our friends. It was a great date, I finished up my antibiotics and prednisone, so I had two delicious glasses of Russian River Chardonnay (2007). Mark had two Pimm's Cups. Delicious.

And Lilly is enamored with screens, anything that flashes. She sees my computer - she jumps and gets all excited. Mark holds her while checking his blackberry her face is all aglow with the newness of the small image. I'm worried that we're raising a technology addict or at the very least overstimulating her brain with these new and fast images.

Olympic Baby

Uncle Sean and Aunt Victoria, Mark's childhood best friend and his wife, who live in London, came to stay with us for Mardi Gras. It was great to see them and catch up. Victoria, works for the government, and part of her job is to manage information between the government and the London 2012 Organizing Committee. So hot off the press (or really shelf) she brought Lilly a London 2012 baby set, complete with 2 onesies, a hat, mittens (one hand says 20, the other says 12, so cute!), and a bib. She's already christened the bib with her cereal, applesauce and peas. Nothing Dreft detergent can't remove. And here she is in her onesie, one pic with the hat, the other without. We hope to take the doodlebug ( or leave her with one of her grandparents!) to London 2012 and Victoria and Sean said tickets are being balloted there now and will come to the states in the fall.

My New Hair Accessory

Mel gave Lilly her first ever bow! Last Thursday we put it on her, and she looks quite cute. She let the bow stay on her head, and didn't fight with it. I was worried that she might swat at it or try and take it off. But nope. She was fine with it! So more bows are in her future!

Random Pictures during JJ's visit

Double Ear Infection, Cold, Cough

So Lilly caught her daddy's cold which then morphed into a double ear infection. Mark got sick the Wednesday before Mardi Gras and had the cold for about a week. Lilly then picked up his cough and runny nose, earlier this week, but that's all it was. Now mind you, our house was a bit banged up, as I slipped on our front steps last Saturday night (luckily after riding in our Mardi Gras Parade) and fractured my left foot and sprained my left ankle. So the Kitner-Mintz household wasn't in the best physical shape (now I've picked up the cold and battling out with my sinuses).

But back to Lilly. She took a turn Friday. She didn't want to eat. She was fussier than usual. And really slept a whole lot more. Saturday morning she woke up just not being a happy camper. She cried. She still didn't want to eat. And when she did eat an ounce she threw it back up, all over JJ. So we called the doctor, thank goodness they have Saturday sick hours, got an appt. for 9:10 and went over there. Dr. G, our normal doctor, was on call. She listened to Lilly's chest and then looked in her ears before diagnosing her with a double ear infection. She said Lilly is so stopped up that its hard for her to breathe, thus the not eating. And she's got so much mucus in her we can expect to see a change in her stools (not for the better) and with all the mucus it was difficult to drain and thus the ear infection. I had horrible ear infections growing up, I had 4 sets of tubes. I just hope Lilly isn't saddled with them. They are not fun.

So we got a prescription for Amoxicilin, the bubble gum tasting medicine and are to dispense it twice a day to the doodlebug. She fights us on it - she does not like the taste, and thus you can see the pink stain on her pjs. We are going to have to start putting it in her bottle so she can get it that way. But we can definitely see her feeling better. She not as fussy, and her congestion has decreased. We've got a follow up appt. in 10 days to reasses the ears. So hopefully we'll get the all clear sign!

Baby Mum-Mums

Lilly loves the baby Mum-Mums crackers. Essentially its a rice cake, but she loves eating them, gnawing on them. You break open a package and show her one and she gets all excited. Mark calls them 'baby crack' At first I was nervous about them, I wasn't sure how she was going to be able to swallow her bites without choking. That is until I tried one myself, not a full one, just a bite, so I could see how it dissolved in her mouth. And it does, quite well, as soon as it goes in and makes contact with the salivary glands, the cracker dissipates. So while I am still quite vigilant during her eating of them, the anxiety has gone down.

She's doing well on her solids as well. She enjoys peas and prunes, though not necessarily together. Chicken and turkey are good as well. Peaches, sweet potatoes and apple sauce are fine as well. I do wonder if she tires of having the same foods over and over again. But every time we put food in her mouth she makes a face, like she can't believe she's eating this and then I guess she remembers she likes whatever she's having and eats it all up!

Smart Baby

Lilly's loving the smart phones. She enjoys to eat mine and last week she enjoyed playing with JJ's blackberry. Similar to her computer dexterity, she is able to swat at the touchscreen and get items to appear, things I didn't even know possible. Not sure if its the generation or the ease of the phones or a combination of both. But she's going to know her way around a computer, iPad, and cell phone before she gets to Kindergarten!

Mardi Gras, Day 3

The sun was out and it was too hot to play. Well, not so incredibly hot, but at least 80 degrees and we're still in February! We strapped Lilly in the stroller and wheeled her over to Touro Synagogue where we met up with a couple friends. They had a ladder for their kids, and we stood beside them. Lilly was definitely tired from the get go, and she was sweating and not too happy to be in the heat. She doesn't have any shorts, but luckily she had this skirt, it's the next size up, but better to too big than too small. Not a whole lot of beads were caught. No pimping of the baby at these two parades. Luckily we sought refuge in the air conditioned temple. We did get stopped but we quickly identified ourselves as members. We stayed through both parades, in hindsight, we probably should have left at the break between the two, as the doodlebug was quite tired, notice how she fell asleep on Mark. But we persevered, and once we got home, Lilly stayed awake for about an hour before taking a 2 hour nap.

Mardi Gras, Day 2

Day 2.

First day parade.

And the beauty about a late Mardi Gras - sunshine! And lots of it.

I forgot Lilly's hat, but she was out shoeless and sockless, in the sun. Though we tried to keep her out of the heat, as she kept squinting her eyes, in response to the sunlight. We put our hands over her ears, each time a marching band came and was hitting the big bass drum. We met up with friends at Uncle Adam and Aunt Bitsy's house, then walked over to the parade. Lilly's friend, 4 month old Sophie, was also there. Both babies took bottles (Sophie was wearing an ADORABLE onesie that said, "My parents found me in a KINGCAKE" Mardi Gras and Baby humor!)

I think the day parade was better for her. She was able to nap. And I think the overwhelming factor was still there, but at least its daytime. I kept telling Mark we needed to 'pimp out the baby' to get good beads and plush items. She proved to be a good tool. While the beads were lacking, we did get a flourescent purple and yellow plush snake. She already put it in her mouth. No footballs (my mardi gras want) for us yesterday but the season is still early. Then on the walk back, she fell asleep. Luckily Aunt Bitsy had a porch chair that rocked, easier way to keep her asleep, though as you can see by the picture I can't imagine it was all together comfortable position for her.

Mark and Lilly just took a walk to Whole Foods to get beer for today's two parades. There's one at noon, and one at 1:15. Love the season!

1st Mardi Gras Parade

I love Mardi Gras. Absolutely love it. I think it's what sold me (well solidified) on living full time in this city. I mean, how can you not love high school marching bands, beads, stuffed animals, alcoholic beverages, king cake, fried chicken, and parades?

So tonight marked Lilly's 1st parade (Oshun) and she was dressed accordingly. Over the past few weeks, I've been on the hunt for Mardi Gras clothing (for her), and have found her a tutu, t-shirt, and a friend gave her an adorable onesie (slogan: Keep Calm and Parade On). So tonight, after her early dinner of barley cereal and squash, I changed her into the oneise, green socks, and tutu. And boy did she look adorable! She was ready for the parade.

We met up with friends and walked over to where we would be watching. I must admit that I was nervous about the noise level. I made Mark ask his co-workers with children how they handled it with their children. I wanted to know if I should put noise canceling headphones on her ears. The bands and their music can get quite loud and I was nervous that the levels would be too high for her and do some damage to her ears. Mark suggested I call Dr. G, so I did, who told me she should be fine, but to let Lilly decide. If she fusses, move her. Take my cue (as it always seems to be) from her. So we did, and Lilly did fine.

Though I do seem to think that she had no idea what was going on. She tensed up every time a helicopter flew over the parade. She did well with the crowds and bands. And while she didn't catch anything (a first for me, I didn't catch anything, nor did I want to be in the front of the crowd, yelling at the riders! What's going on with me?!), she did make it through her first parade, awake, though she definitely was fading halfway through the parade. She fell asleep on the walk home. So no beads. But definite good time, and there are plenty more parades for her to enjoy! And lot's more of that tutu!

Goats at a Birthday Party

A couple weeks ago we went to a birthday party for the daughter of a friends of ours. They had the party on a gorgeous Saturday morning, and brought a Petting Zoo, complete with pony to their backyard. It was the first party we took Lilly to, and there were a ton of other kids, majority of them could walk and pet the animals, and even ride the pony. But we introduced Lilly to the animals, we tried to get the rabbits and goats, but succeeded with the goat. Here's a video of her interacting with the goat. It's quite cute, even if I am a little biased!

Meet up with my Cousins

Well, mom and dad's cousins anyway. Saturday we went to lunch with cousins Glynn, Ali, and Abby. Ali and Abby were visiting from the East Coast, touring Tulane and seeing the city. We met up with them for lunch. We got Shrimp and Catfish Po'Boys and Root Beer and had a great meal. It was the first time Lilly met Abby and second time she'd seen Ali. We last saw her at Thanksgiving, so Lilly had done ALOT of growing between now and then.

In the picture with Lilly and Ali, Lilly's reaching for one of the paper plates. She, of course, wanted to put it in her mouth. We didn't let her. But she was so interested in our meal. Watching us eat. And even trying to go for the items she could grab onto! Paper napkins were of special interest to her!

A little spit up goes a long way

Yesterday it seemed was Lilly's day of spit up. Spit up on herself, check.

Spit up on me, check (both shirt and pants).

Spit up on toys, check.

Spit up on her blankie (replica 1), check.

Spit up in my purse, getting all over my wallet (spit up on receipts, gross) and most importantly, in and on my phone.

That's where this post is going. Her spit up, which I think was the remnants of the sweet potato and green bean oatmeal lunch, has damaged my cell phone. I can take pictures. I can text. I can even dial out. But cannot hear incoming our outgoing calls, even though I can dial out. So a trip to the Verizon store is needed. I knew water to the phone could ruin it, but spit up? Come on. I was trying to clean my phone last night, had a Q-tip, and was cleaning the different holes on the phone and scooping out spit up. I showed Mark. It was pretty gross. But as Mark said, maybe an iPhone is the result to come out of it? We'll see the diagnostic from the store. I can only imagine their surprise when the service tech opens the phone to see an orange coat over the chips. I can only hope its not the grossest thing he's seen on a phone.

Zoo Outing

We met some friends at the zoo this afternoon. Our starting time was to be right around Lilly's nap, so I strapped her in the car seat, got our things together and drove around for 10 minutes beforehand, hoping that she would go to sleep in the seat and then could be transferred easily to the stroller.

Mission accomplished.

The doodlebug fell asleep, and stayed that way for the next 40 minutes. Thus, the beginning photos of her are asleep in her stroller while the animals (elephants, white tiger, lion, and leopard) appear in the background.

When she awoke she wanted to get out of the stroller so I put her in the Baby Bjorn and we strolled some more. She really wasn't interested in the animals, more into her surroundings and clutching onto my pointer fingers. The only animal she seemed to give more than five seconds of her time were the giraffes.

We were at the zoo for almost two hours. And she certainly became overtired. Luckily our trip home was less than a mile and a half, and we were in the car. But unfortunately there was a back up on Magazine Street, so it took us a little bit than longer to get home. Doodlebug was crying and screaming all the way home. She was MUCH better as soon as we got back, she ate a little and then talked to JJ before taking a much needed nap.

Some Pictures

Here's some pictures of Lilly playing in her exersaucer. She was bouncing this morning, reaching for the tag on the lion's butt, trying to put it in her mouth. Amazing how there are rings, ball, and four paws attached to the lion, and what Lilly wants to go for is the small tag on its rear end. She was putting it in her mouth, though the face she was giving made it seem like it didn't taste ok (though I can't imagine it would taste ok to begin with!). She's also got a small cold, or at least we think she does. Her nose has been runny and somewhat full of boogers. We've had to go back to the saline nasal spray, which she hasn't been to happy about, but hopefully it will work.

Happy Early Valentine's Day

We went back to Surrey's this morning. Lilly lasted about 20 minutes in her car seat carrier before wanting to get out. She's got two Valentine's Day outfits and we put her in one today and the other tomorrow. She looks (I know I am biased) quite cute in the red tutu!

On another front, tonight after her bath, she really really enjoyed looking in the mirror. She really saw her reflection, and tried to touch the 'person' in the mirror. She held out her hand to the mirror to touch the hand that she saw. She also got the biggest smile when reaching out to touch her new 'friend'. It was really cute! She really does enjoy looking at herself in the mirror!

Sunday Breakfast Routine

For the past two Sundays we've gone to Surrey's, which is a breakfast/lunch establishment. They recently opened a store Uptown, and it's not too far from our house, so we've taken to it ( we love the one farther down on Magazine, but convenience rules!) We're going to try and make it our Sunday thing. It's a small place, so usually best to get there right when it opens, which is 8AM. There's only one highchair and limited space, so with the amount of stuff, blankets, blankie, toys, diaper bag, car seat carrier, we bring in, it's best to arrive on the earlier side.

Last Sunday we got there and had the highchair. We attempted to put in the highchair cover, but neither of us figured out the straps and thus she and the cover proceeded to slid out toward the bottom. Luckily neither actually fell on the floor. I guess we'll try it again tomorrow, assuming we get the highchair. If not, she'll be in our arms, going for the food, namely the eggs, I guess she's intrigued by the yellow food!

Friday Outing

Yesterday we met Mark for a late lunch and then a trip to his office. We went to the Store, which is one block from his office, they serve breakfast and lunch, and are known for their spicy Asian Turkey salad. They also have good burgers and other sandwiches ( I got the pulled pork sandwich and a side of sweet potato fries - delicious.) Mark got the turkey salad, and when our food came out, Lilly's out got SO big. She wanted to eat, or at least explore the food. So we gave her the plastic keys instead. I first gave her a paper napkin but she proceeded to bite it and get it piece stuck in her mouth. I was nervous that she would swallow it. Mark said it was ok, it's just paper. Needless to say, we took it out of her mouth and gave her the keys. She was placated. But she did eye the food.

After we finished eating we went up to Mark's office, where we had to ride in two elevators, one from the entry to the landing floor, which happens to floor 14. And then we had to transfer into his elevator bank, floors 35-52. I was nervous and after the first elevator, Lilly wasn't happy. I think the pressure/movement was impacting her ears (it was to mine) and she wasn't happy, especially when we got in the second elevator! That was much faster than the first. She really let us know she was not happy. There was another man in the elevator, he was getting off on floor 46, so I hope we didn't ruin his riding experience.

But we saw Mark's boss, Lisa, she was very excited to meet Lilly. And then we saw some other friends and I met Mark's secretary, Sarah. To go between the different Jones Walker floors we opted (wisely) for the stairs! I made Mark ride down the elevators with me when we left! So Lilly got to see (for the second time) where her dad works and meet some of her colleagues. It was a fun Friday outing! I thought she would fall asleep in the car on the ride home, as we were out during her nap time. But nope. She was just silent. And when I tried to put her down after we got home she let me know that it was certainly not sleeping time, it was time to eat.

New Sleeper Outfit

Our last post of the day! Here's Lilly from Tuesday night, she's getting ready for bed, and is in a new sleeper that I bought on sale from a great store called Janie and Jack. There's one in Northpark Mall in Dallas, and we took advantage of the after holidays sale. It's a little big on her, but no doubt she will grow into it! Have a good night everybody! Stay warm!

Lilly, a future Apple consumer

Lilly enjoys playing on my MacBook Pro. She also enjoys two of the Apps on her dad's iPad (he's got a toddler jukebox, think Row, Row Row Your Boat, Miss Mary Mack, and ABC, among others, and a picture scratch off). So I feel like she's going to be an Apple user and not a PC user. She loves skyping with her grandparents as well as friends Jamey, Michele, and Emma in California. She loves to lay on her belly, as seen in the picture, and play with the keys, scratch the computer, and touch the touchpad. She does things on the touchpad that I don't even do or know how to do! She can pull up all the applications running. She can mute the conversation (and she normally does this every other day). And she loves just touching (lightly banging) on the keys.

Turning a Corner

We've turned a corner with JCC babysitting. Lilly is beginning to take to it, and doesn't cry for that long, less than 15 minutes definitely!, when I drop her off there. She's recognizing Cory, the JCC babysitter, as well as the room. I think she's definitely learning the routine, or at least what to do when she gets there. Not a whole lot of interest in the other children at babysitting, it seems she only has eyes for Cory or what's playing on the TV (usually Nick JR or PBS kids). Yesterday, she didn't fuss when I dropped her off. And she played and played before Cory said she got tired and a little cranky. Cory went to place her in the car seat carrier, so she could sleep, but Lilly couldn't get comfortable. So Cory picked her up and held her and Lilly immediately fell asleep on her. It was such a sweet sight to see when I came in from working out. It's great to see that Lilly has taken to Cory and vice versa. Definitely a relief, and I don't have to be on the lookout for the front desk people while on the treadmill or the Elliptical. Definitely can relax some of the nerves. Let's hope she keeps it that way!

Out More

Here's a picture from Monday. We'd been out and about and Lilly fell asleep in her car seat. It's great. I feed her, and then we head out the door. Whether its to visit friends, which is what we did today, shop, which is also what we did today, or parenting class, or just walk, the outings tire her out, and by the time we head back, either in car or foot, she's either on the verge of dreamland or already going there. She's adapting to the car seat and finds it ok to sleep in. Monday afternoon she took a two hour snooze, all snug as a bug in a rug (well car seat). And now she's into the beginning of hour 2 of her afternoon nap. I'm so glad she's finally taken to (or at least learned to) sleep in her seat!

Constipation, Constipation!

So the past week we've (or at least Lilly physically) has been dealing with constipation. We've talked to the doctors and gotten a slew of instructions, and we've laid off the solids, especially bananas. She's back to strictly milk during the day and formula at night, while we get her stomach issues settled. It's heartbreaking to see her get all red in the face, grunt, strain, and then nothing comes out. Or a pellet. And it's hard and it looks like its so painful. Because then she cries and goes through the whole sequence again. Well, yesterday she was given prune juice. I tried to trick her, by giving it to her first, in a bottle, and she took maybe a few sips before she was like, gross, what is this? I then switched to breastmilk, which she at first refused, thinking it was going to be the prune but nope. She greedily took it down. I then tried to go back to the prune but she swatted her hand and said NO! We're stocked, we got the glycerin suppostories, full prune juice bottle, and boxes of apples juice. Karo Syrup is next. But luckily last night, before bath time she went through two painful cycles and then finally pooped and it was soft! So today she'll get some apple juice to keep her digestive system on track and hopefully this weekend we'll go back to solids. There's sweet potato puree and pea puree waiting for her!

Apples, JCC babysitting not so much

Yesterday I steamed a Red Delicious Apple and then pureed it. I thought Lilly would want a taste so I put a little bit on my finger and gave it to her. She ate it up, but boy did she give me, a "Gross!" face. So I didn't push it, I put the apple puree in the fridge, knowing I would give it to her tomorrow. So that's exactly what I did. Instead of mashing up a banana, I poured some of the puree into a bowl. I served that along with a bowl of oatmeal. I started with the apples but after the first bite, I got the same "Gross" face. Same thing with the second bite. So I moved to the oatmeal, which she greedily ate up. She sucked that bowl down, and I even gave her another 1/2 of helping.

But boy did she not like the apple. Check out the video. You can see her facial expressions.

And I tried a different time to take her to the JCC. Yesterday we went from 8-9AM, and she did ok. She cried for a bit but did well with Cory. So today, I wanted to try a new time. I've noticed on the sign in sheets that they are not a whole lot kids that come to the afternoon session, so I made a reservation for 4:30, and brought her. From the get go, she was not too happy. When I left her, she started to cry. And that's the worst, I know I need to go, that she'll learn and that she is fine, but to leave her when she is in someone else's arms and crying, it's hard.

But I went anyway. I was on the Elliptical for about two minutes when the receptionist came up to tell me that Lilly was gagging, and they were concerned. She's started with these new sounds and one is a gagging type sound, so I wasn't too concerned, but I went down with her and checked out Lilly. She was fine, smiling and in the babysitter's arms. So I went back upstairs. I was on my 29th minutes, back on the Elliptical, when the receptionist came up again and found. Lilly just wouldn't stop crying, they tried to feed her, but she was not happy.

So I went down with her, heard Lilly as I rounded the corner to the babysitting room and saw that she was working herself up. So I got her, held her, and she quieted down. The two helped me pack up, and then Lilly and I walked to the car. (this was after at least 5 apologies to all people concerned). She braved the cold real well, but was just overtired and a little hungry. We ended up bathing her early, feeding her early, and she went to bed early. So not sure what time will work, I think going at 4:30 might be too late for her. So we'll stick to the 8AM time. We've got a reservation for Friday. Maybe she's more like her mom and is a morning person...time will tell.

6 month stats

I'm only two weeks late in releasing the 6 month stats. Albeit, we didn't go to the doctor until last Wednesday but she turned six months two weeks ago today. Hard to believe that it's been six months. Feels like it's gone by in the blink of an eye but on the other hand it hasn't. She's grown. She's laughed. She's definitely eating and drinking. Her front two teeth are coming in and she has taken to biting down on things, bottle nipples, my nipples, fingers, etc. She's testing out her chompers! And let me tell you, they work. They will be sharp and aid her in chewing her food and biting others.

We took her to see Dr. G last Wednesday for her 6 month check up, and she's doing well. In the picture, Mark and Lilly are standing by the scale, in the baby room of the doctor's office. Lilly got two shots and took them like a champ. She also weighs 18 lbs 13 ounces (still in the 90th-95th percentile) and is up an inch, and now is 26 1/2 inches (75th percentile). She's in 6-9 month clothes. My bag of small fitting clothes keeps getting bigger and bigger - I'm due to start another bag.

But she's starting to blow 'raspberries' so lot's of noise and spit. Luckily no blowing raspberries while eating yet. So no projectile food! Her routine napping schedule is off, sometimes she'll sleep 30 minutes, other times she'll sleep 1-2 hours. With her napping schedule so irregular, she usually finds herself exhausted at the end of the day. Yesterday she barely napped and was wiped out by her bath, so she was quite cranky until we put her down to sleep. And for those first few hours, she barely moved. Now she's taking a much longer nap - 1 hour! - and I can hear her stirring, so I better get ready. In just two weeks and some days, we'll be celebrating her 7 month birthday!

New Foods

Lilly has progressed from rice cereal to other foods. She's tackled oatmeal, which she likes a lot more than rice cereal. And she loves carrots, bananas, and sweet potatoes. She did enjoy peas, but she readily ate the orange veggies and yellow fruit up. Each get's all over her mouth, hands, clothes, and our hands and clothes, but she so enjoys it. The close up photo was taken Sunday during her 'lunch' of sweet potato and oatmeal. At her six month check up, Dr. G said we would want to move towards three meals a day with her. Right now it's a second breakfast and first lunch. But I bought a Beaba baby cooker, it steams meats, fruits and veggies and then it can also puree them. It's a small, ingenious appliance and its pretty cool, it's green! So I've been making the fruits and veggies, Regina suggested I let Lilly try the Gerber banana puree, and boy did she NOT like it! So we will stick with fresh bananas. I made a sweet potato puree and now I've got an apple steaming, so I can make an apple puree. I hope she likes it.

We've read that its best to start with either a cereal or vegetables as they can become accustomed to the sweet taste and not want eat anything that wasn't sweet. We asked Dr. G about this and she said pretty much there wasn't anything to it. Let her eat what she wants to eat and when she wants to eat. So not worrying about fruits before vegetables or vice versa. Here's hoping she likes apples. If not that, then we'll move onto something else, perhaps green beans.

....And They All Asked For You

That's right, today was Lilly's first trip to the Audubon Zoo! Sorry no pictures, as your guest-blogger (Mark) forgot the camera. Anyway, trust me when I tell you that the pictures would not have been great. Lilly was not at all interested in the animals! We met our friends Bill and Jessica and their 10 month old son, Parker. We saw elephants, lions, tigers, giraffes - everything you could imagine. Lilly could not be bothered to look at any of it. She was more interested in all the people!

I picked her up at one point, so she could see the lion. However, she was more interested in the sign (of course trying to eat it) than she was in the lion moving right in front of her face. She acted like she had seen that already! She did enjoy looking at the gorillas. There was one gorilla sitting up, playing with his toes. Lilly did the same. Puts a new spin on the old phrase: "Monkey See Monkey Do."

But two hours at the zoo is tiring for anyone . . . Lilly included. As we walked home through the park, Lilly was sound asleep. She may not have cared for the animals, but suffice it to say that the zoo was a very successful adventure. I am sure we will be back!

Excessive Crying + JCC = Not a Good Combination

In this picture she's very happy, but alas, this morning, during an hour in JCC babysitting, she was not. I joined this JCC running group, to train for a local 10K, and mainly to get back into running and have company while doing so. And the good thing about it is that I can leave Lilly in babysitting, for a maximum of two hours, while doing so. Once she made six months, I could put her in babysitting, so I made my reservation, and last Tuesday was our first day. She did ok. She got tired toward the end and unfortunately their pack and play is used for storage and not napping. She went back a couple more times and did fine. The babysitter was Cory and Lilly was taking to her.

But today Cory was not there. Hannah was. And it seemed like Lilly was fine when I left her. But apparently 25 minutes into it, Lilly just lost it. Well, according to Hannah, another baby came in, and I guess Lilly didn't want to share the attention, so she started crying and just wouldn't stop. And 15 minutes later and still crying she had to be removed from the babysitting room and I had to be called. But I was out running (apparently you aren't supposed to leave the building, I guess for this reason) and nowhere to be found. So Lilly was passed between the ladies at the fitness desk before finally settling with a trainer. I come in from the room, and hear her crying, so I go toward her and she quiets down.

The ladies at the fitness didn't say she couldn't come back but if she kept this up then it wasn't going to be good. I told them she did so well with Cory, and she said that perhaps it was just her reacting to the new person. I've got another hour booked for 8:15 Friday morning, so we'll see. Hopefully no tears, but if there are, I hope they are limited to 14 minutes and 59 seconds and under.

Sam's Club Trip

I took Lilly to Sam's yesterday afternoon. She snoozed in the car over there, but woke up as I was moving the carrier into the cart. So I took her out of the car seat and put her in the baby Bjorn, facing out, so she could see everything. Boy did she love it. She also had better access to my fingers, namely my thumb, on which she could chomp.

But she chewed on my fingers and then went onto her own, which probably taste better than mine. So I had both hands in which to wheel the massive shopping cart full of diapers, string cheese, AAA batteries, bottled water, toilet paper, and hummus, among other items. I wanted to get a rotissere chicken but they weren't ready when I went by the section. The worker said it would be about five minutes, but I forgot, and when about my shopping, and was headed to check out, when I ran into him again and he told me the chickens were ready. So I turned the cart around and went toward the back of the store.

On the way there, we stopped by the baby clothing where I noticed spit up on the floor, then my left shoe and then all over Lilly. So I searched through the diaper bag for a spit up cloth but could only find anti-bacterial hand wipes so I bent down cleaned up the floor, left the spot on my shoe and then wiped Lilly off, with a new cloth.

It was only when I put her back into the car seat carrier did I see how much spit up she had all over the onesie.

Sam's Club is known for handing out free samples but Lilly didn't get any and still managed to leave the store with food on herself. She was wiped out and fell asleep in the car. Once awake, I put a new onesie on her.