No go yet, but here's an almost clip

So she hasn't rolled over again - what a bummer - hoping she'll do it tonight for her dad.

But here's her yesterday, getting oh so close, as she awaits the Alabama/Arkansas game.

She Rolled Over!

So this morning, while doing her tummy time, Lilly Rose, got the weight behind, held her head up high, and rolled over, albeit slowly, onto her back! It was awesome. And my mom and I cheered (she was on Skype), I called Mark (he was on his way to the Saints game), and then Lilly started to cry and wanted to nap. Of all the times I've had the Flip camera on her, while she's doing tummy time, this is one time I didn't. When she started tummy time, she held her head up real high, exercising those muscles and showing us the control she had over her head. And she had her gold Mary Jane socks on, as this is part of her Saints football outfit, but they weren't giving her traction on the mat, so I took them off. And she started scooting. The mat is a bit slick, so it too is hard to gain traction, but she did, moving a bit. She would turn her head towards JJ's voice. Look up. And then she got a little fussy, so I picked her up. And then I placed her back down on the mat, and she got her arms underneath her, and just rolled over! Super exciting! Now I'm on a mission today to capture it on the Flip camera. Wish me luck!

Friday's Adventure

What an afternoon we had! Aunt Sarah and I went to lunch at the cheese shop - cousin Glynn also joined us, and after we dropped Glynn off at her house, we went to the UPS store, near Tulane's campus. I had to mail a package, and thinking I would be quick, which it was probably 5-7 minutes, I left the car running, most importantly the AC going, so Aunt Sarah and Lilly would be cool.

So it's a little after 1, and Lilly is nearing feeding time. But the trip to the UPS store is a detour, and we should be able to make it back to the house before Lilly has a hungry meltdown. So once I pay for the package and receive the tracking number, I head back to the car. I turn the key, to restart the engine, but no go. Lights come on the dashboard, I see the oil lamp, some red lights, some green lights, and a orange tool wrench and battery. So I try again. No go. And it's now getting hot in the car. And Lilly has started to cry. And the car is making no noise and no attempt to start. The engine is dead. And its hot. Sarah said Lilly has started to sweat, so after one more failed try, I get her out of the car seat and we head back to the UPS store, now with diaper bag, baby, and Sarah. But at least there's the AC.

Lilly's making the attacking/hunger sounds. She's rooting and going for the boobs. So thank goodness for the travel formula bottles. Pour into one of her bottles and she's good to eat (not part of the recall - so phew on that). She takes to the formula and is good. The UPS store's AC is really helping her, and she cools off.

We then call the dealership. They give me the number for a towing company. We call Uncle Clifford and he comes to get us. I leave the key under the floor mat and we take the car seat and base out of my car and put it into Clifford's. Lilly's doing great, still eating, and calm. She's not crying. She's content. I think she enjoyed being held - and no complaints there, if she's letting me problem solve and being a good girl, then will hold her until the cows come home. Or in this case Uncle Clifford or the tow truck.

So now the Jetta is in the shop - it won't be looked at until Monday, so I hope it's ok and doesn't need too much work.

She's been regular too - had her poops. Had her tummy time. Getting her head held high. Gone through one outfit and into another. Holding her hands together, interlacing her fingers. Cooing and smiling, especially after she pooped. All in all, a good Friday!

Fans, Glorious Fans

Next time you are in a room with a moving ceiling fan, just stare at it. It's quit soothing. And interesting to watch. Lilly loves ceiling fans, especially moving ones. Not so much for the air they bring, but for the shadows and movements they create. Her eyes gravitate towards the swirling blades. I had her in our room this morning, as I got dressed, and she was on our bed. And the first place her eyes went was towards our silver fan. And she loved it. She just stared and stared, and stared until she started leaning towards the right, into the intersection of two pillows. Not one to enjoy being off balanced (really, who does?) She took her eyes off the fan and started to get upset, thus breaking the harmony and beauty of the appliance. But try it sometime, you'll feel soothed, and cool off, at the same time.

We've had a good day so far. We went for a walk in the morning, got about twenty minutes in, before she started crying and wouldn't stop. Normally she's soothed by the bumps. But nope. Only made her feel worse and become angrier. Found out why when we got home. Not only did she let out a good size daddy burp, but about ten minutes after got home, she let out three poops. So she was feeling good and regular! She had about an hour nap, ate some more, and then we went to Pier 1, where she hated being in the car seat, hated the ride over, and I, to combat any crying, took her out of the car seat (normally, I would carry it around in the store) and held her while shopping for some picture frames. Quickly found some, and got out of there. She started crying once we were in the car, but I told her only one more stop. Whole Foods. She was pretty good once we got the store. I kept her in the car seat, and put her at the front of the shopping cart.

We've had a slow cooker for almost a year now, and just yesterday I took it out of the box. It came with 10 recipes (BBQ ribs, pulled pork, spaghetti, etc), and I felt inspired to use it. So Mark and I decided on pulled pork, I brought the recipe with me to the store and went shopping for the meal (also got a rotissere chicken should the pork not taste good, always have a back up plan) and got some stuff for dinner tomorrow night (lemon herbed chicken, also going in the crock pot. She took it all in at Whole Foods, before finding the Peace Pipe ( I put it in her mouth) and falling asleep. She stayed asleep until we got home from the store.

We use Similac formula at night, and we found out last night that the powder, well majority of the powder is being recalled due to larva eggs found in some of the powder. Totally gross, and after typing in the numbers found on the bottom of the plastic container, we found out that her two are part of the recall. It said that babies might experience gastrointestinal disorders due to the contamination. Which might explain her bad bad gas. But it's just a gross though. Beetle eggs found in her formula powder. Yuck. We've got some travel liquid bottles, which are not part of the recall, so that can be given to her before she sleeps. But now our question is, do we go buy more Similac powder, as the stuff on the shelf should be ok now, or do we wait? It's just gross to think about. Poor Lilly's stomach, potentially being contaminated by insect parts. Eww.

But at least she's still got the fans to look and wonder at.

First Shot

Monday Lilly got her first round of vaccinations. In what is supposed to be a big two month shot, Tetanus, Diptheria, Pertussis, Hib, Polio - they break it into two months. So she got one Monday and will get the other at three months. According to Doctor Gorman, I can expect a fit to be pitched at the three month check up. Apparently one of the vaccines feels like its burning to the babies, so it will hurt. I'm like if they know that, why not fix it? She did well with her 1st shot. Cried as Dr. Gorman was taking it out of her upper right thigh, and got a purple bandaid over the injection site. I too (along with my mom) got the combination flu shot (regular plus Swine) and received a blue with white flowers Tweety bird bandaid. Kids bandaids are so much better than adults.

Dr. Gorman said we could expect some fussiness, sleepiness, soreness at the injection site, low fever, and mild swelling at the site. She did great at the rest of her check up - she's at 13 lbs 1 oz and is 23 inches long. She still has the baby dandruff, the cradle cap, so Dr. Gorman said we could get Selsun Blue dandruff shampoo to rub on it, and hopefully the flakes will come off. We tried it last night, and so far, the flakes above her forehead, right on the top of her scalp, are shedding off. Anyway, so we bring her home, she takes a little bit to eat but is really mainly sleepy. So she falls asleep on JJ. But unfortunately JJ had to catch her cab to the airport and then get on her flight. So Lilly was then put into her napper, slept through JJ's leaving at 2, and woke up hollering and pitching a fit around 2:15. I see that her thigh is red, swollen and she's letting out a scream anytime you touch it. Well, it's really hard to get a good grip on the baby, without touching the right thigh. Or at least maintaining the good grip. It seems like she would be jostled a little bit, and cry over again. I thought she might be hungry. Nope. She snacked, more like grazed, and then begin crying. I gave her some baby tylenol, but she didn't like it, despite the cherry flavoring.

And the more I tried, the more she cried. And it's a high pitched, I'm in pain, fix me now, please kind of cry. And I couldn't. It seemed like everything I tried, the angrier she got. I couldn't console her. So at 2:45, I called my mom, in tears, asking her long the baby tylenol took to work (mind you I could have read the box but wasn't that rational at this point). She told me to calm down (all this while in security, I think, and then called me back as she passed security, it was hard to hear because of Lilly's crying) and to try to get her to sleep and take some more gas drops. At this point she's still farting around. But by now, my left arm is holding her between her legs, while the right is supporting her head, and she's fallen asleep. So I say I'll try and get them in her when she wakes up.

At 3, there's a knock on the door. For a split second I thought it was my mom, who had miraclously exited the airport, got in a cab, and arrived back at the house, all in 15 minutes. But nope, it's Rudy, our friend and contractor. Because I got up to answer the door, she got up, and was reminded about how angry she was, and started the whole high-pitch crying all over again. Now, Rudy's coming to the house, because we discovered we have a leak from her bathroom, on the second floor, coming down to the first, through one of the lights. There's also mold on a window, and a potential leak from the outside. And our fans need re-wiring. So I'm trying to show him all this, she's not standing for it (I should mention, I don't blame her, I'd be pissed too). So she's working herself up, she's sweating. Her face is reddening with anger. And poor Rudy is taking it all (though he does have a 14 month old girl but said she didn't get this mad after her first round of shots). He figures out a house plan, helps me warm a bottle, and then leaves.

She's still crying. Wailing. And she's still farting. But because she's not eating anything, I don't give her the gas drops, mind you they can be taken without eating. So we go for the next three hours, her sleeping, waking, screaming, crying, grazing, and then starting the cycle all over again. While sleeping for a good stretch I do manage to watch most of Oprah's education episode and I am eagerly looking forward to seeing the movie, "Waiting for Superman."

So when Mark gets home at 6:30, I am at the edge. I feel like a failure. I am freaked out that she's having a bad reaction, as on page 150 of the old edition of what to expect in your 1st year, signs of a potential bad reaction, including brain inflammation, include persistent high pitch crying for more than three hours( in my mind, it's definitely high pitched, and she's definitely been crying for more than three hours, though she's taken breaks, to sleep), excessive sleepiness and a hard time waking (well, she's been sleepy, though I can wake her). And though I didn't call the doctor to address my fears (probably because I knew they were irrational), I'm scared I can't help her, and listening to the screaming and crying is draining. So Mark comes home, takes her from me (she's asleep), and when she wakes, he gives her a bottle, she eats for a good 3-4 minutes, much more than snacking, and I burst into tears, thinking what a failure I am, that I can't get her to eat, I've been trying for the past 4 hours, and on the first try, he gets her to do it.

She senses the distress, and stops eating, and begins crying herself. Mark get's up and calms her down, I, meanwhile, am still crying. And she is still farting. So I compose myself, get up, measure out a teaspoon for Baby Bliss Gripe Water ( a godsend to ease with gas, hiccups and constipation), get it in her mouth, and she doesn't want to take it, but manage to close her mouth and make her swallow it. And kid you not, twenty minutes later, into the opening credits of How I Met Your Mother, she poops. And it smells. And it's a lot. So we change her, and while changing her (thank goodness for putting the second diaper down) she poops again. And her demeanor changes. And once we put a fresh diaper on her. She's a happy camper. I warm a bottle for her. She takes it. She wolfs 3 ounces down. And with one ounce left, we feel secure about getting her in the car, and taking her over to Aunt Bitsy and Uncle Adam's house, to watch the Saints game (she is after all, in her gold Mary Jane socks and Who Dat Nation onesie, the skull cap comes on for a little bit at their house).

So after kick off, she's in the car, she's happy. No traces of the pissed off, in pain baby from the afternoon. I should have heeded the gas drops call from my mom a lot sooner. perhaps we could have avoided the drama from the afternoon. But you live and learn. And I've just ordered two bottles of the Gripe Water from Amazon.com, should arrive Friday.

2 Months

Last night we celebrated Lilly Rose's 2 month birthday. JJ brought bundtini's - tiny bundt cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes, a shop in Dallas. We had Chocolate, White Chocolate Raspberry, and Red Velvet. All were delicious. In the past 24 hours, I've managed to eat 6, so I am making sure Lilly Rose has a taste of them too. She needs to be able to take part in the celebratory eating as well!

It's been a great (not always easy) two months. It's official at work - my desk was cleaned out Friday and I am getting the contents this week. I've turned in my keys, complete with my Hornets keychain and all. So now I am ready for the next chapter. I've picked up some forms to volunteer (have to complete a background check, fingerprints and all) at a school, so will get that done in the next few days. I am sad, I got anxious yesterday as we drove out to Target, as the 'officiality' of no longer being at work, hit me. It really snuck up on me. I thought I was doing fine, but so much of one's identity is caught up in work. It's usually the first question someone asks, what do you do?, that it's weird to not say I work at the Museum. But will get the fingerprints done and then mail my form to the police, so they can run my check.

And Lilly continues to be gassy. Going to continue cutting out soy. It's not fun to see her legs all scrunched up, fists balled and hear high pitched screams. The pacifier soothes her as does burping (we've had several loud ones this evening - Mark would be proud) and farting. She's been keenly interested in her new mobile. We can put her in the pack and play and turn the mobile on (it plays several songs) and she can just stare and stare and stare at it. She's very much interested in it. She also has made some friends with her doll and black and white dog (both from Aunt Joan) and her pink teddy bear (from Grandpa David) which are also in the pack and play. Her staring makes me wonder what's she thinking as she looks at them. Is she concocting stories, thoughts, about them? Or is she just staring at them? They are more her size than we are, so maybe she feels more at home. Anyway, check out the video below.

Diaper Bag Musts

Here's a list of the must-have items in the diaper bag.

1. Diapers and wipes

2. Extra Outfit and socks

3. Peace Pipe

4. Bottle, additional breastmilk/formula

5. Baby toiletries

6. Blanket/bib cloth

7. Toy(s)

So I've repacked and organized the diaper bag several times. The items, minus the blanket and bib cloth, are tucked away in Ziploc bags. That way, I can a) find them easier b)loose milk or other items that could spill/explode won't get on them (and I've already had breastmilk bottle let loose on the bag, not fun to smell or clean, but at least it wasn't poo).

But Friday night, as we made our way out to Kol Nidre service at Shir Chadash in Metairie, one essential item was missing and we wouldn't find out about it until it was too late. Lilly was asleep when JJ and I put her into the car seat. She slept for the entire 15-20 minute ride out to Metairie. And she stayed asleep for services, well, that is until about halfway through the Rabbi's sermon. Rabbi Linden was speaking about the state of Israel, and she was starting to stir. It's a solemn, reverent, quiet atmosphere inside the synagogue. And as she's stirring, she likes to make baby grunting noises. So what's the easiest way to silence those noises?

Ahh, the peace pipe.

So I start searching for the pacifier. Looking inside the car seat, where we like to keep it handy, so if we need to get it while driving. And it's not there. So it must be in the diaper bag. I start going through the Ziplocs. I pull out the blanket and diaper cloths. My heart is starting to sink while her grunts are getting louder. I can tell she's not happy about being in the car seat but it's practical for where she is. But she doesn't get that, and I can't very well tell her during the Rabbi's sermon. So I look at my mom, and say I don't think we brought it. She looks again, to double check my finding.

And now Lilly not only wants out of her car seat but she's hungry. And now starting to cry. And the peace pipe would quiet her until this happens. But no. No peace pipe. We unbuckle her and get her out of the car seat. I put the black Storksak Diaper Bag over my right shoulder and take her to the back of the room.

She likes to be held (who doesn't?), so once she was in my arms she quieted down. Luckily I found the additional breast milk and bottle, and she sucked it down (it was a little under 2 ounces). She was still hungry. So we moved to the travel Formula bottle. Similac Formula has these small 1 1/2 travel bottles, with ready to go liquid, you don't need a microwave or water. Problem with these bottles are the nipples, it comes out too fast for her, so I always like to bring one of her bottles and put it in there. Otherwise, the grayish/beige liquid would be all over her and me. So I got my mom out of her seat and asked her to help me pour the liquid into Lilly's bottle. Once this happens and she's got the liquid fuel, Lilly's good to go. The Rabbi is coming to sermon's end. But the peace pipe is not with us. And peace pipes and babies = good, happy times. It's a soothing mechanism. For all parties.

We stay in the back, feed her, change her, burp her, and hold her. She's getting tired. I've looked in the prayer book, and know that we need to get to page 249, that's the end of tonight's service. When we got there, we were on page 215. Now it's 235. And he's skipping around and seemingly moving towards concluding prayers. And like I said, she's getting tired, which means, if she's not sleeping soon, she will get fussy. If you remember, this is still the day where she threw up. She's been farting like there's no tomorrow. And still has a ton of gas/burping in her.

So we decide to leave. We get our stuff, diaper bag, JJ's purse, car seat, and Lilly, and head out to the car. The motion is normally soothing for Lilly. She will fall asleep. But not tonight. She needs something to soothe her before the motion will work. And that would be the peace pipe, but its at home, in the napper, we found out, once we got back.

My mom comes up with a genius solution. Take one of the nipples from the travel bottle and use it as a pseudo pacifier. So we unwrap one and stick it in her mouth. She sucks on it. Soothes her a bit. And we get in the car and start the trek home.

Once strapped into her car seat, Lilly decides she needs to burp. And this burp is causing her pain. We're now driving south on the Causeway, passing the I-10 exits and her screams and cries are getting louder, and she's peaking with anger, pain, and frustration. Her breaths are becoming a bit shallow as she puts all her energy into crying. Ahh, the damn peace pipe. Why are you in the napper? I'm in the right lane (it's two lanes on each side), going about 30 mph (speed limit 40), and the cries are louder. She's wailing. My hands are at 10 and 2. I'm gripping the steering wheel. I ask my mom if we should pull over. She says it's probably a good idea. But unfortunately we are 2 miles from being able to do so.

JJ pulls Lilly out of the car seat, holds her, burps her, and places her back in. She's stealth. I'm amazed she can do this all. It usually takes me opening the car door, getting her out of the car seat, and doing the same to place her back in. I don't have the moves to do it from the back seat. With my amazement also came nervousness, she's out of her seat. What if something happens? What if the cops see us and pull us over? But luckily none of that happened and she was back in her seat in a flash.

However, the peace my mom created, by holding and burping her, didn't last too long. We're now like 5-6 minutes from the house. We are now back in Orleans Parish, driving along River Road, and she's getting mad again. Those damn burps. And I just want to power through. We're so close. But she's so mad. So damn mad. And she's working herself up. Her cries are louder. Her fists balled into anger. Body rigid with her stress. We pass the zoo. And I know we've got about 1 mile left. We can do this. I can tune out her cries and screams. Hands stay gripped at 10 and 2.

And while it seemed like a very long mile, we pass it, and get home. My mom has already unbuckled her, and has her in her arms. I get the car seat. Lilly quiets down. And peace it seems is already becoming restored.

I pass the pink and purple pacifier on my way to the den. Just sitting quietly in the napper. Lilly is enjoying being held. I get the peace pipe from the napper and bring it with me to couch. I give it to JJ, should she need it, to soothe Lilly. Nope, as it turns out, she's fine, loving being in JJ's arms. Peace pipe not needed. Damn.