JJ's visit

JJ came in yesterday and will be with us until Sunday. She came with this new hat for Lilly and unlike the other hat we got her, this one fits! It's snug and will keep the sun shielded from her face. We've had a good day so far, I made chicken salad for dinner, JJ's played and fed Lilly. And we both have just enjoyed listening to Lilly's babbling and cooing. She's smiling a lot more, and can now smile in response to a smile given to her, so I like doing that.

For the afternoon, Lilly just didn't want to get up from her 1PM nap. She woke up crying and seemingly hungry. I fed her but she fell asleep on the breast. I moved her around. I burped her. She would wake up, suck some more, and then fall back asleep. So I moved her some more. She would open her eyes, and then they would slowly fall close, and her head would move back, and she just wanted to sleep. It was funny, Lilly just didn't want to get up. She would smile as she went back to sleep. And while she got off schedule and didn't eat as much as she should have, it did give JJ a perfect chance to cut Lilly's nails. So when the eyelids shut, the fingernails are trimmed. But she's up now (it's 5:25, she got up at 4) and just enjoying the jungle gym mat. She's definitely refreshed from her long afternoon nap!

Lilly's first Blue Box

Lilly got her first blue box last week. A Tiffany's gift came in the mail from the Alexander family and inside was a beautiful engraved silver picture frame! It's sitting, pictureless (got to find the right one) on her 'Lilly' shelf. But soon a picture will be set inside.

The Peace Pipe

The peace pipe is a glorious thing. That is when it stays in. But the problem with the peace pipe is that the sucking motion and her lack of coordination can force the soothing mechanism out of her mouth. So last Thursday, Regina was watching her, and Lilly just didn't want to sleep. She had two naps, all of about 30 minutes each. I got home before she was about to go down for her 5PM nap, and when she went down in her napper, she wanted nothing of the sort. So Regina picked her up and we put the peace pipe in her mouth. But it would not stay in. And I can't remember, but we started talking about wouldn't it be great to have something to keep in the pacifier in the mouth? My mom and I had theorized that it would need something like elastic to keep it around the head and ultimately in the mouth. And Regina came up with the same option, and when she was staying with us, she made mittens from socks, so we had bought elastic and had some left over. So I got it and she fashioned the elastic around the peace pipe. We put it around her head and had to trim the ends and then adjust to make sure it wasn't too tight. And then with it around her head, we put her back in the napper. And I would like to say that the peace pipe staying in her mouth, helped her to sleep. But unfortunately, I think the elastic was either too tight or foreign to her, or both, and she just kept on crying and crying. And so it was taken out. And I held her. And she didn't nap for the 5PM slot. And I think it might have traumatized her - she didn't really enjoy the napper for the next two days. And she wasn't a fan of the peace pipe (didn't put the elastic around her head). But her sleep schedule is also changing. She's staying up for longer, whereas she would be up for about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Now she's extending it to almost two hours. So I hope it's the sleep schedule and not the peace pipe device. I'd hate to think that in twenty years from now, she'll be on some therapist's couch, talking about how I scarred her for life, because of a roll of elastic and a peace pipe. That's definitely not one way to keep the peace!

Roll Tide Roll

So I've been a slacker and have not been able to update the blog as often as I would like. She's growing, rolling, pooping, all the fun things she's doing at 12 weeks of life. We had a busy weekend. It was parents and Homecoming weekend at Tulane, so Mark's aunt and uncle were in town as well as his grandparents, Mimi and Papa. Mimi and Papa came over Thursday and played with Lilly. We also saw them for dinner Friday night, where Lilly did an excellent job in the restaurant. It was incredibly loud, enough of a high decibel level to make someone anxious. But she enjoyed being held, mostly by Mark and Aunt Sarah (other restaurant patron would remark to Sarah that she had a beautiful baby. Sarah replied by saying, she enjoyed being an aunt. That it was fun to be an aunt!) There was also a huge mirror that she loved looking at herself in. She got a great expression on her face. But the most impressive thing was that she felt comfortable enough, in a new setting and with the noise, to poop an explosive diaper. She got it midway up her back, and Mark took her in the men's room and changed her, out of her pink dinner outfit ( a new one from our friends Jake and Lauren) to a standard pink onesie and matching socks.

Saturday night, we, along with 5 other people, threw Aunt Bitsy and Uncle Adam a stock the bar party at the house. Mo and Mel babysat Lilly, who slept through a bunch of the party. It was a tense LSU-FL game, so there was loads and loads of yelling, screaming, cheering and booing. And for the first part, Lilly was in our room, but she was not affected by the noise in one bit. Probably slept the best all day. And then at 8:30, she was washed and ate, and went to sleep until 11 or 11:30. I am just amazed that she slept through the end of the game, the noise level was loud and right below her room. But she was fine with it, just as she was fine with Gautreaux's the night before. I guess Sleep Sheep is doing its job!

I'm grabbing items!

Lilly has not only been grabbing items but she's also holding onto them. In this picture she's holding Sleep Sheep's paw. When she's on her jungle gym mat, she loves holding onto the yellow rubbery wing part of the bee that hangs down from the sun mirror. She'll grab it, hold onto it, while kicking her legs, like she's riding a bicycle. In addition to these items, she's also 'holding' onto her bottle. She's definitely putting her fingers around the top of it, like she wants to be in control of it, but she's not there yet.

Her cradle cap is back -I thought we had gotten rid of it by using the Selsun Blue dandruff shampoo. We dab a little bit above her eyes and at the base of her scalp and then rinse it off. Yesterday we noticed the flakes of skin coming back, so put it on her face at her bath last night, and boy did she holler! Not a happy camper. We think it irritated her skin. But I could hear her cries from her bathtub to the kitchen, where I was getting her bottle ready. But luckily she quieted down, but she was not a happy camper.

Auntie Laaa and Auntie Ruth

Auntie Laa and Auntie Ruth came to visit last weekend to visit and meet Lilly. They even baby-sat as Mark and I had two functions to attend - and they were great at it! Ruth enjoyed carrying Lilly in the football hold (see picture) and Laa enjoyed taking lots of awesome pics of her. It was fun for them to meet her and it was great to see them. Laa and Lilly (and me) have a widows peak so it was cool to see. She was also very good, sleeping through the night and not crying as to disturb the guests next to her room! We ate lots of cupcakes, pizza, went shopping and went for walks, we really enjoyed the walk in Audobon Park! Though Lilly hasn't been taking to the stroller, so Ruth carried her while I pushed the empty vessel! We miss them already - hope they come back soon!

Littlegate

Lilly got up this morning a bit before 7AM. She's definitely found her fingers, and at times, her thumb. Mark swaddled her last night, but left her hands free, so in case she lost her peace pipe, she could go quickly for the fingers. At first, and it sounds silly, I didn't want her to find her fingers. I wanted to be able to put the pacifier in, not because I don't want her sucking her thumb ( I was a great thumb sucker!) but because I wanted to feel needed. If she's napping, and loses it, I wanted to feel like she needed me to put it back in. I wanted to feel needed. But then if she can find her fingers, and it soothes her, then its ok. She hasn't always found them, so she still needs me (or Mark) to get up and put the pacifier back in. I might feel sad the day she completely, consistently finds her thumb, but hopefully that isn't for a while!

Anyway, in between her naps, and she's been taking short ones this morning. We've have the 45 minute intruder, which is a phenomenon author Gary Ezzo (Becoming Babywise) writes about. Basically she's on a 3-3.5 hour feeding cycle. She'll eat for the first 30 minutes or so of the cycle, play for the next 15-45 minutes (though it depends on how she's feeling) and then sleep the rest of the time. The 45 minute intruder is when she wakes up early out of her nap, because she's either hungry, wet, or overstimulated (and not able to sleep well). Hunger has been the culprit, so here's hoping she's gone down for her long nap now. But I digress, anyway, between her naps, I contacted a local private school about the possibility of sending Lilly two days a week for Fall 2011. I've had some friends send their kids there, and I've heard nothing but good reviews. So I spoke with someone from Littlegate (http://littlegate.com/) and made an appointment to visit the school. We're going November 11. I was also told by friends to submit an application ASAP as the waiting list is really long! So I filled it out, let me tell you, it's bizarre. Filling out something, for her, as her mom, so far in advance! And it was just basic info, but still weird. I'm used to filling out forms for myself but to be responsible for someone else -just crazy. Mark keeps saying how he expects someone to take her from us at night, like how can we be responsible for an infant? But we are - no one comes to get her! So will keep you posted on the Littlegate visit!