Some new things

Lilly has accomplished much in her 3 months! Last Sunday, while we were at Aunt Bitsy's watching the Saints game, she held her bottle on her own. She has since repeated this feat, and will hold it for a bit and then get tired or bored (or perhaps something else) and then put it down. But then she gets mad that her bottle is taken away! But it's all her doing! So she's got to learn some control and how to keep her bottle at her mouth. She's definitely found her thumb, and while she's an equal opportunity thumb sucker, we think she is beginning to favor her right one. Regina has mentioned that she's a hard sucker - she's replaced her Maggie Simpson pacifier sounds with Maggie Simpson type thumb sucking.

She's also sat in her red Bebo pod chair. She supported her head and sat up. But it was a lot of work for her so she was only in it for a bit before she started to whine and we took her out. But it's a cool chair and I hope she likes it! And Monday morning she rolled over, from her back to her stomach. She was so nonchalant about it, she was just on her back, got her weight behind her and did. It was right after Mark went to the office. And ever since I've been trying to capture it on video. I spent 18 minutes last night, with her teasing me, she would get some weight, roll, but not make it fully over. The flip camera had no battery left, so I was worried that once I stopped filming, she would roll over. So I kept the camera on her, full 18 minutes worth. And she finally did it - at the end. But I posted the video to Vimeo ten hours ago and it's still converting - it's a large file. So once its on the site, I'll post the link. Aunt Sarah saw her do it today (or was it yesterday, I can't remember, the days seem to run together) and Regina said she rolled over a couple of times yesterday. Here's hoping that Mark will see her do it tonight!

LRM's Baby Naming

It's official. Lilly Rose is 3 months! But yesterday she also received her Hebrew name, for the second time. She's known in the Jewish world as 'Shoshana' which is coincidentally my Hebrew name too (I don't think its my given Hebrew name, but I didn't know it at the time of our marriage and Ketubah signing, so I made one up that sounded pretty). Shoshana means 'rose' or 'flower' so its perfect for our two flower named daughter.

The naming was perfect. We had great weather, a great rabbi, great friends, but most importantly great family present! We had three generations of Rose's on the Mintz side (Aunt Carolyn Rose and cousin Glynn Rose) present. We explained how we picked Lillian Rose - the L's for my dad's parents Libby and Leon, and for Mel's grandmother Lil and Rose goes back 5 generations (she's the 6th) on Mark's dad's mother's side. She's the seventh woman (yikes, she'll be a woman!) to have Rose in her name. Well, seven that we know of! Her name reflects the love we have for the people who are no longer with us and our hope that she'll continue their legacy and good works.

She held up well. She was awake for a couple hours past her naptime and was passed around from family members to friends. And she looked super cute in her new black and white dress, though she kept popping her collar! We finally found an outfit for her to wear her matching black and white Mary Jane socks. I thought we might wear them to Safta Margot's tea party but never switched them out with the regular socks. And one thing about her dress, she just kept playing with it, the skirt part. She put some of the material in her mouth. She grabbed onto the dress. And she didn't have a meltdown, or really just get super cranky, until the end of the Saints game, when she awoke from her nap and was hungry.

We've got a ton of food leftover, so if you are in the NOLA area and want egg salad, tuna salad, potato salad, chicken salad, cookies, challah or brownies, come on by. Just call first! The rabbi remarked that life is short and that with kids it seems to fly by faster. These past three months certainly have. And at times, when it feels like it is going too fast, I just take a breather, and reflect on all the stuff/developments/new experiences she's (and we've) done. And it's a lot. So our sweet Toots is 3 months and has an official Hebrew name. Good times.

Here's a link to the video of her baby naming - http://vimeo.com/15935485

Late Night with Lilly Rose

My disclaimer - I can generally stay up and be functional from 6AM to 10:30PM. 11PM is pushing it. Even 10:45PM. I never see the Colbert Report - but the Daily Show I can somewhat see and catch and most important be coherent. But those are my hours. I'm more of a morning person, and after a day of being with Lilly Rose, I'm worn out. So Mark's 'on duty' for bedtime and he does a great job with her. He's got bedtime, the swaddling, the burrito song, bathtime and feeding down pat. I'm his assistant. So last night, Mark was out at a function, and Mel and JJ and I put her to sleep (amidst the Mylicon drop overdose scare). And while she went down for 30-40 minutes, she was up, at 10:15. Both JJ and I went up, fed her more, and at 10:30, I came back down while JJ rocked her. I pumped, JJ put her down, and we thought she was asleep. But nope, she was just waiting for her dad and JJ to play with her. So here's JJ, with her account of being up with Lilly Rose.

Lilly decided that she really was not ready for bed but wanted to watch Jay Leno or David Letterman and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. I really think she was just waiting up for her Daddy to get home so she could share some time and smiles with him. She was not ready to go down for the night. I brought her over into the guest room and in my bed so that she and I could watch David Letterman. Letterman was almost over, Mark came home and thought he would put her down for the night. So this was about 11:45 --he gave her another 2 ounces of milk and put her in her crib. It seems that she was still not really tired and really wanted to see Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. So Lilly decided to call for her Daddy to come upstairs again and get her out of her crib. As any good Father would, Mark came up again and picked her up and tried to give her some more milk. She definitely needed to be rewrapped as a burrito baby again since she had wiggled out of her swaddling blanket. Mark brought her into my room so he could swaddle her on the bed. He wrapped Lilly tightly in her blanket (again) and tried to convince her it really would be a good thing to get some sleep for the night. She still did not seem tired, where as Mark was quite tired since he had been up since 6:30 am and had been at work and a reception for some Judges until 11:00 pm. By this time it was 1:00 a.m. and Lilly was going strong but still being a very sweet girl. Mark put her down in her crib (again), went back down the stairs and got back in bed. Lilly started fussing again but I got her and rocked her for a while. She finally settled down and went to sleep about 1:20 a.m. I hope she enjoyed the late night shows and I also hope for Jen and Mark that this is the first and last time she decides that she wants to have Late Night with Lilly Rose.

Too much

Ok, 1, 2, 3, freak out. Tonight, Mel and JJ were putting Lilly to bed, and she was having bad gas. I got the bottle ready, swaddled her, and as Mel was feeding her, measured out her gas drops. She does this thing where she will arch her back and wiggle and scream/cry out in pain. And it's not a tired cry but a 'get this gas out of me' cry. It's no fun to listen to as I can assume that her little belly doesn't enjoy the gas residing there.

Anyway, the gas drops are a good thing. But the problem is the dropper. For babies under 24 months and 24 pounds, you are supposed to give them .3ml. For babies over both the age and weight limit, you give .6ml. Now the dropper is measured out to .6ml and its difficult to get out the dropper to just .3ml. So when giving her the drops, I try to get it down from .6 to .3. So at least I know she's getting the correct dosage. You angle the medicine towards the inner cheek, so the baby will swallow instead of spitting out.

But tonight, as I was trying to measure out from .6 to .3, I accidentally gave her more than .3ml. It was more like .5ml. And for once she took it all, and didn't spit it out or down herself. So I knew she got more than she was supposed to receive. So I immediately check the label. Yes, only supposed to get .3ml. And it says in case of accidental overdose, call poison control right away. Well, it was an accident. But is it an overdose? I go into the guest room, show my mom the dropper, and she reassures me that its ok.

I'm not convinced. Brain is going into irrational mode. I re-read the instructions two more times. Nothing changes. Still in case of accidental overdose, I'm supposed to call poison control. My mom and Mel reassure me. I try to put the doubt out of my mind. I read Lilly two stories - 'Olivia' and 'Goodnight Moon.' And all the while, Lilly is doing fine, she's eating well. She's sucking down the bottle. And she should be my evidence, my case for her doing just fine. But nope. I rely on my brain and the irrational and obsessive thoughts residing there.

Finally, before Lilly is put into her crib, I decide that I will feel better if I call the pediatrician, and hear it from his/her mouth. So I look up Dr. Hales' number, give a call, and wait for the answering service to pick up. Goes through the various options. If it's an emergency, hang up and call 911. If you need to schedule an appointment, call back during office hours. And then my option, if its and urgent medical emergency, stay on the line.

Now my brain works up. Well, she seems fine. Maybe its not a medical emergency. I didn't want to be portrayed as someone who cries wolf. So I hung up. I head back upstairs as Mel and JJ were coming down. She was fine. And asleep. So I tell them I hung up but I am still worried. So they tell me to call the pharmacist. So I look up a 24 hour pharmacy, find one at Walgreens at the corner of S. Carrollton and Claiborne, and get the number. Talk to the pharmacist who tells me that a little over .3ml is ok and she should be fine. And those words call my mind. And all is good.

She's sleeping now. I'm tired. But it's still scary to realize that a small mistake can hurt her. She's so precious. I don't want to hurt her. Just makes you realize, just hits it home that you are responsible for her. It's the job that never ends.

An Universal Sign

Notice the impressive use of her middle finger. She's learning already!!

Lunch with Aunt Linda

JJ kept the monitor from Tuesday night into Wednesday morning and it was a glorious night's sleep. Mark and I got a sound night's sleep - no grunting noises coming from the monitor. We are both so attuned to them, that to go a night without it was awesome. But we woke up the next morning, both curious as to how she did for JJ. Turns out she slept through the night, but JJ woke up every couple of hours, hearing the grunts coming from the crib.

She woke up at 7AM. And really didn't go down for another nap until closer to noon. She's definitely getting on another sleep schedule. And we went to lunch with Mark's Aunt Linda. Lilly Rose slept through the entire lunch. We went to the Flaming Torch, which is just on Octavia Street, just on the other side of Magazine. She was asleep when we put her in the car seat, and she didn't stir once she was placed in it. She was quiet throughout the short car ride, Still as a mouse through lunch. Which allowed us to have an enjoyable and delicious (and hands-free!) lunch. She woke up about 30 minutes after we got home and boy was she hungry!

I've found my thumb

Lilly has found her thumb, well most of the time. She can clumsily stick her thumb in her mouth, but in the act she also pokes her eyes and scratches the surrounding areas of her face. In the morning, before she wakes, one can not only hear the sucking of the thumb through the monitor but can also see her jerky motion when one goes to pick her up. No complaints here. It soothes her and allows us a little more shut eye. I was a thumb sucker, and according to my mom, I was a compulsive thumb sucker. They had to put nasty tasting (non toxic) fingernail polish on my thumb when I was three or four to get my to stop. I definitely did quit by the end of Kindergarten, so I am game for her to suck. Now ask me again in five years and it might be a different story. But for now, the additional 5-10-20 minutes of sleep is golden. I'll take that and nasty tasting fingernail polish any day.