Silly Lilly

She's growing! I don't want to believe it but we are growing out of Stage 2 diapers, despite the claim that it goes from 12-18lbs. She hasn't made 18lbs yet but the diaper isn't fitting as well as it should. So while we have made the switch from the 2 to the 3 for the overnight (changing sheets is a pain!) and that's been good, I was hoping to hold off on going from 2-3 for a bit longer, at least until we left for Dallas. But it's not looking good. As Dr. Gorman said, Lilly's definitely a New Orleans girl, as she loves her milk. She still hasn't shown much interest in our food, though she was particularly interested in watching me drink water from the water bottle. Though in all fairness, it could have been the red Ozarka label that was peaking her interest. But until she reaches six months or shows an interest in food (whichever comes first), she's strictly on milk. The rice cereal will come later! First there will be Stage 3 diapers.

Hanukkah

So far we've celebrated 6 nights of Hanukkah - I think Lilly has been up for maybe three of those nights. But last night we celebrated with Mo and Mel, and Lilly opened up two presents, block stackers and a book. She's less interested in the opening of the presents than she is about putting the presents, be it a book, slippers, toy, or a check in her mouth. She's all about eating, well, not eating but biting down and placing it in her mouth. I sure hope she doesn't eat it! Case in point, we opened presents Saturday night and she got a check from Mimi and PawPaw. I held it up and she made a beeline for it. Her hands went right to it and she was about to rip it when her mouth opened. We didn't let her take a bite but she sure wanted to! We've saved her 'big' present for last - it's a Fisher Price Stride to Ride Dino. It can double as a walker and a little rider. It's cute. I hope she likes it. Though it technically starts at 9 months, we've got a few months before she will grow into it.

Monroe Sip and See

Mel held a sip and see the Friday after Thanksgiving so people could come over and meet Lilly. Lilly wore a darling pink dress (from Mel), a sweet sweater (from Uncle Alex, Aunt Kirsten and Cousin Caroline), and tights (from Little Laughter). And she was quite cranky before the festivities. We tried to keep her up but she was having no part of it. She wanted her afternoon nap. So we moved the Pack and Play from our room and put it in the formal living room, so she fell asleep there and those who came over could see her (without having to go into our room, which was a mess, no surprise there!). She did well with the amount of people and let others hold her. I so enjoyed the yummy apple cider and lemon squares.

Later that evening, when we went to Mimi and PawPaw's house, she was not happy. She got cold, as the temperature had dropped, and couldn't get warm once she got to the house. And that freaked her out. So she just let loose, similar to her meltdowns at Aunt Bitsy's house. We dealt with it for about an hour, got through the Shabbat prayers, before finally bundling her up, and getting two plates to go, and went home. She was happier, when she got a bath, a bottle and bed.

My Cousin Georgia

Well, technically Georgia is our first cousin, she's the youngest daughter of Mark's Aunt Sally, and she's 7 seven years old. And she's the second tallest person and tallest girl in her 1st grade. And this was the first time she met Lilly. But she's been very interested in her all along. This summer, when she was visiting Mark's grandparents (she lives in CT), she sent the sweetest card and washcloths for the Senator. But she was really excited to meet Lilly, to help out. She kept asking me how old she would be when Lilly was 2 (9), 3(10), etc. Looks like Lilly will have a great teacher and friend. She was Mark's assistant when he bathed her, abling handing him the Johnson and Johnson's No More Tears Shampoo and Aveeno Lavendar body wash.

Cowboys-Saints game

Lilly Rose learned fast! She took the requisite after feasting nap. She fell asleep on Aunt Sally and passed out. She's in her Saints outfit, notice her gold socks. It was a good game, and I was cheering for both teams, just excited to see the Cowboys have some fighting spirit in them.

Thanksgiving Day

Toots had her first Thanksgiving meal, well she had a bottle. But she was with us as we celebrated turkey day at the country club in Monroe. And via the milk, albeit, several hours later, she had her first taste of turkey, cranberries, collard greens, green bean casserole, and sweet potato casserole. Delicious meal. And even more delicious was the company. Pictured are Mark's dad and grandparents. It was great to have 4 generations gathered together. While Toots was not too happy with us at the beginning of the day, she spit up on two of my outfits and one of her own ( I had this great pumpkin shirt and green pants, but nope, lots of spit up. But plus the pants were a bit big, so it was ok to get the milk on it). And while she desperately wanted to go down for a nap, we kept her up for pictures. Note our family picture - she was having no smiles. No happy Jack there for us. But she perked a bit, after dozing in the car and a continued nap at the country club, but once she got her milk, she was done. She didn't want to take part of pictures, though we put her through a round. She didn't want to be with everyone else - I took her outside, fed her some more and gave her the quiet environment that she needed. And then we took her home, she napped and got ready for the Saints-Cowboy game!

Reunion with friends

Wednesday afternoon we met up with Mark's childhood friends and went to lunch at Johnny's Pizza - a delicious pizza place. We met with Pete, Dave and Cara ( they have one son, Grady) and Geoff and Robin (they have three kids, two girls and one boy, but the grandparents were watching them that day). Unfortunately Toots was not having any of it. She was overwhelmed by her new surroundings, the Monroe house, all the new peeps, new restaurant, etc. She really didn't nap that morning, if you count 30 minutes as one. So she wasn't in the greatest of moods. And boy did she let us know it. Luckily, we were able to get our pizza and salad, and trade off, and thank goodness for Robin, she held Lilly (that's her in the picture with Lilly) and bounced her, and tried to calm her as we wolfed down our lunch (which is something nutritionists would be angry with us! but its a necessity!). But she kept getting angrier and angrier. And tireder and tireder. We changed her diaper. Still unhappy. Tried to feed her. Still crying. So I took her outside and walked her around. We did this for the rest of lunch (got me away from the pizza, a good thing, I probably would have put 2 more slices away!) and she calmed down a bit. But really she needed rest. So while she got many compliments on her outfit and looks, she definitely wasn't winning anyone over with her cries. But hey, she was tired, in a new place and just overwhelmed. Unfortunately for us, a theme that would take us through the rest of the weekend. But the pizza and company was great. Can't beat Johnny's - they've got one opened in Baton Rouge. Just waiting for New Orleans now.