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.