3 Months

Dear Lily,

Today, darling girl, May 25 2010 you are three months old. A milestone in baby time. According to experts, you should now be able to recognize me and daddy, hold your head steady, track moving objects, turn your head towards sound, babble, laugh, squeal in delight, roll over from your tummy to your back, and do mini-pushups (ew). The only thing out of these you haven't quite yet mastered is the roll. We're working on that. But in addition to this list of achievements, here's what else you are able to do:

~Wake up on the sunny side of the bassinet every day (and I mean EVERY day! You're a morning girl like your mama!) You give everyday a wonderful beginning.

~Carry on conversations with just about anyone -you're quite the talker! You make us slow down and really listen to the smaller sounds.

~Flirt - again, you're your mama's girl! You remind us to truly enjoy the people around us.

~Charm - anyone you meet. You inspire us to work on our own character flaws.

~Stand - you have to lean on us, but you can hold yourself up. Sturdy legs! You make us want to be stronger.

~Cry when you see or hear other babies cry. You show us the true meaning of compassion and empathy.

~Laugh - at anything and everything. You teach us to enjoy the little things - like a light turning on, or a ceiling fan, or Mowgli's barking, or our own reflections in the mirror.

~Enjoy nature - I'm definitely more of an indoors kinda girl, but your fascination with the outside is slowly drawing me out!

It has been both the longest and shortest three months of our lives. Yet in this small amount of time both daddy and I have experienced so much growth - as have you. I can't wait to see what you have in store for us. For the world. If this is what you can accomplish in your first three months, Heaven knows what you will do with a lifetime. I can't wait.

I love you. Always.
Mommy

Tell Me A Story...

The Lovely Lily has now become quite the little talker! Babbles and coos non-stop. Even when she's crying she seems to try to "talk" through her tears - not just scream. Loving the jibber-jabber!

I remember when the little one was on the inside. She seemed to already be very firm in her opinions. Whether it was something I ate or the position I was in, Lily was never shy about letting me know how she felt about it. Nothing has changed except her mean of communication! When she likes what she sees (i.e herself in the mirror - diva baby) she coos. When she disapproves of something you've done (moving to a new place before she's ready to leave the party or pausing a yummy feeding for a quick burp-break) she pouts her lips and puts on her "shame on you!" face. No Joke.

Baby girl will be three months next week. She's already such an expressive and stubborn little being! She's gonna take over the world...

Take Me Out To The Ball Game!

Sorry it's taken so long to get these up! A few weeks ago, the whole family went to support John Paul II High School at their baseball game against Munroe. Here are a few shots from the day.



Go, Uncle Will!

Loving On Daddy



Chillin' With Kiki!


It was such a fun day! Weather was perfect and team spirit was high! More pictures to come!

Takin' Shots!

So we've just returned from the good doctor with shot nerves and three pink camo band-aids for souvenirs (some goody bag, huh?). Lily had her first round of vaccinations today and boy oh boy it was a party. As usual, Lily began the visit as her sweet smiley self - flirtin' with the nurses, charming the doctor. She weighs in at (brace yourself) 11lbs. 10oz!!!! My chunky monkey - gonna have to get this girl some Spanx soon. She's measuring now at 22.5 inches - a full inch since last visit! After checking her sparkly eyes, baby ears and stuffy nose (we're blaming the pollen), the dreaded moment arrived. Daddy held baby girl's hand and Mommy went through a series of hot flashes as the fabulous nurse went to work. Three pricks to the thighs and an oral rota virus syrup later, Lily was protected against elements and throwing a Holy Fit. I'm not sure whom was more shaken by the experience, Lily or Jason and I. I know I could definitely use a sweet tea right now (you know..."sweet tea"...wink wink) Either way, we made it through. Lily then went to go visit Kiki and tell her all about the ordeal. If she's feeling better tonight, she'll get to go see her uncle William pitch for the JPII Panthers at districts - go Panthers! We've made her a special JPII onsie/jersey just for the occasion (pictures coming soon, sports fans!). Hopefully she'll be able to go and show her school spirit! Too bad it doesn't match her pink camo band-aids...

She's Gonna Kill Me When She's Old Enough To Read This...

It started with a few grunts - and I'm not gonna lie, y'all; that part was pretty funny. Then the grunts turned to growls. Growls turned to screams. Yep...baby girl is constipated.

Moms around the globe go ahead and "tsk" away, but I've been finding it pretty dificult to keep up with nursing the little one around the clock. A few weeks ago, we introduced Lily to formula and we gradually weaned her to the point where she is currently only nursing at night. I know, I know, breast is best and all, but for a working mom the formula is just so much more convenient! So instead of strict nursing, I'd been pumping and storing the good stuff and mixing it in to make the transition as easy as possible. Everything seemed to be going just swimmingly until today, when Lily showed us just how wrong we were.

The riot began around 12:30 this afternoon. After about a half hour of shreiking in pain (not nice) I had to call for reinforcements. Now, we went through our bout of colic during the early weeks. Luckily that didn't last nearly as long as we thought it would. But this was nothing like anything I've ever heard before. I can usually tell by her cry if she's hungry, wet, bored, etc. But this was something new. Kiki came over and concluded that the poor little thing (who was now a lovely shade of aubergine due to what we now refer to as the Great Struggle, was constipated (how un-chic!). So we called the doc and searched the web and decided to try a few different things - Karo syrup being the winning bet.

After a long day of endurance (on both ends) I am thrilled to report that it all comes out well in the end (pun totally intended). It took a while, but by 5:50ish we seemed to have gotten through the worst of it. Lily now gets a fabulous cocktail of breastmilk, formula, mylicon and Karo syrup - shaken, not stirred. We'll keep at this until baby girl becomes a little more regular (or until Activia yogurt is approved for youngins). Again, this blog is being used in lieu of a baby book - this was something new and special (yes, my name is Kayleigh and I think my daughter's BMs are special) and therefore it deserves to be recorded. Big post coming tomorrow as Lily has her two-month apointment...complete with a whole mess of vaccinations. But that's a whole other post...

Routine Routine Routine!

Not only is this blog perfect for keeping others in the Lily "Loop", it's also my preferred version of a baby book. I knew early on I wasn't nearly crafty enough to make any hand-written, manually-picture-pasted, scrap-booky decorated Lily Log look good enough to show off, so this is just perfect for documenting Lily's growth while sharing info at the same time! So in a baby-bookish type post for future viewing (when we look back wondering if having another little darling anytime soon is a good idea or not), I want to document the establishment of our new bed-time routine! That's right, y'all! My six-week-old super baby is stickin' to a schedule! After the first couple weeks of every-two-hour feedings, (Dear Future Kayleigh reading this - kudos on keeping your hair in your head - seriously, it's thin enough as it is; you couldn't afford to lose any more by pulling it out in a fit)...(Dear Future Lily - EVERY TWO HOURS. Say "thank you, Mommy" right now) and a week or two more of totally irregular sleep patterns; we have finally found a routine we can all agree on! During the day, Lily usually eats every three to four hours with a short nap in between feedings. During waking hours, we are either working on our smiles:

Or we are asking politely (OK screaming politely) for our next meal:

This goes on during the day until around 11pm. Here, Mommy and Lily have their girly time. We move camp to the nursery (dimly lit, of course, so our complexions look tres fabulous!) and have a lovely nightcap, followed by a discussion on home decor, makeup tips, movie reviews, etc. until Princess Lily tires of the conversation and clonks out (gracefully) by around midnight. Four to five hours later, we're up again for a late-night snack, and just as quickly we're back to Slumberland until daylight. It's not a perfect schedule (just ask my baggy eyes) but it's consistent. And at this point, consistent is nothing short of fabulous!

Happy Easter, Y'all!