Lily's First Birthday - Part 2

One year ago today we welcomed Lily Grace into the world. Life has not been the same since. I still find it hard to believe I am the mother to three girls. So much can happen in the course of a few years.

Lily is a cutie for sure. She is far from soft-spoken. She knows what she needs to do to get our attention. She's been recently spotted "fighting back" when competing for a coveted toy but also has moments where she is welcomed by her sisters in whatever game they are playing. Here are a few other developments in the life of Lily:

Sleep
We decided a few weeks ago to stick to our guns and push through the whole sleep training thing. It was tough-going in the beginning. I mean, what else should we expect when Lily had been used to being rocked or nursed to sleep for her whole life? A few days ago things just clicked-for me and Lily. When she's done feeding I pleasantly bring her to her room and go through our own little routine before I sneak out and leave a smiling and awake Lily behind in her crib. It seems like lately rocking her to sleep has been the exception rather than the rule. Thank you God!

Mobility
Lily is still not walking, but she is cruising like crazy. Occasionally she'll practice standing herself up either using the floor to push up or a small toy or box (rather than pulling up on furniture). She'll then stand for a good while before plopping down and trying it again. She's also taken a few steps between pieces of furniture and me and Jonathan. Lily really doesn't let much get in the way of her getting to where she wants. She isn't really all that into climbing onto things, and I am in no hurry for that to happen anyway.

Teeth
Lily still only has two teeth. I think maybe two more on the bottom may be on the way, but I'm not too sure. I think Sarah had five teeth at this age and Abigail had her two top teeth. She's still able to chew on a few table foods though.

Communication
Lily can shake her head "no" and nod "yes", but not always when it makes sense. She's better at letting us know "no" than "yes". She's got the "da-da" sound down. Almost every time I ask her to say, "ma-ma" she will either shake her head or say "da-da" instead. And, like I said before, she is good at making her voice heard. She can squeal like the best of them.

Our baby is one! I cannot believe it. We look forward to continuing to see her little personality develop. Happy real birthday Lily!

Eleven Months!

Once again, I missed taking Lily's monthly photo until a few days later. I guess it's better missing them all-together! And I guess they can't all be of her smiling :-)

Lily is all over the place. She cruises like a pro and still uses her stroller. She has even started letting go to stand on her own for a second or two.

She still only has two teeth, but she still manages to inflict pain with them.

If you haven't heard our little Lily (wherever on the globe you may be) I would be surprised. She is very loud and very vocal. If you aren't meeting her needs (or wants) she will give out a shrill scream. She's also been seen making the "mmma" sound. I'm convinced she's referring to me, her mama.

She spends more time playing on her own and even playing with the girls. Sometimes Abigail and Sarah are good about including her when other times they ask me to take her away.

In less than a month she'll be a year old. I think I've said this a few times...some days can seem incredibly long, but a year sure does fly by!

Ten Months!

Jonathan asked me two nights back, "Did you take Lily's monthly picture?" I responded by asking, "It isn't the 15th, yet, is it?" That is evidence of a long day, folks. Lily was born on the 13th of November, not the 15th.

So here it is, just two days late:

Lily is on the move. She climbs and cruises. Sometimes it seems like she'd rather find a piece of furniture to cruise on to get to her final destination rather than crawl (which turns out to be the faster alternative). She's also using her walker to get around.



Lily still only has two bottom teeth. We've started adding more finger foods though, because she manages fine with only two teeth. Let's face it, she's had lots of practice with random bits of paper she's managed to find on her crawling adventures. She's had cheerios, very cooked carrots, and shredded cheese.

Our almost one year old is also starting to shake her head "no". I'm not sure she's always trying to say "no" but it comes at times when you'd think she was. For instance, she shook her head at me when I put her in the crib for a nap. She also shook her head two minutes into a feeding when she decided she wasn't into it anymore and I plopped her on the floor. Here's another cute video of her "saying no":



So a lot has changed since last month. Lily definitely is seeming less and less baby-like as time passes.

Nine Months!

Lily is 3/4 of a year old now. She is looking less and less like a little baby.

She is scooting around like crazy and now occasionally crawls on her knees a bit. She easily transitions from sitting to scooting and back to sitting again. And now she's decided to start climbing! Needless to say, she is into everything.

Lily had her first ear infection last week. Let me tell you, it is not easy giving her medicine. She is also sporting two bottom teeth. I'm hoping these are what is causing her interrupted sleep at night.

So that's our little Lily update. More to come in a month!

Eight Months!

Lily hit the eight month mark over the weekend. She is scooting around like crazy and now sits unassisted like a champ. For a time we would sit her up to keep her in one place, but then she quickly figured out how to get back on her tummy to make her escape. Her favorite forbidden area is the bathroom. She'll sneak her way to the hallway and make a bee-line for the restroom. She will stop briefly when we call out to her, give us a smile, and then go on her merry way.

Lily is still all gums. I think her bottom front teeth may be on the way out, but I've been thinking that for a few weeks now, so who knows!

We still see Lily once or twice during the night. I figure it's teething, so I let her get away with it. Plus, it's just easier to feed her then try to get her back to sleep any other way.

Oh, and can I say it was not easy getting her onesie picture this month!

Seven Months!

Lily is now seven months old. Here's a quick summary of what's been going on with our youngest:

Mobile Baby!

Lily is rolling and scooting all over the place. She is always in search of the nearest scrap of paper, teeny hair clip, or other forbidden object. I have already had to snag a few things out of her mouth. It comes with the territory when you have two older girls who don't always pick up after themselves (ok, sometimes it's been me leaving things behind too).

Food!

I'm still making Lily's baby food. Really though, I've only made two more things because when you make a food once you have a good inventory in the freezer to last a while. So far Lily has sampled sweet potatoes, squash, carrots (store-bought but I plan to make some soon), apples, and pears.

Sleep.

You can't use the words "baby", "sleep", and "consistent" in the same sentence. One (or two) night(s) she'll sleep through the night when other nights she'll still wake up once or twice. Naps end up being 30 minutes to 2 hours long depending on if she's sleeping deeply and we're all quiet enough for her. Some nights she'll fall asleep on her own while other nights (when she's over-tired) we have to help her out.

Other Milestones

Lily is still toothless. Also, she can sit, but only with assistance still. She's always diving for the nearest thing she can stick in her mouth. Also, she does plenty of babbling and screeching and laughing.

Six Months!

Lily officially turned 6 months old yesterday, but I didn't get around to taking her monthly picture until this morning.

Lily is trying her hardest to scoot. I'll see her reaching for a toy (or something she shouldn't be going for, like a little girl's sneaker). Then she'll bring her knees in...and then...she goes backwards. She has mastered moving sideways (like the arms of a clock).

We've been better at giving her solids and will probably introduce a few veggies now. I think she is eager to eat. Jonathan often holds her during dinner time and she'll follow his fork with her eyes.

We haven't done official sleep training yet. On occasion I would put her in her crib awake. The problem we have now is that the two older girls will sit up in their bunk beds and squeal, laugh, and talk with her. I think sleep training will involve training the other girls as to how this whole thing will work.

I cannot believe half a year has gone by since Lily came into the world! Time flies!

Five Months!

Lily is a whopping five months old now! She recently became an expert in rolling over from her back to her belly. She now just needs to master rolling from belly to back because after being on her belly for just a short while she'll get bored and fuss until I turn her back over.

Our beautiful blessing is still struggling in the sleep arena. Part of me wishes that she hadn't teased us back around 3 months when she slept like an angel. If she was a consistently crummy sleeper I wouldn't expect anything different. But I know she is capable of great sleep! She just doesn't do it.

Jonathan and I plan on doing the sleep training thing in the next few days. With Abigail and Sarah we noticed great sleeping improvements when we helped them to learn to fall asleep on their own. Experts say babies are best able to do this around 4-6 months. Stay tuned!

Four Months!

There is not much to add to Lily's update from last week. Lily did have her first cold. It started out as mainly a fever with a little congestion. For the most part she was her same cheerful self. She had the hardest time at night. We ended up riding things out without medicine or having to visit the Doctor, which was a blessing.

The funny thing about the cold is that it seems to have knocked Lily out of her nice sleeping pattern. She's been going to bed later and waking one or two times more a night. Hopefully once she is 100% she'll go back to going to sleep earlier and waking only once during the night.

Three Months!

Lily is three months old now. I was changing her this morning and thought, "Wait a second, what is today's date?" I realized she hit 3 months and had to change her for her onesie picture:

Lily loves to smile. She also loves to stick her hands in her mouth. She's reaching for her toys now and she tolerates tummy time better than before. We see more of Lily's beautiful blue eyes during the day as she is spending less time napping than when she was younger (I feel silly saying "when she was younger").

Nighttime sleep is not going so well. It seems that all three girls went through a phase where they just did not like sleeping in their crib. Abigail spent a lot of time sleeping in our bed. Sarah spent time sleeping in the swing. Right now Lily will start in the crib, but oftentimes will end up with us or in the swing. If I remember correctly, this issue got better once the girls went through "sleep training". So, anywhere between four and six months.

The girls still love Lily :-) Sarah is actually spending more time with her, which I'm happy about. She'll crouch down in front of Lily in her bouncy seat and say in a sweet, high voice "Hi Lily".

Lily is getting so big! I'm interested just how big she is, which we'll find out in a few days during her checkup. Happy three months Lily!

Photo Fridays 01.13.12

Lily is now two months old. I feel like it should be more like three months, because the past few weeks haven't flown by like I expected them to.

Lily gives us lots of smiles. She'll smile just about every time Abigail shows up. She gives me her biggest smiles in the middle of the night when she should be sleeping.

She's also cooing now. I love some of the sounds that come out of her cute little mouth. She likes to talk sometimes in the middle of the night too-when she should be sleeping :-)

Here's our growing baby, now an ancient two months old:

One Month

Lily hit the one month mark last week. Today was her one month check up. I ended up taking all three girls to her appointment and it went surprisingly well! No one ran off and no one acted up.

Lily is a whopping 10 pounds, 6 ounces, so I'd say she's doing just fine considering her "vomiting" issues. Because she isn't fussy and because it generally doesn't happen more than once a day (and because of her weight gain) the Doctor and I agreed to wait a bit before calling it reflux.

Lily has had a good stretch of sleep (four hours) pretty much only once since we took her home from the hospital. At night she'll sleep 2, 2.5, or maybe 3 hour stretches. This wouldn't be a big deal except for the times when she doesn't go back to sleep right away. Oh well, some day she'll give us a little more sleep. I'm hoping that sometime soon we can start developing a schedule.

Sarah is Two!

I just cannot believe that Sarah is two. There is so much to love about our little Sarah. I love to see her personality continue to develop.

• I love how Sarah is so entertaining at the dinner table. Whether she starts singing a tune, or makes faces to get us to laugh, she has me smiling or laughing at every dinner.
• I love how she finishes a lot of her sentences with the name of the person she is addressing. Like "tank yoo, Dada" or "your turn, Ada" (Ada is how she says Abigail).
• I love how she loves to dance with her dolls and her Daddy. Both of the girls have taken to dancing with Jonathan when our Friday night movie ends and the end credits play with fun music. If you catch her dancing, you should tell her to shake her tail feather-it is so cute!
• I also love how she tries to sing along with people and even sings on her own. I caught her the other day with her Little People playset. She set up the prince and princess at their table, complete with a plastic candelabra. She sang a short version of "Happy Birthday" and blew the candle out.
• I love how she gets so excited about the big and little things. When we went to look at pumpkins while apple picking she raised both of her hands and jumped up and down because she was just so excited. She also gets excited when she sees some of her favorite people and runs to them for a good hug. This is pretty remarkable because she used to be terribly shy.

These are just a few things that we love about our sweet little two year old. Happy Birthday Sarah! We look forward to seeing what the future holds for you!

Here are a few pictures from Sarah's birthday celebration.

We made a Care Bear cake (though, Abigail will tell you she made it):

Here's Sarah talking to Papa M on the phone:

Cake and presents!

Good Idea, Bad Idea

Let's start with the bad idea, because that one came first. Sarah's one year appointment was today. I decided to take both of the girls to the Pediatrician's office. No big deal, Abigail can look at the fish, drink some milk, play with her puzzle game on my iPod. As long as the three of us were in a room with a door then all was well. Once I was in the waiting area making flu shot appointments it was a different story. Abigail ran off into the main lobby, down the hallway, and out the front set of doors. I was humiliated! This was also, by the way, after Sarah had four vaccines and was already upset. All three of us ended up shedding a few tears.

On to Sarah's checkup. She is on the tall and slim side. She is in the 75 percentile for height and on the low end for weight, so we have to work on the whole eating thing. She tries all sorts of food, but doesn't always end up eating it. She had four shots including her first round of flu shots. Then she had blood work done. I felt really bad for Sarah because they tried getting blood out of her right arm, but then had to move to the left because they were having problems. So she got stuck with a needle in six places today.

Now for the good idea. Both of the girls were thrilled to get a mid-day bubble bath. The icing on the cake was blowing bubbles in the tub. I think I may try this again sometime because they really enjoyed it.

Now I'm hoping for a great afternoon of long naps. We'll see how that one goes :-)

Sarah is ONE!

As of 2:20 this afternoon Sarah will officially be one year old. I'm sure you will not be surprised to hear that I cannot believe she is a year old already!

It blows my mind that a whole year ago today I was holding a tiny little beautiful baby in my arms. I really wasn't sure how having two-under-two kids would work out. It hasn't been easy, but the rewards have been more than worth the tough times.

I have thoroughly enjoyed watching Sarah's unique personality develop. It is so fun to see how different two girls born of the same parents can be!

My feelings are a bit more bitter-sweet with Sarah hitting this milestone than they were when Abigail turned one. I think the main difference is because when Abigail turned one, we already knew about Sarah. But now, my baby-my youngest-is turning one. Instead of having "empty nest" syndrome I think I have "empty womb" syndrome.

Every time Sarah learns something new I almost cringe-my baby is growing up too fast. Whether she is taking her first few steps, climbing the stairs, drinking from a sippy cup, or learning how to steer her walker on her own, I gasp a little. My baby can't be one already! Before I know it she'll be singing This is the Day and telling me she loves me. Before I know it she'll be running around the house, kicking bouncy balls, and really getting into things. Where does the time go?

Happy birthday, Sarah! We love you so much and look forward to watching you continue to grow and develop into the young lady God wants you to be!

2.5 Years

Abigail is two-and-a-half years old today. She has grown and developed in so many ways.


Girl Talk
Abigail starts talking as soon as she wakes up in the morning and does not stop until she falls asleep at night (well, she does take a break during nap time too). She likes to observe out loud, pointing out trucks, trees, motorcycles on the way to Grandma's and telling me that "red means stop" and "green means go". She likes to tell Sarah to "come here" and I hear her say, "no Sarah" quite a bit too. Abigail also likes to burst into song during the day, which is really cute.

Playtime
It is so cute to watch Abigail play on her own. She takes good care of her stuffed kitty and baby dolls. She also throws birthday parties for her tub-toy ducks. I love seeing her imagination at work. Sarah's her little shadow. She would rather play along with Abigail instead of watch. Abigail hasn't gotten used to the idea of playing together yet. Though, they do like to play, I'm Gonna Get You where they chase each other around the room.

Testing the Waters
Abigail is always pushing the envelope. She is feisty and very vocal when it comes to what she wants. I'll tell her "no" and she gives me a look before doing exactly what I told her not to do. She gives me the same look when we are out and about (with no doors/gates/fences) right before she runs off.

In six short months Abigail will be three-the thought of this blows me away. Ahhh! I was looking through old pictures the other day and came across this one (taken in May 2009). I can't believe she's grown so much! No more baby talk, baby rolls, baby steps.

11 Months

Jonathan had to correct me a week or so ago because I referred to Sarah as a 9-month old. I just got used to saying she was 10 months old and now I have to say she is 11 months old. This fall has sneaked up on me!

Sarah is everywhere. She loves crawling and cruising everywhere around the apartment. One of her favorite things to do is play I'm Gonna Get You. I'll crawl behind her and say "I'm gonna get you". She giggles and speeds away. Abigail joins in and says "I got you". This game is full of laughs and giggles from the two of them. It wears me out though! Thankfully just the two of them will play it too.

Sarah has started climbing a bit too. Mainly she'll climb onto her booster seat and sit herself down (when it is on the floor, of course). She also climbed into her old bouncy seat today (we had it out for her cousin Bridget).

I cannot believe she will be ONE YEAR old in a short month.

10 Months

Today marked Sarah's 10 month birthday. I cannot believe we will be celebrating her first birthday this fall!

Sarah, like her big sister, is fearless. There is little in our apartment she will not try to climb up. One toy in particular has aided in her mobility. Here is Sarah giving it a try, at around the same age Abigail started on it. Notice how Sarah keeps pushing my hand out of the way (I was just trying to help ;-)

Now we have two girls who can get into just about anything. Yikes!

9 Month Check Up

On Monday Sarah went in for her 9 month check-up. This time Daddy joined Sarah because I was with Abigail for her appointment (more on that later).

Sarah weighed in at 17 pounds, 13 ounces (20%) and is 27 inches tall (20%). Thankfully, she didn't have to have any shots. I can't believe in three short months she'll be going in for her one year check up!

I thought I'd add a bit more about her milestones. Sarah loves to pull herself up! She'll try and climb up the side of our couch, coffee table, TV stand, crib, vacuum cleaner, us-just about anything and everything! She is everywhere. Also, we've expanded her options when it comes to table food. We moved from cheerios and biter biscuits to cut up grapes, green beans, and chicken. And just yesterday Sarah started waving "hi" to us by folding and opening her hands. So cute.

Sarah is growing up so fast.

We also took Abigail to the Doctor because we didn't like the way she was breathing. She came down with a cold after our eventful weekend. At first it was a simple stuffy nose and cough. Then came the fever and a bad night of shallow breathing. I'm glad we took her in. Her oxygen levels were not great. We ended up giving her three nebulizer treatments right there in the office. Thankfully they did the trick, otherwise she was going to be sent to a hospital.

We're going to pay another visit to our Pediatrician in a few weeks to talk about preventing this in the fall. The Doctor we met with (not our regular Pediatrician) mentioned possible asthma.

Thankfully, Abigail is quite used to having her treatments. We had a very hard time in the Doctor's office, but now she does it with no complaints, and even does it on her own.


Sarah caught Abigail's cold, but thankfully it isn't nearly as bad. She no longer has a fever and is only congested-which makes it harder to sleep and eat. Hopefully she'll be over this quickly!

9 Months

Today marks Sarah's nine month birthday! In only three short months she'll be one year old.
I feel like my "monthly milestone" posts have been pretty similar lately. Sarah army crawls like a pro and she gets everywhere! She has five teeth and one more on the way. She makes lots of noise: da-da's, squeals and even some ma-ma's.

This is a great age. Sarah falls asleep on her own, plays by herself on occasion, and laughs at her mommy a lot. I especially appreciate the applause Sarah and Abigail give me after I sing one of their latest favorite Veggie Tales songs.

I love my cuties.