Am I a freak?

So….Lilli has been eating carrots for the last three days now….Am I a freak if I take her carroty orange bib rinse it in cold water and spray it with oxy clean immediately after she’s done eating? Ever since she was born I’ve been somewhat obsessed with stain removal.  If she gets the slightest bit of poo or barf on an outfit, changing pad, blanket, or burp cloth I get right on it with stain remover. Our favorite stain remover at the moment is the oxy clean max force. So far, it has never let us down!

after her first cereal bite about a month ago

"It's just ok mom, not great though"

Developmental Update: Lilli learned how to spit today. I never thought spitting could be so adorable!
Also we tried weighing her tonight and I think she’s about 19 pounds. My sweet little chubby babe!

She can read

What can I say, we’re raising a genius!
Only 5 1/2 months and already reading!

She doesn't like being disturbed while she's reading

As a little side note, she has gone 5 nights in a row without a middle of the night feeding!!! She’s still waking up a couple times, but once the pacifier is stuffed back in her mouth she’ll go back to sleep. I think once she gets used to not eating in the night, we’ll probably start letting her cry a little in the night. I’m not exactly sure if I’m strong enough to do it, but I think it’d be for the best.

5 Months

In the middle of a very serious conversation....

I know its been forever + a bajillion years since I’ve posted. It’s really sad. I’ve been meaning to, but as soon as Lillian was finished being sick she decided to get on this horrific stay-up-all-the-hours-of-the-night schedule. Then, while I was terribly sleep deprived I had to get report cards ready and prepare for parent/teacher conferences. Not to mention, we’ve been gone every. single. weekend. this entire month. Next weekend will be our first weekend home since September! Needless to say, I’ve had a busy few weeks which resulted in zero new posts. And, if I’m being honest, I even considered quitting. But, now that Lillian is slightly back to normal with the sleeping issues and we’re actually home I feel like I can blog again.

Lilli’s 5 month birthday was yesterday– here are her monthly stats:

• Probably about 16lbs. and 26 inches
• drinks 5-6oz bottles at the babysitter’s, still 4 oz of bm and 2 oz of formula
• rolled over from belly to back (oct.10- 4 1/2 months old) -I thought she was never going to do it, and she was pretty mad about it
• that same day she giggled for the first time
• ate rice cereal for the first time (oct. 7- 4 months 12 days old)
• has very high pitched, happy squeals that are irresistible
• very ticklish, but tries to hold in her giggle so it comes out more like a grunt
• loves standing
• loves being held
• did not enjoy her jumperoo this month at all, I’m hoping she’ll like it better this month now that her feet can actually touch the floor
• just moved up to size 3 diapers
• still wears a few 3-6 month clothes, but fits more comfortably into 6 month
• doing pretty good sitting up, definitely can’t do it on her own for very long
• for about the last week or two she’s been eating a bowl of cereal before her last feeding before bed
• she gets really excited about eating and tries to shove her whole head into the spoon, even before it’s in front of her face!
• still swaddles at bed time
• just in the last week or so has gotten back on the schedule of about one feeding per night
• loves chewing on toys and fingers (so please wash your hands if you hold her!)
• is easily entertained when we’re out and about, loves lights and sounds and people
• watches me from across the room
• very close to saying “mama”-makes the mmmm sound all the time
• kicks her legs non stop when getting the diaper changed
• has been showing her temper a lot this month when she doesn’t get her way….this could be a scary preview for the years to come
• but she has also been much more joyful this month also, lots of big smiles and happy squeals
• still digs the nuk pacifer, if only we could keep chili dog from ingesting them…..right now we’re down to one!
• only poops once a day now….I know that might be tmi for some of you

For some reason I feel like I’m forgetting things on this month’s Lilli update…It could be from the lack of sleep…..
I can’t believe how much she changes every month. It’s crazy.

the most precious face in the entire world...

1 month old

2 months old

3 months

4 months

5 months-I think the horizontal stripes make her look a little bigger than she really is

 

Fine and dandy??

Nope. Dang.
The doc didn’t give her her 4 month shots because her temperature was 100.4 and her throat looked a little red. My poor love baby has a virus. The doc said the peek days for a baby virus were around day 3 and sometimes day 4, and day 3 is tomorrow. All she said we could do is give her tylenol and because she’s a chunky little babe we can give her a full droppers worth.

Speaking of chunky….She weighs a whopping 15.2 pounds! That’s in the 75 percentile. She is also 26 inches long, which is the 90 percentile. And, her noggin’ is 16 3/4, which is in between the 75th and 90th percentiles! There was a sweet little 2 week old babe in the waiting area and he looked so tiny. It made me want to cry. I barely remember Lillian being that tiny and it was only 4 short months ago! So anyways, she’ll be going in next Thursday for the shots and hopefully Daddio can come along.

First Fever

Yes, my love has her first fever…The armpit thermometer just said 99.1 and her head feels like it’s on fire… She seems to be doing ok otherwise, maybe just a little fussy. Tomorrow is her 4 month doctor appointment, so I doubt they’ll be giving her her shots because of the fever. I’m just hoping this is a fluke and she’ll be just fine and dandy in the morning. Here’s to hoping!

4 months

enjoying an evening stroll on her 4 month birthday-try to ignore my bright orange school tshirt

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

Lillian Rae turned 4 months old on Friday. I just can’t believe it. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how much she has changed in these last 4 months. She went from a screaming, crying, terribly unhappy baby to my sweet, lovable, happy, babbling baby. Don’t get me wrong, she’s not nearly as calm and easy going as some babies, but she has improved immensely. I also think my love for her has grown too. I was trying to explain this to my husband, but he didn’t understand. When she was born I was flooded with emotion and the motherly love, but now I feel like I love her even more if that’s even possible! She is simply irresistible!

4 months - They were both pretty un-enthused about the photo shoot

1 month

Lilli’s 4 months facts:

• she sticks everything in her mouth
• gives open mouth kisses
• loves chewing on mommy and daddy fingers and bites very hard!
• still digs the nuk pacifier (and so does chili-dog unfortunately)
• now uses the playtex drop-ins bottles, still with the slow flow nipple (we’re trying to work out the gas issues)
• drinks 6oz bottles now while at the babysitter, 4 oz. of my milk and 2 oz. of enfamil gentlelease (I just don’t have the time to pump enough for 2-6oz bottles while at work and this seems to be working for us)
• still swaddles for bedtime
• still sleeps in the bassinet next to our bed, and will continue to until she can stop waking up in the night to eat
• wakes up once on a good night, twice on a bad night to eat
• sleeping is still an issue, sometimes she sleeps awesome other nights I have to rock her multiple times throughout the night
• still hasn’t rolled over, but has gotten very close going from tummy to back
• loves her babysitter
• doesn’t ever cry on our 30 minute commute to and from work
• has  adapted well to our morning routine, wake up around 6:30am, change clothes, eat, and leave
• she hasn’t been digging the jumperoo lately, but I think in another week or so her feet will probably be able to touch so we can move the pillow and maybe she’ll like it better
• like sitting in the bumbo and chewing on toys
• still takes naps in the swing-I know this is terrible and we really need to work on this but I’m not sure exactly how, when she takes a nap in a crib it doesn’t seem like she sleeps as well…any pointers?
• now enjoys going for walks, which is awesome because the weather has been absolutely beautiful!
• can now handle full blown grocery shopping at w@lmart, she says she still hates w@lmart but it’s hard to beat the prices
• still wearing size 2 p@mpers diapers, but they’re getting a little snug
• if we had more 3-6 clothes she’d be wearing those, but for now we’re getting by with some of the 3 month clothes that ran a little larger and a couple 6 month things that ran small, I really don’t want to buy clothes until I absolutely have to because she’ll be needing some winter clothes
• 3-6 month sleepers though because she is so long
• she turns her head a lot more and watches us walk across the room
• loves singing with daddy
• loves being talked to
• smiles often
• still hasn’t giggled
• what’s that called when you blow on their belly?? she loves that!
• loves to stand
• likes to sit up
• has started arching her back when she doesn’t like the position she’s in

I love this face

and this face

I think she’s probably around 15ish pounds but we’ll find out for sure on Thursday at her 4 month doctor’s appointment. I’m kind of nervous about it because it will be the first time that Buno won’t be going with us. I even tried to move the appointment, so he could go but they were all booked up until the end of October! She will be getting shots and I’ll be the only one there to comfort her and no one will be there to comfort me! Hopefully we’ll both be ok.

Things I’ve heard

I know I’ve said this before, but my class this year is just so pleasant. They have really made it a lot easier for me to leave my precious love since I know I am most likely going to enjoy my work day.  They’re not the best of all time or anything, but they’re good. This week I’ve heard some pretty interesting things.

“Mrs. S, someone was drawing a hippo’s butt on the windows on the bus!”  -and they were laughing so hard you would’ve thought a comedian was in the room. I’m not really sure how they knew it was a “hippo’s” butt…

When I asked Andy why he missed school yesterday and if he was feeling sick he said, “no I wasn’t sick, my mom and dad drank too much last night and forgot to set the alarm.” I was unprepared for that response so my response was something along the lines of “um….I guess that happens sometimes….” My inner response went something along the lines of “what the hell?! why were they drinking so much on a school night?! And with children in the house?! And, why would that cause a child to miss an entire day of school?!”

I also saw this sentence on a quiz this week: What culer is your shit?
It’s amazing how a single sentence can really brighten a teacher’s morning! I had a good laugh.  After inserting an “r” in the appropriate location I asked the young dear if he was meaning to spell the word “shirt”. A shocked look came across his face when he realized what he had spelled and he started giggling and said “oh no! I didn’t mean to spell that!”

An update on “Bobby” from the post below: The end of last week he received an office referral for attempting to hit another boy in the….parts.

Finding the time

I have had a serious problem with the lack of blogging lately. It occurred to me today that it is SEPTEMBER and I haven’t posted a single time! It’s just so hard to find the time, so bare with me. I find the evenings are jam packed with my even dose of Lilli my love, cooking dinner, eating dinner, feeding Lilli, rocking Lilli, playing with Lilli, maybe a little laundry, maybe cleaning a few dishes, more Lilli, feeding the animals, picking out clothes for the next day, preparing lunch for next day, snuggling Lilli, and eventually sleep. That doesn’t leave a lot of time for anything else monday thru friday evenings.

On another note, school is going great. My kids are just so loveable.  In the past week I’ve been told the following:

“Mrs. S., your hair is frizzy here and here and here.”-while pointing at the sides and top of my head

“Mrs. S., Johnny called you a wiener.” -because I was carrying a hot dog to take to lunch

“Mrs. S., Bobby just tried to hit me in the, you know…parts.” -why do boys try hitting other boys in the…..parts???

my love

3 months

My sweet love turned 3 months old on Tuesday.

Lillian at one month

Lillian at 3 months

Chili is thinking "get me outa here!"

There’s no doubt about it she is changing by the second!
Her 3 month facts:

• she is packing on the pounds, not sure how many but a lot
• wearing size 2 diaper, we’re still digging the p@mpers, but we also like the hugg1es natural ones too
• wearing her 3 months clothes….also a couple 3-6 months things but they just ran small I think
• talks a lot with very serious expressions on her face
• sits in swing and falls asleep without being swaddled and rocked first, which is nice
• takes a pacifier
• has three bottles a day at the babysitter
• does not cry at all during our 30 minute commutes to work/babysitter
• goes to bed around 9pm ish and, on a good night sleeps til 3am….but we haven’t had many good nights lately
• digs the jumperoo
• and the bumbo
• likes seating in the bouncer while I cook
• sticks everything in her mouth, she even tries to stick a blanket in her mouth while she already has her pacifier in, it’s adorable
• grabs at things, loves grabbing a soft blanket and eating it
• still is swaddled at night, but not during the day at the babysitter
• loves to stand up while being held
• still hasn’t rolled over

My updates at three months: I’m running on little sleep, I’ve been working for 3 weeks now, pumping twice while at school, and I’m surviving. I miss Lilli so much during the day, but I think it makes me cherish the evenings and weekends with her more.

See if you can count the sweet little rolls

Buno had Lilli on his lap and then all of sudden Vega decided to sit on Lilli's lap, I think Lilli was annoyed

traumatic

In the post below I pretty much skimmed the surface of Lilli starting daycare. I feel like I need to share how the first day went. The Sunday night before I was running around the house like a mad woman gathering anything and everything I thought she might possibly need and writing her name on them with black marker (even though she’s the only baby!).  I made sure to pack a receiving blanket, a fluffy blanket, an extra outfit (w/ matching socks of course), two pacifiers, two burp clothes, diapers, gas drops, tylenol, butt paste, wipes, a play mat, a cradle swing, two bottles, and pumped milk. It was ridiculous. I was really nervous because not only did I have to now worry about getting myself ready in the morning, but I had to also get her ready and try to time her last feeding. After I thought I was prepared I went to bed. Did I sleep well? No definitely not. I knew she was going to a wonderful babysitter, but that doesn’t matter she’s not me. No one is me. No one can take care of her like I do because I know her best.

I woke up the next morning at 5:40 am. I walked in to the kitchen to get my breakfast ready and what do I find…….one of the dang cats got in to the bag and threw everything around the kitchen. There was butt paste half way across the kitchen, the bottles were under the cabinet, the neatly folded burp clothes were strewn across the floor. I was p*ssed. I spent all that time preparing the bag just perfectly and had everything nice and organized, and now it was all around the kitchen and I didn’t have the time or the mental capacity at 5 in the morning to make extra sure I found everything. I gathered everything I could find and when I was down on all fours picking things up and caught a glimpse of a dang chewed up pacifier. I was extra p*ssed now. Chili dog loves pacifiers. She has eaten a bajillion of them over the last three months. Pacifiers are her fave. Luckily, we have had a stock pile of nuk pacifiers so it was easily replaced, but I was still p*ssed. I just kept thinking, “what a way to start my morning, as if leaving my precious baby wasn’t going to be hard enough!”

Once I was all ready, I woke Lilli up fed her and changed her. I went to put her in the car seat and of course what does she do…..poop. So we started our morning, 30 minutes commute and few minutes behind schedule due to poop. Our drive was going pretty well. I was really trying to hold back the tears because I knew I didn’t bring my makeup bag and I didn’t want to show up at school looking like a marilyn manson freak. So all was well until I saw a big black bird eating a dead carcass on the highway. I know you’re not suppose to swerve, but I always do. I can’t help it. I am such an animal lover the thought of hitting an innocent little squirrel, rabbit, turtle, etc. makes me want to cry. Well this black bird was chowing down on something terribly good because he didn’t seem to notice a large vehicle traveling 75 mph coming toward him. I killed my first animal that morning. And yes, that definitely triggered my already unstable emotions. I started bawling. This was not the way I wanted my morning to go. The first day of the first full week of school and the first morning I had to send my sweet angel off to the babysitter I murdered a big black bird that was just trying to enjoy a peaceful breakfast.