Lillie {4 months}

Lillie cakes is four months old!  Still growing and changing - doin' what babies do best. :)

Sleep has been very inconsistent this month.....sometimes long stretches, sometimes short.  Some great nights where she only wakes one - and nights where she wakes once an hour.  She generally nurses once a night.  Naps very well during the day (except when we have to cut the naps short to be on the go).  She always falls asleep very quickly.  We are working to wean her from the swaddle - so she sleeps with one arm out.

Eating -- she is now nursing every four hours during the day.  She is on a good schedule...wakes, eats, is awake for 2 hours, then sleeps for 2 hours.  She follows this schedule very closely!  The little stinker won't take a bottle. :(  If you have any tips for getting a four month old to take a bottle, please pass them along....I can't be chained to my baby every four hours for the next 8 months!  She eats frantically (Natalie did this too).  She has been struggling with nursing lately - I think it's some early teething pain that is affecting this. Sometimes I worry (oh, the mommy worry!) if she's getting enough to eat, but I know she would let me know.  She was about 13.5 pounds at her four month appointment - 40th %ile.  Our babies tend to be long and skinny.  Although this baby has many chins that say otherwise!  She is moving into her 3-6 month clothes.

I do think she is starting to teethe.  Hands and fingers are in her mouth constantly.  She likes to chew on toys and her blanket.  She has woken in the night crying with her hands in her mouth.  LOTS of drool!

She is rolling and scooting around.  She lays on her side to play with toys - which is darling.  She has the hugest, cutest smile ever!  She opens her whole mouth when she smiles and her eyes get all squinty. :)  She talks and coos and blows bubbles, and does this really cute sound in the back of her throat and follows it up with a big flirty smile.

Lillie's "likes" at four months:
Loves to look at toys and big sis.  Likes when we sing to her.  Likes to "fly" around in her bouncy seat.  She is finally laughing and giggling more!  We can't stop kissing her, and she likes to open her mouth and kiss back. :)  LOVES paci.  Likes taking baths and kicking her feet in the water.

Our Lillie lovey - how did we ever live without you!?

Lillie {3 Months}

Sweet little pumpkin is three months old!

More changes in the last month....reminding me again of how fast this time goes.  I am desperate to hang on to her sweet baby self -- her smell, her gummy grins, her soft weight against me, the way she gazes at her momma, the softness of her precious skin.  I want to remember all of it, but am painfully aware of how quickly she will grow.  As any momma that stays home with babies knows, some days feel so long and it can be easy to feel like this season of life - of no showers and little sleep and early risers and a house that gets messier faster than I can clean it and a three year old that NEVER STOPS TALKING - can be so overwhelming.  But I know how fleeting is really is, so I try to remind myself to take a breath and soak it up, even on the days that feel like they will defeat me.

A little update on our girl:
She is still nursing like a champ.  She eats every 3.5 to 4 hours these days, which has almost cut out one of our daytime feedings.  Because of this, she's waking earlier in the night to eat, so we are still working through the change in schedule.  I usually take her up to her room to feed her in the rocking chair.....when I lay her down on the ottoman to get situated, she starts kicking really fast and fussing and grunting and makes this face like "What's taking so long, Mom?" -- even though she doesn't lay there more than 10 seconds before I start feeding her.  She knows when she's hungry!

Baby has grown out of her newborn clothes and is wearing mostly 3 months, some 3-6.  She is long (just like sis!) so she often needs more length before she really fills out her clothes.  We spend most days in pajamas. :)

Little girl takes 3-4 naps a day.  Sometimes in her swing, sometimes in her bouncy seat, sometimes in her crib.  It just depends on what we are doing and what time of day it is.  She unfortunately has to do some of her napping in the carseat on the run - depending on if it's a school day for big sis or we have errands to do or whatever.

(See that little leg up there?  She always lifts that left leg way up in the air and waves it around!)

She is such a sweetheart.  She is so calm and sweet and her smiles seriously melt me into a puddle.  Our families ooh and aah over her constantly, and marvel at her laidback personality, quiet nature, shy smiles, and dainty coos.  She is a little lady!  Just like when Natalie was a baby, we hear things like "Is she always this happy?", "Does she ever cry?", and "She's so calm!"  I guess we are blessed with happy and easy baby girls -- but I am confident that, someday, when we have two teenage daughter, we'll be wishing for these sweet baby days again. :)

Lillie is getting interested in her toys, she likes to kick at them and bat them with her hands.  She LOVES to look in a little stand-up mirror that we got her for Christmas.  In fact, now when we put her in front of her mirror, she studies herself for a moment and then bursts into a huge grin.  So cute.
You can see in the pictures, she has found her hands this month.  She loves her paci, but when she doesn't have it those hands are constantly in her mouth.  She chews on them, sucks on her fingers....loves them!

She still loves her big sister like crazy, and they really are sweet together.  Lillie often just watches Natalie spinning and twirling around her (in all her three year old glory!) and smiles.  We've gotten a couple of little giggles out her in the past week or so - I can't wait for more laughs!

Sweet, sweet girl....momma loves you.

And, for comparison....Natalie at three months:

I think they have the same eyes, nose....Natalie has Mark's ears and Lillie has mine....and Lillie has the fattest little neck/chin - way chubbier than little Natalie!

Lillie {Two Months}

Our sweetie pie is two months old!  Well, she was two month old two weeks ago....I did actually write this post then, but blogger was giving me trouble with uploading photos and I never got it finished.  Better late than never I guess!

Lillie Anne has grown so much this month.  She is filling out, and we can't get enough of those chubby cheeks....such a little roundface!  She has skinny arms and legs (just like Natalie did....just like Daddy), but oh, that face....yum.

Lillie started smiling this month!  She responds to our voices with smiles and coos, and she smiles most for her older sister.  When Natalie gets in her face and talks to her, Lillie goes crazy!  It is funny to see Natalie mimic baby talk....sometimes I still think she is the baby, then there she is saying "Hi you sweet little girl - oh, look at you, you big cute girl - I love you, my baby Lillie!" and Lillie just kicks and smiles and grunts and coos.  SO cute.

Lillie eats every three hours during the day.  Still nursing like a champ.  She knows now when I lay her on my lap that it is time to eat and she makes this funny whining noise and snorts.  Baby goes to bed around 7 or 7:30 at night and sleeps until about 7 in the morning -- she wakes up once during the 12 hour night to eat, usually around 3am.  A couple of nights she spoiled me and slept until 5am!  But then we've had some nights of her up at 1 and again at 5....but for the most part she wakes up once and I can totally handle that.  I moved her from our room to her own room at 6 weeks.  When I had Natalie, I waited until she was 12 weeks old, and after that I always thought we should have done that sooner!  So, I'm glad I did it when I did this time around.  We call her the bedtime rockstar.  She goes to sleep better than her (almost) three year old sister.  We do bath, jammies, nurse, swaddle, rock/sing - and I lay her in her bed while she is sleepy but still awake.  She is asleep within just a couple of minutes!  Meanwhile, Natalie is in her room coming up with every. single. reason. why she can't go to sleep.  (I'm thirsty - gotta go potty - need one more hug/kiss - I'm not sleepy, etc. etc.)

Lillie likes laying on her playmat and looking at the lights and hanging toys.  We also bought her a little mirror for Christmas and she loves looking at that too.  She likes music and when I sing to her. She loves bathtime, just like Natalie did!

During the day, the little lady is awake for about and hour, or maybe an hour and a half....then she naps until her next feeding.  We try really hard to follow the eat, awake, sleep schedule and it works pretty well for her.  She does all her daytime napping in her swing or bouncy seat - pretty soon I better start working on some naps in her crib.  She LOVES being swaddled (I could be a spokesperson for the Miracle Blanket), and as soon as I wrap her up in it her eyes get heavy.  She also loves her blankie already.  I lay it over her and she always manages to get her face nuzzled down in it....I'm not too worried because it's lightweight, but sometimes she scares me with that face in her blanket!  She also loves her pacifier.

She continues to be super easy going and a pretty happy baby - we joke that she never cries....but, really, she hardly ever does. :)  Such a little lovie....our hearts are so full with two precious little girls.