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.

Lillie {one month}

Okay, so I've been horrible about blogging this year....and I was no good at posting pregnancy updates.  Good grief, I never even posted an announcement of Lillie's arrival!  Hoping to get her birth story written down before too much time goes by.
Here's what I do know - I totally treasure the monthly updates I did during Natalie's first year.  I look back at them often, and love reading the details that I have since forgotten.  Things like what she liked and how she grew and how big she was and when she met certain milestones.  I was able to turn them into a beautiful first year photo book for her, and I truly have hopes to do the same for this second little girl.
So I may not blog about anything else, but I am determined to document the first year of her life here too!

Our Lillie Anne is one month old!

 

She has fit just seamlessly into our little family.  I had so many fears about how our family would change, how Natalie would adjust, how life would be different with two girls instead of one.  But the truth is, she belongs with us.  And now, just like when Natalie came, we can't imagine life without her!

She is the sweetest, calmest little baby.  A quiet little lovey.

Here's what we know about our girl at one month old:
- Loves to eat! Nurses every three hours during the day.  I have to wake her to feed often because she still just wants to sleep, sleep, sleep.  At night I let her sleep and she will usually stretch 4 or 5 hours at night.  I plan to move her from her bassinet to her room soon.  Daddy is nervous though because she doesn't cry when she wakes to eat.  She grunts and kicks and snorts - which I can hear easily as she sleeps right next to our bed.  But she would be harder to hear of course when she's across the hall in her own crib.
- Lillie is a sleepy bug!  She is usually awake for about an hour after she eats, then back to sleep until her next feeding.  Sometimes we get a two hour appearance from her in the evening, which makes her nice and tired for bedtime.

- She is responding to all of our voices.  She is definitely in tune to her sister's voice, and she always calms down when I sing to her or when I'm reading aloud to Natalie. 
- She is a snuggler, loves to be cuddled.  But does equally well when I swaddle her and lay her down with a paci - she can fall asleep on her own.
- We've had some hints of a smile when she's awake, and lots of those sweet dreamy newborn smiles when she's sleeping.  Will be waiting for a more responsive smile in the next month!
- She loves to be in the swing or in her bouncy seat.  She likes the motion I think....

- She doesn't spit up much (Natalie spit up constantly, although it never seemed to bother her or put her in a bad mood).  She likes to kick her little legs and lay on her tummy time mat.  But doesn't love being on her tummy for too long!
- She likes her bath and the warm water. Her little body relaxes when I pour the warm water over her....she just gives me a frown when I try to wipe her eyes and clean her face. Loves to have her hair washed!

We love our sweet Lillie girl so much already!

Days like today make me wonder how I'm ever going to make it with TWO kids.  My 2 1/2 year old completely defeated me today....between whining and screaming and hitting and the POTTY TRAINING that will be the END of me, something is up with her.  Thankful that tomorrow is another new day, and hopeful that it will start and end better than today.

Despite my few words of woe above, I'm trying to focus in on some small joys over the past couple of weeks.  School has started, and while it's felt a little bizarre to not be in a classroom - I am enjoying a pace much slower than the past seven Augusts. 

Most mornings I set my alarm to get up about an hour before her.  I can get a shower and check email and have some "me" time before she wakes up.  But, at least one morning a week I put her in bed with me after she wakes up so we can snuggle and talk and watch TV and be close. 

Although it has warmed up again, we had about a week of absolutely beautiful weather.  Left me craving FALL - all the cool breezes and sweaters and pumpkins and cinnamon candles and coziness.  In the meantime we enjoyed lots of outside time and open windows.  Morning walks and sunshine were glorious.

Sidewalk chalk and baby dolls.  Always the baby dolls.  It's like her little sidekick, and she's taken to calling them "baby sister".  She'll talk to them and rock them and say "You my sister.  You gonna play ball with me."  I am dreaming of seeing the two of them together.

This poor little girl - I was so good about documenting my weekly pregnancy progress with Natalie.  This one has had little more than a few iPhone pics...

Not loved any less...it just been very different this time around!  Time is flying by, and we've not done a thing to prepare for a newborn.  Natalie's "big girl" room will be done soon (hopefully!?) and then it will be on to the nursery.



Tired, pregnant momma off to bed now - praying for a better tomorrow for me and for you!