Fall?

So, Thursday was the first day of Fall, according to my desk calendar. But does it feel like it outside? Definitely not; I'm pretty sure we actually set some records this week, having temps in the high 90's - which is definitely mid-summer weather in my book. But, the weatherman says tomorrow our high is 72 - if he's right, I will be so happy! I am definitely ready for fall. I'm ready for changing leaves, cooler days, visits to the Farmer's Market (Lily's first visit!), pumpkins, baked potato soup and all the other goodies that come along with fall weather. I'm especially excited about dressing Lily in the cute clothes she's been unable to wear up until this point, with it being so hot outside and having her 5 month pictures taken in her Halloween costume (which is still undecided as of now) and her "I'm so cute it's scary" outfit. Hopefully, this change to cooler temperatures means fall really is right around the corner - we are definitely ready for it!

Last weekend, our little family traveled down to Asheboro for a very exciting birthday - Miss Sophie's first birthday! Last year, on the 19th of September, I was hanging out at the Flying Pig in Asheboro with Tracy and Sarah Beth, waiting on news of little Sophie's arrival. I'd gotten the call a few hours before that Cara and Phillip were headed to the hospital, Sophie having decided that day was her day to greet the world. Sure enough, just a little while later, I got the word that Sophie Grace, 6 lbs 5oz 19.5 inches, had arrived - in no time whatsoever! Little did I know how jealous I would be of her quick arrival about 8 months later...  We had a great time hanging out with Sophie and the rest of the monkeys (and the rest of the family!) for the day. We didn't get to see Miss Sophie tackle her cake, but did get to see her enjoy her spaghetti dinner - and she loved it! We took a couple of pictures when we got home of Lily in her watermelon dress and matching bow (courtesty of Sophie's Sprinkles):

I love this face!

Lily and I both had colds this week, which we did not enjoy. Lily did great dealing with her stuffy, runny nose and little cough - in fact, she was over it in just a day or two and only had one restless night. Mommy took a little bit longer, but we both seem to be feeling a lot better now. Lucky daddy never even had a sniffle!

Lily is still just a moving and chatting away. She's rolling over constantly and both Richard and I have found her on her belly in the morning (or the middle of the night, if she's woken up hungry). We're thinking about putting her bumper back on the crib, as we've also found her with an arm or leg through the bars, but since she's not very consistent about rolling back over from her tummy yet, we're going to hold off for a little while longer. She loves to move! When she's on her playmat or the floor, her legs and arms are constantly moving. When she's at her daddy's office, she's always rolling over, scooting around her pack n play and squealing away. When she's at Miss Erica's house, she's doing the same - rolling around on the floor, always chatting and squealing and she really loves to check herself out in the mirror. She got to play in the jump-up this week for the first time and the floor entertainer and it looks like she's going to be a fan of both. This morning, I put together an entertainer seat we got at one of the baby shower's and it looks like that's going to be a hit as well!

Here are a couple of videos, and of course, some cute Lily pics for your enjoyment:

Giving mommy faces

On her tummy in the morning

Lily in her Diva outfit

Getting those toys

Checking out her activity seat

Laughing with daddy

Sleepy after a busy day at Miss Erica's

Tiny Lily feet

Daddy loves putting Lily in her blue jean outfits

Lily's 4 Month Update

Today was Lily's 4 month doctor visit - can you believe it?? There was such a difference between Lily today and Lily at her 2 month appointment. Today, she sat up in my and her daddy's lap pretty much the entire time, holding on to her rattle, alternately chewing on it and smacking it around (bonking herself in the face a couple of times). When we put her on the table for her exam, she was constantly moving - pumping her arms and legs, smiling at the doctor, checking out his instruments and trying to flip over a time or two. 2 months ago, she laid in Richard's arms sucking on her pacifier, laid fairly calmly on the table and was more interested in the pretty wall than the doctor's face - it's amazing to see the difference in her. She was due for the same immunizations she got at her last visit and even her reaction to getting them was different. Last time, she pretty much started screaming as soon as the first needle went in (understandably!) But today, she slowly revved up to crying and even when she was crying the most, she didn't scream. She was fussy for a little longer than before, about 10 minutes, as opposed to 5, but I'm pretty sure the fact that it was naptime had a lot to do with that. So far today, she's been doing pretty well. We'll keep up the Tylenol throughout the day, as we did last time, and I think she'll do just fine. We spoke with her doctor about starting solid food today, but think we will probably hold off on it for a little while yet, although not much longer than 6 months more than likely. We will probably wait to see her show an interest in trying our food - although she does find our eating pretty interesting at this point!

At 4 months and 9 days, Lily is 12 lbs 1oz, which places her in about the 12th (12.5) percentile. She is 24 inches long (12.2%)  and her head circumference is 40 cm (17.4%). From her last appointment, Lily has gained 2 lbs 8oz, 2 cm in head circumference and 2 inches in length. Her doctor is really happy with her growth and happy that it is all in proportion.

Lily at 4 months is a very busy girl. She can roll from her front to back and back to front, although her back to front seems to be her preference at the moment. She's constantly talking and can really put some volume into it when she wants to! She loves to smile and giggle and, most of the time, she's such a happy girl. She has her moments of frustration, though, and doesn't mind letting you know it - especially if she's either really hungry or really tired. She really doesn't mind tummy time, now that she can flip to her tummy whenever she wants. She'll stay on her tummy for a long time now, lifting her head up and looking around and smiling at us. I think she likes the view, now that she's able to hold her head up pretty well. I still haven't been able to get a good video of her flipping to her tummy - mainly because she does it so quickly! One moment she'll be on her back, checking herself out in her mirror and the next she's on her tummy. Maybe she'll let me capture it someday soon - until then, here's a few pictures of her doing it and hanging out on her tummy. 

Starting out...

Halfway there...

She made it!

I also took a video of her this weekend on her tummy; it already looks like she's ready to take off and crawl! The second video shows how well she's holding up her head on her tummy now. She still loves her playmat and it  is definitely her preferred place to hang out. 

We're working on starting to sit up and she can keep her balance pretty well sitting in our laps or on the floor with our hands steadying her. She loves her swing now, which is really great for us! After work, I'll move her swing into the kitchen and she hangs out with me while I cook dinner, until daddy gets home. Then, she's usually ready to get out and play with daddy for a bit.

Lily is still fed exclusively breastmilk and will nurse for 20-30 minutes at a time or eat a steady 6 ounces in bottles and she eats about 5-6 times a day. Shes probably eating somewhere around 30 ounces a day, which is right in the middle of the range in which she should be eating at her age (28-32 ounces). Lily has an interesting sleep schedule, which the doctor explained today. She sleeps a steady 10-12 hours a night during the week, which is awesome! It's really nice to not feel so tired at work. On the weekends, she usually sleeps about 8 hours and then wants to eat. After eating, she goes right back to sleep for another 4 hours or so. According to her doctor, this is due to her method of eating during the day. Because she's taking so much in her bottles during the day, she's consuming a lot of calories, which helps her sleep better at night. On the weekends, we try to avoid bottle feeding and just nurse, when we can, which doesn't give her quite as many calories and so results in her needing to eat once during the night to get her through. This works out pretty well for us, since I can sleep later on the weekends. 

Here are some Lily cutes for the week!

Watcha lookin at mama?

Busy girl at daddy's office

Daddy's happy girl

Sweet girl

Those fingers sure are tasty

Hanging out with Doodle

Sleeping away

Super Lily!

Life with Baby...

Sure is busy! Between work, the Lilypie, the puppies, trying to keep the house together (not doing as well with that one...) and squeezing in some mommy and daddy time, it doesn't leave much time left over for blogging - which explains why this post is a week and a half after my previous one! We are settling into a routine now though, so I'm hoping to get back to regular posting soon. 

This weekend we had another first for Lily - she rolled from her back to her tummy! And I think really surprised herself in the process. Lately, she's really been getting the hang of rolling from side to side and it was getting pretty clear that some time soon she'd manage to hook that leg over and be on her tummy. Well, yesterday morning, we were playing in her room, just hanging out on the floor chatting and Lily was showing off her rolling skills. I got up to go switch a load (one of many) of laundry and came back to find Lily on her tummy, looking at her bear like "what in the world just happened?!". I, of course, dropped the load I was carrying on the floor (so much for clean towels), gasped "I missed it!" ran into the room and promptly turned her over to see if she'd do it again, which she didn't. So, I picked her up and we went outside to tell daddy of her latest big accomplishment and for the rest of the day, I did everything I could to make her do it again - I re-enacted my moves from the morning, I put toys just out of her reach, placed her strategically on her blanket with some of her favorite objects just out of view, but nope - she twisted, turned, rolled, and maneuvered herself around but stayed flat on her back. So, we'll see if today she decides to show off again!

Lily just after rolling over

 Tummy time has drastically improved for Lily - now that she's able to really look around and can even scoot around on her playmat and blanket, she'll last for 15 minutes or so before getting upset. I took a video on Friday of her during her tummy time, she really loves to scrunch her legs up under her and scoot around:

 

We also decided to try out Lily's swing again yesterday. Up until this point, she really hasn't been a big fan, which was confusing to me since she really enjoys moving around and having a good spot to look around at her surroundings. So, while I was cleaning up her room and putting away (more) laundry, I plopped her in the swing - and wouldn't you know, she loved it! She checked out her mobile, babbled away to her stuffed puppy and looked out the window for about a half an hour, before she was ready for a nap. I tried again yesterday afternoon (just to see if it was a fluke) and sure enough, she had a great time again! I took a few videos of her in the swing and had to share them with you guys:

Hanging out in her swing

Here's your Lily cuteness for the week!

We hope you guys are enjoying the holiday weekend and have a wonderful week!