Month 4

This month was about real life. Or at least trying to prepare for it, as if that's something that you can really do. Since it was the last month that Danielle was off from work, we needed to figure out what we wanted to do with Lily during the day. Luckily, Danielle was able to figure out a schedule with her job where she works 4 days a week. 1 day would also go to Grandma. So that leaves 3 days of child care. We started by looking at daycares in the area.

First place, Danielle cried. The next was a bit better, but we found out later was not really that great either. By the time we found a place that we really liked, it was full and there was a long waiting list. Of course. It turns out that you have to get added to the list the moment the sperm fertilizes the egg to get in when you want. So knowing that the one place that we felt really comfortable sending Lily to was not gonna happen just yet, we decided to start interviewing for Nannies. This is kind of a daunting task as it's really hard to find someone that is trustworthy and will be able to raise your kid the way that you want them to. Luckily, there are sites that help with that, such as care.com. We put up a posting with what we were looking for and got 30 replies back. We interviewed 5 maybe and in the end went with one of the most loving people that you could imagine, Carol. She's a mother and grandmother herself and just loves babies. We we're really looking forward to welcoming her to our family.

This month we put Lily in her crib for the first time. Well she's been in it before, but this was the first time actually sleeping in it. Like not in our room. like in the OTHER room. It's sad to think about her being in another room. It means that she's already growing up.  What's it gonna be like the first time she sleeps over at a friends house or goes away to college or moves in with a boy? Holy shit. I can't think about this right now. At least we have a video monitor so that we can check in to make sure sh's still alive every 15 mintues or so from our bed. Though, you do start to worry when your looking and she's perfectly still. Well hopefully all those other firsts will go as well as this did. Everyone slept really well. No problems. Our baby is awesome.

For her check-up, we learned that Lily's weight gain is slowing down a bit, which is good. Lily is now 13 Lbs or so and apparently has a small head. I dunno. It's hard enough to get onesies over that silly head when I change her, so I can't imagine it being much bigger.

Lily is also starting to giggle more now, which is fantastic. We can't quite nail down what she'll giggle at, but this is progress. More on this later, I'm sure.

To add to the craziness, there was the added emotional stress of the death of my grandma, Lily's namesake, Lillian Garrison. I guess that's part of real life too. The fortunate part of these kinds of events is that it brings the family together. Jen, Leo, and Nathan came up as did family from Maryland, Florida, Arizona, and Arkansas. We even got to meet my cousin Chris and Clayton's baby girl, Garrison, who is 3 weeks younger and seems so much more baby-like. It must be Lily's crazy head of hair that makes her look much older. And in the middle of all this, I got some ridiculous stomach bug that kept me out of commission for 3 days. I gave it to me mom and Danielle, but luckily that was all.

Next month, Carol will start and we'll be on a new schedule. Wish us luck.

Month 3

It's so weird how things change so quickly before your eyes without you even noticing it. At month 3, Lily is double her birth weight at 13-ish lbs. We thought she looked perfect when she was born (which she did). But looking back now at those pictures, you can see she looked more cave-man/new-born-ish than we realized. She had that big brow, was skinny and bony, and was so red. Now, she's filled out quite nicely with the chubbiest cheeks and legs. And her hair... it's just ridiculous, which is how we liked it. It's not as crazy just on its own as the length weighs it down more, but when we put a bow in it when its wet, it'll stay that way forever until the next bathing. Gigi calls it "Hair by Cuisinart".

This month also marked the manifestation of Lily's first cold. I think she got it from one of those pesky kids at the doctors office.  Poor thing was coughing and couldn't breathe out of her nose. We ended up using those turkey baster suction dealys to suck the snot out of her, which she wasn't a fan of, but I thought was kind of cool. Sluuuuurp!

Lily's also getting to be more interactive. We can now play the hold-your-tiny-little-hands-and-stand-up "game". She's getting good at that. It usually starts with her laying down while she grabs your hands and as you lift, she pulls herself into sitting position. From there, she locks her legs to get herself into standing position. When I play this with her, I like to end it with a "Yay!" with her hands up followed by 2 bows and "Uh-thankyou. Uh-thankyou".

But I think our favorite thing she does now is "talks". She's at a point where she's figuring out how to "goo" and "uh-gah". If you goo and gaa back, she tends to be a bit more conversational. Along with the gooing is actual gooing of drool. She's freakin wet all the time. I guess that means she's hydrated. She also can hold things, likes her mat, and has found her thumbs. She now just has to figure out how to suck on it without have the rest of her fingers in her eyes. She has to be careful with those crazy wolverine finger nails. They seriously regenerate to their potential length everyday. I think they might be made of steel.

The one bad habit that Lily has now she's getting from us. She really like the TV. She can spin her neck from anywhere in the living to check out the light and sound box. She can also get a glimpse from our laptops and cellphones. Once this ridiculously long winter ends, we should be able to remedy this before she understands the concept of TV.

Aside from being home and playing with Lily, we've been back home in Valley Cottage every weekend since Christmas to hang out with the grandparents. One advantage of this is that we actually went out to the movies. I definitely miss being able to do that. Luckily there are enough people around that want a piece of Lily which should allow us to do that some more in the future. At least we've figured out that we can go out to dinner with her. Every time, she slept through the entire meal. Doesn't matter the environment. It's good to know that she can even sleep in a crowded irish pub.