The First Six Months

Here is my attempt to remember all that has happened in the last six months of Lilly's life.  Wish me luck!

Mom and Lilly a few hours after she was born.

Lilly was born on February 24, 2012 at 8:33 AM.  She weighed 7 lbs, 8 oz and was 19.5 inches long.  We went to the hospital at midnight, me panicking about not having sub plans ready for the next day.  My parents were going to come up Friday evening and hang out with me while Nick did the Birkie, but instead left work early to meet Lilly.  Nick did ski the Birkie on Saturday, on very little sleep and sleeping on that awful looking couch in the background.

Lilly at Three Weeks

The first month to month and a half was a little rough, Lilly would not take to sleeping in her crib or cradle for more than a few minutes at a time, so we would take shifts sleeping with her in our arms.   The Five-S method (Happiest Baby on the Block) strategy really worked for us to calm her down.  Swaddling, swaying and sucking really calmed her down and SUPER quickly.  Nursing was a challenge during the first few weeks, Lilly was thrusting, rather than sucking, then getting more hungry, tired and frustrated, so would struggle more. Her other big struggle was calming herself and tuning out the world.  Around two months or so we discovered the importance of room darkening shades (which in our case was dark sheets over the windows) in helping her sleep for longer periods of time, as well as white noise.  To put it politely, Lilly had a rough transition into the world.

Nick went back to work at two weeks and would sway when he would be standing in front of his class teaching.  It was pretty rough for him, working full time and then having to take shifts at night holding Lilly.  Thank goodness for the iPad and Netflix watch instantly!  Slowly but surely we built up time in the cradle and we could actually get some chunks of sleep in.  At six weeks we went to Eau Claire for Easter and she slept for four and a half hours in her pack and play.  We were ecstatic!  She also gave us her first real smiles at Easter (I was the fifth or final person she smiled at!).  When we returned to Ashland, we tried the regular crib and she took to it like she'd been doing it all her life.   Lilly continued to be a "healthy spitter" where she would spit up often, sometimes right after feeding, thirty minutes later and whenever the spirit moved her.  We went through a ton of burp cloths, and many of our pictures have a burp cloth behind her head!  During her awake time she was a blast, very alert, taking everything in, eager to see what the world had in store for her.  We also discovered during this time that she would calm down if we would bounce on an exercise ball, so we spent many hours bouncing on the exercise ball.  It was also a great way to get her down for naps and for the night. 

Lilly at Three Months or So

At nine weeks, I went back to work.  It was rough going back, but not nearly as challenging as I thought it would be.  It certainly helps that I absolutely love my job and couldn't imagine doing anything else.  Also, my students were thrilled to see me again.  Nick was at home with her, so I think I felt good knowing she was at home with dad.  And they completely bonded.  I wasn't that cool during May, Dad was the one who could get her to smile, chat, I was just that lady that would feed her. During this time Lilly really started to get great at holding her head up, babbling (going on stretches for 20 minutes at a time!), and grabbing at things.  She was a dear and would even give us a few nights a week where she would sleep through the night.  While I was at work, she did her first rolls too, both directions.  She'd flip over, be content, and then get frustrated and want to be on her other side again.  People didn't believe us (specifically grandparents) because she won't perform on command, and would flip a bunch on one day, and then wouldn't roll over again for a week or so.  Now, there is no stopping her!

Lilly at Four Months

The start of summer was an adventure, I was having gallbladder attacks and needed to get my gallbladder removed.  The ultrasound just showed sludge in the gallbladder, but my symptoms were severe enough to require removal.  When I actually had the gallbladder removed on June 13th, it turns out I had a gallstone the size of a gumball and the largest gallbladder the surgeon removed that day!  I was feeling back to normal in just a few days, just being slightly bothered by my incisions.  My parents came up to help us out for a few days, then Nick's mom.  It is great being close to family, especially with a little one so we can get extra support!

We had a few weeks of normalcy, watching our little girl really start to get control of her hands and discover her toes and their deliciousness.  She LOVES being outside, sitting on the porch and tracking cars as they would drive past our house.  Luckily we live on a fairly well-traveled street!  Lilly was a bit of a night owl, preferring to really do her long stretch of sleep about 11:00 or midnight.  Eventually we managed to get her shifted to closer to ten, then nine, and now at six months we get her to bed routinely around 8:00-8:30.  She would pull fairly long stretches of sleep, but those glorious days came to an end for a few months (I think, who knows, I was too sleep deprived to notice!).  She continued to get better and better and grabbing for things, holding her head up for long stretches of time, giggle at us, and all around just be a joy to play with.  Naps have never been her strong point, but she would at least go down for them with less of a struggle and average forty minutes at a time.

Lilly at almost five months (maybe five months)

Then July hit, when Nick had hip surgery down in the Twin Cities.  He had a torn labrum and a funny shaped femur head, so they went in and stitched the tear back together and reshaped his femur head so it looked like it is supposed to.  We spent the week of his surgery at my grandma's house, so Lilly got to hang out with her Great Grandma Phyllis.  During this time, Lilly continued to rock tummy time, really starting to reach out and stretch for things.  She'd hold her head up for what seemed countless minutes, and continued to be enthralled with the outside, tracking things, and seeing the world in general.  Slowly but surely, Nick was recovering, more slowly than we had anticipated, but his original injury was much worse than we had anticipated as well.  After about three weeks he was able to walk around on level surfaces with Lilly, but clearly couldn't bounce with her on the exercise ball.  Luckily during this time I was weaning her off of this (we figured asking day care providers to do this was a little above and beyond the call of duty).

Lilly at five and a half months

Shortly after Lilly turned five months old, we took a trip to Lutsen, MN on the North Shore with all of Nick's immediate family.  It was a great week, lots of relaxing and playing.  Lilly was a big hit and loved hanging out with everyone.  She'd let anyone hold her and walk around with her.  Getting fussy?  Why, just step outside and she's golden.  The other big milestone that happened while we were in Lutsen was she cut her first tooth.  She took it like a champ - my first clue (besides the excessive drooling that had been happening for weeks) was when she bit on my thumb and it hurt!  We were pretty surprised the tooth arrived!  Shortly after that, the second tooth came in.  She was getting to the point of sitting on her own for a few seconds at a time without supporting herself, and getting more and more interested in trying to move around.   When we returned to Ashland, that's when she really started making an earnest effort to move, tip over her toy basket, and cause trouble in general :^).  Still incredibly curious, she watches what people do very carefully and tracks nearly every movement and sound in her vicinity. 

I think that about covers it, I am sure there are things that I have either repressed or forgotten about already, or live in a cloudy haze somewhere in my mind and will remember at random times as she grows up.  We couldn't be prouder of or more in love with this little girl!