Baby gear

Babies need a lot of stuff; this we knew from Hayden. We also learned how quickly they grow and change, and don't need some of that gear anymore. Luckily, we kept almost all of his big stuff, and Lila is enjoying all the worn-in toys that Hayden enjoyed as a baby.

The bouncy seat, or spider chair as we call it, was a source of comfort for Hayden, lulling him into nap after nap as a baby. Lila has napped in it, but didn't really care for it as a newborn. Now that she's bigger, she loves to sit in it and try to reach the spiders to put them in her mouth. She's a pro.

The exersaucer is another piece full of toys that Lila wants to put in her mouth. This is most useful in the kitchen, where she can watch me cook and clean but be a safe distance from anything that can hurt her...and still be entertained. The dogs don't quite know what to make of it when it's in the kitchen.

WHERE would we be without the bumbo seat?? Since she wants to be mobile, she doesn't like to be on her back for very long. She can't see everything that way! So we put her in the bumbo in the middle of the bed, or in the bathroom floor while I'm getting ready. Or, when we're blow drying her hair. Yes, you read that right. She gets the crazy hair which can easily be tamed with a round brush and the warm setting.

Recently we started putting the bumbo in the playpen so she can use this cool toy, a gift from my friend Jordan. It attaches to the playpen and adds a little stimulation to the prison-like mesh walls. But since she can't sit up yet, playpen + toy + bumbo = more stuff to entertain (read: more stuff to put in her mouth).

Last but not least, our friend the jumperoo. Some of you will remember the hours of fun this was for Hayden, and so far it seems like it will be no different for Lila. She's not quite tall enough for it yet, so we put her baby quilt under her feet for a little more length and she goes to town! She likes the ducks that spin and the book that flips but her favorite is the little tomato that's attached because (you guessed it) she can put it in her mouth.

Family

I hope Hayden and Lila are always so sweet to each other. Hayden absolutely adores "his baby" Lila and is a great helper.

He is extra silly, which makes Lila laugh. He sings her songs when she's crying, and is quick to let me know if she needs my help.

I have to leave the room now to nurse, because if Lila hears Jay or Hayden's voice, she's too distracted to eat. She might miss something! But she's such a sweet baby.

New Food Fridays: Squash

And it's a winner! But I guess anything would be better than bland oatmeal, right?

I chopped, steamed, pureed and froze some fresh squash from my aunt's garden and we tested it out. She likes it!

Sick baby

Any mom will tell you, having a sick child is the worst thing in the whole world. They're sad, they're miserable, you're helpless. Recipe for disaster. Last week Lila got sick for the first time. She wasn't acting sick: no fever, eating and sleeping well. But she woke up with some green goo in her eye. Having dealt with this with Hayden a number of times, I wasn't too worried but decided to take her in just to be sure. It would happen to Hayden when he was congested, and we always left with saline, saline, saline. We went to the doctor, who was as surprised as I was to discover that Lila bean had a double ear infection! We left with a prescription of amoxicillin and I stayed home with Lila the rest of the day. Happy as ever, I told her I think she faked it to keep me home from work!

A day passed without incident, Lila eating, sleeping, taking her medicine.

On Friday, I was wrapping up my massage (my mother's day gift) when Jay called. Daycare called - Lila has a 101 fever and is showing symptoms of hand-foot-mouth. We called the doctor on the way there and got her in for a quick appointment. When we got there, her fever was gone. The doctor said she did not have hand-foot-mouth, just possibly something viral and to keep a check on her. If her fever was gone and she was eating, nothing else we needed to do. Plus side: her ears were much better!

We left feeling pretty good about everything and headed to Chick-Fil-A for Hayden's Friday treat. We were in the middle of a monsoon-like storm, and all ended up drenched from head to toe. Except Lila, who was in her car seat and only ended up with a wet foot or two. That night, things went pretty well but she wasn't sleeping all that great. And then, one of the times she woke up to eat, as soon as I sat her up she threw up everywhere. :-( On Saturday, she just wanted to be held so I happily snuggled with her. After her nap we went to the grocery store and were surprised that she slept halfway through our outing. When she woke up, we got really worried. She was just so listless and lethargic and SAD. Just sad. Heartbreaking. She took a nap on my chest, something she hasn't done since she was 4 weeks old, but as we got more sleep and more feedings into her, she started to perk up.

Sunday morning she woke up good as new! No fever, no sad baby face, just my hungry hippo. We're still finishing up the antibiotic, but it seems like we're on the road to recovery!

Fathers day part two...

Funny, since I haven't yet blogged part one of Father's Day! Later...I suppose.

Part of Jay's gift included two sets of concert tickets. The first tickets were to the Brothers of the Sun Tour in Charlotte, featuring Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Jake Owen and Grace Potter. These you couldn't get e-tickets for, so I checked the mail like a madman for three days before realizing I could track them online! They showed up via FedEx two days before Father's Day (!) and I was really excited to give them to Jay. So it's shaping up to be a summer of concerts!

We met up with some old friends from high school before the concert and had a good time despite the heat. As we were walking into Bank of America stadium, it rained just a little bit. I was hoping it was just enough to cool it off, but really it was just enough to make it humid. Ick.

We didn't have great seats (hey, this gift was one of four, okay?) but we enjoyed our first trip to the Panthers stadium and can't wait to go to a game. It rained during Jake Owen's performance so we missed that but were okay with it. The rain stopped for Grace Potter, but we weren't really pumped about her.

But then Tim McGraw came out, and got the party started. He sang a lot of his old songs, which kept the crowd on its feet for most of the show. He played two hours, including two encores, and when he came out to sing "I like it, I love it", he brought a surprise guest...Scotty McCreery, last year's American Idol winner!

The concert started at 4:30, and Kenny Chesney didn't start playing until after 8. Being the old, workin' folks that we are, we had to leave early but I was glad to not to have to fight traffic with 49,000+ other people trying to get home on a Sunday night! We had a blast, and are ready for our next concert in July!

Summer

Summer is upon us! Which means weekends are spent grilling, lounging and lazing on the deck outside. The dogs love to have us out there with them, and we are enjoying being homeowners more than ever.

And would it be summer time without s'mores? I think not.

5 months old!

Where does the time go? Suddenly our baby girl is five months old, full of laughter and smiles, and ready to be on the move! She is trying so hard to sit up by herself, and wants to be mobile so badly. She can roll and is starting to scoot on her belly, meanwhile we just want her to slow down!

Her napping skills have come a long way, but we're back to a middle of the night wake up to eat. But that usually turns out to be the best part of my day. After she nurses and fills her belly up, I sit her up to let everything go south and she lays her head on my chest. I rub her back for a minute until I feel her fall asleep. And then I hold her for just a few minutes longer than I have to, enjoying this precious little gift. I lay her back in the crib and she throws both arms above her head, ready for the "good sleep".