Movie Night

We went to see Slumdog Millionaire the other night, which is a great movie, if you haven't seen it yet, you should.  I know I don't usually write about movies here, and this is no exception.  The point is, we went to a movie.  In the theater.  With popcorn.  My mom was in town, and insisted that we go out at least one night while she stayed home with Lily.  She said it would be good for us to get out, although I believe she had ulterior motives for getting rid of us, i.e. spending a few hours alone with her granddaughter and using that time to brainwash her about the joys of shopping.  It was a bit surreal leaving the house, but we felt we had sufficiently trained my mom in how to take care of a baby, that we could sneak away for a little bit.  Miraculously, when we got back home, everyone was ok, and we all went out for dinner.  My mom went back home yesterday, Lily has been de-programmed, and we got to see a great movie.  Thanks Mom!

Don't Forget To Breathe.

Back To The Grind

Lily was 17 weeks old yesterday, and weighed in at 10lbs, 1oz a few days ago, now more than 4 times her birth weight of 2lbs, 6oz.  I can actually hug her now when I hold her without feeling like I'm going to do her harm.

Lily's new favorite thing to do is Smile!  Her second new favorite thing to do is Sleep!  

She's been sleeping much better the past week or two, sleeping as much as 6-7 hours at a time. She still hasn't slept through the night yet, but has come dangerously close.

She has been smiling quite a bit the past few days, and that has been great to see.

Tomorrow is Amanda's first day going back to work.  We've been extremely lucky to have both spent the amount of  time with Lily these past few weeks as we have.  I have travelled a little, and worked a few days here and there in town, but have been home for the most part.  Amanda has been fortunate to have the amount of time off from work that she's had, and we're sad to see that come to an end.

The good news is she'll only be working half days, and should be home by noon most days.  I'll stay home with Lily, travel on the weekends when I have to, and work in the afternoon/evenings in Seattle when I can.

These pictures were all taken this afternoon.  Enjoy.

Don't Forget To Breathe.

Brief Update

9lbs 8oz.

Way to g(r)o(w) Lily.

She's A Big Girl Now

8lbs, 2oz yesterday!

Here's a backlog of pics...

Don't Forget To Breathe.

Happy New Year

I know I haven't been posting as much as I'd like to and as much as you want to keep up with Lily's progress, but we've been in a routine of every day stuff lately, and haven't had anything major to report.  Also, between making formula, cleaning bottles, taking care of Pearl, taking care of the house, um... nevermind, I'm not starting out the new year making excuses, I'll try to be more diligent.  

On 12/26, Lily weighed seven pounds exactly, and measured 19 inches tall.  She is pretty close to outgrowing all her preemie clothes, and fits nicely in some newborn outfits already.  Her reflux is a little better, but she is still fussy during most nights, and will sometimes only sleep if being held.  She is starting to have longer periods of being awake, sometimes for an hour or two, and enjoys lying on her play mat and staring at all the pretty colors.  She also seems to stare at us sometimes, and I can't say I blame her.  She is big enough now to hang out in her swing, and also enjoys her new bath.

Although Lily is just shy of 12 weeks, she has already made some significant New Years resolutions.  I'm usually not a big fan of resolutions because I think January 1st is an arbitrary date to start doing things you should be doing anyway, but in Lily's case, I think it's appropriate.  Lily's resolutions for 2009:

To hold her head up on her own,

To sleep through the night,

To let mommy and daddy sleep through the night,

To smile and laugh ( a lot),

To crawl,

To say a few words,

To take her first trip to Michigan,

To stay healthy and strong.

We hope you all have a healthy, happy, joyous, prosperous 2009!

Don't Forget to Breathe.

Random Thoughts, Pt. 2

This past spring when I was working hockey playoffs, I was on the road for about eight weeks, spending about 6-7 days at home during that stretch.  Living in Seattle, it was impossible to get home between games when we were working every other day, but my producer lives outside Boston, and since we spent a lot of time working on the East Coast, he was able to get home a little more often.  The first time I saw him after a visit home, I commented that it must've been nice to sleep in his own bed and get a good rest.  He said he was up in the middle of the night feeding the baby, his youngest of four.  I said, "You're home for one night and your wife makes you feed the baby?  Doesn't she know how little sleep we get on the road?"  I get it now.

Amanda and I have been extremely lucky to both be spending as much time at home with Lily as we have been.  She'll probably go back to work around the end of January, and I'll probably be the stay-at-home dad, traveling some on the weekends.   But if I had been working regularly, or if Amanda had to go back to work sooner, I don't know how we would have done it.  I suppose we would have managed, but I really don't know how working families take care of newborns, particularly when there are already other kids at home.   So much for my plan of tapping in to my bank of sleep stored up from college.

Meanwhile, Lily is doing great, but the reason for my thoughts above is how fussy she can be at times, and how sometimes she won't sleep unless one of us is holding her.  At times she sleeps like a dream, like right now, she is sleeping next to me while I write this, and Amanda and Pearl are asleep upstairs.  Last week she weighed 6lbs, 2oz (I've been lax in my updates), and should be around 6 1/2 lbs or so by now, and we hope to get her weighed in the next day or two.  She is on the verge of outgrowing her preemie clothes and preemie diapers, and is now taking about 2.5 oz of food per feeding.  Our recent cold weather has kept us inside more the last few days, but as previously  noted, she is quite comfortable in Amanda's sling.  Although it's probably a bit soon, she's had some tummy time and is beginning to push herself up a little bit and turns her head already.  And as Amanda likes to say, she found her voice.  When she's hungry, she lets us know it.

But enough of my ramblings, here's some recent pics.

Don't Forget To Breathe.

Update: We weighed her this evening at 6lbs, 9oz.

Lily, 12/15/08

Finding her voice

Lily and her Mom

Pearl gets her licks in

Just chillin'

Pearl's new best friend

Lily and her Dad

D-Day

Today is the day we were waiting for.  Until eight weeks ago, that is.  Today is Lily's due date, and the little pooper is eight weeks old exactly.  We won't be able to weigh her today, but two days ago she weighed 5lbs, 14oz, and has been gaining roughly an ounce a day, so we are guessing she is right around 6lbs today.  I don't think we ever would have guessed when she was born that she'd be six pounds by her due date, but as they say, they grow so quickly.

In the last week, Lily has taken to walking.  Mostly in a passive role.  We took her for a few short walks in her stroller, and more recently Amanda has been using her Moby wrap.  A Moby wrap is basically a big piece of cloth they sell you at an exaggerated price because it has a logo on it, but it let's Amanda carry Lily hands-free, and we've been able to take some longer walks with both Lily and Pearl.  One big happy family.

Lily on her due date,  12/6/08

Lily in her Moby wrap,  12/6/08

Lily, Amanda, and Pearl, going for a stroll  12/6/08

So today is Lily's due date, eight weeks since her birth, and four weeks since she's been home.  She's now taking about two ounces of food per feeding, almost double since she's been home.  We still have to feed her every three hours or so for another eight weeks, until we can see if she's ready to sleep longer.  She has quite a library of books, most of which she's read already, and an already well documented wardrobe.  Now that she's "officially" here, she can't wait to meet you all and say hi in person.

Don't Forget To Breathe.