Lilah is three (months old)!

As you can see, we had such a crazy celebration for Lilah's three month birthday yesterday that everyone passed out early (ok not really - we did practically nothing and this is Lilah and the dog's afternoon nap - and no we have not gotten a new dog that's just Mookie visiting for a few days).

So now that we have three sets of photos to compare to a few things to note.





1. Lilah can no longer fit complely on my chest when I type, she is curled up in a little ball and still her feet are mostly under the computer.





















2. She is about 12 lbs making for super strong arms for her parents (yea muscles!)

3. She is sleeping between 5-7 hours per night which is just heaven.

4. She is making the best noises (you just have to hear them too hard to describe) and eating her hand - both which help her entertain herself and allow me to do things like shower and use the bathroom on a regular basis.


5. She can hold her head up as long as she is not tired and she is getting WAY better at tummy time (thank you to all those parents who told me not to worry!).


OK with all of that out of the way, I promised some more information on the nanny. Well first off we have one - yeaaaaaaaaaaa. The whole last part of the nanny sage reads like one of those cheesy romance movies I hate - "Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back" except that we ended up with even a better nanny than we orginally started with. After what seems like months of looking we will have Mamy (pronounced with a hard "a" so no Mamy the Nanny jokes sorry!) starting January 22nd at the other couples house in Bethesda. As most of you know I will be going back to work January 7th (sniff sniff) so we will have a two week gap. The first week Jason and I will be alternating working from home and the second week my Aunt Karen and Uncle Fred will be coming down to take care of Miss Lilah. So thank you to EVERYONE who put out feelers for me, talked to coworkers and listen to my endless babble about all of this nanny stuff. We are done!

I know I still owe a follow up to my BPA and pinkies rock teaser, but I think this is long enough for today but I promise to post that up before Aunt Ashley arrives to visit on Wednesday.


HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We have a nanny!

We have a nanny! We have a nanny! We have a nanny! We have a nanny!

More to come later.......

Happy Enchilada X-mas and other fun things

What a difference a week makes! It seems that each day Lilah is doing something new. The photo on the left is one of her newest tricks of sucking on her hand - she can get that entire thing in her mouth. I thought it was an amazing feat (becuase of course I can't fit my hand in my mouth - go ahead try it!) till Jason reminded me that she has no teeth which provides her another two inches of space or so.


She has also started batting at objects and once she learns to uncurl her hand will do an excellent job of grabbing things (Hunter watch out!). Lilah is also learning to entertain herself leaving me time to actually update this blog :) Last but not least she is trying to sit up. She needs a bit more head control first but darn if she doesn't want to get there. It is so amazing to watch.

And of course she has had some adventures since last week.....

On Wednesday we had our second mommy and Lilah playdate with Gail and Jordan. This made me realize that all of the moms I hang out with in this area have boys - Lilah doesn't know how luckly she is ;)

Then this weekend we headed back up to New Jersey for Chanukah fun at Bubbe's (Jason's mom's) house. Lilah had a great time playing under her Chanukah tree and opening her presents. She got her very first pony and lots of super cute outfits.

Yesterday Lilah attended her first, but not last, Enchilada Christmas at Elizabeth and Santiago's house. It is a Boig family tradition and so Lilah was sure to wear her party best (thank you Sydney for the hand me down!).

We are taking it easy and relaxing today to recoup from all the craziness. It is looking to be a calm rest of the season, but I am sure Lilah's progress will continue so there will be much to report.

Up next post....BPA in bottles and why the pinky finger rocks!

Sleep Lilah Sleep :)

Lilah is sleeping through the night (Note that the AAP defines sleeping through the night as midnight to 5am)! Then she goes back to bed from about 7 to 8:30 - woohoo. I guessing being such a popular girl is wearing her out as she is finally learning to settle herself down when she wakes up in the middle of the night and is becoming more comfortable taking naps in her swing and her co-sleeper so I have even been able to shower before going out some days. Yea Lilah!

Of course we have also been crazy busy so bad on the photo end (New Years resolution #1 - more photo taking!).

Yesterday Lilah attended The Nature Conservancy marketing Holiday party and got lots of ooos aaas and cuddles. She was super good the whole 90 minutes except of course the two minutes the VPs got up to speak then as soon as the room was silent "waaaaaaaa" - boy does she know how to get everyone in a room to look at her :)

This weekend Lilah's Bubbe came to visit and we hung out, played a took a trip over to Corner Bakery where she delighted us all by sleeping through lunch! (it's the little things....). I do have a great photo of that once I can figure out how to get it off my camera. Lilah also got some more Hanukkah presents, but I got a baby yoga tape that we started doing this morning - she really likes it and in the more than you wanted to know category - it seem to help her burp!

Speaking of Lilah I hear her waking up from her morning nap - so good day to everyone!

Lilah goes traveling

A busy busy girl our Lilah has been this past week (and her Mommy and Daddy!). She has continued to enjoy Hanukkah as you can see from the photo on the left - especially the part where she gets a present each night! The block set is from Aunt Ashley and was her second night gift.

Lilah has also been to visit her new friend Jordan Reese (mentioned in an earlier blog) who is just a few weeks old. She looks quite big compared to him :). Unfortunately I forgot to take any photos of the two of them together, so that will have to come on our next visit.


On Friday, Lilah went to the Janssen house to pick up delicious Hanukkah homeade cookies from Heather and her girls. She also received the book pictured on the left. Look at her go - if I didn't know better (however I do) I would think she is actually reading.


This weekend Lilah took her first trip to her parents homeland - New Jersey! Anyone who talked to me last week knew I was very very very nervous about the trip, but I am happy to report that she was a wonderful traveler. Both she and Hunter did great in the car and at Grandma Ellen's house. On Saturday night she also got to enjoy hanging out with her Bubbe, Aunt Karen and Uncle Fred and Uncle Mark and Aunt Barbara. Then Sunday Grandma Ellen invited some of her friends over including Aunt Ashley's best friend Katie. Lilah was quite the super star. Of course we also forgot to take photos of the weekend!

Last night Lilah got to hand out with Curly (oh yea and Anne ;) ) where she promptly showed off her "International Sign for Cocker Spaniel".

Pvew what a busy busy gal Lilah is. Tomorrow a lunch date, then Friday another lunch date and Bubbe comes for a few days. We will have to remember to take more photos - I am such a slacker!

Happy Hanukkah!

Happy Hanukkah to all. Yesterday Lilah celebrated her first night of Hanukkah and is in the tradition in my family was allowed to open just one gift. (Hey it works out you are always guaranteed to get at least eight gifts!) Last nights gift was from Maria - an awesome "Roll Along Turtle" that does shapes and numbers. Lilah says THANK YOU! She also got a pre gift from Seth at lunch - her first dreidel. Photos of all of this to come soon.

This photo is from Saturday when Lilah was visited by Kate and her so cute son John. John is a little over one and I quickly learned thing that I will need to baby proof as soon as Lilah starts to walk! This is what Lilah did during the entire visit - she was so good all weekend!

Saturday I also left Lilah along for a few hours (the first time for this) to go get my hair done and get some lunch where I could eat with both hands. I am happy to report Lilah and Jason had a fantastic time playing and hanging out. Yea Boigs :)

As I mentioned in an earlier post Saturday night was Beth's Bday party and we had fun seeing babies of all ages including Ilana whose birth was announced on this blog earlier this summer. They were all so good and all moms got to eat. This is Stephanie who you sometimes see commenting on this blog feeding Lilah.

Sunday Lilah was visited by my Aunt Diane, Aunt Missy, Uncle Bennett and Grandpa Hyman for brunch - what a weekend for Lilah (as always!). This weekend we are heading up to my mom's house for a few days where Lilah will get her first glimpse of New Jersey - I can't wait to see her reaction! (this is a joke for all of those who will comment - she is only a baby and won't remember anything).

An update as promised on the "Flat Lilah" project. We have a total of 24 states and 4 countries now that have viewed the blog. Almost half way there folks keep sharing.

OK off to show Lilah snow for the first time. Stay warm everyone.

Lilah is two months old!

Lilah is two months old today. Happy Birthday Lilah!!!

As you see from the comparison photos she has grown quite a bit in one month. Almost 2lbs - she went from 8lbs 13oz on her one month bday to 10lb 11oz today. And she is
22 inches. Both her height and weight are in the 50 percentile for babies her age. (Her head is in the 70 percentile if you must know)

She did wonderfully with her shots today. Better than I would have done to get three shots in the leg, one in the arm and an oral vaccine. So far she seems to be handling them well - yea for Lilah.

Speaking off she is "asking" to have dinner now so off I go. Happy end of November to all.

How time flies

Tomorrow Lilah will be two months old. Wow! She has changed so much in the past almost nine weeks and she is really starting to become a little person with her own personality.

She had her first cold this week, but is on the mend - giggling and happy as ever. We have our two month pediatrician appointment tomorrow where Lilah gets her first set of vaccinations. Everyone has warned me about her crankiness afterwards so I think I am prepared, but we will see. We expect her to be about 11.5 lbs and Jason and I have been weighing her (by weighing ourselves) on our scale at home. I am curious to see how close we are.

Besides that it has been a rather quiet week of hanging out at the house and walking the dog in the nice November weather we have been having (global warming at its best!).

However, this weekend Lilah has quite a busy schedule with a birthday party for Beth (HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETH! - ok well last Saturday but better late than never) and some visitors on Saturday and Sunday. She is one social baby and I am very grateful for that.

For all those who have asked, we are still on the nanny hunt so any suggestions, thoughts or ideas please feel free to send.

Off to eat dinner! I will post all about our appointment and a photo of her with the bear as her growth chart this weekend.

Lilah has hands :)

It is amazing how each day brings new ups and downs with a little one. This weekend was no exception. First off - as you can see from the photo on the left Lilah has discovered she has hands. It is wonderful to see her exploring the world around her each day and learning about different things. She can stare at her hand for five minutes just trying to understand who knows what - I can only guess. I can't wait for her to find her feet!


We have also discovered that Lilah likes to swing which should be no surprise considering how much she likes to dance. I bet she will always be in constant motion. The swing has also allowed Jason and I uninterrupted dinners almost every night this week. Woohoo. Warm dinner.




Although it didn't happen this weekend, I also wanted to share that cats apparently love Lilah. This is Erika's cat Koko who already loves Jason (because he is allergic all cats tend to love him). As you can see they make quite a cute trio.

So on the down note we are still nannyless. Last night we were all excited because we thought we had found the perfect nanny. She had trained to be a pediatrician, taught pre-school and was just great. However, once she went to quit her current position they "gave her an offer she couldn't refuse" and she decided to stay. So back to the nanny search we go.

Speaking of nanny searching, off I go now to email some. Wish me luck!

Even her feet are cute!

Happy day after Thanksgiving to all! Lilah enjoyed her first Turkey Day with lots of laughing and playing. We had a small turnout this year of just us and Elizabeth and Santiago - good food, good friends and good fun! Lilah wore her Thanksgiving outfit, which reminded me that people like to make hats with ears for babies and feed with words (or cute photos). Below is also a photo of the super cute socks she was wearing today.

Also in the "Global Warming" is here arena, yesterday was about 75 degrees in Maryland. Lilah and Hunter both enjoyed a beautiful day outside while Daddy dug up horseradish (yum!) and Mommy took lots of pictures. Luckily the tree decided to produce leaves the exact shade of Hunter so that he could be a super camouflage dog. :)

So that was our first Thanksgiving with Miss Lilah - I hope your was as fun and full of smiles!

New expressions and a new friend

It is amazing that in the past week Lilah is truly becoming a little person. As you can see from the photo on the left she is really smiling actual smiles (not just gas!). She is also cooing and "talking" to us with her sounds. She cries a lot less and sleeps at least four straight hours once a night. What a difference seven weeks make!

It's been a nice quiet week here and Lilah is looking forward to her first tryptophan sleep tomorrow :)

In anticipation of going back to work January 7th (boooooo!) we started Lilah on one (pumped) bottle a day yesterday. As you can see she likes to look up at her Daddy as she eats. NOTE: We will not be posting a photo of the pre-bottle Mommy pumping so don't even ask! I am quite lucky that my office is supportive of breastfeeding and have a curtain so that I can pump in private in my office - go TNC.

Lilah, Jason and I would also like to welcome Jordan Reece Hope to the world. Born November 19th to Gayle and Erik he was 6 lbs 14 oz and 19 inches - mommy and baby doing well. We can't wait to meet you Jordan!

Lastly, a quick nanny update. We have no less than two and no more than three nanny interviews scheduled for this Sunday. So fingers crossed everyone!

The "Flat" Lilah Project

NOTE: For those of you who are already confused by the title of this post - check out The Flat Stanley Project at: http://www.flatstanley.com/.

Now that I have been able to check who is reading the blog, I am realizing the fun in seeing the different states (and one District) that people are reading us from. We have 17 so far. So my challenge to current readers is let's hit all 50 U.S. States! Current we have (in order of most people reading the blog)

New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, New York, Florida, North Carolina, District of Columbia, California, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Arkansas, Texas, Idaho, Kentucky, Illinois

So share the blog, send it out! And I will report back every once in a while on our progress. Lilah across America :)

I promise a fun reward posting once we hit the goal!

Lilah-o-rama

Back in the saddle and catching up on the last week of Lilah fun.

Ever since Lilah was born friend and family have been asking how Hunter feels about his new sister. As you can see from this photo, they are on there way to becoming quite good friends. The first few weeks Hunter ignored her as I don't think he knew what to do with her high pitched cry. But now that he is used to that he come running in to give her kisses when she gets home and to sit with her whenever she is sad or feeding or well in the room. Hunter and Lilah BFFs.

If you are a reader of this blog, you know that we have been on the endless hunt for daycare for when I go back to work on January 7th. The update on that is we are currently working on a nanny share. What that is are two families who hire one nanny to watch both their children. It is a bit more personal than daycare and provides more caregiver per child. Even better for us is the other couple (the ones we are "sharing" with) live 5 blocks from my current office - so I will be able to visit Lilah at lunch! We have started to interview nanny's and this is a photo from our trip today. However this is a quick shout out to anyone who might have any suggestions as we are still looking (didn't like the nanny today) and only have about five weeks to find someone.


As she grows and changes each day one noticeable difference is that Lilah is getting more interactive in her waking hours - she is even giving real smiles! This photo is her hanging out in her crib in her room enjoying the mobile. She can stay like that for about 15 minutes before she gets bored - just enough time for me to put away her clothes :)

She is still traveling as much as always being her social butterfly self. Two Friday's ago (the 9th) she went to dinner at Elizabeth and Santiago's house and got an introduction to their two cats! Then this Wednesday she was out for Mexican with Gayle and Erik who hopefully will be having their little one any day now. Then Thursday she hung out with some of my friends from the office who came over for Italian at our place. Friday she had another cat visitation at Erika and David's and then this weekend had a blast when both her grandmas came to visit. After all of that you can imagine how I was able to get this cute shot!

The last fun thing to note in this quick update, because I am getting quite sleepy, is that her Daddy really enjoys the cute hand thing she does in this photo to the left. We are both amazed she is already more coordinated than me!

Hopefully this week will lead to more frequent updates and I can promise a post on Turkey Day when you can see the special Thanksgiving outfit all ready for her to wear. I am already thankful she is so darn cute!

Lilah's a star!

It's been a very crazy week and regular posting will resume soon. But this is a special running to the computer posting as Lilah has her own video!

You can check it out here.....(I get special Mommy credit for allowing these photos to be seen !)

Make sure to turn your volume up.

Credits, comments, thoughts and well thought go to Darryl! Thank you!!

Lots of random musing and Lilah's favorite youtube video

Although she still seems so tiny to most people, Lilah is growing pretty rapidly. As evidence of that today she was finally able to fit into the diapers that Jason and I choose half way through my pregnancy for her - Tushies. Tushies are gel-free, latex-free, perfume-free, dye-free, TBT-free, GMO-free, and chlorine-free (well you get the idea - they are just mainly high absorbency natural blend cotton padding.). Unfortunately they will not help much with the crazy diaper landfill problem, but that is another story another day.

Yesterday Lilah put on another one of her cute outfits and off we went to Target to get some Lilah supplies - including an exercise ball I learned she loves to bounce on - and California Pizza Kitchen to have lunch with Seth and Jeff. Seth mentioned that on his blog "This I believe" there was the most viewed video on youtube so I checked it out today and not only is it hysterical - Lilah LOVES it. So check it out at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg

This is a photo of Seth holding her in CPK - where yes I actually got to eat almost all of my lunch!

I have realized this week that I am not the only mom to make up songs to amuse their newborn. Although I am not sure we should all start a record label together I feel the need to list a few of my new hot titles made up by me at all hours of the day or night:

• "There is no need for crying Lilah"
• "Oh my Lilah .. it's ok"
• "We are dancing around the living room (or whatever room we are in)"
• Lilah, Lilah oh my Lilah"

- Well you get the idea. Good thing our video conferencing has a mute button. Speaking of which if you video conference let me know as we do with our family through Skype and love it.

OK off to grab some breakfast. Good day to all!

All dressed up with places to go...

You can tell when we haven't posted for a few days that Lilah is back to bring a social butterfly. With her busy schedule and the weather getting colder, I have been having fun dressing Lilah up in all types of cute winter outfits. I never thought I would enjoy such a thing, but darn if she doesn't look so darn cute.

Starting backwards from most recent to the last post. Today Lilah and I went to visit Isaiah Bruce and his mom Laura who was in both my natural birth class as well as my birth center birth class. Isaiah was born just a week and a half after Lilah at the birth center and they are on their way to becoming fast friends. I didn't get a chance to take any photos of them hanging out together today, but I will make sure to take some next time so you can see how adorable they both are.

The above photo was taken yesterday as Lilah and I ran errands in the chilly weather. I love the hooded look! She still doesn't like her carseat much, but I am getting quite good and dropping her into the Ergo right as we get out of the car and she LOVES to snuggle and sleep in that.


This past weekend also brought many social engagements for Miss Lilah. On Sunday we had a smallish brunch (16 or so folks) to celebrate my birthday. Lilah was on wonderful behavior and enjoyed much attention. You can see on the photo on the left the entire Dailey family spoiling her with hugs! (shhh don't tell Hunter and Mookie that Curly was on the couch!) Lilah got to meet another playmate, Dalia Esther, just a little over two weeks. She is the daughter of my friends Jonathan and Rachael and is super cute and to me so small - even though Lilah is just three weeks older.

On Saturday Lilah and I venture over the river (and through the woods :) ) and traffic to Tara's house. You can see how she felt about this outfit! And that was before the trip to Kohls (50% off infant clothes) and then Whole Foods.

That brings us up to now. The next few days get even busier as Lilah can not seem to clear her social calendar ;)

Tomorrow Lilah will be strutting her stuff at lunch with Seth and Jeff, then Friday dinner with Elizabeth and Santiago, an art auction with Darryl, Beth and Seth and Saturday and then another brunch on Sunday. Few! Well I guess more cute outfits and photos to come - off to get some sleep to prepare for the next few days - stay tuned as the cuteness continues (insert throwing up noise here!)

A shout out to the best baby carrier ever

Occasional Disclaimer: This post is being written by a very tired mommy who had about two hours of sleep last night and is only now able to write this because of the subject of this post the Ergo Baby Carrier. The writer (that's me) claims no responsibility for the grammar, syntax, photos (taken today in my sleepy frame of mind) and general sense of the writing on this page.

When I was pregnant, mom's I knew would tell me all about products that they had that they could not live without. At the time I didn't understand the attraction, but after only a month of mommyhood I have three of these: the Boppy, the Fisher Price Baby Papason and the Ergo Baby Carrier. I will address the first two another day, but I needed to share today how the Ergo is saving my sanity.

If you remember month and months and months ago, the Ergo was recommended to me by Heather who had a friend who really liked it. Then when my mom and I did our trip up to the baby store in Fredrick we were actually able to test one out and see how really cool it was. The Ergo is fairly new on the market and I have just recently seen one in Buy Buy Baby, normally it was only available online and in Fredrick. You have probably heard of the Baby Bjorn and a few others, but the Ergo was specific for folks with bad backs (me!) and I was able to put her in it right from birth when (if you have been to dinner at our house at all this month) Jason used to put her to sleep whenever we wanted to eat. I have worn it to the mall, to the grocery, to my office, to walk Hunter - basically anyplace I need to be hands free, have her secure and (this is key) have her SLEEP.

As I have mentioned Lilah is a super good baby and generally I have no complaints. However last night and this morning she has been especially fussy (I am guessing due to my large intake of leftover Halloween chocolate) and although I had given up on sleep I wanted to try and at least walk around the house a bit. So after a few hours of feed, rock, feed, rock it struck me - I had forgotten about the Ergo! So on it went and ASLEEP she went as you can see from the photos to the left just taken a few minutes ago. She is almost asleep enough to go into her cosleeper and then off I go to bed!

Also the Ergo staff have incredible customer service. The carrier comes with a waist safety strap in case the belt buckle part were ever to malfunction (although it's so large I can't imagine it would). Well after wearing it every day for the past month, on Wednesday I noticed that the safety strap was coming off as the stitching was a bit loose. So since I got the Ergo as a gift, I called the online customer service direct and because they work on CST left a message assuming I would have to call back again. Was I surprised when just an hour after they opened I got a call back from maybe the nicest customer service person I have ever talked to (yes it is a sad commentary to our retail industry when a call back and a nice voice excites me).

Long story short, a new Ergo is on its way to us and should be here tomorrow. In the meantime I am going to take this one off and see if the miracle sleeping keeps up. Good sleep (or work if you do not have a one month old) to all!