Journey to and Through Motherhood: Lily's 49th Week (2/1/10

This week was oddly quiet without Rachel. We kept feeling like we were forgetting something by not getting her up for school in the morning and passing by all of the other kids at the bus stop on our way to work. She toured her new school on Monday and started classes on Tuesday. She wouldn’t really tell us much but claimed that the school week went well and that she made some new friends already.

We ran errands after picking up Lily on Monday evening so we stopped for dinner at Thai Express. My silly girl has quite a grown-up palate. Not only does she love hummus but at Thai Express, she discovered a love for spring rolls. I thought that she would just eat white rice but she liked spring rolls and the chicken from my meal instead. I forgot to bring a sippy cup for Lily so while we were there, I taught her how to drink through a straw. She really likes this new useful skill and wanted to drink like a big girl throughout the week.

On Tuesday, Paul and I drove separately because I had to leave work an hour early to go to the dentist to get my retainer adjusted. Paul picked up Lily and when he did, Kirsten informed him that she will only be able to watch Lily until the end of March. She needs to take another job to make more money. Paul broke the news to me when I got home. I am so sad. I searched far and wide and couldn’t find any daycare that I liked then Kirsten appeared like an angel from heaven to help us out. We were so blessed to have found her and to have had someone so wonderful watch Lily during her first year. We totally understand her decision, of course, but we will miss her terribly. Now I have to start the whole heartbreaking search for a decent, affordable daycare again. I know that I am not going to be able to find anybody nearly as wonderful as Kirsten nor do I have the time to do so while working so I am grateful that she gave us so much warning. I was too sad to eat or sleep that night. I was depressed all day Wednesday as well. I did some internet searching for daycares with little success. The idea of leaving Lily with a stranger and having her get little individual attention amongst a bunch of other kids just fills me with dread.

My mood improved greatly when we picked Lily up from Kirsten’s on Wednesday evening and found her walking! She walked from Kirsten to Keegan and Nate then back again. She was so proud of herself and was smiling and squealing with delight! We got her to reproduce it again at home on video which I already posted. She holds her arms out in front of her while walking which is so darn cute.

We had an early morning meeting on Friday so we got out of work early which was nice. After a week full of changes, both good and bad, we decided to treat ourselves to dinner at Zukey Lake Tavern. Lily was so cute and kept waving at everyone around us as they arrived and left.

Lily loved her AquaTots class yet again on Saturday morning. We are bummed that next week is our last week. This week we went in the deep end. This is nothing new for the babies as even the shallow water is deep for them but it helped us adults learn how to handle the babies and hold them up when the water is over our heads as well. Lily also practiced her previously learned skills of jumping off the side of the pool, going underwater, kicking, paddling, and wearing a life-vest. After class, I had to quickly shower in the locker room, briefly stop at home to finish getting ready, and then head out to Chelsea for my co-worker Meghan’s baby shower. Lily took a short morning nap in the car then grudgingly woke up when we got there. Once she was perky, she had a lot of fun at the shower and wanted to help Meghan open her gifts. Lily was reluctant to let any of my co-workers hold her but went right up to Meghan’s sister, Kaitlyn, whom she had never met before. It is odd how she can feel super comfortable with certain people and shy around others. After the party, I stopped at Babies R Us to look for more of Lily’s favorite pacifiers as we are critically low on them. I don’t understand why they keep disappearing! I used to always get them at Target but they stopped carrying them so now the only place that has them is Babies R Us which is nowhere near our home or work. Thank God that Babies R Us still carries them but they only had one in stock. Yikes! Lily and I didn’t get home until dinnertime and were wiped out from our busy day.

I didn’t feel well all day Sunday. I’d had a headache pretty much all week but I woke up on Sunday with body aches and sinus pain. Paul let me sleep in then I took Lily’s morning nap with her. I was lethargic all day but finally showered and got ready so that the three of us could go to Steve’s Super Bowl party. Lily and I mostly hung out upstairs with Auriel. Lily had fun walking back and forth between me and Auriel. We did go downstairs to watch the last quarter of the game. I love the Colts but I was glad to see New Orleans win as I am always a fan of the underdog. Lily loved Tonya, whom she had never met before, and kept wanting to sit in her lap to watch the game. Again, it is funny how she instantly warms up to random people. Unfortunately, Steve’s new house in Ypsilanti is about 40 minutes from our house so we got home really late. Lily was really sleepy at the party but wouldn’t fall asleep until we were in the car. Once in her carseat, I think she was passed out before we even exited Steve’s neighborhood. I had been feeling better at the party but once in the car, my sinus pain and body aches returned so I am not looking forward to getting up early for work on Monday. (Not like I ever do.)

Lily’s new words this week are “bubu” for bubbles in her bath, “sock” (she loves to pull them off and wave them around), and “yucky”. The third word was said when Paul told her not to touch the cat food. Apparently Kirsten tells her that the dog bowls and toys are yucky all the time so that is where she got that word. She is still saying “mama, dada, this, that, what, tiger, pooh, all done, what’s this”, etc. She is also still saying “Pat” and said it this week while pointing to Kirsten’s husband in a picture of her family.

Even though Lily just started walking on Wednesday, by the end of the week, her walking skills had already greatly improved. She is steadier on her feet and only falls when she is tired, hurrying, or trips over a toy. Her falling is more controlled which I am thankful for as I fear her getting hurt now that she is so mobile. She can now cross the living room from one side to the other. She is so proud of herself and still giggles and smiles the entire time she is walking with her arms still straight out in front of her like a zombie. Lily is totally done with crawling now that she has learned to walk!

Here are some pictures from this week.

Lily playing with her blender in her cute purple Pooh outfit on Tuesday:

Crawling around with Amber on Thursday:

Lily loves to play peek-a-boo with the kitties at the cat door:

Where’s Amber:

There she is:

Amber waited until Lily was distracted by the Christmas cards to finish coming through the door:

Walking around holding onto daddy’s hand:

Sleepy girl hugging her blankie in her favorite pajamas on Friday night:

Swimming around hugging mommy at AquaTots on Saturday:

Lily kept pointing at the basketball hoop:

Heading out to explore the deep end:

Practicing jumping off the side of the pool:

Practicing kicking:

Practicing paddling her arms:

Lily floating around in a life-vest. The vest squishes her chubby cheeks and makes her close her eyes whenever she is floating in it. She looks so funny: