Bath Time Evolution

I remember the first time I gave Lilly a bath when she came home from the hospital. She was so tiny and fragile. I felt like I was going to brake her or rub her too hard when Jordan and I were giving her a bath. I remember her sucking on her little fist for a couple of minutes, and then she started screaming. Jordan and I were so scared and anxious since we had no clue what we were doing. By the grace of God, we managed to wash her precious 8 lb 2 oz body and got her all cleaned up.

Her first bath tub was a precious pink infant tub that had a newborn hammock that kept her snug and safe. Well, that only lasted 4 weeks before she started kicking her legs off the sides and wanting to splash everywhere. After a few attempts to keep her still in that thing we decided to take the hammock off, but the plastic bathtub was just to hard for my princess. I know this only because she slipped as soon as I put her in without the hammock and bumped her head. The hammock went back on and that bathtub went into retirement the following week! haha can you tell I'm a first time mom???

Lilly's first bath at home. She was 4 days old.

Thank goodness Nay Nay (Jordan's mom) was there to help Jordan and I through our first adventure home with our baby girl!

The next week Gigi (my mom) and I went straight to the store and bought her a bath lounge that was SOFT! We Lilly thought it was the coolest thing ever! It was just like the hammock but much bigger so she had plenty or room to get comfy with no hard bathtubs to bump into. ;) She loves being so close to the water! I could never get her to sit up in that thing without her wiggling her body as close to the water as she could. As soon as she learned she could make bigger slashes she did! She would always find a way to hang her toes off the edge and splash her toes. As she got older, it became harder and harder to give her a bath in her lounge. She wanted to twist and turn to get into the water as much as possible! When she learned how to sit up, she never wanted to lay in her lounger, she wanted to SIT UP and splash with her hands instead of her feet. After I washed her, I would put her on her tummy on the lounge and let her kick her legs and hit the water with her arms...she turned into a fish that night! One time I attempted to lay her back on the lounge and she threw the biggest fit. I swear this was the FIRST time my daughter threw a fit because she wanted to do something I wouldn't let her. Gosh, she's growing up so fast! I think I had a glimpse into the future and saw her at 16! haha I saw how much it meant to her to be able to sit up and enjoy her bath time and toys, so Jordan and I broke down, yet again and knew it was time for another upgrade.

4 weeks old and trying out her bath lounger for the first time.

She loves playing with her toys when she's taking a bath.

This is the point when we knew Lilly needed an bath seat.

Today, Lilly's new bath seat came in the mail. Jordan and I were sooooo excited because we knew how much joy this little seat would bring Lilly. We let her try it out on the kitchen floor first just to see how she would like it...and it was a SUCCESS! She was so interested in the toys on the front and she was in hog heaven being about to sit up like a big girl. So, of course we had to try out our her new toy. I swear Lilly and I played in the bathtub for a good 30 minutes! She would kick and splash like there was no tomorrow! Her toes and my hands were soooo wrinkled...but it was soooo worth being able to share my time with my daughter. I would never give up my time with her during her bath nights. I think Jordan wants to help sometimes, but I'm just not ready to share one of my favorite times with Lilly!  She had a blast tonight  and I would totally recommend everyone getting their baby one if they are sitting up well. Here's the link to the bath seat if anyone is interested: Baby Bath Seat. Read the reviews first because there are some things about it that I'm not crazy about, but all in all I think it was the perfect investment for our bath time adventures!

"Mom, what's this cool new toy all about?"

She loved it!

So happy!

Random Lilly picture, but she just looks to precious in this one not to post it! ;)

"Mom, I LOVE my new bath seat! You and dad are the best!" haha

So many fun things she can now reach to see and play with.

So, this is our bath time evolution. I know there will be many many more bath time upgrades, but right now we are enjoying our special moments with our latest upgrade!

5 Months Old = 5 BIG Changes

I know I say this every time I blog, but my daughter is growing up sooooo fast! She amazes me everyday with the new things she learns. I thought I would share five new things Lilly can do now that she's 5 months old. :)

1. Lilly can stand on her own...with lots of help. She doesn't do it often because she'll only last a few seconds before falling down, but I was able to catch her standing up for the first time on her own...with the help of her butterfly toy on her Around We Go excersaucer.  Her little legs are getting stronger and stronger every day!

2.) Everything and anything must be touch or tasted! We can no long have her sit in our laps without her trying to grab everything that is in front of her. She loves to hold new things and even find out what they taste like!

Lilly's helping her granddady pick out something good to eat on the dinner menu.

We can't talk on the phone or text anymore without her wanting to help us!

Her Nay Nay's gadget girl in the making.

3.) Lilly LOVES to sit up during her bath time. This is how I usually have to give her a bath because she throws a fit when I lay her down on the bath lounger to wash her body.

She's discovered she loves to splash and play with her toys during bath time. After mommy and daddy saw how much she loved sitting up we went straight to Amazon.com and ordered her a bath seat.  Yup, we're suckers for this cuteness!

4.) Lilly's eating baby food now and not just rice cereal. This was the first time she tasted squash...I think it was a hit!

I love this messy food face girl!

5.) Baby Smash! If you haven't heard of it and you have a baby then you should try it out! http://www.hanselman.com/babysmash/  It's part of our nightly routine to get on Baby Smash and learn about shapes and letters. I swear it wears this girl out...just in time for bed! 

She's out little genius! She loves to "smash" and play on the computer! I love watching her learn and grow!

Sip Sip...Chomp Chomp

Well it's time for sippy cups and rice cereal. I can't believe my little Lilly is old enough to drink out of a "big girl cup" and start solid foods. It was just yesterday that I brought this baby into the world...why is it already time for her to make this HUGE milestone???

On Friday, Jordan and I introduced Lilly to the wonderful sippy cup. She hadn't been nursing well (GiGi thinks it's because she's teething) so we thought it would be the perfect time to try a sippy cup...something new.  We thought we would put cherry flavored pedialyte in her sippy cup to keep her a little more hydrated (she had never tasted flavored pedialyte before). Lilly thought her sippy cup was a fabulous chew toy. She loved chewing on the handles and banging it on her high chair. Once she finally got the idea of putting it up to her mouth she took a sip and made the grossest face ever! Least to say, she may now think all sippy cups have gross red stuff in them! All in all, the sippy cup was somewhat a success...we'll stick to putting breast milk in it next time! It's still a learning progress, but she'll get the hang of it soon...she's such a fast learner!

I thought that her 5 month birthday would be the big day where we let her try rice cereal, but this mommy got cold feet and we decided to push it back a week. Then we decided we would give it a try yesterday (Saturday) but we had such a busy day that it got pushed back another day. I of course was totally okay with this. I guess it meant that I got one more day with my baby who only needed me to get a full tummy.

So today was the big day. We are now on a journey of rice cereal, sweet potatoes and apple sauce. This morning we gave her 1 tablespoon of rice cereal and 2 tablespoons of breast milk....looked gross delicious! At first it looked like Lilly was ready to gobble down the yellow mush that was on her Bumbo tray...WRONG! I gave her one spoon full and she spit it out! She wanted nothing to do with her rice cereal. Jordan and I took turns trying to feed her. We would put some in her mouth and she would look at us like "What in the world did you just put in my mouth?" After a few tries, she kinda got the hang of it and she even swallowed a few bites. She didn't come close to finishing the bowl and we didn't force her to either...she'll come around on her own time. I think she had more fun playing with the box of cereal, her bowl and her spoon.

P.S. We went to Papa and GiGi's house tonight for dinner and GiGi gave Lilly her first bite of mashed potatoes. Lilly gave her GiGi the same face she gave daddy and I when we tried to give her rice cereal. I thought for sure she would love the mashed potatoes...who wouldn't??? Maybe next time, GiGi!

Ok, what's this fun thing???

Thanks, mom and dad for the fun chew toy!

Ok, I guess I'll give this sippy cup thing a try...

EEEWWW...this stuff is gross!

Well, that was fun!

Getting ready for the big event!

Mommy's not ready, but I think she might be...

She pulled away from me...not sure if she's going to like this cereal stuff!

Whatcha think, Lilly???

...She just wanted to play with the spoon.

haha this was the face we got every time we gave her a spoon full of cereal.

Not a fan of this yellow mush at all!!!

Daddy's turn!

...Maybe a couple of bites won't hurt!

Mommy and daddy are more interesting than this mush stuff!

I'm DONE!!!!

Next time, I can forget about the cereal as long as I bring the bowl and spoon for entertainment!

A person's a person no matter how small...

I love Dr. Seuss...as if you couldn't tell by Lilly's stuffed animals in my last post. I can remember my mom reading Green Eggs and Ham to me over and over when I was a little girl. I bet I could still quote a few lines. I love the rhymes, the crazy abstract pictures, and the underlining messages in each book.

This past weekend, the Phemister family joined Jordan, Lilly and I for some fun and exciting Dr. Seuss story time at Target. When we first got there, I wasn't sure that this whole story time thing would keep Lilly's attention. To our surprise, we sat her car seat down in front row and she listened like an angel ( for the first 20 minutes). Jordan and I were so proud of her. Harlen and Lilly had so much fun during story time. I know Lilly loved listening to Oh, The Places You Will Go, but it was obvious that she was having way more fun with her BFF.

After seeing how well the girls did that day, I am so looking forward to enjoying more story times in the future!

Lilly's in her car seat being such a good listener.

Babies listening to story time and mommies drinking coffee...it's a crazy life, but it's our life!

She loves taste testing her friends!

Lilly's Dr. Seuss book collection. 

What a fun frenzy five months has been...

Dear Lillian,

You are now a whole 5 months old. My dear, you are growing like a weed and learning just as fast. You amaze your daddy and I everyday with your new discoveries! You can roll, sit up (for a few seconds), grab and play with toys you never used to play with. You are still 100% on breast milk, and nurse about 6-8 times a day. You've learned to sooth yourself to sleep for your naps. It's kinda sad having to let you fall asleep in your own bed mommy and daddy's bed (you won't fall asleep anywhere else...bad habit I've started) since I used to rock and hold you till you drifted off. You still sleep in a pack-in-play in our room. Daddy's trying to talk me into kicking you out next month and let you sleep in your own room, but you're MOMMY just isn't ready for you to be so far away. Now, you go to sleep at 9:30, wake up at 6:30 to nurse, and then go back to sleep till 9am. You'll stay awake for an hour and then it's nap time. You usually take two naps a day for an hour or so.

You are so tender and loving. You always reach for things so soft and kind. While you nurse, you like to hold on to my finger, and nowadays you like to run your fingers through my hair. You pull my hair sometimes, so I only let you do it for a little while. When people talk to you, you smile and put your fist in you mouth and duck your head in my arm. You shouldn't cover up that beautiful smile...it makes my heart glow every time I get the chance to see it!

Bath time! Mommy's favorite way to end the night. You love your baths. You could splash your toes in the water all night if I let you. You don't mind me washing your feet or cleaning behind your ears as long as I let you chew on your wet wash rag . You are starting to get interested in toys. You love when I entertain you with your water toys. You're favorite is a green turtle scoop with holes in the bottom. You could watch me fill that thing up with water 100 times just to watch the water drain out of it. The only thing you still hate about bath night is getting lathered up with gallons a little bit of lotion. I guess it just makes you too cold, and by the time we get to this part mommy is usually racing to get as much lotion on you as possible, zip up your night gown and brush your hair before the screaming starts.

Screaming? YES, screaming! One of your many new and entertaining tricks you've recently learned. Mommy and daddy thought this was so funny the first time you did it, but now we can't give you a passy fast enough. You scream when your happy, sad, bored, and mad...mostly when you're bored. You are a busy body just like mommy. You can't sit too long or do something for too long before you lose interest. You're so stubborn too. We try to let you scream it out or learn to deal with your situation, but you never give up or give in. You'll be such a good leader in whatever you do in life.

You've also learned how to blow bubbles and make raspberries. You make the sound of a motor boat alllll the time. We all love when you make such sweet sounds...unlike the screaming. haha You find it interesting that you can put your hands together in front of your face. You've also found your toes. Every time I change your diaper you grab your toes. It's one of my favorite things you are doing now. You love to stand, especially when daddy has you. Oh, speaking of your daddy. You looooove him so much! When he gets home you light up in the biggest smile. No one, and I mean no one, can make you laugh as loud and hard as he can. Everyone tries, but we all fail. He's your number one and we all know it!

In the past 5 months, you've developed your own personality and changed mine. You make me think about others before myself. You show me what unconditional love means every day. Being a mommy is the best gift in the world, and I am so blessed that I'm yours. You are a shining star in everyone's eyes...especially your grandparents who can't go two weeks without seeing you!

I love you so much, Lillian. I promise to show you my love everyday from the moment you wake up till the moment I kiss you goodnight.

Love,
Mommy

Trying to figure out what this green thing is that she likes so much!

I cought her in the act of making motor boat sounds. Love this picture!

Lilly's favorite bath time entertainment!

Waking up to this 5 month old is priceless!

She's our Thing 1

Talking to her toys....

Happy 5 Months, Lillian!

She's into books now! Mommy is still jumping up and down with excitement! Oh the places we will go during our story times!

Being 5 months is so much fun!