So Advanced

Lately I've been wondering if Lily is getting ready to start teething. I know she's very young, but some of the signs are there -- she's always trying to chew on things and for a few weeks now has had excessive drool. I've been watching her gums for signs there and started introducing her teething ring last night so that by the time she needed it she'd already be familiar with it.

Today when I picked her up from daycare one of her teachers said she thought Lily was starting the teething process. They noticed the same signs I have, plus this afternoon she was not wanting to eat or sleep (more signs of teething), so they checked her gums and saw that they were swollen in the lower center. I told them I'd been wondering if it was coming, but wasn't sure given that she just turned three months old. Her teachers were marveling at that. Apparently they thought she was four months old, and thought she was an advanced baby even for four months. They couldn't believe she was only three months. They started talking about how big, strong, and alert she is for her age. They said that all day long she's always watching everything, and is nearly as advanced as the next youngest baby, who is seven months.

Big Weekend

Lily has had a very big weekend so far. Yesterday (Friday) I left work early so I could take her down to the pool at the JCC for her first swim in a real pool. (And by "real" I mean the Papa Albert children's pool, which is the special baby pool there.) I got Lil from daycare and headed into the main building where we got suited up. My friend Nancy met up with us just as we finished changing and came with us for our swim to take pictures. (I took them with a special waterproof disposable camera, and while I do have the prints, I haven't scanned them in yet, so no photos of her swim until at least tomorrow.)

This swim was her test run in the pool. Her pediatrician said that he usually recommends that babies not go swimming until they're six months old because of sensitivity to the chemicals, but that I could take Lily for a test run to see how she did. She seemed to really like the water, but I do think it was a little too early for her to go, because the chemicals did give her a little rash, even though I gave her a shower in the locker room immediately afterwards. I think for the rest of this summer she'll have to stick to the chlorine-free baby pool in my backyard and we'll save the JCC for next year. After the swim, Nancy got Lily back into her regular clothes while I got dressed, then we went into the lounge area and Nancy gave Lily a bottle while we chatted. We left when Lily was ready for her nap, which ended up being a pretty long one -- she was beat.

This morning Lily slept in later than usual. When she got up we got ready for another big day: Lily's first zoo trip. I decided that I'd have her wear a special "zoo" outfit (an animal print onesie with a giraffe on the front) even though it's a 6-9 month outfit. I thought it would be a little big on her, but when I got her dressed it really wasn't all that big. Man, she's a big baby.

We were scheduled to meet up with a friend of mine and his daughter at the zoo at 10 a.m., hoping to beat the heat. We failed. It was soooo hot today. Lily stayed comfortable riding in style in her stroller with her sun shade on her, but the rest of us weren't so lucky. It was still a really fun day. We saw all the animals, rode the train, went to the bird show, etc. Lil slept for much of the time and was too young too appreciate the animals, but I think by next summer she'll have a good time there.

After the zoo we came home and Lily took a long nap, then we went over to Emily and Thomas's house to check out their super adorable new crib bedding and have some dinner. Lily got to spend some quality time gazing at Thomas and chatting with Emily, then we came home when she started getting tired. Despite the long afternoon nap, the zoo took a lot out of her, so she slept on the short drive home, then had a bottle and was in bed passed out by 8:30. She usually sleeps from 9:00 to 6:30, so I'm curious how late she'll sleep tomorrow morning.

Singing

Last night Foster was over for his visitation. Lily was eating when he arrived, so I handed her off to him to finish the feeding, then went to my room so they could be alone. A little while later he went to put her down for her nap, and she was crying and crying, which she doesn't usually do at naptime. Sometimes if she gets too exhausted before going down she'll fuss a little, and all you have to do is give her her pacifier and she'll calm down, but that wasn't working last night. He asked me what was wrong, so I went and got her. I thought she was acting sort of gassy, so I sat in the rocker and burped her. She let out two big belches in my ear and then perked right up. She was pretty sleepy, so I was holding her against me with her head on my heart and started singing "You Are My Sunshine" to her. But our little performer decided singing along would be more fun than falling asleep, so she put her hands on my chest and pushed herself up so we were face to face, then sang along with me until I finished the song. After that I gave her back to Foster and left them alone, and by then she was feeling very chatty, so I could hear her gabbing away from my room.

I wonder so much what she'll inherit from me and what she'll get from Foster. She looks so much like my sisters and I looked as a baby, but definitely has her father's hairline and blue eyes (although it seems as though they're starting to turn green like mine). But I think one thing is clear from how vocal she's getting -- she's definitely a Jackson/Ellis girl in terms of chattiness.

Birthday Girl

Happy birthday, Lily! You're three months old today!

Lily celebrated her birthday by partying so hard last night with me and Emily that she spit up all over Emily's stomach. (While our girl is admittedly a bit of a drooler, she pretty much never spits up, so that was a pretty big event.)

Other than the spitup, one thing of note happened: while Emily and I were eating our dinner, I had Lily on her playmat next to the table. Emily finished her food and went to pick Lily up, but Lil wouldn't release her death grip on the playmat's mirror (which she had been gazing and cooing into), so she ended up picking up the playmat as Emily lifted her into the air. She might be a little vain, but she's also quite strong.

New Friends

Yesterday when I picked Lily up from daycare she was sitting in a swing, taking a nap. She opened her eyes when she heard me come in, then gave me a big smile when we made eye contact. One of her teachers and I went over to take her out, and another baby went toddling over as fast as her little legs would take her. That little baby got immediately in front of Lily's seat and talked some baby talk to her. Lily gave another big grin and made a couple of cooing noises, and the other baby started to laugh, then Lily started to laugh. I don't know what the two of them were talking about, but clearly they are fast friends who find each other quite humorous.

Also, as I think I've said before, Lily loves music and singing. When we're at home I put my TV on one of the music channels -- they've got one called "Toddler Tunes" that plays little kid songs all day long. We keep that going in the background most of the time, and she likes that pretty well. But last night we did one of her favorite things. I sat with her in the recliner and put the footrest up, then put my feet on it and bent my legs so Lily was sitting in my lap facing me, with her back leaning against my propped-up thighs. I put out my two pointer fingers and she made a fist around each one. Then I spent about a half an hour singing very animated versions of Motown songs to her (her favorite is The Supremes) while moving my hands around to make her dance along. When she's awake and alert, that's her favorite thing in the world. Last night she was helping out with the singing (which for her is just repeated loud shouts), and seemed extremely proud of herself for performing such great backup vocals.

Diagnosis

Last night Lily was still pretty fussy, but the fever was down. This morning she woke up a tiny bit cranky, but nothing terrible. She went down for her first nap at about 9 o'clock this morning, and when she woke up at 10:30, she was covered in a rash. I thought it was really strange, because there was no crankiness at all (she was back to her happy, smiling self) and no fever -- just this awful red rash. I called Foster to let him know we wouldn't be going to the BBQ, and then took her in to her pediatrician's office once they opened. (They have Saturday afternoon hours.)

Turns out poor Lil -- who, by the way, now weighs in at 14 pounds, 6 ounces -- has a case of roseola. It's a virus common in infants that gives them a three-day fever and makes them uncomfortable and fussy. Then the fever breaks, the baby's mood is good again, and the rash shows up for a couple of days. That certainly fits her symptoms.

Her trip to the doctor's office was pretty funny. She was happy as usual, just grinning away at everyone who looked at her. First the nurse took her temperature, heart rate, and blood oxygen level and was saying how cute she was and what a cute outfit she had on (a little white onesie with ruffled cap sleeves that has a pink mommy elephant and a pink baby elephant on the front and says "mommy loves me"). Then the P.A. saw her and was raving about what a cute, happy baby she is. The P.A. wanted the doctor to take a quick look at her to confirm the diagnosis, and when she went out into the hall to get the doctor, I heard her repeating all the stats and symptoms to the doctor and then saying, " . . . and she is just the cutest little thing you've ever seen, and as happy as can be!" They came in and I had Lily stretched across my lap while the doctor looked her over. While the doctor was examining her, Lily was grinning up at her. Then the doctor sat up and was looking at me while she explained everything, so Lily started to coo and wave her arms around to get the doctor's attention again. The doctor started to laugh and said, "Well, clearly the rash isn't doing anything to spoil her mood." I started to rub Lily's belly (which she loves), so then that was making her sleepy. Her eyelids started to get a little heavy and she was making these little grunting noises. The P.A. was really cracking up then. The doctor's final care instructions were, "Don't let her overheat, and keep rubbing that belly."

Sick Baby

On Wednesday afternoon I got a call from Lily's daycare telling me she had a fever and I needed to go pick her up. I headed down there and got the poor little thing, who was definitely not herself. She had a fever and was very fussy -- which is quite unusual for her. She didn't want to be picked up, held, or touched. I brought her home and took her temperature, then read the fever section in What To Expect the First Year. I stripped Lily down to her diaper and wiped her down with a lukewarm washcloth. Her temperature went up a little more, so I called her pediatrician. He said I should keep her cool, give her some baby Tylenol, and bring her in if her temp got to 104 or if she cried and couldn't be consoled. (It peaked at 102.) I called Foster and asked him to bring us some Tylenol (it was way too hot to try to take her out with me to get some, and Emily was out seeing the new Harry Potter), and he came over just in time for me to give her a dose and put her to bed for the night.

The next morning her temperature was still pretty high and she was still cranky, but she got another dose of Tylenol. I worked from home all day to keep an eye on her, and luckily the fever went down by mid-day.

Today she was back in daycare. Her fever is gone but she's still a little more fussy than usual. Foster wants me to take her to a BBQ tomorrow, but given that it's going to be nearly 100 degrees, I'm not sure if that's going to happen. If she's still fussy, I might take her in to see the pediatrician. A coworker told me her baby was like that when she was Lily's age, and it turned out to be a bladder infection that got diagnosed so late that it had turned into a kidney infection, and now her daughter has chronic kidney inflammation. We definitely don't want that.

Uh-Oh

We seem to be developing a little bit of a problem -- the dreaded "nipple confusion" I was warned about. It seems that Lily has gotten accustomed to drinking out of a bottle (where she doesn't have to work as hard), and is getting cranky with me when I try to breastfeed her (where she actually has to suck to get the milk out). It's not so bad first thing in the morning, when she's nice and awake, but if she's at all sleepy she gets very cranky when I make her work for her food. This afternoon it was enough of an issue that I put the breast milk in a bottle for her.

Growing

People are always asking me how Lily is doing, and every time I just have to say, "Great!" And it's true. She's such a happy, healthy little thing. She's growing like crazy, sleeping through the night every single night, always smiling, and never sick. She really is the apple of my eye.

The only "problem" I've had with Lily really isn't a big problem. She's growing very fast, which means she's eating a lot. When she's at daycare, she's eating nearly twice as much as the average for a two-month-old baby. The problem is that trying to pump enough breastmilk to send with her is a challenge. She eats three times while at daycare, which in theory means I should be pumping three times while I'm at work to produce what I send along with her. Unfortunately, I have work to do, so that's just not really an option for me. I pump once a day at the office, and then also pump in the morning right after she wakes up and eats (I have extra then because I get pretty full during the night). Then I also pump right before I go to bed, which is about an hour after I put her down. That's usually enough for her, but two times so far she's had a hungry day at daycare and they've given her a little of the emergency formula I left in her bin there. As she grows bigger, she'll be eating even more, and I'm not sure how that will work out, milk-wise.

I'm going to keep on pumping as much as I can to send to daycare with her each day (and exclusively breastfeeding at home), but I suspect that at some point she'll need a somewhat regular formula supplement while at daycare. Fortunately it won't be too much longer until I start introducing soft foods into her diet. (It's often done at around six months, but her pediatrician said that because she's so big, we'll discuss the issue at her four-month checkup and might start with some food then.)

Party Time

This weekend Lily attended her first BBQ, which was in celebration of her first holiday -- the 4th of July. As the only child in attendance, she was a big hit with the other partygoers. Fortunately, she continues to be extremely agreeable no matter who's holding her, so she kept smiling as she was passed around among strangers.

Also this weekend, I bought an ExerSaucer for her. I got one that converts from an ExerSaucer to a play table, so it's meant to last until she's two. She's a little bit too young to play in it right now (she has to be able to sit up on her own), but I figure it won't be too much longer before she's ready and I wanted to buy and assemble it now so it'll be ready when she is. (Also, I had a 15% off coupon that was about to expire.)