Daddy is really funny...

Daddy brought out the big belly laughs. For some reason Lily thought her daddy was especially funny yesterday and was cracking up at him.




Yesterday was also her first trip to the library. She got a couple of books to try out. Lately she seems to be very interested in letters. She looks at words on the page and couldn't take her eyes off mommy's shirt that said "UC Davis Alumni".

Nap time!

Lily has started to put herself on a schedule. Yay! She is napping at 9 AM and 1 PM. Today we happened to be in the car when her 1 PM nap should have started so she fell asleep in the car for about 10 minutes. After her little cat nap she did not really want to go back to sleep. So instead she did this:



She sure can keep herself entertained. Finally after about 30 minutes she fell asleep. This is from her 9 AM nap, but this how sweet she looks sleeping:


Her typical schedule at about 3.5 months old:
7 AM eat/up for the day
9-11 AM eat then nap
1-3 PM eat then nap
sometime between 7-8:30 PM eat then sleep for the night
sometime between midnight-1:30 AM eat
4 AM eat
She's skipped her midnight feeding once, which was so nice. That was her longest stretch of sleep at 7 hours.

She's getting very good at putting herself to sleep, especially at nap time (when she hasn't just slept for 10 minutes in the car). She gets her arms swaddled, a pacifier and her rain forest music/lights on. She's usually asleep before it turns itself off in 5 minutes.

First time in the pool!

Lily took a dip in the pool today. It's been warm here and humid. The pool was still a little chilly but she liked it once she got used to it a little bit. She's wearing the swim outfit her Aunt Melody bought for her.



She liked looking at the water.

3 months old

Three months already. Lily is changing so fast now. It seems like she's different every day. A few updates on her:

-Talking up a storm. Beginning to sound more like babbling and less like cooing.
-Loves to watch her parents talk.
-Reaches and interacts with toys. LOVES her floor gym. She's getting better and better at holding on to toys. Can knock over blocks that mommy or daddy stacks.
-Holds onto mommy's hair frequently.
-Starting to put things in her mouth besides just her fist & and arms.
-Sucked on just her index finger on August 4th.
-Loves when mommy shakes her whole body, especially when dancing to music.
-First laughed on August 1st.
-Sleeps at least a few hours in her crib every night. She usually makes it until 3 or 4 and sometimes all the way until 7.
-She's getting better about putting herself to sleep in her crib. If she's tired but not too tired she does really well. She needs her arms swaddled, a pacifier and her rain forest soother (it plays music and has lights).
-Still likes to go to sleep late and get up late. We're trying to move bedtime earlier but she's stubborn! Ideally she'd go to sleep around 6:30 or 7 PM so she'd be ready to go for the day at 7 or 7:30 AM but sometimes we sleep in until 9:30, 10 or almost 11 a few times.
-Prefers napping with mommy or in her swing, not so crazy about napping in her crib.
-Steam rolling over everything. She's very good at rolling from her back to her stomach. In her crib she only rolls over her left shoulder, on the floor she'll roll either way. She has rolled from her stomach to her back several times but not as frequent.
-Excellent at scooting in circles and straight ahead.
-Wears 3-6 month clothing (6-12 month socks!).
-Wears a size 2 diaper in Pampers Swaddlers.
-Still 100% breastfed.
-LOTS of drool! Are teeth coming soon?
-First play date on July 31st. Lily played with Eleanor (2 months old) and Sierra( 3 1/2 months old). Mommy works with Eleanor's mommy, Sarah. Sierra's mommy, Beth (and Sarah) were both in mommy & daddy's birth class. Lily loved Eleanor's toys and she showed off her rolling skills.

How Lily is developing:

I know you!

Even though your baby has been able to recognize you since he was just a few days old, he may now be able to show it. About half of babies this age begin to exhibit an obvious recognition of their parents.

Most likely he'll still smile at strangers, especially when they look him straight in the eye and coo or talk to him. But he's beginning to sort out who's who in his life, and he definitely prefers you, your partner, and a select few over others.

Your baby may quiet down and make eye contact with you, or he may search for you in a room and move his arms in excitement or smile when he finds you. He may even find your scent calming and comforting.

A big spurt is happening in your baby's brain development that coincides with significant behavioral changes. Your baby is more attuned to the outside world and more sensitive to changes in his environment.

The part of the brain that governs hand-eye coordination and allows a baby to recognize objects is developing rapidly now. His hearing, language, and smell have also become more receptive and active. When your baby hears your voice these days, he may even look directly at you and start gurgling or trying to talk back.

Early language development

Research shows that babies whose parents speak to them extensively have significantly higher IQs and bigger vocabularies when they get older than other children, so interaction is especially important right now. Set a solid foundation by exposing your baby to a variety of words.

Talk about your surroundings when you take him for a walk, and point to and identify objects as you roam the grocery store aisles. Your baby can't repeat these words yet, but he's storing all the information in his rapidly developing memory.

If your home is bilingual, your baby will benefit from hearing both languages spoken regularly. Don't worry if some of his verbal skills seem to lag a bit at first. He'll not only catch up later, but he may also excel in his general language skills.

_________________________________________
First time interacting with a toy on her own. She wanted to touch the bee's eyes.

Always rolling over in the crib and often getting legs or arms stuck in the rails.

Trying out the scooter with Daddy.

First time sitting in the high chair. It's a fun place to play with toys.

A couple days later, she put one of the boxes on her hand all on her own.

Playing in the grass outside. Lily & mommy went on a 6 mile walk.
First hints of laughing, we didn't officially call it a laugh until a couple days later.




Just being cute in general.

5 Years!

The 27th of July marked 5 years of marriage for us. Sometimes it's hard to believe we've been married 5 years and other times it feels like we've been married forever! Since Gary and Cat decided to get married in Maui we were lucky enough to visit many of the same places we visited on our honeymoon almost 5 years ago. We even stayed in the same hotel. It was a much different trip this time around.

July 27th, 2003:


That was a fun party, wasn't it?

July 27, 2008:
(Unfortunately Daddy isn't in the picture but we know you're not here to see us anyway.)

How'd we spend the day? Walking around Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica and having lunch at PF Chang's with Lily.

Next month will also mark 5 years living in Los Angeles and 5 years that Scott has been in graduate school. November will mark 5 years for me working at the VA/UCLA. We feel so fortunate for everything we've experienced in the last 5 years. We feel especially lucky to have Lily in our lives now. She's definitely the best thing that's happened to either one of us.