Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Daddy's Day and Some Other Stuff


Hey there!! I hope that your week is going swell. Ours has been pretty darn good but boy is it hot here in Cincinnati!! Daddy says that's the way summer goes here and that someday soon he might even take me to this place called "the pool". Apparently, it's a place where you go to cool off and play around in the water. Sounds fun to me and I will actually get to wear those swimsuits that are hanging up in my closet.

So, last time we blogged I mentioned our failed attempt at the dog park. What a funny disaster that turned out to be. Well, last Saturday turned out to be a MUCH nicer day and we finally got to go let Tuck run around. We went with Ian, Amanda and Maddie and had a blast! That place is great and the dogs there are all really nice to eachother. Some of them even like to make other dogs give them piggy-back rides. It's pretty funny to watch because when they do this, their owners go all crazy and yell at them to stop. Uncle Ian's dog, Lex, is particularly fond of asking other dogs for a piggy-back ride. It drives Uncle Ian bonkers.

As you all know, Sunday was Father's Day and I got to spend the whole day with Daddy. We went and sat with Mommy for a little bit and Daddy gave her the download on all the news with me. It's a very nice and quiet place so we just sat there for a bit enjoying the morning. We said see-you-later to Mommy and headed off to Mimi's for a Father's Day lunch. It was there that I presented Daddy with my gift to him. I got him a few really great pictures in really nice frames. They now sit prominently on his desk at work. They are wonderful pictures. Mommy and Daddy's friend Jewel came over with a friend of hers and took these photos of me when Daddy was at work. We had to keep it on the "down-low" so Daddy wouldn't find out and ruin the surprise. Daddy said that this is something that Mommy would have done. I also gave him a picture that I had taken at Aunt Alison's and that one we put in an awesome picture frame we made with my footprints on them. That one sits in our kitchen. Later on that night we went to G'ma and Poppy's house for dinner. Everyone was there! We gave Poppy a really cute picture of me and a nice card. He really liked it. What a great day!

The rest of the week has been pretty uneventful. I am loving my schedule. I get to spend Mondays with Poppy, Tuesdays and Wednesdays with Alison, Gwyn, Jess, Ella and Conner, and then Thursdays and Fridays I spend with Mimi. I do miss my other sitters and hope to see them soon.

Oh yea, before I go to bed, my assessment with the "Help Me Grow" program went well on Friday. They will be setting up a schedule where they will come out to the house to work with me on building strength and range of motion. They will also help me with developing certain skills. This is going to help me catch up with my peers so that pretty soon, you won't even know I am a preemie.

Well, it's off to bed. A girl has got to get her beauty sleep you know. Hope to hear from you all soon. We'll be bloggin....

Love always,

Lily

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Big Adventures



Happy Thursday everybody!! Man the week is flying by and I can not wait for the weekend so that Daddy and I can spend some seriously awesome quality time together. I am gonna give you all a quick update on what we've been up to and then get to your questions because you all have asked some great ones!! I knew you would!
Last Sunday was awesome! I hung out with Grandma and Poppy in the morning while Daddy went to church and then Tucker and I went over to Mimi's for just a little bit so Daddy could get in one of his bike rides. I have to say, I have got the cooollleesstt grandparents in the whole wide universe!! Aren't grandparents the best!?! Anyhow, Daddy came to pick Tuck and I up and told us he had a surprise adventure to take us on but that we had to drive to get there. He wouldn't give us any clues and the suspense was killing us for the whole 20 minute car ride there. Uncle Ian, Amanda and Lex (Ian's dog) were following us so I thought that whatever we were doing involved our best four legged friends. Well, it sure did. We went to the dog park!! This place is totally rad. There are dogs of all shapes, sizes and colors there. Come to think of it, there are people of all shapes, sizes and colors there too. It was really fun watching all the dogs run around. Man, is Tucker fast when he gets going. There was only one downer to the whole adventure, it was drizzling a bit. And then, with one huge gust of wind, it was like the heavens opened up and poured out buckets of water. Daddy yelled for Tuck, we got the dogs on their leashes and made a run for the car. By the time we got there Tuck and Daddy were soaked. Me, I was dry as can be since my stroller has a waterproof canopy. So, our adventure was cut short but Daddy says that's what's so fun about adventures; you never know how they will turn out. Oh yea, Tucker has the coolest way of drying off. He jumps in the car and shakes his whole body. Water flies everywhere!! Daddy was not as excited about this as I was but he still got a good giggle out of it.

The rest of that night and week has been pretty chill. Daddy and I just kick it around the house most nights and take Tuck for walks when the weather permits.

The coolest thing about this week is that I got to go to Alison and Gwyn's house while Daddy went to work. I can't tell you how much fun we are having there. Gwyn is one cool and sweet chica and her mom totally rocks. I can see why Mommy and Daddy love her so. Aunt Jess lives close by to Alison and Gwyn so for the last couple of days we have been having play dates with all the kids. It's pretty cool being a kid. I am always so happy to see Daddy at the end of the day and he is so happy to see me. He says he looks forward to picking me up the moment he walks in the door. We make a good team.

OK, so you all have asked some really great questions and I am going to do my best to answer them. My favorite color right now would have to be pink. It seems like half my clothes, dresses and sleepers are pink. It's a gender thing. But then again, Daddy has a whole bunch of pink shirts. We match every once in a while and people give Daddy a hard time. It's pretty funny.

My favorite animal has to be Tucker. He is a great cuddler as you can see in one of the earlier photos. Not to mention, he is super cute. But right after Tucker, my favorite animal is frogs. I am just like my mommy in that regard. I actually sleep with her old froggy, Ribbit. Ribbit was the first gift Daddy ever bought Mommy and Daddy built Ribbit with his own hands. That's pretty special if you ask me. And two of my Wubbanubs are frogs, so you can see why I like them soo much.

As for books, I am the owner of a small children's library. I have soo many books that Daddy struggles picking out ones to read to me. I do have a couple Shel Silverstein books but the only one Daddy saw up in my room was "Where the Sidewalk Ends". He says it will be a little while before he reads me that but we have read "The Giving Tree" before. They had that in the NICU in both English and Spanish. Daddy stuck with the English version. I do not think that we actually own it though.

Hey Carson!! Thanks for asking such great questions and be sure to thank your Daddy for serving our country. My Daddy says that the greatest gift anyone can give is that of serving and that soldiers serve in an especially dangerous but important role. You should be super prod of your brave Daddy. My Daddy and I don't watch too much TV and when we do it is either the news, ZZzzz....., or Nature on PBS. You see, we don't have cable and we enjoy listening to music instead of watching TV. And since Daddy spends most of the day at work we tend to play until I eat or go to sleep.
We have spent some time talking about traveling. Daddy has always loved to travel and he tells me that he can't wait to take me to see the world with him . But we'll start out slow. First, we have to get the green light from the docs and we haven't done that yet. Our trips this summer will more than likely be short ones. We have a lot of friends in Chicago, so we may start there. We do have family in Florida and both sides of the family has property near the beach. We aren't sure when we will make it there but I look forward to seeing the ocean. Then, when I get older, Daddy says that we will be making trips out west to the mountains to go skiing and hiking and stuff. It sounds pretty cold but totally awesome. We will just have to wait though until I get big enough. Daddy says I should probably learn to walk first. Details... But we also have family in Arkansas that I absolutely HAVE to go meet. I hope to do that sooner rather than later. And then, once we condition ourselves to traveling within the states, we hope to someday go international. Daddy says South Africa is beautiful and that hopefully someday we can go to Ireland and see where Mommy studied. We'll have to see.

As for my features, Daddy says that I have a lot of Mommy's features but that he isn't sure if that is influenced by the fact that he looks for them in me. But, nonetheless, I do have Mommy's vibrant eyes and cute nose. My eyes are the same color as Daddy's but they are big and full of life like my Mommy's. And then there is my chin. Without a doubt, I got that from Mommy. I think my favorite features are my fingers. They are soo tiny and cute and oh so yummy!!

Tucker has adjusted great. He is like my bestest buddy after Dad and he is a great protector. He has his own little couch in the front room where he watches people outside. And when they walk by, he let's them know he's there. But with me, he is like the most gentle baby in the whole wide world.

Wow, that Q and A session was great. Keep the questions coming. We'll keep giving you updates on what's shaking in Lilyland. I am gonna go get some sleep. Big day tomorrow. I have the Occupational Therapist coming to the house to work with me. Not to worry, this is normal stuff for preemies. Basically, they come and work with me so that I close the "gap" between me and the full-term babies with my same birthday. It won't be long, Daddy says, before I catch up and then pass them. Stay tuned.


Much love to you all,


Lily


Thursday, June 11, 2009

Doin Good


Hey everybody!! Well, we are having a great week so far and even though the weather hasn't been all that great me and Daddy still manage to have a lot of fun. My new favorite thing to do is play on my playmat and look at all the dangly things. This one thing is super cool, Daddy calls it a "mirror". And man, that little girl who lives in the mirror-world sure is cute. She likes to do all the things I do. It's crazy! I could watch her for hours.

Oh, I forgot to tell you my newest trick I like to play on Daddy. So, Daddy has to go to work during the weekdays and he dresses up all fancy for it. Usually Daddy wakes me up in the morning to feed me after he has already gotten ready for work. He looks and smells good and is all ready to go to work when my caregiver gets to the house. We finish breakfast and I give him a few good burps but on my last one, I make sure to spit-up just a little. You know, enough so Daddy has to change his shirt. Hey, it buys me a couple of extra minutes to spend with Daddy and he doesn't seem to mind. Besides, if Daddy can get the messes a blow out leaves in my clothes out , I am sure he can wash a little milk off.


This week has been more of the usual. You know, I eat, sleep and go and Daddy reads me all kinds of stories. Except now, I can help hold my own bottle (see below). I usually help out when I get to the last couple ounces. I love all my babysitters and have been having the best of times with them. I can't wait for next week when I get to go hang with Alison and Gwyn at their house. It's gonna rock!!

We have my GI appointment tomorrow. I can't wait to see how big I am getting and to hear what my Dr. has to say about my eating. I wonder if he is gonna say I get to eat more (ie 6oz at a time). We'll see.

Before I head to bed for the night, I wanted to throw something out there. Daddy and I were talking about this blog and he was telling me about all the people he runs into that follow the blog and love it. Well, first off, thanks for following my progress. I love letting you all know what's shaking in my world. Daddy also told me that most everybody has great questions about me and Daddy that we don't always cover on our posts. So, I mentioned to Daddy that we should open this up a bit. You know, let's interact. If you have questions for us, you can post them to the comments section of the latest blog entry. Then, Daddy and I can respond to your questions on the next entry. Daddy thought it was a great idea. He also says there are no stupid questions and the sillier the question, the better. There could even be requests, like more video (not as exciting now as it will be) but Daddy said he can make it happen. Well, let us know what you think. I am gonna go get some sleep for my big appointment tomorrow.


Love you all,


Lily Ann


Sunday, June 7, 2009

Party Party Party



Hey guys! How's it going? Man, summer is one crazy busy season. I don't know about you all but Daddy and I have been all kinds of busy. He says that's pretty normal for the summer months around here and that things will settle down eventually. But I don't mind the busyness because all our running around makes for great adventures. For example, we get to take Tuck on most of our car rides and he gets super excited whenever Daddy says the word "ride" or even jingles the car keys. Today Daddy, Mimi, Papau and I were going to a graduation party and Tucker wanted to go so bad that he jumped through the car window since Daddy wouldn't open the door so he could get in the car!! Can you believe it?! Thank goodness the window was down, he would have bonked his head good. He didn't get to go that time but when he does come with us he rides shotgun with his head out the window. It's really cute.

OK, enough about Tuck. Let's talk about me. I mean, it is my blog after all. So, Daddy and I have been keeping real busy with reading books and taking walks and going on little adventures. On Friday, Daddy and I even went over to the house of one of Daddy's friends from swimming and had a grill out. Friday nights are usually "date night" for Daddy and me and we typically read, play around or just watch a movie. I snuggle in with Daddy and take a good nap while he watches a movie. But this Friday was different. We went and hung out with our friends instead and what a great time!! We just sat out on the back porch and chatted. They all were amazed at how big I am getting. Daddy says if he were a betting man, he would put my weight just shy of 11 lbs. Maybe, 10 lbs 14oz. We'll see on Friday because that is when we go see my tummy doctor.
Speaking of tummy stuff. Mine seems to be working just wonderfully. Actually, I even showed our hosts on Friday how well my tummy is processing my meals. I must say though, even though Daddy is a champ with changing diapers this particular diaper messin' took a ton of wipes to clean up. And I think Daddy even got some do-do on his hand. Eeewww!! Hehe.... But anyway, all that is to say that I am feeling fantastic and I can't wait to see what my doctor says. We will be sure to keep you posted.

Saturday was SUPER busy! Daddy and I woke up around 7 but just snuggled together until 8ish before getting out of bed for breakfast. I had my usual meal and then Daddy and I got our things together to go spend the day at Mimi and Papau's for Uncle Ian's graduation party. That was a great time! Lot's of people were there and I even got to wear Ian's funny looking hat. I guess when you graduate they make you wear a goofy hat that looks like a table atop your head. Well, it may not be much of a fashion statement but Daddy says I looked great in the cap and that some day I will be wearing one for my own graduation. Do they come in pink?
I got to meet all kinds of new people at Ian's party. I have to say we have some pretty cool family and friends and they all wanted to see me. Uncle MJ and I got to kid around with eachother and had a blast! (see pic below). Anyway, it was a great time getting to see and meet everybody but gosh, it sure is exhausting. Daddy, Tucker and I headed home around 8 and after my 9:30 bottle of boob juice, I sacked out until 7:30 Sunday morning. I was pooped!!
Today was totally awesome because my Grandma and Poppy came over to watch me in the morning while Daddy went to church. It was soo good to see them. They have been out of town on vacation for the last week and I was starting to have withdrawal. Apparently the symptoms of withdrawal were mutual and they were really excited to see me too. We had a great time together going for a walk and hanging out in the front yard. I am soo happy that they are home and tomorrow I get to spend the whole day with Poppy since he is watching me. It's gonna be great!!

Once Daddy got back from church we headed over to Mimi's again because we had another party to go to. Boy, there sure are a lot of people graduating! For those of you who don't live in the 'Nati (that's street jive for Cincinnati if you didn't catch on), it was pretty warm today and the party was outside. We didn't stay long at the party on account of it being so hot but it was really neat to go to. Daddy and I met a bunch of people who follow my progress on the blog who we never knew existed. I have to say it's pretty cool to have so many people we don't know pulling for us. So, if we met you today (and you know who you are) thanks for coming to say "hi" and introducing yourself. We loved meeting you even though it was a short chat. You rock!
If this running around wasn't already enough, Daddy, Tuck and I had one more stop today. We had family dinner and Grandma and Poppy's house. We love family dinner night!! I get to love on my aunts and uncles and Daddy gets to love on Ella and Connor (my cousins). Things can get kinda crazy when you get the whole clan together and we had a blast. Uncle Grady even fed me. That's big people. Except, I gave him a hard time when he tried to burp me. I didn't want to burp, I just wanted to keep eating and when he pulled the bottle away I would get sorting mad. You are probably thinking, "snorting mad, what the heck is that?". Well, when I get cryin' and am getting really mad, sometimes I start snorting when I try to catch my breath. Daddy thinks it's hilarious. I don't see the humor. So, since I was giving Grady such a hard time Daddy did the burping and then handed me back to Uncle Grady to eat. It worked out pretty well and next time I will try to be easier to make belch.

As you can see we have had a real busy weekend. We are super pooped and ready for bed. Keep on rockin'. We love you like crazy and will talk with you soon!!


Love, Lily

Monday, June 1, 2009

Gotcha Dad!!

Hey everybody, what's shakin'?! Daddy and I had another awesome weekend that started off with Daddy taking a half-day at work so he could take me to the doctor's office. This was our visit to Dr. Meyer, the cardiologist. He is an awesome doctor and a super sweet man. Daddy says that he was mommy's doctor too and that he took fantastic care of her. Now, don't you all go getting worried on me just because I went to the cardiologist. Everything with me is fine, they just wanted to check up on me since mommy had such a special heart. In fact, things are great with me and I now weigh 10lbs 4oz. It was pretty crazy what they did, they stuck all these cords on me and they measured my heart beats. The whole test took all of 1 minute. Then doctor Meyer listened to my "ticker" and said it tick-tocks just perfectly. So, I don't have to go back to him for another year though I am sure Daddy and I will stop by to say "hi"whenever we are at Children's for my other appointments.


On Saturday, Daddy took me and Tuck over to Mimi and Papau's so they could watch me while he went out on his bike. Man, it's crazy at that house when Tuck and Lex (Uncle Ian's pooch) play around but they know they can't play rough around me. Daddy came back after a long ride and we just chilled for a little while before going home for the kinda low key night that Daddy and I love. But my tummy was aching a bit and I was a little crabby on account of it not feeling good. So,we were watching a movie, Daddy was massaging my tummy and then it happened. My tummy let out a HUGE rumble and I just had to go. So, I went.....and blew out the diaper and covered Daddy's shirt with you-know-what!! Ooopps...heehee. I have to say that Daddy handled gettin poo'd on really well. He just took me over to my pack-n-play and got me cleaned up and then took his laundry downstairs so it could be decontaminated. It may be gross, but I sure felt better afterward. I slept pretty well that night.

Sunday was crazy busy for Daddy and me. My bestest buddy Gwyn had her first birthday party and Daddy and I had to run to get her a present so Daddy took me with him to the book store to pick out a gift for Gwynee. That place ROCKED! I thought I had a lot of books until we went there. Daddy and I could spend a month there and only scratch the surface of the great books that are there. Daddy promised that we'll go back someday and that I can pick a book out just for me.
We went straight from the bookstore to the party. The weather was great so we got to hang out outside for a little bit but mostly, I hung out with Gwyn's mommy, Alison. She is like the best baby holder ever (she's got a lot of practice). I really liked going to the party and seeing Gwyn's house and meeting her other friends. Their house is where Daddy is going to take me somedays when he goes to work. I think that will be soo fun to get to hang out with Gwyn and play with her toys together. I can't wait.

We just kept on running around Sunday and finished the day with swinging by the house to pick up Tucker and head over to Mimi and Papau's for a grillout with the whole family. That was a lot of fun but boy was I worn out. I got pretty cranky with the long day and I went to sleep half way through eating my dinner. And guess what?! I slept from 9:30 to 6:30am the next morning. Daddy said if I stayed up longer I would have more to blog about but I say a lady needs her sleep. Daddy didn't know what to do with all the sleep he had gotten and is hoping that I make a habit out of this new development. We'll see.
Well, I hope everything is rockin for you. We'll blog again real soon.