Starting over!

Ok, so here I am trying to make an attempt at starting over at the baby blogging process! I apologize for not posting anything for the past 4 months (yes, it's been THAT long)! But there's no time like the present to get back into it. My first post back is just simply going to be one of a few favorite pictures of Lila Grace since she was a newborn and a quick synopsis of her first few months.

First of all...I am head over heels in love and obsessed with my little munchkin (my favorite nickname for her). I have never felt love like this...when people all your life tell you that having a child is the best joy in the world...they are completely right and there is no way to describe the overwhelming feeling than to experience it for yourself. So, yes, I'm completely obsessed and love being so!

Lila Grace is a wonderful baby. She is so full of joy and spunk. We've had some challenges...mainly with feeding. At about 1 month old she was diagnosed with severe acid reflux. She was spitting up everything she ate. Imagine the exorcist here...yes projectile, soaking vomit...lovely I know. The only thing that softened that whole experience and was actually pretty funny was when she would look up at you with that big toothless grin through the puke all over her. In order to try and ward off a puke we had to keep her perfectly still after every feeding for about 45 minutes. Anyway, she was put on Zantac to lessen the pain of the acid and I was put on a dairy free diet because they also determined that she had a sensitivity to the cow's milk protein. So I breastfed (mainly pumped and bottlefed the breastmilk) for her first three months exclusively. Once I went back to work, I found that keeping up with the pumping was too overwhelming so we started switching to formula. It took us a while to figure out the right one. I had a lot of breast milk stored up in the freezer so I had been planning on mixing breast milk and formula until we started to have a big problem with constipation and fussiness. Finally our pediatrician suggested Enfamil Nutramigen, a hypoallergenic formula. Immediately it made all the difference in the world and she was a different baby. It is HORRIBLY expensive but we of course if it relieves all of Lila Grace's feeding issues then we are all for it! She has since stopped spitting up...which makes all the difference! She is still a pretty picky, small eater but she's much happier!

Lila Grace is tiny! She has followed a good growth curve since birth but the fact that she started so small...she is still very small. At her four month well check she weighed only 11lbs (4th percentile), but she was 24 in long (40th percentile) and in the 40th percentile for her head circumference. I just like to think she's just svelte and likes to be a skinny mini! Recently she definitely seems to be chubbing up a bit.

Lila Grace is very strong, she started holding her head up during tummy time at 6 weeks! She's obsessed with standing and has been doing so with our support since she was 8 weeks! I'm betting she will walk early...she doesn't have much weight to carry!

She already has a pony! Well, a little blankie pony. She loves pony and likes to have him to hold onto in her carseat and occasionally to sleep with (slap my wrist, I know). She bites him, snuggles him and puts him over her eyes when she's sleepy. It is so adorable to see someone so young love something so. I'm glad she already has something that brings her such comfort.

She loves her daddy! I think we have a daddy's girl on our hands. She gazes at him with such adoration. Laurin is such a wonderful daddy. She takes after him in being quite a busy body. Neither of them can sit still for more than 5 minutes and they get bored very easily...this works out quite well when he's taking care of her. Speaking of that...they've gotten a lot of bonding this summer considering Laurin has been taking care of her full time between soccer camps. While he's working camps, Lila Grace's Nana has been taking wonderful care of her. We are so incredibly lucky to have such a supportive family!

She loves to sleep! THANK THE LORD! She has been sleeping through the night (10pm until 6:30am) since she was 3 months. She loves her beauty sleep which Laurin and I couldn't be happier about.

She loved her swaddle. We swaddled religiously until last week. I think that is the main reason she has always been such a good sleeper, well that and a pretty strict feeding schedule. Last week we and she finally decided it was time to wean her from the swaddle. It was obviously time because she did really well and is now just using pajamas and a sleepsack to keep her cozy at night.

She loves Duke and Maggie, her play mat, her Bumbo, being outside, riding on the golf cart, sitting on the bed, watching us make her bottle, her bouncer, baby massages, car rides, the Baby Bjorn, the jogging stroller, grocery shopping, Target. But most of all her mommy and daddy for whom she smiles relentlessly.

I could go on and on but I've got to stop at some point...I guess that's where more posting will come in! Enjoy the pictures! By the way they aren't in much of a particular order...