Lilly's Two Months Old

It's crazy how fast the time is flying.  I'll be back at work before I know it :-(  At two months, Lill is a whopping 14 lbs, 5 oz and 23.5 inches long.  That puts her at about the 95th percentile for weight and 85th percentile for height.  Remember when we were a little worried about her weight?!  This girl sure showed us. She has no problem packing on the pounds :-)  She's healthy and happy and we have more and more fun with her each day.

Likes: Sitting up and facing out, checking out the world around me, smiling, coo'ing and kicking my legs, listening to Daddy tell me stories, watching ceiling fans, riding in the car, sleeping anywhere but my crib

Dislikes: Tummy time, being held 'like a baby' (unless I'm really tired and you're bouncing, swaying and shushing me to sleep), sleeping in my crib

A trip around the Mitten

At just 6 weeks old, Lillian took her first trip to Michigan.  In order to ensure that she fell in love with my home state, we started the trip in our favorite spot, Up North.  We were a bit apprehensive about the drive given that it's already 8 or 9 hours without an infant, but we were up to the challenge.  (Not to mention, I would have nothing to do with the mention of me not going for our annual family vacation)

We have been going to my family's timeshare at The Pinestead Reef in Traverse City every August since I was a baby.  Corey started joining us about 5 years ago and we have since been very excited to continue the tradition with our children one day.  Our first annual trip as a family was this year.  Lill was a champ on the drive.  She slept most of the way, played a bit when she was awake and we stopped to feed and change her diaper twice.  Corey was also a champ, driving the entire way...9.5 hours from door to door.  While it sounds like a horribly long trip, it went surprisingly fast and the view of the east bay at the end made it totally worth it!

We spent the week lounging around the condo and beach, going out to dinner, grilling out and eating peel and eat shrimp and corn on the cob...fresh from the roadside stand, of course!  Oh, and we did a lot of staring at Lill as well as passing her around like a hot potato as she met all of our friends who have also been going to TC each August for as long as I can remember.  A number of us met on the beach when we were very young and it's so fun to see children of our own doing the same and knowing that they'll grow up with fond memories of this fabulous tradition like we did.

As I noted in my last post, Corey had a few tricks up his sleeve to continue my 30th birthday celebrations in Michigan. First, he surprised me with a lunch date with our dear friends Paul and Katherine who were up in Harbor Springs (I was not aware) from Chicago.  Paul and I became friends while working in Detroit and both transferred with our company to Chicago where we (Corey and Katherine included) became very close.  Later in the week, Corey and I ran up to the local market to get some food for dinner.  I had no idea why he was dilly dallying more than usual but just figured he was on vacay time.  Little did I know, he was just trying to stall as I had quite the surprise waiting for me back at the ranch when we returned.  He had arranged for two of my best friends, Carly and Kelly (as well as Kelly's fiance, Mike), to visit and spend the weekend with us.  To say I was surprised/shocked would be the understatement of the century.  We spent the weekend lunchin', wine tasting, lounging on the beach and even had a wonderful dinner at a new favorite restaurant of ours (where we actually celebrated our one year wedding anniversary last year).  Last but not least, Corey worked some things out with work and surprised me at the last minute (the day before we left ot head up to Michigan) that we'd be extending our stay in Michigan and heading to Troy for a few days so that our Michigan family and friends, especially Grandma Lillian, could meet Lilly.

Talk about some wonderful birthday surprises. I am one lucky lady :-)

Smiling at Grandma Cyn

Lilly meeting Molly
(daughter of my friend Catie, born 2 weeks before Lill) 

The obligatory annual family photo in Leland

There's another family to photograph each year from now on :-)

Meeting Uncle Bry

Wine tasting at Chateau Chantal

Amy and I (we met on the beach up here nearly 30 years ago)

Daddeo and Bry at my birthday dinner

Ana (Amy's daughter) holding Lill

The very special meeting of Lill
and her Great Grandma Lillian

Cameron (3.5 year) and Ashleigh (9 months) Topper
meeting Lill

The big 3-0

This past month I entered into the next decade of my life.  If you had asked me a few years ago what I would do to celebrate my 30th, I'm pretty sure my answer would have included a weekend of fancy dinners, lots of drinks, maybe some karaoke or even a trip to Nashville (I've still never been and figured my 30th would be a good excuse to go).  Fast forward to my actual 30th and I'd say I grew up quite a bit in the last couple of years :-)  Instead, my birthday celebration consisted of a nice walk in our neighborhood with our little family, brunch at a local favorite, and carry out from one of our favorite Vietnamese restaurants.  We were also able to get out sans Lill for a few hours for the first time since she was born.  Corey's Mom and Dad offered to watch, not only Lill, but our niece and nephew as well so that Kyle and Meredith could join us for a night out at our neighborhood wine bar. Corey's buddy from high school and his girlfriend, as well as our friends Chris and Paige and Corey's cousin Kristen joined us as well.  It was an awesome night to say the least.  A flight of chardonnay, champagne, great friends, and lots of laughter...and coming home to the cutest little babes in the world.  What more could a gal want for her 30th birthday?!  Little did I know, Corey had a few ideas in mind (see next post for more details).

Our sweet sleepy girl at brunch

At long last, the nursery is complete!

It only took until Lill's one month birthday for her nursery to finally be complete.  We had just a few hiccups with the furniture so the dresser and chair were not delivered until a few days before Lillian was born and the crib until one month later.  It feels so good to finally have it complete!  We're very happy with how it turned out :-)

I'm a Mother again!

Well, this time it's a Godmother.  I have the honor of being the Godmother to our beautiful niece, Taylor Anne.  She was born exactly one month prior to Lill, by the same doctor and in the same hospital room, to top it off.  The baptism was held after the 11AM mass at Mary Queen of Peace (the same church that Meredith and Kyle were married a little over 4 years ago) and was followed by a little celebration at their home.  It was a wonderful day with family and celebrating Taylor Anne.  Lillian managed to sleep through the entire ceremony and celebration.  That girl can sleep through anything.

Taylor Anne with her parents and Godparents (myself and Meredith's brother, David)

Big brother, Carter, and Kyle

The entire Bruno gang

Our little Bruno fam

Kyle, Meredith, Carter and Taylor

Carter and Grandpa Jim

Lill in her beautiful outfit from Aunt Kelli Mac

Lilly's One Month Old

Lill had her one month check-up this past Saturday.  Newborns usually go straight from the 2 week check-up to the 2 month check-up.  However, Lill had some weight issues from the start where she lost more in the first week than the doctor would have liked to have seen (right around 10% of her body weight) so she wanted to check progress at one month.  We're proud to report that Lill surpassed our expectations and gained a whopping 2.5 pounds in the last two weeks.  My mom joked that I "have cream, not milk".  I can now nurse less often and I no longer have to wake her up to feed at night.  She's filling out beautifully and getting more of a personality every day.  She celebrated her first month birthday by only waking once to eat during the night.  Momma is very happy about this and did her own little celebratory dance as a result.

At one month Lillian is 10 lbs, 8 oz and 22.5 inches long.  This puts her at about the 75th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for length.

Likes: Lying on the changing table, mornings, sleeping in my car seat once I'm strapped in, going on walks, black/white/prime color toys, sleeping, nakie time

Dislikes: Getting my diaper changed, evenings, getting strapped into the car seat, being hungry or swaddled

Corey suggested I add "mom" to the likes and "dad" to the dislikes.  This is not the case, but since he spends most of his time with her in the evenings after work, he gets her at her fussiest time.  She's a morning person which is when momma soaks up all the smiles, coo's and big bright eyes (as well as any photographs) she can.