Dr. Daddy

Lily's lovin' the new ride!

Baby News!!!

Gretchen and Tiffany welcomed their twins, Henry and Ellie, into the world this past Wednesday night. My friend Jen (Nathan's mommy) is pregnant again and due in August. And, my greatest Greek girlfriend, Tori, is pregnant with her first and due at the end of September! I am so excited for everybody - congratulations to all!!!!

One of my favorite pictures of Lily at school.

Feeling fine

...because of that man o'mine. At the risk of totally embarrassing Carl, I must make a public statement that I have the most wonderful, amazing, and thoughtful husband. Today I received a bouquet of flowers at work with a card reading "My New Year's resolution is showing you how much I love you". Truly, he's the best. Thanks, Carl. You always seem to know just what I need and when I need it!

Ask and you shall receive

So, I had an interesting day. One of the owners of The Young School came to our location today and said that she had a surprise for the directors. She brought a catalog of pampering products made by the company Arbonne and said that we could each pick out $500 worth of goodies - whatever our hearts fancy!! This was completely and totally out the blue. She said that she wanted to show the directors how much we are appreciated. The funny thing is that most of the product descriptions talk about "balancing" the body both inside and out. Truly, just what the doctor ordered. Sometimes it does pay to be a working mom :)

Space Invader

Slowly but surely, Lily's toys, books, etc. are taking over the house. In an attempt to blend (and disguise) her things with ours, we got these great little containers from IKEA. They are like another toy for her - something that she can open and close, dump and put things in - and I like that her things stay organized and tucked away in a way that stays in line with our decor. Problem solved!

Some thoughts...

I'm having a little personal struggle right now within myself, and I'm not sure how to describe it except to say that I'm feeling a little imbalanced lately.

Lily is getting to an age where she is exploring and discovering, and it feels like you can literally watch the growth happening within her each day. I'm really enjoying this phase of her development, and I guess that I'm feeling guilty about not being able to spend more time with her than a couple hours (if that) at night and on weekends. I will be honest that this is probably the first time that I have really felt this way. I enjoyed Lily as an infant, but having her at school and on a schedule did wonders for me feeling human again after the haze of the first few months. But now there are things that I would really like to do with her, and I'd like to feel more like her primary caregiver than the evening and weekend mom. Part of these feelings stem from the fact that cutsie programs designed for mother and child bonding are completely tailored to stay-at-home moms, making us working moms feel even more like an inferior class. There are a ton of cool and fun programs, like read-alongs, sing-alongs, sign language classes (and list goes on and on) that happen from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm during weekdays. Fantastic for those great, involved stay-at-home moms; too bad for you poor working moms. The really ironic thing is that if I were a stay-at-home mom, I couldn't afford to do these programs anyway! So it is a select group that are able to partake in these lovely programs, and I suppose I'm just a little bitter that I'm not afforded the same privilege. So, I've said my bit.

The other thing that I was noticing today is that every day I have Lily completely put together from head to toe; everything coordinates perfectly from the hair bow to the shoes. Yet I wear the same 4 pairs of pants and 2 pairs of shoes every week with holey socks that don't match, and on most days, I look like I could have just rolled out of bed. Clearly, something is wrong with this picture.

I also spend a considerable amount of time pouring over any potential stain on Lily's clothes, making sure that they stay looking great (or like a toddler has not been wearing them). Yet Lily will smear bananas all over my jacket before work, and I think "hey, not so bad, that kind of coordinates with the half-eaten Cheerios she just wiped on my pants".

Furthermore, she has about the best diet anyone could have, not only hitting all the food groups, but getting the full spectrum of colors for fruits/vegetables every day. Everything for her is organic, proportionate, healthy, etc. Yet I'm grabbing a half-slice of cold pizza for breakfast and whatever microwave meal cooks the fastest for lunch.

I suppose that part of it is that I after I get finished doing all the things that I feel compelled to do (and truthfully want to do) for Lily, I just don't have any energy left over for me. And, I suppose that I've just described a vast majority of mothers: kids first, you second. I'm not really looking to rearrange the order there, but just maybe shorten the vast gap that currently exists between her needs and my own. This is one of the many things that I will be working on this year. Maybe it's because it's January and I feel the need to confess my sins of the past year and resolve to do better this year, or maybe it's because I'm getting ready to turn 30 in a couple months, but I'm feeling the need to rearrange, restructure, get back in control, and just feel more balanced.

Here's what's going on with us...

We are currently preparing for some changes that will be happening in the land o'Lily. First, we are phasing out the bottle and replacing it with a regular cup. Lily's school does not allow sippy cups, so we will be going straight to a regular cup, which is fine by me.

We are also preparing to start the process of transitioning Lily to a toddler bed (still in our room). I'm really not sure how I feel about this one. Truthfully, I have become accustomed to having Lily in our bed, and there are a lot of benefits to it. I really can't remember the last time we did not get a full night's sleep. Lily typically sleeps about 11 hours at night, and I think that part of that is due to the family sleeping situation. She sleeps so peacefully and is easily resettled if she stirs at all. As a result, I think that we are all more pleasant people. Also (this is the new parent coming out in me) I like being right there and knowing for certain that everything is okay with her. I still can't shake the memory of her throwing up one night and never waking. I know that she would have slept through the night in that mess if we would not have been right there. I know that eventually we will want our own space back, and she'll probably want her own as well, but right now we are all happy with the situation, and I feel a bit like I'm forcing this decision because we "should" (whatever that means). I know that in reality she'll only be moving 5 feet away from us, but I continue to question why we are doing it. Clearly, I'm not settled on this subject.

The feeding and sleeping issues are at the forefront right now because Lily will be moving from the Toddfant Room to the Toddler Room in March. When she moves, she will take one nap per day and sleep on a little cot (instead of her current 2 naps per day in the crib). Also, bottles are not allowed in the Toddler Room which I'm not really worried about. The last thing not allowed in the Toddler Room is a pacifier. I'm not sure how this will go in the classroom when it comes to naptime, but my guess is that there will be an initial rough transition and then she will adjust and be fine. This probably would be a good opportunity for us to discontinue use of it at home as well, but I'm just not that brave. We will (and already have begun) to limit the use of the pacifier to sleeping and car-riding solely. The pacifier is just so comforting to her, and I think that I will let her hold onto this last vestige of babyhood a little bit longer.

Lily continues to be her charming self even though she did have pink eye today. She woke up with crusty eyes this morning, and I've been in daycare too long to not recognize that tell-tale sign. We went to the doctor, got the eye drops, and all is well. I only ended up missing a half-day because I was able to go in when Carl got home from work. I was thinking today that Lily has been in daycare almost a full year now, and I think that I have only missed 2 (not even full) days of work because of her illnesses TOTAL. (Carl's total days missed due to Lily's illnesses = 0). That is a pretty good record (knock on wood). Truth be told, Lily has been such an overall easy baby that she makes parenting seem a little too easy. This has me really worried about our second baby, like I'm "due" some parenting hardships. We're not going to venture down that road any time soon anyway, so I suppose we will continue to enjoy what we have now and worry about that later.

Carl is doing well. I think we are past the worst part of the third year of med school. OB/GYN has a much a better schedule, and he was very fortunate to get placed in a hospital 10 minutes from home (where I delivered) for this rotation. We are hoping that he will be placed in the Pediatric Office located upstairs from my work for the Peds rotation coming up in about a month.

As for me, I am totally and thoroughly enjoying my new car. We decided on a Saab 9-3 for my new (used) car, primarily because of its excellent performance in safety tests. And, yes, I now have rear defrost along with a myriad of other features that I love. It is funny how much having a new car has changed my lifestyle for the better. I refuse to eat in it, so fast food runs have come to an end for the time being. I park farther away from stores because I am still very protective of my new ride. I am also a more vigilant driver, again because of my heightened sense of protectiveness. Overall, I am very happy with it and plan to have a very l o n g relationship with this car.

Skater Girl

Of the vast knowledge Carl has to impart to Lily, he's decided to start with skating on plastic bags. I can say that Lily was certainly a quick study!

The next Michael Phelps

Fun at Port Discovery

I reserve the right as a parent to think that my child is the most adorable, sweetest baby ever. How could I not with that precious smile and her sweet disposition?

Diner delights - some delectable rubber food. Yummy!

So much fun to be had at the Clifford The Big Red Dog Exhibit.

Clifford's playhouse was a big hit. Of course, she mostly just wanted to go in and out of the door, but hey, whatever makes her happy.

Sorting shapes at the doghouse.

On the slide in the Sensation Station Room. Lily had to go up a rope ladder and through a maze to get to the slide. Do you think she hesitated once? The girl seriously has no fear.

People-watching: one of Lily's favorite pastimes. Learned from Grandpa Meyer perhaps?

Our little treasure

Post-museum pics

Lily's favorite activity of the day was going to the toy store and throwing the balls out of the little hippo pool and watching mommy run down the aisle after them. I'm slowly learning that being the parent of a toddler is a very physical job!

Although Lily enjoyed the museum, she probably would have been just as happy going to K-Mart and sitting on the shelves the whole time.

All curls and lashes

Welcome to our house!

Here Lily is enjoying one of her favorite activities, opening and closing the door.

Growing like a...Lily

Lily has become such an animated, fun little person. I can't believe how much she comprehends now. When we ask her to get her baby she goes straight to the baby (and gives her kisses). When I ask her for a book, she goes to the bookshelf and picks one out. She also will sit for longer periods now to read books and even clearly indicates that she wants to read a book again by flipping it to the front when we are finished. Probably the thing that blew me away the most was tonight when I said "Let's go take a bath". She got up, went up the stairs, went into her bathroom, and pulled the shower curtain open. It really makes me wonder how long she has understood the word "bath" and what other things she understands that I'm just not aware of. She also continues to amaze us with her exploration of sounds and trying to say new words. She is working really hard on "shoes" right now, actually making a sound close to the sh sound. She also said something very close to "Terra" tonight. It's kind of scary how fast this is all going, but I guess that's part of what makes it so exhilarating for us parents!

Terra's secret longing to be an Afghan Hound is at last revealed.

Shake your groove thing

It seems that Lily has inherited her mother's love of dancing but her father's sense of rhythm. She may not be ready to join the Rockettes at the Radio City Music Hall just yet, but I could see "The Lily" sweeping the nation among the popular toddler hang-outs (daycares, gyms, and such).

C'mon, mom, I'm ready to go.

We had beautiful 70 degree weather here today. Lily's babysitter came over this afternoon, and Carl and I went out together, all on our own! We were hoping to come home with a new car, but it wasn't in the cards for today. My previous car was, as suspected, totaled, and I have been driving a rental car for the past week. Shall I list some of the features that I have been enjoying with the rental car ('06 Malibu Maxx) that were not available to me in my '98 Sunfire? Oh, let's do...

• Rear defrost
• Being able to "pop" the trunk while in the car
• Power locks
• Power windows
• Remote keyless entry
• And the really fun one...remote start. I love being able to warm up the car from inside of the house before I take Lily out.

We are still not 100 percent sure what the next car will be, but I can tell you that it will have rear defrost. (Shouldn't that be a legal requirement on all cars?)

Coverboy

Check out the Institute for Human Virology website. You may notice a certain Dr. Deetz in the pictures that flash at the top of the page. He is the one in the white coat when "Innovative Research" comes up on the screen. Thanks to Jean in the Pauza lab who told us about this, or we probably would have never known! I had to post this information here because Lord knows that Carl wouldn't have ever told anyone about it.

With Lily and I being on the news and making continuing appearances in our hospital's newsletter, we've just become quite the public family. Fortunately, I don't think that we will need to increase our security to beat away any adoring fans any time soon. :)

The Latest and Greatest

Lily's increasingly becoming an interactive player in her environment, and I would be content to spend all day just watching her figure things out. Like a little sponge, she is just soaking in the information and attempting to put all her newfound knowledge to use. She spends a good deal of time watching and listening and then trying to do/say what she sees/hears.

Lily currently puts her pretend phone and real phones up to her ear, puts the brush on her hair, pulls at her clothes when we start running the bath water, holds the fingernail clippers to each of her fingers, and reaches for the doorknob when she wants a door open. It's hilarious because she knows the basic function of things and how they should be used, she just isn't able to make the actual motions yet. Probably more frustrating than hilarious to her.

Much like the clientele at a Denny's restaurant, her vocabulary includes several regulars with a few infrequent visitors. Her over 70 crowd there religiously for the early bird specials would be: mama, dada, no, thank you (tane ewe), uh oh, Mona (nona) [her teacher], bottle (ba). Hi, bye, dog, and ball would be the teenagers in for the after-hours appetizers, making regular but infrequent visits. Those people just having the annual craving for bad food would be Lily's "grandma" and "baby". It's not just that she says these words but that she says them in the appropriate context. She has no problem telling me "no" when she does not want to get out the bathtub, and when she sees her bottle, she automatically says "ba" with a big smile. Much of her vocabulary is of course driven by exposure and then the basic principles of language development. But her delivery and her expressions are uniquely hers, and I love it!