Miss Lily Goes to the Dentist

Lily had her first dentist appointment today. She is seeing Dr. Steven Chybowski of Progressive Pediatric Dentists in Oak Creek, conveniently located in the same building as her pediatrician, Dr. Maria Quejada (also, wonderful, just had to give her a shout-out).

I had read that studies have shown that premature infants have an increased risk for developing dental problems such as: delayed tooth eruption, enamel hypoplasia, tooth discoloration, palatal groove, and a possible increased risk for needing braces....and yada, yada, yada. You can read more about that here. So I just wanted to get Lily in with someone to see how she was doing and if there was anything we should/shouldn't be doing.

We went back with Lily and Dr. Chybowski had Lily sit on my lap facing me and then I tilted her back and the Dr. brushed her teeth and looked at them. Lily screamed the whole time, but it was only about 5 minutes. Eventually after several visits when Lily gets used to him looking in her mouth, we will move her to the chair.

Dr. Chybowski said that everything looked good, he said that she is a little behind in getting her teeth in, but they will eventually come in. He also reassured us that use of a pacifier is okay - the teeth may eventually start to shift outward, but as soon as she drops the Nuk they go back (we are planning on trying to drop the Nuk after our flights anyways, but was good to here for everyone who tries to tell me it will ruin Lily's teeth - it won't).

He also said Lily has a thick frenum that is low (the piece of skin that runs vertically attaching your upper lip to your mouth - learn something new everyday!), which is causing her to have a gap in between her two front teeth. Most children end up ripping it themselves during a fall, otherwise down the road, if her teeth don't move together after she gets her permanent teeth, they would look at snipping it or something. Hopefully her teeth will just push themselves together - I'm not really worried about this right now.

We need to go back in about 9 months when Dr. Chybowski thinks Lily will have all her molars and take another look.

Chris and I both agreed that we liked him very much, which was reassuring because don't we all want our children to not be as scared of the dentist as we were?? Is that even possible?

Mason's Birthday Party

Saturday, September 19th

Lily before the party with Grandma

Lily fell asleep right before we were going to do her cake),

we put them down for a nap before the party and crossed our fingers)

Lily and Mama
(I am making a conscious effort to get in front of the camera with Lily more)

CBE

Mason and his train cake
(I was also videotaping this, so don't have very many pics,
but Lily was taking chunks of cake and delivering them to guests,
I got a nice big gross piece shoved in my mouth, such the hostess,
you can see her head in the bottom left of this picture,
as she heads toward the cake)

Steve, Mason, Lily and Nana

Nana and Lily

Ashlyn sleeping, while I admire her hair

Aunt Roxane and Lily, yes that's a Ladybug clippie in her hair

Mason and Mama

Mason and Nolan and Grandpa break the pinata open...
they can hardly believe their eyes - CANDY!!

Mason and Nolan love the bouncy

Lily hates the bouncy - maybe next year??

Nolan is seriously the easiest and most cooperative child to photograph,
you say "Smile" and he finds the camera and puts on his "Money Face"

Mason and his buddy Nolan playing with his new Thomas trains

Learning from both of our children's 1st Birthdays
(Mason was crying and sick during his and

Ah...Fall

Leaves changing
apples
cool breezes
pumpkins
the smell of leaves burning
mums
raking
allergies

and football

My husband is a huge football fan and is faithful to our Green Bay Packers, our family even survived the Favre break-up.

Since I met Chris, he and his father have watched almost every Packer game together, unless Chris was working. His dad comes over and they order pizza or Chinese or something. I'm not much of a football person (let's remember I was raised by my mother and have a sister), so I used to spend that time cooking soup or chili, reading or napping....but now I have a Packer cheerleader to chase around!

Worst.Mom.Ever.

::drumroll please::

....and the award goes to.....

me

So...having a child is really a "learning experience" and there are a lot of things that I screw up on, and mostly I just have to forgive myself for the mistakes I make, learn from them, and keep on moving...but sometimes when something happens, I think to myself, I must be the Worst.Mom.Ever.

For instance....I have been waiting for some things to happen that are just par for the course, I guess, like cutting Lily while cutting her nails, I haven't done it yet, but know that it is bound to happen one day.

I also knew that one day, she was inevitably going to tumble down the stairs...this happened about 2 weeks ago, when I forgot to close the baby gate on the stairs leading to our upstairs. I was putting some new sheets on Lily's mattress, and it was just too quiet - you know, that quiet that you suddenly realize is too quiet and you start to panic that your child is drinking something poisonous under the kitchen cabinet, well, she wasn't doing that, but almost immediately after I realized it was too quiet, I heard a crash and then a gut-wrenching cry. When I found Lily she was laying on our hardwood floor, doing the I can't breathe because I'm crying so hard cry (I hate that cry).

For some reason, I didn't panic, I was really calm and calmed her down right away. I felt awful that I had left the gate open and knew that she had probably fallen down about 2 stairs because she tries to walk down them like a grownup, instead of scooting on her butt. As Lily cried and I tried to calm her, I thought to myself I must be the Worst.Mom. Ever. By the way panic ensued, once Lily was calmed down and I was able to react to what just happened.

And my latest Worst.Mom.Ever. moment occurred this week. I thought that we needed to schedule an 18 month appointment with the Pedi and also inquire about the Swine Flu vaccination (not sure if we are going to do it or not and need to talk to the Pedi about it). So, on Chris' day off I had him call, only to find out that Lily was supposed to have a 15 month well-check in August that I somehow completely missed - oops....Worst.Mom.Ever. that's me, right here. ::raises hand::

So that's the latest of my Worst.Mom.Ever. moments, but I am sure one is coming up again this week.

Swim Again

Lily started Parent/Child swim tonight! Umm....after the first 20 minutes of shivering and whining, she seemed to warm up for the last 15 minutes of class. I guess she didn't remember the pool? Anyways, it is a lot easier when Chris is with me. Trying to get her dressed, then get me dressed as she does laps around the locker room = exhausting, but we did it!

Choo-Choo Look Who's 2!

Mason turns 2 today! I can hardly believe it's been 2 years since he was born. Time is going too fast! Mason, thanks for always helping take care of Lily and loving her so much, she'll come around eventually (I hope). Happy Birthday Mace-man, we can't wait to celebrate with you today at your train-themed birthday party!

I did this video for Mason last year for his birthday and never posted it on the blog, so here it is. Ididn't have the time this year to do a video, Lily is keeping me very busy these days. (turn off the music at the bottom of the page, to hear this music only)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Lily's 16 Months!

these pics were taken in Lake Geneva at a restaurant

At 16 months Lily is weighing 21 pounds 6 ounces and is 30 inches

She has a dimple now on her left cheek
I can put a barrette in her hair!

A lot seems to be new with Lily this month, ever since she starting walking, it seems the only new thing to "master" is talking (and running and jumping, but we'll get to that). It seems like she says everything now, or at least will "try" to repeat everything now...there are still some things she doesn't say, but the list grows and grows each day....
apple, orange, banana, light, car, May (for Mason), boat, train, duck, bunny, clock, shirt, bow-wow
she also says Hop, Hop, Hop and Row, Row, Row, words from 2 of her favorite songs

Now for the running and jumping, she is really into "hopping" right now, but can't really do it; so it's more like squatting down and then standing up and walking on her tip-toes. Running sometimes happens on accident and then when she realizes how fast she's gone she falls down.

Diaper Change Escapee

Diaper changes are "no easy task" anymore, I have a little girl who is way to busy to lay down for a diaper change, so sometimes you must do it standing up, before she escapes you!

Lily gives another barnyard animal a piece of her mind

checking out some chicks at the Walworth County Fair

coloring in her highchair

She has started to read a little to her baby too. And she is also enjoying coloring a lot these days, it keeps her busy for 30 minutes, in toddler-time, that's like 8 hours, and when I'm cooking, it's a lifesaver.

She is really into books right now and will get one out of her bookshelf and walk over and sit on your lap, so you can read together (with her blankie of course).

reading to her baby

She can identify pretty much everything, if you ask her "where is the clock?" she will point to it. She can find clocks, tables, plants, ovens, microwaves, lights, babies, cats, dogs, lambs, pigs, apples, pumpkins, bananas, oranges (this makes grocery shopping with her fun, but also harder, because she wants things now to eat) once she learns something, she can find it in a book, in the house or in a store.

sleeping beauty


even lots of personality when she sleeps

Mason loves taking care of his LaLa

Nutella is a hit on our house - on a Go Lean waffle with bananas - delicious!

playing with her doggy - she also brushes his hair


We are getting really excited for our first family vacation, we will be traveling to Florida for my cousin Val's wedding. We have had a pretty rough year and decided to make it a family vacation, with Disney too. Billie, Steve, Mason and my mom are coming with us. We are looking really forward to it and can't wait for the Floridians to meet Lily and see how big Mason is getting.

I was a little nervous about the flight and keeping Lily entertained, but after a recent boat trip on Lake Geneva, that I didn't know was 2 hours, and I had nothing to keep Lily occupied, I realized my worst nightmare (sreaming baby on plane) is hopefully not going to become a reality. (and yes, I was sweating when I realized how long we were going to be stuck on the boat with nothing). Lily did great, just sat on my lap, we showed her some stuff in a Lake Geneva travel magazine and she had fun looking at that - whew! I left the boat thinking, wow, the flight is going to be no sweat (because I will have toys and food...and baby benadryl if needed)


Lily's first boat ride

Lake Geneva

I also snagged this costume in Lake Geneva for Halloween, I couldn't resist.


Coming Soon: Lily has her first dentist appointment in 2 weeks, update and pics coming soon!

Getting To Know You

I totally stole this post from The Compton Corner blog (if you haven't checked it out they have the most beautiful little girl). I want to know what you like and a little more about who's reading about us!

1. Who are you?

2. How did you find my blog?

3. What do you like most on my blog?

4. What would you like me to blog more about?

5. A totally random fact about yourself!

Zoo a la Carte

Naughty, B-Dub, J-Lo, Me (um, why don't I have a rapper name?) and Lil' C

Cheers to Pete!
This one's for Pete

Billie, Steve and Mason

Mason & LaLa (that's what he calls her)

Jenny and her 2 Michael's

Daddy & Lily

Tonight at the Park

Here are some pics from a park by our house that we walk to often, it has a pond with ducks for Lily to feed...well, she stomps around and scares them, while I try to entice them to come closer. Here are some pics from tonight...

playing at the playground

Walking with daddy

Lily chases them away

Ducks crossing the street - too cute