Lillian is already a year old.  It’s amazing how quickly the time goes.  She has changed a ton over the last 12 months.  She is a ton of fun right now; giggly, playing games, and learning so much.  The first three pictures are in her birthday dress showing her size at 12 months and the last one if for comparison at 11 months.  She actually hasn’t grown that much in the past month. 

At her 12 month appointment she only weighed 13 pounds 15 ounces which is below the last weight recorded about three weeks ago.  Her length was 26.5 inches.  She is now off of the charts for both weight and length.  Since her growth didn’t stay at about the same pattern as it has in the past, the doctor wanted blood work done to weed out any serious diseases.  So in addition to 3 shots, Lillian also had to have her blood drawn.  She didn’t like it but overall did fairly well.  All of the results came back normal so we were excited about that. 

The doctor is having us go back in a month for another weight check.  Until then we are supposed to try to get Lillian to take 8 ounces of Pediasure a day.  Pediasure is a drink with a ton of nutrients in it.  They have many flavors so that is helpful and I think chocolate seems to be a favorite so far.  We have also tried banana and vanilla.  The only way we have been able to get her to take it is to mix it with her oatmeal.  We have also been trying to get higher fat and calorie foods hoping that we will be able to stop the Pediasure and continue with a well balanced diet through food instead of a nutrient drink.

The month started out a little scary with Lillian having pneumonia, but the Omnicef (antibiotic) cleared it up.  She had her second tooth poke through on May 4 so now she has the two middle teeth on the bottom.  She was sent home one day from daycare for throwing up but once Mark had her at home she was super happy.  When I went to clean her clothes, there really wasn’t much on them so I would consider it spitting up and not throwing up, but daycare has to protect the other kids as much as they can so I understand why they sent her home. 

She got another ear infection and virus which included a 104.4 temp on two separate days.  The fever was brought down with Tylenol so it wasn’t that high for very long, but the temp did stay around for about 4 days.  We had to do ear drops for awhile but the drainage eventually subsided and through most of it she was a very happy baby. 

Lillian tried many new foods this past month and her favorite would be Cheerios.  She would live on them if we let her.  She also started taking steps while we hold her hands.  We traveled to Sharon and Wayne’s house for Mother’s Day, which was Lillian’s first day trip over an hour away.  She grew enough to outgrow her 3-6 month jammies so she is now officially in 6-9 month.  She is almost always in a size bigger for pajamas than for clothes.  She is still in size 2 diapers and 3-6 month clothes.

She has also started to do the sign for more.  Actually, she adapted her own way of doing it but we know that she means more.  The correct way to do it is to put all of your fingers together on each hand and then hit your finger tips together. 

Lillian is now eleven months old, well actually she is eleven and a half months now, but I will keep this post as an update at eleven months. 

She weighs 14 lbs 3.6 oz but since we didn’t have a well baby check up I’m not sure how long she is right now.  Lillian has accomplished a lot of new things.  April 9th, she started going from her belly to sitting on a consistent basis.  That was also the same day that I found her sitting in her crib when I went to get her out of bed in the morning.  A week later on April 16th, she started crawling.  There really was no sign that she was going to start crawling.  She rarely got up on her hands and knees and didn’t rock back and forth either.  She just started to take off.  She is officially in size 2 diapers and 3-6 month clothes now.  We also took her on her first bike ride in the bike trailer.  She has also tried many new foods including more finger foods, which she seems to enjoy.  The pictures on the left are her eleven month pictures and the one on the right is her ten month picture.

Just a few pictures that I like of Lillian.  This outfit did not fit on Easter but less than a month later it does.

Here are some other pictures of her, some at the park, more with the bear, and at home.

Tomorrow Lillian is 10 months old.  She continues to develop more and more.  This month she has started to eat solids much better.  Before she would always shake her head and not open her mouth, now she will open her mouth and even ate 2 ounces of food at once.  Some of her favorites are peaches, applesauce, and butternut squash.  Last Saturday she scooted backwards while on her belly and then went from her belly to sitting.  She hasn’t mastered it yet because she has only gone to sitting that one time.

As always, the pictures on the left are her 10 month pictures and the one on the right is her 9 month picture.  Don’t forget to watch the slideshow at the end of the post for more pictures.

She will sometimes wave but really likes to clap.  She started randomly clapping awhile ago but will now clap if we do, when she gets excited, wants attention, and even when we sing to her or she hears music.  Her personality is really starting to show and we feel like she is quickly developing and learning new things.  Just today, we noticed a tooth is starting to poke through.

As you know, we have had issues with Lillian’s ears and antibiotics not clearing them up.  Well, on Monday, March 15, we had Lillian’s pre op appointment for tubes.  Her ears were clear enough at that time so we scheduled the surgery for the 18th.  Her surgery was at 7:30 in the morning but she was not able to eat before the procedure.  She did really well considering she didn’t understand why mommy wouldn’t just feed her.  Mark and I did everything to distract her from thinking about eating. 

She also did well with all of the “strange” people that she had to see.  They took her in for the surgery at 7:40 and we were taken back to see her by 8.  I immediately fed her and she was still completely out of it.  Luckily she didn’t have to have any IV’s or shots to be put under anesthetic; she just had to wear a mask.  Once she started to fully wake up she couldn’t stop crying.  The nurse assured us that it was normal and that it might help to go ahead and go home because she would then be in a familiar place.  So we left and she fell asleep in the car.  She slept for about another hour and then was fairly back to normal.  She did sleep more throughout the day and didn’t really want to play as much as normal, but by 6 that night she seemed to be completely back to herself. 

We had to put ear drops in her right ear for 5 days because they had to drain fluid from that ear in order to insert the tubes.  She had no drainage from either ear until Monday (March 22).  Since we were instructed to call for any drainage after the first two days we called the on call doctor.  He prescribed Omnicef, an oral antibiotic, and more ear drops.  We did both for 5 days and they seemed to clear everything up. 

March 31, we took her back to the ENT for a routine post surgery check.  She weighed 13 lbs 9 oz so she was close to the weight that she was prior to being so sick from the last antibiotic.  She also finally had clear ears.  Even though we had a few appointments after Christmas that her ears weren’t infected, they had always had fluid in them.  With the fluid it was just a matter of time before an infection took place, so hearing that they were clear was fantastic news. 

We were also told that the drainage we had seen a week before was a good thing because it showed that the tubes were working.  Without the tubes all of that drainage would have been stuck behind her eardrum, therefore would have caused another infection. 

Since all of this, Lillian has been such a happy baby.  She is giggling and smiling what seems like all of the time. 

Lillian is already 9 months old!  She is not crawling yet but does turn in circles while sitting, so she is starting to get the idea of using her hands to help her move.  In the past month, she has learned to clap, drink from a straw cup and a sippy cup, as well as went from sitting to her hands and knees.  Due to the continuous ear infections she really hasn’t gained weight.  At one of the many doctor’s visits we have had she was up to 13 lbs 10 ozs but on her actual 9 month appointment she was back down to 12 lbs 10 ozs and 25 1/4 inches.    The pictures on the left are her 9 month pictures and the one on the right is her 8 month picture.  There are many more pictures so be sure to watch the slideshow at the bottom of the post.

We took Lillian to the ENT doctor and her ears still had fluid in them but they were not infected.  He told us that he wouldn’t recommend tubes at this time because we were getting close to the end of the cold/flu season so hopefully Lillian would get past the ear infections. 

A week and a half after that appointment Lillian had “gunk” in her eyes so we took her to the doctor thinking she had conjunctivitis.  Nope, she had yet another double ear infection.  So the doctor prescribed Augmentin again.  This was on a Monday and by Wednesday she seemed to be doing better. 

By Friday, she wasn’t herself again and had a slight fever at daycare, so back to the doctor we went.  The doctor didn’t think that Lillian needed Rocephin shots because it did appear that her ears were clearing up.  Her fever never got above 101 and was actually right around 100 all day Saturday. 

Sunday her fever was gone but she started to not eat very much.  We went ahead and took her to daycare on Monday but she did not eat much at all during the day.  While trying to give her the Augmentin Monday night she immediately threw up.  At this point we were really concerned that she might become dehydrated.  So we called the on call doctor and they made us feel better about it but of course we were still worried.

I stayed home with her on Tuesday and she continued to not eat much and threw up a few more times.  We already had her 9 month appointment scheduled for Wednesday so we were glad about that.

Wednesday I took her to the doctor and she did still have a double ear infection.  So she once again had to get the Rocephin shots.  I told the doctor that if her ears were still infected that we were going to move forward on getting tubes, she agreed that was probably the best thing to do.  So we have her pre op exam on Monday and if on Wednesday her ears are not infected she will have tubes put in on Thursday.  The reason it’s so fast is because none of the antibiotics work to clear her ear infections except the shots. 

Everything else looked great except she hasn’t gained enough weight so we have to get a weight recheck in a month.  The doctor isn’t too concerned at this time because she thinks it’s from the multiple ear infections.  Plus, she hadn’t been eating much since Saturday so that is 5 days without normal meals.

Lillian is officially eight months old now.  She is still tiny weighing 12 pounds 10 ounces and around 25 inches long.  She is just now getting to where she is outgrowing her 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers but can still fit into both.  Almost everyone including her doctor and the daycare ladies call her a little peanut.  She can sit by herself and is starting to roll around the floor to get to different toys.  When she sits she moves her hands in the crawling motion and lifts up her butt but doesn’t get into the crawling position yet.  Lillian is so much fun right now.  She giggles and squeals a lot and is just very interactive.  The two pictures on the left are eight month old and the one on the right is her seven month picture.

The last month or so has been pretty interesting to say the least.  Right before Christmas we started Lillian on amoxicillin because she had an ear infection in her right ear.  We went back to the doctor on January 20, 2010 for her booster flu shots and for the doctor to recheck her ears.  Well, she still had an infection in her right ear so we started her on Augmentin. 

The 20th was a Wednesday and that weekend she just wasn’t herself but never had a fever over 100.  So on Monday we checked her temp again and it was in the 98’s so we went ahead and took her daycare even though she wasn’t fully acting like herself.  Around 1 on Monday I got a call from daycare that she had a fever of 101.  So I went to pick her up, we got home and I gave her Tylenol and she was decent the rest of the day. 

The next morning, she still was not herself and had a temp in the 99’s so I stayed home with her.  She continued to get worse even though she never really had a high temperature.  Around early afternoon she was just sleeping and laying on me with no emotion at all.  I got really concerned so I called the doctor and they wanted to see her to check her ears.  We took her in and she had an ear infection in both ears.  She was 6 days into the antibiotic so it obviously wasn’t working.  The doctor said that we would need to give her Rocephin shots.  So she got one that day and the next two days we had to take her in again to get each shot.  She actually handled them really well.  She was much happier by the weekend and it was fabulous to see her smile and giggle again. 

Wednesday we had to take her back to the doctor to make sure that the ear infection was gone this time.  Well, both ears still had fluid in them so the doctor prescribed Omnicef and gave us a referral to an ear, nose, and throat doctor.  Her appointment is on February 17.  We are pretty sure that we will go and have to schedule an appointment for Lillian to have tubes put in her ears. 

At first, the thought of having her go through surgery, yes minor, but still surgery and still put under, was really scary.  Now that it has settled in and I know that it will probably be easier and better for her than to continue to get ear infections that don’t go away I’m taking it better. 

Lillian is 7 months old today.  In the first picture you can see how well she sits alone and the second picture is to compare to the third which is her 6 month shot. 

No official doctor’s appointment this month but we will be going back on the 20th of January for her flu booster shots and they will be checking to make sure her ear infection is gone as well as checking her weight again.  She has been much happier the last few days so I’m sure her ear infection is gone.  She is just so happy and fun and has been putting herself to sleep for her naps!  She wants to grab everything and even rolled from her back to tummy.

As I posted earlier, Lillian’s 6 month check up was rescheduled to the day before Christmas Eve.  This was by far the worst appointment for us.  I think she remembered going the prior week for her flu shots because man did she scream!  Any time I would get her near the table she would start screaming.  She was 12 pounds 6 ounces (1%) and 25 inches (25%). 

She ended up having an ear infection but everything else looked great.  We have to go back in late January for her flu shot boosters so they are going to weigh her again to make sure that she is gaining weight and that the amoxicillin worked to clear up her ear infection.  The doctor is not concerned about her weight but wants to see if her ear infection might have caused her to drop from the 5% range to the 1% range.  She said we just have a little peanut.

I was waiting to post this blog until today because Lillian was supposed to have her doctor’s appointment.  Because of the foot of snow we got, her appointment was cancelled so I will at least post the monthly bear picture.  The pictures on the left in the green flower outfit are her 6 month pictures and the one on the right is her 5 month picture.

When I weighed her on our scale with me she was about 12.5 pounds.  Of course that only goes by 1/2 pounds so it’s not too accurate.  She is still wearing 0-3 month clothes but is in 3-6 month jammies. 

Lillian is now five months old.  She did not have a doctor’s appointment this month so we don’t know her height and weight.  My guess is that she is around 24.5 inches and 12 pounds.  The two pictures on the left are five months and the one on the right is her four month picture. 

She is pretty much sitting up by herself but will still reach for toys and topple over so we have to stay right there.  She giggles a lot and is just so much fun!

Lillian is now four months old.  She had her doctor’s appointment on Tuesday and she weighed 11 pounds 1 ounce (still in the 5 percentile) and was 24.25 inches long (still in the 50 percentile).  She has gained exactly 4 pounds from birth.  The two pictures on the left are her four month shots and the one on the right is her 3 month picture.

These are some fun pictures showing Lillian’s personality a little.