Lily smells the flowers

Lily stops to smell the flowers.

Heave Ho....not so much

Lily and Dad were suppose to go to Grandma's and Grandpa's 50th Wedding Anniversary party in Washington on July 15. We were going to fly out on Friday and back on Monday. Dad couldn't get any more time than that off work. Mom couldn't go at all because of her job. Dad was looking forward to seeing everyone at the party on Sunday.

Lily had been sick for several days leading up to the day we were going to travel. She had been running a fever and had a sore throat. Mom took her to the doctor who said that her ears and lungs were fine and that she could fly. So on Friday, Grandpa L. picked us up and we headed to the airport. Of course Lily slept most of the way there.

When we got to the airport, we checked in and went to find some food to eat. Before we were even able to order some food, Lily started to vomit.....all over Dad and herself. Two very nice ladies came to Dad's rescue bringing napkins and giving advice. Dad didn't really know what to do...do we travel and take a chance or do we turn around and go home. Well, we decided to keep going. Dad went and bought a t-shirt at the gift shop and went to change both Dad and Lily.

After getting cleaned up, we headed into the gate area through security. By this time, Dad was hungry so we went to get some lunch. Right after we paid for lunch, Lily started vomiting again -- all over Dad again. This time it was clear to Dad that we were not going to be able to fly anywhere. Our trip was over. Dad called Mom and tried to get Grandpa to come back and get us. Dad told the airline people that we were not going to fly and that we needed our luggage back.

Grandpa finally was able to get back to the airport to pick us up. Lily, thankfully, fell asleep in the car on the way home (we live about 1 and 1/4 hours from the airport.)

After we got home and got everyone changed again, Dad just held Lily on his lap. She did not feel like playing. All of a sudden, she started to vomit again.....all over Dad for the third time. Time to change clothes again. Back to the couch to sit. Then the dog started to vomit.

Mom was still at work when it was time for Lily to go to bed so Dad got her to bed. Then the cat coughed up a hairball.

Good thing we didn't get on an airplane. Dad ran a fever all weekend.

Poor baby!

Pathetic Baby 1, originally uploaded by Lily'sDad.

Lily had a bit of a dust up today. She and Mommy had gone outside and Lily thought it would be great fun to take off running down the sidewalk. Before Mommy could stop her, the giggling fugitive got going too fast for her own little legs and took a tumble, JUST as she reached the part of the sidewalk that is only gravel. She spilled onto her knee, scratched up her hand and worst of all, scratched up her pretty face and bonked her head on the cement. Poor thing.

She was very brave though and didn’t cry very much. Mommy and Daddy cleaned her wounds (this time legitimate ones!) and put band-aids on her knee, around her finger, and on her forehead. Poor little baby all bunged up!

The best baby!

100_3333, originally uploaded by Lily'sDad.

Well, really I guess I should say the best kid. After all, we have been saying all along that talking, walking and sleeping through the night are the criteria that make a kid and now she does all three!

Yes, thats right! Lily FINALLY slept through the night! From about 7:45 p.m. until 5:45 a.m. our girl slept and slept. For those of you counting, that is 10 hours and it only took 17 months, 17 days.

Lets hope it wasn't an anomaly and that it continues tonight! I suppose though, that even if it were an anomaly, it proves we are on the right road!

Dad has a job!

After being unemployed for more than a year, I finally have a new job! I will start my new job in a little more than a week. While it has been a difficult time for our family, this job is nearly a perfect fit. I will still be able to drop Lily off at day care everyday and will be home in the evening and on weekends. It gets me into a new industry (hospitals) and out of libraries. It takes advantage of my diverse management experience and technology experience. And besides everything else, it pays more than my last job did! I look forward to getting into the swing of work again.

More new words

Now she can say (or shout) "NEE!!!" which of course means knee. She is still calling elbow "bubble" but it is now followed by her pointing to her 'bubble', then pointing to your 'bubble' then kissing your 'bubble'.

She has also begun to say one of the most important words in the English language. Shoes. Its Lily pronunciation is "JOOSE" and of course it must be shouted at the top of her lungs. All the ladies in the shoe shop were tickled by that. She also points to everyone's shoes. Constantly. But hey, if she's going to have an obsession, I think shoes is a good beginning.

Sick baby follow-up

Well Lily's night in the hospital has come and gone. Her pneumonia is much better. For the first 24-48 hours, we did breathing treatments every 4 hours, night and day. After that, she had her follow up appointment with her pediatrician. He said that if we wanted to reduce it to twice a day (morning and night) it would be fine and once we thought it seemed under control, we could just do it as needed. Right now, we are doing only one treatment, and that’s right before bed.

John has been sick now. After I got over my sinus infection and chest cold (which I now question), John had to go to the doctor and was treated for Bronchitis and a sinus infection. Our neighbors are sick, my mother is sick, even Isaac has been a bit poopy. I wonder if some biological weapon has been unleashed on Topeka?

Lily in the hospital

Lily is spending the night in the hospital. She has been diagnosed with pneumonia. Mom is staying with her. Watch for the entire story soon.

Lily speaks! (If you listen very closely...)

Lily's Spoken Vocabulary-
Dog
Cat
Mommy/Mama
Daddy/Dada
Ball (CONSTANTLY! Everything round is a ball)
Num-Num (food - mostly accompanied by the baby sign for 'more')
Book
Uh Oh! (CONSTANTLY!)
Bubble (this generally means bubble, balloon and elbow)
Boon (this is only occasionally said and it means balloon)
Bow (this is only occasionally said and it means elbow)

Animal Sounds-
Elephant (Raised arms for trunk plus a high pitched squealing trumpet)
Cat (very high pitched meeeeeeeeow)
Dog (mostly just grunting but it could technically pass as a bark)
Giraffe (chewing)

Lily's devastating wound...

Lily has a terrible wound on her hand. We aren't sure how she received it but here, she points out the wound for all to see.....below...I have highlighted the wound so its full magnitude is understood.


As you can see, the wound is nearly the size of a pin head...or maybe a freckle. Lily has spent the greater part of the last several days walking around pointing it out to everyone. Its really terrible.....NOT.

Bedtime snack? Maybe not a good plan.

Lily hasn't been eating very well lately. We don't know if its teeth, or maybe a touch of the flu that Mommy had, or something totally different. Anyhow, we thought that maybe some sugar-free pudding would be a good bedtime snack and help her sleep a bit.

After her bath, we got her ready for bed and went to do snack. Turns out, that may not have been the best order to do that stuff in....for more Lily pudding pics, check our Flickr.

She was a MESS.

Lily is a great helper!

This week, Mommy hasn't been feeling all that well. Finally, on Wednesday night, Mommy finally came down with what she was going to come down with....the flu.

Usually in the morning, Mom gets Lily dressed while Daddy takes a shower. Then Daddy takes Lily to school while Mom showers and gets dressed for work. On Thursday, however, Mommy was too sick to get Lily dressed so she went and laid on the couch (conveniently located in baby jail) so when Dad finished getting the girl dressed, he could plop her in baby jail and she could talk to mom as she convalesced on the sofa.

It was pretty obvious to Lily that Mommy wasn't herself that day. She was just laying in one spot not moving or smiling, or anything. Lily knew that the only thing that made her feel better was her soft blankie. So she retrieved it out of the laundry basket (Daddy hadn't folded it yet) and brought it to Mommy and covered her up. Then Lily patted Mommy's arm reassuringly.

Such a thoughtful girl and a good helper!

Lily at the garage sale

Lily with grandpa at the garage sale
Originally uploaded by Lily'sDad.

Lily helped out at our garage sale last weekend. She had a very busy time picking the price tags off things. She was SOOOO tired after a busy day.

Lily slept through the night....or did she?

The debate about what constitutes sleeping through the night has begun. Last night, Lily Rose Opgaard slept through the night. That is, according to Mommy she did. Daddy, on the other hand, disagrees.

The Facts:
1) Lily went to bed and to sleep by 7:30pm
2) Lily woke up during Heroes (bad timing Lils!) about 8:30pm for a sip of water but went immediately back to sleep. Daddy responded. Up time: 10 minutes
3) Lily woke up at 10:30pm wanting water. Mommy responded. Up time: 10 minutes
4) Lily woke up at 11:30pm upset. Needed Tylenol and water. Daddy responded & Mommy assisted. Up time: 15 minutes
5) Lily woke up for the day at 5:05am.

That means that from 11:45pm until 5:05am (5.25 hours), Lily slept.

We encourage you to weigh in. Did Lily sleep through the night or not?

Lily lovers unite!

Remember a few months ago when we posted about Lily being such a ham at her Christmas Program? Well, apparently we weren't the only ones who thought so.

The other day, we were over at Sam's Club shopping. We were standing in line with Lily and an older gentleman was standing behind us. We were chatting with him, and he was admiring our girl (as people are so wont to do) and she was being silly and flirting a little bit with the 'grandpa guy'. All of a sudden, he got this look of recognition on his face and asked, "Did I see this baby at the First Baptist Church Daycare Christmas Program?"

John and I were astonished! I wouldn't recognize most of those kids there if I saw them out of context (and I see some of them almost daily), let alone one baby who I saw once 4 months ago! We confessed that yes, our baby was in that program. The man went on to say that she really made him laugh.

Lily has a groupie! Or….a grampy in this case!

Lily's fever

Lily was sick most of last week with a high fever. We took her to the doctor on Monday with a 102.4 fever. The doctor says that it was only an upper respiratory infection. By 10:00 that night, it had risen to 103.5 so we called the doctor again. The nurse told us to give her Tylenol to lower her temperature and call again if it went over 104. She was soooo miserable and woke up every 15-20 minutes most of the night. It made for a sleepless night for everyone.

Dad had to take care of her for four straight days. The first two, she just laid on him and slept. She wouldn't let him put her down for even a minute. On Tuesday night, in order for mom and dad to get as much sleep as possible, dad took her downstairs to our guest bed and slept with her. She slept better knowing that dad was right there.

By Wednesday, she was starting to feel better but was still running a fever. Because she still wasn't feeling 100% she was exceptionally fussy. By Thursday her fever was gone and she was even more fussy because she was starting to get bored with dad.

On Friday it was BACK TO SCHOOL!

We were concerned that the progress that we had made in getting her to sleep would have been lost but it would seem that we are still on track. Last night she woke up only once for about 5 minutes!

Lily on Easter

Lily is just kicking back on Easter Sunday morning.

Who is bigger?

You might have wondered, who is bigger, Lily or Darwin? Well, as you can see, it would appear that Darwin is still bigger but that is deceiving. Lily is heavier by a couple of pounds but Darwin is longer when he stretches out.

Want some?

100_3018, originally uploaded by Lily'sDad.

Lily is very into "sharing bites" with Mommy and Daddy. On this particular evening, dinner was ravioli and bananas. As with all good babies, the palate is not as 'discerning' as that of Mommy or Daddy. Tonight, she liked to have the bananas and the ravioli at the same time so they mixed on the tray and made the ever popular food, "raviana" or "bananoli". I think she finds it odd that Mommy and Daddy don't really like the flavor of banana dipped in ravioli sauce....

Mommy!

Well it took me awhile to get to this, but Lily has finally called me Mommy. I mean, she has been saying "Mommy" and "Mama" and "Dad" or "Dada" for quite some time, but it was always in a sort of general sense. Sort of "I say Mama in your general direction" kind of talking. But this time, it was deliberate, definite and darling!

On our anniversary, Lily was not pleased that I was doing whatever I was doing instead of paying attention to her. She toddled over to me, stood right in front of me, planted her little feet, looked up, raised her arms, and said "Mommy!".

Well, it was the absolute best anniversary present she could have ever given me! Sounds totally sappy but I know now what all those other sappy moms meant when they said that was the big moment for them. It was a rush, thats for sure!