Five Days and Counting

That's how long Lily has been sick! I can't take it any longer. I took her to the doctor yesterday and she now weighs four ounces less than she weighed in December! She no longer has a temperature, but she still is throwing up quite a bit. Oh yes, and since yesterday she has started with this:

Our house is covered in towels. And it's pointless to try and keep her clothed. This lovely picture with six (yes, SIX) dirty diapers is after just over one hour. But don't think it stops there. There's still PLENTY of this:

Fun, hu? My poor baby. She wants so badly to be up and about and playing, but she can't manage more than five minutes before she lays down wherever she is and goes to sleep. And she is so sweet about the whole ordeal. But I am slowly becoming a basket case. Although the doctor said not to worry about her not eating, I still can't help but think it isn't a good thing for her not to eat anything for five days. And still she is throwing up! I don't know what to do! I really hope this passes soon, or I'm taking her to the ER and will rant and rave until someone does SOMETHING for her!

I haven't got any new pictures. Partly because the camera ran out of batteries right when I was about to take some. But mostly because Lily has been sick again. It seems like the same bug she had a few weeks ago, only worse. So we've been secluded all weekend again.

But we've still managed to have some fun. Lily's a little trooper. Even though she was sleeping all day Sunday, she still was playful after her bath Sunday night. This is her playing the "drums" on her belly (with daddy's help, of course). She's feeling much better this morning, although her appetite hasn't fully recuperated. She's lost a lot of weight and she doesn't look like the cute, chunky baby she was a week ago (she's still cute, just not as chunky). She hasn't eaten more than a few crackers and a banana in the past three days. This morning she loaded up on milk and a supplement drink, although she still won't take solids. Hopefully this is the LAST time she gets the flu (at least for this year). I hate seeing her so miserable.

Mirrors

Want to see something crazy?...

Look, it's two pictures of Lily. Oh wait, no it isn't. It is a picture of Lily and a picture of Aunt Denise. Ernie's family has been telling me how much alike they look, but I had no idea. CRAAAAZZZZY!

Oh, and here's the entire picture:

See that cute kid to Denise's right? Yup, that's Ernie. Wasn't he just an adorable kid?

Imaginations....

Where does she get her boundless energy? I love that her imagination is growing so quickly. This is her using the tupperware container that her art supplies are stored in as a "choo-choo". She dumped out all of the supplies yesterday, crawled inside, gave me a HUGE grin and called "all aboard!" Then she pumped her hand up and down and said "choo-choo" over and over and over again. She thought this was the most amazing game ever invented.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

It has been an absolutely insane week. Honestly, if not for Lily I would have just given up several times. Okay, so maybe I'm being a mite overly dramatic, but it was pretty awful. Generally speaking, I don't have bad weeks. I don't even really have bad days. I have a grumpy hour here and there, but that's about the extent of it. But this week, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Let's just say that I was very glad to wake up this morning and realize that it was Saturday! Blessed, blessed weekends. But before the wretched week began, we had a pretty great weekend. It started out with the zoo and ended with a flying lesson in the park.



Aren't they adorable...and here's proof that I don't over girlify my daughter.

She is the greatest joy in my life. She is always happy and adorable and oh-so-cuddly and cute.

Ernie put one of his hats on her and the batman shirt he picked out from Macys when I was buying dresses and frilly outfits (okay, so he forces me to not always over girlify her). She looked like a miniature version of him.

Our neighbor came over while we were doing yard work. He designed these great little toy airplanes. They are kind of like a paper airplane, but more permanent and made of plastic. There is a little groove on the nose. The launcher is a small dowell with a little notch at the top where he tied a giant rubber band.

To launch it, you put the slack part of the rubber band onto the hook on the nose of the plane. Then you pull back and let 'er rip.

Lily couldn't get enough of watching the plane fly. And when it would land, Ernie would send her after it.

When she finally grew bored of that, he took her to the playground and we had a grand time.

And then, much to her disappointment, we had to go home. We assured her that the playground would be there for another day, but somehow our reassurances didn't console her.

San Francisco Zoo

This weekend past, after weeks of endless rain, we finally had nice weather. I suppose I shouldn't complain, since we needed the water so badly. But those of you with young kids know as well as I do that life isn't pleasant with a toddler that is stuck indoors for days at a time. Lily loves to be active and outside running around.

And so, when we woke on Saturday to sunny, cloudless skies and reports of temperatures getting into the upper sixties, we packed up the car and went into San Francisco. Having been here for four years, its horrible that I've never been to the zoo. Especially considering that it is right next to a gorgeous stretch of beach that's perfect for surfing. But this weekend we made it out there. And the expression on Lily's face when she saw the giant girafe at the front gate made the entire trip worth it. She loved the exhibits. She loved the animals. And most especially, she loved the petting zoo. We had to literally pry her away from the duck pond.

For lunch, we got her a kid's meal at the cafe and it came in this adorable little tiger lunch pail. She totally dug it. She has a thing with purses, and kept grabbing it and saying "bye-bye" as she walked around. (Her toy purse at home plays music when she opens it. The end of the song says "wave and say bye-bye...I won't be gone too long".)

The polar bears were cool, although I kind of felt bad for them. The exhibit was all cement. I suppose polar bears live on ice, so maybe it doesn't matter, but you'd think they'd at least have a patch of grass. But I suppose since the SF Zoo only has animals that couldn't survive in the wild, it isn't as inhumane as I tend to think zoos are. At least, that's how I justified it to myself.

The goats and sheep in the petting zoo were fun. When we happened upon a group of sheep, they started "baa"-ing. Lily was delighted.

My favorite exhibits were the lions and tigers.



Lily got a kick out of seeing the lions eating. She kept pointing and saying "eat", to which I would reply, "Yes baby. They're eating." Then she would say "yum" and rub her hand over her belly.

There is supposedly a new baby gorilla, but we didn't get to see him. The papa gorilla was pretty territorial of the "nest" and didn't let anyone in or out while we were there.

Lily was afraid of the lion statue and would only go near it if I was holding her. And yet, I was still a mean mommy and made her sit on it for a photo op.

As we were getting ready to leave, we found this carousel. At first we weren't going to ride because we didn't have any cash for tokens. But Lily was so despondent that Ernie ran back to the cafe to get some cash. What a good daddy.

What Could Be Greater Than Bubbles?

I'm here to tell you, not much. Yesterday, we went into Toys R Us with the intention of seeing if they had the ouchless rubberbands I use on Lily's hair. I usually get them from Wal-mart, but they were all out and I was down to only blue ones (and you can't have that. They don't match all her pink and purple and green outfits). Anyhow, they didn't have any (which I kind of figured), but we still managed to spend $82. Isn't that just lovely? But we did get this super cool bubble machine for bathtime. (no, it did not cost $82. We also got her a princess ball pit/indoor jungle gym thing and lots and lots of batteries)


Lily had a blast with it. She especially loved when all the bubbles sort of stuck together and formed a really big, multi-faceted bubble for her to dive into.


And dive she did. Face first into the mass of soapy goodness...

Girls, Girls, Girls

I have a confession to make. Do you remember the amazing, fairy tale room Ernie and I put together for Lily while I was pregnant? Well, guess when we started it? When I was 12 weeks pregnant. Now, for those of you who have been pregnant try to remember when you find out the sex of the baby. I'll make it easy for you. 20 weeks. I've never publically admitted this before, but we were just about finished with the room by the time we found out we were having a girl. I was so certain that God knew me well enough not to give me a boy. And it turns out I was right. Some may say I was awfully lucky, considering how much we spent on clothes and decorations before I was even certain. But I honestly just knew. It's hard to believe, I know, and maybe it was some crazy pregnant hormonal thing, but I was positive that I was having a girl.

The point of this monologue, you ask? Well, I just want to share why I knew I would have a girl and not a boy. Because girls enjoy things like this.

Listen carefully and you will hear soft, classical music playing in the background and the clink of china on china. The melodious sound of little girl giggles and incessant chatter. Our first tea party was a smashing success. Lily, her baby doll, Mommy, and even Daddy participated. We all had a fabulous time.

Serving on a jury this past week has had its perks. One of which being that it is right around the corner from some adorable antique shops. So on one of the two hour lunch breaks, I was perusing and found this precious child's tea set. I thought about it for two days before finally deciding to go for it. I was a bit worried that Lily was too young to take care of something so fragile. But from the moment she opened it she has treated it with such incredible care. She is such a girly girl and was so excited to have a tea party. Next time I will be more prepared with props so she can dress up and have a really great time.