53-60 Days Old (Funny Faces)

The Many Faces of Lily O'Dowd

Intense face - this is when you say something outlandlish ... she mad dogs you until you apologize

... sleeping Lily ...

This is the face the makes when we want something and she says nope with her tongue

Surprise!

 ... but it was a good surprise!

... just kidding, it is gross-tasting gripe water!

... she is trying to escape ...

... once she realizes she can't escape, panic sets in!

... and then apathy ...

... and finally the torment is over, and she is glad ...

 ... and tired ...

... oOo a camera!

Yay! Cameras!

48-53 Days Old

Lily is Growing, but is Still as Cute as Ever

Here is Lily with Lauren's good friend Christine. Christine is great with Lily ...

... and when Joe arrived, so did a new shipment of baby clothes ... this shirt is adorable!

... and Lily still LOVES baths ... she never makes a peep, and could stay in the bath for hours ... she doesn't even care when you wash her face with soapy water ... eyes, mouth, ears ... not a peep ... just warm, warm water ... mmmmmmm

... "I will get out this bath for ... one BILLION DOLLARS"

... she is even happy after she gets out and just hangs out naked for awhile ...

... here is Joe, setting up an entertainment center at our friends' place ... that is Kieran, who is about a year old, and loved helping Joe work ... using his own little tools to mimic Joe's motion and point to things and explain to him (not with words, but with that perfectly pitched and paced baby mumbo jumbo that they do before they actually figure out that they need to use words) ...

... and here is Lily is her new crib ... in her new nursery ...

... and Lauren put up some wall tattoos curtesy of Leslie ...

Lily loves to cuddle ...

... and it doesn't look like Grandpa minds the company ... (great photo!)

... sleeping babies are almost as cute as smiling, laughing babies ... look at her little chubby cheek all squished-up ...

... it is funny, you can lift up her arm and just drop it ... she doesn't budge ... you can pinch her cheeks and give her tons of loud kisses and tickle her ... and she won't move a muscle ... when she is asleep, she is asleep

48-53 Days Old (Smiling)

Lily Experiments with Smiles

So, Lily has been growing like crazy ... she just feels so much more solid, and heavy now ... I mean, really solid and heavy ... and she is so much longer ... but anyways ... she is really starting be become more expressive ... she doesn't quite have control over it or know what she is feeling all of the time ... but she is definitely experimenting with smiling ... here are a few photos ...

... but then ... she can't always be smiling ... so she has been experimenting with some other faces also ...

40-45 Days Old (Learning New Things)

Lily Learns Some New Tricks

So wow ... Lily is growing fast. It is hard to tell day-to-day how much she is growing, but it definitely becomes obvious when she learns new things, or makes a new sound for the first time ... still my only real measure of how much she has grown is by putting her in her ergo-carrier (like a frontal backpack). At first, the tippy top of her head may have peaked out but she was buried in the bottom ... now, her whole head and chubby face stick out the top and she is lookin' around ... it's wild how you can not notice it but have it be such a difference in just a few weeks!

So to see how much she had really grown, I first administered an eye exam ...

... to which Lily stared me down and said "come on dad, gimme a challenge"

... and this was her face after the written exam ...

... she was shaken up for quite awhile ... maybe even a few night terrors after an exam like that ...

... but then she came around and started smiling again ... the smiles are pretty new, and super fun ... she also got a ton of baby acne which is common from about week 4-8 ... it is already getting a lot better, but for awhile there she was just covered in it ...

... then came the oral exam ... which really stumped her ...

... then some naked play time ... as much as Lily loves being in hot water ... she is also a pretty big fan of free air ... just lettin' it all hang out ... and she kind of likes cold air too ...

... these two pictures are just adorable ... the soft green background, her big blue eyes ... and the playful, curious, innocent face she has ... i just love it!

... another thing she is doing now, is actually focusing on objects ... before it was more like looking towards sounds or light ... but now she really is looking on to things and staring at them ... in her swing that my parents brought (all nicely packed in a suitcase) ... she loves to stare at the hanging lion and hanging giraffe while she swings back and forth to soft electronic lullabies ...

... and she now loves to be swaddled at night ... for the first couple times, she wasn't a big fan of the baby-straitjacket ... but now ... oh she sleeps like a rock ... and I don't want to jinx it ... but she is sleeping so well about 5-6 nights a week ... for example, last night she went to bed at around 10pm and didn't wake up until 5:15 this morning ... and to top it off ... she didn't cry one bit, she just fussed a little ... and i woke up feeling great from 6 hours of solid uninterupted sleep ... so i had nothing but super soft, happy voice and "wow" "you're so good" "thank you" ... so she just cooed and looked around ... and was perfectly happy while i changed her diaper ... and didn't fuss one bit while i brought her in to mom to feed ... then she came out 20 or so minutes later and promptly fell asleep on my chest after a few burps ... this was the best morning in awhile ... and then i set her in her swing and she slept there for another 30min or so until she woke up with a little (very little) fussing for some more food ... and she is in sleeping with her mom right now ... that is insane for a 6-week-old ...

... haha, and this is her at Papallacta in the mountains ... it s freezing outside so she was bundled up in her peacoat and peruvian beanie ...

... awwww ...

... and even when she is being a little crazy, her mom and i still enjoy it ...

... and when you can't have a boob ... sucking on a bicep is just as fun ...

... and her is one of Lily's favorite faces ... just confused and worried and trying to understand all the lights and sounds she is taking in ...

... so to help, I liked to make really loud kissy noises on her face ... haha ...

... and another new trick is that she grabs her pacifier out of her mouth and starts swinging it around ...

... and she, for the first time, enjoyed some solid tummy time alone ... she was down on her play-pad (my made of word for it, since each toy has some special unique name that i never learn) ... anyways, she was down on her play-pad by herself, calmly lying there for about 20 minutes ...

... all-in-all ... we are pretty lucky that she sleeps well and is calm most times ... she fusses when she wants something and is pretty relaxed the rest of the time ... and she is growing so quickly, and learning so many new things ... it seems that each day she gets a little more vocal with her curious new sounds ... it is hilarious to make sounds back to her and watch her move her mouth and squeeze her muscles and grunt trying to make a soft cooing sound ... but she is getting there ... more often than not, they are usually accidental when she is happy ... but new sounds are coming out all the time ...