It's been almost a month since Lila was born and just as it always does with a newborn- time passes so quickly! And at the same time, we can't imagine our lives without her. We've had so many precious memories and moments so far with Lila in our family, I'm going to try to record just a few (in the few minutes I have left in naptime!)
Lila's first few days home gave me a few little things to worry about- jaundice being one of them. Her levels were borderline in the hospital, so we were told at discharge on Friday to follow up with her doctor on Monday. Over the weekend she was eating fairly well, but not having as many wet and messy diapers as we'd hoped, so I continued to push her to eat more and at the suggestion of my NICU nurse friend Shelley, got her some sunshine through this window. Chase was more than happy to help hold her there!
Davis, overall, has done awesome with the adjustment to not being the baby anymore. Especially since he was in serious denial that a baby sister was even coming, he's exceeded our expectations. The first few days he got a little nervous about his daddy holding the new baby, and insisted on being held as well (although he was fine to share the lap with Lila). I snapped this photo of one of his more concerned moments (they were short-lived).
I have loved dressing her just as much as I expected to! I love picking out her little outfits and matching a bow to it every day. This little pink outfit is one of only two things I bought her in newborn size right after finding out she was certainly a girl (the other one is her lemon outfit she came home from the hospital in). I expected her to be bigger and grow faster, but here we are a month later and still wearing newborn size clothes! Luckily we've received lots of hand-me-downs from Nora/Anna/Rosie, so she's had lots of darling newborn things to wear!
The big boys have wanted any chance possible to hold her- before school they both sneak in a little baby time. Chase said to me one day right after she was born "Mom, thanks for enduring 9 months of pain and suffering so we could have Lila in our family!" (Unrelated- do you think I was maybe a little whiney while pregnant?)
We took her back to the doctor at 5 days old to have her bilirubin checked (which was totally fine) and I also had the doctor check her tongue. I noticed the day before that she was tongue tied- and she definitely was. The doctor clipped it, which was actually much easier and smoother than I thought. Lila handled it great, bled only a tiny bit, and nursed immediately afterwards like it was no big deal. I'm glad we caught it early, it was SO attached- like all the way to the tip of her tongue!
One day I asked Hudson to hold her while I did dishes or something and he responded with a huge smile, rubbed his hands together and said "Bonding time!" He's definitely bonded!
When she was a week old we spent a morning over with Papa just to get Davis out of the house for a bit. Papa had a cold so he wore a mask to protect Lila. I love how tiny she looks in his arms.
My view- all day long. I rarely set her down.
Lila and Rosie! Crazy what a difference 5 months can make. Sometimes I feel a little sad for Lila that she'll likely never get a sister- but I'm so happy she has this darling cousin! I missed my girls trip with my cousins because it was the weekend before Lila was born, I love my relationship with them so much (especially Kelly) and I'm so glad Lila has Rosie to grow up with! Fun fact- Anna and Davis are 5 months 7 days apart. Rosie and Lila are 5 months 9 days apart!
I love having a daughter so much! I really expected baby #4 to be another boy (which would have been great!), and my whole pregnancy it seemed so surreal that a baby girl was actually coming. This girl is a dream come true- I love her so much!
Ben and I are working on changing around our language- not just referring to "our boys" but "our kids" or "the boys and Lila". It still feels kind of weird. We've been parents to just boys for so long! Ben tells her every day how gorgeous she is- she really is the most beautiful baby!
Hudson, who has been a self-proclaimed "baby expert" ever since Davis was born, has continued to hone his skills. If he's holding Lila and she starts to fuss, he very calmly starts problem solving. He'll cover her with a blanket (as seen in the photo), offer a binky, pat her back. It's really amazing to watch a boy so young be so good with a newborn!
Davis now wants to hold Lila ALL the time. If I set her down, he tries to pick her up. Even once he's holding her (under my careful supervision) he tries to reposition her like it's nothing (while she grunts in protest). Even though it's a little scary and I have to watch him like a hawk (I've caught him IN the crib trying to "help" her), it's the sweetest thing I've ever seen! Lila is so lucky to have these awesome big brothers!
Every morning Davis comes into my room and asks "Where's Lila?!" He checks the bassinet, my bed (he hasn't figured out yet that we've moved her to her crib at night- I don't really want him to know lest he sneak in there while we are sleeping!)
I haven't been to see my grandma in forever, so I packed up Lila and Davis one morning and headed there. It was sweet to see Grandma hold Lila, (she loves tiny babies) and Davis was fairly well behaved, especially since Grandma had chocolate for him.
At her 2 week appointment she wasn't quite back to birth weight (7 lbs 3 oz) so they asked us to come back in a week just to make sure her weight was gaining appropriately. I was a little surprised she didn't gain her birthweight back because she seems like a great eater most of the time! And she rarely spits up (so far- all the boys were major spitters, so we'll see if she stays that way). We went back a week later and she'd gained 5 oz (with 4 oz gain being the goal) YAY! So we don't have to keep going for weight checks! Hopefully she'll continue to gain well and we won't have the stress of an underweight baby like we have before with all the boys.
One day Davis brought in his beloved blanket and Bei Bei and set them next to Lila as a gift- if you know Davis these are truly two of his most prized possessions. This type of offering is a big deal for Davis- a sign that he truly loves Lila so much.
After years of blue outfits, I'm loving all the pink. Although, this little blue outfit is one of my favorites on her.
Caught mid-sneeze
One amazing part of welcoming this sweet new baby into our home has been the outpouring of love and service from our family, friends and neighbors. Our ward arranges two meals after a new baby is born- so we had those and then 9 more from sweet friends who insisted on helping out! I didn't cook a thing for 3 weeks after she was born. Both sets of grandparents have been so sweet to feed us, play with the boys, take them on special outings, whatever we've needed during this transition time. So many sweet little gifts for her have been delivered (she has a seriously awesome wardrobe and so many cute blankets and stuffed animals). Almost every day I get a text from a random neighbor letting me know they are heading to the store and wondering if I need anything. I'm behind on thank-you notes because there have been so many to write- truly a testament to the wonderful community we are part of! I'm so thankful for each gift and meal and act of selfless service, what a way to welcome a new member to our family! She's obviously so very loved by us, but having a whole community loving and serving our family is humbling.
This was on my dad's birthday with their now SEVEN grandchildren. My dad wanted nothing more on his birthday than to have his grandkids over for ice cream, so that's what we did! This little group of cousins is wild and hilarious- so much personality going on here!
Weeks after Lila was born I realized that right after Davis was born, Nate started referring to the kids as CHAND (their first initials) and suggested we kept going to spell out CHANDLER. Well, I hadn't even thought of that since, and then realized that in the last year we've added Rose and Lila, so we are only missing the E! Not at all planned or part of the name decision making, but kind of funny that it worked out.
