Aaaahhhh

Lily continues to blow me away. The other day, she had a follow-up appointment with her GI. He issued some bloodwork to be done to check on her liver numbers and her hemoglobin. Call me a bad mommy, but I just couldn't make myself give Lily her iron. I was so afraid of constipation. While she doesn't go every day, she's not hurting to go, and the GI said some breastfed babies don't go every day. Still, he said wait until the bloodwork comes in and we'll see where to go from there. The bloodwork came in today, and I'm happy to report that all was within normal levels. No elevated liver numbers. No need to give iron. Praise God!

As for the liver, I blame the Zantac on that one. I think the GI thought I was crazy for saying that, but I stood my ground. And look at the numbers now that she is off the Z!

We're gearing up for Lily's birthday, trying to decide which direction to go. Luckily, my good friend, Momma Ray, is going to help me with that one. One year old--I just can't believe it!

As for feeding, the feeding specialist says every week that Lily is making progress. Today, I was feeding her some mommy milk while Gabriel and I ate lunch. Lily just sat and watched him eat, very intently, so Gabriel and I made a game out of it, explaining to Lily what Gabriel was doing. Gabriel got a kick out of me telling Lily that he puts the food in his mouth and chomps on it. He must have asked me to repeat it a hundred times before lunch was over. I think I'm going to take a container of applesauce with us when we go to the feeding specialist so Gabriel can eat and Lily can watch him. She honestly is so much more receptive to the spoon that way.

It might sound boring, but feeding is our biggest issue. Since she's almost one, it's a big issue. I mean, she's got to get enough nutrients in her. But, my, how fortunate we are. How can I thank God enough?

To see Lily's eyes light up, to watch her follow us across the room, to hear her sweet little cooing sounds (especially when she's making them because she's found her fingers and is trying to calm herself down), to feel her excitement when we play. . .aaaahhhh. She watches her hands and knows that her toes are her toes (even though she isn't playing with them yet). She likes to reach up and touch your face or give high fives. She adores the two most important men in her life--her daddy and her brother. She still doesn't like to sleep much at night, but she has good moments and bad moments with that one. I love for her to just sit in my lap, lying back against my chest, the two of us just chillin'. Aaaahhhh.