Jon shot a video of Lilla smiling at him in her chair in our kitchen. Doesn’t get much cuter.

Just got back from Lilla’s 8 week doctor’s appt and it’s official, she’s in the 97th percentile of height/length (she’s 24.5 inches long!) and the 75% percentile for weight (she’s 10 lbs 10 ounces). Plus when I told the doc about how she’s been smiling and making noises in response to us and rolling over, the doc said she was well ahead of schedule. Yay!

The only sad part of our appointment was when she had to get 2 shots, one in each leg. Poor poor little girl. She turned bright red, widened her eyes and then let out an earth-shattering (and heartbreaking) scream. I felt so so bad. But she recovered gracefully. And is sleeping peacefully right now.

Love love love all the pics that Shannon Cline (www.shannoncline.com) took of Lilla. Enjoy!

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Lilla is officially gaining and gaining and gaining. 22 ounces in 29 days to be exact. The doc (and Jon and I) are very happy that her days of starving screams are over. 🙂 Not only is she gaining ounces, she’s also ahead of schedule on the development scale. I mean, we don’t want to brag, but…okay we do. She’s been smiling in response to us for the past few weeks and she can already hold her head up on her own. Plus just yesterday she rolled over from her back to her tummy and then from her tummy to her back. Craziness!

I couldn’t resist posting the first pic from Lilla’s newborn shoot. I CANNOT wait to see all of the pics in a few weeks. Jon and I are just smitten!

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Can’t believe Saturday Miss Lilla will be 1 month old! A lot has happened over the past month and even though most of our nights have been sleepless, Jon and I are head over heels for the new addition to our family.

Here’s a brief recap of our first month with our little (sometimes screaming) bundle of joy:

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Week One – New Parenthood Bliss

The first week was a blissful fog. Lilla was sleepy and easy. Probably because she was still adjusting to her new surroundings. Jon and I took turns gushing over her perfection as we wiped the sleep and giddiness from our eyes. My family was in town to welcome Lilla to the world and then once home from the hospital, we had the pleasure of having my mom stay with us and help out for 2 whole weeks. A time I completely cherished and always will.

Week Two – Hello Reality

Lilla’s second week was quite the 180 from the first. Still perfect in every way, she seemed to scream more than she slept. A lot. And the only thing that seemed to comfort her was eating. Which really took a toll on “Mommy” aka “Lilla’s Milk Factory”.

Jon, my mom and I tried everything to get her to stop screaming. Burping, rocking, shushing, singing, dancing, swinging, you name it, we did it. Nothing really seemed to work. It seemed all she wanted to do was to scream. We started to wonder what had happened to that perfect sleeping baby we brought home. The one that slept through Penny’s impromptu barking, our chit-chat and perpetual TV watching. The one that looked so peaceful when she slept. Key word being “when”.

Funny story from week 2 – My mom, Jon and I were sitting in Lilla’s nursery as Lilla screamed her head off. Trying to figure out how to battle the screaming, Jon asked to take matters into his own hands. As he walked out of her room, my mom and I began guessing what to do next. Suddenly we realized the screaming had stopped. My mom and I both looked at each other. And then we heard something. Something that sounded like singing. Like Jon singing. We peeked around the corner, only to see him bouncing Lilla up and down as he sang “The ABCs”. It was one of the cutest things I’d ever seen. And even better, it was working!

In Jon’s own words, “I’ve tried The ABCs, Happy Birthday, Jesus Loves Me, even Frere Jacque. Except I quickly realized I didn’t know anything after “Dorme vous”.

Week 3 – Duh! and Yay Grandparents!

So after our second visit to the pediatrician, it became clear the reason for Lilla’s screaming – she wasn’t getting enough to eat. Down to 8 lbs (born 8 lbs 15 oz), the doc gave us orders to fatten her up. And in two days of constant feeding (we introduced the bottle in addition to nursing), she became a completely different baby. A happy, content and sleepy baby. Jon and I looked at each other with a “Duh, why didn’t we realize she was hungry this whole time?” look on our faces. Either way, we were thrilled that Lilla’s screaming problem wasn’t colic.

Grandma and Grandpa Rodgers came to meet their newest grandchild. And it was pure heaven watching them interact with Lilla and having their help (hello nap time!) with caring for her. Jon and I barely changed a diaper the entire week they were here. Quite the nice break. 🙂 Aunt Lindsay also made it out to SF to meet her new niece. And Lilla christened her visit with a nice big diaper blowout while Lindsay cuddled with her.

Week 4 – Smiles, Smiles and More Smiles.

So even though the majority of Lilla’s smiles up to this point had been in her sleep, we started seeing more and more with her eyes open. And some seem like they’re in response to us. At least, we’d like to think that they are.

After introducing her to the bottle, she suddenly became mobile. The 3 of us drove down to San Jose for her first photo shoot (courtesy of newborn photographer Shannon Cline, http://www.shannoncline.com). And afterwards, we met Grandpa, Grandma and Lindsay at Santana Row for a peaceful outdoor lunch and some shopping. All of which Lilla slept through. We also discovered that car rides put her right to sleep. 🙂

Came across the video we took when announcing the news to the family that a baby (Lilla) was on its way. We’ve watched it repeatedly just to see everyone’s reactions. Lindsay caught on right away. My mom and Linda, well, not as fast. But when everyone realized the news was true (and Jon wasn’t just pulling their legs), it was an emotional, but exciting occasion. One we’ll always remember and one we can’t wait to show Lilla someday.

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Everyone tells you “having a baby changes everything.” Including Johnson & Johnson. And I knew that. I knew it’d be hard. Sleepless nights, poopy diapers, a crying child. What I didn’t know was exactly how hard it would be. Don’t get me wrong. It’s just that I didn’t realize what consecutive sleepless nights would feel like. I didn’t realize diapers don’t always keep poop in the diaper. I didn’t know a newborn could scream so loud. And so often. But I also didn’t realize that despite the hardships, how completely worth it everything is when I (we) look at her and she looks at me (us).

After 28 hours of labor, Lilla Grace Rodgers made her way into the world at 2:56am on Wednesday, July 13th, 2011. Weighing 8 lbs 15 ounces (yes, i can’t believe i was carrying around an almost 9lb baby!!!) and measuring 22 inches long, she cried just a little to let us know she was okay and then took in her first glimpses of the world with bright blue eyes.

The whole thing was so surreal. Holding her in our arms, we couldn’t believe this beautiful baby was ours. After an hour with just Jon and I, Lilla met two of her three grandmas (Nancy C, aka “Gigi” and Nancy O, aka “Nana”) and one of her three grandpas (Dan, aka “Papa”). With 3 sets of grandparents, you have to come up with different names just to differentiate them all. 🙂 “Grandma” and “Grandpa” (Linda and Jerry) will meet her the first week of August and “Poppy” (Terry) will meet her in the fall.

After enjoying her first bath, we made our way to the postpartum room and spent our first night together as a family. We were able to squeeze in about 2 hours of sleep after being up for 48 hours. Welcome to life with a newborn. 🙂

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Welcome to Lilla’s 21st century baby book. Today, July 5th, 2011,  is her official due date. Yet there are no signs of her arrival. I’m convinced she’s aiming to be fashionably late. For my body and my sanity’s sake, I just hope she’s not too fashionable.

Since this is the first official post, I’ll go ahead and give you the Cliff notes version of my pregnancy over the last 10 months. Don’t worry, I won’t get too graphic.

The 1st Trimester

Nausea throughout month 2 and 3. Though there were some mad dashes to the restroom at work, I thankfully never got sick. Jon bore the brunt of my finicky appetite – Captain Crunch with Crunch Berries, ice cream, fruit and an aversion to vegetables and steak. In the weight department, I hadn’t gained enough to warrant maternity clothes, though I did have the pleasure of sporting a perpetual muffin top.

The 2nd Trimester

Once the nausea subsided and I actually started showing, I really enjoyed the second trimester. Jon and I found out we’d be having a girl and were able to clearly see her little hands, feet, head and belly on the ultrasound. The only thing cooler was the first time I felt her kick. Talk about surreal. And after buying my first pair of maternity jeans, I came to the conclusion that every pair of pants should have an elastic waistband. Holy comfortable.

The 3rd Trimester

Months 7, 8 and half of 9 were actually pretty similar to the previous trimester. I still felt pretty good, though sleeping became a little tougher. It wasn’t until these last few weeks that my ever-growing belly required frequent middle-of-the-night bathroom trips and produced some seriously heinous cankles. Something Jon and I still laugh about.

Today

My belly is filled to maximum capacity. Yet Lilla doesn’t seem to mind. She moves a ton, to the point where you can see a foot or hand poking or stretching. Even though it’s getting more uncomfortable  for me, it’s still really awesome to see and feel her moving around in there.  Jon and I are very anxious to finally meet our little one. We’ll keep you all posted on when that will be. We’re praying it’s soon.