I knew this day would come

Lily,

Today is your first day of daycare (or as I like to call it - school). Many tears were shed. Fortunately none of the tears were yours. I was not really prepared for the emotional impact of leaving you. You were in my belly for nine months and have not left my side for the last three. I know how to calm you down when you are upset, I know how to cuddle you just right to make you go to sleep, and I am really good at making you smile. How can your new teachers know how to do all these things? I'm at home now trying to let you adjust to your new environment. The house is strangely quiet and it feels very empty.

This process seems very unnatural. I'm glad you are too young to hold it against me for choosing to work three days a week. The truth is this, this experience will be good for you. It's great for you to be around other babies your age. You will have so many other faces to look at and study. Here you are taking in your new surroundings with your new teacher.

Quitting my job and staying home with you has crossed my mind every other minute but I have worked really hard to become the best SLP that I can be. By working three days and spending four days with you I hope to be at my best. You deserve me at my best.

I hope you are having fun today and I am counting down the minutes before I pick you up! I love you with all my heart.

Love,

Mom

We. Love. Soccer.

Today was your first time in the city and first time in a soccer pub.
What better occasion than USA vs. Brazil? Well, our boys lost in the
end but it was a very respectable 3-2 performance. Well done USA!!
This leaves us hungry for the World Cup next year.

You were so good in the pub today and only cried after we lost. I knew
you'd be a soccer fan.

Here you are with Mommy in front of the pub with both of you sporting
the red, white and blue.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Lily hanging with Katherine and Laura. Note that Lily is half the size
of a 6 year old.

Good Morning

We love it when happy Lily wakes up.

Last Try

Story time picture

Story time

On Tuesdays we go to story time at the library. You are by far the youngest baby there but you seem to really enjoy the experience. You don't watch the story so much as people watch. You love to look at other babies almost as much as staring at your toes. Don't worry someday you will be able to grab those toes. I promise. Sadly, today was our last story time since you start daycare next Tuesday. Seven days until mommy starts cursing women's rights and the idea that it's okay to be a working mom. Love. Mom

What Was That?

You sure like to make lots of funny sounds.

Above the Bell Curve

Yesterday was your 2 month old doctor visit.  You were on your best behavior and showed off your excellent motor skills for the doctor.  You now weigh 13 lbs 10 oz and are 24 inches long. That puts you in the 97th percentile for weight and the 95th percentile for length.  Proof that you love to eat!  

Love, 

Mom

The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You

Dear Lily,

There is much that I could say about how profound an affinity your mother and I share for our great home state of Texas. Though that is a matter for another day I will share with you a quote from the late Texas wit, Molly Ivins, wherein she said, "I dearly love the state of Texas, but I consider it a harmless perversion on my part, and discuss it only with consenting adults."

The last leg of our cross-country journey brought us to San Antonio. Since we've been away from the Lone Star State for quite a spell it should come as no surprise that our first stop was to grab some long overdue Mexican food. 

Here's Mommy taking her first sip of a real Margarita in over two years. Mmmm, delicious. Don't worry, she didn't order one. She just took a sip off of mine.

We saw pretty much the whole family on this trip. Here we are with Grandpa Armando, Aunt Vanessa and your cousin Sophia.

We had a relaxing afternoon with them and Grandma Norma, Uncle Mike and your cousin Aaron. Good thing you weren't paying attention when I was carrying Sophia because you might have gotten jealous. 

Aunt Vanessa was having so much fun with you that I was beginning to think that she wasn't going to give you back to us. You can see from the picture below that she was getting ready to make a run for it. I had to block the exit.

You got to meet Daddy's old friends, too. What a motley crew we are.

Next, we went to go see your Great Uncle Mark and had a pleasant brunch on the Riverwalk. As usual, you waited until food was on my fork and on the way to my mouth to test out your lungs. Though you probably had not yet acclimated to the Texas heat, you were quite agreeable.

As we were in San Antonio, it behooved to make a quick stop at the Alamo before hightailing back to the hotel to get ready for Uncle Brandon's graduation. Don't listen to anyone who tries to tell you that there is a basement in the Alamo. That's a bold-faced lie.

Everything's bigger in Texas. Bang, bang.

So far with graduations, you are 0 for 2. You much prefer to be walked around than to listen to hundreds of names being called out. We were all very proud of Uncle Brandon for his graduation from high school and know that he is going to go on to do great things. Here he is with Grandma Mandy and Grandpa Mando. Doesn't he look great in a cap and gown!

With every graduation there is a party. Your grandma Mandy went all out and threw a big surprise party for Uncle Brandon complete with fireworks! Hey, I didn't get fireworks! You got to meet a bunch of the Vargas clan. Pictured are your Great Aunts and Uncles. That's Aunt Linda, Uncle Frankie and Grandma Mandy in the back row and Aunt Mary and Aunt Yolanda in the front. There are six more Great Aunts and Uncles that you'll get to meet some day. We figured we'd pace ourselves and only introduce you to four of them this time.

Here's you with Uncle Mark again. We added him to the list of people who might run off with you at some point. We're keeping our eye on him.

The next day we met up with Grandma Mandy and with Aunt Yolanda and family before getting on our final plane.

And here we are with Uncle Cristoph. Both Uncle Brandon and Uncle Cristoph enjoyed their new roles as uncles and you have much spoiling from them to look forward to.

Sadly, our time in Texas had drawn to a close. We left making ourselves the promise that we'd have to make it back home more often. You really enjoyed your time there and I know you'll love it as we do.

Love,

Dad

Update: 2 months

Lily,

Today you are two months old however you were born almost 9 weeks ago.  I'll let you do the math on that one.  You have really woken to the world this month.  You seem to be getting bigger and more aware every day.  You now weigh 13 pounds!  You can hold your head up for a long time and turn it all different directions.  You still LOVE tummy time and with a little assistance can scoot yourself forward.  You are constantly moving your arms and/or legs.  Your hands have recently found your mouth and you seem very proud of that.  When I sit you up you can see your feet and you seem to really like staring at them.  You appear to be contemplating how to reach them.  This last week you have started paying much more attention to the pictures in books!

You had an awful outbreak of baby acne this month which we are very happy is over now.  You are quite aware of sound and can localize sound amazingly well.  When the dogs come running you look towards them.  You are also making lots of noises.  You coo and goo all the time.  You sometimes yell out "ah" really really loudly before you sneeze.  We think this is hilarious and have yet to capture it on video.  

The most exciting news this month is your smile.  You love to smile!  It is Mommy and Daddy's new life mission to make you smile.  A few days ago you also started pouting your lower lip when you are unhappy.  You used to be quite a fussy little baby.  You are hardly fussy anymore at all.  Of course tummy gas continues to be your mortal enemy.  You are beginning to develop a pattern of sleep.  You are good at going to bed in your own crib around 8:00 and only get up once or twice at night.  You still don't like napping in your crib.  It's a work in progress.  You have recently learned to like your bouncy chair and swing (except when Mommy pinched your leg in the buckle of the swing...I'm still very sorry for that).

You like to be on the go.  Traveling to California and Texas seemed to be the best thing for you. Although I'm not sure why but you no longer enjoy your car seat.  This has become a new challenge.  You have grown so much in this month that I can't imagine what next month holds.  

Love,

Mom

Play Date

Today you had your first play date. Evelyn came over to visit. Evelyn is one day older than you. The two of you didn't do too much playing, per se, but you did look at each other a few times. When we laid you next to each other you couldn't stop staring at Evelyn's face. Then you reached out and tried to grab her ear and almost scratched her eye. Looks like we may need to talk a little bit about etiquette with our friends. We had a lot of fun and can't wait to see Evelyn again!

Californ-I-A

Dear Lily,

On our way to Grandpa and Nonna's house we made a quick stop to take in the sights. This is Mt. Shasta and it's what Grandpa and Nonna get to see every day.

This is Mommy and Daddy at the headwaters of the Sacramento River. Behind Mommy on the right of the picture you can see the water gently bubbling out of the side of the hill. It's not every day you see where a river begins. Eventually, this turns into a mighty waterway big enough for whales to swim in!

This is Mommy's impression of a tree.

Here we are at Grandpa and Nonna's house. We were in town to attend the graduation of your Aunt Bianca. Unfortunately, the actual stage-walking was not documented because a certain little girl decided she did not like being crammed in a stuffy high school gym with hundreds of other people. So the official picture taker of the family, me, walked you around the halls of Aunt Bianca's school. We had a fun time counting lockers, though.

Here's you being extra special chubby.

Here's Nonna doting over you. She hadn't seen you in around five weeks and couldn't keep her eyes off of you. I don't blame her.

Here's Grandpa. You were getting fussy and we couldn't figure out what was the matter. Grandpa took the reins and delighted you with a song in which he kept singing "zoum, zoum, zoum" over and over. It did the trick and had us all laughing. 

We got to hang out with Aunt Heidi, too. She got to witness the first time you rolled over on your own! You might have had some assistance from a lumpy bed, but I still count it as a roll. Once again, Daddy was negligent in his picture-taking duties and failed to snap a photo of you and Aunt Heidi (frown). We'll have to employ some camera trickery. 

Hmm. Well, here's a picture of you, Mommy and Aunt Heidi in New York almost a year before you were born. The three of you look like you are having a great time, and it looks like you learned how to levitate. Well done. 

Here's Mommy with Aunt Bianca. What an adventure she is about to embark upon. We wish her all the best and send her big hugs and kisses. Ciao, bimba bella!

So, with the California leg of our tour drawing to a close, we looked forward to what awaited us in good ol' Texas. The stars at night, are big and bright. . . .

Love,

Dad

All Systems Go

Let's start with the flights to California. I know I don't like waking up at 3a.m. to drive to the airport so I figured you wouldn't like it either; to our surprise you stayed asleep. In fact, you stayed asleep all the way to the airport, even in the shuttle ride despite everyone's best attempts to be as loud as possible at 4a.m. From the driver who slammed the door shut, twice, to the nice gentleman sitting next to us who asked how old you were in an inappropriately blaring voice. When you become a parent, you realize how noisy the world really is.

Though we were baby-traveling novices, you should have seen us get through security. It was done with NASCAR pit crew efficiency. We had you out of the stroller, had all the stuff on the conveyor belt and on the other side of security in 12.6 seconds...or something like that.

Every bit of advice we received about flying with an infant told us to make sure you were suckling on takeoff and landing to relieve the inevitable build up of pressure that comes with air travel. When the moment came, you uncharacteristically refused to feed. Of course, we went into panic mode thinking, "Oh no! She's gonna have a build up of pressure in her ears! She's going to have a lower IQ! So, she's not going to Harvard?! What kind of a parent am I? Do they give you free sodas on this airline?" I even tried to stop swallowing to feel what you were going through. It didn't faze you one bit. Another plane and many hours later, we arrived at our first destination, Mount Shasta, California.

This is you after traveling through two states aboard two planes across three time zones with a couple of frazzled parents. Well done. A+.

Stay Tuned...

Well, we're back home after our whirlwind tour of the country. We saw and did so many things and we have so many pictures to share with everyone. We're going to have to tackle this in segments starting with the California leg of the trip. But first, we're going to take a little nap. Stay tuned, everyone...

Goodbye San Antone

We haven't even taken off and already you're asleep. I hope you stay
that way until we land. We had a great time on this trip seeing all of
our family in California and Texas. Now we have a nice final flight
and our own beds to look forward to. Goodbye Texas. We hope to see you
again soon. Kisses to everyone from Lily.

I Left My Heart...

Here we are at the San Francisco airport waiting for our next plane to
take us to San Antone. I don't want to jinx it but you've been very
good in all the flights so far.

On a side note, you rolled over for the first time yesterday. I think
you were showing off for Aunt Heidi. We've only been gone two hours
but we already miss grandpa and nonna and Aunt Heidi and Aunt Bianca.
You can't wait to see them again.

Private Jet (Sort Of)

Dear Lily,
This is the pond-hopper that took us from San Francisco to Mt. Shasta.
The ride was so noisy that mommy had to fashion earmuffs/earplugs out
of your blanket. You didn't seem to mind.

The Only Way to Fly

This is a view of your backside while cruising at 30,000 feet
somewhere over the Midwest. We took two different planes for a total
of over seven hours in the air after being woken up at 3:30 am to
catch the first flight. You were so good through it all. You didn't
make one sound the entire trip to California. Well done. Your
allowance has been increased.