Babble, Babble, Babble

Things have been so up and down lately. Just the other day I was breaking down in tears because it took me over 45 minutes to get Lillian to sleep. I went to bed thinking, this is not what it was supposed to be like [life, not the art of getting baby to sleep, fyi.] This whole mommy-thing is so, So, SO much harder than I ever thought it would be. Being a stay at home mom is SO much harder than I ever thought. And I was on the verge of another breakdown (I've lost track of how many that's been in the past couple of months!) Now, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, but it just demands so much more of me emotionally, physically and mentally. I am beyond exhausted at the end of each day.

Thankfully I had plans with Jill the next day [yesterday.] Nothing was going to stop me from going over there! And it wound up being a turning point in my week and my mental stability. It was probably a combination of getting dressed, getting out of the house, being with friends+mommy's that understand and just being with other people. It did me a world of good! And I think Lily had fun too ;) She ate really well even with being distracted by two older babies in the kitchen and sitting on my lap. And she even had her first dip in the baby pool which she handled so much better than I thought she would!

Sometimes I forget to get out of the house. I forget how much life is going on outside of these four walls. Sometimes I stop and realize that I'm just trying to get through today, which turns into tomorrow, which turns into weeks. And how is that anyway to live life?

It is a little hard lately trying to get out of house since Dennis' car broke down and he's using mine to get to work. But, I have made a resolution that I will get out of the house, if only for a quick trip to the library or to walk around the mall anytime that Dennis is working from home. So that is my goal.

And now, onto AMAZING NEWS. Lillian is BABBLING. It's such a new thing. We were on our way to Jill's and she was "talking" in the back seat. We always say "Good job, Lily" anytime she makes any kind of noise so I was busy doing that. She loves to be praised :) And then when we got back, after her long nap (2.5 hours!) she started into babbling, like real babbling. babababa and she even said Dadadada a couple of times! I got a few videos of it, nothing spectacular but you get the idea:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY6kFY4VHxE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EhkWaTc1vA

It is so incredible to see how babies learn something new and practice practice practice! This morning she has been doing it non stop and I LOVE IT! Maybe getting out of the house + seeing the older babies babbling (especially Jake who loves saying "babababa") helped nudge her into talking? Whatever it is I am so ecstatic about it and I love every little sound that's coming out of her mouth today :)

EDIT: I also meant to add that Lily is now eating breakfast, usually oatmeal + fruit. So we are now up to 3 solid meals a day!! Still nursing about every 4 hours and offering 2oz of water after each meal for a total of 6oz. We're trying to go 6 hours at night but so far she's been waking me up before we hit that mark, around 5 hours, which is okay.