Lydah Plays Dress-up

Crazy uncle Kyle broke into his costume chest and had fun with his niece. Lydah didn't seem to mind at all:






Also, Grandpa and Grandma Coates bought Lydah her first "walker." She's been enjoying the freedom it provides (even though her feet don't quite touch the floor yet):




More pictures from her 5th month of life:

Lydah loves to dance in front of the mirror. It's one of her favorite things.

Well, she isn't ALWAYS perfectly happy...

Brown-Eyed Girl

Finally after four and a half months, Lydah's eyes have turned brown. Courtney and I also have brown eyes so we expected that this would happen. She is also learning to clumsily reach for various objects and, of course, drag them in the direction of her mouth.

Christmas Vacation

We just returned from a long, whirlwind vacation. Lydah was a great traveler. Whenever she gets in the car, she falls right to sleep. The trip included stays with Uncle Andrew and Aunt Rachel, Grandpa and Grandma Probst, Grandpa and Grandma Coates, and several days in Tennessee at a beautiful cabin outside of La Follette. Lydah is now over four months old! Among her new tricks are "blowing raspberries," giggling, hiding her face in my shoulder as if she were embarrassed, sucking on her fist, and drooling an unholy amount of saliva all day long. Below are some of the newest pictures. Enjoy!

Lydah was baptized on December 31, 2006 at Open Door Free Methodist Church in Nicholasville, KY. Her grandfather, Herb Coates, performed the ceremony along with our pastor Rick Boileau (far right).

Courtney's best friend from college and former roommate, Lisa Walker, came to see the baby while we were in Alton, IL.

Aunt Whitney snuggled up with Lydah.

Flashback to Jaundice

To continue with the flashbacks...
Just a few days after Lydah was born and we had been able to bring her home for the first time, we were given the distressing news that she had jaundice (very common among infants) and that we needed to go back to the hospital for treatment. The first night that we were there, they placed Lydah on a "billy-blanket" to help her body breakdown the unhealthy bilirubins in her bloodstream. The staff did a wonderful job during the night, but we were not as impressed with the daytime nurses who all looked like they were in high school and seemed to enjoy flirting with one another more than monitoring our daughter's health.

The next day we eagerly anticipated the results of her blood test to see if we would be able to return home, but were disappointed to find that her bilirubin level had actually gone up. So the next night Lydah was placed under the "billy-lights" which were supposed to be more effective than the blanket (as you can see from the picture, Lydah didn't seem to mind too much). Fortunately, my parents arrived that day to encourage us after a very emotionally draining stay at the UK hospital.

The next morning we were released from the hospital and Courtney almost cried for joy that we were headed home for good. As hard as the stay had been, our perspectives really changed when Courtney spoke to another young mother in the next room who told us that she had been there for four weeks. So we give thanks to God for his provision. Lydah is healthy and God has sustained us through the first of many storms.

Flashback to the Birth

Lydah Christine was born at 4:51 p.m. on Saturday, September 9, 2006. Courtney pulled through like a real champion. Because her amniotic fluid was low, the nurses decided to induce labor early (the due date had been the 19th). They actually administered petocin on Friday night, but because progress was slow, they decided to put her labor "on pause" and start again on Saturday with the pitocin. Courtney was truly amazing that day. She never screamed or cried out, but just closed her eyes and gripped the railing to her bed. Labor was most intense from about noon to 4:30 and then the pushing began. She only had to push for about 20 minutes all together since she had refused to have an epidural. After the delivery, the nurse who had 17 years of experience in her line of work, said, "That was the best I've ever seen a woman handle labor."

I actually got to catch Lydah as she came out of her mommy. Our midwife, Nancy, asked me if I wanted to do it and I immediately said, "No way!" But then she said, "Oh, c'mon. You can do it." So I said alright and held my hands out. I know it's cliche to call the birth a miracle, but there is no better way to describe it. Seeing that little body come out of my wife's womb is an experience I'll never forget. I also have a newfound respect for Courtney; I'm truly married to a superwoman.

Five Generations

When Lydah was born we named her after her 100-year old Great-great-grandmother, Lida Miller. Grandma Miller has always been an example to me of someone with a true heart for God. I could think of no one better to uplift as a model for my daughter. As we gathered for Thanksgiving last week, we took the opportunity to take a five-generation picture. Thank you, God, for my rich heritage.

Welcome to Lydahland!

Welcome to a blog in honor of Lydah Christine Coates who is at this moment 11 weeks old and weighs about 12 lbs. So we'll start the first entry with a list of Lydah's favorite things:

1) The Changing Table. She can't get enough of those clean pants. Whenever she's crying, we can just set her on her changing table and she brightens up.

2) Her Blue Star. Courtney decorated the nursery with colorful stars, but the blue one over (where else?) the changing table is her favorite. She often smiles at her blue star more than at Mommy and Daddy.

3) Her Tongue. Lydah came out of the womb licking everything in sight. She hasn't stopped. So when you meet her, don't be offended when she sticks her tongue out at you first thing.

4) Her Left Fist. Lydah's newest trick to to lift her left fist to her mouth and lick it. See favorite thing #3.