I can't believe the summer is almost 1/3 over and I will be back to week in a little over a week. Sigh...These 3 months have been so long and so short at the same time.
Smiley girl
I think we clearly see how she will be parting her hair. :)
She's still got some fluffy hair on the sides
video - talking with Momma
She's so tiny! (and great at holding up her head)
My tomato plants and strawberry plant are looking great. Still nothing to eat off either of them. I don't even have one blossom on the strawberry plant.
Max had a picnic outside.
One kid, playing with his trains (Thanks Grandma Donna)
Second kid, playing with her toys
Playing with colored bubbles
Doesn't my lawn look great? I wanted to remember that it DID look good at one point. Starting next week we can only water our lawns once every two weeks due to the drought here. Goodbye nice, lush, green lawn.
We tried giving Max some asparagus. He loved it and wanted more and more! Yeah, another veggie we can add to the small list of those he will eat.
Maxwell can be so stinking sweet. He told me (non-prompted) that I was the "best Momma ever". Then when we were cuddling as a family at bedtime, I was holding one of his hands and Peter was holding the other hand and Maxwell said, "we are a great family." ahhhhhhhhhh I think I melted!
Emmalyn sucks on her hands now.
She full on SCREAMS when she's hungry. Unfortunately that applies to nighttime too. There's no little whimper warning us to wake up, she's hungry... nope...it's just SCREAMS until she's eating. That has been really hard on Peter who changes her diaper before he gives her to me.
I did a day in the life of a 2 month old with Max (click here to read it) and I wanted to do it with Emmalyn too... I tried to get a picture every hour of what we were doing.
2:14 am Emmalyn wakes up to nurse
5:46 am - Emmalyn wakes up to eat again
6:29 am - She's finally back asleep
Her poor face has baby acne again
9:00 am - She's awake again and read to eat!
9:49 - All done nursing. I changed her diaper before we started and didn't do her pj's back up.
Max's eyes looked pretty this morning. I just can't capture how they truly looked on camera.
Love those long lashes
9:56 am - Emmalyn smiles and coos at me while I am pumping.
Max also helps to keep her entertained (aka pesters her)
Max reads a book to Momma
11:20 She wakes up from her short nap (she likes the feeling of something on her head so I let her sleep in the center of the boppy while I watch)...hm...that nap wasn't long at all. Going to have to try something else
Max keeps reading to me while I help Emmalyn
Okay, all swaddled up! (and awake and looking cute, of course...no where near sleepy) but Momma knows that she IS tired so this time we'll trying getting her to sleep in the swing.
12:29 - It worked and she went to sleep and is still sleeping! Fantastic. Now Momma can get some chores done. (Again, have to put something on her head to get her to sleep...)
Max helped vacuum up the floor
Then we folded baby laundry together - this was his first time helping. He did a great job!
1:35 pm - She's still sleeping! Yeah! Today will be a good day!
Max got to eat a "normal" lunch since Emmalyn was taking such a long nap.
2:30 - She's STILL sleeping in the swing. Wowza! I took advantage and worked on getting the baby announcements ready to go in the mail since Max was napping too. (Baby announcements mailed when the baby is more than 2 months old isn't bad, right? oh well... I have two kids now. Deal with it.)
2:40 - Oops, I jinxed it. She's up and MAD that it's been so long since she ate. "HURRY MOMMA!!! FEED ME!!!"
3:52 - Happy and playing a little on her nap mat
4:15 - The Mejias are downstairs and want to see Emmalyn.
4:29 - Emmalyn's ready to take another nap. Aunt Brittany swaddles her and gets her down.
5:25 - Still sleeping (that pillow does two things - #1 - helps keep a little pressure on the binky to keep it in until she's ready to completely spit it out #2 - gives her that feeling of something on her head. Time to wake her up though, we've got to go to swimming lessons.
5:29 - Unfairly forced into the car seat so we can go to Max's swimming lessons.
5:50 - Happy at swimming lessons and getting ooh's and aah's from the parents around her that are commenting on how cute and tiny she is
6:46 - Back and home and she did NOT want to take the time to get her diaper changed before nursing. "HURRY MOMMA!!! FEED ME!!!"
6:49 - Ahhh, life is better. Time to eat.
7:26 Now that she's eaten, it's time to play! (Max likes to wear his helmet with the chin strap ON his chin not UNDER his chin.)
9:30 Time to go to sleep
10:25 Asleep! (notice that I had to lay next to her to get to sleep...ugh)
And the rest of the "day" was spent sleeping. There you go - an exciting day in the life of a 2 month old. :)
Life is getting better and we are having more fun the further we get from the newborn phase.
How can you resist this cute smile?!
I pump in the mornings after I nurse her so that I can start building up my supply of frozen breast milk. I really enjoy the time I get to engage with her while I'm a captive audience.
2 month doctor visit
She's so tiny
Max was a good boy and entertained himself with books
I fill out a developmental questionnaire at each of her well visits. I took a pic of the pages so that I could look back and know what she was doing at that age. I did something similar for Max at his visits but I didn't ever think to document the responses until recently, bummer!
Emmalyn's Pediatrician was a little concerned initially with her size and then he looked at me and asked how tall I was. He ended up saying that maybe she was just evening out from where her weight was when she was born and she is just going to be little. So even though she dropped in percentile he wasn't completely concerned because she wasn't gaunt and seemed healthy for her size. He did want me to come back when she was 3 months just to do a weight check and ensure she was gaining weight.
Here's her stats from her 2 month visit:
Weight: 9 lbs 2 oz, 3rd Percentile
Height: 21.5 in, 8th Percentile
Head: 14.8, 22nd Percentile
I took both kids to Costco (LOVE the big shopping carts and the samples!)
Emmalyn got 2 shots and one oral vaccine. She cried, of course, and the nurse said that I could stay and nurse her if I wanted. I thought that was a great idea. She was so mad after the shots and only calmed down when I nursed her. So I comforted her for a few minutes before we packed up and left which wasn't great because as soon as I stopped nursing her she was mad again. I wish Max's pediatrician would have recommended the same thing when he was going through all those shots. It's not fun and made me feel better to comfort her and calm her down after the shots.
I was worried we were in for a rough night after the shots but she did good. She cried a little bit in pain and she got a little bit of a fever so we gave her some Tylenol but that was it. No big fussiness or problems sleeping. She did want to be held a lot.
With the doctor's visit and then Costco, Max didn't end up taking a nap today. So he wasn't being a great listening. At one point we were in the car and he wouldn't stop touching the overhead light. I got so frustrated and had such a short temper, that I yelled at him. I couldn't believe it when it came out of my mouth. I'm not a yelling mom. Sure I talk sternly but I don't yell. I don't want to be a mom who yells. Ugh. I'm still learning how to deal with two kids and all that goes along with that, clearly. I felt really bad and apologized to Max later.
Man, our weeks sure are starting to be more full. This week alone, we had a play date with Jessica and C, went to the splash park, went to the pool, had swimming lessons, went to the library, Pediatrician visit, and Costco! That's a lot for me/us!
Max and his cousins having a pillow fight. We're lucky to have his best friends living with us. :)
A pic courtesy of Max??
I got Max a pre-k workbook so he could do "homework".
Emmalyn enjoying being a part of me cooking
Bought shoes online for the first time ever. They are a little wide but I like them and they are a comfy alternative to frumpy flip flops.
Video - This kid's dancing CRACKS me up. He's so funny. He LOVES wearing this hat over his face.
We went to another dessert and wine tasting to enjoy the amazing creations from my friend Tida. The stuff her and her partner come up with is seriously delicious and beautiful too! Peter was being good so that meant I got to enjoy his goodies for him. It was really really really enjoyable to be out on a "date" in the company of great friends, enjoying treats and small adult beverages.
I love hanging out with Jess/John and Tida/Jason. Jessica and John are looking to move back to MN to be closer to family. I can completely understand that but will be really sad to have them so far away. We built a great friendship/support system over the past 3 years.
I am completely exhausted and sort of tired of the "routine" you have when you have a 2 month old and a 2 year old. However, tonight I met a couple who had just given birth and lost their baby girl. They learned fairly early in the pregnancy that their daughter had a condition that would be fatal and she would only live for minutes or hours after birth. They continued through the pregnancy knowing this and planning for it. So when their daughter was born, they cherished every second they got with her. They told me in hours and minutes how much time they got with her. I couldn't believe they had experienced such a tragedy weeks ago and were out, spending time with friends, continuing their lives and talking openly and calmly about all this. They were pretty incredible people and their story was very humbling and grounding for me. It was a good reminder of how lucky I am to have Emmalyn. Yes, I'm tired. Yes, I'm stressed. Yes, I'm overwhelmed. But larger than all that, I'm blessed to have my baby girl.
My Emmalyn cuddles and kisses meant more to me that night.
Max got invited to a 2 yr old birthday party for one of the boys in his Kindermusik class. We took a wagon ride to get to the party location. This party was really nice. (I told Peter that just the money they spent for on just the 30 nice gourmet pizzas i.e. not Dominoes or Little Caesars... was more than I would have spent on a party TOTAL.
Max "got" to go on his first pony ride. We made him do it. He was not happy.
I had to stay next to him the entire time. He cried for about half the ride and then sat their silently for the rest.
There was a petting zoo, too!
A little painting time at home.
Found Maxwell cuddle up with his BYU Teddy Bear one night. So sweet.
I took both kids to the library and let Max take a couple extra rides on the elevator.
I have been babying my tomato plants. I was soooo excited when I saw that FINALLY a couple of flowers had turned into fruit. I had 2 tomatoes growing!!! Then, one day Peter comes in after playing with the boys outside and tells me that I'm going to be really mad. I couldn't imagine what he was talking about, but came to learn that they were kicking the soccer ball and Hayden kicked it (accidentally) right into my tomato plant and the two tomatoes were knocked off the plant way before they were ripe. I wasn't mad...things happen. I was sad though. So here are my two tomatoes. They weren't full size yet and far to green to ever ripen up. RIP tomatoes. :( (ARGH!!! Am I ever going to have success with tomatoes in Texas?!)
My two little tomatoes
Our family went to the athletic center and I was going to go swimming with Max while Emmalyn hung out by us and Peter worked out. Well, the pool was closed because it was a thunder storm. I wanted Peter to still be able to work out so we decided to put Max in the child care so that at least he could play and would be bored waiting for Peter to finish. This was the first time we ever have put Max in a child care/day care situation. He was upset and crying but the staff took him and we walked out. I sat in the lobby with Emmalyn just hanging out and enjoying some quiet time.
I wanted to go check on Max and make sure he was okay about 15 minutes later. I didn't want to lug the car seat with me and the child care center was just down the hallway from the lobby. So, I asked this group of teenage boys that were right next to us waiting for their ride if they would watch her for just one minute while I went to check on my son. (Now - here's where I'm semi-irrational. I had to keep reassuring myself that Emmalyn was going to be okay with these teenagers for a few minutes. I had to silence my worries that they would hurt her or take her or let someone else take her. Of course none of these scenarios are rational or likely, but they are possible.) I let them know that they didn't need to do anything but just watch her and she'd be fine. They said yes and I went to check on Max.
He was doing fine (they let him watch TV, of course he was fine). It took me less than 60 seconds to check on him but when I came out of the kids club, I saw these cool, teenage jocks all huddled around the baby. One of them had sat down on the floor in front of her and the rest were all huddled over her cooing at her. It really made me smile. These tough kids had turned into a bunch of softies and were all engrossed in my sweet baby. It was pretty funny. :) As soon as I got back they quickly moved away and went back to being cool.
The teenage boys
Emmalyn just hung out sleeping. She how she was holding in her binky?
Eventually she relaxed her fingers.
Updates on the kids:
Emmalyn -
She now rubs her eyes when she's tired
She has been sleeping for 6 to 7 hours at night but unfortunately the clock on this stretch of time starts between 5 pm and 7 pm. Aside from that she is going 4 hours between nursing.
She is so much fun when she's HAPPY!
After nursing and when she's on her changing table are the magic moments when we get lots of coos and smiles.
She loves to watch her big brother.
She LOVES baths!
Max -
He is enjoying pretend play
He's not the perfectly behaved kid anymore. He struggles to listen (Obey), he hits and screams when Landen invades his space or takes his toys. He cries if he doesn't get his way sometimes and especially when he's tired.
He will see the clean up song when he's cleaning up and is usually good about cleaning up.
He seems so grown up lately - he's bigger, doing more things by himself, is helping out more and talking more.
He still calls his daddy "Peter" more than "Daddy" and is starting to call me "Kallie" more often. - - this continues to bother some of those around us but it doesn't bother us.
Max is really good at talking but struggles with a couple sounds. His "L's" are pronounced as "W's" and instead of saying the "TH" sound, he says "D".
A couple cute things he says - - Instead of saying "slippery" he says "swippity" and "girls" is more like "girruhls". He "cu-can-cumber" for "cucumber" and instead of staying "upside down" he says "upside over"
Max is realizing that words are all over and he can read more than just books. He will read signs and numbers he sees on the road, will read the signs inside and outside of stores, and he will read the numbers and letters off of license plates.
Wife, Mom, and Career Woman. Trying to succeed at all three. Enjoy cruising, time with friends and family, and sleeping. Busy life doesn't leave time for as much fun as in the past but that's okay, it's still a good life.
