Middle of July 2014

Now that I'm back at work, the pictures (and fun) from the middle of the week is less and I am doing my best to value every minute of the weekends.

She's really enjoying her play mat - -this elephant is one of her favs.

Max climbed up on the ottoman to talk to his sister.

Video - Emmalyn's a trooper - sometimes having Max love you can be a tough job.

My cute pictures on my screen saver help me get through the long days at work.  Today was rough because for the first time since I went back to work, Max cried this morning when I was leaving.   He said he didn't want me to leave.  :(  For the last 4 nights he has chosen me to put him to bed which shows how much he is missing me because nearly every night he typically chooses Peter to put him to bed.

Video - Mary Ann tried to get Emmalyn to laugh

She succeeded once for a really quick laugh but I didn't get it on camera and then we couldn't get her to do it again.

Sweetly Sleeping

The boys had fun playing together while I was at work

Big smiles for dad

Max got a toy for his sister

More fun during the day - painting

I took Emmalyn into the pediatrician's for a weight check. She weighed 10.4 lbs, which is still the 3rd percentile but she's not dropping in percentile so the nurse seemed okay with her progress.  

She will do this little half cry that has some tone to it.  It's almost a whimpering cry since she's not fully mad yet.

She's pumping her legs and arms when she's on her back.  She is SO DROOLY!  She's figured out how to blow bubbles.  She is a binky girl.  It's nice to help calm her down but then I think about how bad it could be when it's time to cut the habit... She's drinking 4 oz bottles of breast milk when I'm at work and eats about every 3 hours.  

Tonight we went to the Athletic club and Maxwell and I went swimming while Peter worked out.  We put Emmalyn in the day care ("Fun Club") so that I could focus on Max and we could get into the big pool.  Emmalyn did great!

selfie with dad

I went to go get Max's hair trimmed and look who we found - Aunt JuJu

He was really excited to get his haircut.  I brought it up as a suggestion in the morning and he jumped right on it and didn't let it go so I let him get one.

Ready to go!

Perfectly behaved, as always.

The "Trim" somehow ended up being a buzz.  I didn't think it could get much shorter but it did!

BAD NEWS!!!! When we put Maxwell down for a nap this afternoon, he stayed in his room the entire time and never went to sleep.  This is not good.  I hope it's not permanent and is just a fluke.  I'm not ready for him to be napless during the day.

Showing off the new cut during a nice dinner out on a patio.

Maxwell was bring really quiet at one point today and so I looked at him and when we had eye contact, I smiled at him.  He then goes, "Mom, I'm thinking about Peter",   It was super sweet. 

We have been working hard to get some giggles out of Emmalyn and we succeeded a little bit tonight with getting a couple short giggles out of her.  She LOVES being outside!

Video - the first couple of seconds capture her rare laugh.  She makes us work hard for it and rarely gives it out!

Two buddies.  

This is how a son should feel about his daddy and how a daddy should feel about his son.  

Perfect.

Catch up as of July 20.

Maxwell told Peter he's a really nice daddy. :)  He certainly can be bossy.  When we were outside playing with the soccer ball, he told Brittany she's the goalie and then coached Hayden to keep his eye on the ball,  He loves to throw rocks.  But he was careful when I let him do it because he has a tendency to be timid and he's certainly cautious. While we were out walking around the neighborhood, we were teasing him and saying that he's have to let Miss Mary Ann ride on the back of his bike and he seriously says, "No, that's too dangerous."

When Emmalyn's on her play mat, she's now grabbing for the dangling toys.  Her cry sounds almost conversational and she has different volumes when she cries and coos,

It's cute - Max has starting cooing like a baby and asking to be burped.  :)
What's not cute is that Max has also started saying "No" to Peter and I and is screaming and throwing tantrums sometimes.  This naturally means that he is spending more time on time out.
He is very intense lately and if he wants you to pay attention, he will get right in your face when he wants to talk and doesn't let you focus on anything else.  How do you teach patience to a 2 year old?!?!!

Peter gave me a fitbit for my birthday and for the first time I hit 10,000 steps in one day!  I was proud of myself.

Peter is officially a paintball player and had been focused on getting all his gear lately.  He looks creepy when it's all on and I've told him he can't let Max see him like that or the poor boy would be scarred.

I am wondering if Emmalyn's tummy might be upset when I have dairy products so I'm going to try almost milk instead and see if she seems to do better.  My tailbone is not completely healed yet.  The pain comes and goes.

I am completely tired and wiped out.  The pattern of nursing/pumping every 3 hours is really hard and now that I am working and can't take a nap, my fatigue is terrible.