Naomi - 21 Months

I meant to do a 15 month post.  Then, when that didn't happen, I figured that I would just do an 18 month (1 1/2 year) post.  Now that I've missed that, I figure I'll just do a post of whatever I can manage to get up here.  :)  What a crazy year it's been!

So here goes... 21 Months with no official pics, just a random snapshot we took this weekend.  

Stats?
About 25 pounds and 2 1/2 feet tall - that's practically a guess, but it's at least a ballpark figure.  :)
She's in size 4 diapers and a mix of 18 month (barely), 18-24 month and 24 month clothes.

How is she sleeping?
Sleeps from about 7:30pm or so to 7:00-7:30am.  We went down to one nap sometime in the last 3 months.  She held on to a two nap schedule until around 18 months or so; I was so spoiled.  Now she naps from about 12:30 - 2:00 with some shifting of the schedule depending on the day's activities.  Whatever you do, do not let her fall asleep in the car on the way home from something.  Otherwise, she considers that her one nap regardless of length and will refuse to take one despite obvious needs and cranky demeanor.  

How is she eating?
She eats like a toddler.  One day she'll eat something up and the next day she'll refuse it.  One day, she drinks milk non-stop and doesn't want to eat much and the next day, it's the opposite.  A few things always hold true though: Whatever is on my plate is infinitely better than whatever is on her plate even if it's the same thing.  Unless you are feeding her from your plate, she will insist on wielding her own flatware and any attempts to "help" will be met with squealing and splattering of food as she shakes the flatware from your attempted grip.  She has however, recently decided that she might be open to wearing a bib again.  So thankful for that as I can let her work on self feeding without stripping her down.  

Doctor Visit
She checked out great at her 18 month visit and passed all of her developmental tests.  We changed pediatricians to one closer to the house who I love.  Naomi got a flu shot at their first family flu clinic and was a champ. 

What new tricks does she do?
If I actually filled this in, it would be a novel since my last post was at a year and she has changed SO much.  So, I'll try to hit the high points of where we're at now.  
She can walk, sorta run, do little marches, turn in dancing circles, manage steps with assistance, and climb like a monkey.  
The big leaps have come in the form of language development - she talks up a storm.  We stopped counting her words around fifty and that was a couple months ago.  At this point, she'll repeat anything you say (which hasn't always been a good thing).  She strings 2 or 3 words together into phrases - Daddy work, pool Friday, play school, etc.  She seems to understand possessives - Mommy's coffee, Daddy's bag, etc.  She recognizes her friends and calls them by name.  
She knows her shapes and some colors, letters, and numbers (we're working on it).  
She is starting into the world of pretend play and role playing.  She plays with her baby doll and her school house a lot.  
We started swim lessons over the summer and have continued into the fall.  She loves the water and has gotten very good at kicking, floating on her back (with just a little assistance now), and does really well going underwater.  

General Observations?
She has all her teeth except for her two year molars though sometimes she seems to be working on those as she'll go through phases of chewing on stuff more again.
She has such a little personality and such an independent streak. 
She makes friends and gets attention wherever we go.  
Olivia's arrival was met with a wide variety of responses:
She peed and pooped in the potty a few times right after we got home with Olivia, but despite buckets of positive reinforcement, that behavior evaporated.  It wasn't a good time for potty training, so we sorta missed the boat on that one.  But, when we are ready, we're hopeful that she'll be successful.  
Naomi has never had separation anxiety, but ever since we had Olivia, she gets little bouts of it.  It's getting better.  
Naomi loves Olivia, sometimes a little too much.  :)  I hope she doesn't squish her to death this year. 
She gets to sleep with blankets and stuffed animals now and loves that.  
She gets to face forward in the car now and she loves that.  (I know it's safer to leave them rear facing until 2, but there's just no room in our car with the infant seat rear facing).  



Until next time... Enjoy!

iPhone Rewind - Our Girls

Here are some cute snapshots of our girls together.  Most of these come from the first month that we brought Olivia home.  

Baby!

Hugs!

Kisses!

Look Olivia!  This is how you do it.  

Head!

Nose!

Paci!  I'll take that!

Going for a walk

A side note on the last picture.  I commented when I posted this on facebook that it looked like a little baby doll next to Naomi.  The next time I walked with them up to the library, another mom actually said, "That's a baby doll in there, right?".  When I told her that in fact it was an actual baby, but I better be sure she's still breathing and then poked Olivia to make her move, I think she jumped back a little bit.  :)  Gotta love my itty bitty!

PS. For the grammar nerds (love ya'll), sorry for the poorly constructed sentence above but I'm too lazy to fix it.  Forgive me please.  

iPhone Rewind - Olivia's First few weeks

Running a little late with this post, but oh well.  

Enjoy the photo bomb.  I'll be posting lots of picture heavy posts soon.  

Olivia - 2 Months

Stats?
Weight: 8 lbs 11 oz (5-10%)
Height/Length: 21.5 in (10%)
Head: 14.5 in (5%)
Clothing Size: Newborn
Diaper Size: Size 1 (just switched when we ran out of newborn diapers this month)

How is she sleeping?
Very little change.  We usually get one 4-5 hour stretch at night, so we usually only have to get up once.  Still pleased.  Oh, the one change this month is that we transitioned her from sleeping in the bouncer in our room to the pack n play in our room.  We have sights set on the crib in her room, but we want a fairly smooth transition so we are willing to wait a little while longer.  She seems to only want to nap while being held or maybe in her swing, so we'll have to work on that...

How is she eating?
No change.  She nurses regularly, roughly every 3 hours like most babies her age.  She's on meds for reflux - no surprise there.  

Doctor Visit
This went pretty well.  She got a good report and is staying on her growth curves.  I was hoping to wait to nurse her until after her shots as a soothing method (works great), but she wasn't willing to wait, so oh well.  We'll continue with the Zantac dose as long as she doesn't have any issues, so this will in effect gradually wean her off the meds as she outgrows them.  

Naomi actually cried more this appointment than Olivia.  It started when we were called back and she had just started playing with the train set.  Hello Two Year Old Tantrum!  (She doesn't understand that she's not 2 yet and that there's no need to overachieve in this area.)  Then she cried about almost anything and everything else.  Olivia just laid there while the doctor did her exam, but Naomi cried - she's very sensitive about people doing things to her Mommy or her baby (my OB appointments were a real treat).  We read, we sang, we looked at the TV, we repeated "baby fine"... anything to help.  Olivia did wail a good bit about her shots, but that sort of thing has never bothered me.  She calmed down in the car and nodded off.  

What new tricks does she do?
She started smiling this month, which is just such a treat.  Plus, we have gotten a cooing noise a few times.  

General Observations?
Still a pretty chill baby.  She's developing a "friar" hairdo as it's starting to grow on the back and sides, but not really the top yet.  I still get told on a regular basis that she is so tiny.  What can I say?  We make tiny babies.  :)  Mmmm... guess that's about all I've got this month.  

Until next time... Enjoy!

Hi

The ceiling fan is so fascinating.  

Doing a little chair dance...

Love that smile!

Playing with her skirt

I'm ready for my close-up!

Olivia - 1 Month

I'm running a month late with this post, but hey, here it is... Hopefully the 2 month post will be quickly on it's heels.  

Stats?
Probably around 7 lbs.

How is she sleeping?
Pretty well for a newborn.  We usually get one 4-5 hour stretch at night, so we usually only have to get up once.  Can't complain in this category - Naomi was way tougher.  

How is she eating?
She nurses regularly, roughly every 3 hours like most babies her age.  She's on meds for reflux - no surprise there.  

Doctor Visit
Next month...

What new tricks does she do?
She opens her eyes more.  She chews on her hands.  She holds her head up pretty well.  That's about it.  Mostly, she's just adjusting to being an outside person.  

General Observations?
So far, she has been a pretty chill baby.  She sleeps pretty well at night.  She likes to be held a lot.  She has no hair, but she's got baby acne.  She grew a lot this month, but she still looks like she was born yesterday.  Mmmm... guess that's about all I've got this month.  

Until next time... Enjoy!

Mother's Day Out

I decided to put Naomi in Mother's Day Out one day a week this year. She is going to First Baptist Wylie since it is close to our house, offers a one day a week option and is less expensive than our church. I figured MDO would be good for Naomi to have more socialization, some different learning opportunities, and good practice for school. But, honestly, it's probably only about 33% for her. It also gives Olivia a chance to get some one on one attention. And, in theory, it offers me a chance to get more done than I can with both of them home. So far, I've had doctor's appointments every time which are a lot easier with just the baby in tow.

Anyway, the first day Naomi sorta wigged when I dropped her off. She's always been a social butterfly but the intro of the baby or our being gone at the hospital for a couple days initially caused some separation anxiety. However, she has clearly adjusted. This Tuesday she kicked her legs in excitement, reached out for her teacher and then immediately told me bye with a smile. Plus she's always happy when I pick her up.

Here are a couple pics from the first day of school.

Olivia's Arrival

So here is the story of Olivia's arrival.  It is much less dramatic than Naomi's birth.

A Little Background:
Due to my preeclampsia, we were scheduled for a c-section on Monday, August 20th at noon and a little over 38 weeks.  It was so weird actually packing a bag for the hospital and driving there knowing that we were going to have a baby that day.  Last time I had already been hanging out at the hospital for 5 weeks, so I already had a ton of stuff in my room.  Anyway, our prayers before the pregnancy included: no hospital bed rest, a good delivery, no mag after delivery, and no NICU.  I got to do my bed rest at home with my girl.  I tried to drink a ton of water before delivery (up to my no eating/drinking deadline) so that I would have plenty of urine output to avoid the mag dosage.  And, God blessed us hugely!

Getting Prepped:
I signed a bunch of papers.  They placed my IV, they placed my epidural, they placed my catheter, and gave me some sort of antacid that tasted like concentrated sweet tarts on steroids (yuck).  The antacid made me throw up - a little ironic if you ask me, but I know I'm not the only one.  They gave me something for the nausea.  Somewhere along the way, my BP dropped really low and I started to feel woozy, so they gave me something for that.  Once we were all set to go and the doctor was ready, they wheeled me back.

The Big Event:
I'm so jealous that Brian got to stand up and watch the whole thing.  If there had been a good place for them to place the mirror, I would've loved to watch (yes, I'm weird).  Anyway, everything went smoothly.  They cut me open, took out our beautiful Olivia, tied my tubes, put all my insides back where they belong, and sewed me up.  Our girl weighed in at 6 lbs 3 oz (exactly the same as big sister) and about 19 inches long.  I got to kiss her and nuzzle her for a bit before she and Brian headed off to the nursery.  At one point, I began feeling nauseated again, so they gave me some more drugs for that.  They had a bit of trouble getting all my guts back in, but obviously they managed.  We all hummed along to the anesthesiologists iPod playlist.  The anesthesiologist also took our camera and doubled as our photographer so we got a whole lot more pictures this time.  Good times!

Afterward:
I went to recovery.  I produced plenty of urine and my BP was normal, thereby dodging the mag bullet.  I got to do our first nursing attempt.  We got to go to a normal postpartum room.  Olivia got to stay in the nursery and in-room with us.  We got to have visitors like normal - family and friends came by and I wasn't in a drug induced stupor.  Naomi got to come up and meet her little sister (after which, no toy could possibly distract her).  We got to see the hearing test this time.  We worked on breastfeeding and met with the lactation consultants a couple times.  We were discharged after the standard 3 nights for a c-section.  It was awesome!  It may not sound like a big deal, but when you've ended up unexpectedly going the NICU route the first time and having things just not go as expected period, it is incredibly exciting to have a "normal" experience.  So, praises!

At Home:
When we were discharged (on a Thursday), Olivia was slightly yellow and the nursery nurse suggested that we may want to meet with our pediatrician before the weekend particularly if Olivia was still yellow or any more yellow the next day.  We elected to go on Friday.  They checked her bilirubin and it was just a little under the level requiring treatment and she was down to 5 lbs 6.5 oz (dropped almost a full pound), so they arranged for us to have it rechecked on Saturday and to come back on Monday for a weight check.  We went on Saturday and it had dropped significantly.  We switched pediatricians with the birth of Olivia as I really wanted someone closer now that I had two kiddos - our old doc was about 30 minutes away and the new one is about 5 minutes away depending on the whopping 3 traffic lights in the 1 or 2 mile distance from our house).  I was really impressed with their on-call doc's response.  She did a great job with follow up and I felt we were very well cared for.  On Monday, her weight check showed a 4 oz increase, so doc was happy.  Woohoo!

Now for the Best Part - Pictures! :

Look, I weigh the same as my sister did.  

Daddy looking down at his new baby girl with love in his eyes.

Mommy getting to really meet Olivia for the first time.  

A kiss before they take Olivia to the nursery.  

Naomi looking in on Daddy and baby sister Olivia.  

Love that smile!

Olivia's First Bath

Finally getting to really hold her.  Love her!