2 Months Old

I can't believe how much Drew has changed since I did an update just three weeks ago.   

He had his two-month checkup on Monday and here are his stats:

Weight:  12 lbs, 7.7 oz (54.32%)

Height:  23.43” (68.16%)

Head:  15.75” (75.07%)

I thought his stats would fall within a much higher percentile, but turns out he’s very average sized.

It took a little over six weeks for Drew to completely get the hang of nursing.  It was exhausting but patience paid off and it was worth all the time and effort.

When Drew was just three days old we were waiting in the hospital lobby to have his blood tested for jaundice with another couple with a baby just two days older than Drew. As we were visiting with them she mentioned that she wanted to nurse her baby and she really gave it a try, but after three days it wasn't working out so she switched to formula.   I can't tell you how much I wanted to express to this first time mom that giving her body (and her baby) just three days was not giving it a try.   

Still takes a bottle without a problem, doesn't care if it's breast milk or formula, and isn't too picky about temperature. 

Drew still typically eats every 3-4 hours but at night I'm getting some spans of 5-6 hours as well.   He's still doing awesome at going back to sleep after eating during the night though.   And since were on summer hours, and I'm usually able to sleep in, I don't feel to sleep deprived.  Our routine lately is that when he wakes up sometime around 6-7am, he'll eat then come back to bed with me and we fall asleep snuggled close together. 

I’m a lucky Momma to wake up to this sweet face lying next to me

Drew is awake now for several hours each day.   Usually a few hours in the late morning and then a few hours in the afternoon/evening.   By no means does he have any sort if schedule.  

As he continues to grow he continues to get stronger.  He can hold his head up pretty well, though not for too long.

We’re pretty quick to step in whenever he’s not happy.

Carly continues to have quite the touch with babies.  She’ll be the first one to offer to feed him a bottle, she’ll change his diaper, she good at getting him to burp after eating, and she’s great at snuggling him.

Has recently developed a fussy time around 8pm.  The first time was last Wednesday night when I left him home with Justin to run some errands with the girls.   It took Justin completely off guard since Drew hasn't cried much before, but when Drew did a repeat performance the next night when I was home Justin knew it wasn't personal. 

Has had a bit of a cold the last week or so.  It's hard to hear our little guy congested and coughing so hopefully he’ll get over it soon. 

I've broke out a few 3-6 month clothing items. 

Drew likes to be carried around in the baby Bjorn.

He has started cooing

Is very gassy, guess in some way that might be my fault?

Has started to lose some of his hair in the back.   I noticed it rubbing off on a burp cloth he was laying on in his bed.  

Is almost too long to sleep in the bassinet portion of our play n' pack. Not sure if that means we'll be setting up his crib soon or if we'll just have him sleep in the bottom section of the play n' pack. 

Sleeps swaddled at night

Drew's eyes are still so blue that it's looking like Jason might be our only brown-eyed kiddo.

Has started to nuzzle his face into the crease between my upper arm and body when he is trying to fall asleep.   I remember Katie doing the same thing. 

We took out our baby swing a few weeks ago and he spent several hours napping in it that very day and most everyday since.  He prefers the swing over the bouncy seat. 

His expression cracks me up in this picture

All five of my kiddos have worn the jammies pictured below – they were handed down to me from one of my sisters after she was done have children and I’m pretty sure they originally belonged to one (or many) of my siblings when we were babies.  They are actually one of my favorite jammies for new babies because they fit perfectly.  It’s amazing how well they’ve held up after being passed along for so many years.  I might just have to hang onto them for my grandbabies to use!

Nicknames currently include Bubba, Bubbee, and Jujubee

July 4th

I love the 4th of July in Snoqualmie.   Before moving here, each year I wished we could spend the holiday in Utah where the holiday seemed to be better celebrated and offer much more fun.  Snoqualmie does it right though. 

Our community celebration started at 11am.  There's actually a parade beforehand, but we've never attended it.   As soon as we arrived the kids jumped in line for the new ziplining ride.   For the next TWO hours (ridiculous, right?) one of us held our spot in line while the kids enjoyed the activities with much, much quicker lines. 

Like the hamster balls:

It looks like Abigail’s operator was giving her a rough ride

Katie and I kicked around a beach ball while we waited.

Justin brought us a pizza while we continued to wait in line

Finally it was our turn for the zipline.  Abigail and Jason went down together.

And Carly was on her own

There was quite a jerk when you came to a stop at the end of the line.

Katie didn’t do a whole lot until after we’d finally finished with the zipline.  At first she wanted someone to go down the slides with her.

But then she was totally fine on her own.

Justin and Abigail raced through a bouncy toy.  Justin’s ability to completely hurdle an obstacle made him difficult to defeat.

The party wrapped up at 2pm, after we'd had our fill of hot dogs, pizza, cotton candy, popcorn, and soda pop, we headed home to rest up for the evening festivities.   Our neighborhood held its second annual get together that afternoon, but we opted to relax at home instead.   

That evening we joined several other families from church for a BBQ.   We spent the 4th two years ago at the same house.   There was tons of food, friends, and fireworks.   

There is a boy in our neighborhood that is always so sweet to Katie.   The two of them hung out together all evening.   He let her eat his chips and he helped her with the little kiddy fireworks... so cute! 

The fireworks were insane – they started shortly after 6pm and went until nearly 11pm.  There were fireworks for all ages to enjoy and participate in.   

Catching parachutes

After dark it was time for the big kids (adults) to play.   Huge, city sized fireworks.  And what makes the evening even more amazing is that neighborhoods all over the community were doing the same thing so every where you looked there was a firework show.  A new attraction this year were big paper lanterns,  they were so cool to see floating up high in the night sky. 

Drew slept through the whole evening, less a few minutes for him to eat and get his diaper changed. 

Mid way through the big stuff Katie came over and curled up on Justin's lap.   Within minutes she was sound asleep.  She even stayed asleep when Justin set her down to get all our stuff loaded up afterward. 

Our New Big Sister

I think the two most common questions people ask when a new baby joins a family is, “How is the baby sleeping?” and “How are the other kids adjusting?” (specifically, the youngest member of the family).  Katie has gone through many changes in the last few months and for the most part has adjusted beautifully to going from Baby to Big Sister. 

As I mentioned {here} Katie was beginning to show interest in potty training.   I always go from diapers to pullups then once the pullup is mastered I make the move to underwear.  Katie was doing awesome in pullups day & night, but I didn't want switch to underwear when my mom would be watching her.  The day my mom left I made a rash decision to offer Katie underwear instead of her pullup and she jumped on it and hasn't looked back.   We have been accident free since that moment.   Easiest potty training ever!  Actually all my kids have been pretty easy.  I attribute that to following the advice given to me when Abigail was a toddler to never rush into potty training; if you wait till they are ready it really can be easy. 

Another huge hurdle we knew we needed to cross was taking away her binkie.  We had a very strict rule that the binkie was only to be used during naps and bedtime, but after Drew was born she started to sneak into the bonus room after her naps and keep it in her mouth while she quietly played.   Taking away our kids’ binkies has always gone smoother than we feared, but with Katie I knew that I could lose naptime as a result.   So I was reluctant.  On the morning of Sunday, June 30th Justin encouraged Katie to throw her stash of binkies in the trash - she was so excited and proud of herself.  When it came time to go to bed that night (after a long, napless day) she wasn't too thrilled.   It took her five minutes of crying/screaming until she fell asleep for the night.   There have been a few nights since then that she has woken up crying during the night, but that happened on occasion even with a binkie cause she wouldn't be able to find it.   There have also been a few days where I don't think she actually falls asleep during naptime when she probably would’ve if she still had her binkie, but overall it's gone really well.

Age three has always been more challenging for my kids than age two.   That's when my kids have started to show more independence and develop opinions about things.   Katie is no different.   She likes to pick out her clothes, use a certain bowl, etc...

She doesn't like to do chores.  Her usual jobs include straightening the shoes, cleaning up all the games and books she gets out in the bonus room, helping upload the dishwasher, and making her bed. 

She has no problem telling me "no" when I ask her to do something.  However, she doesn’t seem to understand when I tell her “no”.  She’ll continue to ask me the same question, ignore my response, and rephrase her request expecting a different answer from me.

She hasn't been the most cooperative eater lately.   I wouldn't say she's picky, I think it's more stubbornness.   If she likes a particular dinner she'll chow it down and ask for more.   If it doesn't look or sound appealing she'll have nothing to do with it.   Her dinner will often sit on the counter long after we've all finished and usually when she's hungry enough she'll ask us to heat it up for her.  We're not strict enough to make her go to bed hungry, but if she doesn't eat her dinner she only gets something small and healthy (like a cheesestick or banana) and misses out on any treats or dessert.

One aspect I dreaded about this summer was keeping Katie safe outside.   I usually (and prefer to) stay indoors with Drew.  I can't trust Katie to cross the street safely in her own (and she’s known to bang up get knees in a regular basis as well).  So I need to have one of the older girls keep in eye on her, which gets tough if either if them want to play at a friend’s house instead of at the park across the street.   Sometimes I can coax Katie inside when her sisters want to take off, but I know she prefers to be outside with all the big kids. 

Our neighbors gave us a couple bikes for Katie, we need to find some training wheels for the small two-wheel bike, in the mean time Katie loves to ride around on the big wheel.  She likes to go "reeelly fass" around the park. 

Katie is much like her big sisters and isn't very girly-girl.  She prefers to have her hair down in her face and doesn't play much with dolls and toys.  We were given lots of dresses from our neighbors that she likes to wear, and she particularly enjoys a good twirly skirt.  

Katie is starting to sing a few primary songs - in her little three-year old voice it’s absolutely adorable.

Jason and Katie are great little playmates, if we are inside they are playing together.   But Oh My they can be loud.   I can't count the number of times a day I have to tell Katie to stop yelling.   It seems every few minutes I hear her yell, "Jason! NO!"  Obviously he pesters her and pushes her buttons, but I know she's being overly dramatic and she's not being tortured.  Katie's volume level has gone from 4 to 9 the last few months. 

Katie loves being a big sister and enjoys holding baby Drew.  If she talks to him she gets right up in his face and very loudly says in her highest voice "HI, DREW!" or “HI, BUDDY!”

I know she feels the changes that have taken place and notices that I don’t have as much time to help her with things or spend time with her, but she’s still my sweet baby girl (even with the recent attitude) and I love her to pieces!