February 1, 2005

Lauren had her 1 month appointment today and she weighs 9lbs 13oz
She's gained 2 lbs since birth! Katherine weighed 9lbs @ her 1 mo

 

February 8, 2005

Lauren had an appointment for her second HepB shot today. Here are her stats now.

Head: 38cm (75%)

Length: 23” (97%)

Weight: 10lb 3oz (75-90%)

Wowza! She’s outgrown her newborn-footed outfits because she’s too tall. I’ve unpacked the box of 3-6 month outfits that K used to wear and loaded Lauren’s dresser with them. It’s so funny to see her in Katherine’s old outfits. She’s also already up to the next size in diapers.

 

We had a nice visit with the folks in Tallahassee this weekend. We got to see many of our friends and enjoyed hanging out. Katherine especially enjoyed rolling down the hill at grandma and poppy’s house with Taitum, Bella, Bailey and Kiera.

 

The one snag with our trip was what is now referred to as “the backpack incident”. Lauren started getting fussy during the last hour of our trip. After stopping at two exits in a row to feed her, we decided that maybe she needed a diaper change. We stopped and I hopped out to change her. I pulled the diaper bag from the back and took care of business. However, mommy brain, I forgot to close the back of the van and when we took off, a lady at the gas station started honking her horn. We pulled onto the shoulder, right across the street) and closed the door. I asked Woody if everything was still there and he said he didn’t think anything fell out. We arrived in Tallahassee an hour later and alas, Katherine’s Dora back pack, which contained all of her clothes for the weekend along with her teddy bear, Dumbo video and security blanket. Woody and Brad made the hour and a half round trip back to the exit and thank god, they retrieved the backpack. It has a bit of road rash but everything was secure inside. Whew!

 

Katherine has been going to bed like a big girl lately and she will be rewarded this weekend with a family trip to the zoo or if it’s too cold, to the museum. She’s really been awesome for the most part with everything that’s been going on around her. As long as she has her sleep she’s great. The only time we get into it with her is when she’s not gotten enough rest….then it’s awful. Of course the “no’s” hit pretty fiercely this month but they seem to have peaked last week. There has been a sharp decline in the amount of frustration now that that phase seems to be nearing the end.

 

In the evenings, I’ve started asking Katherine what her favorite part of the day is. So far, answers like “rolling down the hill”, “painting at Miss Candice’s’” and “playing the piano with GiGi” are some of my favorite answers. I plan to try to enter them into this journal so that I can remember what really floats her boat. One day, in the not too distant future, I’m sure her answers will be more like “when Bobby smiled at me”, or “Shut up mom, this is a stupid game”. I’ll be able to look back and remember when she was so innocent and sweet. sigh

 

Lauren is holding her head up but it’s still a pretty big melon and it plops forward after awhile. She’s smiling and cooing at us and is generally just a great, easy baby. We figure it’s our gift for dealing so gracefully with the high-needs baby that was Katherine. We can actually put Lauren down after she falls asleep and she stays asleep! Go figure.

 

Family wise, Woody is keeping busy with work and we are looking for a new car for me. The back door to the van broke and will not latch shut. I wouldn’t mind if it were just me, but I’m not so comfortable driving the girls around in it. Besides it gets crappy mileage and is falling apart slowly anyway. In fact, I took it to get the oil changed last week and the guy looked at me and said “wow, you sure do have a lot of oil leaks in that car”. Hummm really? My garage floor hadn’t noticed. LOL

 

February 14, 2005

Happy Valentines Day. Woody got me a nice frame and he put pictures of the girls in it for me. I also got a gift certificate to the spa for a mani & pedi. That will be nice when I find the time to get there.

K had a party at daycare and she got chocolate and lots of cards. She’s such a chocoholic.

 

February 15, 2005

Lauren is starting to coo and smile a lot more. She’s got a lovely smile.

 

February 16, 2005

Katherine melted my heart today. I had picked her up from daycare and we were chatting like usual in the car. She said “mommy. You are my best friend mommy” and she had the sweetest look on her face. I practically pulled over right there and gave her a hug.

 

Her favorite things for the last few days have been:

Monday: playing outside and riding bikes

Tuesday: painting (I see a trend here)

Today: eating crackers. Graham crackers that they eat for snack. Apparently they got to eat outside today since the weather has been so nice.

 

Lauren rode around in the baby bjorn carrier for most of the day while I cleaned and worked. She’s been really gassy and pukey the last two days. Wonder if I ate something that is bothering her (sure hope it’s not the chocolate. that would stink! LOL) or if it’s all the mucous from her cold. So far she’s been way sicker than K ever was but she’s a better sleeper and she’s growing well so I guess it’s a fair trade.

 

Woody’s joints are still bothering him. He met with a rheumatologist who seems to think it’s either gout or rheumatoid arthritis. We are waiting for the test results and should know something by next week. We are keeping our fingers crossed for gout since that’s manageable with meds. It will be nice if he finally gets a diagnosis. That’s got to be hard to be in such pain yet not know exactly why.

 

February 23, 2005

 

That Katherine is one funny girl. Today in the car, she said “that’s a poppy sign!”. I had no idea what she was talking about. She said it again and I realized that she was referring to the stop signs. Poppy had shown her the stop sign when they took a walk the last time we were at their house. She also says “Poppy is playing the mee-meeps” whenever we play the Harry Connick CD and the jazzy piano songs come on. Maybe she’s some kind of music savant or something…I mean what toddler knows the difference between jazz and classical? She never says that when we listen to classical piano pieces. Weird.

 

The recurring neck problem I’ve had is back. I turned the wrong way two days ago and pow! Pain. So, now Woody and I are both broken. The house is falling into chaos. I have a chiropractic appointment today. It usually takes about 1 day after an adjustment to start feeling better. Hopefully I will be feeling good when Susan comes down for the weekend. Katherine can’t wait to see her grandma and grandma will be surprised to see & hear all of Laurens smiles and coos.

 

Today is hat day at daycare. K was so excited. I took her suitcase of dress up clothes and hats for her to share.

 

I just put Lauren down in her crib awake but sleepy for her nap. We shall see if she falls asleep in there. I really want her to start taking her naps in there.

 

February 28, 2005

 

Katherine had a pretty funny one tonight. She loves taking medicine and she’s had a cough that we’ve been treating for the last few days. Woody asked if she needed medicine tonight and I asked her if she was still feeling sick. With the most serious look on her face she said “Yes I am sick mommy. I’ve had the hiccups all day!”. I had to laugh at that one.

Lauren Finally Arrives

 

She was born on New Years Day 2005 at 7:58pm. 7 lbs. 13 ozs. and 21" long.

Her apgars were 8 & 9

Mom, Dad, Big Sister Katherine and Lauren are all doing fine. I will post the birth story below the pictures so that those of you, who may not be interested in all of the drama, can get to the good stuff...pics of our larger family. Those who are curious, scroll down.

Since she decided to wait an extra 4 days to be born, she caused mommy and daddy to miss out on the 2004 tax break. Looks like someone is starting out with a good $4000 deficit to her allowance. That's a lot of trash haulin and dish washin. :-)

Lauren looks a lot like Katherine did at birth, but her eyes are much darker and brown. She has a very husky cry but she also squeaks a lot. She's got a touch of jaundice and may have reflux but other than those small things, she's great!

 

July 2003

Katherine is already a pretty sturdy walker! She toddles all over the house. She is waving bye-bye and using a spoon to feed herself with limited success. She is such a funny little girl!

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December 2002

3 Months Old

This was Katherine's first Christmas. She met lots of new people who were loads of fun. She also learned how to use a sippy cup this month.

November 2002

November 1, 2002

You had your 8-week checkup today. You are now 22.5 inches long and you weigh 10 pounds 5 ounces. Your head is now 37 centimeters around. You are in the 50^th percentile all the way around which means you are perfectly average. You got four shots today and they surprised you so you cried for a little bit but you stopped when I picked you up and nursed you. You are a very healthy little girl. Yay!

November 4, 2002

Today while you were playing on your mat, you grabbed Mr. Smiley Ball and tried to bring him to your mouth. You kept doing it, so I don’t think it was an accident. I showed you the key rattle and you held onto that and played with it for a minute or two. Also, last night at great grandma’s house, you were babbling and cooing to your grandma Susan. It was really cute!

November 18, 2002

I haven’t written much lately. Your grandpa Henry has come for a visit and you are enjoying spending time with him. You are now grabbing things like Mr. Smiley Ball and blankets and bringing them to your mouth. I caught you sucking on your arm yesterday and you are still sucking on your pointer finger of your right hand. You have been doing little baby sit-ups and working your abs like you are trying to sit up. You are getting so big and developing so fast! It is just amazing!! You have started drooling a lot and blowing spit bubbles. I bought some videos for you, baby Mozart, baby Bach and baby Einstein. You love the baby Bach one and you giggle every time Bard the Dragon comes on. It is really cute. I sit you in your car seat in front of the TV and I listen to you coo and kick and giggle. You are also kicking a lot now and with some strength. You smile at your daddy now when he comes home from work too. He loves that. We play a little game when he comes in the door after a hard day at work. I hold you up and make you “look” around the corner of the door so that he just sees your little head poking around the corner. It is soooo funny! You have outgrown some of your newborn clothes. It’s getting cold now so we are going to have to start bundling you up when we go out. I am looking for a job that will allow me to stay at home with you. I really don’t want to leave you with anyone else during the day because I love you and you are such a good baby!

Tonight, you were having tummy time and you started trying to flip yourself over onto your back. You have your right arm and leg totally straight and you are trying to flip yourself over using your bent left leg. You are holding your head up really well too! Well, you just sneezed yourself from your back to your side. If you arm had been straightened out you would have rolled on over to your back. Amazing!

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Katherine

November 2002

2 months old Katherine's grandfather, Henry came to visit from Illinois. They went to the zoo and enjoyed getting to know each other. We are still adjusting to having a new person in the house and enjoying it very much. We sit around and watch Katherine most of the time. We hardly turn on the TV anymore!! She does sleep a lot still though, so we are trying to watch as many movies as we can while she sleeps because when she gets mobile, I have a feeling that movies will be out of the question for a while.

October 2002

October 14, 2002

The Smiling Baby

Today is the day I actually started your journal. You are 6 weeks old today and growing like a weed! You had a check up last week. You weighed 9 pounds and you were 22 inches long. You also got a shot that day, which you didn’t like very much, but you were a good baby and you only cried a little bit. You started sleeping in our bed snuggled between mommy and daddy last week. Mommy gets more sleep this way and you seem to be happier when you are cuddled next to me. You wake up in a wonderful mood.

You started smiling last week and now you smile the most for daddy. Last night, he had you propped up on his chest before we went to sleep and he was sticking his tongue out at you. Your face lit up and you just smiled and smiled at us. It was so cute and my heart just melted. You also started cooing last week. You will smile and make little sounds like “ah” and “ooh” sometimes they are little squeaks but last night mommy thinks she heard you make a little laughing sound. Every time you smile, mommy just wants to give you a great big hug because it makes her so happy! I love seeing you happy.

Grandma Susan and Great grandma come over to visit a lot. Aunt Carol bought the house next door to us and grandma is helping her get it nice enough to live in so she is over here almost every day. She loves to hold you but you are starting to get to where you don’t want anyone but mommy and daddy to love on you. Mommy feels very needed and loved. J

You started sitting in your swing last week. You will sit in there and it rocks you to sleep. You seem to enjoy it. You also really like laying on the floor and looking at a toy that we named “Mr. Smiley ball”. You try to knock him over and you succeed most times you try. When we lay you on your belly for tummy time, you try to crawl. You are lifting you head up and looking around and if I give you something to push off of, you can propel yourself a few inches. You will be rolling over and crawling in no time.

Mommy is still on maternity leave from the credit union so she spends all day with you, feeding, changing and holding you. You finally decided that you like your sling so mommy is able to get a little more work done around the house while still holding you and cuddling.

You have started to look up at me while you are nursing and your eyes will crinkle up and you will give me a big gummy grin. I love it when you do that. You have really started to become more aware of your surroundings too. Daddy thinks it is funny when you stare at the blinds and the ceiling fan, which you do a lot.

I love you very much and I can hardly believe that it has already been 6 weeks since you were born. Daddy left for a business trip today and he will be back on Saturday so it’s just you and me for now.

October 16, 2002

Errand day

Well, Daddy is in Maryland for business and won’t be home until Saturday. You stayed awake until 5:30 on Monday nursing and playing. You were in a great mood but mommy was pretty tired. I suspect you are starting your 6-week growth spurt.

I had a dentist appointment today and I took you with me. You fussed a little bit and the receptionist held you while I got my tooth filled. It was a glorious day, sunny and about 65 degrees. I dressed you in a cute pink striped footy outfit and we left for the day. We came home from the dentist and took a short nap together then we went to the chiropractor and the toy store for some baby shopping. I bought a bedrail for the bed and a backup Mr. smiley ball for emergencies. You have been sleeping most of the day and I think that you may have a slight cold because you are very snotty and you keep sneezing. You even blew snot all over the arm of your little outfit so I had to change you. I’m definitely a mommy now; your snot doesn’t gross me out.

We played a little bit on the floor and you were very interested in the closet light. You are becoming more alert and responsive every day! Last night, you finally noticed your mobile. You Watched those animals go around and around and your seemed very interested. You also like the mirror in your crib and when you hit it (accidentally at this point), it laughs or plays “you are my sunshine” you smile and seem to like it. I got down on the floor with you and played the tongue game and you just smiled like a crazy person. Then you started cooing and I was imitating you. We were having quite the conversation with you making funny faces after I would answer your coos like you were trying to figure out what to say next. It was funny! Then you made a coo that sounded just like you were saying “a egg”…I couldn’t’ stop laughing but I imitated you and you gave me a huge gummy grin.

You ate for a while and now you are sitting in your swing while I type this. Well, now you are sucking on your fist so I guess it is time for the milk train to pull into the station. You are so cute when you nurse. You will pull off and grin, lock eyes with me and then pop back on while you are still grinning. It just melts my heart. You also “pet” my side with one arm while you are eating and pound my chest with the other hand. I don’t know what that is all about but it is darling. When you are done eating you pull off, with your eyebrows raised and your lips pursed and your eyes closed. You then lay there in the crook of my arm with your eyes half open looking like a drunken sailor with milk dripping off of your chin.

We just finished your bath and you are a little bit ticked off at me. I washed your hand and you stuck it right into your mouth. Suffice to say, you don’t like the taste of soap. You screamed and cried until I was able to get you out of your tub, into a diaper and onto a breast. Now you are fine. You had your first real tears & it just broke my heart. All I wanted to do was make it all better.

Let me fill you in on what you look like right now. Your baby hair is falling out in the back and you are pretty much bald on top so your hair looks like an old mans. The rest of your hair is about an inch long all over and it is dark brown, straight and fine, like mine. Your skin is pale and pink and I just noticed that your thighs and arms are chunking up; you are still long and thin though. Your eyes have been dark blue since birth but today I noticed that the outside of your cornea is turning brown. I’m going to bet that you will have brown eyes just like your mommy and daddy. Your feet are long and thin with long toes. I think that you have your grandma Susan’s feet. You have a flat soft little bottom that I just love to pat on when you aren’t wearing a diaper. We call this “air time” and you love it. I’m always afraid that you are going to have an accident though. You still keep your hand in little fists most of the time but they open and relax when you are sleepy. You usually will stick your pinky out. You also have a birthmark on your neck. We hardly get to see it since your head is still pretty wobbly but I noticed it a few weeks ago. It’s a bright red mark and I thought I had scratched you somehow but the Dr. said that it is a “strawberry” and that it will get bigger and then fade away when you are about 4 years old.

Have I mentioned what a dainty little girl you are? I am just kidding of course. You just let out a belch to rival that of your fathers and you also fill up your diaper with an explosive poop. I’m surprised you didn’t just vibrate right out of my hands. Hahahaaa.

You are sitting up on my chest while I type this one handed and Tallia is sitting in my lap. You are holding your head up really well. You just pushed yourself up with your arms and looked me right in the face. Too cute! You are practicing turning you head side to side too. With all of this upper body strength, you will be crawling soon and then mommy and daddy will be in trouble!

October 20, 2002

This morning I woke up with you next to me and Tallia behind you. I asked daddy to come and watch you while I took a shower. I could hear him laughing so I figured you were in a good mood. When I came out of the shower, he asked me if you had ever stared at your toes before and I said no. I sat down with you two on the bed and sure enough, you were staring intently at your toes. I think you were making the connection that they belong to you. Ha Ha! Soon you will be sticking them in your mouth & sucking on them. This picture is of your daddy. He is giving you the first bath that he has ever given to a baby. He washed your hand and you immediately stuck it in your mouth. You cried because it tasted bad and the bath ended shortly after that.

We are off to grandmas house for Sunday dinner.

October 24, 2002

You turned 7 weeks old on Monday and you have become more of a mommy’s girl lately. You constantly want to be held by me and you will sometimes let daddy hold you too. You have started to make your needs clearer by crying a bit more. I was nursing you today and we were “conversing” (exchanging coos). I made an mmmmmmmmmm sound and you smiled and gave your version of a laugh, kind of a shriek then a sigh with a huge grin. You are making more efforts to touch the toys on your gym and in your crib. You seem to be in the best mood when you are getting your diaper changed. You are pushing up more when you have tummy time and you are locking your legs, which means you can “stand” on us when we hold you. Finally, you took a bottle from your daddy today. You didn’t eat much but you also didn’t fuss. That’s progress!!

October 29, 2002

You are now 8 weeks old!! I can hardly believe how quickly the time is passing and how much bigger and more advanced you are. You are standing lots (with our help of course) and you enjoy it when we bounce you up and down. You are also most happy on your changing table where you stare at us and giggle and laugh. You spent half an hour in your crib today while I took a shower and you occupied yourself by staring at the mirror and your mobile. You have figured out that you can make the mirror play music when you hit it so you have taken to beating that thing with all of your might, only to be delighted by a tune. You have also started thumping your heels into the mattress of your crib, very forcefully and loudly. This also sets the music off which you seem to enjoy.

Grandma came over last night and you guys were playing. She makes the funnies faces at you! Well, I don’t know what you did but you laughed out loud at her and gave her a big grin! She almost cried she was so excited! I told her that when you smile at me like that, I could just hug you to death! I feel the biggest surge of love when we connect like that!.

You are able to see farther now which means that you are looking all around, all of the time, since there is so much new stuff to see. It makes nursing difficult, since you get so distracted, but we are working it out. This morning in bed, you woke up when your daddy’s alarm went off at 6:30. You must be a morning person because you were smiling at your daddy and doing a little dance in the bed (personally, I think you were pooping your pants but whatever). Daddy was happy to see you smiling and I think it made his day a little brighter.

So, what have you been up to this week? Well, in summary, you have perfected your social smiles, you are seeing farther, you are using your legs more and more, you are sucking your fist and you took your first bottle…kind of.

October 31, 2002

It is 12:42 on Halloween morning and I am typing this as you lie in your crib delighting in your black and white pictures, cooing and stomping your feet to make your mirror play music. You are just cracking yourself up in there. I’m sleepy but I love to listen to you “talk”.

You were very animated today. You are cooing more each day and interacting more and more with us. It is very gratifying. You have picked up the habit of rubbing your eye with your free hand while nursing until it is bright red…that is not my favorite because I keep thinking that there is something wrong with your eye. I have concluded, however, that it is just a thing you do. Maybe because you have discovered your hands and that they are attached to you. You still spend a lot of time bopping yourself in the face with them but you also seem to reach out to objects with more intent.

We went to the grocery store today and we also went to our first “new mothers meeting” at the Black Dog Café on lake Ella. For some reason, no other moms showed up though so I enjoyed my coffee and played with you for a while and then we headed home. You were in a great mood today! The “haaaaa Boo!” game makes you smile and you actually cooed, “boo” at me tonight but I think it was an accident. It is waaayy too early for you to be talking! Well, you need to be picked up now. Goodnight, hopefully.

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