A few of pictures of Kallan on her 2 month birthday!
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
2 Months
Sorry for the lack of posts. Lyla did something to my computer that I can't figure out how to fix, and it makes doing anything on it a pain. But I thought I'd better post a 2-month update.
Ups:
We're enjoying more awake time now. Kallan loves to talk, talk, talk!! She is cooing like crazy these days. She'll look right at you, give a big smile and then a big "goo." She's so happy, and she is letting us know, it's a great feeling! Another "up" would be that she no longer hates baths; in fact she kind of likes them! Spit-ups are less frequent, sleep is easier to come by. If Kallan is fussing, I sometimes try to feed her, and she isn't hungry. When this happens, she looks at me out of the corners of her eyes and gives me a sly, little smirk. "Haha gotcha Mommy!" All in all, a good month.
Downs:
The only down this month is that Lyla and Kallan seem to wake each other up at 6 am. Why so early?!? I'm not sure if Lyla wakes up to Kallan's crying or if Kallan wakes up to Lyla via the monitor. Either way, it's too early.
Sleep:
At night we get a 4.5-5 hr stretch, followed by a couple 3 hr stretches, with the occasional 3.5-4. Sleep is getting less and less interrupted, and I am definitely feeling the benefits of longer sleep during the day.
Milestones:
Kallan had her first social smile just after she turned 1 month. At 8 weeks, she started following objects with her eyes. The iPhone is a favorite for this. Kids and technology, am I right? And still strengthening those neck muscles!
Likes:
milk, the red mushroom on the bouncy chair, the changing table, smiling, talking, staring at faces, Lyla, kicking like crazy, close snuggles with Daddy, being pat on the bottom
Dislikes:
Wet diapers, long car rides, hats, being held too much, tummy time
We had her two month appointment yesterday. Kallan weighed in at 11 lb 5 oz and is 21.5 inches long, just a bit smaller than her big sister was at this age. She is on the short side, but kind of chunky hehe. Just the way a baby should be! The receptionist called her Kay-lin, and then the nurse kept calling her a 'he.' I did have her in a blue blanket and a blue hat... but I mean, girls like blue, too, right?! Kallan was awake and happy the whole time, giving lots of smiles and coos to the nurses. They just thought she was so beautiful. She barely even fussed when we weighed and measured her. The doctor came in and checked her out. Everything looked great, and he commented on how active she was. She didn't want to be held, but was happily laying on the table, kicking her arms and legs. He said he thought she'd be an "on-the-go" kind of baby. So then the vaccination part. This was the first time I had gone to the vaccination appointment without Erik. He was always there to hold Lyla while I cried and covered my eyes in the corner. I am a wimp when it comes to shots for myself, but for a baby, it's about 10 times worse. I almost defected to the anti-vaccination camp for the day, but I decided to hold strong. First Kallan got an oral immunization, which she thought was gross and started crying. It was so sad because she had been so happy the whole time and then it was like... "Why are you doing this time?!" Then she had three shots, and she screamed and got extremely red in the face. I was crying and the nurses were chatting to me nonchalantly so I would feel better I think. Anyway, I don't know why people say it gets easier over time, because it really doesn't. I attempted to feed her afterwards, but that just made her more upset. I gave her "Giraffey" the pacifier, and she fell asleep. UGH. It was NOT fun, and hopefully I won't have to handle vaccinations alone anymore.
These 2 months have really flown by! So far I've noticed some differences between the two girls. Lyla never seemed to notice if she had a wet or even poopy diaper. Kallan gets very vocal and upset about wet diapers. Lyla would pout out her bottom lip when she was sad, and Kallan sucks hers in. Both faces are equally sad. Kallan loves the changing table... when she fusses and we're not sure what's wrong, we set her on there and she is happy. Lyla was the same way. Interesting. Must be quite a view from up there.
I'll try to post some pictures when my computer is fixed!
Ups:
We're enjoying more awake time now. Kallan loves to talk, talk, talk!! She is cooing like crazy these days. She'll look right at you, give a big smile and then a big "goo." She's so happy, and she is letting us know, it's a great feeling! Another "up" would be that she no longer hates baths; in fact she kind of likes them! Spit-ups are less frequent, sleep is easier to come by. If Kallan is fussing, I sometimes try to feed her, and she isn't hungry. When this happens, she looks at me out of the corners of her eyes and gives me a sly, little smirk. "Haha gotcha Mommy!" All in all, a good month.
Downs:
The only down this month is that Lyla and Kallan seem to wake each other up at 6 am. Why so early?!? I'm not sure if Lyla wakes up to Kallan's crying or if Kallan wakes up to Lyla via the monitor. Either way, it's too early.
Sleep:
At night we get a 4.5-5 hr stretch, followed by a couple 3 hr stretches, with the occasional 3.5-4. Sleep is getting less and less interrupted, and I am definitely feeling the benefits of longer sleep during the day.
Milestones:
Kallan had her first social smile just after she turned 1 month. At 8 weeks, she started following objects with her eyes. The iPhone is a favorite for this. Kids and technology, am I right? And still strengthening those neck muscles!
Likes:
milk, the red mushroom on the bouncy chair, the changing table, smiling, talking, staring at faces, Lyla, kicking like crazy, close snuggles with Daddy, being pat on the bottom
Dislikes:
Wet diapers, long car rides, hats, being held too much, tummy time
We had her two month appointment yesterday. Kallan weighed in at 11 lb 5 oz and is 21.5 inches long, just a bit smaller than her big sister was at this age. She is on the short side, but kind of chunky hehe. Just the way a baby should be! The receptionist called her Kay-lin, and then the nurse kept calling her a 'he.' I did have her in a blue blanket and a blue hat... but I mean, girls like blue, too, right?! Kallan was awake and happy the whole time, giving lots of smiles and coos to the nurses. They just thought she was so beautiful. She barely even fussed when we weighed and measured her. The doctor came in and checked her out. Everything looked great, and he commented on how active she was. She didn't want to be held, but was happily laying on the table, kicking her arms and legs. He said he thought she'd be an "on-the-go" kind of baby. So then the vaccination part. This was the first time I had gone to the vaccination appointment without Erik. He was always there to hold Lyla while I cried and covered my eyes in the corner. I am a wimp when it comes to shots for myself, but for a baby, it's about 10 times worse. I almost defected to the anti-vaccination camp for the day, but I decided to hold strong. First Kallan got an oral immunization, which she thought was gross and started crying. It was so sad because she had been so happy the whole time and then it was like... "Why are you doing this time?!" Then she had three shots, and she screamed and got extremely red in the face. I was crying and the nurses were chatting to me nonchalantly so I would feel better I think. Anyway, I don't know why people say it gets easier over time, because it really doesn't. I attempted to feed her afterwards, but that just made her more upset. I gave her "Giraffey" the pacifier, and she fell asleep. UGH. It was NOT fun, and hopefully I won't have to handle vaccinations alone anymore.
These 2 months have really flown by! So far I've noticed some differences between the two girls. Lyla never seemed to notice if she had a wet or even poopy diaper. Kallan gets very vocal and upset about wet diapers. Lyla would pout out her bottom lip when she was sad, and Kallan sucks hers in. Both faces are equally sad. Kallan loves the changing table... when she fusses and we're not sure what's wrong, we set her on there and she is happy. Lyla was the same way. Interesting. Must be quite a view from up there.
I'll try to post some pictures when my computer is fixed!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Halloween
We had a great Halloween this year! On Saturday, we went downtown where many of the stores were passing out candy. It was crazy busy though, but Lyla had a lot of fun. She loved looking at the other costumes, too. Here's our Lyla princess!
And Kallan in her Totoro hat made by Grandma! Totoro was one of my favorite movies growing up. Whenever we'd visit my Grandma up north, we would walk downtown, rent Totoro and get smiley face cookies! I kind of want this hat for myself...
Halloween day! Lyla was very excited about her "special Halloween shirt" from Mormor. She was especially excited that Kallan had one, too! While Kallan was still asleep, she carried around Kallan's onesie saying, "Bring it to her... when she wakes up!"
Trick or Treat!
Lyla had so much fun, I was glad we braved the nasty weather to go out for a little bit. Then we came home, had a treat and some hot chocolate! A great day!
Best Halloween costumes: Downtown we saw two girls in boxes, dressed as dice. They were about to go in a building and one girl said, "Let's roll in!" How are kids so witty?! Also, Erik showed me a picture of someone dressed us Dumble-Dora. Yep, that's Dora with a long, gray beard and glasses. I could not stop laughing!
Worst Halloween costume: Okay someone dressed their 3 year old as Chucky, complete with a bloody toy dagger. He stabbed Erik in the leg, and tried to get in our stroller to get Kallan! A bit creepy.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Bucket List
My Bucket List. A work in progress! Obviously there are a million things I need/want to do before I die!
1. Travel. A lot. I have already traveled a lot, but unfortunately or fortunately, depending on who you are, that just means I want to travel more. I thought I'd just lump "travel" as one bullet point instead of boring you with all the places I wish I could be right now. I will say that this includes national travel, too. I've seen a lot of the world but embarrassingly little of my own country!
2. Travel with our kids. This obviously goes with #1. But I once read that travel is the only thing you pay for that makes you richer (or something along those lines), and I want to show that to my girls.
3. Get into grad school. Working on this one!
4. Go to the World Cup. This just seems like necessary life experience.
5. Leave my daughters cute, embarrassing notes in their lunch boxes. My mom sometimes left me little notes on or in my lunch and gave my cards in my lunch on special occasions. I literally can't wait to do this, and it's important enough to go on my bucket list.
6. Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Erik says we need to wait to go there to bring the kids. UMMMMM, no. By the time they are old enough to read and become obsessed with Harry Potter, it might be gone or something!! Does this go with travel?
7. Comfort my girls through a break up. Okay, I obviously don't want them to have their hearts broken, but it may happen, and I want to be there for them. We can eat ice cream and listen to T-Swift sing about our lives, if she's still around.
8. Get a letter from my birth mom and/or dad. This really isn't up to me. But I hope it happens. The process is in place right now, and I'm a lot more nervous about it than I expected to be. I was never really interested in contacting my birth parents until I became a mom. I kept thinking that I could never love my baby ENOUGH to give her to someone else. I can't imagine doing what she did for me. I can't imagine picturing my life with my little girl, and then willingly giving that up. This is the single greatest act of love that I've experienced in my life, and I want her to know that I'm ok, I'm happy, I have a life that I love. And it's all thanks to her.
9. Have a dog. Or several of them! Fur-babies are family, too.
10. Own a mini cooper. Lifelong dream. It will happen.
11. Help the girls with wedding planning. I'm not much of a planner, and I was a bit busy with baby Lyla to focus much on my own, but I can't wait to do the fun stuff with Lyla and Kallan someday! Although thinking of them growing up and getting married makes me tear up... moving on!
12. Be my girls' number 1 fan! Not that I'm not already. But I will be cheering them on at games, watching their dance recitals, going to concerts.. whatever it is that they love, we will be there supporting them.
13. Buy a house. We're not really sure where we're going to end up in the next couple of years, but I can't wait to have our own house when the time comes!
14. Fill their journals. When I was pregnant with each of our girls, I started a journal filled with letters to them. I hope to fill them up and give them to them when they are older!
15. Have a "classic" movie marathon. I went through a long period in my life where I just didn't like watching movies. I simply could NOT sit still long enough and got bored. If I didn't see it in a theater, I probably hadn't seen it. So whenever there is a "classic" movie on TV, Erik says, "You probably haven't seen that one, it's classic." I think a marathon is in order of these supposed classics!
That's all I got for the time being!
1. Travel. A lot. I have already traveled a lot, but unfortunately or fortunately, depending on who you are, that just means I want to travel more. I thought I'd just lump "travel" as one bullet point instead of boring you with all the places I wish I could be right now. I will say that this includes national travel, too. I've seen a lot of the world but embarrassingly little of my own country!
2. Travel with our kids. This obviously goes with #1. But I once read that travel is the only thing you pay for that makes you richer (or something along those lines), and I want to show that to my girls.
3. Get into grad school. Working on this one!
4. Go to the World Cup. This just seems like necessary life experience.
5. Leave my daughters cute, embarrassing notes in their lunch boxes. My mom sometimes left me little notes on or in my lunch and gave my cards in my lunch on special occasions. I literally can't wait to do this, and it's important enough to go on my bucket list.
6. Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Erik says we need to wait to go there to bring the kids. UMMMMM, no. By the time they are old enough to read and become obsessed with Harry Potter, it might be gone or something!! Does this go with travel?
7. Comfort my girls through a break up. Okay, I obviously don't want them to have their hearts broken, but it may happen, and I want to be there for them. We can eat ice cream and listen to T-Swift sing about our lives, if she's still around.
8. Get a letter from my birth mom and/or dad. This really isn't up to me. But I hope it happens. The process is in place right now, and I'm a lot more nervous about it than I expected to be. I was never really interested in contacting my birth parents until I became a mom. I kept thinking that I could never love my baby ENOUGH to give her to someone else. I can't imagine doing what she did for me. I can't imagine picturing my life with my little girl, and then willingly giving that up. This is the single greatest act of love that I've experienced in my life, and I want her to know that I'm ok, I'm happy, I have a life that I love. And it's all thanks to her.
9. Have a dog. Or several of them! Fur-babies are family, too.
10. Own a mini cooper. Lifelong dream. It will happen.
11. Help the girls with wedding planning. I'm not much of a planner, and I was a bit busy with baby Lyla to focus much on my own, but I can't wait to do the fun stuff with Lyla and Kallan someday! Although thinking of them growing up and getting married makes me tear up... moving on!
12. Be my girls' number 1 fan! Not that I'm not already. But I will be cheering them on at games, watching their dance recitals, going to concerts.. whatever it is that they love, we will be there supporting them.
13. Buy a house. We're not really sure where we're going to end up in the next couple of years, but I can't wait to have our own house when the time comes!
14. Fill their journals. When I was pregnant with each of our girls, I started a journal filled with letters to them. I hope to fill them up and give them to them when they are older!
15. Have a "classic" movie marathon. I went through a long period in my life where I just didn't like watching movies. I simply could NOT sit still long enough and got bored. If I didn't see it in a theater, I probably hadn't seen it. So whenever there is a "classic" movie on TV, Erik says, "You probably haven't seen that one, it's classic." I think a marathon is in order of these supposed classics!
That's all I got for the time being!
Monday, October 22, 2012
Kallan: 1 Month
Ups:
Of course, we love those sleepy smiles and the newborn snuggle fests. I think my favorite part of this past month is seeing her more alert and awake. She seems to stare, study and take everything in. A lot like big sister! She has a piercing gaze and such beautiful eyes, how could you not love it when she is just starting into yours. Her eyebrows are getting even more expressive. They are often furrowed making her look concerned, but sometimes she raises them and looks a bit skeptical. I don't really know what people mean by the term "good baby," but I would say we have one... lucky us! She makes a noise like a dolphin!! I love it. I'll try to get it on video before she quits doing it.
Downs:
Lack of sleep! Now that Kallan will happily sleep in her bassinet, sleep is easier to come by, but I am really looking forward to some longer sleep stretches. It's also hard balancing time between Kallan and Lyla. Sometimes I feel like there are just not enough hours in a day for quiet snuggle time.
Milestones:
Muscles strengthening every day. She is already very talkative, lots of cute little "goo" noises!
Likes:
Eating, sleeping, giraffe pacifier, when whoever is holding her walks around, lights, faces, laying on the ground
Dislikes:
Pooping, wet diapers, gas
Of course, we love those sleepy smiles and the newborn snuggle fests. I think my favorite part of this past month is seeing her more alert and awake. She seems to stare, study and take everything in. A lot like big sister! She has a piercing gaze and such beautiful eyes, how could you not love it when she is just starting into yours. Her eyebrows are getting even more expressive. They are often furrowed making her look concerned, but sometimes she raises them and looks a bit skeptical. I don't really know what people mean by the term "good baby," but I would say we have one... lucky us! She makes a noise like a dolphin!! I love it. I'll try to get it on video before she quits doing it.
Downs:
Lack of sleep! Now that Kallan will happily sleep in her bassinet, sleep is easier to come by, but I am really looking forward to some longer sleep stretches. It's also hard balancing time between Kallan and Lyla. Sometimes I feel like there are just not enough hours in a day for quiet snuggle time.
Milestones:
Muscles strengthening every day. She is already very talkative, lots of cute little "goo" noises!
Likes:
Eating, sleeping, giraffe pacifier, when whoever is holding her walks around, lights, faces, laying on the ground
Dislikes:
Pooping, wet diapers, gas
Happy 1 Month Kallan! We love you!
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Book Reviews
"Sorry I haven't been writing much lately. We've been a little busy! Free time is usually spent napping or getting other stuff done. But mostly napping or trying to nap. I am a horrible napper. It takes me forever to fall asleep, especially if I know I have to wake up soon. Then I'm just sitting there saying, "Now I'll only get this much sleep...." over and over.
But things are going really well! I'll try to update on the whole family again soon, but I thought I'd do some more book reviews of what we're reading lately. You'll notice a trend in Lyla's current faves. We don't have really ANY mommy books. What's up with that?!?!
I would recommend any of these for that special daddy in your life!
Lyla's Reviews:
"I really like this book because it shows pictures of daddy and me as animals. I like the daddy turtle the best because he is playing Peek-a-boo!"
"In this book, my daddy turns into lots of animals! It's funny when he becomes a turtle because turtles aren't fast, and the turtle says "Blub, blub." At the end, I like to say, "You're fast, Daddy!" And then Daddy and Lyla walk home together!"
(Mommy's Fave) "This book is about all the fun stuff Daddy and Lyla do together. There's only one picture with mommy in it! I really like the one where Daddy comes to my school, and it says, "You're daddy is so cool!" After I read this page, I like to run and tell my Daddy how cool he is. There are some pages where Daddy is wearing fancy clothes, and another page where Lyla needs to be rescued! Daddy rescues Lyla and then they ride on books together!"
"I like to read this book by myself. It's all about different kinds of dads. My favorite page is the one where it says, "Some dads like to cover you with sand!" There's also a page where the dad is wearing two different socks, just like I like to do!
"The Lorien Legacies" is definitely an entertaining series! This is the third book in the series. It was very fast-moving and action packed. Definitely entertaining, like the other books. However, I did have a couple of issues with it. The author writes the book in three voices, of Marina, John and Number 6. This is ok, but the voices aren't that different. And maybe three voices is too many. Will the next book include 4 different perspectives?? I also think there is too much romance. It seems like the author is always jumping to add a bit of romantic action for each person, and I think that's unnecessary. I talked to Erik about this, and he said, "They're teenagers." Well, that's true. And finally.. this book ended in such a weird spot. Overall, I enjoyed it though. A lot of cool battle scenes and stuff. I hear this series will have 6 books. UGH! Too many.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Proud Potty Trainer
We've been doing something I might call "child-led potty training." Meaning.. it's pretty relaxed. If Lyla feels like wearing underwear one day, then she will wear underwear. If she feels like sitting on her potty for an hour and a half, with or without success, then we will do that. If she wants to wear her diaper all day, then no big deal.
A lot of potty training methods seem rather stressful for both parents and baby. We decided that these methods weren't for us. So we just decided to wait on the whole potty training thing over the summer, but I had planned on doing it before Kallan arrived. My parents got Lyla a potty training book featuring none other than Dora the Explorer, Lyla's obsession. One day, she said, "gonna be a big girl." And so we put on some undies, and then she sat on the potty for an hour and a half and finally peed. We made a big hoopla of the occasion, lots of "woo-hoo" and "hurray!" and of course a yummy treat for the big girl! Then she sat on the potty another time for about the same amount of time, reading books, coloring, having snacks, playing iPhone games... and she pooped! Another bit of "woo-hoo"!!!! I think after that, Kallan must have arrived because we really haven't done much since then. Lyla has occasionally sat on the potty but without going to the bathroom. And she has run around in undies and had a couple of accidents.
Well today I changed 4 poopy diapers in one hour. Only one of those was from Lyla, but still, I feel like I'm living in diaper land with all the diaper changing that goes on over here. So I decided it was time for some 'structured' potty training. Whatever that means!
So this evening, we just took off her diaper. Then we took turns being helicopter parents, looking for any hint that she might go. What felt like hours later, she still hadn't gone, and neither of us were following her around anymore. I was in the kitchen, and I heard the pitter patter of feet running, and then a "plop" onto the potty. And she had peed! Without any poking or prodding or helicopter parenting... she just felt she had to go, held it long enough to make it to the potty, and went! We could not believe it, and we could not be prouder! I never would have guessed that I would be so excited to see pee. We had a big celebration and had some candy treats. The first thing Lyla said after was, "little treat now!"
We are happy and relieved that whatever we have been doing is working. I'm sure it will be awhile until we're completely diaper free, but I am looking forward to the day when I only have one baby to diaper!
A lot of potty training methods seem rather stressful for both parents and baby. We decided that these methods weren't for us. So we just decided to wait on the whole potty training thing over the summer, but I had planned on doing it before Kallan arrived. My parents got Lyla a potty training book featuring none other than Dora the Explorer, Lyla's obsession. One day, she said, "gonna be a big girl." And so we put on some undies, and then she sat on the potty for an hour and a half and finally peed. We made a big hoopla of the occasion, lots of "woo-hoo" and "hurray!" and of course a yummy treat for the big girl! Then she sat on the potty another time for about the same amount of time, reading books, coloring, having snacks, playing iPhone games... and she pooped! Another bit of "woo-hoo"!!!! I think after that, Kallan must have arrived because we really haven't done much since then. Lyla has occasionally sat on the potty but without going to the bathroom. And she has run around in undies and had a couple of accidents.
Well today I changed 4 poopy diapers in one hour. Only one of those was from Lyla, but still, I feel like I'm living in diaper land with all the diaper changing that goes on over here. So I decided it was time for some 'structured' potty training. Whatever that means!
So this evening, we just took off her diaper. Then we took turns being helicopter parents, looking for any hint that she might go. What felt like hours later, she still hadn't gone, and neither of us were following her around anymore. I was in the kitchen, and I heard the pitter patter of feet running, and then a "plop" onto the potty. And she had peed! Without any poking or prodding or helicopter parenting... she just felt she had to go, held it long enough to make it to the potty, and went! We could not believe it, and we could not be prouder! I never would have guessed that I would be so excited to see pee. We had a big celebration and had some candy treats. The first thing Lyla said after was, "little treat now!"
We are happy and relieved that whatever we have been doing is working. I'm sure it will be awhile until we're completely diaper free, but I am looking forward to the day when I only have one baby to diaper!
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