2 months.

Here's our wee girlie. We have her 2 month appointment tomorrow and I am curious to see how much she weighs. She is putting on weight so much faster than her brother did. Things that he was wearing at 2 months and were kind of baggy don't fit her anymore. I mean, I know she isn't huge but comparatively, she looks like a chunk. Her brother didn't give his first real smiles until he was over 2 months and she's been smiling for weeks. She almost has a giggle--a little high pitched squeal. Just interesting to notice the differences but her smiles are magic!

She is sleeping well and for the past couple weeks, they both nap at basically the same time and then she sleeps again in the later afternoon. She actually kind of has a bedtime of 7-8:30 which she has created all on her own. Sometimes she will sleep up to 7 hours after going down but she isn't totally regular with that yet. She is getting pretty good at getting to sleep on her own. I used to get her to sleep in the night before I put her down after nursing but now I just lie her back in crib and she falls asleep eventually.

Yes, her hair is still definitely red and she has light bushy eyebrows. Her brother loves giving her kissed and comes to tell me when she is crying and that I need to hold her or give her milk. She is very patient with his antics but I guess she doesn't know any different- the plight of the younger sibling. She's really a very easy little person.

Here are some random shots from Thanksgiving on Thursday. We potlucked with the crew that stuck around Windsor and our Boston clan came up as well. We put on a mighty fine feast and felt like we stepped it up a notch this year. Chelle pulled out her grandma's china and we had fancy bubbly punch. The kids sat in the kitchen with their fluorescent ikea wear.  I posted a picture of the full plate because I know that my mom would be interested but generally speaking, Thanksgiving plate shots are not very appetizing. They look rather bland but it tasted delicious and dessert was spectacular--so much so that I couldn't be bothered getting the camera out because I dove right in and back again and again. There was a Cherry pie, pumpkin pies, pumpkin cinnamon rolls, and a chocolate cake with a pumpkin frosting that could send you into a sugar coma if ingested too quickly. We all felt appropriately stuffed.

After we ate, Chelle brought down her favorite world puzzle that is assembled on any and every holiday. I decided that the world could be divided into two types of people. People who do puzzles and people who make fun of people who do puzzles. I am not going to say who was in which group but it was very obvious. Unfortunately, Felicity didn't make it into the shot because she was definitely a puzzle person and Nathaniel really only showed up there towards the end when most of the vast blue Ocean was already completed. 

It was just as Thanksgiving should be. And for the grandparents out there. Here is a video we took of our boy this morning on the way to church. Right before I started to film him, he said he wanted to talk to Pete and Alice on his phone. It sounded so cute but then when I started the video he was Mr. No.

happy (almost) birthday grandma lizzie!

Last night we got 8 inches of snow so a white Thanksgiving it will be! I took our boy out in it but he was less than thrilled by how cold it is--especially when you aren't wearing your gloves. Like I say in the video, we have a little bit of work to do with his snow attitude-- since this is it for the next 4+ months. 

I also wanted to make sure to get some new shots up especially for Liz on her birthday in New Zealand. I know it's not today but we will be away and Thanksgiving-ing tomorrow. Liz made these gorgeous hats the kids are wearing. I keep thinking of her as small but this hat was waaaaaay too big for her when she was born and now it is just fitting but when I see her all the time, I don't have any perspective on it I guess. 

We miss you Liz--like a lot.

moc-lit milk

Whenever we pass the diner Lars says, "I want pancakes"but it sounds more like " Ah wahn pan-cah". He talks all the time but I am sure it is just me and Mike that can understand him and all of his little words. Last night, Mike was working at the Inn late so I was juggling the two little people for bedtime and got them both in jammies on my bed. Our boy did something that I was telling him not to do and he said, "Mommy, shhhhhh" in reference to keeping my voice down for his seesta's sake. Oh, so that's how he takes discipline. Very cunning little fellow.

So this morning we treated ourselves to some pan-cahs. It was really cold outside on our walk down to the diner; the wind was bitter. Lars ordered his pancakes straight away and Mike got a chocolate milk to share. He chugged it down so fast. I tried to get a video of the whole thing but by the time I got the camera out, he was nearly done. I love the way he says chocolate milk. We had a lot of it while Liz was here (Mike took him to get some more today actually)--so this video is for you Liz because I know you miss the little chocolate milk boy.

After breakfast, we passed the local Barber shop and the boys got trims from Cassie. Our girl fell asleep during the walk to the Barbers (about a block) so she rested on the couch. Pretty cute. She was wearing her  wools from Liz. Everyone comments on how beautiful they are.

Our little girl is sleeping really well. We now know she can sleep 5,6,7, even 8 hours straight which is really great. I can see her trending a very positive direction and she is actually getting a bit of a consistent rhythm to her day. She really only has freak out crying spells when she is tired and just can't get herself to sleep and she cries so hard it doesn't even sound like crying but maybe some kind of tortured small animal. Sometimes all I have to do is say her name and tell her to come back to us and she chills out. Funny little girl. When our boy was her age, he was just barely starting to nurse well and was still so scrawny looking in comparison. Some things are just much much easier the second time around.

Painting

Two kids can be a bit more complicated-- a newborn and toddler especially. I will say, there was A LOT of show watching the last few weeks while I have tried to contain a fiercely independent toddler and a constantly be there for a little feeding baby monster but things are slowly evening out around these parts. 

Now, I know why my mom had segmented parts to the day because the day goes by so much more smoothly. It is getting colder and soon there will be a lot of snow and it will be below freezing outside for months so we get out as much as we can. But when we can't, we have playing in the sink time and making pillow fort time and standing on top of the laundry basket time and when I am feeling extra energetic, a craft. I have noticed that I really have zero craft supplies but I mustered up some paints and he loved it. He's been asking to "Peant" ever since but unfortunately we used all the paper up. I would also like to get some more colors since these were the 3 colors I bought last Valentines day but he doesn't really care but I would selfishly like more color in the art we hang ;)

And we can't forget little Rocky red. She'll be 7 weeks tomorrow. Thanks to Leilani for this ensemble she's wearing. Those newborn jeggings have been a fashion staple but I think their days are numbered. Our little girl is getting big.

Our 6 week girl.

For the past two days, I have been able to get both kids down for naps at the same time--well overlapping for an hour. I feel like I have accomplished something really big here. Again, I doubt it will continue this way but it feels big for me (although quite little) and these days, it's all about the little things.

She is 6 weeks now and seeming less like a new born to me. I honestly don't remember what her brother was like at this age except he finally figured out how to breastfeed at 6 weeks and I stopped having to bottle feed and pump so much. She has been a gem in the eating department but throws some royal little fits that I don't remember so much with her big brother. But the baby haze doesn't help the memory. One things she likes is a good beating on her back. Really, it seems like you are pounding a drum but she settles down when you do it and she likes to be snuggled up when you do it. It's funny figuring out all the little things these little people like and don't like. 

Of course, the smiles are brilliant. 

and now I am going to go take my free hour (minus 15 minutes for this post) and go eat a cookie and watch something on Hulu. Oh and as I write this, I can hear my boy talking to himself up in his room. I guess he isn't sleeping. Hmmmm, oh well.

our saturday morning.

These shots were from our Saturday morning. Lars got into my make up which was entertaining. Thanks Lucy for the cute sweater. I love the woolens you sent over for our little lady. You got those leggings for Lars I think.  and Thanks Kasey, for the cute hat from Bangladesh.

We successfully made it through a week without live-in help.  We miss you Liz! and my parents left the other day too so it was a mass exodus of grandparents so I am told I need to keep the blog updated as much as possible. I have started to feel a bit overwhelmed at times this week but Mike takes our boy with him whenever he runs errands and gets up early with him so I can sleep in a just a little bit. Our girl has had 4-5 hour stretches the last 3 nights but I know better than to think it will stay this way but I will take anything more than 3. She has been smiling and making little talking sounds this week as well. She has one mightily impressive little scream on her when she gets mad or is uncomfortable. I am still learning the subtle differences in her cries but we are figuring it out. Yep, her hair is still red but as her head grows, her baby hair recedes further back on her head. It looks funny but cute funny, of course. Our boy is very loving towards her. He gets so excited to give her hugs and kisses. He is talking A LOT lately. I need to get a video of him saying some of my favorite words. I especially like when he says hummus like "who muth"--a little lisp at the end is super cute.

I would like to officially thank the creators of Shaun the Sheep--basically Wallace and Gromit but with funny sheep. I don't think I would have made it through this week without it. I heard someone talk about how their 2 year old can count to ten in spanish from watching Dora and I thought about how Shaun the Sheep doesn't really have any talking but is really funny so our boy might not be learning to talk but he is learning about comedic timing for sure. He also learns how to pull funny faces which is more important for his existence than talking, right?

** looking back at this post, it looks like coral threw up. I guess i like it. 

              

gotta love the screen grab--she looks terrified. 

Our Reindeer

 

Thanks to Joy and her eye for serious deals, our boy was a Reindeer this year for Halloween. I think it was $3.99 after Christmas last year and it was pretty cute. It took a little to get him into it but once he saw the other kids dressed up and related it to the acquisition of candy, he was game. We had a trunk or treat party on Friday night and then the family got together for a potato soup potluck and some more trick or treating. We got a bit of snow over the weekend which is still lingering so the kids had to either wear warm costumes or wear them over their jackets. I think he was more excited (and confused) than we have ever seen him. I wish I had a video of him saying "Trick or Treat", it was cool.