12 weeks

Dear Baby Smoosh,

STOP it! Okay? Just STOP. Stop getting so big, so fast. I feel like we are on warp speed constantly. And I want you to stay little just a little bit longer.

So what happened this week? Well I already wrote about a lot of it in the Easter post. Your first Easter was just amazing!

You won't remember the seahorse you got (even though you love it!) or the books. Someday you'll be old enough to sleep with the pillow. But what I will always remember? That it really felt like our first Easter as a family. I've had some really rough Easters in the past, and I did love 2 years ago when it was Truff's first Easter. And last year when it was Ellie's first Easter. And I love that this was your first Easter, but even more than that, it felt like OUR first Easter as a family. That's probably very confusing to you, and I'm probably not the best at articulating that, but I hope at some point you get old enough to understand what I mean. 

You were the little charmer on Easter though. You did have both sets of Grandparents wrapped around that long finger! And even random old ladies at brunch were cooing over you. My FAVORITE thing right now is how you get so excited and smiley when someone talks to you and you "talk" back. It is so sweet. 

Monday we stayed around the house to recoup from the hectic weekend. Good plan...until your sister decided not to nap. Oy. That was rough on everyone. Luckily, you, Miss Low Maintenance, helped out by being a good napper. 

Can we pause and talk about your awesome sleep? *Whisper* 12 hours. In a row. At night. *End Whisper* I LOVE it. 

Tuesday we needed out of the house after the catastrophe that was Monday, so we hit the mall. 

You were a rockstar, as usual. And your sister burned off sufficient energy so that she napped! Yay! Happy Mommy!

Tuesday night was bath night for all three of you kiddos. Daddy was awesome at that. The good news is that you are LOVING bath time now. You were smiling and shrieking and giggling up a storm for him. He loved that, and you two played in the tub for a long time!

You know what else you and Daddy do at night when I am trying to get some stuff done? You guys play with Truff. You are getting a big kick out of his fur and even reach for it sometimes. I am not sure that he is fond of that, but he is fond of you and will come over and curl up by you on the floor. 

Wednesday is gym day like always. It was funny, because when we were done, I was going to let your sister go and play, and so I told Daddy to go out and get you. He came back in the gym empty handed. Turns out Aunt Andrea wasn't giving you up until we absolutely made her. You love curling up with her, sweet little Squish, and she loves cuddling with you. I'm telling you, she's magic...all three of you kiddos just adore her!

Thursday you got to go to Grandma's for a bit. You still love watching the fan! It is your favorite. In that way you are getting more and more like your sister. You definitely are less schedule-oriented and more adaptable than she was. By this point she was on a 3-nap a day schedule and if we messed with that, there would be issues. You relly do go with the flow and most of the time will fall asleep without much drama hen you're tired. A little yell here and there, but nothing too bad. 

Smoosh, one of my favorite things about writing these letters is looking back at pics from the week. You know what strikes me? That smile. You are so smiley and happy. I hope that is a personality trait that sticks with you throughout your life, baby girl. I know that I spend a whole lot more time with a smile on my face now that you are part of our family too! 

I love you, Baby Scarlett!

Mommy

Easter 2014

Well, Easter weekend has come and gone, and we had a great time, but we were busy, busy, busy as usual.

Holidays are so much fun right now. Ellie "gets it" but not to the extent where ALL our tracks have to be covered, so to speak.

The weekend started off Saturday with some family cuddle time watching Curious George in bed. Then it was pancakes and taking a walk with the kiddos. We tried to do some pics after that. Then it was naps and bunny attempt number 3. Ellie has NOT been a big bunny fan at all, but this time, we at least got her to give him a high 5 and take an egg from his hand. Whatever. I'll take it! Then we played in the play place in the cafe for a bit, did a little grocery shopping and came back home for dinner, another walk, and another photo shoot. We finally got some super cute pics of the girls together. Good thing Ellie is all about giving Scarlett kisses. That's the only way we can corral her. She just wants to 'WHUN'

Sunday morning, Ellie got up to find bunny tracks leading from her room to the kitchen. She was so funny, she would stand on each of them and "Hop, Hop!" just like she knew he bunny did.

When she finally made it to the kitchen, we saw that the bunny had went a *little* overboard.

Ellie loved it though. She happily announced "Nancy" when she saw her new Fancy Nancy book.

And she is in love with her kitchen. She "washes her hands" in the sink constantly. It is so cute (and a little disturbing!)

Oh, and as always, the bubbles were a hit. She even figured out how to blow them herself. Truffle, sadly, despite his best efforts could not figure out how to blow the bubbles.

Then it was off to church. Grandma and Grandpa Mason came to church with us, and the girls were dolls. Ellie stayed in the service all through singing, and Scarlett snuggled up and snoozed on Grandma's chest. Ryan and I kept looking at each other asking who abducted our kiddos. They are never that good at the same time! Those stinkers know when to turn it on, I guess!

Then we headed to brunch with Grandma and Grandpa Zaher. Scarlett was wide-eyed and cooing up a storm. Ellie, of course, was all about eating. The fruit was a favorite, of course. And the cupcake that she crammed in her mouth!

After bunch we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's, as the Easter Bunny had made a stop there too. Scarlett loved her new blanket, and Ellie had fun trying to figure out her new talking Olaf.

The kids were wilting quick, as were Mom and Dad, so it was back home for a nap for all. S zonked easily. E went down easy, but just as Ryan and I were settling in for a nap too, she was UP. After an hour of trying to get her back down, we gave up, and headed out to the park to burn off some energy. 

Ellie was prancing all over, and insisted on walking most of the mile and a half from park to park. One of the parks has a nice "smaller" structure, and she loved that. She tried out all the slides. Truff found a cool spot underneath and laid down . He isn't used to the nice weather either!

We walked back over to the other part of the park, and Ellie had to go on more slides. Except this girl is CRAZY. She was going down the full-size slides. Like, the ones that are above Ryan's head. Sigh. She is such a daredevil and getting so big so quick. 

We headed home, threw some burgers on the grill, and had some more family time. Even though our kiddo are all insanely crazy, it makes for super fun days.

In all, the Easter was PERFECT. I got to spend lots of time with the girls, we had a lot of fun with the family, and we didn't have to deal with any drama. or anyone being overwhelmed. Seriously, just perfect. And considering that Easter is kind of a funny holiday for me, I really, REALLY appreciated that. 

Happy Easter!

Ellie update!

Well even though this blog has been a bit Scarlett-focused with her weekly letters, our house is definitely NOT Scarlett focused. In fact sometimes it is hard to give her the attention she should be getting with "Hurricane Ellie" coming through.

So what is up with the big girl?

Um, she is the most fun kid EVER.

And I am defenseless against her adorableness. Take yesterday. After she got up from her nap, I gave her some cheerios and was going to snuggle her as she watched a little "George". I sat her down on the couch and sat next to her. She started melting down. What? Then she climbed into my lap and settled down. Huh? So I asked her if she wanted to be in my lap to cuddle. "Uh-huh!". Oh. My. Goodness. I was a puddle. Okay, baby girl. I will cuddle you on my lap as much as you want. Then she asked for "More O's...Peeeeese!" You got it, kid. I cannot make rational decisions with that kind of cuteness. And you said Please. Done.

She LOVES Frozen. She has even started to sing along. Like the part where they say "Deep, deep, deep, deep snow" she will say "deep deep deep" and Olaf's "Happy Snowman" she will say "Happy". Oh, and she calls Olaf 'Summa' which might be the world's cutest ever!

 She gives all the kissses and hugs these days too. I love that! She's such a little love. She's now grabbing my cheeks and giving me kisses. Heavenly! And we start our morning with tickle fights. Problem...she now understands how to tickle and is GOOD at it. So we both end up belly laughing.

And she's FUNNY. Her expressions are hysterical. And she is learning things like crazy, so she learns funny things, and then we get LOTS of entertainment... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc1j3dLr9Bo

What is she up to these days?

1. Fine motor stuff: She LOVES fine motor activities. We end up doing lots of these kind of things, like putting cheerios on a stick, pushing pipe cleaners and pom pom balls through holes, and lacing cards. She's really good at them, and it is adorable to see her concentrating.

2. TOWERS! Girl loves her towers. This typically means that we have blocks EVERYWHERE, all the time. And even if we don't get those out, she tends to build towers out of any other materials she can find...

3. Climbing: Yup, whenever I am busy with Scarlett, I can pretty much count on Ellie getting into trouble climbing something. Coffee tables, high chair, whatever! Any random boxes laying around instantly become step stools and the climbing commences.

Of course, this does, sometimes lead to very fashionable bruises and scraped. Even with the injuries, she doesn't seem to mind and is off climbing again pronto.

Knock on wood: She hasn't climbed out of her crib yet. I think the sleep sacks hinder this. Whatever. I want to keep her caged a bit longer. I am really hoping to make it to 2. 

Oh, and she LOVES sliding just as much. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x79GMMOoE3Y And yes, this kid will try to go to the tallest slide on the playground. Talk about freaking Mommy out!

 4. Bubbles: She is obsessed with bubbles. And baths. And water, really. She is so stinking happy in a bubble bath that it is ridiculous. And she thinks there is fish in ANY body of water. Even the crockpot when it sits soaking in the sink (what? Oh Ellie...) I have a feeling that this will make this summer SO much fun. She liked sitting in her pool and such last time, but now that she can RUN through sprinklers and such? She is going to be in heaven.

 5. Being Silly: This kid is so silly. She loves to laugh. We do the "tickle monster" book a lot, which we both just love. And we have sticker fights. And she makes crazy faces.

And what is cool is that she now knows when she is being silly. She will announce "funny". Or when we're having a particularly good time she will look at me and say "HAPPY!" Yes, love, you make me happy too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfUMKoCPry8

5. Playing with Scarlett: E is such a good big sister, it is ridiculous. We have tried really hard to make sure that she can have lots of contact with S. So S has gotten poked in the eye a couple times, but overall this has been great for both of them. S will babble away at her big sis and E is great at being gentle with her and just overall being a great big sister. We were concerned about jealousy issues, but that has been really minor. I'm seriously proud of how good Ellie is with her. All I hear some days is "Oh, HI BAYBEEEEE!"

6. "Wh-un" I guess this means her gross motor skills are also progressing pretty well, because she is constantly "Whunning" (running)

This kid won't stay still. I'm so glad that we have 5 acres, because she is ALL OVER. We take walks every day too. That is a little harder as she is so distractable. She stops for rocks, to say hello to the doggies or horsies, etc. We did find that being silly on walks keeps her focused...my sweet girl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQzkTwzZFqU

7. Naps/sleep/nursing: She is still a good sleeper, doing between 10 and 12 hours a night. And we're at one nap a day. ,that is usually just over 2 hours. She still nurses before nap and bed, and I'm ok with that, most of the time. Sometimes I definitely feel like all I do from 7pm to when I go to bed is nurse someone, but I know that these times will pass in the blink of an eye. When I do tandem nurse (which I've only done a handful of times since I don't particularly like it) Ellie stares at Scarlett which is pretty sweet. As far as weaning...I don't know. My ultimate goal was to get her through cold and flu season (especially with a newborn in the house) and that seems to be winding down. On the other hand, she is clearly still into nursing. She loves going in for her nap, because she knows what it gets her (BOOB! Whoops, should have taught her a different word for that!) She definitely still asks to nurse and gives me an enthusiastic "uh-huh!" when I 'get' it. So for right now, we'll keep going. It is working for both of us pretty well right now. 

 8. Vocab: This kid's vocabulary is crazy! She's got words for pretty much everything. Seriously, she probably has a working vocab of 400ish words. And she will do 2-3 word sentences too. I cannot believe how fast she is picking this up. It is so much fun to really be able to talk to her. Of course, it bugs me BIG TIME that she WILL NOT say 'I love you'. I keep working at it. Such a little stinker. But she will use 'please' now, which is a small victory. Of course, when asking for O's and prompted "What do you say" she told me this week... "PEEEESE. WHUN." Apparently I don't deliver her O's fast enough? Oy.

9. Eating: Girl LOVES food. She will eat pretty much anything, so that is a such relief. Not having mealtime battles is great. She would still live on blueberries alone, if allowed. and in the morning, she loves her "CAKE-CAKES" (pancakes). Chicken is usually a hit, as is most kinds of pasta. And while she doesn't care much for salad, she sure loves "crutes" (croutons).

10. BUSY! I have to say, the best and worst thing about Ellie? She is BUSY. And curious. She needs to be exploring and discovering and going a million miles a minute. This is exactly what makes her so fun and have such a big personality, but it is also completely exhausting sometimes. I do feel like one of my unique parenting challenges with her is to make sure I am giving her adequate time and space to not squash that. Like the other day, we were at Sam's. We needed to get home and I really wanted E to sit in the car. No way, she was not having that. She was walking and exploring. So of course, I got annoyed when she wasn't going fast enough and stopped in front of the deli section. I tried to hurry her along, when she pointed to the rotisserie chickens and said "Hot" and then proceeded to blow in that direction to cool them. She was figuring that out and making the connection, and I just wanted to hurry her along and fit my own time frame. Don't get me wrong, she has boundaries, but she's an awesome reminder that 'busy' takes a lot of different forms, and giving her time to check things out (including every rock on our entire street!) is important.

In all, I could not be more in love with this kid. She makes my heart melt and me totally crack up at least 10 times a day. The little person she is becoming is just so amazing to me and I just love being her Mom.

11 weeks

Dear Scarlett,

You are 11 weeks old today, sweet girl! I still can't believe that I get to be your Mommy. I look at you in amazement often, and still feel like I have to pinch myself when I talk about my TWO daughterS.

So what's new this week? Well, Saturday we had no big plans and it was a nice day, so we decided to take you on your very first trip to the zoo. Unfortunately, you slept through it all, smoosh! It was nice to walk around and get some fresh air, though, and of course your sister LOVED seeing all the animals as usual. She is a big fan of the zoo, and I am sure that you will grow to love it too!

After the zoo (and watching your sister run around on the playground) we came back home for lunch and naps, and then headed out to have attempt 2 at seeing the Easter bunny. Your sister still didn't like him. You, on the other hand, gave us GREAT smiles and we got the perfect bunny pic for your first Easter!

Look how adorable you are, my little baby Squish! I love seeing your sweet smile! It makes me so happy when you smile and coo at me!

Monday was a rainy, cold day. These nice days are such a tease. I think everyone gets put in a bad mood when we have a nice day only to be followed by icky rain! We did have to run a couple errands, but then got to come home and snuggle. You are the sweetest little snuggle bug there is, Miss Scarlett!

That also means that you and your sister got to have some good play time together. She is still so infatuated with you. She is constantly giving you kisses. Oh, and she LOVES to come with me to help get you up in the morning. She will stand over your rock n play and rock you and pat you while I turn off the sound machine. And if I try to take you to get cleaned up before I let her give you a kiss? Forget it! She will get so upset. I'm so pleased with how she's transitioned to being a big sister, and so excited to see your relationship grow and develop.

Tuesday we needed to get out of the house, so we met Grandma at the mall and walked around a bit. Like always, you were the easy-going one. I can remember being so overwhelmed and nervous getting out of the house with your sister when she was your age, but you are so chill (and I am WAY more tolerant of meltdowns!) that you are easy-peasy. 

Nights have started to change for you a little bit. We are still trying to figure you out, but it seems like you are trending towards an earlier bedtime. We used to put you in the swing to get a nap from 8ish to about 9ish. These days, though, it seems like you're not into sleeping in the swing at night. If I put you down in bed, though (and get you swaddled and do the bedtime routine) you zonk out nicely. I was worried that an earlier "bedtime" would mess up your night sleep, but so far we continue to be the parents who hit the night sleep JACKPOT. You gave us a 12 hour stretch this week. WHAT? What baby (less than 3 months old) actually DOES that?!?!? Don't get me wrong, we are VERY thankful for you being a super sleeper. God really did know exactly what our family needed when he created you to be a part of it. Your mellow personality and awesome sleep habits keep me sane!

Wednesday was 'fun'. Ellie was being pretty crabby. We hung around here, and I had my hands very full! I think her last molar is finally popping through, but I was about ready to sell her to the circus. You did help distract her, though, which was awesome. 

Thursday I got a little bit of time with you as we went to the breastfeeding coalition meeting. You just wanted to cuddle and nurse the whole meeting, which was fine by me, I did have to laugh when someone was talking about hands in the mouth being a hunger cue. You always want your hands in your mouth, hungry or not! Since you're not all that into pacis, I think you might eventually turn into a thumb sucker. Or maybe it is just that you've found your hands and they are this novel discovery. Either way, you love sucking on those hands. You're also finding your feet these days, which keeps me busy. You, Miss Kickypants, are getting your socks off like no one's business, so I am constantly chasing Truffle around taking baby socks from him.

Back to the coaltion meeting...we got you weighed too. Are you ready for this? 12lbs 6oz. WOW! You are growing like a weed. I worry about you not getting enouh to eat since you sleep so much, but apparently that is not a problem since you are gaining like a rockstar. 

I still can't believe that you've ONLY been here 11 weeks, but also I can't believe that time is going so fast. You are growing and changing so much that I often just want to hit the pause button and enjoy you being this little for just a bit longer. But, I know as you grow you'll get to be even more fun, so it is a balance. Either way, I love you SO much and I am so glad you are part of our crazy family!

I love you so much!
Mommy

10 weeks

Dear Baby Scarlett,

It is double digits for you this week, baby girl! You are getting so big, I can hardly stand it. And you are so much more interactive now. You LOVE playing on the kick-n-play mat and you talk up a storm too. I love that I can start to see your adorable little personality.

So, what happened this week? Well, starting with last Friday night, you and I had a little 'snuggle-cation'. Sometimes I feel like I don't get to spend enough time with just you, so I am working on getting better about asking Daddy to take Ellie so we can go have some bonding time. So that is just what we did. Daddy and Ellie went to play and pick up dinner and you and I just went to lay around on the bed and snuggle and spend some much needed time together. I loved it, and I hope that we will be doing that kind of thing more often.

Friday night, though? You were a CRAB. First of all, you didn't want to GO to sleep. Then you woke up in the middle of the night. Yes, I feel like a brat for complaining about one wake up, but I am so used to getting a full night's sleep, that it threw me for a loop and made for very tired parents! I'm very lucky that Daddy happily takes the late-night shifts and I can take the early morning ones so we aren't complete zombies. 

Then, Saturday we met up with some friends for breakfast with the Easter Bunny. You did awesome your first time meeting the bunny and also had lots of snuggles for everyone there. 

The weather is starting to get nicer, so we are enjoying lots of walks too. You usually love being in the stroller and clonk out as soon as we start moving. 

Sunday we had the usual church-gym day. You actually came to the gym for the first time in quite awhile. Aunt Andrea LOVED snuggling you and you were asleep on her shoulder in no time. It was nice to have everyone back at the gym and things back to semi-normal. When we got home, though, all hell broke loose. Dad had to stop and grab that gallon of milk we had forgotten, so I had you and your overtired sister. Let's just say that Dad walked in the door to me nursing both of you just to keep my sanity!

Monday was low-key. You were back to sleeping like normal (thank GOODNESS) but we all needed some time to hang out and recuperate. We had a ot of fun playing, like usual. You are getting to be a rockstar at tummy time these days. You are NOT a fan f floor time, though. You'd much rather be sitting up in someone's lap. I keep joking that you are going to be sitting before you are rolling over because you have NO interest in being down flat at all. Oh, and your legs? I think I've said this before, but they are FREAKISHLY strong. You can stand on your own, just using us for balance. And you've been doing that for a couple weeks. What baby does that? Just my strong little one!

Tuesday we had a very busy day. Aunt Mandy came down to see you guys! You gave her some awesome cuddles and we all went out to lunch. You didn't sleep though lunch this time, but even when you woke up, you were content just sitting there, watching and taking everything in. 

Then, I had a meeting so you had to go to Grandma and Grandpa's. You were a sweet girl, but also showed them how you don't really like to wait for food. Since you don't get many bottles, you are definitely used to eating EXACTLY when you want to, and so you made warming up a bottle for you a little 'fun'. I am so glad both my girls are so patient!

Wednesday and Thursday were both days spent around the house, enjoying the amazing weather. It feels so good to get out of the house with you two! This winter has been so rough. It is funny, even just walking around the neighborhood puts us all in a much better mood. We've been getting stopped lots by neighbors who haven't met you yet. Many of them didn't even really realize you were here! Being holed up in the house this nasty winter has NOT been fun, and I am very glad it is coming to an end. 

 Oh, and one more thing. That Daddy of yours? A complete mushball for you. You two are so adorable together. He loves laying with you when you are playing. And he can calm you down almost instantly by touching your cheek. But my FAVORITE thing is to eavesdrop on you two when he is getting you ready for bed. Hearing him talking to you and making you laugh and coo when you are getting your baby massage is the sweetest thing. He takes such pride in doing the bedtime routine with both you and Ellie and it is just so stinking sweet. And then to see him praying with you as he walks you into the bedroom? That makes me all melty. You are one loved little girl, Miss Scarlett. We are so incredibly glad that you came to be part of our family, as crazy as it can often be! We love you so much and just couldn't imagine a better 10-week-old.

I love you!
Mommy

9 weeks

My little Smoosh,

You are 9 weeks old today! And I have got to tell you, I fall more and more in love with you every day. We have some Mommy and Scarlett time planned for tonight, and I am looking forward to that. I am trying to make a more conscious effort to spend dedicated time with you. You are so smiley and just love sitting up, face to face, and talking to me. You have a LOT to say. Between you and your sister, I think that Daddy and I will be lucky if we can even get a word in edgewise as you get a bit older!

This was a CRAZY busy week! Saturday morning we packed you and your sister up in the car and headed with Grandma and Grandpa to Wisconsin so you could meet some of your extended family. You did awesome in the car and gave your Great Grandma lots of sweet cuddles. You even did a good job tuning out your sister, who had a BLAST running around the house chasing after Maddy and Carter. I can only imagine the havoc you will wreak when can join in their shenanigans!

We really are lucky that you and Ellie are both so awesome in the car. You were happy to sleep most of the trip, and Ellie was happy to watch "Frozen" and "Beauty".

We got back late Sunday night and Monday morning came much too soon. I could have used a pajama day with you two, but that wasn't happening. We had your 2 month doctor's appointment, so we were up and at 'em early to drop Ellie off at Grandma's and then to get going. Like I wrote about in the other post, you are doing GREAT, but the shots were pretty rough on you. They were rough  on me too. This was the first doctor's appointment for either of you girls that Daddy had to miss, and I think I could have used his support! I was happy to cuddle you, but those little whimpers as you were sleeping were just daggers in my heart. You are normally so content that I hated to see you uncomfortable. Luckily, the weather was pretty nice, so we enjoyed some time outside that afternoon, and even took you kiddos to the park that night.

Tuesday the weather turned a bit cooler, and it was REALLY windy. None the less, I needed to get my booty moving, so I took you guys out for a run. Oh man, it was TOUGH running with that double stroller in the wind. In good news, though, both you kiddos didn't seem to mind. You were both zonked out by the time we got home. Funny girls!

Wednesday was more of the same. We went for a couple more walks and another run. I like being outside and apparently you do too, because it will usually calm you right down!

Thursday I had a doctor's appointment, so you guys hung out with Grandma in the morning. You showed her your funny new trick...going from SCREAMING to zonked out in about 2 seconds. You really are starting to fight sleep like that. I'm not sure why, you are such an adorable little sleepy princess.

It is hard to believe that I could possibly be so lucky to be the Mommy of the two most beautiful, funny, and smart girls on the planet. But you princesses are! I just love you so much. Those sweet cuddles of yours are the best and I am so lucky that I am the one who gets to steal kisses on those chubby little cheeks anytime I want.

I love you so much, Baby Scarlett!
Mommy

Scarlett's 2 month appointment

I hate shots. Really, I do.

My poor calm girl did not do well with her shots today.The screaming when she was getting them was bad enough. But then when we got home, there was random screaming from time to time. But the WORST? Well, she was extra cuddly, so she curled up on my chest and snoozed, but every so often she'd let out a little whimper. Poor baby. It was one of the most heartbreaking things ever to see my sweet Smoosh in pain, and that Tylenol could not kick in fast enough.

In good news, the check up went well. She was 23 inches tall (77th percentile) 11 pounds on the nose (44th percentile) and had a head circumference of 15 inches (48th percentile). She gave nurse Angie so many smiles that she is in love with Miss Scarlett too.

In good news, however, Ellie was a super big sister and gave Scarlett's Boo-boos lots of kisses:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WDC2UUqomg

Is it bad that I am already dreading the 4 month appointment?