Zoo Trip

Joe did not have to work this weekend and the weather was nice so we decided to go to the zoo today. We haven't been in a few months and knew that Sophie would be excited to go back. We also couldn't wait to take Josie on her first zoo trip. Of course she slept through most of our visit but that is okay. I know that one day she will love it just as much as her sister.
Here are some pictures from our visit:

Josie was perfectly content being pushed around in her stroller. 

Lunch break

Daddy's shoulders are much better than a stroller.

The bear was eating a watermelon and there was a big crowd watching him. I had to make sure that Sophie could see.  

This is Sophie's favorite part of our zoo trips. She kept waving, trying to find me. Too cute. 

#4

I checked out Sophie's teeth today. The 4th molar is here now! Maybe this is why Sophie is having sleep issues. She doesn't seem bothered during the day by her molars coming in though. I'm pretty impressed by that, as I'm sure I would be asking for pain meds all the time! Sophie is one tough cookie.

31 Months

Another month has passed for Sophie. Here is what has been going on in her life:

- Sophie's double ear infection that she had earlier this month is gone. I'm glad that these didn't linger like the last ones she had. It seems like every time she gets a runny nose a double ear infection is right around the corner. Poor kid. I hope that tubes aren't in her future.
- Those 3 molars that she sprouted this month are still working their way to the surface. They don't seem to bother her that much, thank goodness. I have been checking to see if the 4th molar has made it's appearance, but it hasn't yet.
- Sophie's new favorite book is Froggy Gets Dressed. Not only does she love when we read it to her, but she also loves 'reading' it on her own. I get a kick out of watching her read the book. She flips through each page, focusing on the pictures and tries telling the story. She does pretty well since the story is basically about the clothes Froggy takes on and off. She also will call out "Frrrrrrooooggggggy" and "whhhhhhaaaatttt," which is repeated multiple times throughout the story. I love that Sophie not only likes hearing stories, but also wants to read on her own.
- Josie is still adored by her big sister, getting daily kisses, hugs and head rubs (which has taken away some of her hair-eek). I love watching Sophie with Josie.

- Sophie's personality keeps getting bigger and bigger! I crack up over her on a daily basis. Her facial expressions, the way she says things, and the random things that she does cheer me up when I am exhausted.  I need to catch her doing and saying her funny things on video!

How can this not make you laugh?!

- Sophie is still a very helpful little girl. There are some days that I wouldn't be able to get things done (like shower or fix a bottle) if she wasn't around to help put a paci in Josie's mouth when it falls out or to make goofy faces at her. I love her for that! (and many other reasons, of course)
- My strong willed girl continues to test her limits this month. While she is extremely helpful and loving, she also has selective hearing. It takes multiple times of me asking her to clean up, not throw things around Josie, not to play with blocks around Josie, not to scream, etc. All normal things for a toddler, but still. I've had to put her in time-out multiple times this month. (You know you've put your kid in time-out a bunch when she starts telling you, "Mommy, go to time-out!" Bah.) I try not to over use the time-out thing, but some days I am just too tired and don't have the patience to work with her on her behaviors. I think it is good though that she has to go there from time to time. As a teacher, I see way too many kids who lack discipline. I've vowed that I would never let my kids be that way. I think the time-outs are working though. I've caught her putting toys away without me asking and she is listening more.
- When Joe took Sophie to the doctor's this month she weighed 18 pounds. That means that in the past 6 months she has only gained 8 ounces. Eek! She eats (she grazes all day long) and we offer her food all of the time, so I don't know why she has gained so little. Maybe because she is so active? I just don't know. Joe and I have talked about taking her to see GI again. I know that she is growing height wise at least (those 9 month pants are too short now, as are some 6-12 month ones), but she is still a skinny little thing. I wish there was an answer to why she isn't gaining. I've read an article about how being IUGR changes the metabolism of babies. Maybe that is it, but I haven't found any other articles or research to back that up. I just want a concrete reason and I doubt I will ever get one.
- Sophie talks in her sleep. I've never really noticed it before, but this month it seems to happen every night. There have been times when I've been downstairs on the couch and I'll hear her talking loudly (I can't make out the words though). I go to check on her and she is fast asleep. I've also heard her having basically a conversation in her room. Again, when I check on her she is sleeping. Crazy!
- Speaking of Sophie's sleep habits, sleep is starting to become an issue for her. We have been napping together on the couch a lot this month (bad habit I've started, I know). Towards the end of the month she started to fight against napping in her room. It doesn't happen every time, but it is becoming more frequent. She is doing this at night time, too. She has generally been a great sleeper, so I don't know what is going on. Some days when I lay her down she will complain that her stomach hurts. I don't know if this is a real ache or if she is just saying it to try to get out of sleep. I just don't know... I hope this ends soon though.
- Sophie loves to sing. She is constantly singing some song. It might be a theme song, like Mickey Mouse or Doc McStuffins. It might be a classic like twinkle twinkle or the itsy-bitsy spider. Or it might be a random pop song, like Taylor Swift.
-Sophie is starting to really identify shapes. She likes having me draw them so that she can identify them. The hardest one for her is a square/rectangle though. She likes drawing shapes for me to guess, too. Of course the only shape she draws is a circle, but still. Sophie is also starting to identify letters of the alphabet, too. (when they are out of order) She doesn't have many of them down yet, but we will keep working on that. I love though when I draw the letter 'B' and she says 'butterfly!' (Her alphabet flashcards have a butterfly with the letter 'B.') 
- Sophie has started to hide when she poops now. We'll find her in corners, upstairs when we are downstairs, under blankets, etc. This awareness hopefully means that potty training is right around the corner (or that she will at least be more open to it than she has been). She refuses to sit on the potty to poop though. I did catch her as she was pooping one day and got her to sit on the potty in her clothes while she pooped in her diaper. If I can get her comfortable pooping sitting up on the potty while dressed then hopefully she will try it out without clothes on. I am going to start really working with her as soon as school is out for the summer. I'm pretty sure I said the same thing last summer, but I think she is actually ready now.
- Sophie has done great without her pacifier this month. She will still ask about it at times, but knows that they went 'up in the sky.' (She often wants to see the video to remember it going in the sky.) Sometimes when she asks about it she will answer herself by saying, "I not need a papi, I a big girl!" We gave Josie one of Sophie's old pacis (we were in a bind and plus we wanted to see if she would like that kind at all). As soon as Sophie saw it she screamed, "That is my papi!" She calmed down though and didn't try to take it. Overall she has done wonderfully without her pacis. I'm proud of her for giving up her comfort object.
- Sophie is like a tape recorder. She will say things that Joe and I have said to her repeatedly. When she climbs into a chair she will say, "Be careful." When I am changing her poopy diapers, she will say, "Honnnnneeeyyy!" (I say this when there is a huge mess in there.) When Josie is crying she'll say, "It's okay. Quiet...quiet." After I take a picture she'll say, "It's cute!" I also watched her one day 'change' her baby doll's diaper. She was using a wipe on it and was saying, "Ew gross. Baby pooped. You have poop in your gyna. Clean it up. That nasty. Stinky stinky." (I don't remember ever telling her that her poop is nasty, but the rest I have definitely said to her.) 
- Sophie has become even more affectionate this month. Everyday Joe, Josie and I are told how much she loves us and are showered with hugs and kisses. I love hearing, "Mommy I loves you." It is so sweet. When Joe comes home, Sophie often tells him that she is so happy to see him and that she missed him. This girl melts my heart!

Here are some pictures from this month:

Silly girl

She has been in love with these sunglasses this month. 

"I'm cold, Mommy!"

Playtime with her cousins and Grandma

She was so proud of her 'castle.'

Showing off her stamps

Sophie and Josie got some presents in the mail from family members.

Ready to cheer on Georgetown College (2013 NAIA Division I champions!)

Sophie loves to clean, especially when we let her use the Swiffer. 

I obviously need to get a box of dress-up clothes/shoes/accessories for Sophie. She loves playing with all those things at Grandma's house. 

Sophie was so excited that Josie was holding her hand. She kept saying, "Mommy, Josie hold my hand!' Too cute.

Sophie wanted to play dress up one day. I don't really have dress-up clothes for her, so Halloween costumes had to do. She had a lot of fun!

Who Needs Sleep? (I do, I do!)

It has been a long week! I am so tired! I love my sweet girls, but man I need a good night's sleep.

I've been trying to do the majority of the late night shifts of Josie's feeding because Joe works in the morning. I want to make sure that he gets enough rest. Of course that means that I am not getting enough rest. Most days this is fine, because I can nap with the girls. However this week they have been waking up even earlier than normal and I have not really been able to nap. Most of the days when Sophie is sleeping, Josie wakes up and needs to be fed and played with. When Josie is sleeping Sophie is awake and wants to play. There have been a couple mornings where Sophie and I took 30 minute catnaps on the couch which is nice but doesn't quench my need for sleep. I can't wait until Josie sleeps through the night! She is still getting up every 3 hours to eat, so I fear that it will be a while until she sleeps through the night.

Sophie has been more difficult this week than others. I'm sure that has to do with the fact that she has a double ear infection. She really demands my attention during the day, which I can't do 100% since I have Josie. She picks the moments like when I am feeding Josie or changing her diaper to start trying to get my attention. Of course I understand what she's doing and why she's doing it, but that doesn't make it any easier on me. I wish that I had more energy to give her all the attention that she craves and deserves, but I just don't. This lack of energy has also lowered my patience level. I am sad to admit that Sophie has been put in timeout more times this week than she has in the past month. (Do I really have to ask her 5 times to help pick up toys or to move away from Josie when she is building block towers? Well, she is 2 1/2 so I guess I do, but still...) I know the poor kid is just bored, but I am too exhausted to be much fun. I feel like such a horrible mother!

I'm trying very hard not to be a huge complainer. I wanted both of these little girls and I know how much of a blessing they are. I love them so much and I am so glad that I am their mom. Being tired is just a small price to pay for the happiness that they bring to my life. Still, I am exhausted! I think I am going to have to send Sophie to the babysitter's at least once or twice next week just so I can catch up on my sleep (while Josie naps). Hopefully getting some more rest will make me a better and more patient mom.

Another Double

Well, I was right in the first place. Besides having 3 molars coming in, Sophie has a double ear infection. Poor kid!

Joe was off work today, so he woke up with the girls and let me sleep in. (I love him for this) Well, he at least tried to let me sleep in. I woke up not too long after they did because Sophie was throwing a fit. Joe had changed her diaper and she didn't want to put her pj pants back on. She does this from time to time, so I didn't think much of it. I wrestled (literally) her pants on her body and brought her downstairs. Joe graciously told me to go back to bed. About an hour and a half later he woke me up to say that he was taking Sophie to the doctor's office. That made me wake right up! Apparently while I happily snoozed away, Sophie was being a holy terror downstairs. Joe said she was crying, rolling around on the floor, getting angry, and just plain not acting like herself. She is normally so excited when he is home for the day (she is a daddy's girl), so he knew something was up when she continued to act wild. He checked her ears again (he did this the other day and they were fine) and saw that they were a little red. He know that this meant Sophie most likely had ear infections, so he called and made a doctor's appointment. The doctor confirmed that Sophie had a double ear infection. He went ahead and prescribed a stronger than normal antibiotic (the last time she had the normal antibiotic it didn't work) and sent them on their way. Sophie felt a million times better after taking her antibiotic and was back to her normal self. She even ate some dinner tonight. Hopefully those ears heal up quickly. I hate knowing that my little one isn't feeling well!

I am so glad that Joe was off work today. I couldn't imagine taking both girls to the doctor's office on my own. It will happen one day, but I am glad today wasn't the day.

Feeling much better

Holy Molars!

Lately Sophie has been having issues with going to bed as well as eating. For the past couple days she has also had a runny nose and watery eyes. Usually this means that she's getting an ear infection. I had Joe check her ears to see if they were in fact infected. Nope, just earwax. I assumed that she just had a cold. I was wrong!

Gross runny nose

Yesterday I was getting extremely frustrated with her lack of eating (more so than normal).For the past few days I've been trying to give her different foods, including some of her favorites, but all she would do is take a few bites and she was done. She even started chewing food and then begging to spit it out into a napkin. She has never done that before. It was so frustrating! We have always had feeding issues with her, but this was different. I couldn't figure out what was going on, and was really running out of patience. (I know, I know - no one likes eating when they have a cold.)

Before she went to bed last night, I decided to check out her mouth to see if she was getting her molars. I have been checking for these molars every other week for the past few months, waiting for them to appear. I checked them last week and there was nothing there, so I figured I wouldn't see anything. I was wrong! Her upper right molar has started to poke through. Her upper left molar hasn't broken through yet, but looks like it will be coming through very soon. Her lower left molar has also broken through. Her lower right molar isn't here yet though. Three new teeth pushing through (or almost pushing through)! No wonder she hasn't been feeling well and not wanting to eat. She hasn't complained about her mouth hurting at all, which is impressive. (I would be whining all day long.) I just hope she doesn't lose weight while these teeth are coming in. I also hope that her runny nose doesn't get Josie sick.

Crib Success

Apparently Josie didn't like the fact that I let it be known that she doesn't like sleeping in her crib. A couple days after I posted her 1 month blog post calling her out on her crib hating, she decided that it wasn't so bad.

Even though I was a little nervous about Josie sleeping in her crib instead in the same room as me, I knew it was important for her to start sleeping there. I told Joe that my goal for this week was to get Josie sleeping in her crib at nap time. So, on Monday I tried it out. I swaddled her up, stuck a pacifier in her mouth, rocked her to sleep and then put her in the crib. It lasted about 5 minutes before she began to cry. I put her paci back in and turned on some music. She fell back asleep and stayed that way for 10 minutes. I repeated my actions and she ended up sleeping for about 10 more minutes. I tried it again during her next nap time and had similar results. That night I tried it and she slept for awhile before waking up. The next day I tried again with putting her in her crib during nap time. After a few 5-10 minute sleep attempts, Josie fell asleep for an hour and a half! The next time she slept almost 2 hours in there. We were even able to get her to sleep in there overnight! (Thank God for our Angel Care Monitor. I don't think I would have been able to sleep without it.) Each day since then she has slept in the crib! (we still often let her nap in the swing and Boppy during the day) I am so proud of her. Now we just have to work on getting her to sleep for more than 3 hours at a time.

She won't sleep long in the crib if she isn't swaddled. I'm pretty sure she woke right back up after I took this picture. 

Josie's 1 Month Well Visit

I took Josie for her 1 month well check today (she is 5 weeks old). Luckily my mom came over to watch Sophie so I didn't have to take both girls with me. I still haven't figured out the logistics of how to take them both places of my own (besides when I take Sophie to the baby sitter's house).

Waiting for the doctor. Look at that cute belly!

Joe and I have been anxious to hear about how much Josie has grown this past month. I almost couldn't believe it when the nurse measured and weighed her.

Weight: 8lb 8 oz
Height: 20 1/2 inches
Head Circumference: 14 1/4 inches

I was so impressed with her weight gain! Great job, Josie!

The rest of the visit went fine. Josie wasn't too happy being poked at today. She cried and squirmed for Dr. Kelly. The only thing that made her happy was when he put the tongue depressor in her mouth so he could check things out in there. She started sucking on it right away as if it were a bottle. (She ate right before she came, so she shouldn't have been hungry!) Silly girl.

After the doctor left the nurse came in to give Josie her shot. She only cried for a minute, my brave little girl. I however teared up and held my breath until Josie stopped crying. A few tears may have fell down my face as I was getting Josie dressed again. (My kid is braver than me!)

I am so glad that my little girl is doing so well!

Naptime Nightmare

Aw, just look at those two sleeping beauties snuggled up on their Momma. I love these little moments. I could have stayed like this all day long. Unfortunately, good things like this never last. 10 minutes after I took this picture, Josie started to stir. I looked at the time on my phone and saw that she needed to be fed soon. I looked down at Sophie and knew that as soon as I moved she would wake up. I didn't want this to happen because I knew it would be hard to get her back to sleep. (This happens often if she falls asleep in the car before nap time. She thinks a 10 minute cat nap in the car counts as a real nap.) I tried to move as carefully as possible, but Sophie sat right up and smiled at me. I smiled back at her, put Josie down on her Boppy, and scooped Sophie up in my arms. I was taking her upstairs so she could continue her nap in her bed. Sophie wanted no part of this. As soon as she saw we were heading towards the stairs she began to freak out. "I sleep on the couch! No bed!" Uh, no. Her protests became louder when we entered her room. When I laid her down on her bed, the body thrashing and crying started. I sat with her for a few minutes before Josie started crying downstairs (she was ready for her bottle). I left one crying child for the next. I popped a pacifier in Josie's mouth, started warming up her bottle (a smart mom would have done that before taking Sophie upstairs earlier) and went up to attempt calming Sophie down again. She refused to lay down in bed and told me she wanted to sleep in my bed. At this point Josie starts crying again, so I caved in and took Sophie to my room. As we were walking there she exclaimed, "Yippee!" Stinker. As I was feeding Josie, Sophie was fairly quiet upstairs. Towards the end of the feeding though, I heard talking coming from my room. *sigh* So, as soon as Josie was full and had been burped, I laid her down and set off to find her sister. Sophie was awake and happy as can be in my room. Of course this mean mom had to change all of that by taking her back to her room. Again, I tried to get her to sleep. No such luck. Josie, who apparently doesn't like it when her sister gets attention, starts crying again. So, it was back downstairs to comfort one crying child while the other one cried upstairs. As I was soothing Josie, Sophie was in full out tantrum mode upstairs. I heard stomping, crying, banging and screaming. At one point I heard a bang and then Sophie started saying, "Ow!" I rush back upstairs and find that she had banged her head against the wall. Uhhh... So I kissed her, moved her back to her bed, and let the screaming continue. Josie was sleeping pretty peacefully, so I decided to move her upstairs to her crib. After I laid her down, I went in to Sophie's room for one final attempt at getting her to sleep. This time after putting her in bed, I crawled right in with her. Yup, I curled up on a toddler bed (and didn't break it!). I put my arm around her and just snuggled her for awhile. That was apparently all she needed because she fell asleep pretty quickly (I'm sure she was exhausted from her tantrums, too). I wish I could have done this when she first started fussing, but I couldn't leave Josie screaming downstairs. Maybe one day I will learn how to balance my time and attention between the two when they are upset. Luckily for me this is really the first time I've had this issue (the two of them crying at the same time for an extended period of time - usually if they cry at the same time I can get Sophie calmed down quickly), so hopefully it won't become a normal thing.

I am happy to say that once the girls woke up from their naps (basically at the same time - they both slept for an hour and a half) they were in good moods for the rest of the day. I love those little girls so much, even when they are running me ragged!

Josie is 1 Month Old

Since February only has 28 days, we have to count today as Josie's 1 month birthday (at least that is what the app on my phone is counting as her 1 month birthday). It is hard to believe that Josie has been with us for a month. It honestly seems as if I was just at the hospital having her. She has weaved her way into our family so seamlessly that it is as if no time has passed at all.

It is crazy to me how much Josie has changed in a month's time. She has gone from sleeping most of the day to having some lengthy awake periods. I love seeing her with her eyes open (even though sometimes I am so tired that I wish they would close so we both could sleep). She is controlling her head so much more. I can still remember her in the hospital trying to hold her head up, lasting only for a second before it would drop back down. Now she can control it for about 5-8 seconds, moving it side to side. That movement is still jerky at times (she's knocked into my face so many times when she is on my shoulder looking around), but it is getting better. Her looks have seemed to change, too. I think she looks a lot different than she did when she was in the hospital. Josie is still in newborn sized clothes and diapers, but not for long. She is growing like a weed! We weighed Josie the other day on our scale. It said that she was 8 pounds already! I'm not sure how accurate the scale is, so I can't wait until her well check later on this week. I am just so proud of how well she has been eating and growing! (If you've ever had a child with a growth/eating problem then you know what a huge deal this is.) 

Josie still gets up every 2 1/2-3 hours to eat. There are some nights where she might sleep for 4 hours, but nothing beyond that. Josie sleeps all over the place except for her crib. She just doesn't like it in the crib yet. She sleeps in her swing, on her Boppy lounger (which has a big warning on the tag that says it is not for sleep), in her Rock 'n Play sleeper, in our arms, but not in an actual bed. I am actually okay with this though because I want her sleeping elevated a little while she sleeps. Since she spits up so much, I am nervous that she will do it while sleeping. I know I could prop her crib mattress up, but I doubt that would make her like the crib any more.

One of the only times she slept in her pack n play was when we let her sleep on her stomach. I was constantly going over to check to make sure she was breathing. 

I was able to see Josie smile while awake about a week ago. I was holding her and talking to her when she broke out into the sweetest little smile. It melted my heart right away! She kept it up for about 10 seconds, too, which made my day. I can't wait until she smiles all of the time!



I took my first car ride with both Sophie and Josie. I had some errands that I needed to run, so Sophie was off to her baby sitter's house to play with all of her friends and Josie was coming along with me. It took us an hour and a half to get ready and out of the house! Who knew that feeding (bottles) both girls, getting them dressed (and then changing Josie's clothes due to spit up), getting me dressed, packing diaper bags and loading us all into the car would take so long. Josie did great in the car and at each place we had to go to. (When we went to my doctor's office to pick up paper work we ran into the nurse who did all of my NSTs. It was nice being able to show off the sweet little baby who always was on her best behavior during my NSTs.) When we went to pick up Sophie, Josie was able to meet Janice for the first time. She snuggled right into her arms and slept peacefully. I am so glad that she likes her future baby sitter!

This past month has been so wonderful. Exhausting, but wonderful. Josie is such a little blessing. I already can't imagine my life without her. She has brought such joy to our family. I can't wait to see what next month has in store for my sweet little girl.

Getting sleepy

Surrounded by burp cloths. Homegirl likes to spit up. 

I love her eyes.

I love when Josie snuggles on me to sleep. 

Grandma's girls

I love the Boppy lounger. Josie does, too. 

Awkward sitting up picture.

Every month I would take a comparison picture of Sophie with this doll. Now it is Josie's turn!

You just never know what spit up is going to happen. 

Josie looks so annoyed by her big sister's hugs.

An even more awkward sitting up photo. Control those bug eyes, Josie!

Stretching out those long legs.