Oddities

This is Daxton.  He was all dressed up because he had his three month pictures.  Pretty adorable, huh?  I am not sure what I love more, the tie or the hat.  Our girls are supposed to go in for their three month and 18 months pictures tomorrow but both are pretty snot-filled today, so we'll see.  Huge globs of snot running out the nose and dried crusty snot stuck to the face and hair do not generally make cute pictures.

This is Oma with her two smallest grandbabies.  We keep trying to get good pictures of the kids together or with parents or with grandparents but it is proving impossible!  But I guess there really is no such thing as a "good" picture because often the best shots are the ones that are unplanned and the most genuine.  This photograph depicts reality.  It is an Oma trying to hold onto two babies and barely managing.  IAnd it is two babies who are simply trying to figure out the world around them.

It is so much fun to watch Dax and Veda together.  They whack each other across the face, occasionally grab each other's clothing and sometimes even hold a hand or a finger or two.  They frequently talk back and forth, and I can only ponder what the exchange is all about.  Babies are fantastic.  Most of the time.

At three months babies are supposed to begin becoming really fun.  They turn into expressive beings.  They smile and coo and sometimes laugh.  They are happy to see you and get noticeably excited at the sound of your voice.  And in the case of Sylvia, she finally began to emerge from her horrible state of colic.  Veda never got this memo about turning three months.  She was a pretty good baby her first few months, but now she has taken to screaming uncontrollably at night.  We feed and rock and soothe and pat and burp and diaper change and clothing change and bathe and more to try and calm her:

But nothing works.  There are only two things that seem to offer any comfort to her.  The first is sitting in a tub of warm water:

The second is going on a car ride.  So . . .   This week has seen a number of warm bath sessions followed by a quick bundling of the baby and throwing her in the car so I can drive around for an hour or more to get her calm and asleep.  Believe me, this is not how I want to spend my nights.  Generally I like to be asleep after midnight, or at least curled up with a good book or some knitting.  Eventually this will pass, but it is taking its toll on us in the meantime.

Sylvia, on the other hand, has been pretty good these past couple of weeks.  She is beginning to talk more and more and every day, if I pay close enough attention, I catch another word or phrase she is trying to use.  She also has a set of rather peculiar activities.  The most recent:

Last weekend she suddenly emerged from her room carrying two pair of socks.  She then placed them on top of this cat tree and trotted back to her room to grab two more pair.  She continued doing this until her sock box was empty and the top of the cat tree was overflowing.  She then gathered up an armful from the cat tree and walked them back to their spot in her room and continued until they were all put away.

Strange.  Very strange.  I often wonder what goes on in a toddler's mind.

Growing, Growing, Growing!

Sylvia was very excited to get her picture taken yesterday morning, and she was so cute in her little getup too! She has such a tiny waist and I have a terrible time finding pants that will stay around her and not start creeping down to her knees. The pair she is wearing in the photo are from the Gap and they fit her great! I found this pair on clearance, and will have to keep an eye out for more.

She turned 18 months this past Saturday. My baby is a year and a half! Actually, she is not even my baby anymore. Veda is my baby. Sylvia is my *gulp* "Big Girl." She had her 18 month wellness check yesterday and she looked great! She is still tall and thin: Her weight was 23 pounds and 12 ounces (25-50th percentile) and her height was a hair over 33" (90th percentile).

I realize this is a horrible photograph but I included it because I can't believe how old the Little Pumpkin looks in this picture. It seems like just yesterday she rolled over for the first time:

This was a year ago, when she was six months. But I still even think that this:

was just yesterday.

My Little Darlings

This was kind of a difficult week around here. At least for Mom. The week started with a migraine, saw a power (and therefore water) outage in the middle, and ended with a very long Friday. But it was still filled with its precious moments.
This past weekend we learned that Sylvia can stack seven blocks on the carpet and ten blocks on the linoleum. Her eighth and eleventh block attempts were very nearly successful too. She will be 18 months tomorrow and the "average" 18 month old stacks about four blocks. Yeah, we know. She's a genius. Or, at least, her fine motor skills are superb. (Yes!!! This means she will be a knitter for sure!)

And my little Veda. She is such a doll. I cannot believe how beautiful she is.

I have a poop story about her. (You know you are a mother through and through when you are eager to tell a poop story!) On Monday of this week Lovebug had been constipated for a few days so we gave her some prune juice to help move things along, so to speak. After her feeding I had her propped up by me and within the hour she let lose. Afterward she got this larger than life smile and look of absolute bliss on her face. This continued for minutes! I have never seen such a thoroughly contented look in my life.

(And in the years to come I cannot wait for the look of horror on her face when she realizes her mother published this story!)

This is what I found yesterday morning. I was, again, doing the dishes and when I looked over my shoulder I was astonished to see that Sylvia had climbed into Veda's basket and was trying to give her a pipe. This girl is unbelievable. She is a very high energy child, stubborn, totally in love with her sister, and thinks she can do anything-- absolutely anything.

Catching Up

I realize it has been a while since I have written. To be honest, my life is consumed by my children. When I am not changing a diaper or feeding someone, I am washing clothes or folding clothes or picking up toys or reading to the Pumpkin or stacking blocks with her or rocking Lovebug or washing bottles or dealing with a toddler tantrum or soothing a crying infant or . . . You get the idea. I was talking with a couple of good friends, one via email and the other on the phone, and revealed to them that I am behind on everything. I hate that. I am behind on the housework, the bills, the laundry (which just keeps coming and coming and coming!), and I am so sick of dumping another can of soup on top of a couple of chicken breasts and calling it dinner. But most of all, I hate that I am behind with everyone else. My contacts with these two friends earlier this week were long overdue, and these are only two people of many, many wonderful people whom I desire to reconnect with.

But this will be my life for a while, and I am okay with that. I am trying to treasure these moments I have with my little ones while they are still little. It won't be long and I will be looking back on these days and missing those little socks that always seem to disappear in the washing machine and wondering how my babies who always needed me are suddenly independent.

So . . . On to enjoying the now! When I finally uploaded the pictures from my camera there were well over 200! While there will be a lot of pictures this post, I will not share all 200 with you! This series will work backwards, starting with Easter.
The girls had matching dresses for Easter, and they were too cute! The compliments they received at church were numerous. Sadly, I never got a good picture of the two of them together. Above is Sylvia hugging my parents' newest foster dog, Naomi. I really like her, and so does Sylvia. But I am not sure how much Naomi likes Sylvia!

Here is another attempt at getting a picture of all three cousins. Better. But we have yet to get a truly "good" one. Thanks, Dads, for the additional help in acquiring this shot!

These are some goofy bunny glasses that Grandma gave Sylvia a few weeks ago. She actually really enjoys wearing them, but only for a very short duration! The girls each got a clothing change after arriving at my folks' to try and keep the Sunday clothes looking Sunday appropriate. When Dave and I were out shopping the Friday before, we found this bright pink fufu skirt and we just knew that the Pumpkin was going to LOVE it. And, she does.

Yep. Sylvia had her first Easter Egg Hunt this Easter. I filled the eggs with such treasures as stickers, two finger puppets, a couple of half dollars and even four "Newmans" (what we call the Paul Newman organic chocolate alphabet cookies). She kind of got the egg hunt concept. She spotted several of the eggs on her own and she would collect them, but she had a very difficult time releasing them to Daddy to put in her bag. She kept wanting to hold all of them at once. I didn't reveal to her that there were goodies on the inside of these eggs until after we got back in the house. Once she learned this additional surprise she was thrilled and kept handing me egg after egg expecting more prizes.

In fact, this afternoon we stopped by Aunt Keeley's house to pick up cute little baskets that she had put together for the girls. Included in the baskets were decorated, but empty, Easter eggs. Sylvia got so excited to see those eggs and she kept bringing them to me after we got home. Just try and imagine her disappointment when she learned these eggs held no goodies!

The end of last week surprised us with some magnificent weather and one afternoon I took the girls outside to enjoy the sun. Sylvia has taken a number of walks with Dave around our property in the afternoon, but this was her first time getting to wander on her own a bit more while I watched from a short distance away with Veda. She loved grabbing the dirt and dead grass and leaves and throwing them up in the air! And I could tell she must have had a great time because of all the dirt that was attached to her fingers and knees and clothes and hair when we got inside!

And Veda enjoyed her time outdoors while safely sitting under the visor of the stroller.Okay. So, this is quite something. That same afternoon when I took the girls outside I decided to let Sylvia "hold" Veda. I figured both were big enough now that it could be done with very careful supervision. I asked Sylvia if she was interested in this and she nodded her head. I placed Sylvia on this green chair and then brought Veda to her and gently laid her in Sylvia's lap. Sylvia would stroke her head and coo at her. It was really sweet. Then when I thought she had had enough, I began to reach for Veda to take her away. Sylvia immediately wrapped her arms around Veda in protest! She absolutely did not want her sister to be taken from her. It is amazing how strongly Sylvia is attached to her little sister already, and the reverse holds true as well . . .

Veda is finally beginning to smile consistently at the sound of our voice or seeing our faces and last weekend she even smiled at her big sister! I love watching this bond between the two of them already forming.

And do you remember me mentioning that Sylvia nodded her head? Well, she does that now. She also shakes her head. I thought she was opinionated before, but now that she has learned these magic codes for "yes" and "no" her true colors are even further revealed. Let me reiterate, I have one very stubborn daughter! Ever heard of a strong-willed child? I have one. Prayers are appreciated!

And our little Lovebug had her two month wellness check last week. She continues to look great! She is lagging slightly behind other infants her age, but this is simply because she decided to make her debut a little earlier than most. She also started antacid medication. I feel kind of badly about this. I knew she had acid reflux, but I had no idea how severely she had it until the doctor began asking me different things regarding her behaviour and diapers, etc. My poor baby was in a lot of pain and I didn't even realize it! Since beginning the medication we have noticed some improvement but she is still struggling. Hopefully another week and we will see some continued change.

And her size: She weighed in at 9 lbs. 1 oz. And her height was 21". Both of these place her in the 10th percentile. This is actually very good, as it means she is gaining. At two weeks she was only in the 5th percentile. I do not remember her head circumference, but it was within the normal range.

I put away all of her newborn items two weekends ago. It was kind of difficult for this Mama to do, especially as Lovebug may be our last baby. I am certainly very thankful that she is growing and thriving but it also makes me very sad to realize that all these baby joys may never be revisited.

Some other interesting tidbits about the girls:

Sylvia is VERY tall. She can now reach my kitchen counter tops! This is quite distressing as it means that there is virtually no "safe" surface that exists in my house anymore!

Two mornings ago I was holding Veda after a feeding and Sylvia came over to talk to her sister. As she was standing there jabbering away I finally picked up one of the things she was saying. She was "asking" her sister, "Is that so?" This is something that Dave and I say to the girls quite frequently and it was too cute to hear her repeating it to Veda.

Finally, the other morning I asked Sylvia if she wanted to go to Oma's house. She ran off to get her shoes, grabbed her hoodie and promptly stood at the door ready to go!

Butterflies! For Dave's birthday his dad took Dave, Sylvia and me to see the butterflies at the Frederik Meijer Gardens. I hadn't been in several years and I had forgotten how fantastic it is. Sylvia really enjoyed herself and was even able to spot several butterflies all by herself. The Gardens are such a lovely place and I particularly like their Victorian Garden. I told Dave that if I had the time and a babysitter and the money to visit, I would go just to sit in the Victorian Garden and knit. I could happily sit there for hours with my yarn and needles breathing in the glorious scent and basking in the warm and airy atmosphere.

I acknowledge that this has been one long post and was possibly rather laborious to read, but if you made it all the way through then I commend you and thank you for your endurance! I will try and be more consistent in my blogging again, but please bear with me during these early childhood years!