Déjà vu

When Ellie was an infant, Tom went to an Astos' game and brought home an outfit for her. It was totally a boys outfit, which is why I only put her in it once. But now Jack can wear it with style!

And just for funsies...a comparison of Ellie at not quite 3 months and Jack at 4 1/2 months.

Obligatory cereal post

At Jack's 4 month appointment he was cleared for cereal. Unlike with Ellie, I was in no rush to start him on solids because I remembered what a hassle and mess the whole feeding thing was. But yesterday I finally sucked it up and gave it a try. I even put him in the same bib Ellie wore for her first food experience. Jack really hasn't shown any interest when we've been eating so I wasn't sure if he was ready. He was not impressed. I think his expression says it all.

I tried again today and he was even more determined not to ingest any rice cereal. I think I'll just put it away for now and try again at 5 months!

The Nekkid Chef

Yesterday I went to check on Ellie in the kitchen and found her thusly attired:

She proudly announced, "Look, Mom! I'm a chef!"

Jack's 4 Month Stats

Yesterday was Jack’s 4 month check-up and vaccinations. I decided to leave Ellie at daycare this time since last time the shots freaked her out (“Babies don’t like sharp, pointy things!”). Dr. Nguyen could not stop exclaiming over how much Jack has grown in just two months (over 3 pounds in weight and 3 inches in height). According to her, he is the height of an average 6 month old and the weight of an average 7 month old. She was so impressed that even though she woke him up, he was all smiles while she was looking in his ears, mouth, etc. She tried to convince me to have another baby since Jack is so easy. Yeah, right, I don’t want to push my luck. Here are his stats:

Weight: 18lbs 5 oz – 97%
Height: 26 ¼ in. – 90%
FOC (head): 43.8 cm. – 90%

I went back and checked Ellie's 4 month stats and she was 15lb, 7oz and was 24 1.2 inches. And I thought she was big!

Cheeky Jack

Track season has officially started. Meaning, Tom won't be home before 10pm at least one night a week and will be gone every Saturday for the entire day. Bleh. Jack has been unusually fussy today and refuses to sleep. So I have been moving the little blob from one station to the next...swing, my arms, exersaucer, my arms, floor, my arms, Bumbo, my arms...rinse and repeat. I am terribly bad about doing tummy time with him because he does not like to be on his tummy. So today I decided to give it a try and he flipped right over on his back. So I kept trying to put him back on his tummy and he just kept on flipping over again. Once he is on his back, he makes such a valiant effort to get back to his tummy, but his big belly and roly-poly arm keep getting in the way. Oh wow, look at me, rambling on and on about my four-month-old's limited mobility. How about some pictures of the little chunk?He is all cheeks.Even Ellie can't resist them.And, yes, I do realize my daughter is wearing floaties in February. Indoors.

An eventful day

In my Reading class, we are reading a story about a girl who had so many seizures a day that she had to have a hemispherectomy (removal of half her brain). Today I was showing my students the short video clip of the girl prior to having her surgery and it was showing her having seizures. Suddenly, one of my students falls sideways out of her desk and hits the floor hard! She doesn’t respond or move when I call her name and ask if she is okay. I push the emergency button and send a student running for the nurse. This whole time, the student is still doing a face-plant in the carpet and not moving. The rest of my class is freaking out so I calm them down and have them go wait in the hall.

Oh man, I felt so helpless sitting next to her body while she just lay there. It felt like forever, but was only about 3 minutes before she came to and was able to respond. That was when the school nurse and principal came running in.

What are the chances that we would be watching a video of a girl having a seizure when a girl actually has a seizure? Part of me fears I set it off by having her sit in front of the flickering SmartBoard in the darkened classroom while she watched a girl have seizures. Also, we only read half the story and are supposed to finish it tomorrow. Not sure how I feel about revisiting the topic!

Thinspiration

Ellie was in the room with me yesterday as I was getting dressed for church and she goes, "Mommy! Your Belly is getting bigger! I think you are going to have another baby!" And then to add further insult, she puts her hand on my tummy, jiggles it, and says, "blub, blub, blub."
Man. I need to really step it up. Just as soon as I finish off those cupcakes I made for Valentine's day.

Sunday Best: My Little Valentines edition

Jack's expression cracks me up. I swear he smiles...just not when cameras are involved.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tom picked out Ellie's Valentine for her. I couldn't have imagined a more perfect card. She loves it and the M&M's that accompanied it (which I am letting her eat for breakfast).

Ellie isn't the only one getting Valentine's around here...

As if the card wasn't awesome enough, I also got to choose between a spa day or maid service. I chose the maid service, of course (as a one time thing).

Yeah, we totally didn't get anything for Jack.

Dear Jack - 4 months

Dear Jack,

Today you are four months old, but you look like you are 6 months or maybe even 9. Your clothes are all 6-9 months. And you have the strength of a 6-9 month old. When I place you in your car seat or your bath tub. you do these crunches so your head and shoulder are lifted completely up. Your core strength is very impressive. I like to refer to you as the "strong, silent type" because you don't talk much, or even cry for that matter, but boy are you strong!

You grow more and more interested in your toys and are getting more adept at grasping them with your hands. You would like to bring them all to your mouth, but that has proven more difficult. As much as you like your toys, you prefer to watch you sister play with hers. When I get home from work, I will often place you on the floor next to your sister and you are so entertained by watching her play.
You are my silent observer. You watch intently all that is going on, only occasionally smiling or chuckling at the antics of others. The other day when you were in the bath, your sister sent a few ducks floating by your tub. Wow, you thought that was funny. It was even funnier when you sister started quacking. I love your little chuckles and wish you would share them more often. Not that you are sad or cranky, you are just calm and mellow.
Once, when I was feeding you, I surprised you by pretending to chomp on your little fist. You liked that so much that now you intentionally put your hand in my mouth every chance you get.

You haven't quite got your roll on, but you do roll from side to side and somehow manage to maneuver in circles. When I sat down to type this, I placed you on your blanket with a few toys. While my back was turned, you somehow managed to wiggle your way across the room to underneath my chair.

As for sleeping, this past week you slept very well, just waking up once or twice a night and always going right back to sleep after I nursed you. For a while there, you were making us do the paci-dance at night, but I am hoping those days are behind us.

I have officially moved you out of our room and into the crib. Partly because you outgrew the little bassinet. I can't wait to find out your official measurements when I take you to the doctor next week. I think you are going to off the scales in both height and weight. You are still proportionate, but you have the most adorable, chubby cheeks. Everyone who sees them wants to touch them or kiss them. Nom, nom.

Little Man, you are awesome. You have made the second time around so enjoyable that it makes me consider having more babies if only they could be just like you! Happy 4 months, Jack.

Love,

Mama

Ellie and Rosa Parks

I picked Ellie and Jack up from daycare today and I am half-listening to Ellie rambling on in the back seat. Suddenly, the words Rosa Parks and bus catch my attention? What the? Is my 3 year old telling me about Rosa Parks. So I ask her to repeat herself. This is what she tells me:

Rosa Parks did not want to get off the bus. She says, "I'm NOT moving!" Rosa Parks didn't want to get off the bus because her leg was hurting. The bus driver said, "Get off the bus because you're brown!"

I just had Ellie tell me again while I was typing so I could get it right. In her first rendition, she said something about "white people." Oh man, it was funny.

Ellie-isms

Ellie loves stuffed animals. She plays with them much more than she plays with her dolls. Two of her current favorites are an orange horse (that she calls "Moose") and a gray Dr. Seuss whale. Yesterday, I was in my room nursing Jack and she walks in carrying a dripping Moose. "Mommy, I dropped Moose in the toilet." Knowing about her inability to flush after herself, I asked her, "Was there poo-poo and peepee in the toilet?" "Yes." Shudder. I was still trapped in my chair, so I ordered her to go put Moose in the laundry room and then wash her hands with soap and water.

Later that night, as we were putting her to bed, Ellie asked for Moose. I told her I hadn't washed him yet and Tom asked her why she was holding him over the toilet. "Because he had to go potty." "Well," Tom said, "That's what happens when you hold things over the toilet." Her quick reply? "But whale didn't fall in the toilet when he went potty!"

Ellie can write her numbers, 1 thru 10, without anything to reference! For example, I can just say 3 and she will write it! She has been able to recognize and say her letters and numbers for a long time, but writing has always been difficult for her because she holds the pen all funny. She also can count to 29. The other day, she counted to 29 and then followed it with 100! And then she turned to me and asked, "What comes after 100?"

Ellie comes home from school singing random stuff all the time. This week she has been singing "H E A R T spells heart" and "The Earth goes round the sun, ya ya." And that's it. She just repeats them over and over and over again. But the dumb tune is so catchy that I find myself singing them all dang long, too!

Last week on the way to school, Ellie asked me, “Mother, who built my school?” I told her I didn’t know and she replied, “I think we have a mystery on our hands.” I said, “What?” And she said, “A mystery! It’s ON OUR HANDS!” Hee!

Let Sleeping Babies Lie

Treading Water

It has been a week since my last post, but I find myself barely making it these days. I already detailed my nights (although they aren't always that bad), but my days are just as exhausting. As soon as my alarm goes off at 4:45am it is go, go, go. Trying to get Ellie out of bed and dressed, packing Jack's bottles of expressed milk in a little cooler, trying to time his feeding and diaper change for AFTER he has his big blow-out...and then we are out the door and I am carrying my crazy heavy baby in his carrier with one arm and in the other arm I have my pump, purse, cooler, Jack's diaper bag, my lunch bag, and (depending on the day) Ellie's lunch bag or nap mat. It is a race to get them dropped off at daycare on time so I can be at my desk by 7am. Then, all day long I am on my feet teaching, taking 30 minutes for lunch, and spending my one conference period in the faculty restroom pumping. As soon as 3:00 rolls around, I am racing out the door to pick up the kids. As soon as we get home, it is washing bottles and pump parts, throwing in a load of laundry, nursing Jack, preparing dinner, cleaning up from dinner, washing dishes, bathing kids and putting them to bed, folding clothes, and packing bags for the next day. Tom and I then have about 1 hour where we can just sit and watch a little TV before it is time for bed and doing it all over again.

I know that time flies by, so I really do try to enjoy every stage of my life (sometimes easier said than done). I am so grateful that I am still able to nurse Jack because I really love that quiet time for just the two of us. And I have been trying to get Ellie more involved in the evenings. She likes to help me wash dishes, prepare dinner, and set the table. And then her bedtime routine is reading stories, singing her lullaby, and saying prayers. I try to enjoy the bedtime routine with her, but last night when she picked out the longest book with like 50 flaps to lift up on each page, I just passed it off to Tom and curled up on Ellie's bed for a little snooze.

Edit to add: Ok, so I typed this really fast and didn't give it a whole lot of thought. But now that I read it back, I realize it sounds incredibly whiny. Like, woe is me and my busy life. Please. I really just wanted to journal this stage in my life and my continuous struggle to balance work and motherhood. And, okay, to whine just a little bit.