Summer Week Three

We hired someone to clean our home the summer before Nora was born and she is out of the country all summer so I have been in charge of all maintenance and deep cleaning since the end of May.

So... I downloaded this productivity app that keeps track of what household chores need to be done and it keeps a schedule for me so I don't forget... BEST and WORST thing ever. I have been doing a good job staying on top of it but man does it stink when you crossed everything off your list one day and there are 14 new chores just waiting for you the next day.

So besides laundry, dishes, dusting, and vacuuming, this past week has been great!

We did our usual weekly appointments for Janie.

I learned that if you go twice to the library in one week you see the same story and/or puppet show. 

One great thing about summer is that I can actually sit down and enjoy breakfast with Nora, rather than grab something quick or have her eat breakfast at school. 

Peek-a-boo at breakfast

Peeking...

"Boo"ing!

We were going to try and hit up a children's museum but it didn't pan out but instead we went on our first trip to the zoo with the kids! I was nervous that Nora would be scared of the animals but she surely wasn't. She loved seeing the animals and did very well considering the heat and how late we pushed her past her nap time. I have about 3 more days to apply our ticket to an annual pass and I'm seriously considering it!! 

Checking out the elephants with daddy!

...with mommy.

Looking at the giraffes!

Gorillas!

Happy girl.

I made round two of baby food for Janie: parsnips and apples. I will add this to our freezer collection of carrots and sweet potatoes!

Nora helping (stealing bites from) mommy.

Nora reading to Janie while she jumps!

Next week we have July 4th festivities to look forward to and we are super excited!! 

Six Months

Today is Janie's half birthday! We have been a family of four for SIX MONTHS now and I wasn't sure how we were going to manage two kids that were both so young. But now, I cannot imagine what our lives would be like without Janie's sweet & smiley presence. It has been such a joy having Janie as part of our little family.

Janie Elizabeth, six months old

HEIGHT: 26 1/2 inches

WEIGHT: 16 pounds, 10 ounces

Sweet baby girl, smiling!

Janie has shown lots of interest in moving around and socializing this month, as well as making some good progress on her eating. Since five months:

I like to sit & stand, not lay down!

Eats every 3-4 hours during the day We can usually stretch Janie to 4 hours between bottles, though every now and then she demands it a little sooner. Janie has begun to eat solid foods this month in addition to her bottles so she has been getting dinner a little before her last bottle of the day.

Eats 6-8 oz. bottles of formula Janie is taking 7 ounces per bottle. Sometimes she doesn't seem to need all 7 ounces but she never asks for more. Usually right at the end of her bottle she starts talking and smiling at me, indicating to me that she is just about done. I think it's her way of saying "Thanks, mom!"

Has tried rice cereal We tried a few foods other than rice cereal. We started with carrots, which Janie ate but didn't act all that interested in. We are currently on sweet potatoes, which she loves! She will eat 2 ice cubes of pureed sweet potatoes at dinner. She reaches for the spoon and tries to put it into her mouth! She also has gotten very good with eating and swallowing in just a short time. It's probably because of her age (we started later than with Nora) but I am happy that she's gotten it so quickly. I am going to try parsnips next and then add in some fruit for breakfast!

Sweet potatoes! Yum!

Sleeps unswaddled in her crib Janie has continued to sleep well through the night. She is sleeping on average about 12 hours every night. She has been consistently putting herself to sleep for awhile now, though she does seem to need a little help every now and then. She has lately begun to have some separation anxiety issues arise and cries a lot more than she used to once I walk out of the room but she hasn't changed her sleeping habits, which is great!

Takes a few 30-45 minutes naps a day One of our biggest changes this month is her nap time schedule. Janie has been taking really good naps. She is taking about three 1-1 1/2 hour (give or take) naps throughout the day. I've begun to notice that being out at nap time - although she doesn't complain about being tired as much as Nora did - makes her naps shorter. So, although she doesn't put up a big fight about being tired and needing naps, she does take better ones at home than out running errands. 

A now-rare nap time with mommy

Wears a helmet 23 hours a day Janie is officially out of her helmet!! We are thrilled! More information on this in a separate post, coming soon, but she has a beautiful, breezy, stink-free head for her half birthday! Due to her being helmet-free, we have begun putting her in a sleep sack at bed and nap times again. Unlike Nora (our sweat baby), Janie gets cold and sleeps waaaay better when warm and snuggly.

Uses a pacifier for soothing Janie does still use her pacifier on occasion. She can officially put it in her mouth on her own. We've been keeping one in her crib so that she can use it if she wants, but she doesn't use it all the time. She has been teething a bit and I think she uses it to chew on instead of her fist when she needs a change. 

I may have drooled a bit...

Rolls from back to tummy We've been working on rolling & sitting this month in physical therapy to help her strengthen her core muscles. She does really well in one direction with rolling but struggles on the other. 

Loves tummy time Janie still enjoys her daily tummy time. She has started to push up so that her belly doesn't touch the ground (planking!) and sometimes pull her knees under her belly, too. She has the desire to want to crawl and move so I can see her making some serious progress in this area this next month.

Using my muscles!

Tries to sit on her own Like I said before, we've been working on this. Janie does and can sit on her own, but not very consistently. She will sit up then fall over, or sit up then lean forward. She can only sit for a few seconds without moving in one direction or another. She is doing better, though! 

Sitting, or trying to at least

Puts everything in her mouth Janie still loves putting everything into her mouth! She likes to put clothing, fingers, toes, toys (much to Nora's dismay), jewelry... anything! She has been intently watching us eat and drink and is very curious about that as well. 

Talks & giggles Janie has been quite talkative these days. She gets especially talkative at bed time. She likes to play peek-a-boo and be tickled. She thinks her sister is pretty entertaining. She smiles at herself when she sneezes, which is obviously funny.

Wears size 3 diapers We are still in size 3 diapers!

Wears 3-6 month clothing We've started to wear a few 9 month sized outfits, though the pants tend to be long. I'm going to need to get more of that size out just for the sake of the weather - the clothes we had packed away in Janie's current size were for winter/early spring and we don't have a lot of warm weather options!

All in all, it has been a great month for us. We have one less weekly doctor's appointment to attend but are still going to physical therapy weekly. Our therapist is hoping that can be switched to bi-weekly in the near future but Janie has shown a bit of resistance to the therapy and wavers in her success at sessions, so we will continue to watch her closely as long as we need to. 

We visit our pediatrician in a week or two (timing of vaccines got us off a bit) so I will update with her weight and height stats then.  UPDATE: height & weight listed above. Otherwise, here is her six month wrap up:

Takes four 7-ounce bottles each day

Eats pureed veggies for dinner

Sleeps about 12 hours each night

Uses a sleep sack

Takes three 1-1 1/2 hour naps a day

Is helmet free!

Uses a pacifier for soothing

Pushes up when on tummy

Sits assisted

Puts everything in her mouth

Appears to be teething, yet no teeth to be seen

Likes to play peek-a-boo

Loves her big sister

Wears size 3 diapers

Wears 3-6 & 9 month clothing

Happy Half Birthday to our beautiful baby Janie!!

A little ball of cuteness.

Summer Week Two

This week I finished up my trainings and am now focused on trying to schedule out the summer days for the girls and me!

We've spent some time at home but I really feel as if I need to have something to get out of the house for on a regular basis. We tried out the story time at the public library and really enjoyed it so we will continue to do that at least once a week throughout the summer. Nora hasn't yet participated in the finger plays and songs (I'm hoping she will soon!) but she does enjoy listening to the stories, songs, and puppet shows that they put on.

This week Nora began an interesting new habit: taking off her diaper when she wakes up in the morning. Yikes!!! I mean, she's messed with her diaper before but taken it off she had never done. I walked into her room and saw her like this:

Right hand: diaper. Left hand: shorts.

Fantastic. It's not like she was in there for very long either! Just enough time for me to feed Janie and get her dressed... Toddlers are silly little people.

On to the fun (for mom) adventures of the week!! Last weekend we had both Pops and Grandpa over to the house for Father's Day. We enjoyed playing outside and a yummy meal with family!

Sweet Nora on her slide.

Putting with Pops

We did buy a pass to the aquarium that is near our house. It is not at all a big aquarium but it takes us about an hour to get through the whole thing and Nora really enjoys looking at the fish and other "sea creatures" so it is a good escape for us on occasion.

Nora watching the fish at the aquarium.

"Inside" the fish tank with daddy!

Yes. We went twice in one week.

Also, to avoid watching the movie "Frozen" every day, all day, I am trying to watch a new movie with the girls once a week or so. I have been trying to think of the movies that are animated with lots of songs in them, since Nora does enjoy music so much. Nora hasn't started watching television or movies until just recently and she will really only watch for about 20 minutes before she wants to get up and try something new but it gives us a purpose for a few minutes I suppose.

Nora holding Janie! 

This was the first time she had shown interest in holding her baby sister.

She loved it!

Usually we spend most of our time coloring, reading, playing/building, eating, and sleeping. Sometimes I can get a few things done during nap time, but that just depends on the day. I am hoping to try a few new adventures in the next couple of weeks!

Happy Father's Day

I am so thankful for a husband who is not only good to me but an amazing dad to both of our little girls. From the first moments of their little lives he has really stepped up in all ways imaginable. Nora and Janie are so lucky to have you as a daddy and we all wish you a fantastic Father's Day!

Some favorite daddy/daughter moments...

Newborn Nora, the baby girl who made Justin a daddy!

Nora Lane, 6 months

Nora & Daddy

Nora, one year old!

Newborn Janie

Nora & Daddy

Janie's baptism

I don't get many of these moments on camera, 

but love when I do!

Summer Week One

Although I did have a few trainings to attend this week, it was our official first week of summer!

We started it out right with some pool time. We filled up our kiddie pool in the back yard and got I got some sun while the girls played. Nora had a blast filling up the cups & dumping the water back out! She kept apologizing for getting her rash guard wet. I think she thought it was a shirt. She will learn as we swim more this summer!

Dumping out the water!

Having a blast!

Ford lounged around with us...

Pool fun!

We hung out with friends at the pool last weekend, too. Janie went for her very first swim! She didn't seem to mind it which was a success. Nora LOVED swimming in the big pool! 

Swim baby.

Janie with mommy & Nora; her first swim!

It did rain a little but we were happy to spend time together inside. I took the girls to the library for a story time. Nora loved watching the puppet show and singing songs. 

Nora, catching rain drops!

Janie is happy to have mommy home!

We celebrated Auntie K's birthday this week, too! Nora sang her "Happy Birthday". Mom & I went to see Mamma Mia in Dallas and loved it! What a great show!

Happy Birthday Auntie K!

Mamma Mia at Fair Park

We met a friend at an indoor bounce house "park". Nora had a lot of fun (once she warmed up to it)! Auntie K met us there and had fun with us.

Happy Nora!

Wee!

Janie is happy as can be, too. She likes to be tickled & looking at herself in the mirror. She is putting everything into her mouth, including some solid foods - I'm going to try carrots next week!

Happy Janie!

Who's that baby??

It was a great first week! I'm so glad I can spend some quality time with the babes this summer!

Twenty-one Months

Nora is SO much fun these days! I can't believe that her birthday is right around the corner again. I'm sure that having Janie around has really made the time fly but it literally feels like we were just celebrating her first birthday... and here we are.

Nora, around 21 months old!

Nora is amazing. Her language and communication skills have really taken off. She learns so quickly its scary. She loves her baby sister, which melts my heart. We have rough moments - that's for sure - but she is usually the sweetest little thing. I am seriously hoping that "two" won't become "terrible" for us but I suppose it will be inevitable to a certain extent.

Playing with Janie

Here's how Nora is doing these days:

Nods & points to communicate Nora is serious about communicating with us. She doesn't use gestures as much as she did, but pointing & that cute little "where" with the shrugged shoulders do come up on occasion. She prefers to use words, whether we understand them or not.

Says one- or two-syllable words Nora does not have clear speech by any means, but she tries very hard to talk to people using the words she knows. She is saying so many words and learning new ones all the time. She has been stringing words together to make mini-sentences such as "yummy cheese mommy" and "mommy look, icky feet". (Both of these actually happened this week...) She even has little conversations that if you pay really close attention to, you can pick up on the meaning of. She was talking to Janie yesterday in her little bouncer seat, "You like it, Janie? Okay. Good." Over and over. Sounds more like "Oo yike et, Jay Jay? OK. Gut." but still so amazing!

"Mommy yook, icky feet"

Uses sign language to talk Because she uses so much more language, she is not signing nearly as much these days. I do see the signs for help, more, & milk quite often, accompanied with the word itself, but not many others. I guess she doesn't feel the need to, which is fine with me as long as we can communicate!

Plays with puzzles & sorting toys Nora really likes her sorting toys but she has really started to enjoy imaginative play more. She likes to play with her kitchen toys and her nurse kit from Auntie K. She pretends to give you medicine and take your temperature. She likes to put food in her pots and pans. It is really basic stuff, but it has started! Imagination is one of my favorite things about young kids and I am really excited to see Nora's develop over the next several months! Nora also really loves reading. She has picked this back up now that she attends more to the pictures and words. She loves her nursery rhyme books and other favorites like "Harry the Dirty Dog" and "The Foot Book".

Nora playing with her stuffed animals 

(giving them food & drinks)

Likes taking off accessories Nora will keep her accessories on better than before. She wears bows and occasionally sunglasses for extended periods of time. She has begun the new obsession of taking her hair out, but only when she has nothing better to do, like when she is in her car seat or when she is in her crib before or after a nap.

Sunglasses!

Enjoys music & dancing in the car Nora still loves her music in the car but she has gotten really picky about it! She will say "Leh-go" (Let It Go) or "nu-nik" (music) and then I will begin the Frozen sound track, usually. She will then say "no" to every song that she doesn't want to listen to. We also listen to her Primrose CD often in the car which she also likes a lot. I think she got tired of the Frozen songs after awhile. Nora has also begun to "sing". She will sing a few songs she knows well like "Twinkle, Twinkle" and "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and also finishes some songs that I sing to her. Singing has become a part of our bedtime routine!

Singing "Twinkle Twinkle"

Likes to play chase Nora does enjoy this, but this is more of daddy's favorite game to play. Nora likes to make a game out of getting her medicine or changing her diaper. Nora doesn't choose to run around often though.

Wants to make her own food decisions Nora LOVES fig bars. Good gracious. We considered not buying them so that she wouldn't ask for one at every meal and snack time. She has been really good about eating what we put in front of her for the most part though. The biggest challenge now with eating, I feel, is that she doesn't want to sit in her chair. We went through this once before but it was more of a needy thing and now it is more of a big girl thing. She also likes to try to sit on our laps at meal times (again). She will push her things over one at a time and say, "Here-go" (here you go) until you have her plate, her cups, and her utensils. Then she will ask to be put down and then she will ask to get up in your lap. She thinks she is sneaky about it. Ha!

Nora helping "cook"

Eats with a spoon Nora enjoys eating with her utensils still. She likes to use them herself. She now uses a fork and also a knife on occasion. Though her knives don't really cut food very well... She is pretty good with all her utensils!

Drinks from sippy cups and uses straws Not much change on the cup front. She still doesn't use a regular cup very well. We're not in a big rush to change that unless our pediatrician thinks it is necessary.

Has 12 teeth Nora has all 8 teeth, plus 4 molars, and she is "growing" all four canines in right now. She has a full-toothed smile (almost)! She looks like a big girl. It's crazy.

Nora at 21 months:

Strings words together 
Started imaginary play
Loves reading books
Listens to music she likes
Sings songs
Is a great big sister
Likes to help around the house
Eats dinner & snacks we give her
Uses utensils
Has 16 teeth

Next update will be TWO! It's hard to believe...