Sad

Sophia has been sleeping like a champ through the night so we thought it was time to move her into her crib. She's been sleeping in a bassinet in our room since we brought her home. I love having her in our room, but at the same time, she makes a lot of noise and wakes me up. Monday night was her first night and I was surprised at how sad I felt. I really missed her even though distance wise, she probably wasn't any further away from me. I felt better about it the second night and it was neat having both girls sleeping together.

She slept great the first night. However, last night she woke up at 4am and needed a bottle before she would go back to sleep. I really don't think she woke up because she was hungry though. I think it was something else like being hot/cold/uncomfortable. Something. So we'll see how tonight goes.

Fun trip to COSI

We decided to a get a family membership to COSI this year and the kids and I took advantage last week. Since it was just me, we only went to the enclosed, kiddie fun area. But this space is so large, Madeline had no trouble finding things to do. In fact, it was almost too much. Her attention span was about 10 seconds before she would move on to the next activity. After awhile though, she finally settled down and played at a station for longer. We had a great time!

Oh and these pictures don't show how many kids were there. This first picture was when we first got there, but then OMG, it got so crowded people were double-parking their strollers. It was ridiculous! I'm hoping it was because of spring break and next time it won't be so bad. Otherwise I might not try this again without some help.



Andy will love this station! He loves to play with legos with Madeline.

Anything that involves a screen, Madeline is all over it. This was electronic finger painting.

See, another screen. She was learning about the eye.

She spent alot of time here reading books first. Then she got into playing "kitchen." She didn't like when it was time to leave.

2 months!

Little Sophia is 2 months old today. Look how big she is getting! There isn't too much to say about her. She sleeps all.the.time. Within the last week or so, she has started to sleep through the night fairly consistently. The only times she does wake up is early in the morning when she can't quite make it all the way through. She is such a great baby that I feel spoiled. We did have a brief rough patch when I tried switching formulas (per the doctor). She turned into a baby I didn't know...fussing constantly. Since I switched back to her soy-based formula, she's back to her old self. Yay for both of us!

The second month was when Madeline really started to wake up and interact with me, so I'm really looking forward to Sophia doing that this month. Also coming up this month is me going back to work. I'm obviously really not looking forward to that. I go back in a little over two weeks. But I suppose a small consolation is that I'll only be working 3 days per week.

These are the only pictures I got of her this month. What do you know? She is sleeping.

Although, that isn't the only reason for the lack of pictures. We have been crazy busy around here getting our house ready to sell. It finally went on the market about 10 days ago. So poor Sophia got neglected a bit. Her birth announcements have been on my To-Do list forever but I just couldn't ever find time. BUT I am finally mailing them today. Unfortunately I couldn't mail them to everyone that I would have liked because my printer started acting up. But I got them to as many family members as I could. Sorry friends, you were cut. I'll post her announcement later so you all can see.

Sleeping through the night

Two nights in a row now that Sophia has slept through the night!! And I'm talking like 9+ hours. She has always been a good sleeper, but she obviously still needed to wake for her feedings when she was little. But I had a feeling once she got some meat on her bones, she'd be sleeping through the night. I hope I'm not jinxing myself here though. And speaking of meat on her bones, her little thighs have the beginnings of rolls. I love it!!

My baby girl is catching up

Sophia had her 1 month checkup this morning and all is well. She started out a small little pea but once she got going, she really made up for lost time. She is now 9 pounds 5 oz. and 20.5 inches long. (I think the hospital measured her wrong because she definitely has grown in length since she was born.) Her weight is the 50th percentile and her length is the 25th percentile. I had to pack her newborn clothes away yesterday. Even though her length is on the small side, she was getting too long for her outfits. It's better though because I have way more 3 month size clothing for her than the newborn size.

Phew!

One day down, many more to go. Madeline started part-time at daycare this week so today was my first day home alone with both kiddos. I'm feeling pretty well now so I felt ready for the challenge. I knew if we stayed home all day long though, Madeline would get bored. So I decided to take on the extra challenge of taking them both to the mall play area. Don't get me wrong, I was nervous as hell. But there is a first time for everything right? And I needed to get it under my belt. When we got there, I put Sophia in the carrier so I was free to tend to Madeline when needed, but it wasn't really necessary. Madeline played well and was very well behaved. She didn't even give me a hard time when it was time to go! Usually she is having so much fun that she throws a fit. I think she knew Mommy needed a break today. When we left, she said, "bye, bye, friends" and I walked out with new Mommy confidence. :) There was one small snafu but it went okay and I learned from it. No need to go into those dirty details.

We got home and watched some "shows" as she calls them while I made some lunch. Yes, I used TV as a babysitter. Frankly, I don't know how the Moms of yester-year did it without television. It is Madeline's addiction. Every kid has something right? Specifically, it's the Backyardigans. They are this gang of friends who sing and dance there way through imaginative story lines. This is the only music I get to listen to any more and I catch myself singing their songs long after the television is off. Gosh I miss WEBN. Even in my car we have to listen to Dora. It's either that or a tantrum so which would you choose? :::sigh::: But I digress.

The rest of the day went fairly well. There were several moments that were difficult to navigate when they both needed me at the same time, but they were patient and we made it through the day. Now I'm exhausted but it was fun being with my two girls all day. This will definitely take some getting used to before I'm good at it. I wasn't able to get anything else done besides dinner.

How cute

Madeline is really starting to talk up a storm now and she has her own way of saying things that are so cute. We don't drink coffee in the morning, but rather it's pronounced foc-ee. Mickey Mouse is Ma-Ma Mouse, Goofy is Gookie and Sophia is Fo-fie. And her beloved blankie is mankie. I'm sure there are more, but that's all I can remember for now.

Yesterday we had a sitter for her for a few hours and when we got back home, she seriously told us a story for like 5-10 minutes. I have no idea what she was saying, but she sure thought it was important.

One Month Today!

The monthly pictures are back! Except this time I'm changing things up a bit. I found these monthly stickers online instead of using a sign. Not only are they super cute, but it will be easier to get the shots when she gets older. It was tough keeping Madeline from grabbing her sign in the last few months of her pictures.

I took this when she was about 2 weeks old. So yeah, she wasn't exactly zero but close enough.

And here she is at one month. You can really tell she is longer and heavier. And you can see she is even starting to give me smiles. I love it! She doesn't go to the doctor for her check-up until next week so I don't know her stats yet.

Fun at daycare

Notes from her teacher...."Madeline has been showing all of her friends how to hold our baby dolls nicely. She waits for them to sit down and then hands them a baby and shows them how to hold them! So cute!"

"madeline loved getting tickled today"



"Crawling in and out and being carried around inside a bag is one thing she really likes to do when we play in the muscle room!"

"Madeline is having a lot of fun today, and so far she's kept her pigtails in all morning! She liked dressing up in our new bird costume and helping count her friends when we called everyone's names...she's really getting good at it!"

Thank You

Well once again, nursing hasn't worked out for me. I really tried hard and even took a prescription to help my supply. While it did help a little it wasn't enough for me to continue to endure the pain and discomfort that wouldn't go away. Whenever it seemed like nursing was getting easier, the next day was bad again. I was miserable and I think the prescription was making me slightly depressed (which is a known side-effect). I hated quiting but I just don't think my body was made to do this. I wanted to thank all my cheerleaders and supporters for helping me make it as long as I did. I couldn't have done it without your support and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Sophia is doing great and she is eating more and more everyday. She took a 5 oz. bottle yesterday and I couldn't believe it. It's hard to believe she can fit that much liquid in her little body, but she does. Unfortunately the switch to formula wasn't comfortable for her. She started to spit up a ton and was excessively gassy, so we switched her to a soy-based formula and she's been doing great ever since. At night she is going about 4-5 hours from bottle to bottle compared to 3 hours during the day. Every now and then she'll go longer, but it isn't typical yet. I sure can't wait until I can get more sleep.

Her personality is very different from Madeline. She grunts alot which is really cute and funny, but she is quiet in terms of crying. She will fuss first before she cries for a bottle. Madeline would wake up from a nap screaming for her bottle. If Sophia is screaming, then she is really, really upset about something. She was screaming the other night which is so not like her so I was actually kinda worried, but I think she was just overly tired from the day. Other than that, she usually only screams in her car seat. I think all kids hate that though.

Here are some new pictures of her. You can tell she is bulking up.

They are definitely sisters

Look at Madeline's newborn photos and see how much they look alike.

Our little sweet pea, Sophia

My good friend and photographer, Tammy, came over last weekend and took some newborn photos of Sophia for us. She did a wonderful job capturing her! I tried to narrow down my favorites as best I could to these. Only, I left my most favorite out. That one you will have to wait and see on her birth annoucement.

How cute is she?

Tammy is one hell of a photographer to have salvaged ANY pictures with Madeline in them. She was not being cooperative in the least bit and I thought for sure nothing would turn out. But sure enough, look at these.....

And she even grabbed one of me snagging a kiss.

Valentine's Day Part 2

My sister, my Mom and Alexis came up for a visit on Valentine's Day. We totally didn't plan their outfits, I swear. They had a blast playing with each other. When Madeline woke up from her afternoon nap and everyone was gone, she asked several times about what happened to Alexis. It was too cute!

And how adorable are these pig tails???

Happy Valentine's Day

From the girls....

My niece, the supermodel

How adorable is this picture of my niece, Alexis? She's ready for her close-up.

2 weeks

Another week, another weight check for Sophia and she did great!! She is now 6 pounds 11.5 oz. which is a 1 oz. gain per day from last week. She isn't back up to her birth weight yet, but that's okay. She is doing very well now and looks great.

As for me, breastfeeding has gotten better. A few people told me to just make it to 2 weeks and they were right. For awhile there, I really didn't think I could make it. The pain, latching issues, etc. were almost too much to take. But I made it and everything is going much better. I'm taking a prescription to help with my supply and even with that, I still have to supplement every now and then. But she is getting mostly breastmilk and we are happy with that.

I'm also feeling great with my incision. I don't have pain anymore and can do most normal activities. I still get tired pretty easily but I suppose that is combination of recovery and not getting much sleep with Sophia at night. I'm thinking one more week and I'll really be feeling great.

The Little Gym

We went to a birthday party at The Little Gym yesterday and had a blast!! I couldn't wait to get out of the house and do something fun and I knew Madeline would just love it. I think a few people thought I was crazy to bring Sophia there, but she was fine bundled in the sling the whole time. Unfortunately, I'm not healed enough to chase Madeline around a place like this, so Andy did that.

This was a big, bouncy area. Madeline LOVED this and was the first one on.

Then she tried out the balance beam.

This was fun too. She got to roll on the big wheel and then do a sumersault off the other side.

Bubble Time! This was the only group activity she cared to partake in.

We had a great time and I'm definitely keeping this place in mind for birthday parties for Madeline and Sophia.