Aubrey 2 Months!

Well if the first month of Aubrey's life was a whirlwind, so was the second! Sometimes I feel like time has just whizzed by.  Other times, the days just seem to drag along in a sleep deprived, yet still somehow happy, haze!  Either way, while her newborn-ness is certainly disappearing (if it's not all but gone already), I am much more excited for what is to come than sad to see it go.  While Aubrey's personality started to come out a bit this month, I know it will do so even more in the upcoming months and I can't wait to see that!  So here's to 2 months already!

Happy 2 Months Aubrey Lynn!

Sweet baby giggles...the first I've heard so far!

2 Month Highlights: 

-You really started mastering tummy time this month and didn't hate it terribly...at least for the first few minutes!  

5 weeks

-When you are done being on your tummy, you love to lay on your playmat. I don't know if it's because you truly like to look at the hanging toys above, or because Bella seems to always want to sing and dance around you or sit right next to you which keeps you entertained. 

-You started to smile a little before you turned 5 weeks, and by 8 weeks were doing it more consistently (although not all that often; maybe like once or twice a day).  It's still really unpredictable when or how to make you smile, but that doesn't stop all of us from trying...and making fools of ourselves : )  Of course, I can't capture hardly any of the smiles on camera, so the week 6 picture below and the 2 month ones above will have to be my proof!  You also started to coo this month which just melts my heart!
 
-You became a bit more predictable this month, and usually have a fussy period in the evenings after your 4 pm feed until after your 6 or 6:30 feed. This just means that I feed you, and then usually put you in the Boba to wear for the remainder of the evening until you are ready for bed while I cook dinner and feed Bella dinner. Or, Daddy will hold you in the football hold which is a much easier way for me to get dinner done and feed Bella!

-When you were 7 weeks, we moved you from our bedroom to our walk-in closet.  This has been great for us getting a little bit more restful sleep since you are one loud breather and sleeper.  You move all around, grunt, and just make a lot of noise for what seems like all night long! But, it's still nice to have you so close to us since you are eating multiple times in the middle of the night. 

Sleeping: As each week goes on, it gets just a little bit better and better in terms of how long you can go between feeds at night, which means a little bit more sleep. We still act as if 6:30 pm is your bedtime which is the same as Bella's.  We generally have to wake you up at 9pm to eat again, and then let you sleep as long as you can after that! You gave us one or two 4 hour stretches at 5 weeks, and a few 5 hour stretches at 6 and 7 weeks. We are waiting for the 6 hour stretches which will mean about 5 hours (or a bit more) of sleep at a time! 

The night you turned 2 months, you ate at slept from 10:30 pm til 5:30 am! I woke up at 4:30 and had to pump a bit b/c I was so engorged. And of course, I went and checked to make sure you were still breathing b/c hello, that was a LONG stretch of sleep little one! Way to go! Let's hope that becomes a habit!

For naps, you sleep so much better and longer when you are swaddled and placed in a dark room with the sound machine on (which means you nap mostly in your pack-n-play in our closet). You don't love the swing or bouncy and have only fallen or stayed asleep in either one a few (very few!) times. And while I think you would probably do ok swaddled and placed in your mini portable bed wherever I am at the moment, Bella makes so much noise that it startles you and wakes you up crying. By week 7 you were typically up for about an hour to an hour and a half between naps during the day, with an extended wake period in the late afternoon/evenings that lasts anywhere from 2 to 3.5 hours.
 
Breastfeeding: You are a breastfeeding rockstar! Seriously, you make my job so much easier than last time around!! No pain + relatively quick feeds = no big complaints from mama.   

I still have a very quick and forceful let down which causes you to choke quite a bit (especially during middle of the night feeds when I am still getting pretty engorged), and I can hear the large gulps hitting your tummy which causes you to turn into angry elf and scream (I feel so bad b/c I'm sure that hurts!).

In terms of how often you eat: 
-At 4 weeks you were getting 10 feeds/day which meant every 2 hours during the day, and about every 3 hours at night.
-At 5 weeks you dropped down to 9 feeds a day (every 2 hours during the day, and every 3.5-4 hours at night).
-At 6 & 7 weeks you dropped another feed, and were getting 8 feeds on most days, although about every 3rd day you'd sneak in an extra. This typically meant you ate at 6:30 am, 9am, noon, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm, 9pm, and 2am-ish.
-At 8 weeks you dropped to 7 feeds about half of the time, and 8 feeds/day the other half, so the schedule was similar to the above.

-I am still pumping every morning after your 9am feed, and getting about 8 oz to store for when I go back to work.  I don't love pumping (and will wean off over the next few days) but am excited about the stash I have been able to store over the last 2 months,.

-You take a bottle from Daddy about once a week for the last 2 weeks and are getting pretty used to it. He does paced bottle feeding and you take about 3-4 oz each time.    

Aubrey Loves:
-Being cuddled and swaddled
-Sleeping with sound machine, tight swaddle, and darkness! You sleep SO well like this!
-Lambie paci to calm you down
-Daddy's football hold (and everyone at church loves to make comments about this!)
-Being sung to in the car when upset (magically it calms you right down most of the time!) 
-Laying on the piano playmat and having Bella sing and dance around her

Aubrey Hates:
-Getting strapped into your car seat (although you do fine once you are settled and the car is moving)
-Getting dressed with clothes that go over your head
-You don't love (although don't hate) your swing or bouncy : ( At most you will sit in them for 5 minutes before you get really cranky.

2 Month Stats:

Height: 22.25 in (25th percentile)

Weight: 5 Weeks: 9 lb 1 oz

6 Weeks: 9 lb 7 ox

7 Weeks: 10 lb even

2 Months (8 weeks, 5 days): 11 lbs!

*Size 1 diapers (we love Pampers swaddlers and The Honest Company diapers, although have been using a pack of Huggies as well this last week and they work fine)

*Most newborn one piece outfits are too small now b/c you can't stretch your legs out: ( Still in newborn onesies and pants (separates), as well as 0-3 month clothes and outfits.

Aubrey's Firsts this Month:
-Smile 1/2/16 (almost 5 weeks)
-Cooing fairly regularly at 6 weeks old 
-Giggle 1/29 (day before 2 months)

This Month in Pictures:

Yeah, we'll work on that...Bella is just skeptical of you, and you are not happy!

Those chubby cheeks and pouty lips : ) LOVE!

You love your Mimi...and Mimi loves her Aubrey Lynn!

BIG stretchies...on Tia's blanket she had as a baby!

So sweet...laying on Lambie with your Lambie paci!

Daddy looks so tired, but he loves feeding you a bottle (you wouldn't take it from him the first try, but were good to go after that!)

First sister bath...you both loved it!

Isabella 19 Months!

Is there a point in which your baby growing up doesn't just keep getting better and better, & more and more fun!?! I know I say it every month, but watching Isabella grow up has been a true and complete joy, and has been more and more enjoyable for me!  I guess part of that is as they grow up comes more sleep, more fun activities, more interaction, more laughs and giggles, just "more!"  This last month has been no exception! Bella is constantly trying to make us laugh (and succeeding!) and loves to play...and we are happy to oblige her! OK, enough gushing...

                                  Happy 19 Months Isabella Rae!

                               19 Month Highlights:
-You were hard core teething over the course of 2 weeks this month which made for some really rough days.  You spiked fevers (up to 102) at night for a few nights (although not in a row) and were just miserable during the day, only wanting to cuddle and rock. Poor poor baby : (

Terrible picture, but that's what you get with all day snuggles in the dark

-You got a doll last month before Aubrey was born and you absolutely love her! You carry her around with you where ever you go, want to take her on all your horsey and scooter rides, love to swaddle her, burp her, rock and sing to her, and change her diaper.  Usually when I am doing something to or with Aubrey, you want to do the same with your doll. It's super cute to watch you be a little mama. 

You are also obsessed with shoes and love to carry Mama's around!

-We celebrated Christmas this month and it was just so much fun with you this year!  You truly understood what a present was, and enjoyed unwrapping things!  Mimi and Pops got you a rocking horse and a push scooter that you absolutely love.  We got you a few small things as well (set of textured balls, building blocks, bath letters and numbers and a numbers foam puzzle), but your favorite was a bubble machine.

The best one we could get with a newborn and a toddler : ) Merry Christmas!

-So many of my friends had to worry about the tree, or more importantly the ornaments, with their toddler around, but you gave us nothing to worry about! You LOVED coming down every morning and turning on the lights, but that was as close to the tree as you got. You were scared when I tried to take your picture in front of it with your back to the tree...as if it was going to jump out and grab you!

-While you have always loved music and dancing, it comes out more and more as you get older. You are always drawn to musical toys, and you point to the tv and sign please at least 5 times a day to ask for music to be turned on. You like kids songs, Christian music, pop music (especially Taylor Swift!) and you certainly have an opinion about what you listen to.  If a song comes on you don't like you definitely let us know and sign "All done".  As soon as we get in the car, you start signing "sing" and before I can get the last word out of the song, you are already signing more. We also started to go back to Library Singing Story time when Aubrey was 5 weeks old, and you just love it!

Sleeping: Our sleeping habits were all drastically changed with the addition of Aubrey, and you esentially transitioned to one afternoon nap, although there were a few days that you ended up taking/needing 2 shorter naps rather than one longer one. 

Thankfully (for us!) you still love your bed and having "quiet time" even if you aren't truly sleeping.  Bedtime is generally around 6:30 pm and you sleep til 7 or 8 am depending on the day! By 8:30 you are ready to get out of bed and start the day.  Your nap is around noon, and you sleep 2 to 2.5 hours. And as great of a sleeper as you are, the days of our sweet little baby signing "sleepy" when you were ready to go down are over. You now adamantly shake your head and say no every single time we ask if you are tired...even when you are falling asleep in your lunch!
 
Eating: You continued to stay picky this month with eating, and your appetite was way down (probably largely due to lots of teething).  Favorite foods this month: cheese, pear, banana (really any fruit), fig bars, oatmeal in the morning, squeezies, PB sandwiches, whole grain puffs. You LOVE drinking water out of water bottles, and will drink so much more if we put it in one of ours for you to use during the day. Since you don't drink milk (b/c you don't like it) or juice (b/c we don't buy it and have never given it to you), if a water bottle makes you happy, so be it!

Isabella Loves:

-Her dolly

-Music, singing and dancing...all the time!

-Rocking horse (and doing "Slow Horsey, Fast Horsey")

-Baths

-Being outside, taking walks (and you actually walking, not in stroller)

-Reading, fav books this month: Toes, Ears & Nose, Pig-A-Boo, I Love You Through and Through, My First Bible Stories, Where is Baby's Belly Button, My First Spanish Words

Isabella Hates:

-Not being able to do something...you get SO frustrated and hit or throw whatever it is you are trying to do, and then cry.

-Lately you have not wanted to get dressed or even change your diaper...I think it has more to do with the fact that you have to stop and lay down for 2 minutes!

19 Month Stats:

Height: 32.25 in (58th percentile)

Weight: 23 lb 12 oz (27th percentile)
HC: 18 in (23rd percentile)

Teeth: 4 on top, 4 on bottom, 1 molar on left bottom

*Wearing mostly 18 and 24 month clothes (although still in some 12 month onesies and capris and skirts). Still in size 3 diapers.

Isabella's Firsts this Month:

-You are doing great at pointing out most body parts! You've got down eyes, ears, nose, mouth, arms, hands, fingers, feet, legs, belly button, belly, and heart.

-You build a tower of 3 blocks high...and LOVE to knock then down!

-You easily climb stairs and "scoochie" down well now  

Words Added this Month:  Bye bye, bubbles ("bu-buhs"), book, no, hot ("haa"), cold ("coal"), yucky

This Month in Pictures:

Any chance you get to carry a "purse" (or bag!) you take it...such a girly girl!

Always wanting to give sister "kisses" by putting your head or cheek on hers : )

Spending time at the library- looking out the window at the choo choo train passing by

Always putting on our shoes!

You LOVE love love bathtime!!! Look at that nakey booty : )

HA you wanted to rock your baby in the bouncy and got stuck...and then cried when you couldn't get out!

A favorite game...throw the blanket over your head and walk into things.  And "Where's Bella!?" with the blanket over your head!

Our sweet girls!

 

You LOVE the rocking horse Mimi got you and scare me a bit with how crazy you rock it!

You love doing "Slow Horsey, Fast Horsey" on it!!

Scary Mama...will do anything to get her to smile for the camera! She ALWAYS shakes her head no!!!

Mama's first jog post-pregnancy on a "winter day"- 47 and sunny : ) You and Dani loved getting all bundled up and kept laughing!

"Word" : )

Sleepy morning times together : )

LOVE this girl's goofy and fun personality!

"Seriously Mon...another photo shoot!?!?"

Aubrey Lynn 1 Month!

HAPPY 1 MONTH AUBREY LYNN!!!

I learned my lesson with Isabella...time absolutely flies with kids! I am not an emotional woman at all, and yet find myself feeling so emotional many times when I think about how quickly Bella is growing up.

So, with Aubrey I feel like I get a bit of a "do-over" and have been enjoying this newborn phase much, much more than I thought I would, or was able to do with Bella (although that was in part to the hard c-section recovery and the fact that we moved states when she was 6 weeks old, and then again when she was 5 months old!).

That's not to say that many parts of the first month suck.  Yes, it's true. Most moms won't say that out loud, but it's no lie.  The sleep deprivation is at it's finest, just at a time when your body wants more sleep to recover!  You feel like you constantly have something attached to your boob (or gnawing it off!).  And recovery in and of itself is happening which completely disrupts any normalcy you may have previously had.

But that being said, even though there are things that stink in that first month, there is SO much to love and enjoy.  If that weren't the case, women wouldn't continue to have kids.  And that is why so many moms say that the first month is a complete blur, or they just don't really remember it at all.  I'm positive that's a protective mechanism for future little ones!

But back to time flying...How are we already at a 1 month post!?!? Without further ado...

1 MONTH HIGHLIGHTS:

-This month really felt a lot like eat, poop, sleep, repeat, with lots and lots of snuggles in there. But I suppose that is the life of a newborn! And I certainly enjoyed it all...especially b/c Daddy changed most of those nighttime poopy diapers this month!

Milk druink : )

-We kept things pretty low key as we were transitioning to a family of 4, especially in the first 3 weeks. Aside from running a few quick errands, we took a couple walks at the park, enjoyed the nice warm 70-some degree & sunny December weather by sitting on the front porch a bunch so Bella could run around in the front yard, went to the library on colder days just to get out of the house, and just soaked up a ton of snuggles and cuddles.  Daddy had 2.5 weeks off work which meant a lot of great family time.

Taking a walk at Sims Lake Park on a 72 and sunny December day! Aubrey 12 days old.

-We had a "cookie decorating party" that involved Mimi cooking the cookies at the 11th hour and not actually getting around to the decorating part before the 2 "big girls" needed to go to bed, and both Mama's were just plain exhausted! Either way, Aubrey slept through or ate through the entire party anyways : ) Oh well, perhaps next year with the 3 girls being a bit older it won't be such organized chaos!

-You celebrated your first Christmas which was a nice, relaxing day spent with family at home. We stayed in jammies most of the day, ate some good food and watched Christmas shows. A perfect low-key way to celebrate the holiday with a  3.5 week old, a 13 month old, and an 18 month old!!

 -You have a lambie paci which you love to hold onto when you have it in your mouth. It's cute to see you clutch it with both hands.  You don't need or love the paci as much as Bella did, but it certainly helps to calm you down when you are really mad.  I love that we use it to help you fall asleep, but as soon as you are really ready to sleep, you push it out of your mouth, purse your lips, and go to sleep without it, as if having it in your mouth is affecting your ability to sleep.  Hopefully that will alleviate the problems we had with Bella wanting her paci put back in her mouth about 5000 times a night when she was 2-5 months old! 

-You have a pretty feisty cry when you are really mad which we think is just adorable.  You don't use it all that often (mostly when you are forced to stop eating b/c you are choking from a forceful letdown, or are getting strapped into your carseat).  On Christmas you got mad when we were taking pictures which led me to say "She's an angry elf" and it has kinda stuck. We find ourselves saying that a lot during night feeds which helps to lighten up the mood as you choke, scream, repeat : ) 

SLEEPING: As most newborns, you sleep a ton.  Some days you sleep rock hard and don't "need" to be held a lot. You are content in your portable bed (for the first 2 weeks), pack-n-play or bouncy seat/swing. Other days, its like you just can't get settled despite being clean, dry and well fed, and so you are swaddled and cuddled a lot more. I have to say I don't mind these days at all : )

At night, we typically put you in the bed (pack-n-play in our room) with the sound machine on after your 6:30/7pm-ish feed, and consider this your "bedtime" for now. You wake up anywhere from every 1.5 hours to 3.5 hours.  One time shortly after you turned 2 weeks you went 4 hours between a feed which was glorious, but that hasn't happened since. Around 3 weeks, you typically went 3 to 3.5 hours between your first feed, then the stretch gradually got shorter until you were wanting to eat every 2 hours for your morning feeds. So night feedings at 3 and 4 weeks are typically 6:30 pm, 8:30 or 9pm (I use this as a "dream feed"), 12:30am, 3:30 am, 6:30am (and then every 2 hours after that).

***I can't stop taking pictures of you sleeping, particularly after we breastfeed! You are just too sweet!!!***

This one cracks me up b/c Bella was running around squealing, and this is how you fell asleep!

 

BREASTFEEDING: You are a champion eater! You eat every 2 hours during the day, although I will say most days I have to wake you up multiple times to achieve this.  Twice I tried just doing demand feeding during the day, although would wake you up at the 3 hour mark if you weren't ready on your own, and both of those nights you were up every 1.5 to 2 hours. So no more of that. Eating every 2 hours during the day helps for slightly longer stretches at night...and a happier mama!

Breastfeeding hasn't been nearly as painful or difficult this time around, and I think partly due in fact that I have done this before (oh so recently!), and partly because you are just a better eater and have a better latch than Isabella did.  You came out of the womb ready to eat, and have been willing to keep on eating anytime I put you to the breast!  

I did have cracked, bleeding and scabbing nipples by day 3 but with daily help from the Lactation consultants in the hospital, and persistence, by about 2.5 weeks things were healed and going much smoother.  Despite every LC telling me I wouldn't need the nipple shield for feedings, I did end up using it here and there once we got home just to help with the pain and healing.  I didn't use it for every feed, and was using it on the right breast more than the left in the beginning. Once you were about 2 weeks, things got better and you really just had a hard time latching overnight, so would occasionally use it then. By 3 weeks, we didn't have to use it at all...hallelujah. *Although, I will say, I didn't hate it as much this time around as I did with Bella!*

During the day, I wear shields that catch leakage (and let me tell you I get about 3-4 oz daily from those things...boo ya!), and at night I wear the gel soothies, partly b/c they feel great, and partly b/c they stop leakage since I can't wear the shields overnight. 

I have been pumping once in the morning after your 8:30/9 am feed, and between what I catch in the shield and what I pump, I've been getting about 10 oz daily.  Just trying to build up a stash for when I go to work, or if the supply takes a dip in the future. 

AUBREY LOVES:

-Being cuddled and held

-Being swaddled

-Lambie paci (at times...other times she gags or can't seem to figure it out!)
-Daddy's football hold...a surefire way to calm her even at her maddest!
 

AUBREY HATES:

-Changing her diaper 
-Getting dressed with clothes going over her head
-Getting strapped into her carseat!

Looking SO tiny in her car seat and oversized newborn hat!

STATS:

Height: 19.5 in (10th percentile) (I am convinced the hospital measured her wrong b/c she was measured within 1 week at 3 separate MD offices and got 3 different measurements from 18.5 to 19 to 19.5!).

Weight: Birth: 5 lb 13 oz at birth
-Day 1: 5 lb 7 oz day 1
- Day 2: 5 lb 4 oz
-Day 3: 5 lb 9 oz

-1 Week: 6 lb even at 1 week

-2 Weeks: 6 lb 11 oz at 2 weeks
-3 Weeks: 7lb 8 oz at 3 weeks

-4 Weeks: 8 lb 5 oz (25th percentile)

HC:

Wearing newborn diapers (although premie would have fit much better the first 2 weeks!).

Wearing newborn clothes (some of which you are still swimming in)

AUBREY'S FIRSTS THIS MONTH:

 -First bath at home 12/14/15 (we had to wait quite awhile for your entire umbilical cord to fall off!)

-First cry with real tears (and LOTS of them!) 12/22 getting labs drawn, break my heart!

-First Christmas 12/25/15

THIS MONTH IN PICTURES:

 

 

 

Meeting your big sister for the first time at 5 days old

6 days old

Your sister is already showing you how to play : ) 2 weeks

Sisters : ) Bella loves giving you head kisses! 2 weeks

2.5 weeks

 2.5 weeks

3 weeks

Christmas!

Aww...sweet sister love!

 3 weeks

1 day shy of 4 weeks