Two Months!

Ava has been in our lives for two months now. It is incredible how much she had changed and grown. We go for her two-month check up next week. It will be interesting to see how big she has gotten!

Happy Baby! 7/26/13

She smiles a lot and loves to sit on my belly propped up on my knees. She makes these happy cooing noises, too. I've gotten to know her patterns pretty well.  During the day, she wakes up, eats, "plays" for anywhere from 30-45 minutes, then gets super grumpy and wants to nap.  She is a cat-napper.  I can usually get one good two-hour nap out of her during the day.  Other than that, I get little 40-45 minute snoozes out of her. 

Sleeping hasn't changed much. She sleeps at night anywhere from 5-8 hours. She has been going around 6 hours for a while, but occasionally is up earlier. She is sleeping in her room now (yay for having two cameras now!), but still in the car seat. She is just not a fan of laying flat on her back. Next week, I suppose I'll torture myself and try to get her to sleep in the crib. Even though she is swaddled, I think she likes being cradled in the car seat. 

She is still eating well, and will take a bottle from me. Apparently she isn't too picky about where her food comes from! My mom gave her a bottle and she drank all but half an ounce, so we are on the right track!

As for Lucas, potty training has taken a turn for the better! His doctor was right... I have to let it be HIS idea.  He is only wearing Pull Ups at nap time and bed time.  He fights me when I try to make him go, but (knock on wood) hasn't had any accidents at home since we started underwear. I probably just jinxed myself there...

He has been taking swimming lessons. He is doing well now that it is just him and the instructor.  He did not do well when there were 4 other kids to goof around with.  He talks so well, that sometimes I forget that he is still very new at being 3, and I can't expect him to sit for too long watching others swim!

Go, Lucas, go!!

He cracks me up.  Sometimes, he sounds like a robot booting up!  He will "zone out" and when I get his attention, he looks at me and says, "Hi! I'm Lucas!"  kind of like when Frosty the Snowman comes to life in the cartoon and says "Happy Birthday" every time!  The other night at swimming, he embarrassed Scott so badly.  They were running a couple of minutes late, so Scott picked him up and was walking at his usual speed (and I thought I walked fast...).  Lucas starts yelling at him, "Daddy, don't run with me! You are going to drop me!"  Then, Scott told him to go to his teacher, who was waiting for him.  Lucas says, "Daddy, I can't go swimming without my sunscreen!"  I think I'll buy Scott a little bus for our anniversary since Lucas keeps throwing him under it!

I'm doing well.  Summer is winding down way too quickly for my liking.  Lindsey comes next weekend.  I'm really looking forward to that, but I can't believe August will be here so soon!  I've been getting stuff ready for school.  I'm so excited to be teaching Kindergarten again.  My team is great and I am really looking forward to being in a room in the same pod as them! 

That's all for now...

Time is flying :(

Time is going way too fast! Summer always goes quickly, but this summer it seems like it is flying by. 

Both kids went for their check-ups on last week. Ava is 11lbs, 14 oz and 21 1/2 inches long! Her head also grew an inch in diameter!  She got one shot, and cried more when I put her down than during the shot! She is doing more now.  She smiles and is making little noises.  She is also letting me sit her up on my lap without thinking it is eating time.  I've tried the bottle with her - success!  She took to bottle feeding MUCH easier than Lucas did.  Miss Lisa will be so happy ;-)

Lucas is 36 1/4 inches tall and 30 lbs. He is also smart and stubborn according to his doctor, which is why we are having such a hard time with potty training - he is exercising control over something he actually has control over. Great... *sigh* He was so funny at the office. They tried to test his vision, and while he knew all of the shapes, he didn't quite get the concept of covering only one eye. Apparently, they try vision testing three-year olds, but it doesn't really count.  Lucas told his doctor that he wanted to be a doctor.  Sounds good to me! 

He just cracks me up.  He loves Cars (from the movie) and watches this "Mater's Tall Tales" movie with my mom all the time.  When the movie is over, he goes back to his cars and retells a lot of the stories from the movie.  It is hilarious!  

FYI - Potty training sucks.  Pull Ups are useless.  "Learning Designs" are stupid.  If you aren't familiar with these, a "learning design" is a green imprint on the front of the Pull Up that fades away when the child wets their pants.  Well, the location of the design makes it difficult at best to "learn" when you are wet.  I thought Pull Ups were supposed to feel cool or wet so the kid would know they were going!  Nope.  Not anymore.  Something weird probably happened to little kids with the old Pull Ups.  I seriously wish I could find someone and pay them to potty train Lucas.  Two kids in diapers - because, let's be honest, at this point a Pull Up is a glorified diaper - is no fun.  Underwear isn't really working either.  The Pull Ups are to save my carpet!  Lucas just will not stop playing to use the potty.  I'm bribing with candy, TV, cars... he could care less.  I'm using timers to tell him to go try to go on the potty... nope.  I'm trying not to stress about it because clearly, he isn't ready in one way or another, but it it definitely getting frustrating!

As for me, I'm cleared to resume normal activities. My back is killing me, but as my doctor put it, I am small and carried an almost 9 pound baby. He said he'd be shocked if my back DIDN'T hurt a little still! I think I'll set up my Wii that I haven't touched in close to 2 years... and start off slow with my Zumba game!  

The 2 year anniversary of my 30th birthday was yesterday.  I don't feel any older (whew!). The day before, we had yummy cupcakes and family came over to celebrate.

We're actually getting sleep in the house. Ava sleeps between 6 and 8 hours at night, then another 3 hours after feeding. Unfortunately, this sleep is still happening in her car seat (or swing, depending on the night) because (a) we are waiting for the new monitor to arrive, and (b) she is still really stuffy when I lay her flat, so she won't sleep for very long in the bassinet :( Car seat sleep is for Mommy's sanity! 

No pictures this week... I don't have the patience to upload any.  Yes, I'm getting sleep, but my days are pretty exhausting.  Lucas is still learning his "inside voice", especially when Ava is napping.