Little lady 6 months

You are such a mama's girl.  Oh my.  It's the sweetest thing ever, but it would be lovely if you let someone else hold you for a while!  You are starting to warm up to daddy and grandma, thank goodness.

Girl, you love to eat.  You want to eat everything that we are eating and you try to grab at our silverware, cups and food constantly.  This month I gave you a sippy cup with water and you loved it.  I think you mostly like to bang it on the table, but still.

You love shaking your toys, really hard.  You often hit yourself with them, which must hurt but you don't seem to mind at all.

Your favorite "toy" is still brother, and you like to watch him more than anything or anyone else.  He definitely gets the biggest smiles.

You are starting to sit up.  You can sit on your own for a few minutes, gorilla style, resting on your hands in fists.  Then after a couple minutes, you face plant (we try to catch you of course) and then you're content to stay laying on your play mat.

Sleep, glorious sleep!  You have turned into an amazing sleeper and you take 3 naps during the day and sleep about 11 hours at night.  We are thankful every night that you are such an amazing nighttime sleeper, it is quiet luxurious to have a baby who sleeps as well as you do!  Even if its a phase, we will take it.

Little man - 33 & 34 months

Our sweet boy, you are an even sweeter big brother than we could have imagined.  You are so wonderfully helpful with your sister and we feel so blessed that you love her so much.  It's almost like you know what she needs before she needs it, which is such a nice thing for mommy.  You are also more than willing to get things for me, like her diapers, wipes, paci, etc.  So helpful!

Your palate for foods continues to evolve and you are the BEST eater.  You will try most foods and you definitely like things that have flavor!  No bland foods for this kid.  You love Thai food and salsa of course.  You even like sushi (California rolls)!  It is my dream that we all eat the same dinner every night and you eat your food just like we do.  We can also order food for you at pretty much any restaurant and we are getting to the point where you need your own food, we can't share because you eat a lot!  haha.

You are still a great little sleeper and you love your bed.  Daddy has been doing your bath and bedtime routine since sister was born, so that's been a big change, but you both seem to be settling in to the new routine.  I hope that it will shift back to me being a part of your bedtime too, I miss my Jonny snuggles.

Things you like recently....

Songs and artists - this is incredible.  You know who sings the songs on your playlist.  John Lennon, Louis Armstrong, Kenny Rogers, The Beatles.... Oh My Goodness child, it is amazing to hear you say these names and know the songs they sing.  Daddy and I feel so lucky that we have a two year old who loves classic rock.

You love to build - lately legos have been your fixation and you use your imagination to build dinosaurs, cities and farms.  It's really neat to watch you play by yourself and create things with minimal help.

You still love cars and trucks and you like to line up all of your cars like the freeway or the parking lot.

Jonny - isms
What is?
I guess so.....

You know all of your letters and you are starting to write your name!

Little lady - 7 months

You've found your voice!

I had some of your aunties over for a girls night and you were definitely in on the conversation.  Hilarious.

You are rolling all over the place and you can move yourself around by rolling.  Its pretty crazy how far and fast you can move by rolling.

You love to eat.  No, seriously.  I thought your brother liked to eat when he was a baby but it is truly no comparison.  You like to chew on pieces of real food, so I give you sticks of cucumbers, bell peppers, cooked carrots, rice cakes, pretty much anything that is a good texture for you to mash with your gums.

You have your first bottom tooth!  And boy is it sharp.

You are the happiest baby.  All smiles, especially for your brother,  there is no one you love more.  You look at him like he is a rockstar.  It's kind of the sweetest thing I've ever seen.

You had your first Halloween!

Little lady - 8 months

You are sitting up and playing on your play mat like a champ.  You will sit and play and laugh and watch brother or watch me in the kitchen, sometimes for a long time!  Other times you need someone to sit with you and play with your toys.  You are loving the stacking rings, and this week brother gave you his stacking cups too.  Those are a hit!

You are trying to crawl.  But right now you just get stuck in downward dog position on your hands and feet.  Then you yell for someone to come and help.  You are starting to get on your hands and knees and rock back and forth so I know its coming soon.

You keep trying and loving new foods.  This month we tried pumpkin, black beans, quinoa, veggie burgers and turkey.  You like all of it.  Even when there was something you didn't love (black beans and quinoa blend) you still ate it all, you just kind of smashed it around for a while first. 

You laugh a lot!  Your giggle is awesome.

You are making more and more sounds.  Last month was mama and baba, this month we've added gaga and dada.

You are clapping which is quite adorable.

You are the most amazing sleeper and seriously the easiest baby ever when it comes to naps and bedtime.  I am thankful every day by just how easy you are.  You love your bed, your lambs and your paci and its such a safe spot for you.  We just snuggle you up and read books (which you really seem to enjoy) and say good night.  You will sometimes roll around in your bed for a while before you sleep but you rarely cry, if ever.  Absolutely amazing.

Little lady - 5 months

You've found your feet and you like to be in happy baby pose ;) You also like to put your feet in your mouth.... Like everything else!

Food! - we started giving you oatmeal and avocados and bananas this month.  You liked all of them.  You literally want to eat what we are eating and you try to grab our cups and silverware and food while we are eating.

You are sitting up with some help.  You often end up leaning forward on your hands in "gorilla stance"

You love to sit in the bumbo chair and play and watch brother play.

You love songs especially the wheels on the bus.

Your sleep is haphazard -- some days great and others not so much.  I'm waiting patiently for the sleep to even out.  This mama's tired!  But I do secretly love our early morning snuggles.

First big kid haircut

Finally!!!! :)

You are now officially a big kid.

It's amazing how a haircut can do that.

Little man - 31 & 32 months

Communication 

There are some words that you say that are just too sweet to correct you - cumbas is one of them, for cucumbers of course! - and then it's gone and you start using the correct words.

I try to savor each funny little Jonny- ism since they seem to come and go so fast!

The phrases that you use and your level of conceptual understanding is amazing.

We have recently been reminiscing about when you were a baby and watching videos of you when you first started talking.  We've brought back "cokem" for "welcome" and sometimes we say "bam" just to be silly.  It's such a funny experience for you to see how much you've changed and be able to laugh about it with you.

Phrases this month-

You shouldn't ...

Sweet boy

I can't believe how sweet and helpful you are with your sister.  You bring me diapers, wipes, pacis and you always check to see if I have a burp towel before I give her milk.

You also tell me what she is saying - if she wants a toy or needs something!

Play

Your level of independent play has skyrocketed.  You build your own vehicles and dinosaurs and trains.  

You use blocks, foam shapes and Legos to "cook" dinner for us.  You put all the pieces into a box lid or pan and you serve us the food. 

Your imagination is so funny and you now pretend that your toys are talking to each other or playing together.

Your new favorite show is Daniel Tiger and you especially love the shows with baby Margaret.  

Our little drummer - I mean musician! You are obsessed with playing your xylophone drums and basically anything in our house has become a drum.  You close your eyes and kind of sway back and forth like Stevie wonder style.  Hilarious.

We took swim lessons at CLU again this month.  You are getting way better at kicking - now we need to work on getting your arms moving!

Little lady - 4 month update

Ahhh sweet girl!  Your smile lights up the room.  You open your mouth suuuuuuper wide when you are happy and when we give you kisses.

You are laughing a bit more - your laugh is like a deep giggle.  Love.  You like to be tickled on your belly and under your arms.

You are getting so big so fast.  I want the time to slow way down.

You rolled over this month - both ways!  It was like all of the sudden you figured it out and flipped over.  You haven't done it much since then, now you've moved on to other skills ;)

We saw fireworks after a concert in the park and they were really close and very loud! I was worried you wouldn't like it but you were totally unphased.

You are doing a lot of cooing and baby talking to your toys and your mobile.  Your voice is quite forceful.  

We had our first Santa Barbara zoo adventure.  You napped through most of it but woke just in time for the train ride.

So far you are definitely mamas girl and you are happiest in my arms or in the pouch - that's definitely your favorite place to be.

Little lady - 3 month update

3 months

14.2 pounds 23.5 inches

You are talking! The baby babble is hilarious :). You are definitely carrying on full conversations - if only we understood.  I would love to know what's happening in that little brain.

You are getting much stronger and can hold your head up at 90 degrees on your belly.

You laughed at me a couple of time when I was singing the Noble Duke of York.  You are such a happy girl and you are full of smiles - especially for your brother.

You are sleeping a nice long stretch at night and you usually wake up just once to eat during the night.  I'm putting you to bed late so that helps!  You take two long naps during the day plus a couple catnaps as well.

You are such an easy going baby.  Your real cry is almost always because something is wrong - we just have to figure out what! But recently you've started crying when you're not getting enough attention ;) you scream so loud and then as soon as we come close and talk to you, you put on your biggest smile and start talking to us. Such a girl already!

Little man - 2.5 year update

You get funnier every day.  You will now repeat anything we say - which we can use for our own entertainment ;)

You constantly repeat what people say and you like to give everyone the updates on what's happening.  Your vocabulary is incredible - and the concepts you understand are at such a high level.  We are amazed by you!  Lately you've been very interested in where people live and how old we are.

You've started to use the correct pronouns when speaking, so you say "come with me" instead of Jon, and you say my and mine and you and yours.

A few funny phrases from this month-

"Oh, you're welcome!"

"Where us going?" - you ask me this every morning when I'm packing up the backpack. It's just too cute to correct you.

"Our whole family" - you say this whenever we are all together doing something.

Play

Your imagination is sky high! You love to pretend you are going to work or going to the store and you come back and give hugs and kisses and show us what you got while you were gone.

You want to do everything yourself and often have a hard time letting us help you - even when you need the help.

You love building with Legos and you could play with your cars all day long.

This month we finally got a water table for the backyard - you could easily spend an hour pouring water into cups and watering things around the yard.  

You love books - I've noticed this month you'll ask us to read the same book over and over almost as if you're trying to memorize it. I wouldn't be surprised, you have many of your books memorized and you read right along with us.

Your fine motor skills are getting better and yours starting to enjoy coloring a bit more. You "write" the letters in your name  - no real letters yet but you draw a scribble for each separate letter while you say J - O- N.

You love to sing and you are starting to get more and more of the correct lyrics when singing your songs.  Sis's favorite song is Wheels on the Bus and you sing it to her all the time - with hand motions of course.  You really like Skinnamarink and Ram Sam Sam too (both from school with Mrs Kandy).

Eating

You are the BEST eater!! I am the happiest mommy every night at dinner when you eat whatever we are having for dinner and you love everything! I've never seen a kid more excited to come and see what's on his plate for dinner! Hilarious.  You love salad - of course you do, you're my child - and you like things that have lots of flavor.  It's so fun to watch you eat - you really enjoy food!  You've had frozen yogurt a couple times this month and while you do like it, it's a bit too cold for you and you make the funniest face while you're eating it!

Sleep

Your naps and nighttime sleep have remained consistent.

Dentist

You went to the dentist for the first time!  You did AMAZING.  They showed you all

Of the tools and checked and counted all of your 20 teeth.  They flossed your teeth and cleaned them too.  Then the dentist checked them.  Quite a process!  You were a champ.

Little lady - 2 months

Wow! You have quickly adapted to our family life and you are such a sweet and easy going baby.

We are so lucky!

Your smile lights up the room. Your favorite thing to smile at is your brother.

You are a amazing sleeper.  You sleep for 5-6 hours and you eat once and then go back to sleep for a few more hours... Well  most of the time!

And you are getting soooo big!

We have your doctor appointment on Friday but I'm guessing you are close to 12 pounds. (Actual weight 11 lb 13 oz)

You are starting to coo and "talk" to us.

You like to be outside and you love going for walks in the stroller. You also seem very content sitting in your bouncy chair in the kitchen watching me cook or clean.  We sing songs and brother is always showing you what he's building so you are plenty entertained!

Little lady - 1 month

Well little one the first month of getting to know you has been lovely. You are a super mellow baby (and I think I'm a more mellow momma the second time around).

You are a good eater and you weigh 9 lbs 12 oz at your 1 month doctor appointment.  

You are a pretty good sleeper - you give us one longer stretch of 4 ish hours at bedtime and the rest of the day and night you eat about every 3 hours.

You are a very noisy sleeper - you make lots of squeaks and grunts and sometimes you cry out while you are sleeping.  

We've done tummy time a few times now and your neck strength is already improving. You can turn your head from one side to the other.

Brother loves to lay with you on your playmat. So sweet. Talk about good entertainment!

Little man - 28 & 29 month update

Communication

You have turned into a small adult seemingly overnight.  We now carry on full conversations and you literally understand everything we are talking about.

Some funny phrases we've noticed the past couple months...

- You've always called your elephant "yaya" because you couldn't say Ellie or elephant.  But now you say "yaya elephant" like it's all one thing.

- To ask us if you can do something you say "It's ok if Jonny...."

- Ok, ok with the head nod

- When we talk about going to buy things you say we should get it "At the bookstore" no matter where we need to go

- You shake hands and say "nice to meet you" with this funny little facial expression. We're not sure where this started but it's quite funny.

- you've started asking us how we are doing and what we are doing all the time 

- You love saying hi to people everywhere we go - the park, the market, target- and no one can resist your adorable smile

- You LOVE to sing! You sing all of your nighttime songs now - it it quite hilarious to see and hear a 2 year old singing The Beatles (In My Life), Kenny Rogers (The Gambler), Louis Armstrong (Wonderful World) mixed in with Old Macdonald and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. 

- You can count to 13 and you count everything

- You sing the ABC song perfectly and you know many of the letters too.  I'm still amazed by this because many kindergarteners don't know their letters!

Siblinghood

You are the sweetest brother EVER - you give your sister her paci, cover her with blankets and you love laying on the playmat together.  She truly likes looking at you more than anyone or anything else.

Play

This month your favorite show is the Bubble Guppies. While I'm still not a fan of TV watching.... It is a pretty cute show and its educational. And it allows me time to get ready and get your sister ready in the morning without you creating too much drama! :)

Your new play obsession is Legos!  We've graduated to the duplo Legos which are much smaller than your first Legos but bigger than regular Legos.  You have such an imagination when playing, both with Legos and playing in general.  I love to see your little brain create ideas and pretend all sorts of things.

Eating 

You are now officially eating regular food almost all the time!!  You love tacos, salad, chili and you even tried sushi and chicken legs this month.

Amazing. And couldn't have come at a better time for mommy since I'm now trying to balance feeding sis during meals too!

Sleep

Your sleep has remained consistent with a minor blip right when Sis came home.  We had a few rough nights where you did not want to sleep or you would only sleep with Daddy laying on your floor.  But it seems we have passed that with no lasting effects and you are back to your regular nights of great sleep.

You take one afternoon nap from about 1:30-3:30 most days.

You've been my little buddy for a while but now you are my little helper too. And you really are super helpful. You love to help (especially in the kitchen) with making your lunches, cooking, unloading the dishwasher and you even set the table! I'm amazed at how capable you are and it seems like every day you do something new that surprise me!

Big brother - big changes!

Many people say that when you have a new baby your older child may revert back to more babyish behavior.  Or there is the possibility that they may rise to the occasion and become a great helper.

I'm thrilled to say that not only are you an amazing helper but you have literally turned into a big kid overnight!

You threw away your pacifier, started trying to pee in the potty, and you are drinking from a big boy cup.  All within the first week of your little sister coming home.

Welcome little lady!

Oh lucky day!

The night you were born....

At our weekly doctor appointment your doctor informed us that he would be going out of town for the three days before your due date as well as the three days after. Ummmm what!???? He suggested that we could induce labor if we wanted to since your due date is only a week away. This was quite a shock for your dad and I. We felt a bit pressured to make the induction appointment because apparently the hospital has been super crowded with new babies and we may not even be able to get an appointment in the next few days. So..... We made the appointment for bright and early Wednesday morning and then went home to sleep on it (or in my case talk to everyone I know who has ever had a baby and get their opinions).

After much drama and deliberation we decided to wait. I really wanted to let you come on your own time. Just as in life I hope not to rush you into doing things if you're not quite ready.

Wednesday was a regular day for us. We took your brother to his class, came home, had lunch, took naps, I prepped food for dinner, and we spent the afternoon playing in the backyard.  I was having some cramping but I had been having that a lot so didn't really think too much of it.

As the night went on it was getting a bit worse but then would subside. I started trying to time the contractions but they were still quite irregular. Around 9:30 your dad suggested I come up to bed and try to get some sleep.  I lay down in bed but there was no sleep for me! I started timing again and this time they were getting closer together and the pain was increasing. By 11:30 I knew it was time!

We called your grandma penny to come over right away to stay with your brother and we rushed to the hospital.

We checked in around 12:45 and the nurse came in right away to start monitoring you and my contractions.  They were definitely getting stronger and closer together. I was dilated to a 5 when we got to the hospital.  The anesthesiologist was on his way to do my epidural. It seemed like we were waiting forever but it was really only a short while until he arrived.  While we were waiting your Grammy and Poppa arrived but they had to wait in the waiting room.

After the epidural G&P came back in the room and we spent the next hours or so chatting with my nurse, Cathy.  She grew up here as well so we all know a lot of the same people! Pretty soon it was time to meet you!

Dr G arrived and said it was time to push.  I asked for a mirror so I could see you when you were coming out.  The pushing was fairly quick - maybe 5 or 6 contractions and you were out!  I helped pull you up onto my chest and we snuggled immediately.  You have a very loud voice and you definitely let us know you had arrived.  When the nurse came back in to check on us and you were still crying she suggested nursing you - and you latched on right away and then you just camped out there for the next couple of hours until they took you to the nursery to get weighed and measured.

Welcome to the world sweet baby girl!  Our lucky little leprechaun!  Your daddy and I are so in love with you and we are thrilled to have you - our daughter - to make our little family complete.

Happy birthday little lady!

Little man - 26 & 27 months

Communication 

Your language has turned into full blown conversation. You use words like "probably, always, never (as in never ever ever ever), under, over and sometimes".  Your communication baffles my mind and I am shocked every day by how much you say and understand.  You love to give the play by play of everything that is happening and what everyone is doing.  You talk to your animals when you are in bed and you sing to them too.

Right now!

You want everything done - right now! And if things don't happen the way you want - boy oh boy can you throw a tantrum! You throw your little body down on the floor in less than 2 seconds.

You are singing more and more songs and the words are getting clearer and clearer. You sing Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy bitsy spider, the hokey pokey and If You're Happy and you know it. You also sing the ABCs.

You can count to 9- and higher sort of :) but you always skip 10 and 11. Haha!

You've started counting before you do everything - 12345 it's quite funny.

You love playing in the yard more than anything and you will dig in the dirt for hours.  You like to dig with your dad and pull up worms from the dirt. You also spent lots of time this month digging up these gigantic roots in the dirt.

We have been talking more and more about Sis coming - and you seem very excited! You love to help me do her laundry and organize in her room.

Your truck obsession is still in full force.  You now know the names for most of your trucks including excavator and backhoe.  You would rather watch garbage truck videos than anything else on TV. 

Eating

You are trying more new foods.  You would live on "snacks" if we let you.  Your favorite thing lately is your snack cup - which we fill up with a mixture of Cheerios, cranberries, raisins, cheese bunnies, almonds, pretzels or other items you request.  You still love milk and fruits and vegetables :)

Sleep

You have remained consistent the past couple months with your one long afternoon nap and bedtime around 8.  You are a pretty good sleeper.  Lately at naptime you don't want songs anymore or even books - you say "get in bed right now momma.  Open the door, close the door, go downstairs momma."  Such a big boy.  At bedtime your dad sings you songs and sometimes you will call for him to come back for one more song.  So sweet.

Love you more every day kiddo!

Little man - 25 months

I know I say every month that your language is exploding but this month I feel like you learn 20 new words every day!! It's amazing to see the changes.  You have started putting together 4,5 and 6 words and making sentences! You say "mama in the kitchen" "dada go up the stairs" and you repeat EVERYTHING we say!

We went to Disneyland for your birthday! It was really fun and we all had an awesome time. We stayed at the Disneyland hotel so we were already down there in the morning and also to come back for nap time.

You are loving your class at school and you really look forward to going.  You were sick the week after Disneyland so we couldn't go and you kept asking for "friends? Friends?" It's very sweet.

Right before you got sick you started taking these really short naps in the afternoon and I was worried that you could possibly be done with napping?! But thank goodness after you were feeling better we are back to your two hour naps.

You still sleep great at night and this month we added a pillow to your crib which you love.

You are becoming super independent and you want to do everything yourself. "Johnny do it" you say very adamantly when you want to do something.

You started a sports class with your dad and the first week you played soccer.  You scored 3 out of 4 goals for your team. You threw a couple goals in - but still pretty awesome!