What are you telling me?

What are you telling me? What are you saying to me?

These are phrases that Ace has been using almost every time after we've asked him to do something, or have told him something. He's trying to understand more in depth what we mean when we ask something and I find it endearing... mostly. Sometimes he uses it as a stall tactic in not doing what we've asked him to do. Although a good portion of the time he has a genuine curiosity about the why of what we're asking of him.

He is such a quick learner and truly enjoys to learn and understand how things work, why they are done in a certain way. I love to watch his brain work. I hope he continues to have an appetite for knowledge.

Back Floating!

Ace has been in swim lessons since he was five months old. Once a week (with a few exceptions for vacations and breaks between sessions) for nearly two years we have enjoyed our 30 minutes of swim lessons. He's had his advances and set backs with 'dips' and a struggle with independence and wanting to do things - but the one area he has always fought against was the back float! EVERY class there is at least one song worth of back floating practice... and EVERY class there is a fight against the back float by my son. Every. single. one. of. them. He just DOES NOT LIKE IT! Doesn't want his ears in the water, doesn't want the loss of control he feels on his back, a combo of both? He just will squirm and twist until he's back on his belly. Occasionally for mere moments he can be distracted by a mirror, but only in recent months.

However, I am proud, elated, stoked to report that Ace has now been used as the EXAMPLE! on how to back float! YIPEE!



He may look like he's wincing in this picture,
but he's mostly just keeping his eyes
shut tight so that water doesn't get in them.
Overall, back floating is not his favorite. He'd much prefer to do something else, but he's done so well the last two weeks with back floating. Not sure if swimming with his father has given him more confidence or if the switch just happened at a time when he decided to stop fighting the back float... but either way, regardless... Ace is back floating! I'm quite proud!

Fat Lip

Dear Son,
When you were four months old in the throws of teething one time shoved your finger so far up my nose I swore it was bleeding profusely. In reality, it just hurt a lot. You were in a lot of pain and weren't doing anything malicious other than trying to run away from the pain, flailing limbs and all. Then when you were nine months old you drew your first blood when you somehow smacked your mouth on your crib. Ouchie! A painful but inevitable first in your rambunctious life.

However, this first in your growing life at the age of twenty-nine months, I could have passed on... (ok I could have passed on the other two as well...) and certainly hope not to repeat. Deal? You see in recent days you've been expressing frustration in not being heard getting your way... perhaps it's a little bit of both. Often resulting in meltdowns of epic sad proportions that really are quite silly for the injustice you are protesting. But such is the life of a toddler at times.

So what happened you ask? Well, after brushing your teeth (the start of your bedtime routine) you had it in your head that you had been allotted "5 more minutes" of playing downstairs. Alas the assumption was wrong and you collapsed onto the floor in weeping heartbrokenness. You weren't mad, mostly just over-tired and stalling. In my attempt to show you some grace and leeway I tried to lean down and comfort you and distract you... at the same time that you decided to jump up full force to go from crying to frustrated and angry... right into my canine tooth. You hit my tooth with your head so hard I swore you had a hole in your head from my tooth. Your crying went from tears of protest to legitimate tears of pain. I moved you from the hallway to our bed to assess the damage. Your dad came up to assist. We established no holes in your head, but that I was bleeding. Ultimately the damage was my tooth went through my lip in two places on the inside. We basically pierced the inside of my lip. Super, but not what I was looking for.

You were very concerned for mommy. In fact you asked to pray for mommy's lip with both mom and dad during bedtime prayers and you have asked every morning since the incident if mommy's lip feels better. After three days, I'm happy to reassure you that it is almost nearly healed. :) Your concern and remorse are heartfelt and make me proud of you. I am so happy that you care, remember, and ask about the well being of those you injure. ;-) However, let's work on keeping injuries (personal or inflicted on others) to a minimum, deal?

All my love,

Your forgiving mommy

Another Sister?

When Ace came to the hospital to meet his baby sister, shortly after his arrival he asked where his other sister was. He had previously mentioned once or twice wanting two sisters, or that there were two sisters in my stomach. My suspicion was that because my friends Blana have twins that he thinks babies come in pairs... although who knows. In the hospital, since Mae was only about 4 hours old, my stomach was still somewhat large and so Ace, like he had been doing for the last 8+ months, lifted my shirt up and said "I want another sister out. Another sister in there?" I tried to explain to him that she was on the outside now, no more sisters were inside mommy's tummy. He seemed to accept that and continued to play.

Over these last two weeks, he's asked a dozen or so times though about 'another sister' in mommy's tummy. He points at my belly button and says "sister comes out soon?" and again I gently try to explain, nope there's only the one. Trust me, buddy... in a few months you'll be asking me to but the one back in - let alone wanting a second one to come out. ;-) I think it's sweet that he wants another one... although I'd like to think that my stomach doesn't look THAT pregnant still. Oh the way a two year old's mind works. I love that kid.

Two Weeks Old

Mae is doing so well. She continues to be a good eater and sleeper. We as a family of four continue to work through the challenges of sleep and attention balancing as well. In this second week of Mae's life more firsts have been accomplished.

Last Tuesday, we returned to swim lessons with Ace. Loving Husband and him enjoyed swim lessons while Mae slept snuggly in the wrap on my chest. She did great and stayed out until Ace was finished and dressed. I nursed her before we loaded up into the car and headed out. All in all a very successful swim lesson time for everyone.

Another first that followed immediately after swimming was: dining out as a family of four! We headed to a local pancake house (since mom and dad did not get food before we left the house for swim lessons) and ordered food. Mae ate during a good portion of the meal actually being on the table, but it was manageable and everyone was pretty happy and everyone ate a hot meal, so again quite successful!

As previously reported, Mae ventured to her first doctor's appointment and received her first shot (Hep B.) She was a trooper through the pricks and prodding and got a clean bill of health from the doctor. In fact her weight gain was so good that we were told we don't need to bring her in until her 1 month check up (typically we are supposed to make a 2 week appointment visit to do a weight check, as that is when they want babies to be back at their birth weight by.) Mae was only 1.5oz off from that and so the doctor was not concerned in the least with her weight gain.

Mae accomplished quite a feat in her second week of life. At 9 ... yes NINE days old, Mae rolled over tummy to back! We attempted to reset her and have her repeat it for documentation purposes, but she was having none of it. To date, she has yet to do it again... but it was witnessed by both parents - so it is legit! :) She also continues to enjoy limited amounts of tummy time, and like her brother at this age, likes to scoot along the floor by pushing off dad's hands. It's pretty adorable, and impressive considering she's under 7lbs and is scooting and lifting her head so well!

At 10 days old Mae joined the rest of the family and got her picture taken at JCPenny. Both her and Ace did great during the pictures. Little Lady's eyes still are not at full strength so when people (cameras) get really in her face she has a proclivity to cross her eyes. It isn't ideal for the pictures, but we still got some pretty adorable ones of her, the two of them, and all of us together. Looking forward to having that cd in a couple of weeks.

She is a pretty calm baby and really only fusses when she's hungry or gassy. She (again like her brother) doesn't seem bothered if her diaper is wet or dirty, so we're always having to check for it rather than her fussing about it. She's not bothered by loud noises (aka her brother) and while she might startle at a sudden noise, it doesn't reduce her to tears.

Sleep wise, we seem to get 3-4 hours out of her at a time. Although unlike her brother she doesn't just eat and is out again. When she wakes after that 3-4 hour block she's up for at least 30-60 minutes... which if that were during the day is all fine and dandy... but at night, I'm not as huge of a fan. We've eliminated some of the lengthiness, by sitting her up to eat, rather than me nursing her while laying down. She seems to keep the food down better and thus sleep sooner rather than having to refill. So perhaps a bit more practice will reduce that middle of the night awake-window over the course of this next week.

Mae also enjoyed her first visit to church this week. For most of the service I was in the nursing room with her. Which is nice, I get to watch the sermon on a tv on a comfy couch with my feet up. Really can't complain. :) She fell asleep at the end of the service during the singing and overall did great.

Ace continues to love his sister, wanting to give her kisses and hugs every morning. He also loves to say good night to her. When she's fussy he wants to help calm her down, and he wants her to play legos with him too. It's very sweet. She loves to look at him and watch all he's doing when she is awake. I hope they continue to get along so well. :)

First Doctor's Appointment

Mae had her first doctor's appointment yesterday. She received her first vaccination (we are delayers and don't get that one done hours after she is born) and also got her follow up PICU test done, so another heel prick for her. :( She did great with both and calmed down very quickly. Her eyes are good, her reflexes are good, her color is good, and she is doing great! She weighs 6lbs 6.5oz (9.23%) and her height is 19.5" long (33.31%) Her next visit will be at one month.

One Week Old

How has a week passed already?! I know I said almost the exact same thing with Ace and look at the heights he's soared to these days. Mae has been a doll. She is a very good sleeper (Praise the Lord!) and wakes every 3-4 hours to eat. In fact she is a SOUND sleeper. Today, Loving Husband turned the vacuum on in the same room that she had recently started snoozing in (we wanted to see how she would do) and she didn't even budge. Guess all that yelling and noise making that her brother did while she was on the inside conditioned her. In fact if she hadn't passed her hearing test I'd be a tad worried. :) But as it is, she's just a good sound sleeper.

Mae entered this world weighing 6lbs and 8oz. She was weighed again on Thursday last week and weighed 6lbs and 2oz. She's doing great and well above the 10% weight loss window that they want all newborns in. She is TINY. So tiny in fact that she is wearing preemie diapers and onesies. She's a tad too long for preemie feetie pjs, but the onesies - while they say they only go to 5lbs are cozy on her. Although I suspect their days are numbered. She has a doctor's appointment tomorrow and we'll find out then how her weight is going. Although she is a great eater, so I suspect she'll be closer to her birth weight than further away. She still wears preemie diapers but the newborns aren't falling off of her - so she can wear those as well.

She has started to become more aware of her surroundings. Spending more time looking around and adjusting to daytime vs. nighttime. Her first two nights at home she was awake from 2am-4am nearly wide awake. That seems to be short lived and she is more only awake at night to get her food and then fall back asleep.

Our little girl enjoyed her first (at home) bath this week - and overall loved when the warm water was being poured on her, but if it wasn't actively being poured she was pretty unhappy... can't really blame her - it was probably pretty chilly - inspite of our best efforts to keep her warm.

She enjoyed tummy time for the first time two nights ago. Her big brother helped show her how to do it - and she did great! She even was kicking her legs up and moving her head from one side to the other - even with hiccups she wasn't too frustrated. We are guessing she's going to be an early roller like her brother was.

Today she enjoyed her first shopping trip with her momma to BRU. We needed to get a few more newborn sleepers - I didn't have many because Ace didn't stay in them for very long because he came out 21" (NB size goes to 21.5") so he really wasn't in them for much time, so we only had 2 that really worked for her - and with it being so chilly we needed a few more. She fell asleep in the car on the drive there and snoozed during the excursion.

Car trips so far have been great. Today she fussed a little bit when we weren't moving, but once we were cruising without stopping for a bit, she was a-ok and fell asleep. Ace never was content in the car until we found out Kokomo was our soothing agent... and my oh my how many times we listened to that song. I know there is still time for her to 'grow into' discontentment with the car rides - but I'm hopeful for a more mellow indifference to the car.

Our first week as a family of four has been wonderful. Sleep has been obtained by all parties, with only one night for each parent of really needing some recharging... Big brother has been a great help and loves to hug and kiss his sister... and Mae is thriving! We can't wait for the weeks to come!