Monday, June 28, 2010

Verbs


Anyah is always watching something. Watching me talk, watching the toys move, watching her sister play, watching the scenery go by, watching strangers down the way, watching Daddy on the couch...watching...
She went from the baby who was always asleep to a baby who now drinks a bottle while trying to turn herself around to watch what is behind her...because what is behind you is always cooler than what's in front of you...in case you haven't noticed.
Layla is not a watcher. She will search for things she likes and point them out to you but then she's perfectly content to move on to the next thing. In fact, if Layla had a verb (even as a baby) it would have been going. She was going to roll over early, going to grab that, going to kick, going to run, going to climb, going to the park, going with Nannie, going to the room where daddy is, going on an adventure in her imagination, going dancing, going to be a puppy dog...going...
From a going-baby to a watching-baby is an easier transition than the other way around I suppose but still I find myself staring right back at her sometimes and wondering what Anyah's thinking in there. With Layla it was easy...she was thinking about where she was going next to get herself into a little mischief. With Anyah...not so sure really...

I can't wait until she can tell me

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Grow Time

With your first baby it feels like everything is just dragging along. It takes forever for them to sleep through the night. It takes forever for them to hold up their head, to grow to the next size, to smile... you just wait and wait and wait.

With last baby it's all a blur. Just yesterday I gave birth and now she's 2 months old. I know it's been two months because I see the next size of baby clothing, the smiles and coos, the head held up and looking around for someone she knows.

It was a rush and I feel like I am missing parts of it. Then I catch a glimpse of something and I know I'm not completely missing it all.

Layla never had pudgy little baby legs...she was long and skinny. I watched these little legs get chunkier and chunkier this month. I didn't miss that.

I didn't miss Layla deciding she is no longer afraid to crawl up the side of things at the park without my help either.

So we're spending what's left of my maternity leave and the summer that stretchs out in front of us trying new things and making new milestones so we can keep growing together while at the same time growing all on our own.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

2 Month Check Up


She's 10 lbs and 12 ounces. She's 22 inches long. She's passing her milestones like she should...
And right now she's napping to recover from the vaccines they poked her with.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Freedom


Lately the bliss of summer and the burden of motherhood are duking it out at our house. I want to sit in the kiddie pool with a margarita and watch my kid splash about. I want to eat all the smores I can stomach and BBQ every night for dinner. I want a lot of things.
But mostly I have dishes to do and things to pick up and unexpected adventures in ant slaying and baby bouncing until you stop-screaming-for-the-love-of-God. Layla has not adapted to the "shh baby is sleeping" naptime concept. Anyah doesn't like loud noises.
Layla wants more attention. Anyah wants another diaper and another bottle RIGHT NOW!
Balance...juggle...bask in the freedom of knowing that in the long run the attention and the bonding over a bottle matter more than the state of my kitchen floor or the fact that I find myself in my pajamas several days a week when Jon gets home from work.
Laugh it off...
You probably don't have another option.

Monday, June 21, 2010

To Anyah at 2 Months Old


My Darling Baby...
First let me say that you are "my baby" not because you're my favorite (I don't have a favorite *wink*) but because you really only like Mommy at this point in your tiny life. You will tolerate other people but your bat senses go off when I leave the room and it makes me feel very very important and needed. Daddy on the other hand is less than thrilled that you keep him constantly on his toes no matter how good of a loving daddy he is being.
You, for the most part, are a pleasant baby. You stay happy most of the time but when you are unhappy you get very loud very quickly. You already smile (but only for Mommy), you hold up your own head, you squeak at people (it's not really cooing but I think that's what your going for). It took Mommy 6 days to figure out that you wanted to go to bed earlier and for those six evenings at our house it was HORRIBLE. I thought you had colic (because you are very full of hot air) but as it turns out your just a bedtime diva like your sister. When we miss the sweet spot you get very vocal about your distress.
The other thing that distresses you is the bath. You hate the bath so much you cry when I change your clothing just in case I have taken off your clothes for a bath and I haven't told you yet. Heaven help us all if you actually hear running water... my ear drums are still ringing from the other day when I held you while I had the nerve to try washing my own hands.
You aren't a fan of loud noises. This displeases your sister very much because she is a huge fan of loud noises but she hates it when you cry so she's been much quieter lately. She definitely has the opinion that no one can make "her baby" cry but her. She still doesn't want to hold you but she gives you kisses and holds your hands now. She also runs to find someone the second you start to cry. You help her out though by winding up for a long time before you *actually* cry. I call it your squeeking bean sound.
So far you love snuggling, your swing time, co-sleeping, being worn in the sling and most recently laying on the floor talking to the ceiling fan. That ceiling fan is awfully entertaining as it turns out. You love warm bottles, socks, swaddling and fuzzy blankets. You recently decided you like the rattle doll your Grammi gave you when she was here visiting from South Carolina, the radio and the mobile above your swing (where you nap).
You adapt well to new situations which is good because we're constantly going somewhere. You love to watch things (people, trees in the wind, reflections of light) so you tend to entertain yourself with wonder.
You've grown quite a bit. I think you probably weigh close to 9 pounds. We won't know that for sure until your appointment later this week. You suddenly wear 0 to 3 month old clothing and you need bigger socks. You still look tiny to me though because you are just now the size your sister was when she came home from the hospital.
This week you got dedicated at our church (on Father's Day) and we promised to help you grow your relationship with God. I think someday God is going to use you for great things. You are soft, patient and always observing everything around you... what wonderful things will that grow into as an adult? I'm not sure but I can't wait to see.
And we love you very very much. I can't remember what it was like before we loved you because it feels like you were always a part of our love. I look at you with your crazy hair and your stink eye looks when I don't get your pacifier fast enough and I know you are a perfect addition to our chaos. Your family...we go big or we go home.
And little girl...for someone so quiet...you definitely go big when it counts! It's like watching a firecracker...awed by your power and beauty already and you just got here.
Love,
Mommy

Friday, June 18, 2010

Fridays


Fridays are fast becoming my favorite day of the week and I think they will stay that way until I go back to work (and then Saturday will regain the crown for King of the Week).
Friday mornings we get up and get dressed just like every other day but during breakfast I always tell Layla "it's Friday" and she yells "Nannie go bye bye" and sure enough soon we're loaded in a car on the way to meet Nannie (or with Nannie) to go to the Farmer's Market and to lunch. We cruise the yardsale scene and run our errands.

Then on days like today it's home for a naptime...where Layla naps in bed, Nannie naps on the couch and Anyah naps in her swing while I check things off my to-do list in the quiet. After naptime Layla and Nannie will whisk off into the sunshine for some more errands and then to Nannie and PopPop's house to play in the yard until dinner time or bedtime or whenever I go pick her up.
Fridays find the time to clean the kitchen counters & the floor with it magically staying that way until bedtime. Fridays allow for DVD time with the hubby and an extra Pepsi when no one is looking.
Friday is officially a day booked from start to finish that is usually so fun that we don't mind and all that fun is just relaxing... kind of like playing in the pool... but with less clean up.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Moonstars & Sheeps

Anyah just discovered there is a mobile above her swing. It has "moonstars and sheeps" as Layla likes to say.
So far she's just trying to bat them away and sometimes she talks to them.
Except sometimes she forgets they are there and then they sneak up on her out of the corner of her eye.

And sometimes that is funny and it makes her grin...
But sometimes she just looks absolutely shocked like she's trying to get away from them.

A Summer Evening

This summer I made a list of things I wanted to do with Layla since I would be home on maternity leave after having Anyah and it seemed like a good summer to make some milestones. Last night we took another item off the list (we changed it a little) the original read "Eat Smores and play in the sprinkler until the sun goes down" but last night we had BBQ and then Layla played in her kiddie pool for the first time this summer and at bedtime I made her a Smore.



Her first Smore was a big success although eventually she had Nannie disassemble it so that she could just eat the chocolate parts.

But that first bite was both "yummy" and "delicious" (or at least that's what I was told)


She probably didn't want the whole thing since she had hotdogs, corn on the cob, cheese and apple juice for dinner. (I still can't get her to eat watermelon)




Her toes are still painted from when we took that off the list last week...we did some touch up painting yesterday though. She was so excited about putting water in the pool she got in with her sandals on.

But, there is no doubt she loved the pool again this summer and now I will be spending a lot of time getting burnt in the back patio.... good times.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Have Sling will Travel


This last weekend we got invited by friends to go to Santa Cruz for the day. We sent Layla off for a fun day with Nannie but we took Anyah with us (mommy wasn't ready to be apart from her for that long yet). She spent part of the day in the stroller and part of the day in the sling. Just recently she has started to be awake in the sling which I love. It used to be that the minute she was snuggly swaddled against me she would crash out for the entire time I walked around.
Anyah and I had good fun. She is not fond of sand on her toes but she loved the sun on her face.
For once I didn't spend the whole time with my camera out and the 4 pictures at exist that day are all from the hubby's iPhone.
Anyah, like her sister before her, has been going places since just days after she got home. We don't believe in teaching your child to travel by waiting until they are big and giving them rules, instead we get out there and do as much as we would normally do and let the kids adapt as they go. Anyah isn't two months old yet and she's been to the ocean twice. Road trips are important to our family, we make a lot of small ones and she is adapting like a champ.
I think we'll have a few good years before they get old enough to start yelling "mom she's touching me and she's on my side of the car!"

Saturday, June 12, 2010

It's Unofficial


My girls. My two girls. Jon and I talked about it. Two is good. We're stopping with two. Not because we couldn't have three...because we probably can but because this is a sweet spot and we like it here. We can always change our minds later... but we don't think we will. We'll make it official with some sort of a procedure some time in the near future.
My kids.
Anyah & Layla
Bug & Bean
Yeah... it feels right.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Summer


When I was a little girl I could feel summer coming from the day after Easter on. For Easter I always got a few things in my basket that were meant for the MANY days I would spend at the community pool with my friends. I longed for weather above 80 degrees so my mom would let us play in the sprinkler. I checked off the days on my calendar until summer finally arrived and the very next morning I got into my bathing suit where I stayed for most of the next 2 months. I wore shorts and slept in the living room with friends over. I smelled like suntan lotion no matter what I did.
I grew up in a small town. The kind where you rode your bike to your friends house because that was the height of social entertainment. I was blessed with parents that were home a lot and knew the value of fun. Cousins stayed over, we played games, there was lots of junk food. Summer rocked.

I also remember the wide variety of cool trips we took in the summers. Some of them were to do awesome things (like Disneyland) or to visit family. Some of them were to local events my mom found out about. I spent a lot of time at my grandparent's ranch just being a kid with an imagination. And crafts...there were many.

So now summer is here and Layla is big enough to do things with. Add to that the fact that I am home and Jon has been working a schedule that makes it easy to do things as a family and my summer syndrome flaired up pretty bad.

Here is a new extended list of things I'd like to do with Layla this summer...


  • A trip to the ocean

  • Stanislaus County Fair~ Beach Boys concert & rides & junk food~

  • Attend a 4th of July Parade & Write our names with sparklers

  • Eat Smores and play in the sprinklers as the sun goes down

  • Take Layla to the CrowsLanding Community Pool and teach her to swim ~wear coconut scented tan lotion and eat an ice cream from the ice cream truck~

  • Go out for ice cream

  • Go to the zoo in San Francisco or Fresno ~depending on the heat~

  • Go to the Farmer's Market or the Flea Market and look for treasures

  • Introduce Layla to fingerpainting

  • Paint Pottery

  • Eat lots of BBQ

  • Patterson Apricot Festival

  • Walk through Old Town Sacramento and have lunch at Joe's Crabshack

  • Picnic at the park on Broadway & Play in the kids waterpark there

  • Visit the Stockton Children's Discovery Museum

  • Take Layla to her first movie in the theatre ~eat buttered popcorn w/ M&M's mixed in~

  • Storytime at the Turlock Library

  • Playdates at the park with visiting family or friends

  • Paint our toenails & let Layla give me a make-up makeover

I actually wrote this list on paper about a month ago so we've already been working on it. The items crossed off have been completed.

**editing note- I am coming back to this post and crossing things off as we do them**

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Storytime @ the Turlock Library

Yesterday Layla, Anyah and I went to the Toddler Storytime at the Turlock Library. It was our first time there so I was a little worried about Layla behaving while I was holding the baby but she did a great job following the example of the other kids. It's a very "free" group so it didn't matter that she had a lot of wiggle in her.
You sit through 3 stories that are alternated with songs and poems with hand motions. Sometimes Layla sat on the floor and sometimes on the chair next to me. She didn't want to sit with the other kids yet but at the end another little boy joined her on the floor who was also sitting in the back and scared to join the others.

The dancing was by far Layla's favorite part and I know we'll go back again next week just because she was so excited to be around other kids and we need to make some friends her age.

As a reward for her good behavior we got 3 books and brought them home to read until next week. I told her she could have two but she insisted the last one was Anyah's book and it was so cute I let her get away with it.
So we've officially checked another thing off the summer list I made earlier this year. But I think I need to rewrite the list because I've come up with some better/different things.


Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Help Wanted

Anyah has a very serious problem...

Someone keeps pulling her pacifier from her mouth...
She is not happy about it at all...


"I don't know who this MY-HAND person is but I am going to kick their ass!"
*this blog accidently posted here and on Bug & Bean, sorry for the double RSS feed*

Updatalicious- Official Bullet Point Blog


  • Layla is on day 3 of Princess Panties (Princess Pull Ups). We've had more accidents than successes but we trudge on because someday I'd like to have a toddler with no diapers.
  • The girls have finally recovered from the large batch of family and chaos we just went through. It took almost a week and a half.
  • Anyah has discovered Mommy and now she wants to be looking at my face and interacting with me ALL DAY LONG...the upside to attachment parenting is they feel loved and safe, the downside is you might have a baby stalker for awhile.
  • My iPhone came. I lost at least 30 contact numbers and addresses and telephone numbers. I am so bummed about that part but let me tell you. The iPhone ROCKS!
  • I've been making some plans with girlfriends because I really want to get back into the loop with people. So people, text me...
  • Official weight update: Prebaby 248 (give or take) post baby I seem to have hit my stalling point at 207. I started a size 20 and ended a size 16 with a little room to spare (a 14 is too small still though). That's a 3x to a 1x if you still need more... so yeah... I lost 41 lbs because I had a baby... ironic? Yea.
  • Jon's got some cool things going on in the land of boy. He's having a good run at work where he is feeling appreciated and all. He's been doing fun things with his friends. His kids only drive him a little crazy. Good times. Mostly spawned by the temperary manager who has decided to give him weekends off. We heart weekends off.
  • Remember that summer to do list I made of things I wanted to do with Layla. Well I am finally up and moving enough (or quickly enough) that I am working on it. We went to Monterey (skipped the Aquarium) and we've gone to the Apricot Festival. Next up library story time, painting pottery and the water park in town (but not in the same day).
  • Today I made pancakes for Layla for breakfast and the whole house smells like butter and syrup and it makes me happy.
  • Last but not least on the updates. I officially go back to work on August 1st (which is a Sunday so they must mean August 2nd)

Monday, June 07, 2010

Small things that make me grin

Tiny toes sneak out of the bottom of the fuzzy blanket and rub themselves up against the wool lining of the swing. Soft and pink from the warmth of the blanket they had been swaddled in. I smile when I see them.

A little person dancing to the songs at the end of Grease. Her toddler tushy shaking left to right as she shakes and bounces. She dances so enthusiastically that she can't sing the words from the sheer force of her groove. I laugh out loud.

I wander into the kitchen to clean up yet another day of overflowing countertops to find a magazine on the counter. In 3 years I have never bought this magazine because he knows it is my favorite and he picks up the new one without me asking every.single.month. He never forgets. My heart pitter patters with mushy love thoughts.

The sound of a can of Pepsi being cracked open and the blissful cascade of brown yum falling over ice. The first drink burns my throat a little and because it's so hot outside my eyes water a little bit from the refreshment. It tastes like home. My tastebuds do a happy dance.

The friend checks in. It's been awhile. A three sentence email to show they still care even though my phone isn't working and we're all busy. The last line "It may look like I vanished off the face of the earth but actually I'm just a bitchin' illusionist". Makes me chuckle as I make a mental note to use that line again later.

Isn't it mostly the little things that make us grin? What little thing made you grin today?

The Starting Line

First let's take a look at 2 pictures I took on Friday at the Farmer's Market. We parked in a different place this time and on the way into the market we stopped to look at the water fountain while we waited for Nannie to get something from the car. I asked Layla if she liked it and she said no. It's a large fountain of a woman that drips, I don't much like it either...so I thought that was pretty funny.
And this is Anyah taking her weekly sling nap. She's gotten to the point that this is her favorite position to sleep in even if the sling isn't involved. Also, please note, the dress she is wearing is a 0-3 month. She barely fit in newborn clothes a week ago and then she went and grew right out of them. Silly baby...
Now to the starting line for this week. It's Monday. I slept in my own bed finally and Layla slept alone in her bed last night. Next up on today's agenda is a bath for everyone. This afternoon I have a Dr's appointment.
I got to order my phone last night finally so I am hoping it will come tomorrow and I can spend the day putting in all my numbers.
This week we're going to story time at the Library. I am undecided on Wednesday's toddler group or Thursday's preschool group. She's at the age in the middle. I think I am going to go with the toddler group first because I'll have Anyah with me.
This week we're fairly unbooked which I am excited about. There will of course be Farmer's Market Friday (Layla is going to be bummed when I go back to work and there is no more market day with Nannie in August) and on Sunday we got invited to a trip to Santa Cruz so Layla will spend the day with Nannie and Anyah will be going with us.
For the record, the starting line of a slow week is much less intimidating.

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Hot hot Hot

This weekend the temperature decided to stop fiddling with out of season rain and instead get warmer...and warmer...in fact it got down right hot.

Yesterday at the Apricot Festival Layla became the proud owner of a $5 shade umbrella. She insisted on toting it all over the place which was both akward and adorable.
Anyah didn't get an umbrella because the day before she specifically said she rather likes laying on the grass in the shade so she didn't need one...see...
So in marched the season of sunscreen, wading pools, water parks, sprinklers, bathing suits and sundresses...
Let summer begin!

Friday, June 04, 2010

The Bottle Feeding Epic Fail

At this point Anyah is no longer breast feeding and we've moved to bottle formula. We have been blessed that Anyah, unlike her sister, went directly to normal formula and we didn't have any difficulty with that at all. She only likes one brand so when I tried to switch her that went over badly but the brand she likes isn't too pricey or hard to find so that's wonderful. After a child that was on the super expensive soy formula for a year this doesn't seem so bad.

Anyah rarely spits up and she's been processing her gas very well so that's been nice also. Early this week I decided I wanted to switch her from the Nuk bottles we had been using to Avent (which I used for Layla) because with the Nuk bottle Anyah eats incredibly slow. Like an hour to do a bottle feeding of 4 ounces...that kind of slow. It kills me.

Within one feeding of the Avent bottle it was pretty clear to Mommy that this might not go well. Anyah latched well, she drank a whole bottle in about 20 minutes- Hurray! But afterwards she was very gassy and burped like a frat boy. Then she spit up.

Being the trouper that we are about parenting, I gave the Avent bottle 48 hours. I thought maybe she might adjust her eating and get less air. At hour 40 I caved and went back to the Nuk.

40 hours of spit up, fussiness, colic crying, gas passing and otherwise craptastic fun is not worth shorter feeding times. Since switching back to the Nuk there has been no spit up at all or gassy fussiness.

*sigh*

Layla was always miserable and always on an Avent bottle- now a part of me wonders if I had changed bottles if she would have had a more enjoyable first 3 months of life.

At least we figured it out this time...colic is not fun.

Thursday, June 03, 2010

I can't see you


So today I had an eye doctor appointment. My vision got really bad when I was pregnant due to an increase in ocular pressure and it was finally time for my yearly eye exam and some new glasses.
Turns out my ocular pressure isn't the same in both eyes. And, while I can see WAY better then I could when I was pregnant... I just don't see well at all anymore. Long story short...err...shorter... I'm always going to have horrible vision in my left eye which was already my weaker eye.
With glasses it will be good. Or if I am brave (which I am not) I could have eye surgery. It would be better with contacts but really contacts sorta creep me out.
So he recommended not driving at night and a few other things that I already know not to do. And that's that. He also warned me to expect a steady decline in the vision in that eye when I am older.
Upside, my right eye is great!
Second upside, new glasses are super cute (these aren't them these are my prescription sunglasses)... I'll post about the new glasses when I get them.

Ugh...overflow

Before I got married and had kids people would come to my house and point out how little clutter I had. I was easily one of those people with nothing out where you could see it. Everything had a place and I tried to keep my belongings simple and purposeful. The longer I live the more stuff I seem to gather and keep though and now every room in my house appears to be overflowing with something. We're about to start looking for a new place to move to...for more space for people to be themselves without being on top of someone else. Before we do I am feeling an overwhelming urge to deal with the overflow.

I hate the fact that when I take a picture in addition to my lovely children and their art or their wiggling limbs there is always something ugly showing. The clutter on a desk, the litter of a two year old on the carpet, the stack on a counter...piles. I am not a pile person.

Today I went to the garage to start a load of baby laundry and grab something Layla left in the car. I couldn't get the car door open all the way because there was too much in the garage. I threw away two boxes of stuff and moved a plastic storage bin and it's better but now I am even more motivated to clear things out.

I'd love to get rid of the unnecessary items before we do actually find more space. Wouldn't it be nice to not move things we don't want and as a result have the extra space feel twice as open? Now I just need to put a baby to sleep and try and get a toddler too busy to want to help me...maybe more painting...she liked that...

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Quilt Related Randomocity

First, I want to say that this quilt was lovingly made for Anyah by her Auntie Jenette and Mommy loves it. Secondly, you should know that Layla is very territorial about blankies and is convinced this one should be hers even though it's not....so Anyah has been sharing it when needed. After all we are all currently sleeping in Layla's bed at night so we make her share her blankies every night- fair is far.

This is Anyah chillaxin on the quilt this morning. Yes I know pink pants don't match the daisy onsie but she only has 2 pairs of newborn pants and the other pair is lime green with white polka dots and pink bows so that wasn't an option. She just grew all the way into newborn clothes and is looking a little pudgy as of late so I imagine within a week or so we'll jump to 0-3 month clothing finally.
Is it just me or does she look just like her Great Grandma Gerty in this picture? She's all alert and wide eyed this week. She's also doing a lot of stretching which is darn right adorable. Baby yoga makes me giggle.

This is Layla about 20 minutes ago. I asked her twice around lunch time if she wanted to go to the store with Mommy because she 1.) loves the store and 2.) loves time with Mommy. She wouldn't get dressed. Then before she even had time to eat the lunch Jon made her she fell asleep on the floor with a pillow she had brought down from her room. I had Jon cover her with the quilt because the air conditioning is pretty cool downstairs today.

At one point Anyah was a little gassy and fussy and Layla pulled the blankie up over her ears in her sleep to block out the sound. Then she rolled towards the window and covered her eyes with her little arms. She's beat from this week. She's so tired she's snoring.
Anyah is also snoring.
Jon and I both snore on occassion.
It's like a chorus line of uncool.

My 10 Favorite Words


Love
Delicious
Seredipity
Hope
Giggle
Family
Trust
Adventure
Forgiven
Fuck
What are your 10 favorite words?

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Our Day Off

I couldn't get ahold of the person we were supposed to have a play date with. So we ran to Walmart and then Layla went off to play at Nannie's house.

Anyah has been napping most of the day...it's so quiet here.

I should be cleaning. Instead I am cooking and watching Supernatural on DVD.

Because everyone needs a day of nothing occassionally.