12 weeks!

Someone is12 weeks old today!  Sometimes, it seems like just yesterday she was born, and other days, it seems like she's always been a member of our family. :)

Avery - 12 weeks!

 As I already mentioned, this past week was my first back to work.   It went pretty well.  I actually made it to work early (just a few minutes) every day.  Not sure when the last time that happened more than once in a row.  :)  We seem to have settled into a pretty good routine so far.  Carson has been starting his bedtime routine between 7 and 7:30 (since he gets too grumpy if we wait any later).  Then she seems to start getting fussy between 7:30 and 8, so that's when her routine starts.  She's been in bed by 9 most nights.  And she's sleeping really well!  Thursday night (5/24), she slept from 9-5:30!  I of course woke up in a panic at 5, but she was still snoring away.  :) That's been the longest stretch of sleep to date.  She's been consistently sleeping until 4:00 or 5:00 most nights. 

 

We've enjoyed a 3-day weekend and tomorrow is back to the real world.  :(  We tried to make the most of this weekend though.  Even though it's been 90's the past few days (Yuck!), we made it to the park Saturday morning before it got too nasty.  Carson had a blast.  Probably unfortunately for him, Carson tends to be overly cautious like his mommy.  He didn't like climbing up the slide because he could see below and it scared him (like at Farm Park the other day when he could see the water below).  So Daddy helped him climb.  And he didn't want to get in the water alone either.  Once he did, he was done.  It  was too cold.  And it made him wet.  Haha.  :)

Cautiously climbing.  Darn see-through stairs.

He was very hesitant to go under by himself.....

 Not sure about the little fountains either....

Ducked his head in and ran back out

Daddy and Avery

Finally went under with Daddy

He held his arms up after and said, "Umm....I got wet".  LOL. 

Fruit Salad - Yummy Yummy!

Carson loves that Wiggles song (and so does Mommy!)  I find myself singing Wiggles songs constantly lately.  In the car.  In the shower.  To Avery at night because they're the only songs in my head......  :)  But we really love the fruit salad song. 

Anyway, Carson loves to help me with things lately (with Avery or cooking, etc.).  I had just bought a bunch of fruit, so I asked him if he wanted to help me make a fruit salad.  :)  He was so excited.  So yesterday afternoon, we washed all the fruit, cut it up and sang our song.  Carson got to stir it all up.  :)

Yummy yummy!  :)

Love my little guy!

Back to Work

Sigh.  I started back to work on Monday.  I'm just doing 1/2 days for the first few days.  Early dismissal on Friday and Memorial Day on Monday.  Good way to ease in.  She was 11 weeks on Monday.  I don't know whether it was easier than when I had to leave Carson....but I guess at least I am more familiar with the daycare and the process as a whole.  It's still really really hard to leave your baby.  It's difficult to turn over this little bundle to essential strangers.  I just have to hope that they'll love her and take care of her.  And we'll just have to make the very most of our time together now.  I'm just scared to miss out on things.  And it breaks my heart to think of her crying and them having their hands full with other babies......
She's the youngest right now.  There are 5 others I believe - a couple 4-5 mo olds and a couple 8-9 mo olds.  So hopefully they'll snuggle more with her while the older babies are able to play a bit more.  :)

I didn't cry dropping her off or anything so that was good.  :)  Rather, my first set of tears was on pick up on the second day.  I walked in to see my 11 week old in a jumperoo.  A freaking jumperoo!  Umm, pretty sure the suggested age for that is a minimum 4 mos.  And they have to be able to have their feet flat on the ground.  UGH!  I kind of played it off and said "She's not big enough for that, is she?!"  They kind of laughed and said something like "yeah, we weren't sure, but she fit".  It sometimes sucks that she's so big because people think she's older than she is.  She may be big, but she's just a peanut baby, people!  I got more upset about it as I drove home w/ images of her bouncing around and her head flopping around.  I know - I'm not dramatic at all, right?  ;)  Haha.  Anyway, I told them the next morning that I didn't think she was old enough for that and I didn't feel comfortable with her in it so if they could hold off for at least another month or so, that would be great.  But it makes me wonder what else they'll do throughout the day.  :(  It's just hard not being the primary caregiver for your own child during the day. 

Her teachers actually seem very nice.  One is the mom of a boy in Carson's class.  She was very understanding when I talked to her.  Although I didn't feel like I hammered it home enough.  (I have a tendency to beat a dead horse sometimes  :) Although I know not always necessary).  She was receptive though so I'm trying to get over it.  It really wasn't that big of a deal, but like I said, it's just hard to have others care for your child and know that it's not the same as if it were you.  :(  Overall though, Avery's doing really well there.  She's eating well and napping okay.  She does seem fussier at night but I think she's tired.  Like with Carson, I think all the activity of the day just wipes them out and they need to go to bed earlier.  But that really really sucks for working parents!  They told me that other teachers have been coming down to snuggle with her too so that's nice to hear.  Everyone seems to love Carson and they've all been really excited to meet Avery.  He's turned out really well and learned so much from being there and I just have to trust that she's going to have the same great experience.  :) 

On a positive note, it is really nice to be around people again.  It's nice to get into a routine again.  It's even nice to wear clothes other than lounge pants.  :)  Even though that's really all I can fit into right now.  We won't get into that though.  ;)  The actual work stuff....eh....we won't talk about that either.  :)

First day of "school" - "I did well Mommy!"

10 and 11 weeks

I'm behind again on blogging.....I have to combine weeks again because I can't remember what happened when.  :)  I blame the leftover pregnancy hormones (and lack of sleep) for my memory problems..... ;)

We've had a busy couple of weeks.  Avery's tenth week started with her doctor's appointment.  We had lunch dates, play dates, shopping trips, a trip to the zoo and a trip to Farm Park.  Trying to make the most of our time before going back to work!

Avery Update:
Avery has started cooing.  She drools all the time and gnaws on her left fist.  The latter was my main hunger cue for her so that threw me off for a while. :)  She pretty much eats every 3 hours though, so not to hard to figure out when she's truly hungry.  She tries to lean forward, almost to sit up sometimes when she's in her bouncer and swing.  She's so strong.  Her head control continues to get stronger too.  She's now wearing 3-6 mos. clothes!  I switched all of her clothes out last week.  It's sad that she never wore some of her outfits or some were only worn once.  But she's got some cute 6 mos. outfits that I'm excited to put her in.  Some already are small though!  I can't get over how quickly she's growing!  She's so tall/long!  I have to remind people that she's only a baby.  :)


Nom Nom - Good Fist:  That fist is pretty much always in her mouth now.  Which is another reason I hate it when people grab her little hands!  :)  With the fist chewing comes all the drool.  And "bubbles".  As Carson asked me, "Why is Avery filled with bubbles?"  :)

Visit from Fletcher - more interested in hand  ;)

Smiling:  I was so worried that she didn't smile enough and that she wasn't a happy baby.  But I think I just didn't wait long enough because she smiles all the time now and I love it!  I get big smiles when she wakes up in the morning.  And when she gets ready to eat.  So cute.  And I even got a laugh!  She laughed for the first time on 5/18!  That's the only time I've heard it, although she's cooing quite a bit.  I was so excited to actually experience a FIRST anything!  I missed all of Carson's.  They seemed to all be at either daycare or with daddy.  :(  But her laugh is pretty adorable!  Not much better than smiles and giggles!

This was right after her first laugh!  :)

More tummy time:  We're still working on our tummy time to try to avoid a flat(ter) head.  She's getting better at it and tolerating it for longer.  Depending on her mood.  :)  I'm trying to lay her on her side a bit too for naps.  Still not ready for at night.  She moves her head well to both sides though and sleeps with her head turned both ways.  So hopefully the spot will go away.  Or with our luck, it will just extend to the entire back of her head.  ;)

Outings:  We were out and about quite a bit our last couple of weeks before going back to work.  Trying to take advantage while we can.  :)  We had a lunch date with daddy one day.  Another day, we went over to Fletcher's house to visit! We had a couple of shopping trips to Target and a visit with Nana and Papa. 

Lunch with Daddy!

Hanging out at Fletcher's house!

Love this picture!

I think Fletcher's trying to hold her hand  ;)

Papa

Nana

Hair, Fingers and Kicking:  Avery's finally discovered that she has all that hair!  She pulls it constantly while she's laying around or eating.  My mom thinks it's a sign of some sort of mental disorder or something.  Thanks a lot Grandma.  Haha.  I think she just likes her hair.  :)  She also found her finger (but obviously prefers her fist - see above!).  She also starting kicking at her toys.  So cute. 

Kicking!

Carson Update:
Carson continues to be going through a whiney phase.  We've had several tantrums.  I think that he just gets so tired during the week.  We can tell a definite difference during the week compared to the weekend (when he takes really long naps).  We've been trying to put him to bed earlier (starting bath at 7) and that seems to help, but it's so hard to do that when we work.  We'll barely get to see him!  I'm dreading going back to work and not being home when he gets home.

While he's had his grumpy moments, he's had a lot of cute ones too.  He always balances it out and you can't help but adore him.

Quotes:  He's had a bunch the last couple of weeks!
 - "Pluto's my best friend.  Mickey?  Where are you?  (Looking at Pluto) Pluto - Where's Mickey?" 
Carson got a new baby Pluto on one of our trips to Target.  He LOVES him.  :)

 - "Hey, leave me alone, OK?"  :)
 - "Hi little girl!"   - He loves to go up to Avery and talk to her.  Usually it's when she's in her carseat and he goes up and starts talking to her and rocking her. 

 - "Back off my mommy guys!  (With hand palm!)  "Hey guys, that's my sister, OK!  Don't touch my sister!"    I started picking Carson up from daycare and we would get mobbed by his little friends.  He is VERY protective of his little sister!  He constantly tells me, "I told my friends not to touch my sister.  Maxi, Dashiel - Don't touch my sister." 
 - "I need to kiss her belly" - We hear that one a lot.  :)  Here's an example...

 - "My Avery peanut.  He's a little baby!" -  I call Avery peanut and apparently Carson has caught on.  She's now HIS peanut.  :)
 - "Goats don't eat Avery.  Daddy, Mommy, Carson protect Avery".  He's very into "protecting" (or as he says "tect".  We had to protect him (and the neighbors) from the storm the other night.  He's so cute!  This one was totally unsolicited though and as we were leaving to go to the Farm Park with Aunt Mandy and Uncle Fletcher. 

Farm Park.  Note the sunglasses upside down.  ;)

 - "I going night-night, cape".   - We bought Carson a new pair of Batman pajamas and they have a cape.  He LOVES his cape.  Loves.  It was too cute though when he actually told the cape good night.  :)

Carson showing off his cape

"Avery, you see my cape?"  Real quote.  Haha. 

 - "I no eat woodchips".  This was after he told me one day that he and Hayden (at school) ate woodchips (playground).  Sigh.  So we've had many discussions since then on NOT eating woodchips.  Think he's got it down now.  :)  Oh  - and there are woodchips all.over.our.house.  Ugh. 
 - "You wash my junk Mommy?"  I couldn't help but laugh.  I assumed this one came from Lucas but he was surprised with it himself.  Maybe I said it.....  :)
 - "I gotta hurry and lay down!  A storm's coming!"  There was indeed a storm coming that night and we were trying to rush through his bath.  But he was obsessed with that storm after that!
 -  "Who's that guy?  I don't (know) what his name."  Every person we see in a store, on TV, in a book.  Anywhere.  LOL. 
 - "That's my sister.  Avery's too pretty".  Sweet brother.
 - "Mommy, that's a beautiful shirt".  HAHA.  Everything is beautiful and pretty lately.  :)
 
Loves:  We bought the best of the Wiggles CD at Target.  I seriously love the Wiggles.  And now Carson does too.  ;)  He's started singing in the car.  Love it. 

Pics from the last couple weeks:

Carson insisted on trying on his new bike helmet on - in the box.

Both babies wiped out after Farm Park!

Mother's Day

Carson playing with Fletcher

New sunglasses.  Right-side up!

Her face cracks me up

Piggies!

She looks bored - like she's checking her nails.  :)

My babies  :)