Sleeping

After a few restless nights with Summer, we came to the conclusion that she is just a loud sleeper. She grunts and groans in her sleep and we keep thinking she's waking up and fussing. We'll get up and give her a paci, then, after a while, we'll decide one of us should hold her because she's still fussing. It had been going like that off and on most the night with her. Well, the last two nights we've ignored the grunting and only get up when she's actually crying. I'm SO happy to say that after her 10:00 bottle she didn't get up to eat until 7:00am!

One Month Old

So we're a day late on this post, but I just didn't get a chance to take Summer's picture yesterday before I put her to bed. Summer has been with us for a whole month now! It's crazy to think that much time has passed already. She is a good baby, and usually easy to please. She's not doing much aside from eating, sleeping, and messing her diaper. She does enjoy the sound of Brooke's voice (when it's not screaming), and is beginning to watch toys. Good thing I found some super cute infant toys at the JBF sale!. Well, here she is at one month old...

Of course Brooke had to get in on the photo too.

A few days ago, Brooke and I had fun taking pictures. Here's me and my girls!

Swadle Me This, Swadle Me That

So today was my THIRD day to shop at the JBF sale. Today is their 50% off day, which I have never shopped, but it was totally worth it! Since I only got one of the swaddler sleep-sacks earlier this week, I decided to go back and look for a "MiracleBlanket" that I had seen and that Sarah suggested. I actually picked a couple up for her when I did my volunteer shift on Thursday but didn't get any for myself. Well, I lucked out and found two that were eligible for half-off so I spend $7.50 on two miracle blankets! Plus, I found some more infant toys for Summer and a cute knit cap. For Brooke, I got a few sweaters since I didn't get many earlier in the week. I think now, after my third trip, that Brooke has enough clothes for the cold season!

A Busy Day

What a day we had yesterday! Bill was off and we spent the morning running around and doing some shopping. Early yesterday morning, (3:00) Summer woke me up with her grunting and fussing. I went to her cradle and saw that she had scooted so much and worked herself done into her swaddle blanket that her head was totally covered and she was stuck. It freaked me out so much that I couldn't get back to sleep for several hours. It wasn't the first time it had happened, but it seemed a lot worse this time. I had already decided the day before that I wanted to go back to the JBF sale to look at a few more things, so I added a sleepsack/swaddler to my list and told Bill if I didn't find one, we were going to Babies R Us to get one. I couldn't go another night worrying that she might suffocate in her blanket. I found lots of the SwaddleMe versions, but I really wanted the Halo sleep sack one. Her arms actually go through it like a shirt, so I knew that she couldn't possibly scoot down into the blanket. We had a good time at the sale anyway, and got a few more things we needed for the girls.
We got some lunch and then headed to Babies R Us to get the swaddler. I already LOVE it! I just wish they made it in bigger sizes! They only have it in newborn which only goes up to 12lbs. When I put her in it yesterday for a quick nap after dinner she literally fell asleep instantly! She slept really well last night as well, and her arms don't move AT ALL the whole night. Here's a picture of her in it today.

I'm just adding this because she is oh so cute;)

Anyway, we got home just after one and sent Brooke to bed, but at 2:30 she still wasn't asleep. Well, as you can see, she eventually crashed at 5:00 and she slept through dinner.

After dinner we went to spend some time with Bill's mom at the hospital. His step-dad has been in ICU for a week and 1/2 now with lung cancer. This morning he had some setbacks so we're just hoping they get him back to where he was yesterday. So that was our LONG day. Amazingly, Summer still slept well last night. She basically slept the WHOLE time we were out yesterday morning, so I was worried our night would be rough.


And this is from a couple days ago. I couldn't get Summer to stay asleep unless I was holding her so I'd been carrying her in the Moby. I wanted to lay her down without disturbing her. I wasn't sure it was possible, but I was able to lay her down and get the Moby off of me without taking her out of it.

Our Girls

Here is a little video of both the girls. Brooke was having a good time "dancing" to some music..

After bragging about how Summer most often puts herself to sleep, she had to be held to get any sleep most of the day yesterday. She took a bottle again late last night and slept well in her bed, but was up to eat at 3:00...ugh! I know we'll get it soon! Fortunately, her first morning nap has gone without a hitch and she was back to putting herself to sleep..YEAH FOR MOMMY!

My trip to the JBF sale went well. Aunt Rachie stayed with the girls while I went to the sale. I got a great set of wooden unit blocks that I'd been needing to get, and a bunch of great clothes for Brooke.

Getting Better

The last couple of night have been getting better. Since we got home, I've been attempting to feed Summer one last time between 10:00 and 11:00 to get her through the night. She is so asleep that I've only been successful a couple of times, but I really felt that this was going to be our ticket to more than a couple of hours of sleep at a time. As it was, she would eat around 8:00 and then wake up between 1:30 and 2:00, so we knew she could go a long time; we just needed it to be later. So, I decided to try a bottle at that late feeding so that I could, in a way, make her take it. The last two nights, it has worked pretty well, and she's able to sleep until 4 or 5 which makes it MUCH easier on me!
So far, I'd say Summer is an easy baby like Brooke was, but in different ways;
Brooke was so easy to get on a routine and easily ate while asleep. Summer is often hard to wake up when it's feeding time, and although her feedings are on a regular routine, I don't feel like her sleep is. Sometimes she'll wake up just to eat and go right back to sleep during the day, and other times, she'll stay a wake for a long period of time.
Summer will most often put herself to sleep in bed, while we rocked Brooke to sleep for the first 7 months or so.
Summer is also not prone to spitting-up like Brooke did, so we hardly ever have to change her clothes. Brooke went through several outfits a day and we often did too.

We can't wait to see what Summer's personality will be as she grows!

Today, I'll be off to the JBF pre-sale to score some good deals on winter clothes for Brooke!

The Amazing Growing Baby

Summer is 3 weeks old today! She had a little check-up today and is growing like crazy! She is now 8lbs 8oz (that's a gain of 1lb 1oz), and 21 1/4in long (that's a gain of 1 1/4in)!!! She is in the 75th % for her height, which Brooke has NEVER been in!

Brooke's First Scissors

Today we let Brooke try out the new workbooks that I got on the infamous trip to Barnes and Noble. They're actually more like an activity book for ages 2 and up that teach them to do things like cut, color, fold, or use stickers and glue. We got Brooke her first pair of scissors and let her try it today. I could not get her to stop cutting! After doing a few pages in the book, I told her we were done for today but could do some another time. She kept on all day long wanting to cut, so we let her cut some plain paper. She went through about three pieces of paper cutting into the edges all the way around. That still wasn't good enough and she continued to ask for the book so we did a few more pages. After having cut the plain paper up she did the same with the activity pages after she cut the appropriate lines. As you can see in the second picture, there is not much left of the page after she was done. While I did not get her very first attempt on camera I think these will do.

Here's the workbook we're using.

Small Successes and One Crazy Day

Bill gave Summer her first bottle last night. I hadn't intended to do it quite this early, but I had put an emergency bottle in the fridge yesterday for my mom while she stayed with the girls. I didn't want it to go to waste, so decided to try it out. It took her just a minute to latch to the bottle and she quickly downed an entire 4oz! I never thought she would take that much! Even when Brooke was several months old she never took that much from a bottle. I don't know if Summer is just a better eater, or if I have these new bottles to thank for it. They were reviewed as a great bottle for babies that nurse and evidently they work. She had no problem going back to breast-feeding at her next feeding...so yay!

Today, I took both the girls out on our first major outing. What I thought would be a quick 1hr errand turned in to a 2 1/2 hour crazy-filled morning! I had been wanting to go to Lakeshore to look for some workbooks that Brooke would have fun with and I had some extra money so decided to go today. Lakeshore was insanely busy and maneuvering the cart was especially challenging with Summer's carseat blocking my view. I must have run into shelves and baskets a dozen times, but over-all, that stop wasn't too bad. Brooke was very well behaved even with all the inviting things for her to touch! While I did find one book I was looking for, they didn't carry the other brand so I decided to stop at Barnes and Noble since it's just next door. In the children's section, they have a Thomas train table that Brooke wanted to play with, so she did that while I browsed the books. A few minutes into, she said she needed to potty, and just as I turned to say, "okay, let's go," she is already going right there on the floor!!! UGH! I partially blame myself for this, because she hadn't gone since getting up this morning, and I hadn't asked her if she needed to go! It was such a mess, and of course, I left her change of clothes in the car and had nothing but wipes in the diaper bag. I couldn't leave her there to get paper towels in the bathroom, and couldn't take her with me as her croc's were full of pee which she would have trailed all the way there. I managed to find an employee and let them know and after what seemed like forever, we got it cleaned up, paid for our books and got to the car! As it was getting so late, and past lunch, we stopped at McDonald's for a bite. Geez, I just never realized how hard it would be to cart along two kids in and out of stores and such! We finally managed to get in, eat and get back in the car (I shoveled my food and made Brooke take hers with us), and I go to pour what's left of Brooke's milk into a cup that we had. Well, only half of it landed in the cup. The other half came pouring out of the straw that I left inside, into my lap: I won't say that at the end of the trip, I laughed about the absurdity of it all, but at least I remained calm and cool about it and just took it in stride. I guess this is the new normal with two little ones!

Sweet Moments, Splash Park, and Sleep

I meant to get this posted yesterday when this all occurred, but it just didn't happen. So Brooke did the cutest thing yesterday. I had Summer on the changing table and she was upset and crying. Brooke was in her usual spot during Summer's diaper changes; standing on the chair so she can watch and talk to Summer. In response to Summer crying, I said something like, "I know, it's almost over." Brooke got really close to Summer's face and began to rub her head and say, "I know Baby Summer, I know Baby Summer." It was just the sweetest thing to hear her trying to console her baby sister<3

Yesterday afternoon we all went to visit our favorite splash park. We haven't been since the weekend before Summer's birth. It was clear that Brooke had missed going. When we first got there, she went running laps around the whole pad going through every fountain and sprayer that she could. She and Bill had a good time as always with their water balloons, and even found some friends to share and have fun with.

Summer has not been sleeping well at night recently and seemed to have her days and nights mixed up a few days ago. She was impossible to keep awake at all during the day and wouldn't sleep unless held at night...ugh! Well, just before this started we had made the assumption that Summer didn't need to be swaddled for sleep since she seemed to do just fine without. So, we were just putting her to bed in a sleep sack. Well, last night, she was impossible to console and even after two feedings two hours apart, she would wake up soon after being laid down. I finally decided to try swaddling her, laid her back down, and gave her her paci. She went right to sleep and didn't make a sound for 5 hours!! HALLELUJAH!!! It was a great night, except for the fact that Summer and I spent the first half of the night sleeping on the living room floor....my hips paid a dear price for that. I must be getting SO old!! I'm crossing my fingers that tonight goes just as well sleeping in our beds!

Oh, and another silly thing Brooke has been doing today. She's been playing with these toy watches that somebody gave her and has been telling me all day that it's 10:12. Not sure why that time, but she's convinced that has been the time all day. The things they come up with!

2 Weeks Old

Summer is now two weeks old! It's amazing how fast time goes, and yet it seems like she's been here forever. It's seems so strange to look back and see that two weeks and one day ago, I thought I would never see Summer! She is such a sweet little girl and we all are madly in love with her. We think she hit her first growth spurt a couple of days ago, as she has been hard to console in the evenings and during the day she wants only to eat and sleep. She goes through an INSANE amount of diapers even for a newborn. Unlike her sister did at this age, Summer seems to enjoy her baths, or at least doesn't mind them.

Here are a few other pictures from Summer's second week of life....

Newborn photos

Our dear and talented friend Sarah took some newborn and family shots for us last week. Here are just a few of our favorites...

A few moments from the week

Our sweet Brooke is adjusting to life as big-sister quite well. She has her moments of course, but Bill and I are so proud of her. She loves to help out with Summer and just yesterday helped me give her a bath. She's very sensitive to Summer's cries and wants to immediately run and check on her the moment she hears her. This is usually not a problem, but during the overnight hours it can become a vicious cycle of the two of them crying.

I just don't know what to say about this picture, except...aww how cute! Summer is sleeping fairly well most of the time, but does occasionally (like last night) keep us up VERY late into the night before being content in her bed.


Summer likes to chill out with Daddy

Brooke vs. Summer

It seems a common question about second children is, "Does he/she look like the other?" So, here is a comparison of Brooke and Summer at about the same age I think. Brooke on the top and Summer below. It seems to us that Brooke had more blond in her hair than Summer. Summer's nose and chin are thinner and longer than Brooke's was. They are definitely sisters, but it seems only a little time will tell what Summer's looks will be.

Enjoying the nice weather

Yesterday Summer went to see her pediatrician for a newborn checkup. She is doing well, and has gained back an ounce of lost weight since birth. We're all still adjusting to our new family of four and trying to work out her eating and sleeping routines. Some night's are good, others, not so much.

Anyway, after our visit with Dr. Moore yesterday, we took some lunch and headed over to Will Roger's Park for a picnic. The weather was just fabulous and we had a wonderful afternoon.

Brooke and Daddy pose for a picture

Brooke enjoying her watermelon and cataloupe:)

Unfortunately, the playground here is NOT toddler friendly, but Bill helped Brooke on a couple of the structures.