Archive for February, 2014

Maia is Two Months Old!!!

Tuesday, February 18th, 2014

I can’t believe this sweet baby is two months old already!  She is growing like crazy!  She’s already up to 12lbs and 13oz!  23 inches!  I’ve begun putting away the smallest sizes of clothing and she outgrew the darling little newborn kitty hat that she wore everywhere.  She smiles and coos and loves to talk!  I just love these first little conversations.  Her little face looks so serious when she’s cooing and she follows it with the sweetest smiles, like she’s saying, “isn’t this fun!  I love chatting with you!”  She’s very calm and usually pretty quiet, at least for me.  She fusses sometimes for others if she wants food, but for me usually it’s just a little noise to let me know it’s food and nap time.  We snuggle up together for part of each night in the recliner.  We’re not doing so well on sleeping in the bed, but the swing still works so life is good.

2months

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Maia is definitely smiling back at people now =)  She’s also cooing up a storm, which is such fun.  Little conversations with my baby girl.  The kids love it too, since she looks at them more and reacts to them sometimes.  She’s had a little bit of a stuffed nose the last few weeks, which makes it hard to lay her down.  She’s either slept in the chair with me or in the swing for more than a week now.  She’s probably going to get really comfortable doing that, but it’s hard to mind the extra sweet baby snuggles I’m getting.  She’s awake for longer so I’m starting to try and pay attention to see if she has a schedule of when she wants to sleep and eat during the day.  So far I haven’t figured it out.  =)  I just feed her when she makes a noise and then she falls asleep.

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Maia got to meet her Vanaema!  Ann came to stay with us for a week.  I’m so glad!  It was so nice to get to visit with her, and it was lovely to get some one-on-one time with my kids.  She snuggled Maia, played basketball with Donovan, and spent time with Serenity.  More about this in the other kids journals, but I can always count on Ann to enjoy baby snuggles, she loves cuddling them as much as I do =)

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Maia is such a sweet baby. =)  She snuggles me all day long so of course I’m a happy Mama.  Occasionally she refuses to let her Daddy sit down with her, but she’s mostly content for me.  Today was the exception though, I made her extremely mad today.  I poked her in the cheek on accident, and after she recovered from that then I put her in tummy time.  She was not attempting to lift her head at all, she mostly kicks her feet and struggles while sucking on her fist.  But when I lifted her up, of my goodness.  She let loose with a truly angry squeal.  She was crying, but she mostly sounded indignant.  If I wasn’t so busy comforting her I would record it because it’s such a distinct sound.  I remember when I had Serenity reading articles about how I would figure out the baby’s cries, and I thought at the time I really didn’t get it.  But with Maia I can definitely tell when she’s angry. =)  Then she needed her nose suctioned and was triply annoyed with me.  But after a few “mama’s so sorry” and a little walk around the living room she was restored to her usual snuggly self.

 

She really likes our conversations.  Big smiles and serious coos and gurgles.  I’ve been singing my go-to baby songs, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes and the Wheels on the Bus with the leg motions.  It had been so long since I’d done that!  It’s so much fun. =)  She likes it when I sing, and her  name is really easy to add to my favorite songs.  So we sing you are Maia Sunshine, and It’s a Jolly Holiday with Maia.  =)  And I still sing her Christmas Carols.

 

She uses the swing far more than either of the other babies.  Mostly because of the two weeks of being stuffy when I couldn’t lay her flat to sleep.  So she usually takes at least one of her daily naps in the swing, and she gets put there sometimes when I just need my hands for something.  I love when I pull her out of the swing, she is completely relaxed and boneless and just cuddles on my chest.  Such a sweet feeling.  I love my baby =)

Serenity loves her sister!!!

Serenity loves her sister!!!

Adorable tutu made by Jessica!  Thank you!!!

Adorable tutu made by Jessica! Thank you!!!

Serenity read books for us =)

Serenity read books for us =)

Boinga boinga crash, even for Maia.  =)

Boinga boinga crash, even for Maia. =)

Family snuggles

Family snuggles

I was so proud that I managed to get all three bathed all by myself =)

I was so proud that I managed to get all three bathed all by myself =)

Tummy time with Vanaema!

Tummy time with Vanaema!

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Swinging =)

Swinging =)

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Snuggling with brother =)  He watches out for her already =)

Snuggling with brother =) He watches out for her already =)

Cute sheep onesie from Mary, thanks!

Cute sheep onesie from Mary, thanks!

Serenity asked for a dress to match her sisters and this is what I chose =)

Serenity asked for a dress to match her sisters and this is what I chose =)

With Grandma =)  In the cute outfit from the Hoppers! =)

With Grandma =) In the cute outfit from the Hoppers! =)

Sleeping with Daddy =)

Sleeping with Daddy =)

Donovan in January

Monday, February 10th, 2014

My new hopeful posting schedule is to do Serenity’s monthly update around the 1st, Donovan’s update around the 10th, and Maia’s on the 18th =)  We’ll see how long that lasts, but that spreads out my three monthly updates pretty well.

 

Donovan made this hat on the SuperWhy website!  He can click all by himself now very well!  And of course he knows all his letters and the letter sounds reliably enough to play it by himself!

Donovan made this hat on the SuperWhy website! He can click all by himself now very well! And of course he knows all his letters and the letter sounds reliably enough to play it by himself!

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Today, I was reciting the usual list of food choices to try and get Donovan to eat something besides sweets, snacks and string cheese.  I offered him oatmeal, specifically saying oatmeal in a bowl, since we had oatmeal cookies earlier.  He said “One oatmeal”  and I repeated, Oatmeal in a bowl.  He said, “One oatmeal cookie in a bowl?”  No chance son =)

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He has this crazy laugh right now.  It’s almost like a cackle.  Today Eric and I were laughing over something at dinner and he joined in with his high pitched laugh, and Eric couldn’t stop laughing it was so funny, which just egged him on.  So I finally got it on video =)

 

Donovan got smiles out of Maia today.  He was sitting right by her cradle and calling her “cutie cute baby!” in a tiny little voice that he uses to talk to babies, and she looked right at him and smiled =)  He was so excited!

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Today was our first day with Serenity back at school, and we played a lot of games.  Board games are his passion right now, he pulls one after another out of the cabinet.  I played most of them with him today, but he talked Serenity and Daddy into a few games in the evening. He’s definitely Eric’s son. =)

 

Board Game Crazy =)

Board Game Crazy =)

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Donovan is so sweet with Maia.  Today he said to her, “It’s ok, it’s ok baby, Donovan’s here, Donovan’s here.”  He’s always worried whenever Maia cries even a little.  He usually runs to me and said, “What happen to baby?”  So so sweet.

 

Eric is pretty sure Donovan doubled in size while we were at the hospital getting Maia.  He has said that at least a dozen times since she was born.  Having a newborn does give you a totally different perspective, but he really is BIG!  He wore Serenity’s pants the other day and it wasn’t until I put them in the wash that I noticed they were 4t.  Guess I’ll be digging into the hand me down clothes from the cousins again soon!

 

Donovan was trying to avoid bedtime.  He appeared at the top of the stairs and said “Daddy!  Good news!  I have to pee on the potty right now!” =)  He also gets sent down by his sister to ask for things fairly often too.  Anything to prolong bedtime makes them both happy. =)

 

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I’m trying to do at least one Donovan centered activity each week.  Using my pinterest ideas so he has a new activity we can do together.  Even better if he can keep playing with it when I have to go pick up Maia.  I filled a tray with dried beans and added his construction vehicles.  We read Good Night Construction Site, dug around with scoopers and dump trucks, and he loved it!  Serenity loved it when she got home too, and it stayed out for about a week for them to explore!  We also did a mosaic craft, where Donovan got to cut squares of green paper with his scissors (I had cut out strips so he could just make single cuts to get the squares.  He loves scissors, and it’s a great workout for his hands!)  He glued them into dinosaur shapes, and he was so proud when it was time to show Daddy!  I printed Super Hero worksheets and he colored them with Do-a-Dots.  And then we made a bat cave out of a cardboard box and Christmas lights.  Fun stuff!  =)

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The Bat Cave

The Bat Cave

 

Using their tool belts =)  Yay!

Using their tool belts =) Yay!

Donovan's cool new drill toy from Ann!

Donovan’s cool new drill toy from Ann!

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Lego day!  We put together all the lego duplo sets we own, and then made cool robots

Lego day! We put together all the lego duplo sets we own, and then made cool robots

Wrap us like Maia!

Wrap us like Maia!

The only time he naps, in the car on the way to get Serenity from school

The only time he naps, in the car on the way to get Serenity from school

Playing Hide and Seek =)  I can still play while nursing on the couch, he's very helpful to choose places I can see from where I sit

Playing Hide and Seek =) I can still play while nursing on the couch, he’s very helpful to choose places I can see from where I sit