Here are a few videos of the girls swimming in Florida. They each improved a lot and had so much fun. I know they may appear as black screens on the blog but hit play and they should begin.
This first one is Julia jumping off the side.
Here is Casey doing her new move, watermelons, off the side.
This is Casey "Swimming" across the pool. It is a lot of work for her but she is able to make it across on her own now.
Here is Julia just playing around on the steps. She got much braver this time in FL and had fun dunking her head under.
End of Winter Wrap Up
March 30, 2010: I have been horrible about updating the blog lately. Where to begin... We'll start with me and my pregnancy. I am 6 months pregnant now. I have been feeling fine overall and have gotten into a good work out routine. I do some exercise videos and I also do spinning on my bike with a spinning video. I have not worked out for a few weeks now though because my back has been hurting a lot lately. Last night I went to a yoga class and it was a great stretch and my back feels the best it has in weeks. I have my next check up tomorrow but all has been well with the baby. I don't think I have announced that we are having a third girl yet! James was unable to attend the ultrasound when I found out so I had the technician write it on a ultrasound picture and put it in an envelope, we opened it at home that night together.
Julia is doing great. She is just about to be 17 months. She is changing and developing so much every single day. I think I probably write that in every blog entry but this age range is just such an amazing time and such a fun time. She is getting bigger, finally getting a little more hair, she is running around full speed trying to keep up with her sister. Her vocabulary is amazing. I never thought she would be verbal the way that Casey was, I thought Casey was a fluke, but Julia really does speak a lot for her age. She never liked books early on but lately she is obsessed. She wants to read books all the time and will grab a book and come up to us and say "book, book, sit, sit". If we are sitting on the floor she will sidle up to us and back right in and sit on our lap, it is hilarious. A while back now she finally got good at going down stairs and getting off of high things like the bed or couch.
At her 15 month check up (now again, this is almost two months ago) she weighed 19 and a half pounds which is about the 10th percentile. She was in the 50th percentile for height. We went to Florida over our Spring break and Julia became a water bug. She would play around on the steps, dunking her head under and fearlessly jumping off the steps. I am so happy she has taken to the water the way Casey did, I think we'll try to start her on the same mommy and me swim class that I did with Casey last year. I'm having a lot of fun with Julia now. She is very cute, funny, snuggly, and smart. She is also VERY feisty! She is stubborn if she doesn't get what she want. She will scream and stamp her feet if I take something from her.
Casey is also great. She went through a stage where she completely gave up on her nap and I was sad to see it end, but then after about two weeks she just went back to it. If she doesn't take a nap the wheels start coming off by 6pm and she conks out by 7pm. On those nights it gets tricky at bed time because usually we put Julia down at 7pm and she is asleep by the time Casey gets in there at 7:30-7:45. But if Casey needs to go to bed near 7 and Julia isn't asleep yet Julia gets all fired up and starts talking to Casey. We have just let them play it out and now Julia might talk for a few minutes but they just go to sleep without too much trouble. Also, Casey has not been doing her middle of the night yelling any more. She used to cry out a few times a night anywhere from 5 seconds long to a few minutes, but this had faded out over the past few months and she really doesn't do it anymore which is great. Casey also had fun swimming in Florida. She was just brave and experimented a lot in the pool. She would flop around and figured out her buoyancy which helps her swimming a lot. It makes a big difference when you don't have to watch her every single second. She really can swim by herself now which is fun. She has been getting into more pretend play. I will overhear her having conversations with herself or with a doll which is new behavior.
Julia and Casey get along fairly well. I absolutely love when I catch them doing things together and playing nicely. I love it when Casey tried to include Julia and help her do things. Julia is always interested in what Casey is up to and if Casey is receptive to her being there then it goes well but if Casey wants to do something on her own then she will yell at Julia to get away. It is a fine line for me to try and balance having Casey learn tolerance and being inclusive of Julia but also giving her the time and right to do her own thing and give her the space she needs to be independent of Julia.
Also we found out that Casey got a good pick in the lottery for her pre school for next year. We had done a lot of searching around and looked at public, private and montessori schools. After a lot of thought we decided on the public school system here in Watertown. They have a lottery to get in and we got the assignment we were hoping for. So starting in September she will go to school Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings for about 2 1/2 hours. She is really looking forward to it. I am happy she is excited about the idea but also I cannot believe it.
Anyways, I think that is about it for now...I will get some pix up and maybe some videos up too.
Here's one of James and the girls with our friend Julie Chu and her silver medal.
Long and Overdue Update
January 25, 2010: It has been way too long since I have posted on the blog and I know I will miss so many funny details that occur in our house every day. I'm going to have to report on things going a ways back. I only have a few pix to add right now but more will come soon.
I will start with Casey...
She went thru a period this Fall when she was sort of afraid of the dark. It was nothing drastic but if she wanted to go to her room to get something she insisted I come with her to turn the lights on first. This Halloween was a fun one for Casey. She was excited about getting dressed up and enjoyed trick or treating much more this year. She also got to eat some candy which she enjoyed. Casey was a lion and so was Julia. Casey started a little gymnastics class this Fall. She is the youngest one in her class by far as the other kids are all 4 or 5. It is the first "drop off" class we have done, meaning I sit out in the lobby and watch and do not participate. She cried the first day for me and was not very well behaved the first two classes. She would get up and wander around when the teachers were explaining things or when she got bored of what they were doing. But she learned to listen quietly and do as she was told. This is all stuff I was hoping for as a small precursor to going to school next year. Gymnastics has now just ended and she goes to a little dance class instead. The dance teacher here at Taft runs it in the dance studio and about 6 other little girls from Taft attend it. Casey loves to wear her leotard and run around with "her buddies". Casey continues to amaze me with how smart she seems to be, she has an incredible memory. We were driving in the car and a Rolling Stones song came on, she said from the backseat "Just like when Eddie's phone rings". Eddie had that same song as his ringer which amazed me that she put it together. We recently got 'Curious George Goes To The Hospital' out of the library and I have read it to Casey every night for a week or so. It is quite a long book in terms of other books we usually read. The other night she decided to recite it to me. With a little prompting here and there she completely recited the 47 page book to me. I'd say she knew 90% of the book by heart. She is becoming a real rule enforcer with Julia which is funny. She is always telling her what to do and things like "no Julia, we don't bring toys to the dining hall". She is very slow getting ready to get out of the door. We have to tell her 100 times to please get her shoes and socks on. When we went to Florida over Christmas break Casey picked up right where she left off in the summer with her swimming. She worked on it while we were there and swam across the pool by herself for the first time ever. We have always tried to encourage her to try and take a breath and then keep swimming and she finally picked up on the concept and was able to make it across the pool. It was not pretty, but she made it and we are so happy for her. Also, Christmas was so fun this year. Casey loved it and was interested in learning all the songs and traditions. It was fun for us to get that childish spirit back and share it with our kids.
Now for Julia's update...
Julia is at such a fun age. She is developing so fast and makes us laugh all the time. She has a lot of teeth right now, the four front ones on top and bottom as well as 3 of her 4 molars. The fourth is probably on its way. The molars have been giving her some trouble. The past month she has woken up crying in the middle of the night about once a week. It is hard to deal with once you get used to sleeping thru the night. She loves her blanky and has a Pavlovian response when she sees it her thumb goes into her mouth immediately. Julia began walking on November 14th, just 10 days after her first birthday. She was very wobbly at first but made progress every day. Now she is working on running and motors around the house. She used to fall on her head a lot when she was crawling at that continued when she first started walking. She always seemed to land on the exact same place on her forehead and went thru several months where there was always some stage of a bruise. Now she has a permanent dent on the spot. The worst one was when she slipped in the tub and an enormous egg came up immediately. Luckily she is not hitting her head nearly as much these days. She finally learned sign language, after what felt like a whole year of trying to teach it to her. She signs for more, water and food. She has started talking and tries to say many words. A lot of words she drops the first letter or letters, so sock for instance is "ock" and clock is also "ock". She says words like shoes, cheese, moon, spoon, balloon, baby, sock, clock, bear, ball, kick, hockey, pee pee, poo poo, eye, up, teeth, book, cold, hot, close. Lately she has begun to say when she is going poop by saying "poo poo". This is a good first step in toilet training as she is recognizing the action. Once we even got her to the toilet in time to do it there. It is fun that she is trying to say so many things. She also says Dada, Mama and Casey. She is learning so many things too, she picked up ice the other day and said cold. She puts her hand on warm food or near the heater and says hot. When she sees Santa she says "anta". She likes to play ring around the rosy with me and Casey and can say "ashes, ashes, down". She is interested in the phone ("hone") and puts it to her ear and says 'uh-lo'. She loves taking tubs and showers (see the video below to see her excitement in the shower). She is a tough kid but also very lovable and cuddly some times. She blows kisses, gives us kisses and hugs, when we hold her and say 'rest' she will lay her head down on our chest. She also hugs and kisses Casey a lot too, it is so sweet. IN general the girls play well together. Casey gets frustrated and annoyed when Julia comes and gets into the middle of what she is doing. It happens a lot b/c Julia is always very interested in whatever Casey is doing. I try to balance having Casey learn patience and learn to share with Julia but also trying to respect her need to work on things independently and have her own space. It is fun to see the girls develop a sort of relationship. The other morning I went into their bedroom and they were in their respective cribs, laughing together as they played a "game" where they would duck down and say "down" then pop up and look at each other. Then they would jump up and down holding on to their crib rails. They were having so much fun and doing it together it really made me smile.
Oh and by the way....if you are still reading our news is that we are having a third baby! I am 17 weeks pregnant and will be due July 5th. I've been feeling good, better and less tired the last few weeks.
I will start with Casey...
She went thru a period this Fall when she was sort of afraid of the dark. It was nothing drastic but if she wanted to go to her room to get something she insisted I come with her to turn the lights on first. This Halloween was a fun one for Casey. She was excited about getting dressed up and enjoyed trick or treating much more this year. She also got to eat some candy which she enjoyed. Casey was a lion and so was Julia. Casey started a little gymnastics class this Fall. She is the youngest one in her class by far as the other kids are all 4 or 5. It is the first "drop off" class we have done, meaning I sit out in the lobby and watch and do not participate. She cried the first day for me and was not very well behaved the first two classes. She would get up and wander around when the teachers were explaining things or when she got bored of what they were doing. But she learned to listen quietly and do as she was told. This is all stuff I was hoping for as a small precursor to going to school next year. Gymnastics has now just ended and she goes to a little dance class instead. The dance teacher here at Taft runs it in the dance studio and about 6 other little girls from Taft attend it. Casey loves to wear her leotard and run around with "her buddies". Casey continues to amaze me with how smart she seems to be, she has an incredible memory. We were driving in the car and a Rolling Stones song came on, she said from the backseat "Just like when Eddie's phone rings". Eddie had that same song as his ringer which amazed me that she put it together. We recently got 'Curious George Goes To The Hospital' out of the library and I have read it to Casey every night for a week or so. It is quite a long book in terms of other books we usually read. The other night she decided to recite it to me. With a little prompting here and there she completely recited the 47 page book to me. I'd say she knew 90% of the book by heart. She is becoming a real rule enforcer with Julia which is funny. She is always telling her what to do and things like "no Julia, we don't bring toys to the dining hall". She is very slow getting ready to get out of the door. We have to tell her 100 times to please get her shoes and socks on. When we went to Florida over Christmas break Casey picked up right where she left off in the summer with her swimming. She worked on it while we were there and swam across the pool by herself for the first time ever. We have always tried to encourage her to try and take a breath and then keep swimming and she finally picked up on the concept and was able to make it across the pool. It was not pretty, but she made it and we are so happy for her. Also, Christmas was so fun this year. Casey loved it and was interested in learning all the songs and traditions. It was fun for us to get that childish spirit back and share it with our kids.
Now for Julia's update...
Julia is at such a fun age. She is developing so fast and makes us laugh all the time. She has a lot of teeth right now, the four front ones on top and bottom as well as 3 of her 4 molars. The fourth is probably on its way. The molars have been giving her some trouble. The past month she has woken up crying in the middle of the night about once a week. It is hard to deal with once you get used to sleeping thru the night. She loves her blanky and has a Pavlovian response when she sees it her thumb goes into her mouth immediately. Julia began walking on November 14th, just 10 days after her first birthday. She was very wobbly at first but made progress every day. Now she is working on running and motors around the house. She used to fall on her head a lot when she was crawling at that continued when she first started walking. She always seemed to land on the exact same place on her forehead and went thru several months where there was always some stage of a bruise. Now she has a permanent dent on the spot. The worst one was when she slipped in the tub and an enormous egg came up immediately. Luckily she is not hitting her head nearly as much these days. She finally learned sign language, after what felt like a whole year of trying to teach it to her. She signs for more, water and food. She has started talking and tries to say many words. A lot of words she drops the first letter or letters, so sock for instance is "ock" and clock is also "ock". She says words like shoes, cheese, moon, spoon, balloon, baby, sock, clock, bear, ball, kick, hockey, pee pee, poo poo, eye, up, teeth, book, cold, hot, close. Lately she has begun to say when she is going poop by saying "poo poo". This is a good first step in toilet training as she is recognizing the action. Once we even got her to the toilet in time to do it there. It is fun that she is trying to say so many things. She also says Dada, Mama and Casey. She is learning so many things too, she picked up ice the other day and said cold. She puts her hand on warm food or near the heater and says hot. When she sees Santa she says "anta". She likes to play ring around the rosy with me and Casey and can say "ashes, ashes, down". She is interested in the phone ("hone") and puts it to her ear and says 'uh-lo'. She loves taking tubs and showers (see the video below to see her excitement in the shower). She is a tough kid but also very lovable and cuddly some times. She blows kisses, gives us kisses and hugs, when we hold her and say 'rest' she will lay her head down on our chest. She also hugs and kisses Casey a lot too, it is so sweet. IN general the girls play well together. Casey gets frustrated and annoyed when Julia comes and gets into the middle of what she is doing. It happens a lot b/c Julia is always very interested in whatever Casey is doing. I try to balance having Casey learn patience and learn to share with Julia but also trying to respect her need to work on things independently and have her own space. It is fun to see the girls develop a sort of relationship. The other morning I went into their bedroom and they were in their respective cribs, laughing together as they played a "game" where they would duck down and say "down" then pop up and look at each other. Then they would jump up and down holding on to their crib rails. They were having so much fun and doing it together it really made me smile.
Oh and by the way....if you are still reading our news is that we are having a third baby! I am 17 weeks pregnant and will be due July 5th. I've been feeling good, better and less tired the last few weeks.
Happy Birthday Julia!!
November 4, 2009: Julia is one today! She had her one year check up and weighed 18 pounds 11 ounces which is the 14th percentile. She was 29 inches long which is the 49th percentile. She had 3 shots and was not a happy camper. Otherwise she is very healthy.
We gave her a cake tonight and she attacked it. She made a big mess and seemed to enjoy herself. It is funny how she did not hesitate to dig into the cake and eat it whereas Casey poked her cake once and never touched it again on her first birthday.
Fall News
October 14, 2009: Our second year at Taft is in full swing and the year already seems to be going by quickly. The girls continue to grow and develop so fast that it is astonishing. Julia is quickly approaching her first birthday and seems to do new things all the time. I think she is about to get about 5 new teeth any day now. Her gums look like they are going to explode. A few weeks ago she had her first ear infection and it came in the middle of the night during the weekend so it meant a 4:30 am drive to the ER for the two of us. She was in so much pain and would not stop crying. She loves her book Brown Bear right now. When she sees it she growls and can even "say" brown bear in a gruff voice, it is so funny. After their tub the girls like to play on our big bed and Julia does these funny tumbles and rolls all around. She has been cruising with more confidence lately and yesterday she took her first steps. She can only take one or two and will go between me and James. She is still definitely crawling all the time, not walking, but she did take steps. Julia gives us kisses which we adore. We'll say "can I have a kiss?" and she gives us a big open mouth kiss. Also about 10 days ago we moved Julia into the same room as Casey so the sisters are officially sharing a room. I was not very optimistic and expected sleepless nights as they transitioned but they have done really well. Julia goes to sleep at 7pm and Casey around 7:30pm so we just sneak in with Casey and Julia is so passed out by then that she does not hear anything. Casey still cries out in the middle of the night from time to time but it has not been an issue for Julia yet, she either sleeps thru it or is able to get back to sleep quickly. The mornings are the only tricky part when one wakes the other too early. But I am happy to have them in the same room and it has worked well.
Casey is getting to be a handful. She is exhibiting her independence more and more and is not as agreeable to just do what I ask her. She has bouts of whineyness and has had a few temper tantrums. She will sometimes scream and cry when she does not want to do something we ask her to. It is very difficult as a parent to deal with this attitude because you feel like you have done something wrong in your parenting to have caused this negative change, but in reality the kids are just learning to make their own choices and figuring out that balance. Patience is key! James and I have been looking at pre schools for Casey for next year. It is an out of body experience going to open houses and campus tours for her, I can't really believe it.
I don't have too many pix from this Fall but here are two from a day we went peach picking with our friends. We've been to several county fairs in the area and will head out to pick pumpkins soon. I'll try to put more pix and maybe a video up soon.
Summer '09 Wrap Up
September 13, 2009: Well the school year has begun and we are in yet another new home. We moved into a dorm on campus and are slowly getting settled. The girls have had a great summer and have both grown and changed. Casey just seems so big to me at times and has become so capable. It is hard for me to remember she is only two sometimes as I feel like I can treat her like a 7 year old. She has done fantastically with toilet training. At this point she only wears a diaper in her bed at night. For the last two weeks she has been napping in her big girl underwear and had only one accident. She has done a really good job with it! Her speaking has always been pretty good and she has continued with that, as her sentence structure has really come together over the summer. She shocks us with the things that come out of her mouth sometimes.
Julia's last check up was over 6 weeks ago but at her 9 month one she weighed 16+ pounds, so she continues to gain weight steadily and has gotten herself up to the 13th percentile after falling to the 1st percentile just 3 1/2 months ago. She grew 2 inches in the last 2 1/2 months as well and is in the 44th %ile for height. We are very happy she is well and on a good growth curve now. She started crawling on her 9 month birthday exactly. For a week or two it was a very herky jerky crawl and she rarely let her knees touch the floor, but now she is doing a much more standard crawl. She started pulling up on things about the same time as she began crawling and really loves it. She is doing her version of a wave. There is no wave to it really but she just holds her hand up still to face you.
Some pictures from the rest of the summer....
Summer '09 Part 1
July 21, 2009: So far this summer we have spent most of our time going back and forth visiting our parents in Boston and Greenwich. When we are in Greenwich we spend most of our time in the pool, and we have taken a trip to the Bronx Zoo and a few trips to the beach. Casey is getting better and better at swimming, just last week she started using her arms and can propel herself faster and farther under water than she could before. On the 4th of July we took the girls to Belle Haven and they went in a parade in a decorated wagon.
Casey jumped off the diving board into the pool where James was waiting. She did it 4 times and it was so funny.
That afternoon the club had a party with a jumping castle, pony rides and a petting zoo. Casey loved everything and went for a ride on both ponies. Julia loved the animals in the petting zoo and was going nuts over the baby goat.
In Boston we have taken several trips around the city.
We took the girls to the Bunker Hill Monument, the Tall Ships, on a ferry ride, to see the seals at the aquarium, in all the fountains of the new greenway in Boston, in the public gardens to ride the swan boats and see the scenes from 'Make Way for Ducklings'.
Casey has started to show some signs of being a two year old. She is more whiney and defiant than she has ever been. Right now she is sick with some summer virus and that makes it even worse. She is still napping well and sleeps pretty well at night. She cries out during the night some times but we just let her work thru it on her own. She is getting so big it amazes me to look at her. Time flies! She is getting much better with her potty training. She will never have an accident if we are inside and she is naked and now she does not want to poop in her diaper. So the other day we went and got her "big girl underwear". She wore it for about 2 hours without peeing then when she got home and was near the bathroom she peed in them. So we're still working on it but progress is being made.
Julia is doing great too. She is on two naps still, an hour in the am and an hour and a half or so in the pm. In the last week she suddenly refused to eat any baby food out of a jar so she is testing the waters with real food. We've given her some ham, turkey and chicken, crackers, American cheese, grapes, nectarine, whole wheat bagels. She does pretty well with everything. She has been in the pool a few times and seems to like it.
She is clapping her hands a bit. When we clap or sing patty cake she will clap. She went thru a stage where she would shake her head very quickly from side to side when you did. I would shake mine then she would copy over and over again. It was always very funny. She loves to put her blanket right on her face when she is sleeping. Some times I will go in and pull it off her face but it always ends up back right on top of her head again. When we go in to wake her from a nap or in the morning she is so funny and cute. She is so happy to see us and in her excitement she pulls her blanky over her face and hides, then pulls it off smiling and laughing. She also lifts her legs up into the air and slams them down onto the crib mattress out of excitement. She is not crawling yet but is getting much more comfortable on her stomach and scoots around in circles but cannot move forward. Sometimes when she is up on her arms she pushes herself backwards. She is slowly learning to get up on her knees but progress is slow. Se goes in for a check up in a week so I will report weight, etc then.
Julia News
June 11, 2009: The last week or so has been full of changes for Julia. She is sleeping in a crib now (she has been so small that she still fits just fine in her bassinet). She also got her first two teeth, one about 10 days ago and the second one today. She had a few rough nights due to teething. One night was particularly bad as she cried a little bit almost every hour of the night. Julia also rolled over from her back to belly for the first time on Monday. She did it about 4 times and is not a baby who is suddenly rolling all over the place but we are happy she at least can do it now. She is also sitting up on her own now.
She gets stronger and stronger at it every day. For awhile she was able to sit up but would fall over if she leaned left, right or back. Now she is much stronger and I am pretty comfortable leaving her in the sitting up position as long as she in on something sort of soft. In general she is just full of beans, likes to jump a bit in her jumping chair and is getting very wiggly sometimes. It is so fun to see all these positive developments in her after such a hard beginning.
She gets stronger and stronger at it every day. For awhile she was able to sit up but would fall over if she leaned left, right or back. Now she is much stronger and I am pretty comfortable leaving her in the sitting up position as long as she in on something sort of soft. In general she is just full of beans, likes to jump a bit in her jumping chair and is getting very wiggly sometimes. It is so fun to see all these positive developments in her after such a hard beginning.
A Rough Patch For Casey
June 8, 2009: Man, it has been a rough few days here at our house. Casey has been having a string of really bad luck in terms of getting hurt. They are all small injuries but here is a roll call of the bumps and bruises on her body at this moment...
Two different pinches on her finger tips, one from a clip and one from the hinge of a jewelry box.
One pinch mark on her cheek from the clip her pacifier is attached to.
A bruised toe from dropping a small dumb bell on it.
A scraped elbow from a big wipe out on the dirt road.
Scraped knee from any number of falls.
A cut lip from falling off her fort and biting her lip.
An egg on her forehead from falling off the bed.
And here is the real kicker... cuts on her wrist and chest from getting bitten by a horse! We went to feed these horses and donkeys in a field in Greenwich on Sunday. We had fed them a cut up apple and afterwards Casey was standing on a stone wall with James holding her. Seemingly out of nowhere the horse nipped at Casey. It caught James's finger, Casey's wrist and her chest. It was terrifying, but she is OK and none of the cuts were serious at all. She may not want to go see any horses any time soon, but we are lucky that that is the only "scar" she'll have. Here is a picture from moments before the biting incident and one of her very first ice cream cone. We decided to treat her to a special ice cream after the horse bite.
Two different pinches on her finger tips, one from a clip and one from the hinge of a jewelry box.
One pinch mark on her cheek from the clip her pacifier is attached to.
A bruised toe from dropping a small dumb bell on it.
A scraped elbow from a big wipe out on the dirt road.
Scraped knee from any number of falls.
A cut lip from falling off her fort and biting her lip.
An egg on her forehead from falling off the bed.
And here is the real kicker... cuts on her wrist and chest from getting bitten by a horse! We went to feed these horses and donkeys in a field in Greenwich on Sunday. We had fed them a cut up apple and afterwards Casey was standing on a stone wall with James holding her. Seemingly out of nowhere the horse nipped at Casey. It caught James's finger, Casey's wrist and her chest. It was terrifying, but she is OK and none of the cuts were serious at all. She may not want to go see any horses any time soon, but we are lucky that that is the only "scar" she'll have. Here is a picture from moments before the biting incident and one of her very first ice cream cone. We decided to treat her to a special ice cream after the horse bite.
Spring News Update
May 26, 2009: I have been a bit delinquent with the blog in light of that fact that so much has happened lately. Biggest news is that Casey celebrated her second birthday almost on month ago. We had a party with the girl son James's hockey team and also made her a cake on her real birthday.
She nibbled on it each time but is certainly not a cake lover! Seemingly overnight Casey realized she should start doing some whining and saying "NO" to us so that she did not miss out on any time in her terrible twos. She is still a very nice little girl, she is just very independent and strong willed. She has started using her little toilet and having a lot of success with it. When we are home in the house we keep her naked on the bottom half and if she is naked she will now always use the toilet for both "pee pee" and "poop poop". We made a big chart on the wall where she gets to put stickers if she uses the toilet. She went to the doctor and weighed about 23.5 pounds which is the 10th percentile and was in the 56th percentile for height. She is very loving towards Julia which is so nice. She loves being my helper and always wants to get Julia a new diaper or throw the old ones away. She eats pretty well, breakfast is by far her best meal. She will typically eat 3 hard boiled eggs, a pancake, a cup of yogurt, and a bowl full of fruit. Lunch she eats a little less, and dinner hardly anything. Her vocabulary continues to amaze me, besides mixing up "my" and "your" it is like speaking to a normal person. We've loved getting outside in the spring weather. Casey held her first frog recently and also went to her first fair where, much to her parent's delight, she went on a few rides by herself. At bed time now she is always bargining for extra time awake.
Now to Julia's update.
I am excited to say that she is a nice, happy normal baby now!! She does not cry anymore and is smiley and so lovable. I cannot even tell you what a relief it is after 5 and a half long months of crying. Once we put her on formula (I only took about 10 days to wean completely) her weight shot up and she became so much happier. I'm sure she was still colicky because in the old days she would cry even right after being fed. But as the colic subsided I think she was hungry too. After having gained only 1 ounce in a month we put her on the scale during Casey's 2 year visit, and in one week of formula she gained a pound and a half! At her 6 month check up which was really like6 and a half months she weighed 13 pounds 14 ounces, so in one month had gained 2 pounds 10 ounces. She is back on the growth charts and her weight is now 7th percentile. All her growth curves took a huge turn back onto the charts so we were so relieved that nothing was wrong with her. Not to mention how amazing it has been that she is no longer so miserable and crying. Our doctor continues to tell us she is fine developmentally. She is talking quite a bit. She says 'baba' and this weekend added 'da da' to her repertoire. She still loves to growl and also likes dong raspberries. She is not doing anything that Casey was doing but I just have to keep reminding myself how Casey was doing stuff way ahead of her time. Julia has only rolled over from her back to belly one or two times. She can do the other way just fine. She sits up pretty well, but definitely not on her own, if she leans any direction she would topple over. All in good time, for now we are just happy that she is healthy and happy. She was baptised a week ago and was a very good girl for it. Her God parents are Mark and Jen. We had it done here in Watertown and all our families we re able to come.
As for James and I things are going well. He is in the final push, and school will be completely finished in about 2 weeks. We are still waiting to hear where we will be living next year and should be finding out fairly soon. Unfortunately we have to move out of our house because it belongs to a faculty member who was on sabbatical this year. Most likely we will be moving into a dorm apartment but we are just waiting to hear which one. I took a road trip to Pittsburgh a few weeks ago with Robin to see Game 3 of the Penguins/Capitals game and got to meet Frankie Adams who was just born the day before.
Trying to get our summer plans figured out too. James will have to work a few hockey camps and do some recruiting and we hope to take some real vacation time.
She nibbled on it each time but is certainly not a cake lover! Seemingly overnight Casey realized she should start doing some whining and saying "NO" to us so that she did not miss out on any time in her terrible twos. She is still a very nice little girl, she is just very independent and strong willed. She has started using her little toilet and having a lot of success with it. When we are home in the house we keep her naked on the bottom half and if she is naked she will now always use the toilet for both "pee pee" and "poop poop". We made a big chart on the wall where she gets to put stickers if she uses the toilet. She went to the doctor and weighed about 23.5 pounds which is the 10th percentile and was in the 56th percentile for height. She is very loving towards Julia which is so nice. She loves being my helper and always wants to get Julia a new diaper or throw the old ones away. She eats pretty well, breakfast is by far her best meal. She will typically eat 3 hard boiled eggs, a pancake, a cup of yogurt, and a bowl full of fruit. Lunch she eats a little less, and dinner hardly anything. Her vocabulary continues to amaze me, besides mixing up "my" and "your" it is like speaking to a normal person. We've loved getting outside in the spring weather. Casey held her first frog recently and also went to her first fair where, much to her parent's delight, she went on a few rides by herself. At bed time now she is always bargining for extra time awake.
Now to Julia's update.
I am excited to say that she is a nice, happy normal baby now!! She does not cry anymore and is smiley and so lovable. I cannot even tell you what a relief it is after 5 and a half long months of crying. Once we put her on formula (I only took about 10 days to wean completely) her weight shot up and she became so much happier. I'm sure she was still colicky because in the old days she would cry even right after being fed. But as the colic subsided I think she was hungry too. After having gained only 1 ounce in a month we put her on the scale during Casey's 2 year visit, and in one week of formula she gained a pound and a half! At her 6 month check up which was really like6 and a half months she weighed 13 pounds 14 ounces, so in one month had gained 2 pounds 10 ounces. She is back on the growth charts and her weight is now 7th percentile. All her growth curves took a huge turn back onto the charts so we were so relieved that nothing was wrong with her. Not to mention how amazing it has been that she is no longer so miserable and crying. Our doctor continues to tell us she is fine developmentally. She is talking quite a bit. She says 'baba' and this weekend added 'da da' to her repertoire. She still loves to growl and also likes dong raspberries. She is not doing anything that Casey was doing but I just have to keep reminding myself how Casey was doing stuff way ahead of her time. Julia has only rolled over from her back to belly one or two times. She can do the other way just fine. She sits up pretty well, but definitely not on her own, if she leans any direction she would topple over. All in good time, for now we are just happy that she is healthy and happy. She was baptised a week ago and was a very good girl for it. Her God parents are Mark and Jen. We had it done here in Watertown and all our families we re able to come.
As for James and I things are going well. He is in the final push, and school will be completely finished in about 2 weeks. We are still waiting to hear where we will be living next year and should be finding out fairly soon. Unfortunately we have to move out of our house because it belongs to a faculty member who was on sabbatical this year. Most likely we will be moving into a dorm apartment but we are just waiting to hear which one. I took a road trip to Pittsburgh a few weeks ago with Robin to see Game 3 of the Penguins/Capitals game and got to meet Frankie Adams who was just born the day before.
Trying to get our summer plans figured out too. James will have to work a few hockey camps and do some recruiting and we hope to take some real vacation time.
JJ The Tiny
April 23, 2009: Julia had her 5 month check up today ( a few weeks late). She is doing fine developmentally although I had been worried she was behind. I am just comparing her to Casey who did everything extremely early so I was worried about Julia but the doctor assured me she is just fine. The problem however is not in her developmental milestones but in her size. She gained only 1 ounce in the past month which has her in only the 1st percentile for weight. Her height has also plateaued. The doctor said that if she does not gain weight by her next check up a month from now then we will have to run some tests on her thyroid and growth hormone levels to be sure that everything is OK. I am hopeful that she is just a petite baby like Casey was and that she will find her own growth curve eventually. She has been on solid food for a few weeks now, eating rice cereal in the morning and cereal and veggies at night. Today I gave her a bottle of formula for the first time. She has never had a bottle so it was a difficult adjustment for her but she eventually took it. I am going to start weaning her off of breast feeding and onto formula sooner than planned in the hopes that it will help her gain weight. Besides that, she is doing well. She does this new thing where she likes to growl all the time. We find it hilarious. She is sleeping better, usually from 7pm-7am with one feeding around 4am. She naps at 9 am and 1pm for anywhere from an hour to two hours. Her stamina to stay awake and content is getting better, although she still does not like to be left to entertain herself in the excersaucer, or on the floor with toys, she really prefers to be held. I think that is a result of the 4 and a half months with colic where she was held to be soothed for so long. Anyways, overall she is doing much better but now we must focus on getting her to gain weight.
Easter & First Hair Cut
April 17, 2009: Here are some pictures from Easter. We went down to Mark and Jen's house for breakfast and an Easter egg hunt. Jen also gave Casey her first haircut!
Spring Break
March 30, 2009: Today is the last day of spring break. We had a great trip to Florida.
The girls both slept and napped very well down there which was great. Casey is like a fish in the pool. All she wants to do is go under over and over again.
She just dives off the steps and lays face down. We're trying to teach her to get herself to the edge of the pool by kicking and reaching for the side. It is a mixed blessing that she is so comfortable in the pool. It makes it a lot of fun but you cannot turn your head on her for one second. We had her going under to get pool toys at the bottom of the steps, jumping off the side, doing a cannon ball when we throw her and lots of fun stuff. Check out the little video clip below here...
She is starting to exhibit a sense of humor and likes to play this game with James where she says two certain words incorrectly so that he will correct her. Out of the blue she'll say to him "sleep SLACK" and he'll teasingly say back, "no, no, no sleep SACK" (a sleep sack for those w/o kids is like a wearable blanket they sleep in). After going back and forth on that word for a minute she'll say "back wheels" and he'll correct her with "backwards". She does it intentionally to get a rise out of James and she thinks it is hilarious. The third of her two-year molars has just popped thru her gum so we are almost in the clear in terms of teething for Casey. Her last one will probably come in near when Julia's first does. While we were in Florida Casey had her first bite of ice cream. She licked her lips, and softly said 'that's good'. It was so cute.
Julia had her 4 month check up (which was really at 4 1/2 months of age) a few weeks ago and weighed only 11 pounds 3 ounces which is just the 4th percentile for weight. She's around the 50th percentile for height. Just like with Casey the doctor was not concerned about her weight, it just seems that we grow 'em long and lean. We have been doing some sleep training on Julia to try and make some improvements in her sleeping habits. About three weeks ago we just lay her down in her crib at 7 pm and let her cry. She is usually pretty good about going to bed at 7pm b/c she is pretty tired by then. The first night she cried for a total of 3 hours in the middle of the night. The second night it was only 50 minutes and continues to get better. I only go in now to feed her if it has been 4 hours since her last feeding. So as of now nights go like this, asleep at 7pm, feed usually around 11 pm and 3 am and then up at 7am. Most nights she goes right back to sleep and there is little or no crying in between feeds. Right now she is sick with a cough and very congested so it has not been great. I've stopped helping get her to sleep for her naps too and just let her lay in her crib and figure it out. Usually she cries for a maximum of 15 minutes or so before getting to sleep. Despite the improvements in her sleeping habits she is still a very difficult and high maintenance baby. She really cries a lot still and requires so much of my attention. She pretty much wants to be held all the time. We are starting her on solid food again today. We had tried it earlier when the doctor advised it for her reflux but only did that for a few days. Today we are starting up for real with some thicker rice cereal and we'll try some veggies tonight. Today she was leaning in for the cereal and seemed anxious for the next bite.
Julia still is not rolling over. She has done it a few times from her belly to her back but not the other way. She loves grabbing her toes now and if I recall from Casey that might mean she'll use her legs to swing into a roll over before too long. She has also started drooling a lot and putting her fingers in her mouth so I think she is starting to teethe. Julia also discovered her thumb and is officially a thumb sucker. I was not thrilled b/c it will be a habit I have to break later on, but with this kid I will take any help I can get, and she can find her thumb in the middle of the night without me having to go in and give her the paci.
The girls both slept and napped very well down there which was great. Casey is like a fish in the pool. All she wants to do is go under over and over again.
She just dives off the steps and lays face down. We're trying to teach her to get herself to the edge of the pool by kicking and reaching for the side. It is a mixed blessing that she is so comfortable in the pool. It makes it a lot of fun but you cannot turn your head on her for one second. We had her going under to get pool toys at the bottom of the steps, jumping off the side, doing a cannon ball when we throw her and lots of fun stuff. Check out the little video clip below here...
She is starting to exhibit a sense of humor and likes to play this game with James where she says two certain words incorrectly so that he will correct her. Out of the blue she'll say to him "sleep SLACK" and he'll teasingly say back, "no, no, no sleep SACK" (a sleep sack for those w/o kids is like a wearable blanket they sleep in). After going back and forth on that word for a minute she'll say "back wheels" and he'll correct her with "backwards". She does it intentionally to get a rise out of James and she thinks it is hilarious. The third of her two-year molars has just popped thru her gum so we are almost in the clear in terms of teething for Casey. Her last one will probably come in near when Julia's first does. While we were in Florida Casey had her first bite of ice cream. She licked her lips, and softly said 'that's good'. It was so cute.
Julia had her 4 month check up (which was really at 4 1/2 months of age) a few weeks ago and weighed only 11 pounds 3 ounces which is just the 4th percentile for weight. She's around the 50th percentile for height. Just like with Casey the doctor was not concerned about her weight, it just seems that we grow 'em long and lean. We have been doing some sleep training on Julia to try and make some improvements in her sleeping habits. About three weeks ago we just lay her down in her crib at 7 pm and let her cry. She is usually pretty good about going to bed at 7pm b/c she is pretty tired by then. The first night she cried for a total of 3 hours in the middle of the night. The second night it was only 50 minutes and continues to get better. I only go in now to feed her if it has been 4 hours since her last feeding. So as of now nights go like this, asleep at 7pm, feed usually around 11 pm and 3 am and then up at 7am. Most nights she goes right back to sleep and there is little or no crying in between feeds. Right now she is sick with a cough and very congested so it has not been great. I've stopped helping get her to sleep for her naps too and just let her lay in her crib and figure it out. Usually she cries for a maximum of 15 minutes or so before getting to sleep. Despite the improvements in her sleeping habits she is still a very difficult and high maintenance baby. She really cries a lot still and requires so much of my attention. She pretty much wants to be held all the time. We are starting her on solid food again today. We had tried it earlier when the doctor advised it for her reflux but only did that for a few days. Today we are starting up for real with some thicker rice cereal and we'll try some veggies tonight. Today she was leaning in for the cereal and seemed anxious for the next bite.
Julia still is not rolling over. She has done it a few times from her belly to her back but not the other way. She loves grabbing her toes now and if I recall from Casey that might mean she'll use her legs to swing into a roll over before too long. She has also started drooling a lot and putting her fingers in her mouth so I think she is starting to teethe. Julia also discovered her thumb and is officially a thumb sucker. I was not thrilled b/c it will be a habit I have to break later on, but with this kid I will take any help I can get, and she can find her thumb in the middle of the night without me having to go in and give her the paci.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)