9 Months!

Wow, Aaron has officially been out of me as long as he was in me. That's really bizarre to think about. His 9 month birthday is tomorrow, but since he measured ahead and wasn't really in for the 40 weeks, it all balances out.

In late July, early August we went to Hawai'i. I had a conference, and then we tried to do some vacationing. It was rough, but the kids loved it. Some pictures for your enjoyment.

I don't really have time to update the blog as much as I'd like, between teaching 8 classes this fall and doing everything else on my schedule. That, and on my home computer, blogger doesn't let me upload pictures. It's frustrating. But I'll try to at least keep up with once a month updates.

As an aside, Aaron had his 9month appointment yesterday. He's 19 lbs (down to 40th percentile, when he started his life at 95th percentile in weight -- I'm frustrated with that), 29 1/2 inches tall (95th %ile for height) and a head that's 18" around. He got blood drawn to see if he's allergic to environmental allergins because of this cough he's had since January. We'll see how that comes out next week.

Catching Up

Loads has happened since the last post. I have a challenging time updating because my computer won't upload pictures to blogger at home, so I have to send things to myself at work to try and do it. There's a lot of stress at home right now too. But the kiddos are amazing and a blessing, and I am thankful every day that I have them in my life.

Aaron is 7 1/2 months, and starting to eat some solids. He's not a big fan -- yogurt is really all he'll eat-- so here he is with yogurt face. :) He's my happy boy. Two teeth are coming through on the bottom, and he's crawling. He likes to try to catch his sister.

Big girl is 3 1/2 years old now. She got a bike for her "half"  birthday and loves it. Here we are at the park on the "big girl" swing at a playdate last Saturday, and she's having a great time. She went "camping" with Mommy in the back yard this weekend too (those pics will be forthcoming) and had a lovely time. 

6 Month Appointment

Baby boy is somehow 6 months tomorrow. The time is flying by somehow.... I guess working two jobs and juggling everything else does that. At today's appointment he stayed the same length (Ped guessed he was too wiggly to get an accurate assessment, but he's in the 90+ percentile still), is 17 1/4th pounds, and did really well with his four (yes, 4!!) shots.

I'll upload pictures once Blogspot lets me.

Aaron at 5 months

Big guy turned 5 months old almost 2 weeks ago, and he's up to over 17 pounds. I'm not sure how long he is, but he'll get weighed and measured on the 23rd of this month for his 6 month appointment. Where did the time go?



He still absolutely loves his big sister, and his eyes will follow her wherever she goes. She is the light of his little life. He's ticklish -- on the back of his neck, his belly, armpits, and under his chin. I love his little giggles. He still eats every 2-3 hours around the clock now but that's ok. He actually is still sick and wasn't eating that well, so I see it as a sign he's recovering

I am leaving in a few hours for a meeting in DC for 3 days -- my first extended time away from him. I'm heart-broken, but this is an important meeting too. Skype will be my lifeline.



Such great kids!

Emma's Haircut

We took the plunge! Emma has been asking to get her hair cut for a couple of weeks, starting for the first time when Aaron pulled her hair and then asking again when the wind would blow her hair into her face.

In order to make sure she really wanted it done, I bought a super-cheap doll with long hair and then the two of us proceeded to give the doll a haircut. She thought it was awesome, and still wanted to do it. So we talked and talked and talked it over, and I caved. She's never had the back of her hair cut since she was a baby.



We first took her to Cookie Cutters, which is a kid's haircut place, but they were booked with appointments and couldn't fit us in. The next place was too busy. At this point I was ready to give up, but we had built her up with anticipation and she really wanted it done, so we tried one last place. They could take her right away, so she hopped in the chair and did really well. She listened to the lady and never once fussed, and she LOVES her new hair. Absolutely loves it. And I love it too.

 
 


We only got 8 inches, which is too short for Locks of Love, but it was long enough for the Pantene donation, so we sent it off last week. She was excited to know her hair will help another person.
 

Much Needed Update

For some reason I cannot upload pictures on my home computer, so I thought I'd bring my camera to work and try to upload a few pictures from here. Little Aaron is now 20 weeks old, and such a sweetheart. He giggles and smiles, and loves sitting up. His preference is to be standing or sitting with help. He really, *really* wants to eat too, but we're going to make him wait until closer to that 6-month mark.
  

 He's really growing like a weed -- he's fitting in 9-month clothes now.

The drama of daycare will be over soon. For those who didn't see on FB, our daycare at CSCC is closing due to budget cuts, and will be closed June 15th. We were lucky -- we were able to get spots for both kids at our old daycare, but it means $400/month more and longer travel time.

I'm not sure if it will work out. I'm panicked, but for many reasons I can't put here, I do want them in childcare right now. 

Emma absolutely adores her little brother, and they are getting along so well. He can be in a really bad mood, crying, upset and the moment he sees her, he stops crying and starts to smile and laugh. She eats it up -- tickles him, brings him toys, etc. She's such a good big sister.
 

Aaron's 4 Month Check-Up

Big guy was 27 1/2 inches long (99th percentile) and weighed 15 lb. 10oz (dropped to 68th percentile in weight). His sister wasn't that big weight-wise until she was 6 months old, and not that tall until she was 8 months. He's a big boy! Will try to upload pictures sometime soon -- my computer and blogger are not getting along right now.

Rainbow Pancakes

This morning I got up early to get laundry started, and Emma came downstairs with me. She said she wanted to make pancakes for Daddy in bed, so we decided to make fancy pancakes (the newest Reader's Digest had this idea). So we made the batter, separated it, and put food coloring in it. 

Cook them like normal pancakes.... I made small ones. 

Stack them up and voila! Rainbow pancakes. Emma and I piled a plate up, went upstairs and gave Daddy breakfast in bed (and she crawled up back into bed with him and ate half of the pancakes). It was really cute. 

She and Aaron snuggled in bed after pancakes, and I was able to capture this little moment. They're sweet together. 

Happy 11 weeks old little guy! He started cooing this week, which is adorable. He's starting to get better, thank goodness. He's been sick for the better part of 6 weeks now. 

10 Weeks

Where has time gone? Big boy is over 14 pounds! I haven't weighed him for a while since we've all been so sick. He had bronchitis and RSV, Emma had a cold and cough, and both adults had bronchitis and other random sickness. But we're getting better. I knew he wasn't feeling good because he stopped smiling for 4-5 days... and now he's back to giving us these. Adorable.

Weekend Fun

Minus all the gross sickness that we've had (bronchitis for the two adults, cold/snot for both kids, fever on and off for Aaron, and I'm still fighting off this ear infection), we had a nice weekend. I made a reversible cape for Emma so she could pretend she was a super hero.

They are adorable together. We got matching PJ's for the two of them, but Emma spilled OJ on hers and Aaron puked on his, so we'll have to do that picture at a later time. 

2 Month Checkup

At the pediatrician's office today, my "little" guy weighed 13lb, 15oz (98th %ile) and was 24 1/2 inches long (93rd %ile). Head circumference is 16 inches. He's big!

Poor guy got 2 shots and the rotovirus today, so he's had a rough day. I didn't take a 2-month picture because he was so sad. Maybe tomorrow.

Smiles!

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This is what makes it ALL worth it! 

8 Weeks Old

Aaron has made it to 8 weeks old! According to the pediatrician's scale on Thursday (when he was 7w5d) he weighs 13lbs, 4oz.

Here he is today, wearing a sweater made by our very talented friend Nina. It fits wonderfully and is very snuggly! (Nina -- he didn't puke on it today either. :) )

I'm 8 weeks old! Aren't I cute? :) He's smiling now, and is really a great sleeper at night. He's also adjusting to daycare. We've been there all of a week, and so far the hardest part is napping for him. His big sister is having a little harder time adjusting, but she'll get there. 

Great Big Sister

She is really such a sweet big sister, even if she mushes her brother sometimes. :)

Six Weeks Old

Once again, time is slipping by. My little guy is now 6 weeks old (or, at the time the picture was taken, just exactly 1,000 hours old). At the pediatrician's office yesterday, he was 12 lbs, 5oz. We took him in because both adults in the house are sick and he had been coughing, but he seems to be fine.

I almost hate to say it, because I don't want to jinx it, but he's really a rather good sleeper at night. With the exception of a couple of nights where he was up every 2 hours, he mostly sleeps 3-4 hour chunks except towards morning when he starts tooting up a storm for his morning poo. His naps, however, have been really random -- which is ok, he's a newborn. We did make a concerted effort today to get him to nap longer, and he had 3 naps all together; the first one was 1.5 hrs, the second 2.5 hrs, and the third was 45 minutes. 

I'm also going to wrench myself away from wanting to snuggle him to sleep every night and work on gentle sleep training so we don't go through the difficulties we did with Emma. So starting last night, I'm taking him upstairs to bed at 8pm and we're working on our ritual. Bath, jammies, milkies, swaddle and bed. Last night he fell asleep around 9, slept restlessly until 9:30pm, then a deeper sleep until 1:45am, then up again at 4:45am, up at 5:55am and restless until 7, when he finally pooed and slept until 8:30am. Not a bad night. 

He's in bed now, and so far 30 minutes without a peep. I definitely have to keep him swaddled -- he's strong and he's a fighter in his sleep. Yes, we're still co-sleeping and will until he can go 6 hours without nursing. We have the bassinet but haven't used it as often as we could, mostly because of his frequent nursing -- but I think he'll transition easily. 

Almost forgot! He smiled at me today, in response to my smile. :) He's been smiling, but not purposefully.