I just love this picture

Few pics from tonight...

This kid is so stinkin cute!

Don't you just want to eat her up?

Kisses

Jackson, Yaya & Emerson

Baby babbles

Short video (sorry it's kind of dark) of Emerson's recent verbal skills. She babbles and talks all the time. I goo & gaa back at her and it just keeps her going. Sometimes she gets kinda loud, lol! I love it!

O-R-E-O

We still haven't kicked this stinkin' virus! So rather than take Jackson to school yesterday only for them to call and say he needs to go home on the first day of school, I decided just to keep him home and let him stay with my Nana. He did perfectly fine all day - didn't act sick at all, but you can look in his eyes and see he is not his normal self! When I got home, we ate a snack and Jackson dunked his first Oreo! He was very timid about dunking it, which is strange since he plunges his whole fist into ranch dressing or ketchup!

Sick eyes - Happy mouth

Sunday we went to Hempstead to the farmer's market with my parents to get some fresh fruits & veggies. Jackson had a ball playing in the driver's seat while Pops & Daddy moved the car seat into Pops' truck. Emerson was her pleasant self in the car and did very well at the market. Jackson wanted every fruit & vegetable in sight, but oddly wouldn't eat much of anything at dinner. His appetite has been all wonky with this virus! I want it to GO AWAY!

Silly girl!

2 Months Old

Wow, I'm behind! Emerson turned 2 months old on August 16, but with school starting (for teachers - kids come Monday), trying to prepare for a long term substitute, and tending to a sick Jackson who keeps throwing up IN THE CAR, I haven't had time to do any posting.

Emerson went for her 2 month well check last Thursday. She was 11 lbs 6 oz (50%) and 22 3/4 inches tall (50%). Dr. Pielop was impressed with her meeting all the developmental milestones and that she has been sleeping through the night. Her "through the night" and my "through the night" are different, but essentially she sleeps 6 hours straight. She smiles & coos ALL the time and is just the happiest baby! We love that, of course! When awake she eats about every 4 hours - I forgot how fun pumping is at school. She is quite the little chunker...her arms look like she wears a fat suit. She wears either 0-3 month clothing or 3 month depending on the brand. Emerson is still not too fond of tummy time, but she tolerates it better than Jackson ever did. She still has almost all her hair - Jackson's had all fallen out by this time - and her eyes are still blue. Dr. Pielop guessed that they would stay blue since they are so light.

2 Month Chair picture

Not a particularly good picture, but it shows her blue eyes (and quadruple chin).

First Day of School

First Day of School - August 13, 2009

It's been a while since he had been up that early.

Inservice started on Thursday so Jackson started school too. I never put my kids at school until they have 2 rounds of shots, so Emme is staying with my Nana right now and will not start school until October. We are so blessed to have her here to help out! She does a WONDERFUL job! We went to Meet the Teacher on Wednesday afternoon and met both kid's teachers. Emerson has 6 teachers since there are 10 or 12 babies in the room. Jackson has had two of her teachers before, so I will be pretty comfortable sending her come mid-October. They gave me homework -- I have to make a poster of family pictures to post in her crib. I did this for Jackson the last two years, but since his new big boy room does not have cribs, I don't have to do one for him this year. Jackson has 3 teachers, one of which he has already had before and the other two already knew him, well because at his school, he is legendary! ALL the teachers know him because of his fabulous animal impersonations. They told me last year that all the teachers would come by throughout the day and ask him what certain animals would say, so teachers I don't even know will say "Hi Jackson" and hug him as we are walking in or out. He's kind of a big deal. Most of Jackson's friends are back in his class this year, so he was super excited to see them and I was so happy that my friend, Julie's little boy was still with Jackson too.

I had a few concerns about him starting school. 1. Being newly weaned from the papi, he sometimes takes longer to go down for naps. 2. He flops all around while he sleeps and as previously stated, they no longer sleep in cribs and are now on cots. The cots are only 2 inches off the ground, but I figured different body parts would be hanging off the cot at some point. Neither of these things seemed to be an issue. They said they patted his back a few times at nap time and he was out for 2 hours. Yea, Wacko! Apparently he stayed on the cot too. (He has an ADORABLE nap mat to go on top of the cot...I'll have to post a picture of it sometime!) He also started eating in the cafeteria this year, because you know, he is a big boy! They no longer ride in the buggies when they leave the classroom. Now they have this cute little rope that has stuffed animals or rings in it and the kids hold on to the rope or stuffed animal and teachers hold on to the ends, so basically they learn to walk in a line. They said he did great with that too. When I got there to pick him up, they just gushed and gushed about how great he did and how cute he is...like I said, he's kind of a big deal! He also learned the color green - in one day. Wow! I am so happy with his class this year - perfect! Sadly, he did not go today because he threw up in. the. CAR! twice yesterday evening. Ick! Slight virus? Bad food? Car sick? Who knows. He's fine today and spending the night with Gabby & Papa. I can't wait to see what he learns Monday!

Best Ever Sippy Cup!

I have had a love-hate relationship with sippy cups. I love how convenient they are - if Jackson doesn't finish all of his milk after a meal, I can give it to him in the car to finish, etc. I hate how they leak and I HATE cleaning them! The straw kind sometimes have 3 parts to the straw alone and there's all those knooks and crannies. I am sort of a freak about getting that kind of thing clean, so it sucks! We have tried all kinds - 98% of them claim to be leak proof. 98% of them leak! About a month & a half ago I stumbled upon the Playtex Twist 'n Click sippy cup while on an impromptu trip to Walgreens. They are simply the best! They are insulated, BPA-free, there are only 3 parts - lid, cup & a small valve AND they REALLY DON'T LEAK! Laaaa! FABULOUS! I have found them at Walgreens and Walmart. BabiesRUs sells the kind with the straw, but that is another part to clean so I steer clear. So, if you struggle with sippy cups, try these.

Papi Update

REVISED POST:
It has now been 2 hours and J is still asleep...our stinkin dog just barked and he stirred a bit, but he drifted back off. Getting him down was a little rough, but not as bad as yesterday.


ORIGINAL POST:
Naptime started out ok yesterday...he had been sleeping for about an hour and then suddenly woke up. He was inconsolable. I tried getting him back to sleep but when that didn't work I took him down to eat lunch. He cried through that as well and wouldn't eat, so I figured he was just overly tired so I went and put him in his bed. All hell broke loose and he screamed and screamed. I thought I'd let him cry it out, but after about 30 minutes I knew he was not going to go to sleep, plus I couldn't handle the cries for Mama. The weird thing was that never once did he ask for his "mammy." Once I got him and held him a little bit, he snapped out of it and started playing. Oh, his teachers are going to hate me if that is what he does every day!

Bedtime is a totally different story. He goes down, no problem and slept until 8 this morning. I wish naptime was this easy. I'm sure it'll get a little better everyday...we'll see how it goes today.

No mo' papi

I did it!

So I had totally intended to give Jackson his papi (with a hole cut in it) last night after his bedtime book. I had heard of lots of people doing this and our doctor even suggested it, but on a whim as I was kissing him goodnight and he asked for it, I said "no, you're a big boy and besides you have your nini (blanket), elephant and puppy, so you don't need your papi." I laid him down, fully expecting a meltdown, and turned out the light. To my utter delight, he didn't even let out one single wimper! He slept soundly through the night. He did wake up earlier than normal, but it still was only about 7:30, so I'll take it! He immediately wanted to play trains & watch the farm animal video, so that is what we are doing now. Maybe cold turkey is the way to go??? I can only pray naptime will go as smoothly, but I'm not that disillusioned! Go Jackson...we are SO proud of you!

In other news, Emme did NOT sleep through the night - only about 4 hours before waking. You win some & you lose some. We'll get 'em next time!

Sleep Update

Emerson is still sleeping, what I consider, through the night. For the past 4 nights she has slept anywhere from 6 to 7 1/2 hours. For the past two nights she has done this in HER bed instead of the cradle in our room. She does wake up from the long siestas at about 5:30 or 6am, so I feed her and then usually put her back down in the cradle until we're ready to get up or until she forces the issue. So things are going pretty smoothly on that front....

but based on inspiration from my friends Julie & Wendy, I think I'm going to start weaning Jackson from his beloved papi. Ugh! I'm not excited about this, but I'm hoping it will only take a week, just in time for his school to start back. He is UBER attached so I know this is going to be interesting. I'm afraid I'll just be exchanging lack of sleep with one child for that of another, but we'll see. He has become very attached to his blanket recently and his stuffed puppy & elephant, so maybe with all of that he will not need the papi. Wish us luck!

whooo hoo!

Emerson slept through the night! I know, I know...it was probably a fluke, but maybe she'll repeat this wonderful behavior tonight too! She slept for 7 and a half hours without waking. Of course, I had to get up to pump, but it was still glorious! The only thing we did differently was that we gave her 1/2 an ounce of pear juice to help her poop. I don't know if that helped her sleep longer or not. I do know that it did NOT help her poop. The doctor doesn't seem concerned - he says breastfed babies sometime use all of the milk, which eliminates the waste, but I just don't think not pooping for 3 days is normal or healthy. Anyway, here's to hoping she continues to sleep through the night!

Deja Vu

We didn't realize how much Emerson & Jackson look alike. Emerson is about a month older than Jackson was in the towel picture, but it's still pretty incredible!