Four

I am so tardy with Miss A's update this month!  I blame July in general.  But here we are and here she is at four months old.  

I very much prefer these four months of her life to her very first four months of life, in utero.  If I sleep less now than then, well, at least I vomit less too.

But enough about vomit!

She got a clean bill of health at her check up earlier this month, and here are her stats for the record: 14.31 lbs (64%), 27.25 in. (100%) and head circumference of 16.5 in. (77%).  Just for curiosity's sake, at this age Mr. C. was almost two pounds heavier(!) and a quarter inch shorter.  People have been remarking on her long feet and how that may mean she will be tall.  WELL I can you that foot size can be no indication of future height whatsoever (hmph), but she is tall now at any rate.  Perhaps she will keep it up.

As for what else is going on, she's not sleeping through the night still and is sometimes all over the place with when and how often she wakes up.  But GENERALLY she wakes up once to eat, between 3 and 4 and sleeps until between 6:30-7:30.  A few times she slept in until 9 or so, because babies have the LIFE. 

I could look at her little lips all day.

She is a good roller already, going both ways, and she can squirm around in a circle.  She also loves to grab things and play with fabric-type things.  Some days she is very quiet and hardly makes a peep, other times she talks and squeals all day long.  Unfortunately she is also getting to the stage where she cries when other people hold her.  But she'll grow out of that before too long, I'm sure.

Anyway, she is just delightful.  I love to look at her little face and see her exploring everything in arm's reach.  She's always so happy when I get her out of bed, even in the middle of the night.  Mr. C. adores her and she thinks he is pretty funny.

It's still weird to me sometimes that I've got not one but two babies in my house.

Glad you're here, little snugglebuns.

  

Parks and Recreationommendations

Growing a new baby and the subsequent arrival of said new baby has translated to me watching a lot of shows at night.  It just happens.  So here are a couple of recommendations from me to you, a person who may or may not be looking for recommendations.  Not all of them are TV shows, just to illustrate that I do other things...(...but most of them are TV shows.)

LUTHER: This has been on my to-watch list for a couple years and I finally put it on one day.  I'm so glad I did!  I'm also glad that after the first episode I convinced Drew to watch it with me because not only is it good, it also freaked me right out.  If you are in the mood for a dark and dreary London cop drama, with lots of murder and suspense (as well as Idris Elba AKA Cancellor of the Apocalypse), this is for you.  

DAREDEVIL: More dark and dreary murder and mayhem (the fact that I enjoy dark things with murder and mayhem so much will come as no surprise to some people).  In news that will surprise no one, this is WAY better than the movie from some years ago.  This wasn't perfect, but since I prefer my superheroes darker, this appealed to me.  Charlie Cox as the lead was the best part (and his hair is so much better than in Stardust).  

PARKS AND RECREATION: Have I watched this entire series twice since baby was born?  MAYBE.  I love it, I just love it.  I love this show like Leslie loves waffles.  I feel like it changed my life, which is rather hyperbolic of me to say and really, I'm not even sure what I mean by that, but that's the sentiment that keeps coming to mind.  I wish Amy Poehler were actually Leslie Knope and I wish she were my friend.

THE BIG YEAR: I caught the last half hour of this movie on TV a while ago, and it intrigued me so I watched the whole thing.  It was so delightful!  I didn't expect much based on the cast, to be honest, but I enjoyed it start to finish.  On a related note, I just finished the book it's based on (it's a true story) and recommend that as well.

SONG OF THE SEA: Beautiful little movie.  It reminded me of The Scorpio Races--not because of the story or characters (AT ALL), but because of the atmosphere, which was my favorite part of that book anyway.  Anyway, beautiful charming movie.

JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL: I love this book so much.  I'm reading it for the fourth time and I am loving every single page.  At nearly 800 pages it is certainly a time investment, but it is worth it.  And why am I rereading it?  Welllllll.....

JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL: ...it's a miniseries on BBC America!  There are a few episodes left, and while I question some of the makers' decisions, overall I am loving it.  I've been wanting to reread the book and after the first episode I couldn't help myself any longer.

And there you have it, lots of things to watch and to read and to love.  

(But seriously, don't watch Luther alone at night.)

(But it's good!)

Three

The day has come!  With the advent of the Poppy's third month I can no longer call her a newborn.  Sigh.  It is fun because she gets more fun the older she gets, but she'll never be that squishy little eight pound bundle again.  

She loves this blanket, she loves eating her hands and she loves wrapping her hand in the blanket and eating it.

This past month I gradually moved her from the bassinet to her crib.  I think she likes her bed so it's good for her, but it was sad to move her on.  I may still have the bassinet set up just because.  She keeps getting bigger!  But more fun and cute so I can't really complain.

Sleeping is a work in progress of course, but she's getting closer to sleeping through the night (and did a couple times!).  She goes to bed between 7-8 and gets up for the day around 7 AM.  Naps are getting longer and more regular.  She makes all kinds of sounds, likes bathtime, tolerates tummy time and kicks whenever she can.  She smiles easily, but it's hard to catch in a pictures!  Cameras/phones are instantly distracting.

We've gotten a number of little giggles out of her and of course the smiles are abundant as always.  She also started rolling from back to front, which seems earlier than with Mr. C.  But then again, everything seems faster this time.  

Speaking of Mr. C., he just loves her and she returns his--ahem--enthusiasm with smiles and contented resilience.  He is always asking to "take it?", which means he wants to hold her, or he'll say "sit...wi'you?" which means he wants to sit in the chair with her.  It's so cute I usually oblige.  

It is so fun having this baby girl around the house.  She has her moments--moments that sometimes coincide with toddler moments--but overall we all hum along and have a good time together.

See?  Here's to you, baby girl!

2/24

Another year has come and gone, and my what a difference a year has made for this little fellow.  

(Please ignore me and my, like, one week postpartum appearance.)

He's walking, talking and conversating.  He has likes and dislikes, asks for things and parrots like a, you know, parrot.  It's so fun to look back at how little and babyish he used to be, but it's also hard to remember when I see him playing hide and seek games with his car before falling asleep.

Sometimes he gives me pedicures.

Watching the trash truck.

He likes a lot of things but most of his favorite things have one thing in common: wheels. Airplanes, bikes, motorcycles, vacuums, lawnmowers, cars, trucks, tractors, diggers, trains--he loves them all.  Thanks to his generous cousin Jack, he has cars and trucks a'plenty and rarely does he go to bed without one.  

Hey now, those socks are too small!  And for a girl.

Having a Godzilla moment.

Other favorite things include books (especially David Wiesner lately), Kitty, cheese, "treeeeeats?", the Baby Einstein On the Go video, dinosaurs, stickers, nursery and jumping on the trampoline.  (Also various items of clothing that will turn up several times in these post.)

At his two year check up he was 29.8 lbs (72%) and 35 inches (66%).  In more exciting news (to him), I finally let him have a sucker at the end of the appointment.  Though in MORE exciting news (to him), the nurse gave him a car sticker.  

"Cheeeeese."  (Yes, those are Drew's running shorts.)

"Mi-mi-mi MOUse?"

Other recent developments: he is learning his letters!  I'm just amazed at how much he absorbed from looking at the alphabet page in a Richard Scarry book the last few months.  Now he will pick out letters in books or signs or boxes or anything (especially Ds and Ws).  He's also getting the hang of numbers and counting up to 5, sometimes in order (ha!).  I don't know how smart the average toddler is or how he compares, but that seems pretty smart to me and really, does anyone else's opinion matter?  Hahaha.

(No.)

This bed is just right.

Homemade play doh = infinitely more successful than homemade finger paints.

(Still wearing those shorts.)

Earning his keep!

Anyway, he is just a lovely, delightful boy who sometimes throws ridiculous tantrums but is usually happy and sweet.  He adores his little sister, his daddy and me.  Mostly me.  As he should!  Just kidding, he adores everyone in his family a great deal.  We adore him too.  

Because come on, how could we not?

Lawn Care

One of the reasons we bought this house was for the backyard.  There's so many acres!  Or a third of one anyway.  So we hired a local boy to help Drew with the upkeep.

Have I mentioned that he loves lawnmowers?  I don't think there's any doubt that it was the highlight of his birthday.  

And he doesn't even know it makes bubbles!