Raspberries

I'm sitting in Piper's rocking chair in the dark, listening to her blow raspberries and lull herself to sleep, making the sweetest little noises. And all I can think about is how truly thankful I am for little baby noises and toes and pigtails and giggles and teasing and rolling over and jumping up and down and all of the joy I have from two very sweet, thriving, growing, affectionate, passionate, vocal, cuddly girls.

4 Months

I'm struck again by how fast it goes. How even faster time has seemed to pass with Piper than it did when Emberly was small. Maybe because there are two and each day feels like a blur at the end. Or maybe because it's a little easier this time simply because I have a better idea of what to expect.

Whatever it is, I'd like to capture it in a little box. The sweet baby smell, fresh out of the bath, the little fingers floating up in the air to grab a dangling toy, the first time she rolled over (today!), the giggles and smiles, learning to blow raspberries and make new sweet baby coos, sitting in the bumbo and putting everything in her mouth.

She is my Piper and a new heart has grown for her. I'm deeply in love with this sweet babe and it makes me think all the more of our Father's love lavished on us.

This picture is old now... I had every intention of capturing 4 months in words with a picture too, and the words just never quite came.




Sweet Baby P is 14 lbs and 14 oz, 14.5 inches as of Monday. She is squarely in the 50th percentile for both height and weight. She fits perfectly in 3 month clothing, and may soon be moving up. She sleeps 10 or so hours through the night without waking most of the time, but occasionally nurses once in the early morning. She is precious and smiley and so much more content than her early newborn days. I am entirely smitten.

Fun Stuff

E had a sleepover with G&G Johnson last night. First one ever. She did awesome, had a blast, and came home and took a 3 hour nap. :)

Jordan and I got to go out to dinner, do some Christmas shopping, and even make a post-bedtime run to Walmart. Aren't we exciting? Piper even let us sleep until 9am. Shazam!

And guess what else. E had potty success on the potty chair twice. I hope we are on to something bigger and better than spending dinero on diapers for Miss E!

And guess what else. Piper has discovered how to scream. Just for fun. Cuz there is no other noise in our house ever.

Oh, and I found spit up in the hood of my sweatshirt today.

And J and I bought matching footie PJs for the whole fam last night just because we could. Here is a preview...




Our lives are awesome.

Moms of kids with allergies...

Dear Moms of kids with allergies...

OK, I'll be honest... every time someone told me that their child had a sensitivity to certain foods the mom ate while breastfeeding, I secretly thought they were maybe slightly over analytical and had invented this in their brain.

And then Piper was born.  And every time I eat dairy she literally suffers for days.  I drank a half a glass of milk the other day because I was convinced that this was all in my head... and Piper was a fountain of spit up for over a day.  And then not thinking about the fact that ice cream is in fact dairy, ate a rather large bowl, and Piper spit up for over two days.  So... I'm not just kind of sure.  I'm really sure.

So I can cut out dairy, sure.  No problem.  {Actually... I want ice cream and milk and cheese and yogurt in a way that I've never wanted them before in my life...} 

But that's not the problem.  The problem is that I don't know where to go from here.  When E was about 4 months old we started giving her some baby food and rice cereal.  And instead of pumping I used formula for the maybe 2 times a month that I left Piper with someone else. 

But from what Google tells me, babies with food sensitivities while breastfeeding are more likely to develop allergies to those foods and others.  So does this mean that I should wait to introduce any baby food?  And what about formula?  Does this mean that if I give her a cow milk based formula she is more likely to be dairy intolerant for the rest of her life?  I am confused.  Please, if you have experience in this area... help a mama out.  :)

The end. 

Quotable

{Coloring with Emberly and I just finish writing her name...}
E: Congratulations, MOM!  You're an author!!


{Not napping Emberly... on the third or so time I've been in her room to remind her that it is time to sleep...}
Me: Emberly, it is time to sleep.  Lay. down. right. now!
E: Oh, sorry mom!  I forgot!


{Walking over to her nativity set...}
E: Hey sheep!  What's going on??

Sigh... it's a good thing she's so cute... or it might be super frustrating that she's been trying to nap for almost two hours!  ;)



{After getting her whole body stuck in the bars of her headboard.  Again...}
E: Emmy no put her head through the granola bars again!

The things that come out of her mouth...

E woke up from her nap. She was obviously 'hupset'. That's what I call it when E turns upset from being hungry. So I offered her some applesauce. Told her she could even put the cinnamon on top. She suggested yogurt instead. I asked if she wanted blueberry or strawberry. She whimpered. I told her to use her words. And then my just 26-month old child said to me. "Emmy just feeling frus.ter.ated."

Excuse me?!?

{trying to hide my surprise at her accurate labeling of her feelings...} "oh really? What's frustrating?"

"Just want chicken nuggets. Not yogurt."

Yup. That's my two-year old. And in case you're wondering, no, we did not eat chicken nuggets for an afternoon snack.

She's a gem.

E

Emberly has a cold. She slept awful last night and is refusing a nap today. I have been in her room multiple times over the last hour to put her back in bed, and she's been spanked for not listening and continuing to get out of bed. A moment ago when I went in there again, she turned around in her bed, stuck her little tush in the air, and said to me, "just spank me mommy. not sleeping."

Um...

What do I even say to that??

New obsession

Emberly's new obsession is play-doh. All day every day.

I can't say that I mind... such a peaceful craft!

Piper

My sweet Piper stopped sleeping through the night and pooping. We took her to the chiropractor and she has resumed both activities. Praise the Lord!