Sleeeeep

Once upon a time Piper slept 7.5 hours in a row and I managed to sleep almost 7 of them. That night was last night. And that makes today all kinds of that much better. :)

Can't quite get enough of this face...

Exhausted

About 30 minutes after I had blogged about how well Em's big girl bed had been going last night, I heard a blood curdling scream from her room. She had stuck her head through the bars of her headboard and couldn't get out. It was all kinds of awful, and what felt like an eternity later (probably only minutes) I got her out. And then did one of those "yup, that just happened."

And apparently Piper is having a growth spurt because I feel like I'm nursing around the clock. And can never set her down. And I am exhausted.

We need some cuteness to redeem this post:







The end.

Big Girl Bed

Dear Life,

On Saturday night we pulled down Miss E's crib and plunked her into a big girl bed.

She hardly noticed. She gave a nice little "woooow!" when we excitedly showed her the bed, but I think it was just because we were talking all excited like.

And then at bedtime we just put her in it and 10 minutes of quietly singing herself "twinkle twinkle" later, she was asleep. She slept 12 hours without waking and then called for me to come get her in the morning.

It was slightly unbelievable.

I had talked myself into believing it was going to be awful. Jordan and I had this big game plan about what we'd do when she got out of bed, how we'd handle it, what we'd say, and so forth. And she didn't try even once.

And now my baby is sleeping in a big girl bed. It is a little bittersweet.

This week she turns TWO. Two. As in two YEARS old. I told Jordan that I should get the presents. After all, I did labor 12 hours to help her enter this world. Except the funny thing is I love her so much that it is pure joy to watch her enjoy life and be showered with fun. So we are going to the splash pad with just four friends. And maybe eating some cake.

Sigh. A two year old. She's pretty special. Now go ahead and pray with me that potty training is as simple as the big girl bed transition. Stay tuned... that's next on our list...

Molly

Monitor

So once upon a time we purchased a video monitor at Bed Bath and Beyond during the day after Thanksgiving sales. It has been super awesome, because we can see the shenanigans that Emberly is up to in her crib and decide if/when we need to intervene.

Well Miss Emberly has been full of bedtime bologna lately, and I have to admit, I'm kind of a sucker for it. Even if our day isn't overly peaceful, I want it to end in a peaceful way, and Emberly always goes to bed willingly and happy. I love that. So I give in to her requests for one more song or one more minute of rocking because I can and I know these requests won't last forever.

But lately it's gotten a little out of control with Jordan or I going in there 3 or 4 times over the course of an hour. An hour that she should be sleeping. She isn't upset or crying... usually just bouncing or undressing herself or messing around and not sleeping.

So back to the video monitor. Our little cheapo one broke and we brought it back to Bed Bath and Beyond and they gave us a new one. They had discontinued our model so they even gave us the upgrade. And this model has a feature with a microphone that you can talk into and your child can hear you. Weird, right?! I told Jordan we'd never use it. Way too impersonal and just plain strange.

But today at nap time I had gone in there what felt like a million times and my hands were full of Piper and I could see on the monitor Em was just fine, so I used the microphone feature and said, "Emmy, it's time to sleep. Lay down please. Love you!" And she literally flung herself down and said "night mommy" and never made another peep.

I thought it was a fluke... but tonight I didn't go in there even once and went straight to the monitor and said, "Mommy's not coming back, lovey. Can you show mommy how you lay down and go to sleep?"

And her response? "Yup! Night!" And she flung herself down and sang herself Twinkle Twinkle Little Star until she fell asleep.

Monitor making people, maybe you did know what you were doing.

Two minutes

So we are trying really hard to be gentle parents. Emberly has a super tender heart and does way better transitioning with some extra warning (for example: "we're going upstairs in two minutes") rather than saying "time to go upstairs." Obviously she has no concept of "two minutes" yet, but she does understand that whatever we are doing is coming to an end and can start to prepare for what's next.

Well obviously we use this phrase a lot, because Emberly has started to use it too. After dinner she asks, "mommy, play? two minutes?" :) or "mommy buckle this? two minutes?" :) yup. That's my Emmy. She's pretty awesome.

And like Jordan says, "Are we the only ones that think she's as hilarious as she is?"

Yes. Especially because we're probably the only ones that understand her. It just makes parenting together all the sweeter.

Zoo

Today I took both girls to the zoo all by myself. And I didn't even cry. Or swear I'd never leave the house again.

I'd say that's a successful trip.







One day at a time.

One Month

Dear Life,

Sweet Piper Elizabeth was born one month ago today.  A whole month.  I cannot even really comprehend that.  Yesterday when I brought my sweet bambino to the lactation clinic she weighed 9 pounds on the nose.  She is a fantastic little eater.  That is all kinds of awesome.  Let's hope that means she'll start sleeping through the night sooner than later...

This past month we've just been learning all sorts of things about Miss Piper.  Here are a few:

1. She makes noise.  Lots and lots of noise.  Mostly in the form of grunting.  But she definitely has a big cry that has developed in the last week or so also.  And she goes from a tiny little whimper to big old cry in 1 second or less.  There is no middle ground.

2. She has the sweetest little smiles.  I just love love love that passed out, sleeping on my chest, breathing heavy, dreamy little smile.  It is probably my favorite.

3.  She is going to be tough.  She has to be, with the "rough" love that Emberly gives.  Who knew kisses could be so... physical? 

4.  She is still very sleepy.  A few moments of awake each day are all she seems to muster.  But when she's awake, she's generally pretty happy.

5.  Her sleep schedule is still non-existent.  But if I had to tell you what seems to be the pattern most recently, she is eating in the evenings around 7:30, 10:30, 1:30, 4:30, and 7:30.  For you non-math people, that is every 3 hours.  For you non-mom people that means I am up almost an hour of that time, which means I am sleeping for two hours.  Except I have a stellar husband who works nights and a rock-awesome baby who takes a bottle, so Jordan usually covers the 1:30am feeding and I get to sleep a longer stretch.  Wahoo!  :)

6.  She doesn't seem to like being swaddled.  And she can get out of the tightest of tight swaddles.  At one month old.  This seems very strange to me...

That's all for now - but a monthly update surely wouldn't be complete without a picture, right?  So... go ahead... oogle over how adorable she is.  I don't mind.  :)

Grandparent Camp

This weekend my parents took Emberly to the lake. They're calling it "Grandparent Camp." They are making forts and going on boat rides and four-wheeler rides and playing in the water and eating freeze-pops and having all kinds of fun. {I suggested they work on potty-training... but they didn't go for it...}

Anywho - that leaves me with sweet Piper and my awesome husband, who unfortunately has to work this weekend. So Piper and I have been bonding. A lot. Because she has no desire to be set down today. Or last night, now that I think about it.

{Tips for a sweet fussy bambino?}

But I decided that I wanted to work on a few projects that have been on my to-do list forever while I didn't have a two year old helper... so I organized Emberly's closet last night and Jordan and I hit Home Depot and Lowes this morning and did a little shopping.

I am attempting to install some rain gutter bookshelves in Em's room and make her a chalkboard table. {Nursing baby + pinterest on my phone make for a scary combination because I always seem to find fun projects and forget I am severely lacking in the time and energy department...}

So now I am now home with little to no motivation and snuggling a sweet sleepy baby... who really only stays sweet and sleepy if she is being held.

Hump. Dilemmas.

Maybe motivation will reappear soon. After some chocolate.

In the meantime I might just close my eyes and soak in the sweet sound of a deep sleeping baby...

"Emmy do this"

If I had a dollar for every time Emberly said "Emmy do this" (which actually sounds more like "Enny do dis")... I'd be rich.

That and the word "no."

All day every day.

Conflicted

Today we took Em to the West Fargo splash pad, and it was all kinds of fun.




Can someone tell me if the mom guilt ever goes away for not having enough hands, time, and attention for both children? If I'm feeding or holding or snuggling Piper, I feel like I'm not giving Emberly enough. If I'm helping or holding or giving Emberly my attention, I feel like I'm not bonding with Piper and giving her enough.

I guess I just feel conflicted. And just a little short on having "enough" to go around.

That's all.



Molly